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for you – I’m sure you were exploring many avenues, but what was it that pushed you towards Ryan Olson? Well because we were already working together in Gayngs; I tend to want to work with people that I’ve known from a previous context, and someone that I’m really familiar with… although I wasn’t even that familiar with Ryan, but I was a fan of his work. So yeah, it wasn’t very calculated at all.


And Gayngs was an example of how far-reaching Ryan could make his music be – did that make you excited about the possibilities for Poliça? Yeah, definitely. I’m not really somebody who gets off on groundbreaking things, so it sort of depends on what Ryan’s up for. He’s probably more of the visionary, I just like to write melodies and sing and perform. I’m kinda boring and unambitious; it’s one of my downfalls.


Te beginnings of Roma di Luna show great contrast to that of Poliça, I mean, you started off Roma di Luna by busking as a two-piece with your musical ideals rooted in folk – has that move to electronic music felt natural for you? I’m still sort of singing folk songs when it comes down to it, singing about love lost and kind of very repetitive, simple songs that are based around melodies. I like it a lot though; I like singing to a beat and Alexei, my partner in Roma di Luna, came from a hip hop background, so his guitar style was very rhythmic, so I’m enjoying it – I like it a lot. Overall I just love making music, no matter what the genre or the context is.


Ryan had already written the music by the time you put your vocals to it, but you’ve obviously built up your own musical style over your years writing – do you think that with future tracks, you’ll have a say in that music too? Er maybe, I mean we’ve already started working on new songs and there’s about three or four of them that started out from synth lines that I’d laid down, just a few chords basically. But I actually have no interest in writing beats; I’m quite calculated in that I like to work with people in collaboration, I don’t really enjoy doing things completely on my own and really that’s where his talents lie, so it’s best to keep it that way. Collaborate with people and work with people on their strong suits and I’ll stick to mine.


It was your idea to employ autotune though, was it not?


Yeah, it wasn’t very calculated though, I just wanted to. It wasn’t like I was trying to change something or hide something, it was just a couple of friends getting together and once I started playing it for other people, it started feeling like it could go somewhere, but at the time I was just sort of using autotune because it was a fun thing to do.


You’ve been able to use it as an extra instrument – is it easy to control on stage? Hmm, not always; sometimes I want to throw it across the room, but it’s a part of the sound of Poliça, I think. Now it’s sort of like janky vocals, so the challenges are part of the aesthetic.


You put great stock into the writing of the lyrics, yet with the effects used, it takes a little longer for them to unfold for the listener – do you see this as a positive though, that we have to sort of work at the songs to find understanding? Well I really firmly believe that the lyrics are more for me than for anybody else, and the emotion and the mood that they make me feel, and that what I’m conveying is important for the song and the audience. I always loved reading people’s lyrics in the CD cover growing up and I think you can kinda enjoy them that way, but more than anything I’m just using the lyrics to sort of get myself into a place where I can be effective as an emotional singer, and convey emotion. I’m certainly not trying to hide things, or make things more challenging for people; it’s just the way I sing. I’m just trying to be a part of the music, not really stand out as a separate kind of preacher, or singer/songwriter.


I find it really interesting that a lot of the lyrics were subconscious thoughts that sort of unveiled themselves when you first heard the music – have you wanted to evolve or expand any of those ideas in the lyrics since first uttering them? Erm, I tend to have a hard time - once I hear a track and lay down the melody and lay down kind of a lyrical idea, I kinda fall in love with that and get connected to that and certainly now


that I’m writing new songs for Poliça, they’re a little more difficult because there’s less repetition in the lyrics, but I haven’t really wanted to change those songs because as flawed and imperfect as they were, they were kind of capturing a moment in time that I don’t really want to mess with.


Poliça’s quick rise into music lovers’ attention has allowed you some high profile shows and connection with the public but is there anything that the speed of ascension hasn’t allowed you as a band? Hmm, probably just time to find our own practice space and just have a… I mean, we’ve had time to go back into the studio but probably for me I just haven’t had time to get my feet on the ground; I feel a little bit confused, or ungrounded with such a drastic change in my lifestyle and I think that probably the rest of the band feels that a little bit too. While we’re all very excited to have the opportunities we have, and feel very blessed, it’s all a little unnerving to be gone so much and to kinda lose touch with your community, and music community that you come from, and your family and friends. It’s an intense experience… it sounds like whining for people who are like, ‘oh, success is hard…’


No, I mean, you’re a relatively new mum still, aren’t you Channy? Babies don’t compromise, but neither should they have to, so I imagine those kind of logistics keep you on your toes… Yes, it really, really does. When I’m gone I miss her, when I’m home I forget how to be a mom, haha; it’s a confusing thing, you know. I mean I don’t really forget, but it gets a little out of practice! But it’s all good.


Do you get to take her much with you, or are you happier with her being at home? She’s got a really good situation at home; she’s got a really good school and her family’s here, the rest of her family, so she does well here.Te life on the road is so unstable, but festivals here and there, yes.


Emma Garwood


Poliça play as part of the Latitude Festival line-up, which takes place from the 12th-15th July 2012. Tickets are still available, so go to www.latitudefestival.co.uk for tickets and more information. Read the uncut version of this interview at Outlineonline.co.uk


outlineonline.co.uk / July 2012 / 29


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