Music / Features
Track by Track:
Pollyman - Pollyman
Pollyman - Pollyman
Following a string of singles in 2019, Pollyman have just unleashed their self titled debut album, a staggering eight tracks that move through the voracity of genre hybridity with casual ease. As it turns one week old, we had frontman George Caroll Wilson talk us through Pollyman track by track.
There’s a certain charm to the sound of Pollyman. Having made a name for himself as the drumming powerhouse behind Tiny Giants, Pollyman brings the talents of George Caroll Wilson to the centre, an enigmatic frontman with an unabashed approach to 70’s Glam Rock.
Boasting a sheen power-pop aesthetic, Pollyman appears retrofitted for revivalist rock, holding a unique local edge that separates the band from their contemporaries. On their debut, this fact has never shined brighter, with tracks moving from blues infused ballads to rock anthems akin to their 70’s lineage. On Pollyman, there is a prowess found in meaningful performance, a sound that is deeply rooted in blues rock that has been coloured with a modern pop pallet. It is hard to put your finger on, but there is a quality to Pollyman that compliments the sounds of our past and present.
With defiant and polished songwriting, Pollyman has delivered an album that amplifies the mundane, making themes of love and loss seem bigger yet equally as relatable. For a three piece, their sound soars, giving light to Wilson’s impressive vocal range while still giving space to long instrumental passages. You can hear the chemistry between these musicians, a band that has played shows together long before releasing any music. Their charisma is potent on Pollyman, an album that proves their long standing musicianship and dedication to crafting a unique sound.
We got in touch with band leader George to give us his insight behind recording and writing each of the tracks on Pollyman.
Boasting a sheen power-pop aesthetic, Pollyman appears retrofitted for revivalist rock, holding a unique local edge that separates the band from their contemporaries. On their debut, this fact has never shined brighter, with tracks moving from blues infused ballads to rock anthems akin to their 70’s lineage. On Pollyman, there is a prowess found in meaningful performance, a sound that is deeply rooted in blues rock that has been coloured with a modern pop pallet. It is hard to put your finger on, but there is a quality to Pollyman that compliments the sounds of our past and present.
With defiant and polished songwriting, Pollyman has delivered an album that amplifies the mundane, making themes of love and loss seem bigger yet equally as relatable. For a three piece, their sound soars, giving light to Wilson’s impressive vocal range while still giving space to long instrumental passages. You can hear the chemistry between these musicians, a band that has played shows together long before releasing any music. Their charisma is potent on Pollyman, an album that proves their long standing musicianship and dedication to crafting a unique sound.
We got in touch with band leader George to give us his insight behind recording and writing each of the tracks on Pollyman.
Quokka
TJ: ‘Quokka’ really sets the tone for the rest of the album - is there a story of how this track came about?
P: I wrote this song when I first started writing music, which was a few years ago now. I was in high school and around that time I discovered quokkas on the internet, and I found them very endearing and relatable in a way, because they were always smiling no matter what they were doing. I felt like sometimes I could do that - even if I wasn’t feeling very happy or in a good place, I’d smile anyway because it was easier to do. It’s a pretty simple song because I hadn’t been writing for very long, and I think the music kinda reflects that as well.
Black Sea
TJ: I love the vocals and lyrics on this one. Is there any particular metaphor behind the “black sea washing over me” line?
P: Well this one was written around the same time as ‘Quokka’ which was towards the end of high school, so I probably would’ve been in Year 12 at that point. I think it refers to that feeling of just overwhelming emotions, and how they can totally surround and envelop you, and I suppose I was using a big black sea as a metaphor because it’s big and scary and you don’t quite know what’s in there. At this point, I suppose I was going through some pretty heavy emotional issues and didn’t quite know how to find my way out of them. I think the song reflects that.
Japanese Rock and Roll
TJ: We had the pleasure of premiering this track for you last October - leading up to the album release, how have you found the response to this song?
The response has been fantastic. I’ve had lots of people come up to me and tell me that it reminds them of other things, like Big Star or bands like that, which is really great because that’s sort of the sound I was trying to emulate when recording this one. Writing-wise, I felt pretty true to it, I was just being myself, but the reaction it’s been getting out of people has been really great and they’ve loved the video as well.
TJ: ‘Quokka’ really sets the tone for the rest of the album - is there a story of how this track came about?
