ONE ON ONE: AN INTERVIEW WITH POLARIS!

THIS IS HIVE MAGAZINE, I’M DANNI BAKER AND TODAY I’M HERE AT DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL WITH DAN AND RICK FROM POLARIS – HOW ARE WE TODAY GUYS?

Rick: Yeah very good, happy to be here! It’s nice to cop some sun out in the UK.

I WAS GOING TO SAY.. ENJOYING THE WEATHER, ESPECIALLY AFTER DOWNLOAD LAST YEAR IT WAS TERRIBLE. IT RAINED ALL WEEKEND SO THIS IS BEAUTIFUL FOR ALL OF US.

Dan: I was definitely relieved to walk in and not find an absolute mudslide because that was my fear. We did not prepare for these muddy festivals. We were a bit naive and I think we all regretted not buying some welly boots before we got into it.

WITH HOW THE WEATHER IS OVER IN AUSTRALIA YOU GUYS ARE SO USED TO BLAZING HOT SUN MOST OF THE TIME, COMING OVER HERE MUST BE A BIT OF A CULTURE SHOCK SOMETIMES.

Rick: We got over here for European summer and for the first like six days of rain and it was cold, so I was actually underdressed. It was a bit strange.

Dan: I’ve seen electrical storms everywhere the last couple of days, being like insane thunderstorms and stuff. And then Rock Im Park was a total mudfest. It was amazing, but it was funny arriving at Sleep Token’s stage which essentially looked like it had a castle on it, but the castle inadvertently had grown itself a moat in the mud. There was a distinct moat of mud all the way around the front area and it was real hard to get in and out. So today by contrast is –

LET’S HOPE TODAY IS NOT A REPEAT OF THAT FOR THEM THEN

Rick: Yeah knock on wood, I think we’re good.

YOU GUYS ARE HAVING A CRAZY FESTIVAL RUN THIS SUMMER, AND YOU’VE EVEN GOT SOME SLIDESHOWS WITH SLIPKNOT, A DAY TO REMEMBER.. MASSIVE NAMES. HOW DID ALL THAT COME ABOUT FIRSTLY?

Rick: I mean every festival runs kind of the same way, like you work with your booking agent to get the offers in there and then when it came to filling in the gaps, that was where it got tricky. We’re working with a fella from Cobra Agency now named Dominic, and he managed to kind of tee up the sideshows because before then we were like.. Okay it’s looking like we’re gonna have quite a few days off, and as much as that’s gonna be a sick festival season, it’s like, well what do we do? We want to come here and play shows. So when the names A Day To Remember and Slipknot popped up it was like, you literally could not say anyone to make us more stoked. So it went from we’ve got to fill these gaps to, oh wow this is going to be a sick month.

Dan: It went from like a “oh cool, a bunch of good festivals, that’s nice” to being like “oh my god this became a month of dreams.” Yeah, you don’t want to have too many days off for various reasons.

WHEN YOU CHILL OUT A BIT TOO MUCH YOU DON’T WANT TO GET BACK UP AGAIN KIND OF THING.

Dan: It’s all that, and honestly it’s financially difficult. It’s all those things. I think there was a point where we were hanging in the balance, like the Slipknot shows are probably gonna happen, we were just sitting there kind of crossing our fingers and praying. And when we finally got those shows licked in, it was like, okay this might be our best summer run ever. And after only like a week –

Rick: It is without a doubt!

Dan: It has already fast surpassed any expectations.

IT’S A BUCKET LIST SUMMER RUN. IT’S AN INCREDIBLE RUN OF FESTIVALS, ICONIC ONES IN EVERY COUNTRY AS WELL. HAVE THERE BEEN ANY STANDOUT MOMENTS SO FAR?

Rick: I think Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring, we grew up watching so many of those live videos and sets from those festivals, and being able to experience it first hand is just monumental.

Dan: It’s like a mythical place that didn’t exist. Like one day, we’ll reach the far kingdom of Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring.

