Polish Club: The 13th Floor Interview

Sydney-based duo Polish Club head across the Tasman for their first-ever gigs outside their native Australia when they perform at Auckland’s Whammy! Bar this Friday, June 30th, and then in Wellington at Meow on Saturday, July 1st.

The band consists of singer/guitarist David Novak and drummer John-Henry and their sound has been described as “high-octane garage-soul”. Their debut album, Alright Already, was released earlier this year.

Intrigued, The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda spoke to Novak recently to learn more…first they talk about the name…then the music.

Click here to listen to the interview with Polish Club’s David Novak:

 

Or, read a transcription of the interview here:

MD: First thing we have to deal with is name of the group: The Polish Club. My name being Duda: I’ve got a bit of Polish in me as well; so, is there some in you guys, or did you just choose that name for other reasons?

DN: So, my last name – which I go by – is Novak, which is from my Polish father; and John, my drummer, is Pajak, which is from his Polish parents too. Look, we’re not super creative; we just went with the easiest thing, and it seems to have stuck. My theory is that all band names are terrible, until you hear the music anyway. I mean, honestly, what is The Red Hot Chilli Peppers? It’s the worst band name in the world, but no one cares, because they make good music!

MD: Right, exactly! Let’s talk about the music then. How long have you been making music together, and how did you find each other?

DN: We’ve been friends for ages – over a decade now – just casual friends – friends of friends – and one day, John decided to drum for my terrible high school band – which wasn’t a real band – but we found ourselves in a room together, and decided we should try this by ourselves, because we seem to be on the same wave length – and that was in late 2014, early 2015 – and the first couple of times we tried to play music together – we’d written a couple of songs: Beeping and Able – and those ended up, a year or two later, on our debut album; so, it was just a really easy thing that we never planned, and we never had any specific goals for – but I think that’s the best way to approach music – and we were lucky enough to have people, eventually, listen to it – and who are very passionate about it in Australia, which is hilarious!

MD: That’s great! And the decision to remain a two piece: was that something that you guys spent some time thinking about, or did it just seem to be a natural thing?

DN: No, we spent an accumulative two minutes thinking about it over the past couple of years. I think it’s just funny, because there are all sorts of bands out there: there are so many solo artists that play by themselves; there are so many three pieces – a la Green Day or, I don’t know, Eskimo Joe….I can’t believe tht’s the first three-piece that came to my mind!…there are all sorts of bands out there, and no one really goes to a singer/song writer, “Why just you?” or to a three piece, “Why don’t you add a lead guitarist?” I guess the two piece thing is a stranger looking beast than a less sensible thing; but for John and I, it was the easiest way to write music, and, by virtue of playing as loud as we possibly can – splitting my guitar into two amps and singing at the top of my lungs – we don’t really need much more to fill the gaps; so, we’ve never thought of, “why” or “why not do you X, Y and Z to fill it out”, because we’ve never really needed to. I’m not saying that it’s going to be like this forever, but we’ve never really had any issue with it; so, why stop it if it ain’t broke?

MD: Right! And I imagine that it’s easier to hit the road in a two piece fashion…

DN: Thank God, it’s so much cheaper! I mean, we’ve toured with five, six pieces – supporting much larger bands – and they’ve woken up groggy in the middle of an eight bed youth hostel, and John and I cruise in with our rental car from an actual hotel – because it’s just as cheap to book one hotel room for two people – and we’re on our way to the airport, where we’re going to fly out of God knows what city, instead of hopping in a tour bus – because, again, it’s cheaper for two people. We are very lucky in that sense; and there are less people to fight with. I just have to get one other guy to do something really stupid, and I win. It’s just a lot more simple. We’re just lucky that that’s the case, and that happens to be the easiest way to function, for us.

MD: Now getting to the music: how would you describe – for folks who haven’t heard you – the noise that you guys make?

DN: It’s tough, because I always say that it’s super loud and full pelt, but at the same token, I like to think I can sing pretty well and it’s all in key, and it can be quite beautiful and intimate at points – that sounds like such a wank. It’s just super loud soul music, I guess. I don’t really know what to label it, because people just assume that I’m a connoisseur of soul and music of yester-year and blues, and truth be told, I’m not! I appreciate it as much as the next music fan, but it’s mostly just garage rock from the early 2000s and ‘90s R&B; which again, they ripped off people from the ‘70s and the ‘60s and the ‘50s, and we are ripping them off….

MD: That’s how it works! You can take it all the way back to the ‘20s.

DN: It’s all circular. I find it really amusing that we’re playing good, old fashioned rock & roll or soul music, and because it’s kind of irrelevant now, it sounds like people treat it as something different and something revolutionary, that they haven’t heard before; and I guess that’s true of any eighteen year old: they haven’t necessarily heard this kind of music before, because it’s not popular; but we’re super lucky that it’s not popular, because, as a result, we sound like a band that no one’s heard before; even though, I’m pretty sure we’ve heard it all before; maybe not this loud, but we’re not reinventing the wheel!

MD: So, do you feel out of step with what’s going on with popular music at the time? Most everybody’s taking up their synthesisers and doing whatever they can do with that; and certainly, none of that is what you do.

DN: Oh, look… it takes the same amount of effort, you’ve got to kick the same amount of shit, and you’ve got work your ass off and play the same venues and do the same interviews, and do the same stuff. The music is different, but we tour with all kinds of bands that play all kinds of instruments… and they’re the same people – they’re doing the same thing – it just happens to be a different sounding output. There’s a lot to connect with other artists – despite them using a synthesiser, or what-not – John and I just happen to choose a really simple and somewhat outdated method of doing it; but at the end of the day, a pop song is always going to be a pop song, and a good melody is going to be a good melody. I don’t care if it’s on a xylophone or a bass guitar; we’re all striving for the same thing. But I’ll tell you what: our live show is a lot better than anyone with a synthesiser!

MD: Now, you’re coming to New Zealand at the end of June. Is this the first time that you’ve played across the Tasman?

DN: This is the first time we’ve played overseas, period; so, it’s crazy! We’re super excited! We’re so sick of having to tell people who don’t live in Australia to just wait and see, and we’ll do it eventually. To actually get off our asses and do it, is a refreshing change, and I can’t wait. It’s kind of like going back to day one in Australia, because no one’s heard of us over there, I’m pretty sure; so, to be able to have that experience again, and give our music to people who have never heard it before, is always a welcome thing for John and I.

MD: How would you describe the live experience?

DN: It’s brutal, from my end. The first thing on my rider every time is a pile of towels and bottle of Gatorade, because it’s just the most exhausting thing in the world. John and I don’t have fun unless we’re giving it a hundred percent, and that means that John usually ends with a pool of blood coming from his knuckles, and I usually end up trying not to pass out, but it’s just the only way we know how to do it; and if we’re not completely spent, by the end of it, we feel like we’ve ripped, not only the crowd off, but ourselves off. It’s a pretty intense experience, but at the same time, there are quiet moments there. There are two gears to Polish Club: we play slower jams – more soulful music – and it’s just a visceral experience for me; it’s the most fun part of it, by far, just getting on stage…it’s tough to win over a crowd; which is strange, because we just played a sold out tour here in Australia, where people knew the songs and knew the words, and you don’t have to work as hard to please people – don’t get me wrong, I was still busting my ass – but that is a sensation I’ve never experienced before…! A new city, a new country, where you have to win over a crowd: that’s the kind of thing that I really enjoy and I relish; so, I’m really looking forward to it.