Introducing: Ponymeadow 

Where can we find you right now and what are you up to?

I live in Sydney, Australia and produce progressive house and trance music from my home studio overlooking the city skyline. At the moment I'm preparing my new track "Flame" for release, which was a collaboration with vocalist Shelley Harland (@shelleyharlandmusic). I'm also working on a new track and taking invaluable production lessons from trance/progressive producer Dennis Sheperd (@dennissheperd).

Tell us a bit about your influences.

I'm influenced by a lot of different artists and genres across electronic music, but especially by classic trance and Euro dance tunes of the late 90s to early 00s and today's progressive house and trance scene. I grew up listening (and dancing) to artists like Jam and Spoon, Way Out West, Binary Finary, Paul Van Dyk, Tiesto and Ferry Corsten, who greatly influence who I am today as a producer. I also love female songwriters like Tori Amos, PJ Harvey and Sia, and riot grrrl bands like Sleater Kinney who've influenced me to work with female singers with powerful vocals.

How did you start?

I've been creating music for a long time. I used to play bass (and sometimes sing) in bands in Sydney and New York, which were amazing experiences and taught me lots about songwriting and music theory. I was actually a total music theory nerd in high school and used to ace my musicianship exams, though I really sucked at playing the violin and was very happy when I discovered that bass was "my" instrument instead. In terms of electronic music, I completed a course in Ableton Live with Liveschool Sydney (@liveschoolmusic) in 2020, then spent covid lockdowns honing my skills before releasing my first track, "Need Your Love", in February 2022.

How will artists be influenced by the rapid change in technology in the future in your opinion? What will change?

There's definitely a lot of talk and speculation at the moment as to how AI might influence music. I'm a bit torn on this one - a big part of me thinks that the joys and frustrations of being creative are essential to producing music, and that ultimately good music needs to have a real person behind it, rather than a computer creating something that could sound generic. But at the same time, AI might be useful to the creative process, rather than replacing it - another tool in the producer's toolbox to be used at their discretion.

What obstacles does an emerging artist have to face in our time?

There are so many people producing music today that it can be easy to become lost in the crowd. But at the same time there are a lot of opportunities that we didn't have in the past, such as the ability to easily distribute your own music, be found on Spotify, use your tracks on IG, etc.

In what way, in your opinion, could someone get real fans?

Social media is a difficult beast to tame but is definitely important in today's digital age. It plays an important role in connecting artists and fans, but also requires a lot of work, especially if you're just starting out. I think one of the best ways to get fans is to connect with other artists and listeners in real life as well as online, to turn up to gigs and support others, share their music and become genuinely interested in being involved in a music community.

What are your goals? Where do you see yourself in five years?

My goals are pretty simple - to keep improving my production skills, releasing great tracks and connecting with other producers and fans! In five years time, I hope to be releasing tracks more regularly and be playing more live shows.

What is your favorite movie? What would you suggest to our readers?

My favourite movie is "Being John Malkovich". I love surrealist dark comedies and it's such a wonderfully bizarre film.