Interview: The Polyps
This Saturday, May 28th, The Banana Stand will welcome The Polyps for our first event of the Portland summer. Having recorded members Raf Spielman and Lawton Browning as two-thirds of The Woolen Men (with bassist Alex Geddes) and being big fans of Chris Cantino as well (from his work with Archers), we're really looking forward to this experimental project. The May 28th event will also feature The Blast Majesty and Talkative (Eugene). You should be here. It's going to be rad. RSVP on Facebook.
To get you ready for this weekend's show, Raf Spielman told us a bit about The Polyps.
Banana Stand: How long has the band been together in its current form? How did it come together?
Raf Spielman: This will be the first time playing with Chris Cantino, played with Lawton in various configurations for years now. I've been wanting to do something with Chris because he's an obsessive record hound like myself and we love a lot of the same obscure records. He's also a fellow traveler bridging the experimental music/pop music divide.
BS: How would you describe your sound? What are your key influences?
RS: We're all three of us deeply influenced both by the sound and ethos of the New Zealand music scene. I think part of why such an incredible amount of great music has come out of it is because of how open the players are to working together and experimenting. As soon as you dig past the first layer--bands like the Clean, the Bats, the Dead C--you start to find all these great collaborations that cross the noise/pop divide. It just feels so vital, people were always trying things out and not being corralled into this or that camp. So that's the fantasy, anyway--try to get something like that going in Portland.
That said, me and Chris are pretty big Roy Montgomery fans, I think he will be in the back of our minds somewhere on Saturday, in terms of our "sound." Garbage and the Flowers, Red Krayola, Swill Radio stuff... all very important to us!
BS: Tell us your thoughts about recording live. What makes you interested in recording live?
RS: In my mind, almost all recording is a kind of "field recording"--a "record," as in a document, of what it sounded like when these certain people got together in this certain room on this certain day.
BS: What are your favorite live albums?
RS: Live Outside 7" by Home Blitz. Supposedly recorded on a suburban sidewalk one brisk New Jersey afternoon...
BS: What other projects are you all involved with?
RS: Chris plays in the excellent pop band Archers, and the excellent experimental duo Trace Figures with Jason Gray. Lawton plays with me in The Woolen Men, and does honest dance music--think Arthur Russell--under the name Trust. And I write songs and play drums for a band called The Golden Hours.
BS: What are you working on lately?
RS: I'm working on an LP that will come out on in the fall on a new Woodsist sub-label called Hello Sunshine, and booking the short West and East Coast tours that will go along with its release.
Big thanks to Raf Spielman from The Polyps for participating in our interview. The Polyps is Raf, Lawton Browning and Chris Cantino. They'll be recording live at the Banana Stand on Saturday, May 28th with The Blast Majesty and Talkative. You should totally be here: RSVP on Facebook.
Check out more of The Polyps at the Free Music Archive and on MySpace.
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