Rick: Like most of the other festivals we have crossed over before, but we did do Nova Rock the other day. Unfortunately we had to leave early though and that was an extra little twist of the knife because Linkin Park were playing –

Dan: I don’t think any of us have seen Linkin Park play before so like, that was devastating to miss. We’re just praying that it comes around again. Apart from that, Rock for People was –

Rick: I mean Rock for People was our first summer show two years ago now. It was Rock for People and then Download second. And so this time being able to go back to both festivals, it’s really cool to experience the growth and be able to come back and feel a bit more like, oh I know where catering is and I know where the bathrooms are and I know my way around the summer festivals.

Dan: It’s always a little different but it’s familiar. I walked in here today and I said “ah okay, this kind of looks like a similar levels to last year, I know what to expect.”

HAS THERE BEEN A BIG DIFFERENCE IN YOUR UK, EUROPEAN CROWDS, ESPECIALLY FROM YOUR AUSTRALIAN CROWDS AS WELL?

Rick: I think we’ve experienced slow and steady growth in every territory to where it’s like, especially like Europe and UK have almost felt like second homes to us. Like the US is like so vast and has so many cities where it’s like one day you could have the best show of your life, the next day you could have a hundred people and be like.. All right, who knows when we’ll come back here. But I feel like every time we come to Europe and the UK, we kind of get spoiled with how good the crowds are to us. Like, it really is a second home kind of vibe where you get the same kind of energy and same kind of commitment from fans that you would expect from a home show, which is really sweet.

Dan: Yeah, I mean I think Australia will always probably at least for a very long time will still operate on a slightly different scale to other places. Just because it’s where we’ve done all of the growth and I think they have that real home attachment and that feeling of that personal connection, which makes it all feel even more special when you play there. But it is getting to the point now where, you know, there was a point where we couldn’t imagine shows ever here being as good as the shows at home. And it’s starting to get to the point where it’s like.. Pretty blessed to be able to say that they’re pretty much just as good on a lot of days. And yeah, these festivals are on another level.

I MEAN WE LOVE YOU GUYS OVER HERE. ANY LINE-UP WE SEE YOU ON IS INCREDIBLE. LIKE THE BEARTOOTH RUN WAS SOMETHING ELSE.

Dan: We loved that tour.

Rick: We love to be a part of it. Beartooths a band that I literally liked Beartooth on Facebook when they had a thousand likes, because it was like Attack Attack with Caleb as front man. I was like this is sick, and then as soon as he announced his new band, I was like, I’m in.. day one, let’s go.

AND YOU’RE SHARING A STAGE WITH THEM

Rick: I mean yeah, to see what they’ve done in the amount of time that they’ve been in a band is inspiring enough, but then to play shows with them was like, oh, I get to see exactly how you guys are translating it all and how they’ve kind of grown. So it was so sick to be a part of that tour.

Dan: Like you say, we’re literally day one fans of Beartooth. We just thought, we just really like what Caleb had been doing and so we followed it for a long time, and yeah, we did that Architects tour a few years ago and got to see.. I remember seeing them then and that was, I remember they had really leveled up in everything about what they were doing at that time. They had really just kind of taken themselves to another level in how they were playing and then seeing them again this time, it’s like damn, still just gets better and better. They’re a terrific band. And Landmarks, we love Landmarks.

WE CAUGHT THEM AT SLAMDUNK LAST MONTH AND THEY’RE INCREDIBLE.

Dan: They’re so sick, and just the loveliest people. So yeah, as far as three band bills go, you can’t beat that. It was awesome.

Rick: It’s hard to beat a three band bil at the best of time but the two of those guys.. Sick to be a part of it.

I LOVE HOW YOU’RE COMING ALL THIS WAY AND IT’S STILL SUCH A LITTLE COMMUNITY, EVERYONE KNOWS EVERYONE, IT’S AMAZING.

Dan: We walked in today and like first thing, I walked off our bus I looked over I saw our friend Alec who’s TMd for us many times in the past, like a very close friend of ours. I look over to the side and there’s all the Currents boys just spilled out of their mini sleeper and I was like “Oh my god” – it’s like ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ playing in my head repeatedly. And then we walked into catering, Dayseeker was there, I’ve run into so many people. Was chatting to my friend Liam from Cancer Bats earlier who I met in Brisbane last year, I’m like everywhere I turn there is somebody to catch up with. And it’s not just the bands, it’s like by now we know so many of the crews of the other bands as well, half of them have worked with us or for a band on tour we’ve been on, and everywhere you turn there's somebody you want to hug.. And it’s just lovely.

