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Artist Interviews
Q&A: Polar Bear
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 2 March 2010
Polar Bear are a British jazz band led by drummer Seb Rochford. After singing to the Babel Label in 2004, the band released their debut album ‘Dim Lit’ to moderate success, though it was their second album ‘Held On The Tips Of Fingers’ which really brought them to wider attention. Merging elements of funk, dance, free jazz, electronica and drum n bass, it earned the band a nomination for the Mercury Prize in 2005 and a BBC Jazz Award in 2006. Polar Bear released their eponymous third album in 2008 through Tin Angel, and are now set to release their latest long player ‘Peepers’, on 10 Mar via The Leaf Label. We spoke to Seb to ask the Same Six.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I played piano at primary school then got a drum kit at secondary school. At first, I just made lots of noise, having no idea what I was doing, and played along to Prince and Grace Jones albums. My first band was a hardcore/punk band called Cabbage with some of my best friends. We only did two gigs but played in our houses masses of times. The guitarist was actually a drummer at the time but wanted to play in the band, so he started to play guitar, and it turned out he was really talented at it (still is). We were all into bands like Napalm Death, Carcass, Godflesh, Voivod and Slayer and I guess our music was coming from there. After that, the guitarist Zak and I started a new band called Crumb, with our friend Chris on bass, which was more discordant and mixed bits of hip hop into it, too. I also played in another rock band with some older musicians which had a lot of improvisation in it. We played around Aberdeen quite a lot, and I had to lie about my age. I also played in an indie band. There’s been lots of bands!
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
People I know, all the amazing music in London (too many artists to mention) like grime, dubstep, funky house, jazz, plus rock and soul music from the sixties and seventies like Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye. London is musically a very inspiring place to be at the moment.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Normally tunes just come into my head, quite often when I’m walking around or driving. Then I sing them, see how they feel and either record them into my phone or computer, or I go to a piano and work out what the notes are and write them down. After this, I take it to the band and we play and see where it goes. Sometimes it’s easy and the band just take it somewhere I hadn’t imagined which is really special. Though I normally have an idea of where I want a track to go, and if it’s just not going in that direction, will sit back and I’ll explain what I envisaged. After we’re going in the right direction, the song is free to open out where it likes.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Beethoven, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Kaushiki Chakrabarty, Food For Animals, Giggs, Jyager, Aretha Franklin, Dizzee Rascal, Frisco, DJ Marcus Nasty, and my friends.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Be open.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest single, and for the future?
To play to as many people as possible around the world, and make lots and lots more albums. I’m already starting to hear the next album in me. Normally, once an album is released, I feel psychologically free to do the next one, and the new tunes come (hopefully). Writing music for this band, though, has to flow naturally – I don’t force it. Sometimes I might write a lot in a few days or weeks, and other times I might not write for a month. In these times, I normally make music on my computer or write songs anyway, but not Polar Bear songs. They need to come naturally. I believe that music is plucked out of the air and is always around us but it just depends whether we are open to receive it.
MORE>> www.polarbearmusic.com
