INTERVIEW: Polar

INTERVIEW_Polar

This year GhostFest played host to some of the biggest names in the current metal scene; and we at BringTheNoiseUK seized this opportunity to delve deeper into the life of Polar and see what life was like touring Europe, their influences, favourite memories of touring, weird fan experiences, nicknames amongst the lads, advice for young aspiring musicians, thoughts on GhostFest and many more.

How did the band start?

Rick & Max: Basically it was 5 friends who were in a band before in Surrey and we got together, so yeah pretty standard. Just a group of friends, yeah.

How did you get noticed?

Rick: Played as many shows as possible, bought a van, booked every show around the UK we could, played all the shows, and basically just worked hard for it. Naturally people started to recognise us, so yeah.

Any particular musicians you’d like to play with?

Max: We’d love to play with Comeback Kid, Thrice, Umm Nirvanna? That would be good, aha.

Rick: Ghost inside would be good too.

Max: There’s a lot of music we’d like to play with. It’s strung out for me actually, I like, straight up old school. Big influences. We’d love to play with them.

Did you catch Comeback Kid yesterday?

Rick: Yeah we did, it was amazing, sick! It was very good.

What are your goals for the band?

Max & Rick: Just tour the world, smash the fuck out of everything, party, just meet cool friends, sell millions of records, get a mansion, have fun and be happy doing it.

Do you have any advice for young musicians doing what you’re doing now?

Max: Don’t give up, plenty of perseverance, practise and play everywhere.

Rick: Learn power-chords! Sort your peddles and power chords and you’re sorted for life. Aha.

What plans do you have for a new album? You’ve just released a new album too right?

Max: Well, at the moment, nothing. Because its been released for about two months so we’re a long way off. But yeah, we’re writing now so we’re just touring a lot at the moment and getting out there. We’re going around Europe and have some UK dates coming up as well.

How’s the new album going?

Max: Yeah, good. Really well. The reviews we’ve got have been fucking top notch. We don’t want to come across big headed but we didn’t expect it to do badly but its always nice having that backed up with people saying nice things about it. I mean so far we haven’t seen a bad review, touch wood.

What’s your favourite memory from touring so far?

Max: What with other bands?

Rick: For me probably Heavy-Fest last year for us was one. Really good for us. It was one of our first major festivals, and it was packed outta 10.

Max: The European tour, going to places where people can’t even understand what you’re saying and their loving it. So yeah, it was wicked. I know people who have gone to uni and all that kinda stuff and have got to travel but our music took us there.

Where did the band name derive from?

Max & Rick: Absolutely nowhere. Nothing special. It was the best one we thought of. We wanted something short and simple and that was it. It’s got no meaning behind it, it’s just a name.

Any music guilty pleasures?

Max: Guilty pleasures, man…Counting Crows! Love the Counting Crows so fuck everyone else that doesn’t.

Rick: I’m in to like anything, chilled out stuff.

Max: Alice In Chains.

Rick: hah no, no I don’t like that. I don’t know, anything, Nirvana?

Max: Their not a guilty pleasure, aha.

What’s been your biggest challenge as a band so far and how did you get passed it?

Max: Challenge? Umm, being in a band with Nick Jones, aha. Nahh… I’m joking.

Max & Rick: For us its probably touring, getting our van fixed and stuff. Touring life, keeping things running, getting people to buy merch. That’s sort of the main thing for us. I am broke as fuck so yeah.

Keeping out of the red then?

Max: Yeah, yeah, but you’re doing something you love so yeah.

Rick: we always work it out somehow.

Strangest Fan Experience?

Max: I don’t know what to say. There’s been a couple of weird ones but we love all the fans of course.

What have they done?

Max: Well been a bit stalkery.

Rick: yeah, yeah.

Max: I guess it’s flattering in a really scary way. I dunno, we haven’t anything really weird.

Rick: It’s still kinda weird when people ask you to sign things, when we’re not even like known, its like kids actually ask you for your autograph and I consider us normal going around, we’re not big at all.

Max: We’ve had nothing really weird, like being given peoples hair, blood, spit or something like that. Until that happens, that would be really weird. But nah, nothing but some people being a bit stalkery.

How are you guys enjoying Ghostfest so far, I seen you guys here yesterday?

Max: It’s been good, we’ve just hung out and watched some friends playing… Like TRC are playing today, and Feed The Rhino. Its cool to play it and hang out really. We had to do loads of press and that yesterday so we didn’t get to see as much as we wanted. But I mean Comeback Kid and Heights we watched so that was really good.

Making up for that today then?

Max: I mean yeah, we we’re up today so behaved ourselves last night.

Rick: Yeah we got a full night sleep last night!

Max: We just had an all day party instead.

Do you have any nicknames amongst each other in the group?

Rick: Little Gibbo, he’s our drummer.

Max: that’s Nick our drummer, he looks like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon or Mad Max, he’s got a ridiculous haircut.

Rick: Big hands and Dizzle, ummm…

Who’s Big Hands and Dizzle?

Rick: I’m big hands and he’s Dizzle. I’m big hands, well, ’cause I have big hands, aha. Skiddy and Skid Mark?

Max: Lots of Nicknames basically, depends on the day, aha.

What’s been your favourite live gig as a band so far?

Rick: Well for me it was Young Guns at the Well in Leeds this year, that was a good show for us.

Max: Mine was probably Rescue Rooms? Yeah Rescue Rooms.

Do you have any final message for Bring The Noise Readers?

Max & Rick: Buy our music, we will love you. Enjoy it, come to the shows. Support your local music support our music and buy records, have fun and bring the noise!

Written by: Nick Francis

Photo by: Daniel Mackie