we’re back with our next Knead to Know interview, with the amazing Migson Pollock! đ¤
we’ve known Migs for a while now, having performed across Manchester at open mics and gigs for a few years now and his unique style and focused performances really stand him out as an artist – plus his use of the bow, pedals and loops all bring something new to the able that people don’t often see! âď¸ on top of this, he’s a prolific songwriter with plenty of tunes under his belt and even knows a whole bunch of covers, a great talent!
he’s just put out his debut EP under the Migson Pollock moniker, “New Migs on the Block” which sounds absolutely fantastic! it’s boss to hear these tunes in a studio setting and really shows off his creativity and talent – you can find it on Spotify here. check out our interview below! đľ
So, youâve recently put out your new EP âNew Migs on the Blockâ – where did you record it, was it at a studio or at home?
I recorded it at Futureworks Studios in Manchester, with Paul from Tilted Audio.
Youâve moved from Wales to Manchester in the past few years, what are the main differences in the scenes throughout? What made you want to move?
The main reason I moved was to try and give myself a better opportunity to be able to do more with music. Whether itâs from doing gigs myself, or going to see other bands play and meet more musicians. Itâs hard to compare the scene between north Wales and Manchester, as Manchester is obviously a much busier place, especially considering its universities and the amount of musicians here, who have countless bars and venues around them to play at. And in North Wales, the facilities and number of bands and musicians just isnât as widely available anymore. And whilst I love exploring and travelling around new places in Manchester with my guitars, itâs always a great feeling when I get invited back home to do a gig.
We know you have been doing music for a long time now, Migs – give us a little summary of your creative endeavours over the years!
2009 – I first got involved in the music scene, with a punk band I formed called Ugly Fashion, playing guitar and being the songwriter
2010 – I took over on vocals after our original singer had left. (We started as a 4-piece band but remained a 3-piece from there on.)
2011 – the band broke up due to other commitments among the band members.
2012 – I started busking in Llandudno, playing acoustic covers by mainly 60âs and 70âs artists – Bob Dylan, Bowie, Rolling Stones etc.
2014 – Joined a duet with my friend Kiani called âThe Guitarist & The Girlâ. She would sing whilst I played guitar. We did gigs and went busking together over the next couple to a few years.
2014 – Ugly Fashion got back together with a new drummer.
2015 – Went to a recording studio for the first time with the band.
2016 – Ugly Fashion broke up again.
2018 – I started my solo project.
2019 – I moved myself and my music to Manchester.
2020 – I recorded most of the material for my first EP.
2022 – Mid-January, that EP was released.
What are your main inspirations for music and creativity?
Tash Sultana, Sigur RĂłs, and Spiritualized.
Tash inspired me to start creating music with a loop pedal, Sigur RĂłs inspired me to create music with a violin bow (not Jimmy Page, as some people think!), and Spiritualized inspired me to create some nice, slow rock songs, whilst still having that cool fort of feel to them.
But also recently Iâve dabbled into a bit of shoegazing, bands like Slowdive. And even more recently, Iâve gone back to my punk/post-punk roots and Iâve re-worked a couple of my old band’s songs mixed with newer influences – the band Crack Cloud for example.
Over the lockdowns and past few years, howâve you been spending your time musically? (recording, writing etc)
Lonely!
How have you been readjusting to gigging and post-pandemic music over the past few months?
It doesnât really feel much different to me now. It just feels like a lot of time was wasted without them. But now Iâm writing more often, knowing it wonât be too long until Iâll get to perform them live. So it feels like everything I do now is becoming more worthwhile, and theyâre not just ideas staying stuck in the back of my head – Iâm actually completing them.
Weâve seen a lot of you over the past few months over at open mics and gigs across Manchester – what do you enjoy most about performing live?
Probably getting the violin bow out during the song âLost itâ. And although I donât claim to have the originality in that, seeing the reaction of people whoâve not seen that being done before is always pretty good.
An elder gentleman said to me a couple of weeks ago that every time I play that song with the bow, it was making him fall asleep⌠I think thatâs beautiful.
Obviously, you use quite a unique set-up for your live sets – what made you want to delve into the world of pedals and the such?
Seeing a video of Tash Sultana performing âJungleâ on youtube in 2017. I had seen people using a loop pedal to do guitar solos and stuff before but I wasnât really impressed. But when I saw Tash performing what sounded like full and complete songs created only on a loop pedal, I was just blown away.
All I was doing musically at that point was busking and doing a bunch of acoustic gigs, playing other peoples songs, as I had no desire to be an acoustic solo artist, so I never really bothered to write any of my own that way. I thought maybe being a loop-artist was the way forward for me too, as I much preferred playing my electric guitars than acoustic.
I told my friend Rico (Ugly Fashion bass player) my idea and he told me he has a loop pedal he would sell to me, which happened to be the same one Tash Sultana started off with. And I guess the rest is history.
Have you got anything else planned for 2022?
Yes!
it’s so lovely to be able to hear different musicians’ perspectives on creativity, how they’ve got to where they are and their influences, and to see the similarities between certain artists and even the differences! âď¸ it’s been great to chat with Migs here, and we hope you enjoyed this insight into him as an artist. we’re huge fans of his music and the EP sounds boss, really worth checking out – we’ll pop some links below for you to have a look at. đ a big thanks to Migson Pollock for chatting to us here, and we’ll be back with another interview real soon! đŠ
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