Pollyman may not be an act that you’re familiar with, but you will be. Kicking off after The Tiny Giants disbanded, George Wilson (Pollyman) is the dose of old school rock and roll that’ll be sure to dominate the airwaves from February onwards.
With ‘Japanese Rock and Roll’ already scoring acclaim from the likes of PBS and Triple R, it seems Pollyman’s debut release will be absolutely cherished by Melbourne music lovers. It is no surprise though, especially since the humble George Wilson has been surrounded by music his whole life.
“Both my parents (Chris Wilson and Sarah Carroll) were musicians,” he says. “They’d take us to gigs and festivals a lot when we were kids because they were always playing and they didn’t want to leave us at home. It was never their intention to push us into music or get us into what they were doing because for a long time my brother and I weren’t doing any music – we were kind of sporty kids if anything.
Now, George and his brother Fenn both find themselves pursuing careers in music.
“I really only started writing songs when I was about 15 or so, around very late 2013, early 2014,” he reflects. “Up until that point I had only been a drummer and at that stage, I taught myself guitar and bass and it was around then that I started my first songs. They were really simple and constructed by only a couple of chords, but they were songs. At that time I was just writing about whatever I could, usually about relationships or people I had seen quite observational lyrics.
“I kept writing later into high school and the enjoyment grew and I felt as if I got better at it and then I started playing whole sets of my material and as Tiny Giants become less and less prevalent, my music became more of my priority.”
With two singles already released, Pollyman’s debut LP which was co-engineered by previous bandmate Jasper Jolley, is set for release in February via Bonsai Records.
“It’s been in the can for nearly a year and a lot of this year was spent learning and rehearsing the songs with a band and then figuring out the business side of things.”
When asked if ‘Japanese Rock and Roll’ was a good indication of what’s to come, George replied, “I wouldn’t say it’s a blindside but the album does cover a lot of different ground. I started writing the songs for this album before I even knew that this was going to be an album. Over the period of maybe three years, I had written this bunch of songs so my influences have changed significantly over that time and I feel you can hear that throughout the album. There are more up-tempo rock songs like ‘Japanese Rock and Roll’ and then a few slower ones and a song that more orientated towards pub-rock but it all ties into that idea of retro style rock and roll which I love.”
I decided to round up our interview by asking George if there was anything I may have left out or forgotten to ask, to this he thoughtfully responded; “Maybe if we just mention how helpful my parents have been in making it all happen. They were kind of the bankroll for the whole process and have always been huge supporters of me making the album and it honestly wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
Written by Alex Callan
