INTERVIEW: Matt Pond on Embracing the Natural World
**This article originally appeared in our October 2026 issue**
Photos by Jesse Dufault
"When a record comes out, unless somebody flips out about it, it's kind of already gone in this day and age. It's like a birth and a funeral in the same instance.”
“I’ve never wanted to be super famous.”
Throughout our interview, Matt Pond says this two or three times with a slight hint of disdain — or perhaps it’s concern.
“Nothing about that appeals to me, especially seeing the way that it kind of ruins people's lives,” he muses. “Anyone I know that's famous, none of this makes them happy. They're almost always pushing for more. There's no end to it. And it's strange that nobody is like, ‘Let's stop. We have enough.’”
It’s a fitting sentiment for someone who’s entire career can best be summed up in one word: natural. That word is apt here for more than one of its definitions. “Seemingly inborn” in that Pond’s talent emanates out of his recordings with an unparalleled effortlessness and consistency, and “being in a state of nature without spiritual enlightenment.” Shout out to Merriam-Webster for the assist.
That latter definition might seem peculiar, but you don’t have to look further than much of Pond’s artwork to understand his affinity for the natural world around him. Images of leaves and trees and lakes adorn a majority of his vast — and I mean vast — discography. His lyrics often seem written for a forest full of creatures rather than an audience of adoring, human fans.
“I know some day the spring will return again / The birds and cars speak up when they reach morning / I'm not gone yet; I want more of everything…”
(“Brooklyn Stars,” 2005)
This affinity for nature is part of the reason he relocated to the Hudson Valley years ago from Brooklyn (and Philadelphia, previously) and hasn’t looked back.
“You drive ten minutes and you’re alone in nature,” he says in admiration of his Kingston home.
It is seemingly reminiscent of his youth in New Hampshire, where Pond spent a great deal of time attending music festivals that his father put on in the White Mountains. He bore witness to acts like Taj Mahal and the Preservation Hall Band while staring at the idyllic New England backdrop, absorbing a perfect amalgamation of art and nature.
“It was pretty majestic — the ultimate experience,” he recalls. “From there, I loved music. If I could find a quiet place, walk around the woods and listen to music on my Walkman, that was like heaven to me.”
As a result of many childhood moves, Pond developed a sense of peace with being alone in his own head. This self-contentment is part of the reason Pond’s career has had such an impressive longevity. His project Matt Pond PA released its first LP, Deer Apartments, all the way back in 1998. In the almost 30 years since, he has rarely strayed from his sonic path, maintaining his status as one of the most reliable underground songwriters around.
Sticking with a project as long as he has in an industry like this is first and foremost impressive, but if you ask him, it was almost a foregone conclusion.
“Until I started doing this, I hadn’t found anything where I felt purposeful. Everything seemed like a waste of time or like I wasn't good enough at it. So I kind of had an idea that, unless some kind of tragic event were to take place, this is what I'd be doing. And I don’t think I’ll ever stop writing little songs.”
It was in 2005 when his career began to climb the proverbial hill into the mainstream zeitgeist. His seminal record, Several Arrows Later, made its debut and caught the attention of a number of popular acts (I vividly remember catching them opening for The Format at the height of their career while in college) as well as the music supervisor for a little show called The OC. It’s unknown whether Pond’s views on fame were different back then, but what isn’t unknown is the number of acts The OC thrust into the limelight. Pond had a massive number of ears on him when his song “New Hampshire” was played throughout a season two episode, and then again when they were commissioned for a cover of “Champagne Supernova” which ended up soundtracking the show’s infamous Spiderman-kiss rehash.
“[Several Arrows Later] was probably one of the most fun records to make,” Pond recalls. “It was fast, in a certain sense. I was living in New York and starting to feel good about what I was doing.”
It’s safe to say every musician can relate to time’s role in regarding your own art in a positive manner. What’s comforting is knowing that even the most prolific among us are experiencing the ebbs and flows of self doubt and insecurity.
“Even though you have to keep a positive mind, you also have to be your own worst critic. And so, when something's not good enough, you have to know it. The cool thing is, sometimes when you think something's not good enough, it is good enough. But when you really know in your heart something's not good enough, it's got to come from you. And it's hard to hate-listen this much. It's hard to be like, ‘What's wrong with this?’ But I think I have to go through this process of hating the songs and then loving them again.”
Pond seems to be grappling with a similar sentiment in regards to the world at large currently, too. A number of times during our conversation, we veer off into the detriments of social media and the rapid pace of life we’re becoming unfortunately accustomed to.
“It's such an accelerated world that we're not taking a little time off for ourselves. When are we at rest? We're not supposed to be like this. We're not computers. We're treating ourselves like computers. You have to think of all these ways to separate parts of your life and I don’t want to compartmentalize my life. I want my life to be my life.”
Despite the drawbacks of a swiftly changing world being top of mind for Pond, he approaches his songs from an opposite angle, as evidenced on a few of the early singles from his upcoming LP, Permanent Change, Part 1.
“Instead of running negative loops, I start untangling,” he says of his songwriting process. “‘What are the good or the important things?’ I sometimes can't trick myself with meditation and breathing and yoga — these things are all amazing tools, but they don't get down to the core where music can [for me].”
Making Permanent Change, Part 1 was a joyous experience for Pond, who likens it to his time spent making Several Arrows Later over 20 years ago. It comes across in the music, which has a free-flowing lightness to it that can’t be manufactured.
“This one was faster than most albums, but I wanted to keep it kind of fresh,” he tells me. “It is always a little challenging for me because we never go in knowing exactly what we’re doing. It’s helpful to have an ideology, but every time, we throw away the ideology.
“[Making a record] is one of the best moments in your life, but it’s also like the last moment of your life. Like taking a last breath and thinking, ‘This was great. It was really hard and strange and it shouldn't have been so hard.’”
Permanent Change, Part 1 will be released on October 9, just two days ahead of a headlining performance at Kingston’s O+ Festival. But with a discography 15-plus albums deep (not to mention countless singles and EPs), it should come as no surprise that Pond is already thinking ahead to the next project — the record’s second part, which he vows to “finish if it’s the last [he] does” — whether he wants to or not.
“I work harder than I've ever worked prior and I'm just so focused right now on what I'm doing that it feels a little fraught,” Pond ruminates. “It's not my favorite place to be.
“When a record comes out, unless somebody flips out about it, it's kind of already gone in this day and age. It's like a birth and a funeral in the same instance.”
Help Matt Pond celebrate and/or mourn his new record, Permanent Change, Part 1, when it arrives on October 9, and be sure to catch his headlining set at O+ Festival on October 11. For more, follow @mattpondpa on Instagram.
