Two years since Polaris released their ARIA-nominated debut album, 'The Mortal Coil', the band will unleash their follow-up record 'The Death Of Me' on 21 February.
Those eager to see Polaris live won’t have to wait long either as their 'The Death Of Me' Australian tour (that also features Wage War, Crystal Lake and Alpha Wolf) kicks off in February.Currently on tour in Europe, we sent a bunch of questions to the band; drummer Daniel Furnari, one of the main songwriters in the unit, took time out from his weekend to answer them.
You guys are currently in Europe; any funny tour tales you can share with us?
Well, this tour has included our first trip to Finland which involved a 12-hour overnight ferry trip from Sweden; and the ferry is essentially a giant cruise liner with on-board gambling, bars and restaurants, live music, a spa. . . everything.
The whole experience is incredibly bizarre and a large amount of drinks tends to be consumed by the passengers along the ride, which leads to some very interesting behaviour.
Among other things, in one night we got yelled at by an old Hells Angel (who later claimed he could read minds) for singing along too loudly with the acoustic singer in the bar; stormed the dance floor with Northlane and crew to Beyonce’s 'Crazy In Love'; got threatened by another supposedly 'very dangerous man' after one of our crew had a perfectly polite conversation with his girlfriend; watched a guy get pinned down by security and taken to the Brig. . . which is all honestly quite tame compared to some of the stories we’ve heard about this ferry.
Is there a massive difference between fan bases in the northern hemisphere compared to you local audiences?
Once you get down to it, what’s funny is how similar they all actually are. Crowds in certain cities or countries might tend to be a little quieter or more reserved than others, but at the end of the day I feel like what unites fans of heavy music is that in general they all just want to jump around, run in circles, crowd surf, sing-along and get rowdy, and they’re really appreciative of foreign bands coming out to play for them.
Australian crowds always used to be our craziest by far, and they are probably still at the top of the list. But now that we’ve come back here a few times it feels like certain places like the UK, Germany, France and now apparently even Finland have started to catch up, which is incredible to see.
What's a common food/ drink readily available in Europe/ the UK that you wish was mainstream back in Oz?
Curry ketchup – it’s a staple in Germany, but so hard to find anywhere else. Last time we were over here we bought a huge bottle of it to keep in the bus and we put it on everything: pizza, kebabs, hot dogs, noodles, the lot.
You are nearing the release of your second studio album, ‘The Death Of Me', in February; what can you tell us about this record?
That is a very open question!
I can tell you that we’re very, very proud of it. I can tell you that making it was probably the hardest thing we’ve ever done, and it drove us all insane for many months on end and really tested the relationships within the band. I can tell you that it contains both our heaviest and softest material so far, and everything else in between.
I can tell you that listening to it brings up a lot of very intense emotions for me. And I can tell you that it’s gonna kick-ass to play live.
How does new single 'Masochist' showcase Polaris and your sound, creative development since debut album 'The Mortal Coil'?
That was a song where the vocal ideas largely dictated what we did underneath them instrumentally, rather than the other way around, and in writing in that way we were able to take advantage of simplicity in the instruments at certain times in order to allow the vocals to shine.
I also feel by doing that, the couple of sections that are a little more technical or a little heavier were able to naturally stand out more and have a stronger impact when they do come in. However, I wouldn’t say this song is really indicative of us going in a certain direction since 'The Mortal Coil' – it’s just one of the things we explored in this record.
You recorded at your DIY studio on Mollymook (NSW); how did those familiar surroundings shape the direction of this second album?
I feel like the familiar environment had both positive and negative effects on us all at different times.
Knowing that we had already made a record that we were proud of in that location was kind of encouraging, and we knew exactly what we were getting into in terms of how we would set the house up to make it a studio again. Luckily, virtually nothing about the house had changed in the last two years.
But while there were some great memories in the house, making the last record was also quite stressful at times, for some of us more than others, and it was hard to stop some of the mentality of that time creeping back in.
There’s something special about the place though – being on the edge of a cliff with that endless ocean horizon in front of you has a way of making you reconsider the significance of your existence in the world, and I think that is very apparent in the lyrics that came about during that time.
The success your debut record had; has that added any extra pressure (or flip that motivation) from either yourselves, record label, fans or any other exterior forces?
I think any pressure that we feel on our band has always been brought on primarily by ourselves, and any other pressure comes secondary to that – we have standards and goals that we want to meet, both artistically and career-wise, and we know what we should be capable of and where we want to be.
We know how we want to feel when we listen to our own songs, and until we get there, the record isn’t done. But we’re very aware of how rare it is for an Aussie band to have a debut album reach so many people, and that creates a pressure of its own – wanting to prove that we deserve to be here and it wasn’t some kind of fluke.
As you said, the pressure and motivation come hand in hand – there’s always a fear of not living up to expectations that fans might have had, but there’s an encouragement in thinking: 'If this is what we accomplished in the last two years with that collection of songs, imagine what we can do now.'
