Interview: Polar

Their EP, This Polar Noise, has been ripping up the better half of Surrey since its release in February, and the band are set to embark on their first headline tour this month. But first, their trail of blood leads us to the Boileroom, where they’re readying for a warm-up show in their hometown of Guildford. “On a scale of one to eleven, I’m hoping for a twelve,” smirks Woody, vocalist.

The audience is similarly expectant, considering Polar’s building renown for live performances. Their shows are packed to the brim with walls of death, circle pits around the drum kit, and Woody flying into the crowd at least fifty-two times a night. “Every time you come back here your friends are still here,” the high-spirited vocalist says, “and it’s a nice memory. Every time you walk home from one of these shows, you’ve always got a good feeling…” Though when asked if they see tonight’s Boileroom gig as a kind of homecoming – in relation to the exposure they’ve had in the last few months - he confesses it’s “a bit more of a drinkathon, if I’m honest,” laughing. After a few beers, they try to describe their sound. “It’s heavy punk rock.” Max, guitarist, states. “Though every time you explain it to an older person – to your mum or dad – you’d just say ‘Slipknot.’” ‘Or “Katy Perry mixed with The Corrs,”’ laughs Woody, vocalist. In fact, give punk a shot of Alexisonfire and Gallows, with a homegrown serum for disaster, and you’ve got Polar.

However, concerning the upcoming tour – which includes Ghostfest and Hevyfest – their attitudes are a little more serious. “It’s our first headline tour,” says Max. “We’ve been to a few of the places before, but a lot we haven’t been to, so we’re looking forward to kind of just getting out there.” “We’ve done a lot of double-hitting with the tours we’ve been lucky enough to be on,” Woody adds, though confesses they’re wanting to expand, and generate a wider fanbase. This Polar Noise has done some of the work already. Max explains: “When you’re in a band, it’s kind of like being in four walls, a box; you don’t really see what’s going on outside of it. But I think the reactions we had in the reviews [for This Polar Noise] in Kerrang!, Rocksound, Metal Hammer, Big Cheese, all the online stuff – it’s all come back, and we’ve had really positive responses to it.”

Positive responses are all Polar are getting tonight. Starting as they mean to go on, Woody hurls himself into the crowd and launch into their first song. The night includes a video shoot for ‘Tonight Matthew I Am the Batman’ – their commitment to their hometown is obviously apparent, and justly appreciated with hurling limbs.

Polar were featured in the ‘Introducing…’ section of Kerrang recently, which they’re quite happy about. “We’ve built a nice hype around us,” Woody says, smiling proudly and modestly at the same time; something only the nicest of frontmen can do.

And Polar are nice to their fans: whether it be Woody lending crowd members the mic for every other line in a song, or attempting to reach those farther North where gig travel is more difficult. “You have to respect there are a lot of people who’ll listen to you, but for them to get to the shows it’s been quite hard. And we obviously want to be able to get to them. Hopefully, kids will appreciate that we do make an effort.” Max adds, “I always love going up to the North, the Midlands, Scotland – not that people don’t appreciate it down here, but I guess you get a lot less coming through up there than you do here.” On being asked whether Northern fans appreciate them more because of this, Max responds, “I don’t think they appreciate it anymore than our fans down here, but I think it’s more of a – I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. Obviously you get tours going through all the Northern places, but it’s their chance to see it other than hearing it online or listening to it on the stereo or on YouTube.”

Ending the night on a high – higher than the failed human pyramid attempt earlier on, thankfully – Polar reiterate their reason for existing in the otherwise limp Surrey scene. They’re here to fuck you up.