Moderator: Hello, we are talking with Eric
Avery from 
">Polar Bear .
Bill: Eric-- How is the
weather out West?
POLARBEAR: Perfect today. Kind of East Coast
actually. Just enough gray and blustery.
Dita: Where about in LA are you Eric???
POLARBEAR: Santa Monica. West side.
Dita: Near the beach?
POLARBEAR: 10 streets from the beach.
Bill: Is Biff Sanders in the chat room?
POLARBEAR: No, Biff isn't here.
Dita: Did you enjoy playing at SXSW?
Was it a good crowd?
POLARBEAR: I fucking hated playing SXSW.
Industry, industry, industry.
Bill: Eric-- Where do you see the future of
music heading?
POLARBEAR: Music is heading nowhere fast
right now because I think everyone is afraid and unsure what to
do.
spacegrrl: Eric! I got your Mans Ruin
12" -it's really good Are you going to put out another cool
piece of vinyl?
POLARBEAR: We don't have vinyl plans right
now but Kozik's records sure are cool.
spacegrrl: Are you guys going to sign with a
big label?
POLARBEAR: We are going to sign to a bigger
label but I'm not sure how big. It depends on all the usual
factors. I think too many people get caught up in the label du
jour thing though. They are all good and evil.
Dita: So, when is ">Polar Bear
going to grace the east coast?? I know you don't particularly
like it over here... but we would like to see you play........
POLARBEAR: PB would love to
grace the east coast if you fly us there.
Bill: Any touring plans this summer/fall?
POLARBEAR: Just some local club dates.
Bill: If I can't find your EP at the local
store, how would I get it?
POLARBEAR: You can call my managers and order
anything directly from them: 213-883-0360.
Dita: I don't know mod, too many people are
trying to fill quotas of band signings..... they're going for the
first thing that hits them in the mouth... and most of that is
pretty bad....
Moderator: The industry is a industry,. How
could you expect anything else? Real art cannot be judged by
sales alone.
POLARBEAR: I would also like to see some more
clarity between alternative spirits and alternative marketing
postures.
Dita: Who would you like to do a remix of Polar
Bear for you?
POLARBEAR: I welcome ANYONE
to do a remix of our stuff.
Moderator: Everyone is running across the
street from alternative to Electronic. Good let them. There was
only one Nirvana. How many Prodigy
clones do you think the industry can produce successfully?
Bill: Eric-- do you feel that people today
are just trying to be 'different' because they think that is what
is acceptable as opposed to who they are?
POLARBEAR: What IS up with Prodigy?
What is new about them, I really don't know. Very early eighties
to me.
Dita: They shout alot and use manic panic.
Beyond that......???
spacegrrl: I saw them the other night- I was
VERY disappointed. I saw Rick Rubin raving with Jerry
Seinfeld and Cameron Diaz at the Prodigy
show.
POLARBEAR: Sounds scary.
Bill: Eric-- do you listen to the radio at
all, and if you do what do you think of the stuff that is on the
air?
POLARBEAR: I just tried to listen to the
radio again the other day. Awful. Just one long loud Weenie
roast commercial with musical interludes.
POLARBEAR: Bill, you are a wise man. You do
get it don't you. The only difference is absolute individualism.
Dita: Is that possible though?? Absolute
individualism?
Moderator: I wasn't a raver so I kind of
missed the whole thing. But I am sure the mainstream is getting a
very watered down version of the whole thing. Very similar to
what happened with the Punk/Indie scene in this country a few
years back.
Bill: Eric-- I'm good friends with Phil Hayes
and I went to a concert with him last October. He showed me a
picture that was taken with you and Dave N. last summer. Have you
heard from him recently?
POLARBEAR: Just got an "e" from
Phil a day or two ago.
spacegrrl: Eric, do you listen to any hip
hop?
POLARBEAR: I liked a lot of the DC hip hop in
the late eighties and I will always love PE but
I don't listen to much of that right now.
Bill: I think that the 'techno' craze is a
phase, just like 'grunge' was in the early 90's...
Moderator: Personally, I prefer Rocket
from the Crypt but radio was too busy promoting crap.
Dita: Raves have been going on
since........back in the eighties with the whole acceded Ibiza
thing.....it's just taken a bit of time to work its way over to
the states.
POLARBEAR: I don't think techno will do the
same thing as grunge. I can't picture the Midwest shaving their
mustaches in favor of a binky, a whistle, and some bicycle
shorts.
Moderator: The industry is really going to
fall on their face with the Techno thing, I agree.
Dita: No!! But it has hit a much younger
audience. That's why I think it will last for a bit. You go to
any rave and the average age is 16.
POLARBEAR: I think trends are going away.
Bill: Eric-- right on about the techno
comment. What ever happened with American Recordings?
POLARBEAR: What did happen to American
Recordings? The entire industry wants know.
Bill: Eric-- do you do anything like mountain
biking, surfing, rollerblading?
POLARBEAR: I play ice hockey in a local
league but that's it for the sports department.
Bill: Question for everybody.. what band(s)
do you see emerging as being individualistic?
spacegrrl: I see Primal Scream
and Hal.
Dita: Lamb.
spacegrrl: Lamb are VERY
good.
POLARBEAR: I don't see alot of individuals. I
see more posturing.
Dita: Most of them seem to be anagrams of
previous acts.
POLARBEAR: What are Lamb
like?
Dita: Interesting.
Bill: I feel that there needs to be another
or for that matter "real music station" on TV besides MTV.
Agree/Disagree?
POLARBEAR: I don't believe TV is a rock
medium.
spacegrrl: Eric, I suggest you get the new Wu
Tang record, I think that you would like it. That and
the new KRS-one - he does a rock song.
Moderator: Wu Tang are
great.
POLARBEAR: I like what I've heard of WuTang.
spacegrrl: The CD ROM part is pretty boss as
well.
lisa: I have a hard time describing your
music, how would you go about it?
POLARBEAR: I have a hard time as well. I
don't know. I'd like to hear you all describe it.
Bill: Do you have a computer of your own?
POLARBEAR: I'm on the computer of my own.
lisa: Who's your guitarist? What other bands
has he been in?
POLARBEAR: Our guitarist hasn't been in any
other real band. He is a real find.
Moderator: Eric, are you playing bass in the
new project?
POLARBEAR: Yes, I still play bass but I get
to do lots of other stuff as well.
spacegrrl: Eric, what do you think of that
whole Heaven's Gate mess? Are you still into
aliens?
POLARBEAR: I think it is funny that everyone
thinks those people are crazy but fail to see that all the worlds
religions are based on the same silly assumptions but just older.
Moderator: I play bass also. You still using
a P Bass?
POLARBEAR: Always the P bass.
Moderator: I agree. With Ampeg SVT.
POLARBEAR: We don't do any direct to disk
stuff yet but when we sign we will eagerly. Now we just sample
and sequence.
Lisa: Who writes most of the songs?
POLARBEAR: We all write the songs. I write
the lyrics.
lisa: You use alot of samples, any
possibility of running out of them?
POLARBEAR: I like vintage gear to blend with
all the tech stuff. It's richer that way.
Bill: Eric-- would you rather have your songs
played on the radio or more of an underground following?
POLARBEAR: Once the songs are done, I don't
really care where the audience comes from or who the audience is.
My job is done.
POLARBEAR: I was just at the library
yesterday looking for new samples to make. Our well is running
low right now.
Moderator: Eric is gone
everyone. His computer crashed. He is not coming back on. My
mistake. He is gone. He called and asked us to say goodbye.