Interview: Multi-Instrumentalist and Producer Policy Talks About His New Single "The Oracle"

We connected with Cleveland based multi-instrumentalist, producer, DJ, and drum doctor Policy for an exclusive interview to discuss his brand new single “The Oracle”, which will appear on his upcoming album “ECHO CHAMBERS”, dropping on May 30th. We also learned more about how Policy became the drum doctor, how he connected with Annastacia Monroe, who is featured on “The Oracle”, what we can expect on the “ECHO CHAMBERS” album and much more.

After reading our Q&A with Policy, be sure to connect with him on his website and social media, and be on the lookout for the “ECHO CHAMBERS” album when it is released on May 30th!

Tell us about how you got started in drumming specifically, and music generally. Were there any artists or producers that provided inspiration to you when you were younger?

Well, I come from a family of musicians; my grandfather was 2nd trombone for Frankie Carl, my mother, father and my uncles were in a rock and roll show band for over 25 years, performing, recording and touring all over the US and Canada. They released an album on A&M records.

I used to tour with them and the stage was my playground. I started on the drums, eventually starting my training in drumming and then moved on to other instruments and then learning the art of producing and recording. I spend some time in Los Angeles studying with Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth, Ringo Star).

My family's drummer was my first inspiration. His name is Tommy Cantwell, then as a lot of drummers do, I went into my Neil Peart (Rush) phase and my Danny Carey (Tool) phase. These days it's all about trying to learn and play as Dave Weckl does. I was fortunate to have spent a day with Dave in Chicago and it was just an amazing experience.

Congratulations on the release of your new single "The Oracle"; it's an incredible song. Tell us about what inspired you to create the track and how you connected with Annastacia, who sang on it.

Thank you so much. "The Oracle" is certainly an extraordinary track. I was inspired to do a shuffle groove first off. A lot of my tracks really start with an idea surrounding what groove I want to build upon, then let the track basically write itself.

It was actually titled something different before I connected with Annastacia. I put an ad out on a local website and She answered it. She worked on the song for a few weeks, came into the studio, and just nailed it.

From a sonic and thematic standpoint, does "The Oracle" provide a template for what we can expect from your upcoming debut album "ECHO CHAMBERS"?

There is a concatenation of a few things on this album including alternative, EDM, dance, chill, techno and even a little taste of industrial.

Sonically, absolutely one can expect an amazing produced, engineered and mastered record. Each track is so distinct that the template used was that I wanted all of them to be me as well as who I was collaborating with to be them. At the end of day, the songs only worked if we sat back and we knew they were something new and we loved them.

Besides Annastacia, who are the featured artists on the album and how did you select which artists would fit best on a particular song?

The other featured artists who are all talented singer/songwriters include Amy Jo Scott who I have worked with before on a previous project. She is featured on a upbeat, 4 on the floor, positive, weekend, love track titled "Push Pause". Kelsey Hunter who is on "Art Of Fact" which is a track that starts with a really cool groove and morphs into a kicking EDM beat and then back to the groove. Claire Rasa from Australia, I had connected with her on the Soundbetter platform and she did an amazing performance on a track called "Run Into The Night". Lastly, there is Tina Shest who closes the album with a deep and emotional performance on "Reality". She is also the featured violinist on the track.

For all of the tracks I just asked if they were interested in collaborating, played them the beds and I let them do the toplining where they write the lyrics, melody and perform the recording.

Why should every person reading this interview be ready to stream/purchase "ECHO CHAMBERS" when it drops on May 30th?

Because it's something different and new. It's a journey of highs and lows and its real! It covers a lot of ground and everyone can enjoy listening to it. This whole project was only supposed to be a four song demo that I was just gonna burn out of my house and give to a couple friends. I played a few tracks for my family and they really encouraged me to continue on.

There are a couple emotional, chill instrumentals as well as some kicking EDM and great pop/alternative songs. The tracks also have some very unique grooves to them that make you body move or make you cry and most importantly are the collaborations I did with the featured artists who really shine and it was just awesome to give them a base to show themselves.

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