P: I wrote this song when I first started writing music, which was a few years ago now. I was in high school and around that time I discovered quokkas on the internet, and I found them very endearing and relatable in a way, because they were always smiling no matter what they were doing. I felt like sometimes I could do that - even if I wasn’t feeling very happy or in a good place, I’d smile anyway because it was easier to do. It’s a pretty simple song because I hadn’t been writing for very long, and I think the music kinda reflects that as well.
Black Sea
TJ: I love the vocals and lyrics on this one. Is there any particular metaphor behind the “black sea washing over me” line?
P: Well this one was written around the same time as ‘Quokka’ which was towards the end of high school, so I probably would’ve been in Year 12 at that point. I think it refers to that feeling of just overwhelming emotions, and how they can totally surround and envelop you, and I suppose I was using a big black sea as a metaphor because it’s big and scary and you don’t quite know what’s in there. At this point, I suppose I was going through some pretty heavy emotional issues and didn’t quite know how to find my way out of them. I think the song reflects that.
Japanese Rock and Roll
TJ: We had the pleasure of premiering this track for you last October - leading up to the album release, how have you found the response to this song?
The response has been fantastic. I’ve had lots of people come up to me and tell me that it reminds them of other things, like Big Star or bands like that, which is really great because that’s sort of the sound I was trying to emulate when recording this one. Writing-wise, I felt pretty true to it, I was just being myself, but the reaction it’s been getting out of people has been really great and they’ve loved the video as well.
Daisy
TJ: This is the longest of the tracks at just over seven minutes, and plays like the centrepiece of the album. What was the process of recording this song?
P: It’s funny you should ask about the recording process because this song was actually nightmarish to record. We’d tracked the entire thing, I’d done the guitars, drums and bass and was getting to the vocals, but something about it wasn’t sitting right - it was too busy and too much was going on. So I said to Jasper [Jolley, who recorded the album] with a very heavy heart, “I think we need to start again” and he agreed and very graciously let us do the whole song again. So we did the whole thing, got back up to the vocals and I was a lot happier with it.
We actually did the band tracks at my house in Coburg and then did the vocals at Jasper’s house in Footscray, and for reasons unknown, the power went out when we were halfway through. So we had to redo the whole song, then the power went out, the tape machine we were using started freaking out as well, and there was so many problems getting in the way of finishing this song that by the end of it we were just so relieved to have it done.
Alimony
TJ: To me this sounds like the love child of Twin Peaks and Steely Dan. Can you cite any of your influences for this track?
P: It’s funny you should say Twin Peaks and Steely Dan because those are two bands that I really love now, but I actually wrote this song a few years ago before I’d heard of those guys. I was listening to a lot of T. Rex and glam rock, a lot of Humble Pie as well. Those early 70’s British rock bands that had a lot of blues influence and that old school rock ’n’ roll sound were a major influence on this song.
Inhibitions
TJ: The vocals and drum work really shine on this one, do you remember where you were when you wrote it?
P: I really appreciate you saying the vocals shine on it, because that’s what I wanted this song to be - kinda the most honest expression that I could give.
I don’t really remember where I was when I wrote it because this one actually took quite a long time to write, it took all in all about six months. But I remember sitting at the train station once and I wrote quite a big chunk of the lyrics there, I think that’s where I started it. It was in Southern Cross station in 2017 or so, when I’d come out of high school, and I’d been thinking a lot - I’d kinda had more time to think about myself than I had in years previous, and I was just thinking about who I was and who I wanted to be and what was maybe stopping me from letting that happen. That was a very pivotal time for me, in terms of expressing myself and knowing what to say, so it think that was really when this song took form, and it was a major change in terms of my writing.
TJ: This is the longest of the tracks at just over seven minutes, and plays like the centrepiece of the album. What was the process of recording this song?
P: It’s funny you should ask about the recording process because this song was actually nightmarish to record. We’d tracked the entire thing, I’d done the guitars, drums and bass and was getting to the vocals, but something about it wasn’t sitting right - it was too busy and too much was going on. So I said to Jasper [Jolley, who recorded the album] with a very heavy heart, “I think we need to start again” and he agreed and very graciously let us do the whole song again. So we did the whole thing, got back up to the vocals and I was a lot happier with it.
