One of the bands that is featured this week on Harnessing Viruses is Asheville, NC’s Kovacs & The Polar Bear. Recently, this Alt/Country quartet received some attention that helped them to win the Best Of MVA Award, along with the Crowd Favorite Award for their video “Skeleton Crew“, a single off the bands album, Loathsome Teeth. The band has also received considerable praise for their live performances, helping Kovacs and the Polar Bear to land spots at the long running Asheville, NC street fair Bele Chere and most recently, the newly established Secret Stages festival in Birmingham, Alabama.
The music that Kovacs and the Polar Bear creates has a warm and familiar sound, The band has an ability to write classic, simplistic and sentimental acoustic tunes, such as, “Ruth” and “Heart Sewin”. They also employ more modern implements, like the use of drones and synthlines in “Ox and Bull” and “Tiny Terribles”, and their overall sound is tied together with country-esque rockers like “Yellow Bellied Crops Part 2” and “Grave Steppin’ “. Most noticeably, there are moments when the group conjures the ambience and vibe of Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline, along with a feel and emotional kinship comparable to artists affiliated with Omaha, Nebraska’s Saddle Creek Records.
Kovacs and the Polar Bear stays busy these days. They are diligently working on their new album (tentatively) entitled Second Sisters and playing regularly in the Asheville, NC music scene which is helping the band methodically and consistently build a strong fan base in the Western North Carolina area. I caught up with Chris Lee and Andrew Woodward of Kovacs and the Polar Bear to discuss what they’ve been up to, what the scene is like in Asheville, N.C. and of course to find out what their favorite local beers are.
Photo Courtesy of Megan Stone
Nick Kovacs– Lead vocals and guitar
Andrew Woodward– Drums, backup vocals, and bass
Chris Lee– Bass, keyboards, guitar and backup vocals
Joe Chang– Guitar, backup vocals, keys, and bass
HV: When I saw Kovacs and the Polar Bear play a couple years back, you guys would switch your designated instruments on different songs, is that something you still do and is that a tool you use in the songwriting process?
Chris: We still do that a lot, and we’re trying to perfect the art (of) not taking forever to switch instruments on stage. I’m not sure how we decide who plays what. Most of the time it just depends on what we feel like playing. Like, I will really want to play keys on a song which means someone needs to play bass, or vice versa. Some times a song just doesn’t sound right with certain instrumentation, so it’s time to switch.
Photo Courtesy of Patrick Dempsey
Andrew: I wouldn’t say its a huge part of the songwriting process. It’s really just a matter of doing what sounds right. I feel that we switch based on the needs of the song. It’s also nice to change it up. We all love playing everything, and it’s fun to have the opportunity to switch.
HV: Do you feel that the Asheville music scene has changed and if so is the scene supportive of what you guys are doing?
Chris: I honestly don’t know what Asheville’s music scene is doing, ever. Asheville is a small town with a ton of bands that all sound very different from each other. I see a lot of bands grow here and gain a lot of attention from local media, but at some point everybody just wants to play out of town. Sometimes it feels like most of Asheville just wants to hear Bluegrass all the time, but as the city grows, the individual scenes are becoming more apparent. I think the single best thing that has happened to Asheville’s music scene is Harvest Records. They opened their record store in 2004 and have brought some of my favorite groups into Asheville, a lot of bands that might be passed over by us otherwise (including War on Drugs, who, thanks to the Harvest guys, we were able to open for last fall). As far as support goes I think we couldn’t have asked for a better year.
Andrew: I feel like we have received a TON of support! A lot of people I’ve always looked up to have taken us under their wings. Venue owners, promoters, and fellow musicians are constantly sharing any help they can. Asheville is a very supportive scene for us, and yes, I feel that it has changed and is constantly changing for the better. Every time someone starts a new band or festival, everything evolves.
HV: What other Asheville bands do all of you think are great? And what venues in AVL do you like to play the most?
Chris: The Critters, Soft Opening, Floating Action, and Marley Carroll are the local acts I’m really into right now, but I can’t speak for the rest of the band. I know their list would include Tyler Ramsey, CobraHorse, The If You Wannas, The Luxury Spirit, Knives and Daggers. . . ok I’m gonna stop. Our favorite place to play in town is The Grey Eagle. We always have great shows there, and the owners and staff are just super. Some other great places to play are The Emerald Lounge, Broadways, and The Majestic House. That last one isn’t a venue, it’s just our friends’ house, but you know, house parties are my favorite things to play.
Andrew: First off, my favorite place to play is The Grey Eagle. It feels like home. The people who run that place are amazing at everything. It’s also my favorite place to see a show. As far as bands, I hate to miss The Critters, Floating Action, Town Mountain, Joshua Carpenter, Knives and Daggers! The list could keep going!
Photo Courtesy of Patrick Dempsey
HV: Where can we buy Loathsome Teeth?
Chris: Here in Asheville you can get it at Harvest Records or Static Age. Online you can buy it on iTunes, Amazon.com, CDBaby and any of their affiliated sites. And of course, you can always just ask us. I think most of our social media sites have a link to buy it, and we would always be happy to mail you a cd if you contact us. We’re easy, and very unofficial.
HV: Where did you record the album and who engineered it? What was the experience like?
Chris: We recorded at Hillcreek Studios in Candler, NC. Which is this awesome refurbished barn on this beautiful piece of land about 20 minutes west of Asheville. Loathsome Teeth was engineered by Russell Anders, in between smoke breaks. It was the most relaxed recording experience of our lives. Russell is awesome, and hilarious, and he became a good friend of ours in the process. He taught us a lot about recording and was very liberal with his time. I think that has made all recording sessions since then go a lot smoother.
HV: Kovacs and the Polar Bear released a video this year for the single”Skeleton Crew“. Who directed the video, and how has the response been toward the video and the song?
Chris: Joe Chang, our guitar player, directed the video and our good friend Matt Warren filmed it with his super awesome camera. The response has been amazing. The video won the Grand prize and Crowd Favorite at the 2011 Music Video Asheville and I think, like, a lot of people have been watching it, not just our moms.
HV: You guys recently performed at Secret Stages 2011 in Birmingham, AL what was that experience like?
Chris: We enjoyed ourselves. It was a first year festival with some kinks to work out, but we got to see some great bands, namely Madeline, from Athens, and The Love Language, from Raleigh. For most of us, it was our first time in Birmingham, and I don’t know if we were in the wrong part of town, which was downtown, but there didn’t seem to be a lot going on.
Photo Courtesy of Andrew Fedynak
HV: Are there plans for any shows up North?
Chris: No plans right now. We always want to.
Andrew: Plans: No. Dreams: Yes! We’ve been trying to book some sort of tour, but I think that so many areas are so saturated with bands coming through that it makes it hard to find good shows. Hopefully, sometime in the fall we can make a Northward micro-tour happen.
HV: Any big shows or events coming up?
Chris: Well, most importantly, our new album “Second Sisters” will be out late Summer to early Fall, so we will of course expect an interview post release. We have some great local shows coming up this Summer. One, with Madeline, one with Tiny Creatures, and the If You Wannas CD Release Party, oh yeah and Bele Chere, our local HUGE street festival
* BONUS QUESTION
Asheville, NC is considered a Beer City. What local beers do you guys like?
Chris: My favorite is French Broad Brewery’s 13 Rebels.
Andrew: I have always loved Pisgah Pale Ale and Wedge Iron Rail IPA is the best.
Thanks again to Chris and Andrew! Keep an eye on these guys. The music world will definitely hear more from Kovacs and the Polar Bear in the future for sure!
-HVTBM-
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