Interview // Ryan Pollie

Last December, the industrious Ryan Pollie released his latest full-length record Stars which found the Los Angeles based songwriter and producer reaching newfound creative heights mixing jubilant country-soul, sweet-natured folky singalongs, and Pink Floydian psychedelic excursions. Pollie joins us to discuss the creation of his new album, his work as a producer, and a variety of topical music biz issues.

Your new record Stars arrived over two years after the 2019 self-titled record and your first under your own name after retiring the Los Angeles Police Department moniker. How do you compare the creation of Stars to your work processes and inspirations before it?

Time is certainly weird, and it's hard to think back to formulating this album with any sort of clear intent behind it. I think I subconsciously was trying to wrap my personality around these stories through sonic elements I enjoy and geek out on.

I think the main difference I can hear with Stars is potentially my production. I've kind of settled into my studio space in my house and the house is a big part of this record as well - and the sound. I also definitely hear an expansiveness on this record through strings, horns, and instrumental passages that aren't such a mainstay on the rest of my albums.

It kind of seems like Stars is the first record you've released that has distinct collaborative elements with tracks like "On The Nose" that have jammy qualities that warrant the involvement of a band or other instrumentalists to really lock into the spirit of the songs. Is this something that you considered or envisioned on this record?

Yes, 100%. I had such a great time bringing my last album to life after recording it with such a wonderful live band and have been fortunate enough to produce and record so many bands that play basics live in the studio. The interplay and communication that occurs between musicians in any moment is so powerful. It's tricky though, because as we get older and aren't going to high school band practice every week - we have jobs and other things that get in the way of being able to be so giving with our time. That being said, there are so many friends that gave so much to Stars, and I think it shines because of that.

“On The Nose” specifically is all me jamming with myself except for Rob Dobson on guitars - but all of the drums and rhythm tracks on Stars are me. Ideally, I'll be able to track more stuff for my own project with a band from the get go. It's been really great to be able to lay everything down and have featured performers in instrumental sections or solo slots.

Over the past few years, you've been honing your craft as a producer building out a home studio, making records with interesting new artists, and self-producing your own material. How has your time in the producer's chair led to changes in your own songwriting?

Man it took so so long for me to get to a place where I felt comfortable producing records for other people. I wish I hopped in the chair earlier, but am glad I waited - building up my skill set and toy closet. I can't try to touch on all the ways that making records with new artists has impacted my life and relationships. But as it relates to changes in my own song writing skills, I think they have definitely improved. Arranging is a huge part of my job in producing a record, so applying a critical ear to so many songs for others has helped me get both tighter and more experimental in my approach.

I think a huge part of self producing Stars was saying what I wanted to say as a producer. I think I was able to share so much of my personality, humor, and emotion - communicating with choices regarding how things sound rather than choices related to the actual lyrics or melody. It's cool to be able to get this holistic vision to the finish line without sacrificing much in terms of how I want things to sound.

You're gearing up for an extensive world tour across Los Angeles in March and April. Have you missed having more opportunities to perform live given these new challenges to touring freely and safely whenever and wherever you please? Was touring an important part of your creative vision before things changed?

I'm glad that joke landed. I have seen so many giant tours cancelled over the past two years that it felt ok to announce a world tour, a couple made up dates, and a bunch of real ones in LA and SF. The cool thing is I'll be debuting some of my favorite LA rooms such as Gold Diggers and Zebulon, and was for real turned into a hologram for South By.

It was heartbreaking watching a primary source of income for so many artists get taken away, with no signs of it coming back. The recording industry in terms of recorded music, is rarely enough of an income stream on its own - so live shows were huge to so many of my friends when it came to paying rent. The thing is for me, I never landed any of the support tours I pitched for, and so that touring infrastructure hadn't been built into my life the past ten years. To me, it seems better money to tour than to not - but not enough to be a huge impetus to just hop in a van and stop producing records for people in town.

I want to continue doing "Ryan Pollie Presents" shows which will be community focused, free, and set up with an emphasis on attentive audiences and breaking down the barrier between the band and the crowd.

With all of the important conversations happening regarding the world of streaming music, how do you react as a working musician who needs to effectively share your music with as many people as possible while also balancing your reliance on companies that clearly minimize the value of art?

I hope with all my heart that the industry course corrects itself in the next 5 years, and making rock records can be linked to a capitalist value that at anywhere near resembles "fair." Merging capitalism with art is fucked to begin with, and I think it's brave for anyone to do it despite the fact that they likely won't make any money from it. I've been lucky enough to have a supportive family and zero threat of a true financial meltdown. There are couches for me to stay on if things go wrong. Parents' houses. A lot of artists don't have this. Sure get a job, go get fired at another coffee house, but I'd rather these kids have a welcoming industry that distributes a little cash flow to debut albums.

Music is free - and it's socially acceptable to steal it. Music has become background noise in 90% of listening experiences. It plays in the hospital, in the restaurant, in the car. We've recalibrated music's use in our lives to a great extent and this is directly linked to how we value it. Of course there are people that do intentional listening. They buy records, they listen to albums on headphones, etc. But I think that community is shrinking because we teach the next generations that music is essentially muzak. It's impersonal, it's free entertainment, it fills silence. We need to get back to a place where we value how hard these artists are working to make something so so so valuable. So important, so intangible that we've forgotten it's importance.

Rock and Roll isn't dead, you just have to look for it.