BLURT’S BEST KEPT SECRET #4: Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle
Apr 17, 2009
Extraordinarily gifted 17-year old rocker from England delivers the goods.
BY FRED MILLS
The BLURT staff put our heads (and ears) together and we have our latest pick for our Blurt/Sonicbids "Best Kept Secret": it's Polly Mackey & the Pleasure Principle, hailing from the wilds of Wrexham, England, who very nearly had us doing backflips the first time we listened to their tunes.
Drawing upon an impressive lineage of empowered female frontpersons - from such classic rockers as Maggie Bell and Ann Wilson to the punk and new wave era's Patti Smith and Chrissie Hynde, and onward to the contemporary milieu's Alison Mosshart and Sharin Foo - Mackey and her band deliver the hi-nrg powerpop goods with an impossible-to-ignore panache and vivacity.
Though Mackey's only 17, her ascent has been remarkable, having reached the finals of the UK MIBI National Songwriting Awards in 2008 and more recently being selected to represent the UK this past March in Austin at the International Night show that took place the evening before SXSW officially kicked off. In a further vote of confidence, producer Paul Grady, who's worked on records by Coldplay and the Kooks, invited them to record at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios. And all along the group has been drawing bigger and bigger crowds each time out, so it's safe to say that even though they're our "Best Kept Secret," as powered by Mackey's throaty, knowing vocals and evocative, love-hard-won lyrics, plus her band's churning, anthemic arrangements that will feel instantly familiar to any fan of classic British pop, it's safe to say that they won't be a secret much longer.
Tune in to BLURT radio if you want to hear an MP3 ("Seriously," recorded just a couple of months ago at Real World) by the band - just click on the music player image on the right hand side of our homepage and scroll down for the song. Meanwhile, check out the band's MySpace page or Mackey's official website for news, song samples, tour dates, etc. And congratulations to the Pleasure Principle, ‘cause they're one of the good ‘uns; trust us. The members: Polly Mackey - Guitar, Vocals, Songwriter; Tom Hassall - Guitar, Backing Vocals; Dan Davies - Bass, Backing Vocals; Adam Valentine - Drums; Tristan Dickenson - Synth / Keys, Backing Vocals.
Fresh from a riotous romp through Austin at this year's SXSW - or more accurately, exhausted from SXSW, as the band played nine shows in five days - Mackey took time out from plotting world domination to talk with BLURT.
***
BLURT: First of all, where the heck is Wrexham, Polly? Is this to be the UK's next hotbed of musical activity?
Yeah, you could say it is a hotbed - there's about 30 bands on the scene - which is good going for a small town. Whereas in cities you tend to get some rivalry between bands, in a small town like Wrexham everyone tends to know each other and help each other out. We also enjoy the best of both worlds as Wrexham is less than 30 miles from Liverpool. Because Liverpool is so close, we've been able to build up a strong fanbase there too.
Could you tell us some of your main influences or inspirations, including any that made you want to pick up a guitar early on?
My main influences I'd say are bands like Arcade Fire, The Kills, Radiohead... and all the stuff I was brought up listening to in my dad's car or playing on the stereo. Stuff like David Bowie, The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Talking Heads etc. All the [contemporary] bands I'm into, I tend to have seen play live - this being my primary way of enjoying music and the fundamental thing which inspires me to pick up my guitar.
There's an interesting story I've heard about your very first public performance and how it impacted your career...
Well, it was my sister's 18th birthday, she wasn't having a massive party or anything... just a few friends round. Some of them had just formed a band so they offered to play in the living room. After they played I got up and did a few covers which caught the attention of a local gig promoter who was at the party. He asked if I had any of my own material and I played a few of my songs. He offered me a gig in a local pub and by the time word got around it was pretty busy; he must have liked what he saw as he then offered me a support slot at Wrexham's main live music venue, Central Station. Before long, I started to get offered gigs from venues around the country and by the end of the year I had done about sixty gigs including MTV Liverpool Music Week and Liverpool Sound City.
Tell me about "The Pleasure Principle" - does the name come from the Gary Numan album, the Janet Jackson song or the Sigmund Freud term?
It was taken from the Sigmund Freud principle - that humans continuously drive to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
Although I had been playing acoustically for about two years, the sound I was making live didn't match to the ideas I had in my head or what I was producing on my laptop at home. I was getting frustrated. So about 8 months ago I approached a few friends and people I knew off the local music scene and asked them whether they'd like to join me.
I'd known Dan (bass) since I was about seven - he's the one that basically taught me guitar in the first place, he's 17, the same age as me. Valley (drums), Stan (keyboards) and Tom (guitar) had all played together in a previous band which had split just before I decided I needed to put a band together - they're all in their early twenties. It's a really close-knit band, and there's a good dynamic; we've all got the same drive and dedication to the music.
Biggest successes or milestones to date? Or mishaps?
The biggest and most enjoyable milestone so far has been SXSW... we had 9 gigs in 5 days which was pretty tough but still regarded as one of the best weeks of our lives. No mishaps yet... though we were all disappointed that SXSW was such a blur that we didn't get a chance to see some of our favorite bands who were also appearing!
Since that was your first trip to Austin, I'm curious to get your impressions on the city and what it was like for a young band to come over here and play for the first time.
The one difference between UK crowds and US crowds is the reaction to the music. In the UK, at gigs where the band isn't yet well known or signed, the crowd is quite reserved. But at SXSW, it didn't seem to matter that the crowds were unfamiliar with our music - if they like what they hear, they certainly let you know! Austin itself is an amazing city... and 6th Street is just something else! With the jet lag, we were averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night so we basically had to live off the adrenaline and atmosphere of the place.
What's next? Is an album in the works yet?
We got quite a bit of label interest at SXSW and even more since we got back - our management is continuing those discussions as we speak. So everything's still a little bit up in the air. We had a week at Peter Gabriel's Real World studios in February recording two promo tracks for SXSW and we can't wait to get back in the studio to record more material. Basically, we're keeping the rest of the year open - hopefully ready to fill with festivals and a UK tour. We're doing a lot of London showcase gigs in April and are playing the Liverpool Sound City festival in May, which should be fun.
Lastly, you probably know that here in the U.S., a 17-year old girl playing music is generally assumed to be a Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana wannabe and aiming for the Disney and Nickelodeon audiences. Is this something you have to contend with in England as well?
It's definitely true that the whole Hannah Montana thing has spread over here and I'd be horrified if I started getting bracketed with that whole "manufactured" stereotype. I get frustrated enough as it is when people reference my age before my music and I'm counting the days to the time when the age angle becomes redundant.
blog comments powered by Disqus
More Photos
