Poly Action Interview
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the history of Poly Action?
A: The band formed in 2015. I had been playing in other bands for several years and was ready to start work on my own songs. When I approached each of the guys about playing, I needed to make clear my goals and intentions for the band. Sometimes you start playing with people, and momentum starts revving up, and that causes someone to be like, "Oh man I didn't sign up for this." I wanted to avoid moments like that. Fortunately everyone was immediately on board, and so far things have been great. There's a lot of musical and personal history between everyone in the band. These are longtime friends who I've admired immensely, and I'm lucky to be in their company.
Q: You guys have a sound that to my ears is instantly infectious. It reminded me of a now defunct band called Girls that also combined elements of surf with garage rock. What is the songwriting process like for the band?
A: Thank you. Before assembling the band, I was working on little home demos on my laptop. But once the group was in place, and we had our first rehearsal, it became abundantly clear that these guys can come up with stuff way better what I was coming up with. Where it arrived is, I'll bring the skeleton of a song to the band, and we'll just start playing it, to feel it out. It’s crucial that this be a band, and feel communal, and to have each member print their personality onto these songs.
Q: Your song titles have names that made me want to pay attention to lyrics such as “The Accident of 1993.” What themes and ideas run through the album and are there stories you can tell about a specific song?
A: This album is sort of the documentation of discovering what Poly Action was. One of the big turning points for us was writing "The Accident of 1993." That song is a joke. I remember sitting at my kitchen table, five o'clock in the morning and just having a hard time playing through it just once because I was laughing too much. It was just this silly song that was written in five minutes. I half-heartedly brought it to rehearsal later that day and the guys filled it in immediately and it was hilarious! The realization to not take ourselves so seriously was huge, and that song turned out to be one that people really responded to. I think that when we play these goofier songs like “Accident” or “KFC” it sort of drops people's guards. They think, "oh these guys are goofy." Which puts them in a different place when they hear our other, not so goofy stuff. Hopefully that works in our favor.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the history of Poly Action?
A: The band formed in 2015. I had been playing in other bands for several years and was ready to start work on my own songs. When I approached each of the guys about playing, I needed to make clear my goals and intentions for the band. Sometimes you start playing with people, and momentum starts revving up, and that causes someone to be like, "Oh man I didn't sign up for this." I wanted to avoid moments like that. Fortunately everyone was immediately on board, and so far things have been great. There's a lot of musical and personal history between everyone in the band. These are longtime friends who I've admired immensely, and I'm lucky to be in their company.
Q: You guys have a sound that to my ears is instantly infectious. It reminded me of a now defunct band called Girls that also combined elements of surf with garage rock. What is the songwriting process like for the band?
A: Thank you. Before assembling the band, I was working on little home demos on my laptop. But once the group was in place, and we had our first rehearsal, it became abundantly clear that these guys can come up with stuff way better what I was coming up with. Where it arrived is, I'll bring the skeleton of a song to the band, and we'll just start playing it, to feel it out. It’s crucial that this be a band, and feel communal, and to have each member print their personality onto these songs.
Q: Your song titles have names that made me want to pay attention to lyrics such as “The Accident of 1993.” What themes and ideas run through the album and are there stories you can tell about a specific song?
A: This album is sort of the documentation of discovering what Poly Action was. One of the big turning points for us was writing "The Accident of 1993." That song is a joke. I remember sitting at my kitchen table, five o'clock in the morning and just having a hard time playing through it just once because I was laughing too much. It was just this silly song that was written in five minutes. I half-heartedly brought it to rehearsal later that day and the guys filled it in immediately and it was hilarious! The realization to not take ourselves so seriously was huge, and that song turned out to be one that people really responded to. I think that when we play these goofier songs like “Accident” or “KFC” it sort of drops people's guards. They think, "oh these guys are goofy." Which puts them in a different place when they hear our other, not so goofy stuff. Hopefully that works in our favor.
Q: You recorded the album at Estuary Recording Facility. Can you talk about that experience? How did you make aesthetic decisions? How involved was the engineer and did you work with a producer?
A: We recorded with my long time friend Evan Kaspar, who I play with in another Austin band called Maryann. Not only is Evan a gifted musician and songwriter, but he is an accomplished sound engineer as well. He handled all the technical aspects of recording, and he has a great intuition. He just knows what we're going for, and we can get to our destination with minimal discussion. It really was just a group of friends recording songs in a studio. Very relaxed, which is important.
Q: Is there a different type of energy when you play the songs live? What is your live show like?
A: We try to bring as much energy and enthusiasm to our live performances as we can. I've seen too many bands that look bored or uninterested in what they're doing on stage. If you're not having fun playing your songs, how do you expect anyone else to? There's always rock n’ roll shows going on in Austin, every night of the week. We have to find a way to sort of cut through, and make people want to come back and see us. We do our damnedest to be entertaining.
Q: What else do people need to know about Poly Action?
A: We are planning our first tour and we need money! Haha. Please consider buying our record off our Bandcamp at polyaction.bandcamp.com. It would be immeasurably appreciated!
A: We recorded with my long time friend Evan Kaspar, who I play with in another Austin band called Maryann. Not only is Evan a gifted musician and songwriter, but he is an accomplished sound engineer as well. He handled all the technical aspects of recording, and he has a great intuition. He just knows what we're going for, and we can get to our destination with minimal discussion. It really was just a group of friends recording songs in a studio. Very relaxed, which is important.
Q: Is there a different type of energy when you play the songs live? What is your live show like?
A: We try to bring as much energy and enthusiasm to our live performances as we can. I've seen too many bands that look bored or uninterested in what they're doing on stage. If you're not having fun playing your songs, how do you expect anyone else to? There's always rock n’ roll shows going on in Austin, every night of the week. We have to find a way to sort of cut through, and make people want to come back and see us. We do our damnedest to be entertaining.
Q: What else do people need to know about Poly Action?
A: We are planning our first tour and we need money! Haha. Please consider buying our record off our Bandcamp at polyaction.bandcamp.com. It would be immeasurably appreciated!