Life & Work with Ploom

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ploom. 

Hi Ploom, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Our guitarist, Matt, and drummer, Dave, had been jamming together for a few months when Dave’s brother, Andrew moved to Denver and joined in on the sessions. We then met our singer Ben and bassist, Anthony, who had played music together for a while, and added them to the lineup. Incredibly, our musical tastes and vision aligned pretty closely between the five of us which can be the biggest battle of being in a band. 

We started jamming and writing songs and eventually started playing shows in 2019. We recorded a 4-song EP in Matt’s basement and released it to the world in March 2020, right as the first covid wave was starting to really ramp up. We had plans to play an EP release show and gig around the area in support of the EP that got nixed because of the pandemic. Because we couldn’t play any indoor shows for a while, we played a few DIY distanced outdoor festivals in the mountains and then hosted our own festival called Psych’s Peak in 2021. 

We are now working on recording our debut full-length album that should drop later this year. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a pretty smooth road for us. The biggest struggle is finding the time to write, rehearse, and record while we all have other full-time jobs. The timing of our EP release wasn’t great as Covid shut down a lot of music venues, but we were able to put together some outdoor shows in the interim. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We are a rock band from Denver. We write, record, and mix all of our music in house. We also host DIY shows and mini-festivals outdoors in the mountains. We are working on our debut full-length album, to be released later this year. 

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The music industry has shifted massively the past few decades. The affordability of recording equipment has enabled many more people to record at home and put their music out into the world which is great. The flip side is it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd because there is just so much music out there. 

It’s also now more difficult for the majority of musical artists to make much money from selling music as most listeners no longer purchase physical or digital copies, and instead subscribe to streaming services. 

As such, most artists were making the majority of their income from playing shows. The pandemic definitely put a dent in that live performance income for many artists and caused some smaller independent venues to shut down for good. 

I think we’ll continue to see a focus on live performances, merch sales, TV/movie licensing, etc. to generate income rather than physical copies. 

Contact Info:

• Email: ploommusic@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ploommusic/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ploommusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ervJkfBmbixE81dafh9ug
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ploom-music
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2MzCENOasd8Fj7zZRZUdlk

Image Credits:
Sean O’Neill