Submerge themselves in India’s thriving dance music scene and getting ready for ADE
Interview : Simon Tillotson
The Futuristic Polar Bears are running seriously low on space in their passports and with the latest ink still drying from their recent Indian tour for Submerge College Jam, we’ve got an exclusive video of their performance at their Indore gig. Submerge is India’s leading dance music portal and almost single handedly runs the now thriving scene, the College Jam brand is taking dance music to the colleges and younger generations, prepping them for a lifetime of beats, bass and drops.
Submerge produced an official video of the Polar Bears’ trip to Indore, watch it here and then read on to find out how their trip went and for an exclusive mix ahead of their upcoming trip to Amsterdam.
Hi guys! Sounds like you’ve been busy recently – which bits stand out?
“Hey DMC! We’ve had a great few months touring and in the studio, the key things that stand deffo have to be our recent trip to India, it was insane! We’ve also done some amazing shows at home recently including our debut in the Box at Ministry of Sound and supporting Danny Howard on his Fresher’s Tour throughout the UK.”
So, tell us how the tour in India came about?
“We’d done the guest mix on Nikhil Chinapa’s show that goes out all over India and about a month later we got invited to come out and play for Submerge. It was an amazing experience the gigs were crazy and we got looked after really well.”
College Jam sounds like a great idea – what was it like playing for a younger generation?
“The crowd were really enthusiastic and hyped, it deffo made for a great party. We found out the party was sold out weeks in advance and the whole city had got behind this event which was great. We even had around 200 students meet us at the airport to welcome us to Indore.”
How does India’s dance scene differ to the scene in the UK?
“India’s scene is still relatively new but in a few years I reckon it will emerge as one of the main scenes to play in. The crowds are crazy and the clubs are really good packed with all the latest technology, there are so many great places to play as well.”
You guys have done a fair bit of globetrotting recently; do you ever yearn to play at the club down the road for a bit of a break?!
“It’s always nice to play locally in the UK and we’ve had some brilliant gigs; going abroad is loads of fun though, it’s great to meet new people and experience loads of amazing things that you wouldn’t get to do if you were a tourist.”
You must have a fair bit of spare time when travelling – what’s the Polar Bear’s preferred way to pass the time?
“We all seem to love our American TV boxsets so we watch quite a few of those. Fran loves to read whereas Rhys and I love football so we tend to play a lot of Football Manager as well, you can easily waste hours playing that… However, if there’s work to do we turn on Logic and have been known to sit there writing new music or making bootlegs and re-edits for our shows.”
And finally, what plans have you got for the rest of the year?
“We’re back over in Russia and Holland before Halloween and then we’ll be taking up our residency at Secret Party Project for their Halloween show – all before November hits! We’ve also got some amazing releases planned that we’ll be telling you all about very soon and believe me, they are worth the wait!!”
Despite their hectic schedule, the Polar Bears have found time to record a mix in anticipation of their upcoming gig in Amsterdam at the ADE. You know the drill, follow the link and turn the system up as far as it’ll go.
http://soundcloud.com/futuristicpolarbears/futursitic-polar-bears-ade
www.soundcloud.com/futurisiticpolarbears
www.twitter.com/polarbearmusic1