Rick: It goes hand in hand with like, “oh I know the festival grounds,” it’s like “hey I know that guy, I know her, I know him.” It’s like.. Yeah it’s great.

Dan: It’s nice like, that familiarity is I think the more time goes on the more we get to experience that. I remember like, don’t get me wrong we still feel a little out of our depth at these places as well, like when you walk into backstage and there’s all of Slipknot there, all seven foot tall of them, like it’s still intimidating but like at the same time we are starting to feel a little more at home in this environment and in this world, and feel like it’s just beautiful to be a part of it. I said the other day it’s nice to feel like you’re kind of invited to sit with the cool kids a little bit. Just to have a seat at the table and be at the party is just awesome. It’s all we’ve ever wanted.

SO ASIDE FROM YOUR JAM PACKED TOUR SCHEDULED AT THE MOMENT, WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN UP TO? HAVING SOME DOWN TIME OR IS THERE ANYTHING IN THE WORKS?

Dan: Honestly we’ve been really busy, we’ve been writing and stuff, we just did two - two week long writing retreats where we went down to a little bit of country New South Wales, a little bit south of where we are, like to get away and write a little bit. Yeah we had two really nice blocks of writing where we made some real big leaps on the new music that we’re working on, came away really excited. Aside from that, in the last six months, a lot of things java just changed a lot.

Jake got married a couple of months ago, that was awesome, we all had a wonderful time celebrating that. Went on his honeymoon, Jamies having a baby in a month, we’ve just moved into new places as well, so we’re just busy and domestic mode. Like setting up new home studios and buying furniture and stuff. Jesse went down to move back to Albury and he’s been hopping off and back between Sydney. Like, we’ve all had a lot going on, but it’s all been really positive stuff. Both within the band and in our lives. So it’s just cool to finally have time to give energy to both things instead of just one, which is really hard.

IT’S NOT OFTEN YOU GET THAT MUCH DOWN TIME WHEN YOU’RE TOURING SO MUCH – IT’S SO NICE TO HEAR ABOUT THAT SIDE OF THINGS AS WELL, AND HEAR YOU GUYS HAVE SO MANY AMAZING MILESTONES GOING ON OUTSIDE OF POLARIS.

Dan: That’s a nice place to be as well. I think for a long time it was like, you know, everything in your personal life does take a backseat when you’re doing what we’re doing. Like inevitably, it can get like that. But after a while that’s not sustainable to feel good and happy and being able to find the balance where we’re able to actually give what we want to our personal lives, and build something that we want to come home to, you know what I mean? Yeah it’s wonderful. I think when we were younger it was just like, let’s just be in the van for as much time as we possibly can. And now, this is the reality of being a rock and roll guy in your 30s I guess.

Rick: Yeah, life must go on, but work does too.

JUST TO WRAP THE INTERVIEW UP QUICKLY, MY FINAL QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS IS.. WHO ARE YOUR DOWNLOAD 2026 HEADLINERS?

Dan: Linkin Park..

Rick: I was gonna say, they put us on the show, then Linkin Park..

Dan: Avenged Sevenfold throwback set!

Rick: [City of Evil?] anniversary.. Wait that’s 2027?

Dan: Just in general, Aveneged Sevenfold classic set. We got to see them do a set the other day that like mixed old and new, which was like awesome to see all the new stuff. All still amazing, but we have a real close personal attachment to the early stuff. So I’ll put that one up there. Fuck it, Muse.

Rick: That’d be cool.

Dan: Yeah, Rage Against the Mach- oh, that’s not happening is it. Shit.

Rick: System of a Down!

Dan: System of a Down, good! Good! Is there anyone else who’s been on our list for a long time that’s like..

Rick: I’m sure there is..

Dan: Yeah, I think those are some pretty great choices. Um, Blink 182, every year forever.

Rick: Let’s chuck them all in there. Let’s get out Spotify.

Dan: I could go on forever. And Meshuggah why not. We haven’t seen Meshuggah yet so.