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Music

We Chatted With Channy Leaneagh Of POLIÇA

The ex-Gayngs member talks making R&B-tinged electro burners with autotune people *don't* scoff at.

POLIÇA, formed of Channy Leaneagh and Ryan Olson (both ex-Gayngs members), recently released one of the most intriguing debut records of the year, Give You The Ghost. I first caught them live at SXSW earlier this year, when they were deservedly kicking up a huge hype storm. Their sultry, swampy, R&B-tinged sound was brought thundering to life by two live drum kits a bass backing Channy’s heavily autotuned vocals. It was clear from these very early shows that POLIÇA had arrived a fully-formed act, already performing on a higher level than the other new artists clamoring for notice. They had the songs, the distinct, original sound, the presence and that indescribable something else that brought goosebumps despite the dank humidity lurking over Austin. It seemed inevitable they’d find thousands of fans fast, and also fitting that the next time I caught them play was in an equally sweaty joint, the cavern that is CAMP basement, at one of two sold out London dates. I caught up with Channy the next day to find out what the last few months had brought their way.

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Were you pleased at the speed the excitement built around POLIÇA after SXSW?
I was tentative at first. If you feel like you’re a hype band, you need to step carefully, as I don’t want to be thrown up just to fall from as high as I came. It didn’t really start to hit me 'til just now that I’m going to be doing this for a while. Sometimes, I question if this is really the right thing to be doing, but now, it’s sort of like "This is what you’re going to be doing." It’s good.

You’re a pretty new group, but already seem like you’ve been at this together for years.
This is about the first anniversary of when we started writing the record, but I feel very comfortable with these guys on stage.

Do you write the songs with autotune in mind, or your natural vocals and then adjust afterwards?
I want to focus on reacting to the beats (created by writing partner Ryan), so I always have the pedal on while I’m writing. I might develop it outside of that, but it always starts there and continues from there.

I think, especially for this project, it’s so important, not just for the lyrics, but writing into the song how I’m going to sing it—to see how I’m going to move the syllables and how I’m going to use the pedal in the song—so it’s on from the beginning.

Was it a natural thing to start working with? Had you used the pedals or autotune before?
I was writing this record right in between Gayngs tours, using the same pedal when I sang with Gayngs, but I was just in the back with Ryan controlling the pedal. So with POLIÇA, I wanted to learn how to use it. When we got together to start writing, I never even thought about it. I just sort of plugged it in and turned it on, and a lot of this record was just me messing around with it. That’s why the effects, especially the autotune, are higher on the record than live.

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Sometimes, when you first start using something—like when a girl first starts wearing make up, she puts way too much on, and then as she gets older she pares back. That’s sort of what happened. It’s fine; I’m not unhappy with it, but it’s definitely a glimpse of where I was at with vocal effects at the time. I just didn’t really question it, as I didn’t know this was going to be a band at the time of the recording.

It’s utilized really interestingly. Do you know who inspired Gayngs or Ryan and you to work with it in this way?
I know the reason why Ryan and Drew, who’s my drummer, first bought a Helicon maybe like five or six years ago was because they heard an interview with the artist from Fever Ray/The Knife who uses the same thing. They bought one a long time ago as they love her.

Justin Vernon is who I learned about it from. He sang this Sade song in Gayngs, and he gave that song to me. He wasn’t touring with us as much and is very generous and wanted to share his parts, and that’s where I started learning how to use it, because this kind of thing is kind of difficult. It’s a different way of singing.

808s & Heartbreak is one of my favorite records and that’s very strong autotune. It doesn’t make anything sound more beautiful, it just adds this warping distorted quality that I like.

I thought I heard a couple of new songs last night. Have you been writing whilst touring?
Well, we played two last night and we have four we can add in. I’ve been writing a little bit, but mostly Ryan and I like to work together.

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Is Ryan as involved as he was on the new tracks?
Yeah, it’s a good relationship we have. I usually take his beats on the road and continue to write to them and fix things up, because I usually lay down a basic a melody and lyrics when I first hear it, and then need to polish it up a bit.

Are you going to improvise the vocal parts on new material as much as on the first record?
The first one really was—it’s not like I want to change too much with the new stuff, but that record was almost like a happening in an intoxicating state almost. It was our first time writing together, and I’m writing while I’m singing. I really like that, as it’s like a window into this collaboration, but overall, I’d like to have some songs that are still like that, but to develop the lyrics a little bit more maybe. To have a little bit more of a chorus/verse kind of thing. I do have more to say, but there are also songs that do best when they’re simple and repetitive like that. To me, that’s very representative of my folk background. It’s like repeating the same sad tunes over and over.

Are you going to keep the R&B influences in your new material?
Yes, there’s a good balance between us, as I’d sometimes like to take it a little further into R&B, and Ryan’s just balancing me out a little. He wants to keep the live band sound, and also the noise and electronic influences.

POLIÇA Live Dates:

Wed 11 July Groningen Kardinger Plas, Netherlands with Bon Iver
Thu 12 July London Rough Trade East www.roughtrade.com/site/instore.lasso
Fri 13 July Latitude Festival, Suffolk www.latitudefestival.co.uk/tickets/
Sat 14 July Dour Festival, Belgium
Sun 15 July Paris Olympia, France with Bon Iver
Tue 17 July Luxembourg City Neumünster Abbey, Luxembourg with Bon Iver
Wed 18 July Vienne Theatre Antique, France
Thu 19 July Ferrara Piaza Castello, Italy with Bon Iver
Fri 2 Nov Glasgow SWG3 www.artistticket.com/link/?s=Polica
Sat 3 Nov Manchester Sound Control www.artistticket.com/link/?s=Polica
Sun 4 Nov Nottingham Rescue Rooms www.artistticket.com/link/?s=Polica
Mon 5 Nov Bristol Thekla www.artistticket.com/link/?s=Polica
Tue 6 Nov Brighton The Haunt www.artistticket.com/link/?s=Polica
Tue 20 Nov London Heaven www.artistticket.com/link/?s=Polica

@suzeolbrich