Polaroid Summer are a *very* new musical project coming out of Houston, Texas. The band formed in January this year and include Micaiah Walker on vocals, Trace Sisson on guitar, Brian Barrett on drums, and Kenneth Conlon on bass. The band members were previously in other bands before joining forces in Polaroid Summer, combining their individual experience and talent to bring Polaroid Summer to life. We connected with Micaiah, Trace, Brian, and Kenneth to learn more about this brand new alternative pop/indie rock group.
Kel Burch: Thanks for connecting with us, guys! We’ve learned that Polaroid Summer is a fresh start after your experience with your previous musical projects Versecity (Micaiah) and Lost Element (Trace, Brian, Kenneth). What does it feel like starting anew?
Polaroid Summer: It honestly feels great! It’s like weight lifted off of all of us. We were both exhaustingly trying to get our pervious projects to the next level and it got the point where we were pushing a brick wall. Instead of forcing something that wasn’t there anymore, we decided to take a new out.
KB: What inspired the creation of a whole new project as opposed to the option of continuing on with Lost Element and having Micaiah on vocals?
PS: We really thought about continuing as Lost Element, but after a lot of though, we felt Lost Element had run it’s course. It was a great run, but it was time for a new chapter and no better time then when we acquired Micaiah as the new lead singer and wrote a new EP.
KB: We are new just like you guys! 😉 What keeps you going in the space of newness when no one knows you exist yet you feel that you’re creating really cool things? 🙂
PS: We try not to think about no one knowing who are. We have really just been focusing on creating the best product that we possibly can and doing whatever we can to impress the people we get in front of. We will let it play out organically from there!
KB: Where were your minds at going into writing and forming the EP? Did you have an intention of what you were wanting to present or did it organically create itself?
PS: We had all been through a lot over the past couple years so we had a lot of passion going into the writing process. Our writing process might be different than most bands, but I think it’s what makes this EP really come to life. We didn’t have any specific formula to writing this EP. Brian took a trip out to LA and wrote some ideas with a very talented artist out there named Ray Little and we all had a few writing sessions with Bryce Bordone, our one in Houston and one in Virginia. The band took those ideas as well as some fresh ones and finished forming the songs here in Houston. After we were done with that process, we headed to Virginia and tracked Drums, bass and guitar at Soulhaven studios in Virginia Beach. We then tracked vocals with Bryce at Serban Gheana’s Studio, Mixstar Studios in Virginia Beach.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/306792555″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]KB: We’ve heard “The Giant” and “Eye Of The Storm” and were impressed with them both. Are these tracks what people can expect of the EP?
PS: We appreciate that! Yes, both of those tracks will be on the EP along with 6 others.
KB: The Giant has this really free sound to it as well as inspirational lyrics. Is it important to you to create with a positive edge?
PS: I don’t think that we ever go into a song thinking “this has to be inspirational”, but we definitely like to have variety when relating to our listeners. “The Giant” has a very powerful message that anyone can relate to, now more than ever, as we all struggle to find our identities throughout our lives. It’s normal to feel confused with how (or who) we should be or just feel beaten down and stepped on. The lyrics tell us that once we accept who we are, and truly believe in what we stand for, we have the power to become greater than anything standing in our way. We can level our giants.
KB: I feel that your sound crosses genres, as opposed to being strongly pop or cleanly alternative. Is this intentional?
PS: I honestly think it’s just how our sound comes off when you mix all of our influences as musicians and the fact that we all take part in the writing. We definitely have a couple more Alternative heavy tracks on the record like “Tides”, but even that one I feel like could cross over. I think it’s just something that comes naturally in our writing process.
KB: “Eye Of The Storm” was such a ‘wow’ track when we first heard it. Those beats, the chords, the blend of playfulness and that rich soaring sound in the chorus is really GOOD, as well as the spoken word section. Is this a ‘we’re ready to go all-in here’ kind of track? For better or for worse? It would explain the sense of nervous excitement!
PS: Thanks! We really appreciate that. “Eye Of The Storm” was actually one of the last tracks we finished writing. We actually wrote the verses in the studio with Bryce while we were tracking the vocals. We honestly feel like we are “all in” on all of the tracks. Being a new band, it’s just exciting to see what everyone connects to!
KB: What other topics inspired your music on the EP? (We can’t wait to hear it)
Brian: “I lost my mother to cancer while we were on tour last year as Lost Element. It was the hardest thing that has ever happened to me and it was really hard on the rest of the band. I had never felt loss and pain like that before so that really inspired me get out of my comfort zone and write some more vulnerable stuff. There is a track on the EP called Feeling Connected that I wrote about the experience of losing my mom”.
As far as other topics, there is anything from searching for self identity, Internal battles, nostalgic love all the way to millennial anthems.
KB: Do you create songs collectively or each bring something to the table?
PS: We all bring something different to the table which is why we feel like this EP has LIFE. We are strong believers in collaboration and doing what’s best for the “SONG”.
KB: Will you be touring to support the EP release?
PS: We having a bunch of college shows around the country lined up for the coming months, and would love to hop on a tour if the opportunity presents itself.
KB: All the best with Polaroid Summer, guys! We love your sound and think you’ll be huge!
PS: Thank you guys so much for your support and good luck to you guys as well!
Connect with Polaroid Summer:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/PolaroidSummerBand/
https://twitter.com/PolaroidSumBand
https://www.instagram.com/polaroidsummerband/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0hysxtNFuoGc1YP9bZ35fC
