At times featuring upwards of 13 members, Tropi-Cali act Red Pony Clock describes their music as “clarinet and xylophone–driven vaudeville-a-delic joy pop, influenced by mariachi and seething with the eternal teenage spirit.”
“Most of the members are first-generation Mexican-Americans,” says bandleader Gabe Saucedo, “and we listen to a lot of stuff, including music native to our homelands. Eventually, though, everything we like makes its way into our music — it all runs through the same filter of barely adequate musicianship.”
The band has opened shows for Architecture in Helsinki, Of Montreal, Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, Mt Erie, Persephones Bees, and others. They’ve gone from being Saucedo’s one-man lo-fi recording project to the incalculable, cult-like assemblage of today, sporadically releasing their music on 7" records, cassettes, vinyl, and hand-decorated CDRs.
Their 2007 full-length God Made Dirt (HHBTM records) marked RPC’s first foray into a professional studio, recorded with the help of their old friend Roy Silverstein at Habitat Studios.
The group’s music is experimental, mellow, ‘60s-influenced pop/folk rock, with heavy horns and decidedly tropical salsa-inspired undercurrents. Band members at various times have included Gabe Saucedo, Gerry Saucedo, Melina Saucedo, Tony Prudhome, Porsche Griggs, Martin Tapia, Adam Powell, Mike Lopez, Normandie Wilson, David Barclay, David Menchaca, Chris Marino, Samantha Abraham, Anthea Osguthorpe, and Lauren Plumlee.
A release party for their full-length Whatevz Forevzzz happened September 24, 2011, at the Tin Can Ale House. Around the same time, the band began working on a music-based animated children’s story, The Legend of the Red Pony, featuring multimedia images and filmed sequences, planned for release on DVD.