Funny enough, I was at the bar the other day and a friend I don't see often came up and started telling me that everyone in Canada is now talking about "my" band- Polar Bear Club. I never really thought of them as "my" band, but thanks to a friend in Rochester and a lover for all things post-hardcoreish, I've been on everyone's ass about these guys since their EP and I'm glad the results are being acknowledged here! On a more serious note (since I'm sure that it has more to do with how awesome they are than how much I talk about them), here's the official unabridged version of the interview I did (and then had to seriously cut down) for Exclaim! out in March.
Polar Bear Club has seen quite a bit of attention online since the release of your EP in 2006. If we rewound 15 years and the Internet was out of the picture, how do you think things would have worked outfor you guys?
Guitarist Chris Browne: Good question! Honestly, the answer is probably "not very well." We owe so much of the "success" we've had to MySpace, message boards, email, and stuff like that. It's really weird to even think how bands attracted attention or got anything done before all of this. We probably still would have toured around and played shows and had a good time, but things definitely would not have gone as well for us. We'd probably still be struggling to fill holes every time we left our hometown, and we'd be playing for 5 friends instead of a bunch of people that want to hear us. I feel like mainstream media tends to focus on the negative effects of the internet on artists and labels lately; so much time is spent discussing how the industry is losing money because of people "stealing" music. But for a band of our size and genre, it has really done nothing but great things; people can just stumble across our site and hear songs, and if they like them they can download more and tell their friends. Sure, CD sales for a lot of bands have declined, but for us they've increased a ton from the very same technology. Not to mention, we're so fortunate that people took notice and decided to HELP us by spreading the word via internet. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to benefit from sheer laziness the way we do.
Your new album is coming out on Red Leader Records this month. Where did the name "Sometimes Things Just Disappear" come from?
We were in the studio and having a really tough time coming up with a memorable/cool/meaningful name that we could all agree on. Actually, pretty much the only thing we EVER agree on is that Taco Bell rules. So we were well in the midst of a competition amongst ourselves that we affectionately dubbed the "Taco Bell Challenge," during which we all tried to eat one of every single item on the menu over the course over our studio time. As you could probably guess, no one finished and we were all pretty miserable for having tried. But one of the days when some of the guys went to order some tacos, they had a really huge order and were a little short on money, and they had a pretty awkward encounter with a really slick 17 year-old manager guy in a suit who turned out to be one of the best individuals any of us have ever encountered. Our old bass player, Greg, was trying to order his Mexican Pizza and was surprised at the price, and told the manager he was short...to which our hero replied, "you know what? Sometimes things just disappear..." and proceeded to take out a mysterious card and swipe it, giving Greg all of his food for free. Manager dude...if you read this, we love you, and sorry if this gets you fired.
How would you compare your full length to your EP?
It's really tough to compare the two, honestly. I'm personally proud of both of them and enjoy them for different reasons. The member changes in between the two created some different chemistry in both the songwriting and in the studio itself for sure. I think that the full length in general was just more of a collaborative process that we all really invested a lot of time and effort into, while the EP was a bit more individually dominated. In terms of music or genre differences, I really have no idea how to explain it and would hope people will listen for themselves and enjoy them both for what they are. We tried some new things on the full length, but the one constant is that we've always been really genuine about what we're trying to do, and the music always gets us really psyched. So there may be some stylistic differences, but I don't think any of it was consciously decided. It was a very natural progression and we're really happy with what came out and can't wait to do more.
It seems like most new bands tour pretty heavily following an albumrelease. Are more shows in the cards of PBC in the near future?
Unfortunately, we are not most bands in this respect. PBC is something we all do for fun, and we get a ton of enjoyment out of it, but given where we all are in our lives right now its just not feasible to do a ton of heavy touring. We've all agreed on our level of activity and are really happy with it for the time being, so we'll continue to do as much as we can in the time we have. We all have work and/or school commitments and are kind of geographically scattered as well, so its never easy, but we've always made it work. We did a quick tour in December and January around when the pre-orders came out, and we have a couple awesome weekends with some shows we're REALLY excited about coming up in April. After that, we'll probably be laying low until the late summer, when we're planning on going out for a couple weeks. It's kind of a bummer, but it makes us really appreciate when we can do things together.
It would seem like almost an injustice for this album not to be released on vinyl. Is this something that is likely to happen?
Yes! We're working out details as this is being written. True to form, we're totally disorganized and can only blame ourselves, but it will definitely be coming out on vinyl sooner or later and we can't wait for that. It's cool that people seem to want this to happen, for sure.
Your sound gets compared to lots of late 90s and early 00s post hardcore bands that seemed to saturate the market up until the last few years. Was timing a concern at all when you began releasing music?
Actually, absolutely not. I know your question wasn't meant in this way, but had that been a concern for us, it would have gone completely against what we want this band to be about. When we started writing and releasing stuff it was purely for fun and because we wanted to play music we liked, for us and irrespective of anyone who might be judging. It's really awesome that we've been lucky enough to have some good timing and find people who are reviving their interest in our style of music, whether its considered a throwback or something new. But for us, we've always just wanted to do stuff we were into, and our songs are as much an outgrowth of our own experiences and old bands as they are a product of timing. As things go better and more people seem to care, its sometimes hard to remember that, but we really try and we want people to know that we do this for the same reason as everyone else plays in bands or goes to shows; music is fun and we love doing it, and anyone besides us being into it is purely a bonus.
AND FINALLY! Look out for the April 26th show with Polar Bear Club, Arietta and some other bands at Sneaky Dee's in Toronto! http://www.wegotthemovement.com For details.
