Tuesday 13 November 2007
Electronica is a bit of a catch-all term these days and by and large the 'genre' (if you can call it that) is criminally under-represented in Bristol with regards to regular nights. Possibly due to the huge rise in popularity of sub-genres like Breakcore across the south-west, the more traditional strands of the electronic thread have fallen by the wayside. So full respect goes to Glitch Night who have been flying the flag for quality electronic machine music in the last year. Not only playing host in it's time to some fantastic artists such as Minotaur Shock and Vector Lovers, GN is also home to a very strong roster of local talent, including the intricate, emotive stylings of POLESTAR. Having caught the opportunity to see him play live this year, we felt it was well worth spreading the word about this talented producer.
Who, what, where or why is Polestar?
"Polestar is me, Jon Elliott. The name was taken from a factory I used to drive past regularly, and seeing the name every day at some god-forsaken time in the morning burned a whole in my subconscious, so the name and project was born."
What do you feel your music represents?
"Not sure, that’s a tough question. Probably what’s going on in my mind at the time of making it?"
OK, but do you attempt to make music for certain environments? For example, some of it has a film-like quality - like Leaf used to do the Invisible Soundtracks series for imaginary films...which seems to sum up the sounds I hear in your music.
"I’ve never heard the Invisible Soundtracks Series, but I’ve been told that my music has lots of feeling; I don’t purposely write it in that way, it just tends to come out like that. Maybe it’s an age thing, as I still hold a good melody and song structure high up the list when writing music."
Is 'electronica' a bit of a dirty word these days?
"Possibly yes, it definitely is not the celebrated thing it was a few years ago. I think a lot of people dropped it to jump on the next bandwagon without really exploring the possibilities it can hold. It saddens me sometimes, as I feel there is still a lot of great music being made in the underground that is still fresh, but is ignored. However, things come back – just look at electro."
How did you get drawn to this musical point?
"I’ve always been really been interested in electronic music, I can remember hearing stuff as a small kid back in the 70’s and thinking it sounded like nothing else, I then got drawn in to electro-funk with the other kids on the street, break dancing on sheets of lino etc, when it turned in to hip-hop, I lost interest and discovered house music, from there progressed to techno and then discovering a small record label called Warp. You can see where I’m going with this?"
What's next for Polestar?
"I have a new EP that is out on Netwerk records at the end of the month and I am also starting collaboration with a good friend of mine who is Mr. Linear Systems, which will be a nu-school electro-funk type thing. Plus writing some more music under the Polestar name for Boltfish Recordings – oh and I have some live shows lined up too."
Give us a Top 5...of anything.
A Polestar Top 5!
ELO - "Mr. Blue Sky"
Rush – "Tears"
Yes – "In To The Lens"
New Order - "Subculture"
Wings – "Band On The Run"
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