The Bondurants: ‘Towards the end of the song, where the saxophone just comes out of nowhere, that’s a Boss move, isn’t it?!’

Leeds-based alt-country-pop band The Bondurants have released their latest single ‘Home’, a rousing track about finding comfort and solace in whatever home means to you.

The band comprises Simon Pollard (vocals and guitar), David Robinson (bass), Liam Warner (drums), Matt Lee (guitar), Ed Hicken (pedal steel guitar) and Jenna Fan (vocals and keys), who joined the band this year. Of their band name, Warner says: ‘I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the film ‘Lawless’ (2012, starring Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain), but there was a family called the Bondurants who created moonshine, the drink. We thought that was quite cool and resonates with our style of music and our influences and the vision that we’ve got as a band.’ Pollard initially started out doing a solo project as The Simon Pollard Band, adding the individual musicians over the past 12 years, changing their name to reflect the dynamic line up four years ago.

‘Home’ is a moving, emotional track that taps into their Americana roots, painting a vivid picture of yearning for comfort amid life’s turbulence. Layered with the band’s signature blend of warm, jangly guitars, heartfelt vocals and dynamic rhythms, ‘Home’ captures the essence of a personal journey back to a place of refuge. Pollard’s gritty, melodic vocals bear the weight of someone who has seen a lot and has a wealth of stories to tell: ‘It’s got that country edge and that influence but also it’s shown a different side of the music writing ability that we’ve got,’ Warner said. ‘We can be a little bit more personal and create something which is slower paced and connects more with people.’ Warner’s brother-in-law plays the accordion on it and Irish folk singer Naomi Campbell, who also sings in Motel Sundown, joins Pollard on vocals.

‘There are so many turbulent things happening in the world, so we’re bringing it back to home, making it more centred’

‘It’s more of a gentle approach for us,’ Pollard said. ‘There are so many turbulent things happening in the world, so we’re bringing it back to home, making it more centred. Whatever home means to you – is it family, is it friends, a place, or spirituality? It’s showing a softer side of what we do but hopefully it will resonate with people. It started with myself and our bass player Dave, we wanted a call and response, something that you could chant or sing along to, a good chorus hook. We were thinking about the song from ‘Jaws’ (laughs). It’s that it’s 2 a.m., you’re in a pub and you’re playing music with some friends, it feels quite organic.’ He would love to hear ‘Home’ on ‘Cast Away’ (2000), the movie starring Tom Hanks: ‘The themes of isolation and trying to get back what is lost, that longing and belonging, the relentless searching for hope and faith – or lost hope and faith – really resonate,’ he said.

Fan’s vocals inject an extra layer of warmth to the song, giving it a folky feel in places. ‘We sat down and said: “We need to add that little sprinkle of magic” and Simon, myself and the rest of the band started looking at what’s happening out in the industry and what works well in country music,’ Warner said. ‘We came to the decision that getting a female vocalist will help add some of their harmonies and we wanted to become a six-piece harmony band. We work really hard on the harmonies because that’s a super important part of what we are. Jenna’s vocal ability, her vocal range, and the fantastic way that she plays the piano, she sprinkles that 80’s kind of country edge on top of what we’re doing, so she’s been a fantastic addition and, on top of that, she’s well connected. She knows a lot of people in and around the industry, which has enabled us to catapult ourselves a little bit more into different pockets of gigs and events.’ 

Over the past 12 years, the strong friendship among the band members has allowed them to sharpen their songwriting and live performance skills, leading to the release of three EPs and a dedicated fanbase. Last year’s EP ‘Take The Night Away’ was produced by David Watts (Kaiser Chiefs, Richard Hawley) and recorded at The Chairworks in Castleford.

Pollard acknowledges the postive effect that artists such as Taylor Swift have had on the country music scene: ‘It’s the biggest growing UK music genre,’ he said. ‘Taylor, Beyoncé, Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen, to name but a few, have catapulted the music to a place that no longer feels just for your grandma and grandad – it’s modern and cool, it’s timeless!’

