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Steve Poltz.
 There
may not be another human alive like Steve Poltz. Granted, I've
only ever spoken to a small percentage of the worlds' population,
but some assumptions are safer than others. If I were a betting
man, my money would be on this feisty, intelligent, funny and
inventive man being both a musical visionary, and quite possibly
needing some serious psychiatric care later in life.
The Steve Poltz story is an engaging read. He was born up in
Nova Scotia, grew up in Palm Springs and finally settled on
San Diego to live. He learned guitar, played in bands around
San Diego, until a chance meeting one day with a then-unknown
Alaskan ŽmigrŽ named Jewel - yes, that Jewel - ended with them
co-writing one of the hottest tunes released in the last decade.
You Were Meant For Me, written on a beach with Jewel
singing and Poltz strumming his guitar, went on to become the
longest running song on the prestigious Billboard Top 100 in
the US. Jewel got famous; Poltz's time in the sun took a little
longer to arrive. But now it has. The new 'Chinese Vacation'
is all-but-guanteed to win over the harshest, most iron-hearted
critic.
Poltz is a fairly frequent visitor to our shores. "I'm heading over to Australia again, shortly, for a heap of shows and some promo stuff, so it's going to be cool," he drawls. "Australia is such a great place. When I usually come down there I'm so busy, but this want to spend a little more time just relaxing and seeing some of the country."
Poltz's new album follows on from his brilliant debut 'One Left Shoe' and his extremely funny semi-album 'Answering Machine', an album consisting of over fifty outgoing answering machine messages. "The new album was recorded in Austin, Texas, and recorded fast, which is how I like it," he explains. "The songs are different, quirky maybe. I'm not sure why they turn out like that. I don't think I set out to be that different and quirky, but it just seems to happen that way. I'm just glad that people are listening. By them listening, I can keep playing, travelling and recording."
Although Poltz never deliberately sets out to write an album in a certain theme, it's what inevitably happens. "I don't sit down and plan out an album, what the songs will be like, the theme running through it, all that. But it just sort of happens. Songs come together, and I think with all the albums I've done to date, there are themes throughout. They sort of just happen and I'm always surprised at how they turn out. One of the things I like doing on an album is using the same musicians throughout, because then it has a continuity to it."
Maybe the underlying secret to Poltz and is fine music he makes, is the relaxed atmosphere during his recording sessions, as he explains: "I don't like really heavy recording sessions where everyone is stressed out, because I've been in those before, and they aren't fun. I don't like to do anything that isn't fun. People should enjoy themselves and what they're doing. I like serious art too, but maybe at the moment I'm too immature to really be into and make serious art. One day I might grow up."
One major honour that has already come Poltz way was being named 'San Diego's Most Influential Artist of the Decade.' "It's nice I guess," he shrugs, sounding slightly embarassed. "I do feel honoured. I joke about it though. I remind people everyday when I go to places. If there's a line at a coffee shop, for example, I'll go 'excuse me, do you guys know who I am? I'm not going to wait here. Deliver my soy milk latte to my table!' And if they don't, I carry the award with me at all times in my backpack, just in case."
Chris Niehus
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Steve Poltz plays at Jive on Fri 23 April. See Prize Frenzy(tm) for giveaways.
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