Bardo Pond are an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London-based label

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the l ...

. The current members are Michael Gibbons (guitar), John Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger (flute and vocals), Clint Takeda (bass guitar) and Jason Kourkounis (drums). Bardo Pond's music is often classified as

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volum ...

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

. Some Bardo Pond album titles have been derived from the names of

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

substances. Their sound has been likened to

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psyched ...

and My Bloody Valentine amongst others.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

describes Bardo Pond as having "lengthy, deliberate sound explorations filled with all the hallmarks of modern-day space rock: droning guitars, thick distortion, feedback, reverb, and washes of white noise." Bardo Pond are a

taper Taper may refer to: * Part of an object in the shape of a cone (conical) * Taper (transmission line), a transmission line gradually increasing or decreasing in size * Fishing rod taper, a measure of the flexibility of a fishing rod * Conically ta ...

-friendly band who encourage fans to make recordings of their shows.

Early years

According to guitarist Michael Gibbons, the band members came together post-university: "...we were basically just out of college, actually, and we just got really interested in free music, and that’s where it started. And we were artists too number of the band are visual artists So were just started playing free improvised sounds – it was really just kind of that love of making noise and sounds that got us together. Basically we didn’t really learn how to play songs until after about four years, and that’s when things started clicking, and we actually made up songs. But it’s still the same thing”. Joining with guitarist Clint Takeda, they began jamming, and Takeda gave the trio the name

Bardo Pond Bardo Pond are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London-based label Fire Records. The current members are Michael Gibbons (guitar), John Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger (flute and vocals), ...

, from the

Tibetan Book of the Dead The ''Bardo Thodol'' (, 'Liberation through hearing during the intermediate state'), commonly known in the West as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead'', is a terma text from a larger corpus of teachings, the ''Profound Dharma of Self-Liberation ...

. At the same time, school chums Sollenberger and Sentz joined the group. The group released the first of several self-distributed cassettes, ''Shone Like a Ton'', in 1992, before releasing ''

Bufo Alvarius The Colorado River toad (''Incilius alvarius''), also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, is a toad species found in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It is well known for its ability to exude toxins from glands within its sk ...

'' on Drunken Fish Records in 1995. Their next record, 1996's ''

Amanita The genus ''Amanita'' contains about 600 species of agarics, including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded Edible mushroom, edible species (and many species of unknown edibility). The genus is re ...

'', marked the band's transition to

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

and international distribution.

Side projects

The members of Bardo Pond also operate a number of side projects. 500 mg is Michael Gibbons' solo project. Alasehir is a psychedelic/stoner rock trio featuring Michael Gibbons, John Gibbons and Jason Kourkounis. Alumbrados produces psychedelic folk/drone music and consists of Michael Gibbons, John Gibbons, Michael Zanghi and Aaron Igler. Prairie Dog Flesh is more improvisational and rearranges the members of Bardo Pond with Takeda on vocals. Hash Jar Tempo is a collaboration between Bardo Pond and

Roy Montgomery Roy Montgomery (born 1959) is a composer, guitarist and lecturer from Christchurch, New Zealand. Montgomery's mostly instrumental solo works have elements of post-rock, lo-fi, folk and avant-garde experimentation. His signature sound might be d ...

. A pun on

Ash Ra Tempel Ash Ra Tempel was a German krautrock group led by guitarist Manuel Göttsching that was active from 1970 to 1976. Their debut album '' Ash Ra Tempel'' was released in 1971. Following the band's demise, Göttsching released music under the name A ...

, this project resulted from two "marathon jam/recording sessions" between the two parties and produced two albums: '' Well Oiled'' (released in 1997, recorded in 1995) and ''

Under Glass Hash Jar Tempo is a collaborative musical project between the members of Philadelphia-based psychedelic band Bardo Pond and experimental guitarist and composer Roy Montgomery. The band was founded in March 1995 and have released two albums, '' ...

'' (released in 1999, recorded in 1998). LSD Pond is a collaboration between Bardo Pond and Japanese psychedelic rock band

LSD March LSD March is a Japanese psychedelic rock group, hailing from the city of Himeji, led by singer and guitarist Shinsuke Michishita. The group is named after a track by krautrock group Guru Guru. Michishita has also played with Magura Mozart and Doo ...

. A self-titled album was released in 2008 and contains two discs with live recordings of two nights of jamming. Moon Phantoms is a collaboration between Bardo Pond and Japanese psychedelic rock band Suishou No Fune. Their self-titled album was released in 2009. Third Troll features Michael and John Gibbons (guitars), Sollenberger (flute), and includes Kevin Moist (saxophone) and Aaron Igler (synths). Baikal conducts free form psych experiments. The band consists of John Gibbons, Michael Gibbons, Clint Takeda and Jason Kourkonis. They have released a self-titled album on Important Records. Vapour Theories is a duo of Michael and John Gibbons. They have released three albums: 'Decant' (self-released), 'Joint Chiefs' (The Lotus Sound), and 'Celestial Scuzz' (Fire Records). Jason Kourkounis participated as drummer 72 in the

Boredoms Boredoms () (later known as V∞redoms) is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise (Japan's noise music scene), though their more recent records have moved towar ...

