We had the pleasure of chatting with Policy recently and this was one for the books. With Taco Bell treats, plenty of pool parties and finding out what it feels like to be one of Cleveland’s finest musicians ever, we are taken on a tremendously insightful interview to treasure.
Thank you for joining us today Policy as we’re truly blessed to chat with you. Firstly, how are you doing today and what do you feel is the healthiest meal to start a day with?
Hello, I’m doing great today, thank you. There is no question the best meal to start the day with is Taco Bell’s steak breakfast crunch wrap. Is it healthy…..I’m not sure, but I’m addicted. I could eat these things every single day. I’m a healthy guy. I hit the gym, run, play tennis and I’ve been doing intermitted fasting for the past 6 months, sometimes extreme. But the crunch wrap is what I would like to start everyday with if I could! I must stop myself from ordering if I’m driving by a Taco Bell. I must refrain from thinking about a crunch wrap after I’m done at the gym because they are right next to each other. During the pandemic, there was no Taco Bell breakfast, NO CRUNCH WRAPS! Life is good now for sure when I get to have one or two or three or……… and no sauce please!
Secondly, where in the world are you and what is the best thing to do in your local area?
I’m in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame City of Cleveland, OH USA, born and raised! I did spend some time in Los Angeles, CA, but my hometown is the C-L-E!. We’ll for me the best thing to do is to hit a couple of new venues down by the lake in what is called the East Bank of Flats area. We have a very cool outdoor venue called FWD that has major DJs performing and other events as well and has a pool for summertime. We also have a new country place called The Farm to see live country acts. Another great thing to do is hang out right here at my home which is called the Policy Palace. I just put in a brand-new swimming pool, and we have pool parties, play darts, BBQ, I set up a DJ rig and of course record in my home studio and rehearse our live projects downstairs.
Alrighty. Let’s chat about music and your new release “I’d Wait for You“. Please share all the news and the creative process behind the scenes, especially with Sergi Yaro from Ukraine.
Well, I found Sergi online, he had some a Capella’s available, and I really like this snippet he had for “I’d Wait for You”. I reached out to him and thankfully he got back to me, and we worked out a collaboration. I pretty much built a composition around his lyrics and melody. Yes, he is from Ukraine and I’m also of Ukrainian descent, so it was cool to work together and create this very cool single.
You love to work with artists all over the world. How did this all begin, and do you believe that music really can bring different people together as one?
I started to work with other artists around the world on my first record. Clair Rasa from Australia is on that record. Technology has made it so easy to collaborate with artists around the world and I needed those collaborations to finish tracks. I tend to stay on the music, business, recording and engineering side of things and love to give artists a complete empty canvas to lay on top of the music. I reached out to Airinna Namara who is from Malaysia during the first record. It wasn’t until a year later that she replied and ultimately, she is on 5 tracks on my second record “The Abby Rose”.
Please share 1 funny story from your time in the music industry you can tell us.
Well, it’s funny to look back at it now, but I come from a family of musicians. My grandfather led the band in the army and played 2nd trombone for Frankie Carl, my grandmother was singer. My mother and two uncles were in a touring rock and roll band for 25 years traveling all over the US and Canada and my stepfather was our road manager. When I was a kid, I would tour with them and hang out with the road crew, the stage was my playground. I would set the drums up, clean the piano keys, duct tape the cords, sound check the drums and mic’s, strike and do it all over again the next day. We were starting a three-month Canadian tour all the way up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and after the first show I left all my luggage in the hotel room!
Do you feel like AI will change the music scene for the better or the worse?
I think for both better and worse. I’ve just started to dive into some of the benefits of using AI in the recording process. I’m certainly against using it as what we’ve have recently seen what happened with the Drake/Weekend track. It must take its course and get reeled in as with any new technology that can change the game so much. I’m very familiar with AI and machine learning already as I’m a computer geek and like to test applications and all kinds of software including recording DAW’s. I’m on the beta testing team for Ableton.
Lastly, what does the rest of 2023 look like for you and what should your new and older fans look out for?
I have the single coming out this may as we talked about, but the rest of the year looks to be continuing to work on various projects including remixes and recuts. I recently did a recut of Avicii’s mega hit “Wake Me Up” with an up-and-coming new country artist Carson Hay. The track was originally for one of my SYNC agents out of Los Angeles, CA and it came out so good I decided to release it. I also just finished an extended club mix for a DJ pool platform out of London. You can hear both versions on my official website, policymusic.net. I did a recut of “Time” by Morgin Madison (Feat. Linney) that is out on my soundcloud page, soundcloud.com/policyproductions. I have two more recuts that will be coming soon which include a track by Kryder (Feat. Sarah de Warren) titled “Lights Out” and a track title “Can We Talk About Me” by a Swedish artist name Paula Jiven. Remixes and recuts are cool because sometimes they are for contests, but they also keep your engineering skills tight. Lastly, I will get ready for summertime live shows as a DJ and as the drummer behind Carson Hay and I will continue to write for my third full-length record.
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Listen up to this fine single on Spotify.
Interview by Llewelyn Screen