Knowing that there are a lot more people paying attention to what we’re doing now than there were two years ago is kind of scary, but also makes us feel very fortunate. We know that more people are going to hear this record than we’ve ever had before, and we really see that as a gift.
The ARIA nomination for 'The Mortal Coil'; what doors has that opened for the band that probably would've remained closed otherwise?
Honestly, unless you count the actual physical door into the awards ceremony, getting an ARIA nomination didn’t really open any new doors for us per se, which is fine, because we didn’t expect it to!
It does mean that you can say 'ARIA-nominated' in your press releases though, which is nice I guess. Maybe certain people in the industry might take you a little more seriously because of that. But we were just incredibly chuffed to get the recognition of a nomination, especially with it being our first LP.
Getting acknowledged by that faction of the industry has always been tough for heavy bands, and a lot of great bands have been overlooked in the past, so it was a really nice surprise to get a nod there.
You're hitting UNIFY Gathering 2020; looking forward to that adventure and catching up with a bunch of your music mates?
Absolutely, we can’t wait! This will be our third time playing Unify and we have a lot of amazing memories from past Gatherings.
The crowds there have been some of our favourites ever and have been better each time. Going from playing in the early afternoon, then a little later the following year, to now playing right near the end of the night, it’s so wild to see that growth.
And of course, the chance to play and hang out with so many friends on one weekend is something we’re really looking forward to. Northlane and Void Of Vision (who we’re currently on tour with), Architects, Tapestry, Kublai Khan, and so many others.
I also have to mention how ridiculously psyched I am to see The Ghost Inside. That band holds a really special place in my heart, and to see them back in action after everything they’ve been through is beyond inspiring. I’ll be rushing straight off stage to pack up, get changed and get out there to see those guys crush their set. Forgive me if you spot me with a tear in my eye.
The band are also touring nationally in February; are you now used to being a band whose fan base allows you to arrange Australia-wide tours? It must be a joy as well to have such a loyal following, right?
It’s taken us a long time and a lot of tours to have the following that we now do at home.
We did our first Aussie tour in 2014 and from then on we were doing laps around the country every couple of months, and never really stopped. Because of that we’re fortunate to be able to now go to all these different corners of the country and have people care about our music.
Especially after spending a lot of time overseas, it means a lot to feel like we’re being 'welcomed home' in a sense, no matter what part of Australia we go to. Seeing some of the same, familiar faces time and time again in these cities, people that have been coming to our shows for years in some cases, is really special.
The Polaris 2020 live show; are you working on any new productions, extra elements to add to the stage performance?
As we’re stepping into some larger theatres on this tour, it definitely gives us the space to step up the production a bit. I don’t want to give away much, but I can promise it will be a big show.
But honestly, what I think we’re all most excited about is just playing these new songs live and getting to finally see how people react and move to them. It gives the songs a whole new life once you experience that, and I think that’s far bigger than any production element we could add.
You'll have Wage War, Crystal Lake and Alpha Wolf joining you on this tour; looking forward to hosting that trio of bands?
We’re so stoked on that line-up, honestly I can’t say it enough. I can’t believe we were able to get all four of us together at the same time and make it work.
We just spent a month in the US with Wage War and it only took us a couple of days to become very close mates – they were so welcoming to us and I think we’re just very similar types of people and really passionate about doing what we do. Our music and theirs seems to resonate with a lot of the same listeners as well, so to now have them come over to Australia with us is just perfect.
Crystal Lake are a band that we’ve had our eye on for ages – the standard of metal bands in Japan is insanely high and the world is definitely starting to notice that. I’ve heard so much about their amazing live show and the fact that this will be their first time coming to Australia makes the whole thing even better.
And Alpha Wolf of course are long-time friends of ours; they’ve grown so much in the last two years and we’ve been so proud to see them smashing it in Australia and getting a bunch of recognition overseas as well.
I hate to toot our own horn, but I honestly feel like this will be one of the strongest tour packages to hit Australia in the heavy scene in 2020 and I can’t wait for everyone to witness it.
Life on the tour bus; are Polaris a bunch of clean-living dudes or do you enjoy indulging in a few pranks and other shenanigans?
We’re not really known as a pranks band or anything like that – we like to have a good time, but you wouldn’t catch us messing up the tour bus or anything like that. When you’re rolling around with other bands and crew together you gotta treat it like a shared home.
'The Death Of Me' is released 21 February. Polaris play UNIFY Gathering (VIC) 11 January.
Polaris 2020 Tour Dates
Fri 21 Feb - The Gov (Adelaide) - sold outSat 22 Feb - Forum Melbourne
Sun 23 Feb - Astor Theatre (Perth)
Mon 24 Feb - The Gov (Adelaide)
Fri 28 Feb - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 29 Feb - The Tivoli Theatre (Brisbane)
