It is a busy Friday morning at Coffee Club’s Campus Club location — students rush in and out to grab a quick drink before heading to class, and the clacking of computer keys only grows in intensity as the sun warms the early autumn day. The smell of brewing coffee and the calming voice of a student performer show no signs of the stress of upcoming midterms.
Out of all the busy students seated at the establishment, one had a musical journey to share. Simon Marotte ’26, a junior in the psychology department and founder of Princeton Encore — the group responsible for bringing Laufey to Princeton — is a part of the rising band, Pocketbook. I spoke with him to discuss the origin of the group, their influences, and some core musical memories.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.
The Daily Princetonian: Can you tell us about yourself and your group?
Simon Marotte: I am a psychology major here at Princeton. I have a minor in music, and I honestly wish I would have majored in music, because my love for it has only grown at Princeton, and a big part of that was through this group called “Pocketbook,” which is a trio of me, Ryder Walsh ’26 — who plays drums — and Allison Jiang ’26, who is a singer. Ryder and I met through a friend. We didn’t know each other, but we immediately started talking about jazz and our respective instruments. We really hit it off.
I ended up meeting with him at the end of my fall semester freshman year and playing with him, and it was a really, really fun experience for both of us. We probably played for an hour and a half straight, just making up random stuff. We had this really good energy and kept on playing with each other. We then decided to see if we could get a vocalist and maybe a bassist or other people. We formed Pocketbook. I think our first gig was at this Arts Gala thing last year, and that was a fun venue to debut our band.
DP: What year did this band form?
SM: This was early sophomore year, so last year.
DP: How did you start playing music?
SM: I started when I was four. My grandma played piano. She really got me into playing piano, and I would just like to play random stuff on top of the keyboard while she played actual songs. She would play “Heart and Soul.” I didn’t know the melody, so I would just tinker around with stuff. From then on, I ended up taking lessons for a few years, but I stopped. I ended up learning songs through YouTube. I got interested in composition and learned a lot of theory and then got interested in jazz.
Once I did that, I was more into listening and playing the songs by ear. I credit my “ear” to the fact that I don’t read music, because I really had to develop listening and trying to replicate that. My first big composition was for this local theater production in my hometown. It was a big challenge for me that made me more comfortable digging into the process.
DP: Why did you guys decide to name your band Pocketbook? Is there a story behind that name?
SM: We really liked the band “Scary Pockets.” A big part of their thesis as a band is learning traditional pop songs and making them jazzy and funky and playing around with the harmonics. I think Ryder may have proposed the idea of Pocketbook. The pocket is a term in jazz and funk. If the music is in the “pocket,” it’s really in the groove — it’s kind of hard to articulate. It’s kind of a drummer’s phrase, if the drummer sits back in the pocket, they’re really in the groove.
DP: Can you describe the type of music you guys play and make?
SM: We play a lot of R&B, soul, funk, but we like to take pop covers and complicate them a little bit with some R&B inflections. We all thankfully have a very similar music taste that informs a lot of our playing and composition. We all compose in different ways — Ryder doesn’t mainly play a chordal instrument. A lot of times I have an idea, and then we flesh it out together and make it into a song, and Allison would write the lyrics. We haven’t written that many original songs, but Allison does write a lot of originals, and she’s super talented. Ryder is also kind of a savant — he plays tons of instruments. He once came into rehearsal and just picked up the bass, and he sounded really really good.
DP: You mentioned you had some original pieces. What are some of the pieces you guys are the most proud of?
SM: We had a gig last semester for All Nighter. They called it the “Big Diddy” of All Nighter where they have a band or artist perform. We were trying to decide what to play, since it was just one song. At first, we thought the audience would really like a cover, especially a popular song at the time, and that we could add our own spin on it. But then Allison reminded us that this was a really big gig where we could reach a lot of students and that we might as well make an original song for this event. I felt very daunted by that, but it was a great idea. We sat down and I had some phrases that we had been playing in between songs, which we fleshed that out into a song. All week we were throwing ideas around, and we performed that song for the first time at that gig. It was a very quick formation of a song, but I was really proud that we were able to do that in such a short period of time.
DP: Do you guys have anywhere to listen or stream your music?
SM: Not yet, but our band right now is in this transition period. I’m the musical director of All Nighter now, so our band is kind of the core of the house band. We might perform some original stuff, and it’ll be really fun.
DP: What is Pocketbook’s favorite song to cover?
SM: I would say “Best Part” by Daniel Caesar. I’ve always loved playing that on piano, and I met Allison through that song. We were talking about playing piano. She played a little bit and then I played. I started playing that song, and she started singing along with it. That was a fun moment, and we both showed each other our love of music.
DP: What are some of your favorite spaces to perform?
SM: I would definitely say All Nighter. Terrace is obviously a great space to perform. We really haven’t played that much though. We’re a very new band. We’ve also played at NCW Coffee Club, which can be nice sometimes. We’d like to play here at Campus Club. That would be fun.
DP: If you could describe your music in terms of other artists, how would you describe that combination?
SM: I would say Vulfpeck. Their sound inspires us a lot. Maybe Daniel Caesar, and I think vocally, Allison has a H.E.R. quality.
DP: Do you have anything else to add and what would you tell people who are interested in exploring your music?
SM: Come to All Nighter! It's such a fun show. There’s a sketch comedy; they have hosts. It’s like a late-night talk show. They have performances from student groups on campus, and it’s super funny, and it’s very fun. Really good music! And if you want to get involved too, there are tons of ways to get involved.
We’re performing. There are two tentative dates, but I’m pretty sure we’re confirmed for the 26th of October.
DP: Sounds like so much fun. Thank you so much for your time. Hope to see you there!
Natalia Diaz is a member of the Class of 2027 and a staff writer for The Prospect at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at nd6595[at]princeton.edu.
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