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You'd think that for a band boasting approximately 23 members, exhaustive preparation would be a key element of any live show. However, according to Julie Doyle, co-founder of symphonic pop ensemble the Polyphponic Spree, the band's performance on Thursday (Aug. 27) at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park will be just as new for the artists as it will be for the audience.
"To be completely honest, I think we're all sort of in a transition into a new record that we're just starting to tap into, and the fact that also we'll be doing some covers which ... we always do a couple, like at least a couple of covers per show," Doyle explained earlier this month.
"Overall performance and attire we have not discussed yet and we are going to start rehearsing a few days before the show, so I think this time around we're kind of leaving it really open, we're going to get in there, get back together, just start getting into music and kind of sort that and see, so it's going to be a surprise as much to us as anyone."
The band will be coming to Asbury Park this week as part of the Southern Comfort Presents: underCOVER tour, a series of shows featuring artists paying tribute to the acts which inspired them. Metromix recently chatted with Doyle -- who also happens to be the wife of Spree frontman Tim DeLaughter -- about covering Nirvana, the band's new album and how to fit a 23-piece band in a small club.
You guys will be working in some covers into the Asbury Park show. Without giving away any surprises, can you tell me a bit about who some of the acts were who influenced you and Tim when you were first starting up the band?
You know, we really didn't have influences when we were starting the band. The idea of the band was just to start simply with a lot of voices and a few symphonic instruments which, by the time we started gathering friends and different people who were interested, kind of just got together living room ... it just kind of started happening and because there were so many different people, as far as specific influence I don't think anyone was really in that frame of mind, we were just all sort of there having input and seeing what we were coming up with. And then the Polyphonic live (show), it just kind of took on a life of its own, so I can't really say.
Individually, as far as being influenced, I think we both enjoy all sorts of music, anything from classical to metal to the great pop symphonic groups such as the Beach Boys or whoever, but it wasn't really a specific sound or idea that we were putting together based on any particular influence, you know? I mean, we knew it was going to be dynamic and that also just had to do with knowing when you start bringing in that many people and every human has their point of view and you start kind of mixing all that up, it kind of makes for something of its own, for sure, so maybe people kind of pull different things from the Polyphonic Spree when they hear it or experience it.
One of the band's covers you guys have recorded in the past that I wanted to ask you about was your cover of "Lithium" by Nirvana that you put out on the "Wait" EP (2006). Now, when most people think of Nirvana they think of a very raw sound. Where did the inspiration for that cover come from, obviously putting your own spin on it?
We had been asked to do some collaboration with (film composer and producer) Jon Brion ... and we talked about doing something together and we were like, "cool," it was just an experiment. So he came down to Dallas, came over to our rehearsal space and we knew we were going to do a cover, we started throwing out just different ideas and it hadn't even crossed our minds, I don't think his either, to do that song. ... And somehow, he was sorting different ideas and somehow something was reminiscent of a melody in that song or something and the idea of it came up.
(We) started thinking it would be interesting because, you know, Polyphonic and Nirvana kind of felt like opposites to people in a lot of ways, but the spirit of it, I think, was similar, especially the choruses and we were like, "Wow," and kind of got into it and it was really fun and we decided to commit and just do it but yeah, it was strange. I mean, we would have never thought of, "Oh, let's do ‘Lithium' by Nirvana," because right off it'd be like, "What's the connection here?"
But, it was crazy how once we got into it and we decided to go for it how much sense it made, because we just decided we kind of wanted to do a raucous, spirited explosion of that song but we also wanted to make it pretty, because kind of underneath the whole raw, angst-ridden vibe that I think a lot of people thought of as Nirvana in a great way, all of a sudden it was kind of cool because people, definitely that's not how they tag the Polyphonic Spree yet we're not this big happy, clappy thing like on the other end of the spectrum that everyone may have thought; we did want to celebrate the song and kind of give people a different perspective but yet maintain the integrity of the song. But, we did want to make it very pretty.
Earlier this month you guys started working on a new record, right?
Uh-huh.
How's that coming along?
It's going great. We're approaching it completely different this time. Tim's always been pretty much the songwriter of the group, but this time actually, the band's been off for quite some time and he's just been writing starting out with the lyrics, which usually he puts the lyrics last or they're improvised and later kind of tweaked, if you will, and this time it's reversed out, he's written the lyrics and then putting the music around it. And at this point, it's still really, really, really stripped down, even to us, to him and to me, and except for what we put up on our blog no one in the band's even heard it. So, it's going to be interesting.
We're getting his main vocal and basic guitar structure down and then we're going to build the band around it, as opposed to all of this preproduction and typically getting drums, bass, guitar where you layer it up and then you finally get to the vocals, so it's going to be kind of inside out so it's pretty cool; (we're) pretty excited about it, because it's kind of putting everybody in a different comfort zone and that's a good thing, because it's kind of like you don't ever want to make the record you just made, you know?
Right. And I guess it's a little too early in the process to expect any of those new songs to be played when you guys come down to Asbury Park?
I don't know, it depends. I mean, it'd be cool. Like I said, honestly, there's not a set plan. We understand the show, we understand what's expected and we're going to get together and make sure that's happening and then maybe try some new approaches to a couple of the older original Polyphonic songs, and then if it feels right, a new one or two, throw it out and see and also make sure we have the time and kind of see what some of the players think. And who knows, if we perform something new there, however it ends up on the record might be completely different because it's that new, you know?
Now how many folks are playing in the band these days? Because I know sometimes the number fluctuates.
Yeah, around 23 people.
OK. Now, if you're ever playing an intimate club show like the one you're going to be doing in Asbury Park, have you ever had any trouble fitting all of those folks on stage?
You know, we just always, always say we'll figure it out or we'll get creative with the room. I mean, we've done things where 10 people were on the stage and then we placed our harp player over on the stairs and then up on a balcony, sometimes we've placed our horn players, just always find a way to take a room and say, "What can we do with this?"
So, we never base our performances on is the stage big enough or not. It's just more about what sort of a room is it, because sure there's a stage but it's always been really important to us to think about the room as a whole in our performance rather than just being about what can we figure out on the stage. So I wouldn't say (it's been) a problem, it just changes the experience.