‘It’s that swelling sound to really underpin all the different kinds of styles of instruments that have been built up in the different layers from the foundation up’

Warner has a huge range of country influences which have helped shape ‘Home’ and other tracks: ‘I’m listening to a hell of a lot of country music, all different paces, all different styles, all different genres,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘I’ve been listening to a lot of the slower paced stuff, like Luke Combs’ new album (Gettin’ Old, 2023), which is a little bit more stripped back. And Luke Bryan and those kind of people to get some ideas in terms of drumming and rhythm. Me and Dave sat down and I said: “You know, what I’m really going to do is not bring in the drums right until the end of the song, do something completely different.” Believe it or not, you probably can hear it (laughs), in the verses, it’s a wire brush hitting the floor, which keeps the percussion going as we slowly build up to the crescendo chorus. Matt would come in with his slide guitar influence, listening to the style of country genre that he does, it has a really haunting effect. Ed, who’s the pedal steel, he’s an absolute magician, it’s that swelling sound to really underpin all the different kinds of styles of instruments that have been built up in the different layers from the foundation up. We’re layering it all very slowly on top of the different artists that we listen to to capture the vision we set out to achieve as part of the tune.’

Collectively, they sprinkle different influences on the band, although Pollard and Robinson are the main songwriters, coming up with emotive, poetic lyrics that get you thinking: ‘I think Bon Iver is one of Simon’s key influences, and same with Dave,’ Warner said. ‘When we look at the country scene, we’ve got Luke Combs, we’ve got The Boss. In terms of our influences, they do grow far and wide, like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Tom Petty. My background is Irish orientated, so Colfers music obviously has a lot of country in it. My dad was actually in a band, and I’ve been in the drumming and the lead circuit for pretty much all my life, I’ve played in lots of different bands, not just country bands. I can play the bodhrán, which is the Irish drum. When I was 18, I became the World Champion on the bodhrán, so rhythm for me has always been part of my life.’ 

Robinson, for his part, went to music college, and has been in bands since he was 18: ‘I know what he’s going to do and he knows what I’m going to do, because we’ve worked so interlocked for such a number of years. That is the bedrock of what we do, is how tight our rhythm section is, and we work the music around it,’ Warner said. ‘Ed the pedal steel, he comes from a family of pedal steel players. It started with his grandad, then his dad started playing the pedal steel and his younger brother now plays the pedal steel in lots of different bands. Matt, he’s played lead guitar and midi guitar in lots of bands. Simon’s almost been a little bit of a lone wolf really, he started on his own, got lots of exposure individually, and then he created The Simon Pollard Band.’

‘Eclectic and all about what we want to achieve as a band – genre-bending but rooted in pure emotion, soul and rock – infused with the country/folky spirit!’

If money were no object, Pollard is hankering after Paul Simon’s Martin OM-42 guitar: ‘It’s a thing of beauty and resonance,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘And Paul Simon knows what he is doing when it comes to choosing acoustic guitars! For Liam, I’d suggest the kit used by Phil Collins on ‘In The Air Tonight’ – it’s iconic but also very loud – and Liam loves to play loud!’

If he could put together a brilliantly eclectic supergroup for a night, Pollard has big plans: ‘On drums, it would be Don Henley from The Eagles, he keeps the beat (laughs), plus those harmonies! On bass, I’ll have John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) driving that rhythm section! Got to be John Mayer on lead guitar and Justin Vernon will bring the melancholy on rhythm guitar. On keys and vocals, it has to be Alicia Keys – the voice, the ability, the soul! I’d actually love to see what that line up could achieve. Eclectic and all about what we want to achieve as a band – genre-bending but rooted in pure emotion, soul and rock – infused with the country/folky spirit!’

‘No Time To Talk’, which they released as a single in August, has a huge Springsteen feel to it, both lyrically and sonically: ‘That’s where the influences comes from, because you probably can pick it up, towards the end of the song, where the saxophone (the aptly named Chris Hornsby) just comes out of nowhere, that’s a Boss move, isn’t it?!,’ Warner said enthusiastically. I say that it definitely is. ‘We listen to lots of his music. The way this song starts is a little bit heavier than ‘Home’ but it has that really nice tubular bell sound in each of the verses, into the choruses, and it fits really well. David, who is the sound engineer at Chairworks, he really helped us to shape that song. We went to him and said: “We want it to sound a bit Springsteen-esque, we want it to have that Americana feel to it, that 80’s edge, but not forgetting that country underpins everything that we’re doing.’ 

