The Polyphonic Spree

It's official: 2003 is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Or at least it certainly sounds like it considering the almost nonstop success this year by The Polyphonic Spree, a 22-member rock band/choir/orchestra from Dallas that makes The 5th Dimension sound like a glee club. Formed in 1999 by former Tripping Daisy singer/guitarist Tim DeLaughter, The Polyphonic Spree has now hit its stride following the reissue of its debut album, The Beginning Stages of… by Hollywood Records this past June. The white-robed ensemble that blends gospel, indie pop and symphonic flourishes into a euphoric happening is doing so well that it is taking its act out on the road to more cities than ever before and is coming to Michigan for the first time when it performs at Detroit's The Shelter Oct. 2 before making a four-night stand in Chicago Oct. 4-7. Recoil chatted by phone with Julie Doyle, DeLaughter's wife and member of The Polyphonic Spree's choir, while she was at home in Dallas following the recording and mixing of the band's new album, which will receive its final touches this month and is due out early next year.

Recoil: What was your first reaction when Tim told you that he wanted to do a project like The Polyphonic Spree?
Julie Doyle: I thought it was a great idea. I thought it was great and time for him to do it and time for him to take something like that on.

R: How did all of you come together to form the group?
JD: I called a few good friends of mine, he called a few good friends of his and then added some mutual friends that were good friends of both of ours. Some people that had been in bands, some that hadn't [but] that played music that we had just known through the years and then few who have never done anything musically but always wanted to and kind of started with a little group like that here in our house.

R: What were some of the reactions to some of the group's first few performances?
JD: It was weird. Our first performance I think there were thirteen of us and we really didn't know what to think. We were opening up for Grandaddy and they had a sold-out show here in Dallas. We just didn't know what to think, we were just excited to finally get out there and try it and get to start off in such a great environment opening up for them. A lot of people came up, they liked it; they were really moved by it. People were kind of shocked and surprised and it was good.

R: Have you ever had any of your fans come up to you after one of your shows and ask if they could join the group?
JD: Yeah [especially] early on. Like I said, our first show was around thirteen people, the next one was fifteen, the next one was eighteen. Some of that we specifically knew there were certain instruments that we still wanted that weren't just going to get anyone. Some of those we actually got some names and numbers and some of those were people that contacted us or e-mailed us. We own a record store here as well called Good Records and they would send some e-mails to us saying, 'Hey, I play this instrument, follow the show, I love it, I'd love to be a part of it, if you ever need this instrument, call me.' And I would say ninety-nine point nine percent of the time in this band when we've embraced it, it's worked with that person, like we've never held auditions or anything official and anyone who's ever really wanted to become a part of it that musically was there and had the things around it that felt right, have worked.

R: What's it like going out on the road with such a large ensemble of people?
JD: I think for myself, and for Tim, I think that it's easy for us because we've always been pretty inclusive people. He and I have been together since we were teenagers and all through the years we've kind of been the people out of all of our friends hosting the annual Christmas parties at our house. You know, shoving three hundred people into a kitchen if we had to. It was kind of a natural progression to say, 'Let's blend the music and the sound of something into the spirit of friendship and people that were creative and wanted to express themselves, whether they've actually done music or not.' And put that all together and you get something pretty different. You don't get twenty-four all-star musicians, you don't get twenty-four people who've sat down and mapped out every little thing, you get a blend of life, and I think that's the flavor that really is what makes The Polyphonic go.

R: I understand you all were scheduled to perform on Conan O'Brien in New York City but got cancelled due to the blackout. Were you all in New York when the blackout occurred?
JD: We had just left three hours prior to head up to Boston for a show, just a one-off, and we were going to come back that night. So when we get to Boston, we were soundchecking, and we go next door to get a bite to eat and it was all over the TVs and we were like, 'Whoa!' And then when we finished our show, we said we might as well try to drive back in [to New York] because there's always that small chance, and it was pretty wild as we were approaching Manhattan, they had just opened the tunnels back up and we went in and it was like five forty-five a.m. and the sky was red and all of Manhattan was like a black silhouette. It was actually pretty beautiful. And we got back, but by that time it was pretty obvious that Conan and all of the things weren't going to happen, but we did play our show that night at The Warsaw in Brooklyn. I mean they were actually on their way to load in with still no power and got there because the promoter was saying, 'I don't care, let's make this happen,' and started to load in and all the power came on. But yeah, it was pretty weird because we were actually doing Conan and hosting Subterranean on MTV[2], so that stuff's been rescheduled.

R: For those who have not yet had a chance to come out and see The Polyphonic Spree, what would you say the experience is like?
JD: It's a celebration. For some people it's a happy one, for some people it's maybe just a really weird one. For some people it may be kind of joyous in a melancholy way. I mean, who knows? Like I said earlier, [it's] twenty-something humans interacting, kind of as a play. There's no real set agenda or style type outside of the robes themselves, which are just there to unify. I think you can get a lot of different things from it and we have no idea each show what it's going to provoke and there's never been a conversation that's ever happened once in this band, we've never ever talked as a group, [about] what the agenda is, or how people are supposed to feel, or what we're trying to target. We're just concentrating on our own stuff and trying to pull it together for ourselves and make sure that we're out there as long - as it's honest and we kind of do what we need to do to have a great show for ourselves. I think everybody can leave with a little something.

October 2003