Words by Jonathan Stout
Mike Polizze, the longtime songwriter, guitarist and singer of Philadelphia psych-squallers Purling Hiss (as well as Birds of Maya) is usually known for loud, melodic garage rock with almost J. Mascis-esque soloing. However, through his solo work, Polizze is able to explore material with softer edges, spending time honing his fingerpicking and folk sensibilities on acoustic guitar.
Such is the case again for Around Sound, however this release is informed by new personal experiences, including becoming a first-time father. Coupled with the alienation of the pandemic, this led to even quieter compositions and speculative moments. Recorded over the span of five years at Uniform Studio, it serves as a fresh benchmark in Polizze’s timeline as an active member of the creative community of Philadelphia.
Off Shelf: Last time we chatted it was about the Purling Hiss ripper, Drag on Girard. How have you been? There’s a definite pensive sense of melancholy to many of the songs on Around Sound, so I have to ask, are you ok?
Mike Polizze: Doing great! I spent a lot of time in the basement quietly playing my acoustic guitar. Writing and recording my ideas. So it’s been a very different process than working out material with a – loud – band. [laughs]
I bought a mysterious acoustic guitar on consignment at a now closed music store in Delco during the pandemic. Its brand is called Holt and is from Garland, Texas. It’s labeled as a Spanish guitar and has a slogan on the inside label, “With the lonesome sound”. I have searched the internet for it and the maker and can’t find anything. I believe there’s a heavy metal electric guitar company called Holt but it wasn’t that. The store told me the owner wanted to tell me an interesting story about the guitar but the place closed and I lost contact with them.
So the pensive spookiness might have something to do with that mystery that’s been driving me crazy!
OS: You’re involved with a few different music projects – were all of these songs written for the deliberate intent of a solo release or were any of the compositions ones you had kept in the back pocket for the right time?
MP: These are deliberate for my solo album. I really do surprise myself as to what kind of writing or listening I get myself into. I’ve always been a fan of anything musically. No matter what genre it is.
OS: Around Sound is largely acoustic based – do you find yourself to be more commonly drawn to an acoustic or an electric for songwriting? Why?
MP: I would have to say it’s 50/50. I guess it would be easy to choose electric since I’ve been involved in mostly electric guitar projects, but I’ve been playing both since the beginning
OS: You’ve been collaborating with Jeff Ziegler for over a decade now. How did that kinship come to be?
MP: It was a small enough social circle and a nascent scene I think. He’s such a fixture, that the more I worked with him, the more I wanted to keep it going. I think it’s been a really good chapter in Philly and for me to look back and see all the records we did together.
OS: What was the recording process for Around Sound like? Did you and Jeff record in a stand alone studio or home studio?
MP: I went to his studio. Uniform, it’s called. I went in solo, and we did basic tracking pretty quickly, as I had rehearsed for it. The overdubbing, mixing and revisions were a slower process because of my schedule mainly. He was really accommodating with that part, and made sure I got in there. It’s been five years almost exactly with the solo LP follow up.
OS: You played all the instruments on this release – did the arrangements come easily or were there any that required extra labor?
MP: It was fairly easy for me. Sometimes overdubbing drums and percussion can be tricky with following a metronome or just hearing the music you’re playing to in the headphones. Also overdubbing guitars gets a lot of improvisation, which I like – to capture something off the cuff – but that can get tricky too if you get something you’re not sure you like and have to decide to mix it in or axe it.
OS: You’ve recently become a father and this experience has informed some of the songs on Around Sound. Has becoming a parent affected your artistic approach at all?
MP: Yeah, another serendipitous thing about all of this is the timing of the pandemic followed by parenthood, and having just time itself passed, has really informed a lot of the way I approached writing and recording and just how I’ve been playing guitar. The pandemic felt like a juncture for other projects and the isolation of that also led me to quieter and speculative moments. Adding becoming a father really changed things up, for sure.
OS: In your songwriting, you’ve always been able to juxtapose serious subjects with a vague smile or sense of humor. Almost in a Vonnegut sort of way. Do you keep this well measured approach in your daily life as well, and if so, how are you able to maintain optimism or a sense of humor, even in difficult situations?
MP: Lots of dad jokes! [laughs] That’s interesting though, I’m not sure I’ve ever really thought about my attitude on my songs versus real life. I think so? I definitely used to add humor into everyday life to alleviate stressful or awkward situations. It could have been from insecurity. I think I do that less now.
OS: You maintain a fairly prolific output via your different projects. Are you generally pretty inspired? Do things normally come together quickly after you pick up a guitar?
MP: I definitely can run out of inspiration if I don’t listen and look for it. I learned that being a sponge in that way is really helpful. I’ve also learned how to balance that. Like I will tear through lots of music listening for days and also just hit record on my voice memos app and just capture beginnings of ideas in a stream of conscious type way. Then I will focus on just obsessing over my own demos or studio takes and not listen to other music for that time being.
OS: What’s next up for you, in terms of music? More solo material or pivots back to Purling Hiss or Birds of Maya?
MP: I’m not totally sure! I have written a ton of material during this album process so I have more ideas there. I do pivot to lots of other endeavors too demo-wise. I have lots of material that’s just me but is an entirely different sound.
I’ve been compiling lots of stuff for years and would like to eventually release an anthology type thing. I’m on my 25th …or 26th?… year of recording. I bought my 4-track recorder in 1999 – I would record on my stereo in mid-late 90s before actually! It was the only one in stock, a floor model at Sam Ash. I had tinkered with it a bunch and finally had gotten some ideas down around the year 2000.