The Underground Sounds Of America: Polyphia

You have to give it to Polyphia: for a band that talks the talk, they do walk the walk, too. While so many metal bands spend their time making a guttural racket while pretending to be demonic cultists, this Dallas, TX-based instrumental quartet of young, handsome dudes are crafting deliciously catchy -- but technically elaborate -- experimental rock tunes that have earned them millions of YouTube views, international acclaim, and tours with acts like Periphery and Between The Buried And Me. So when you see the band posed like suave gangstas on a Mercedes Benz -- they’re just letting you know how it is.

“We've been training to become the best band in the world, which we have obviously become now,” says bassist Clay Gober. “We've written a lot of songs since our first album so I guess the experience alone has taken us to another galaxy entirely as far as the music we're making.”

Clay’s (albeit facetious) bravado is founded. Polyphia's latest video for their acrobatic-yet-smoove track, Yas, was released last month, and already has nearly half a million views on YouTube. Now, with their third full-length album New Levels New Devils due out later this week, it’s understandable that he would have the same mindset as an astronaut setting out to discover new worlds.

“There's a song on our new album called Death Note that I presently consider to be the definitive Polyphia song,” says Clay. “Until this album I don't feel like I could really say that. The new record has a lot of shit on it that I'd play at my funeral.”

That's one sick funeral, bro.

We reached out to Clay and asked him about what makes Polyphia better than, well, everyone.

1) Name your five greatest musical influences.

1. Jim Morrison

2. Frank Ocean

3. Layne Staley

4. Charles Michael Parks Jr.

5. The Eagles

2) Who would be on Polyphia’s dream tour?

Reliant K, Faith +1, Slayer, with us (Polyphia, the biggest and best of all time) headlining.

3) Outside of music, what hobby are you most passionate about?

To be honest, none of us ever practice our instruments at all and spend most of our time consuming copious amounts of alcohol and cannabis on and off tour (hence why our music is so legendary).

4) Have you ever considered adding lyrics or vocals to your music?

We have a song on our new record called So Strange that features an extremely talented homie of ours, Cuco. The track is definitely fire as hell and we had a ton of fun collaborating with him, but I don't think Polyphia will ever have a vocalist unless Anderson Paak wanted to join our band.

5) What’s the worst experience you’ve ever had on tour?

Accidentally drinking the water in Mexico was a pretty gnarly time. I spent about 2 weeks in the bathroom after that tour.

Polyphia's new album, New Levels New Devils, drops 10/12 on Equal Vision Records. Pre-order it here. Make sure to catch the band live with Hail the Sun and CoVet at one of the dates listed below:

Oct. 9 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
Oct. 10 – San Diego,CA @ The Music Box
Oct. 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ 1720
Oct. 12 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
Oct. 13 – Sacramento, CA @ Holy Diver
Oct. 14 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim's
Oct. 15 – Portland, OR @ Bossanova Ballroom
Oct. 16 – Seattle, wA @ The Crocodile
Oct. 19 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
Oct. 20 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
Oct. 21 – Saint Louis, MO @ Old Rock House - MJP
Oct. 23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze
Oct. 24 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Oct. 25 – Columbus, OH @ Woodlands Tavern
Oct. 26 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
Oct. 27 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater
Oct. 28 – Toronto, Canada @ Mod Club Theatre
Oct. 30 – Montreal, Canada @ Le Belmont
Oct. 31 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Nov. 1 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
Nov. 2 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
Nov. 3 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
Nov. 4 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
Nov. 6 – Orlando, FL @ The Abbey
Nov. 7 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Nov. 9 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
Nov. 10 – Houston, TX @ The Ballroom at Warehouse Live
Nov. 11 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda Outdoors

Words: Chris Krovatin