Interview: Jake Steinhauser from ‘Polaris’

Think of The Amity Affliction mixed with old school Bring Me The Horizon and you’ve got the fresh-faced upcoming 5-piece Polaris. After recently touring Australia with Dream On Dreamer, Polaris have released their sophomore EP ‘The Guilt And Grief’, and it’s a ripper. We caught up with the group’s bassist Jake Steinhauser to talk about their breakthrough EP, joining Legion 2017, and secretly loving everything by Paramore.

You guys are smashing the scene at the moment, how does it feel?

Really cool! I mean we just released the EP and that’s doing really well so far so we are stoked. But apart from that we are just itchy to get out and play some shows for everyone.

You’ve just released your EP ‘The Guilt & The Grief’, are you happy with the finished product?

Definitely! We are a bunch of quite particular guys so it took us a while to finish in the first place. Every one of us could always find something to pick apart but we are overall really happy with this release and its production. We are proud to say that everyone involved did an excellent job at playing their part and everything right down to the artwork we are all round happy about.

Do you have a favourite track on the EP or any song in particular that you connect with?

I love the second track L’Appel Du Vide. It makes you sway, it has an interesting time signature and I really gelled with this track more than I did with the others. The lyrics in particular I think are my favourite part, as Daniel Furnari our drummer writes our lyrics and I see eye to eye with him on most things. So it’s my favourite song out of the six.

What was it like working with Marcus Bridge?

That was really cool, you wouldn’t know it but he actually recorded his parts in his bedroom. We came over to his house as we had already recorded all out pieces in the studio while he was away in the US. He had just gotten back between a US and I think it may have also been a Europe tour so we went over to his house and he recorded everything from his room right down to his harmonies. He passed it over, we sent it off and we were stoked. He’s quite the producer when it comes to his own vocals, probably knowing his voice better than anyone else would it was quite incredible.

What is a typical week for you guys as a band now with such a busy schedule?

Three of us work together at a call centre where we pretty much get shut off from being able to talk to anyone because we aren’t allowed our phones. So for a good 10 hours a day for about four days a week none of us can speak to each other but we get a lot of our discussions done between work while also try to keep up with regular practice once a week and writing two or three times a week. In saying that it all gets broken up when we go on tour, but tour is like a holiday to us. Work on the weekdays, practice at night, writing on the weekends and our holiday is tour!

Are you looking forward to touring with Stories this month?

Yeah it’ll be really exciting. Dan was lucky enough to fill in for their drummer Rosco in their Unified set at the start of the year. He’s gotten to know the boys really well and we are looking forward to hanging out with them because from what we can tell they are really cool dudes, with a rad bad and a sick sound.

Any city in particular that you’re most excited to play in?

Melbourne! Love playing in Melbourne. We have a lot of friends there and it seems like we always play a different venue every time we visit. We also manage to find some where new and exciting to eat plus the night life is great. Melbourne is my favourite city to be in general really.

Do you plan to tour with your EP ‘Guilt And The Grief’?

We are hoping to get a headline tour in the works at some point. It just so happens that we were planning to do one and then we got offered the Stories support so we thought that will be heaps of fun and we will get to play with the boys so we would be stupid not to. So we have decided to put that off for a bit until we have more time. The only reason we wouldn’t tour this EP would be if we got too busy on other tours this year and we didn’t find the time organize it. But it’s definitely the ambition to make sure we get around the country touring The Guilt And The Grief.

Did you ever imagine you would be joining Legion Fest in 2017?

No it was very out of the blue! It’s very excited to be on a line up with so many different faces from Australia and overseas a lot of which are metal icons and legends in their own right. We look forward to sharing a very cool experience with our fans and the other bands.

Where do you hope music will take you next?

Travelling. Probably not in the immediate future but hopefully sometime soon I want to go overseas. Something I have always wanted to do is travel, travel Australia travel the world. I think my parents have always installed that one it me and I think the best way to do it in my opinion is to do it with your mates just driving through the country side. Seeing new cities, exploring, meeting new people and making new friends I couldn’t think of anything better and I can’t ever imagine not doing it.

I’m sure someone at some point asked you what you thought you’d be doing in five years time, did you ever imagine anything like this?

No, not really. Five years ago I was pretty much struggling to put together a band. I think I had met Daniel at the time so there was just drums and guitar as I was the guitarist before moving to bass. So no nothing like this definitely a big surprise, but it’s certainly a welcomed surprised.

Is there anybody you would love to play alongside in the future?

Ooooooo, to play alongside I think there are a few bands that we would all love to play alongside. As a unified band one of our dreams would be to play with August Burns Red, they are an influence I think for all of us and we all really dig that band. Playing alongside them would be awesome.

How would you describe your music if someone came up and asked you?

We like to call it Sad Boy Groove. That’s our own designated genre. Sad boy feels in the melody and lyrics and then with a twist on being groovy.

Do you have a guilty pleasure song that you’re embarrassed to say you like?

I can’t think of a song off the top of my head, but I love Paramore! All of their songs are a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Something you always got in trouble about as a kid?

I’m really boring because I was too smart to get in trouble as a kid. My brothers were getting in trouble constantly I can’t decide whether I was really good or whether I never let my parents know about it. I’ve decided that I must have never really be in trouble.

What’s your perfect after show meal?

I’d have to say a burrito. Preferably pork, very spicy, sour cream. Give me that any time after a show and that would have to be the best thing.

Do you have a catch phrase or something you always say?

No I don’t think any of us do. But we have an inside joke. We saw a post from a fan one day on something random and it just said ‘That Bullshit’. And now anytime something really good happens we say ‘That Bullshit’.

Check out our review of ‘The Guilt And Grief’ HERE

Polaris supporting Stories – Live Dates

THUR 11 FEB

Crowbar, Brisbane

FRI 12FEB

Red Rattler, Sydney

SUN 28FEB

Rad Bar, Wollongong (All Ages)

FRI 4 MARCH

Enigma Mar, Adelaide

SAT 5 MARCH

Worker’s Club, Melbourne