We featured Polary’s new video, “Nothing” a few days back and we’re following up by letting the band tell us a bit more about themselves. And then chucking the video in at the bottom to give you another chance to enjoy it. Take it away, Polary…
Where are you guys from?
We’re from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
How did you meet?
Sam and I met in primary school and became best mates pretty much straight away. We continued to play together until we started getting into bands with other guys. This was a massive learning curve for us even at such a young age and we quickly realised that we gelled with each other a lot more than with other people. After taking about a year off rehearsing with bands and playing shows we met Fred through mutual friends and got talking about music. We booked a rehearsal the same week and it was pretty clear from the beginning that Fred was going to compliment our playing styles perfectly and vice versa. Since then we’ve become tighter and super close with each other which we hope comes across in every aspect of us as a band.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We’ve been playing for just over two years as ‘Polary’
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
I actually stumbled across a poem on a random website and remember the word ‘polary’ sticking right out at me. I liked the way it looked on the page but distinctively remember not liking the poem at all. When I took the word out of context and continued to think about it amongst other names that we had mentioned, it was always the one I felt suited us best.
What are your influences?
Our influences come from a wide range of places. Musically, our primary influences are from bands like Lower Than Atlantis, Don Broco, You Me At Six etc. but we’re really into straight up pop music and jazz outfits like Snarky Puppy. Apart from music, we all gain a lot of influence through fashion, literature and generally things we think look pretty.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
I think that our wide range of influences has a massive effect on our sound which makes us different from other artists. We never try to make our songs sound like a specific genre or anything like that but the culmination of all of our individual ideas usually flatter each other.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Our lyrical content is hugely personal to me. From a young age I’ve found this the best way to vent any frustration or emotion. I don’t want to speak about what the majority of the lyrics directly mean; the whole point of me putting what i felt into music was that I wouldn’t have to actually talk about it. I find strength in my family and I hope people can see reference to that in the words I sing.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Our live show is very energetic and retaining excitement throughout our set is really important to us. We know how boring it is to go and see a band who don’t seem to be enjoying themselves on stage which was something we’ve been aware of from the start. I’d say we’ve played around 50 shows together since 2014.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We were playing a venue that must have only been about 10 feet wide with a super low ceiling and there was so many kids crowd surfing that one guy managed to get on top of someone else and literally surf him. That was quite funny to watch but thats about as far as wild shows go for us.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
I play a Fender Telecaster and a Fender Strat through a Marshall Bluesbreaker. The Telecaster has always been my number one just for the fact that it’s so versatile and feels perfect to play live. I bought the Strat quite recently and it looks really pretty but I don’t rate it anywhere near as much as my Tele. Fred uses a Musicman Stingray which is his go to. It cuts through so well but it’s also got massive bottom end. Fred’s got a Fender jazz as well which looks and sounds amazing. He plays everything through an Orange Bass Terror. Sam plays a Tama Starclassic bubinga with Zildjian A and K customs. It suits his playing style perfectly and sounds huge in the mix.
What are your plans for the rest of 2016 / 2017?
We’re playing a home town show on November 19th which will be our last show of this year. 2017 is set to be a really exciting year for us including the release of our debut EP and hopefully a tour towards the autumn. We feel more confident than ever with the material that we’ve been writing and are so eager to show everyone what we’re about. We have loads more to come in the very near future so keep your eyes out.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Supporting someone like You Me At Six or Lower Than Atlantis would be amazing. As for a band we’d like to open for us, we’re obviously quite new on the block so if we had a larger fan base, having black foxxes open for us would be cool. Ever since we heard them we’ve thought their sound is so good.
