Many years ago I visited the incredible Svalbard which is roughly 1500km from the North Pole – it is part of a Norwegian group of islands known as Spitsbergen. While I was there I visited a property called Mary-Ann’s Polar Rig. It was a quirky little place and I remember it well and have always wanted to go back and visit; so when I discovered a band who had the same name I was certainly curious to check them out and glad I did!
Sweden’s Mary Anne’s Polar Rig – the band – are absolutely awesome, throwing up a fresh rocky sound that is extremely catchy.
Perhaps in 2021 we could see them actually perform at the property – how meta would that be?
Tell us who you are and what is your sound?
Mary Anne’s Polar Rig is a rock band consisting of four people each playing an instrument. Malin Hofvander (vocals, guitar), Jesper Olsson (bass), Harald Ingvarsson (guitar) and Philip Lindskog (drums). Our sound tends to be held within the realm of indie rock while having leaned a bit closer to pop than rock early on in the existence of the band.
What exciting projects have you got coming up?
We have a 10 track album coming out in february through Feverish and before that we will release two more singles. The album will only be digital in Europe but some say that there might be a CD version in Japan.
Where did you grow up and what music influenced you?
We all grew up in and around Malmö, Sweden. Philip and Jesper met while playing metal many years ago and that has certainly influenced them both. But it’s all very diverse and it’s hard to pin down specific influences. Everything between the most light weight pop to the harshest noise music has been influential to us as people to get to where we are now. People who have heard our music would probably not be surprised that we are quite influenced by Pavement too.
What cool places do you recommend to visit in your city (bars, restaurants, etc)?
Square Side and Mässingshornet are two bars that we are very fond of. There are some people who put up great garage rock shows and similar things at Mässingshornet in non-pandemic times. Vegegården is a nice restaurant and as far as venues goes there are Enskiftet and Plan B, very different to each other but each with their qualities. The former in particular if you are into Punk. Plan B has also meant a lot to us as it was where we had our first real show and they even financed our first 7” single (we still have plenty of copies, get in touch). There are also some record stores in Malmö, especially great is Rundgång (located in walking distance from Square Side). These places are all mandatory visits in Malmö!
We love recommendations – what have you been listening to, watching, or reading recently?
There is obviously a lot of great stuff to recommend but some things that has gotten a lot of plays recently would be the upcoming Monokultur album Ormens Väg (also everything related them; Skiftande Enheter, Loopsel, JJ Ulius), Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Desertshore by Nico and anything by The Clean. You know what, let’s throw in Aldous Harding and Neutral as well, all of their albums are masterpieces. As for our local scene we could also recommend Spader Kung, Malmö’s saddest punk band.
27/11 also saw the debut of Bathouse, a band that features members of Mary Anne’s Polar Rig, maybe Sweden’s strongest, harshest new punk.
Finally, what was the last thing that made you swear out loud?
Probably capitalism. Either that or neighbours drilling. Or some tight drumming. This is hard, we swear out loud a lot 🙁
Interview by Alex Minnis
