STACK April 2017 Issue 150

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06 APRIL 2017
continued
POLISH
CLUB
Sydney duo Polish Club have created a ripper of a
new record; we asked vocalist David Novak how he
and drummer John-Henry Pajak pieced the scuzz
and soul of Alright Already together. Words: Zoë Radas
How did you come up with the chromatic,
falling guitar scale in opener Where U Been?
I remember reading Radiohead’s Just was
an experiment in using as many chords as
possible, was it anything similar?
I f-cking love that riff in Just. It gets me so
amped. I guess the sentiment is the same, just
making it sound like a bit of an intense mess. It
was actually John’s idea, to just not worry about
chords and have it descend sloppily. My first
instinct is to always make something cohesive
in a melodic/chord sense, so it goes against
my natural reflex, but it fits well with all the
accidental un-melodic stuff we do.
How long do you work on a chorus melody
like the one in Beat Up ?When I first heard it
it felt like I’d had it in my head for years.
Literally once. We don’t spend much time at
all re-thinking ideas. We usually record an idea
the first time we come up with it because I’m
super forgetful. I didn’t change the melody at
all from the first time I sang it; I just open my
mouth and sometimes whatever comes out
sticks.
Do you understand the bridge rules for which
I am making a guess the band is named
after?What is the best card game in the
land?
Someone told me about that once. I have
been meaning to Google it. My mum used to
play bridge a lot actually, so I suppose I have
both her and my Polish father to thank for our
band name. The best card game in the land is
Monopoly (that counts right, there are cards?).
It ruins friendships and is all about f-cking over
other people. What’s not to love?
Have you learned a proper vocal warm-up
routine you do before performing live?
Mark Williams from Dragon is my vocal coach.
He’s literally the only reason I can sing more
than one night in a row. In songs like Able and
Why Should I, I’m literally screaming in parts
and that’s never going to be good for your
voice. But I worked with Mark to change almost
everything about my physicality when I sing:
jaw movement, tongue placement, breathing,
stance, muscle use, and not to mention warm-
ups and preparation too. I also stole some
insider knowledge regarding remedies and
gadgets from Zach from Northeast Party House,
but if I told you, I’d have to kill you.
Do you try to order your live set to give your
voice the best chance of holding up?
I think I’m in a place now where I can move
songs around more freely but there’s always a
slight strategy with where I like to place
songs live. It’s mostly about balance and
not blowing your load all at once. Also,
I’m super unfit and need some sexy
slow jams to catch my breath, though
they’re all mostly vocally intense too. I
probably need to chill out. Maybe our
next release with be a jazz album or
something.
I imagine John-Henry has a ball
playing the kit part on Broke; what do
you call that kind of beat?The only
other example of it which came to my
mind was Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz.
I think it’s on Broke where you can literally
hear John hit an accidental rimshot in the song
and scream in pain. It’s probably one of his more
difficult drum beats on the album, and that’s
why I fully intend on playing it at every available
opportunity live, because I’m a sadist.
There are lots of grunts, chuckles and asides
sprinkled around the album.Tell us you
were genuinely having that much fun while
recording – and also, did you both agree to
keep all those little life-signs included?
From day one in the studio we told Wade (our
producer fromWolf & Cub) to keep rolling before
and after takes so we’d have some banter and
atmosphere sound to play with. To be honest,
there would probably heaps more on the album
if we weren’t so juvenile and crass. Most of it
(which obviously didn’t make the cut) was fart
noises and berating comments. There was a lot
of Wade going “It sounds like you’re telling me
what to do…”
You’re touring over the entire month of May,
and finishing off atThe Corner in Melbourne
on June 3.What do you hope to have
perfected/learned by the end of the run?
We need to learn a new Melbourne cover.
Last time we were out there for St Kilda Fest, I
tried singing the start of the Saints’ club song,
but that didn’t go down so well. Maybe it’s time
to bust out some Taxiride, Melbourne’s greatest
gift to the world.
Alright
Already by
Polish Club is
out now via
Double Double/
Island Records
Australia.
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