‘The song spawned from there and the emotions and feelings flowed from the space of hurt and trying to reconcile what’s important in life and how to find belonging out of uncertainty’

It’s a raw song rooted in Pollard’s own personal turmoil: ‘I separated from my wife last year and I literally lost my home,’ he said. ‘The song spawned from there and the emotions and feelings flowed from the space of hurt and trying to reconcile what’s important in life and how to find belonging out of uncertainty. I wanted to use ambiguous elements that can appeal to the listener and make it their own, along with ensuring that existential themes in the world today could also be felt through the lyrics.’

The guitars are sharp and driving, whilst the rhythm section propels the song forward with an insatiable energy. It’s a song full of heart with a huge, anthemic, catchy chorus that gets you singing along and there’s an urgency and sincerity to Pollard’s vocals that underpins his message that it’s important to slow down and take stock of what really matters.

However, the version of ‘No Time To Talk’ that they released has undergone a significant transformation since its inception: ‘I think that’s the beauty of writing as a collective,’ Warner said. ‘Coming together as a group and really getting close to each other in terms of what we want it to sound like, with everyone having a voice. Before we recorded it, it didn’t have those tubular bells in it, it didn’t have as many synths, it just snowballed when we got into the recording studio (laughs). I think it met what Simon set out to achieve in a roundabout way as we started adding the different layers. We constantly refined it, it’s one of the best songs that we’ve ever written, in my opinion. It’s really catchy, it has a lot of energy and showcases our vocal abilities from a leadership point of view with Simon but also across the dynamics of the backing vocals.’

They comes across as a tight knit group and have had a lot of fun along the way, as Pollard recounts: ‘The funniest time has got to be after playing a gig in Camden many years back,’ he said. ‘Liam got a little worse for wear and proceeded to stick a soap dispenser in his jacket pocket – he would walk around Camden offering his own brand of hand wash to passersby for a small tip (laughs). Needless to say, when he offered soap to the local police constable walking the beat, he was less than impressed!’

‘The electric guitar lead in this song really comes to the fore, it’s bluegrassy blues, it bubbles up very nicely!’

Next up will be two ‘belting’ releases next year, according to Warner: ‘They’ve got that high energy, alternate country feel,’ he said. ‘We’ve also got another untitled song that we’ll be looking to release next year, which shows a completely other side of what we do, it’s very similar to ‘Home’, but it’s The Bondurants on their head, so that’s a really exciting tune! The first song is more upbeat, more chirpy, it’s got a summery feel to it. I think we’ll use that as we lead up to more of the festival season. The second one is called ‘Closing Time’, it has a real cool country, deep Americana sound to it. It’s slowed down, we’ve got lots of different instruments in that one. The electric guitar lead in this song really comes to the fore, it’s bluegrassy blues, it bubbles up very nicely! Simon, Jenna and Dave have been working behind the scenes writing three new tunes, which will be shared with me probably the back end of this month, where I’ll go away, listen to them, and start thinking about how can I shape and put the drums and the rhythm section in with it, and then work closely with Dave, the bass player, to interlock some of those rhythmic beats!’

Pollard weighs in: ‘Closing Time’ is a song about closure, the end of something and moving on to the start of a new chapter,’ he said. ‘It’s about giving your all to exhaustion and then saying: “Well, I have nothing left to give, so what’s next’?”‘

If he could go for a pint with anyone, Warner is quick to pick Taylor Hawkins: ‘I was devastated when he died, I’ve taken a lot of influence from his drumming,’ he said. ‘His fills, his slower stuff, I’d love to find out how he came up with those ideas. Tom Petty has been a huge influence for all of us, from setting up The Heartbreakers and becoming the frontman. I’d like to ask him what his journey was like?’ Pollard goes with Paul Simon: ‘I’d like to chat through his various decades as an icon of music,’ he said. ‘What kept him going? How did he seek out new inspiration?’ For Warner and his band mates, one dream still looms large: ‘To play in Nashville, that would be the North Star for us,’ he said excitedly. ‘To play there in a packed-out bar, seeing people dancing to our music, that would be amazing. It hasn’t happened yet but we’re starting the conversations!’