77 Boadrum ''77 Boa Drum'' is a live album by Japanese experimental music group Boredoms, recorded on July 7, 2007, at the Empire–Fulton Ferry section of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York. It was released on two CDs, plus a 20-minute all-region N ...

performance which occurred on July 7, 2007, at the

Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park Brooklyn Bridge Park is an park on the Brooklyn side of the East River in New York City. Designed by landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh#Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the park is ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He is also currently in

Hot Snakes Hot Snakes were an American rock band led by Rick Froberg and John Reis, formed in 1999 in San Diego, California. Reis and Froberg had previously performed together in Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu, after which Reis found international succe ...

and

The Night Marchers The Night Marchers are an American alternative rock band formed in 2007 in San Diego, California, United States. The band is composed of singer/guitarist John Reis, guitarist Gar Wood, bassist Tommy Kitsos, and drummer Jason Kourkounis. Reis, ...

, and previously played drums for

The Delta 72 The Delta 72 were an United States, American alternative rock, alternative music band formed in Washington, DC in the summer of 1994, later relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They created a frenetic and honest style channeling post-punk s ...

, The Burning Brides, and

Mule (band) Mule was an American punk blues band from Michigan, active in the early 1990s. Formed by former members of Wig and Laughing Hyenas, their music incorporated elements of hardcore punk, blues-rock, and country music. History Mule formed in Ann A ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''Shone Like a Ton'' (1992) *''No Hashish, No Change Money, No Sake Sake'' (1993) *''

'' (1995) *''

'' (1996) *'' Lapsed'' (1997) *''

Set and Setting Set and setting, when referring to a psychedelic drug experience or the use of other psychoactive substances, means one's mindset (shortened to "set") and the physical and social environment (the "setting") in which the user has the experience ...

'' (1999) *''Vol. 1'' (2000) *''

Dilate Dilation (or dilatation) may refer to: Physiology or medicine * Cervical dilation, the widening of the cervix in childbirth, miscarriage etc. * Coronary dilation, or coronary reflex * Dilation and curettage, the opening of the cervix and surg ...

'' (2001) *''Vol. II'' (2001) *''Vol. 3'' (2002) *''Vol. IV'' (2002) *''Tigris/Euphrates'' split 12" with Subarachnoid Space (2002) *'' On the Ellipse'' (2003) *''4/23/03'' with Tom Carter (2004) *''Vol. 5'' (2004) *''Vol. 6'' (2005) *'' Ticket Crystals'' (2006) *''Batholith (2008) *''Circuit VIII'' (2008) *''Vol. 7'' (2009) *''Peri'' (2009) *''Gazing at Shilla'' (2009) *''

'' (2010) *''Yntra'' (2012) *'' Peace On Venus'' (2013) *''Parallelogram'' with

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (Spanish language, Spanish for "I've got it"; also abbreviated as YLT) is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley ...

(2015) *''Acid Guru Pond'' with

Acid Mothers Temple Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O., commonly shortened to Acid Mothers Temple or AMT, is a Japanese rock music, rock band, the core of which formed in 1995. The band is led by guitarist Kawabata Makoto and early in their career feat ...

and

Guru Guru Guru Guru is a German krautrock band formed in 1968 as The Guru Guru Groove by Mani Neumeier (drums), Uli Trepte (bass) and Eddy Naegeli (guitar), later replaced by the American Jim Kennedy. After Kennedy collapsed on stage due to a serious i ...

(2016) *''Under the Pines'' (2017) *''Vol. 8'' (2018) *''Peel Sessions'' (2023) *''Vol. 9'' (2024)

EPs

*''Big Laughing Jym'' (1995) *''Slab'' (2000) *''Purposeful Availment'' (2002) *''Bog'' split with Buck Paco (2005) *''Adrop'' (2006) *''Keep Mother - Volume 5'' split with PRE (2007) *''Split'' with Carlton Melton (2011) *''Rise Above It All'' (2013) *''Looking For Another Place'' (2014) *''Is There a Heaven?'' (2015)

Compilations

*''Cypher Documents I'' (2004) *''Selections: Volumes I-IV'' 2005) *''Refulgo'' (2014) *''Melt Away'' (2024)

References

External links

Bardo Pond WebpageBardo Pond page at ATP RecordingsBardo Pond collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

's live music archive
Terrascope : interview (2001) (pdf)Bardo Pond page at Fire Records
{{Authority control American post-rock groups Musical groups from Pennsylvania Musical groups from Philadelphia American neo-psychedelia groups American psychedelic rock music groups American space rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 American noise rock music groups American shoegaze musical groups Drunken Fish Records artists 1991 establishments in Pennsylvania Fire Records (UK) artists ATP Recordings artists