With summer’s close impending, and so too our sense of doom, we feel the need to revel in every bit of summer’s last sunshine. That’s why the final leg of the Lipton Ice Tea Virgin Cocktail Summer Exhibition Tour, taking place this Saturday Feb 9th in Perth, could possibly be our biggest thus far. Out here as part of this year’s St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Drew and Channy from Minneapolis indie quartet Polica will be providing the tunes. We were lucky enough to catch up with the latter to ask her about writing through a heatwave and working with Bon Iver.
To party with Polica in Perth and win one of eight x copies of ‘Give You The Ghost’ email james@pedestriangroup.com.au with your favourite summer moment so far. Once you’re done click here and answer some quick questions for your chance to win 1x double pass to the Future Music Festival in the city of your choice*, thanks to Lipton Ice Tea Virgin Cocktails.
How do you describe your music? At some points our sound is very sparse and restrained, but the next moment there will be drums beating you over the head with aggression. It’s a mish mash of four very different musicians and their sonic upbringing wrangled by the wacky direction of Ryan Olson. Polica is the sound of a modern mutt.
Give You The Ghost was written and recorded during a heatwave. We’re currently in the midst of one here, any tips for surviving the heat? We work late at night after the sun is down and the windows can be opened up with fans blowing on top speed. Start around 9pm and go till 3 am or so. I don’t frequent that schedule, but it works sometimes but it sort of destroys day life.
Grief-stricken lyrics take centre stage on your debut, what were the specific experiences the band drew upon whilst writing? Well I wrote the words and melodies, so I have to take full credit for the depressing angst junk. I’m a bit of a sullen person with a leaning towards the tragedies of life.
How did the video for ‘Lay Your Cards Out’ end up getting premiered on Jay-Z’s Life+Times site? Typical music industry magic-less story. The video was sent to a guy who works on the Life and Times blog and it made it’s way on to the page. We have no evidence to suggest that Jay-Z is truly a fan of Polica.
Tell us about working with Gayngs with a bunch of other talented musicians including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. It was a great time. I learned about life on the road, being in a band and how to work with Ryan Olson. It was an honor to stand in the back and sing back-ups behind such a talented group of musicians.
Polica are here in the country for the Laneway Festival, do you have any favourite international music festivals you’ve been to or played at? My favorite festival was Latitude in the UK and Austin City Limits in Austin, Texas. Both have beautiful grounds to walk around and “discover” new areas plus the bands are well taken care of.
Have you ever been to Australia before? What are you looking forward to most about being in here over summer? This is my first time in Australia. The weather and people are beautiful and very gracious. We have enjoyed some beautiful parks and seasides.
