Five Minutes with Spain’s Hottest Indie/Rock Band: Polock

One of the highlight’s from this year’s SXSW festival was the Sounds From Spain showcase at Red Eyed Fly on 4th/Red River. The showcase featured a number of artists from Spain including current Indie darlings Polock who opened the festivities.

I spent a few minutes with the quintet from Valencia to talk about their first tour in the US in support of their debut album Getting Down From The Trees.

Why sing in English and not Spanish?

We sing in English because it’s the language of Rock. We didn’t plan on singing in Spanish. We could’ve done it but most of our influences sang in English so we sing in English as well.

Who are some of these influences?

We can point to a variety of bands from different generations from The Beatles to Ariel Pink, Television and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd.

Is this your first tour in the US?

This is our first time here in the country and we love it. All we knew about the country before our arrival was everything we’ve read in books and seen in movies. Every detail down to the street signs and lights provide a wonderful surprise with respect to what we‘re accustomed to in Europe.

How is the music scene different in the US compared to Spain?

Well, based on what little we’ve seen, the music scene is much larger in the US than in Spain with more bands and a larger variety of musical styles. It’s a bit richer than in Spain where the music scene grows and has many bands doing creative things with new ideas but it doesn’t have the same spectacle as the scene here in the US.

The Rock scene in Spain is great and getting bigger. Last summer, we performed with many groups in many music festivals who are taking things in a new and exciting direction.