July 30th, 2009
Interview: Polvo’s Ash Bowie
As Brian noted in his column this week, the pioneering and influential North Carolina indie-rock quartet Polvo is finally coming to Philly tonight (they’re headlining Johnny Brenda’s) a year after reuniting and just ahead of its forthcoming album, In Prism, due from Merge Records in September. A little while back, I spoke with Polvo singer-guitarist Ash Bowie about the band’s re-emergence after a 10-year break:
Did the decision to reunite Polvo come out of a sense of “unfinished business,” or did you just miss playing these songs with these guys? Or was it something else entirely?
Really, it was the appeal of playing the [2008] ATP festival in England that got us back together, and the fact that the timing seemed good for everyone. The opportunity just came to us unexpectedly. I don’t think there was ever a sense of unfinished business.
What were those first couple of [reunion] shows like? How many rehearsals did you do prior to those gigs?
Those shows were a lot of fun, and the audiences were great. We had some minor technical problems and didn’t play all the songs perfectly, but we enjoyed ourselves. I think we only had about six full-band rehearsals beforehand, but the three of us who live in North Carolina had been practicing regularly for a few months.
Do you have solid memories of those very first Polvo shows from all those years ago? How does the feeling then compare to playing now?
I remember the early shows being pretty hit or miss, but it was definitely a fun and creative time for the band and for our local scene in general. We were all around 21 and living in party houses, playing shows with our friends’ bands, making crazy flyers. I guess that was our band’s “formative” period, and it all seemed pretty exciting and important at the time. And so that’s how I remember it. The feeling of playing live is kind of the same. I usually start off pretty nervous, and then that wears off and then it’s a little like being in a bubble created by the stage sound.
Since a good amount of time has passed since the band played together, does it feel normal and natural to be playing together again, or is it in any way strange or awkward?
It definitely doesn’t feel strange or awkward. It didn’t take too long to get the rust off.
Since you’re so cited as an influence and as innovators and have clearly been copied — or, to be nicer, “paid homage to” — by other bands, is there any sense of getting back together in order to “show people how it’s done”?
No, not at all. I’ve always thought that we had a pretty distinctive sound, but I wouldn’t say we’re innovators. Also, whenever you look at what’s going on at a particular time, there’s going to be a lot of overlapping ideas. Like now, why are there so many bands with animal names? Anyway, to my knowledge we haven’t been copied by many bands. I’d love to hear a mix tape of bands that supposedly sound like us, so I can decide for myself. But no, we’re playing again because we’re friends and because it’s fun to play music. We don’t have anything to show anybody or any agenda other than to try to be a good band right now.
During the time Polvo was inactive, did you ever have a sense that the band would someday get back together in some form or for some reason, or did you feel like it was permanently over?
I didn’t really have a feeling about it one way or the other. We never ruled out playing together again, but I don’t think any of us were counting on it. Actually, I thought it was pretty unlikely.
When you talk to fans after shows, are there a couple of questions that keep popping up? What do people generally have to say or want to know when they approach you?
Sometimes people tell us how far they traveled to see us play. Otherwise, just questions about what our plans are and things like that. I’ve just started to realize how hardcore some of our fans really are. The response so far has been amazing and kind of surreal.
Are the notions of “legacy” and “influence” important to you, or do you just kinda go out and play the music you love, and however the people outside of Polvo write, talk about, or regard you, so be it?
I feel like now, as before, we’ll just kind of do our thing and not worry too much about what anyone says about us one way or the other. Of course, we’ve paid some attention to how people react to us, but I don’t think it’s affected the way we play music or caused us to try to get a different reaction. It’s hard to know what people are going to hear in a song anyway. We’ve been called “math-rock” a lot, which is the last thing I would’ve guessed. And even “emo.” But that’s the way it is. Honestly, I’ve always been a pretty critical-minded person, which has had both positive and negative effects. For example, it’s really hard for me to listen to any of our records because there’s so much I’d like to have done differently or simply don’t like anymore, which is why it’s been really great to be able to make some changes. But to answer the question, the notion of legacy or influence isn’t so important. It’s a nice feeling to be appreciated, though.
Polvo plays Johnny Brenda’s, along with Obits, tonight at 9pm. $14.
1 Trackback(s)