First of all, can you introduce Polaris for the ones who don’t know you yet ? How did you create the band ?
Ryan S.
Hey! We’re a five piece metalcore band from Sydney Australia. The band initially spawned from Jake and Dan hitting it off in high school, couple of years later I joined and here we are today!
Which band influence you in your music ?
So many bands, so much music! Between the five of us we’ve got quite an eclectic taste in music. Anything ranging from jazz fusion to deep house, deathcore, pop - you name it, someone in the band is spinning it. If we’re talking initial influences for the band I’d definitely say Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, My Chemical Romance etc then we delve into the more prog side of things. Personally my biggest influences would be Periphery, Protest the hero, Guthrie govan as far as lead playing. Lots and lots of different music!
Your second album « THE DEATH OF ME » will be out soon, can you tell us a little bit about it?
It’s a collection of songs which continue to explore the human condition, akin to our last record but lyrically it’s much darker. The album is essentially about losing faith in yourself and your surroundings.
Let’s talk about the lyrics. How they are written in general? Is there only just one person who write them ?
Daniel handles the majority of the lyrics but the topics we write about are moments and ideas that are drawn from all of our lives, our day to day experiences. I think this way the music comes across a lot more genuine and real to the listener and to us as well.
Is there the message you want to communicate with « the death of me » ?
Absolutely. It’s completely okay to not be okay. Depression and anxiety are things every human being suffer from at some point in life, we hope that we can break the stigma around mental health by opening up and addressing these issues head on. That’s the gist of it but it goes much deeper than that. This record is for anyone who’s ever blamed themselves for feeling the way they do, this album is for the heavy hearted. It’s okay to be fucked up.
You keep the line of « the mortal coil » but in the stronger way, do you agree with that ?
Yeah absolutely. We just wanted to take the elements of TMC and supercharge it ten fold. Some songs stray away from our ‘sound’ but it’s still very Polaris. We always find ways to work our identity into each song however different there musical direction is.
We especially love « landmine » and the solo guitar part, can you tell us about this song ?
That song was born on tour! Dan wrote the first few riffs while we were on tour in Europe with architects back in 2019 on his computer and we pieced it all together once we came home. Took a little while to get the arrangement down but sometimes that studio spontaneity will spark the inspiration. The solo is a doozy, had most of it written before going into the studio but again, I like leaving things open sometimes for that edge.
Two songs are out now, Masochist and Hypermania with two official videos, Let’s talk about the making off of the Masochist in which appears Zac Britt of Dream on, Dreamer ?
Masochist came together super naturally, as far as the video goes - everyone who was involved was a friend of the band and that’s exactly what happened with Zach. We’ve known him and the Dreamer guys for years. The video is pretty much a visual representation of how we felt whilst writing the album. There’s something about art and creativity that is simply more than the sum of its parts. This can be life changing when inspiration strikes, but painstakingly frustrating when you have writers block or hit a plateau with art.
We saw you twice on stage with Architects, and at the gibus , Paris. It were two amazing shows, you have some fucking energy. How do you feel playing lives ?
There’s writing music and then there’s playing live. Two entirely different beasts but the show is where it all comes together, it’s all about putting on a good show and being a tight band. We get to interact with fans first hand and feel the energy thrown back at us by the crowd. This feeling is unexplainable, it’s the only time where I can truly feel peaceful in my mind.
What’s your opinion of the french public ?
I think France is lovely, it’s a country I’ve always wanted to visit since a kid. I remember learning French in primary school, the language, the culture, the food... it blew me away that a place like this existed, the world seemed so big back then. So yeah it’s always been a bucket list country to visit, let alone playing shows there. We are so grateful to have fans in France.
A third time in may at « Le petit bain » for the european tour, What’s the song of the new album you will enjoy to play more on this tour ?
Hmm tough question. We’re still getting all the songs up to scratch but I think landmine is going to go absolutely off live. We’re all super stoked to play the new material life
Thanks Ryan for this interview and can wait to see you guys on tour!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the new record.
Lyndia for BGP Music Live