We actually did the band tracks at my house in Coburg and then did the vocals at Jasper’s house in Footscray, and for reasons unknown, the power went out when we were halfway through. So we had to redo the whole song, then the power went out, the tape machine we were using started freaking out as well, and there was so many problems getting in the way of finishing this song that by the end of it we were just so relieved to have it done.
Alimony
TJ: To me this sounds like the love child of Twin Peaks and Steely Dan. Can you cite any of your influences for this track?
P: It’s funny you should say Twin Peaks and Steely Dan because those are two bands that I really love now, but I actually wrote this song a few years ago before I’d heard of those guys. I was listening to a lot of T. Rex and glam rock, a lot of Humble Pie as well. Those early 70’s British rock bands that had a lot of blues influence and that old school rock ’n’ roll sound were a major influence on this song.
Inhibitions
TJ: The vocals and drum work really shine on this one, do you remember where you were when you wrote it?
P: I really appreciate you saying the vocals shine on it, because that’s what I wanted this song to be - kinda the most honest expression that I could give.
I don’t really remember where I was when I wrote it because this one actually took quite a long time to write, it took all in all about six months. But I remember sitting at the train station once and I wrote quite a big chunk of the lyrics there, I think that’s where I started it. It was in Southern Cross station in 2017 or so, when I’d come out of high school, and I’d been thinking a lot - I’d kinda had more time to think about myself than I had in years previous, and I was just thinking about who I was and who I wanted to be and what was maybe stopping me from letting that happen. That was a very pivotal time for me, in terms of expressing myself and knowing what to say, so it think that was really when this song took form, and it was a major change in terms of my writing.
Commercials
TJ: This one is probably the most lighthearted and upbeat song on the album. What sort of advertisement inspired this? Is it pro or anti commercials?
P: I wouldn’t say the song is really pro or anti, it sits somewhere in the middle - it’s more just questioning commercials. There isn’t a commercial in particular that was a catalyst for the song, but I remember watching TV one day and thinking “god, isn’t this bizarre, there’s just thousands of companies that all want you to buy their thing and no one else’s”, and just thinking that’s such a strange concept, such an alien concept. So it calls to question the idea of commercials and the questionable nature of them, but it doesn’t really sit in a pro or anti side, it’s more just asking what they’re all about.
Keep You Satisfied
TJ: This track seems to explore the idea of holding on when things get hard, even if that means only doing it to keep someone else in your life happy. What sort of themes were you trying exploring on this song?
P: Well, I guess those themes that you mentioned - the idea that a relationship or a place or really anything like that, can be hurting you but you wanna just hold on anyway, just to maybe see if it’ll get better. Because at the time of writing it, that’s how I was feeling about certain things, questioning “why am I here and what am I doing”, but ultimately feeling like it’s worth it if it makes the other person happy. Which might not be the right way of doing things but I suppose that’s what I was questioning at that point in time.
TJ: This one is probably the most lighthearted and upbeat song on the album. What sort of advertisement inspired this? Is it pro or anti commercials?
P: I wouldn’t say the song is really pro or anti, it sits somewhere in the middle - it’s more just questioning commercials. There isn’t a commercial in particular that was a catalyst for the song, but I remember watching TV one day and thinking “god, isn’t this bizarre, there’s just thousands of companies that all want you to buy their thing and no one else’s”, and just thinking that’s such a strange concept, such an alien concept. So it calls to question the idea of commercials and the questionable nature of them, but it doesn’t really sit in a pro or anti side, it’s more just asking what they’re all about.
Keep You Satisfied
TJ: This track seems to explore the idea of holding on when things get hard, even if that means only doing it to keep someone else in your life happy. What sort of themes were you trying exploring on this song?
P: Well, I guess those themes that you mentioned - the idea that a relationship or a place or really anything like that, can be hurting you but you wanna just hold on anyway, just to maybe see if it’ll get better. Because at the time of writing it, that’s how I was feeling about certain things, questioning “why am I here and what am I doing”, but ultimately feeling like it’s worth it if it makes the other person happy. Which might not be the right way of doing things but I suppose that’s what I was questioning at that point in time.
Head to pollyman.bandcamp.com to purchase the new album on limited black vinyl, out now through Bonsai Records. Pollyman will be launching Pollyman this Saturday, February 29th, upstairs at the Gasometer.
