Interview with Polar States

Guitar-led indie hailing from Liverpool? That’s the four-piece Polar States for you. I quickly caught up with the band post-tour…

RECORD WEEKLY’S INTERVIEW WITH POLAR STATES

Hey, how’s it going?

Hey, we’re recovering from our UK tour, so half wishing we were still on the road, half needing to sleep!

Haha nice. Tell us about yourselves — when and how did you form the band?

It was really during lockdown when we started to write what we feel is our proudest work. They’re the songs that underpin what we’re about as a band, and what we want people to connect with. Everything before then feels like we were warming up.

Which artists have influenced your sound the most?

We listen to quite a range of stuff between us, but Bowie, The Stone Roses, The Strokes, Clairo and Wolf Alice are all on our tour playlist at the moment!

Solid choices. Other than music, what kept you going throughout the lockdowns?

We started a WhatsApp group to stay connected to our fans and it grew out of control faster than we could have imagined; we were getting 10,000 messages a night. It helped us feel like we were still in touch with people who loved our music and it just made everything a lot easier to cope with!

Plus we got to show everyone the new songs we were working on, so seeing everyone’s reactions to those made us get even more excited about putting new music out.

That’s really cool! Very humbling as well, I bet. What have been your highlights as a band since restrictions have eased then?

We recorded at this amazing studio back in March. It was in the middle of nowhere and we spent a full week being super-creative and making a record that we’re really proud of. It was the first time we’d all been together, and outside Liverpool, too. It felt like we were a proper band again!

Since then we’ve played some amazing festivals like Highest Point and Liverpool Sound City, and then obviously our UK tour, which was insane. We gained so many new fans during lockdown from socials, so getting a chance to actually meet everyone on the road was cool.

Talk us through your latest tune, while you’re here.

‘Cover Me’ was inspired by a party I went to in college that got out of hand. We recorded it during lockdown, from our bedrooms, so it was a bit of a challenge putting it together, but a lot of fun and we’re pleased with how it turned out.

So, what’s next on the horizon?

Our next music is quite a leap of faith and the first real insight into the future of the band. We’d love to say more but you’ll have to keep an ear out…