Institut Polaire were an

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

band originating from

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

History

Institut Polaire formed as a three piece in 2004 by an American ex-pat (Erik Hecht), an English born scientist (David Thirkettle-Watts) and a country boy moved to the big city (Ash Blakeney; who left the band in 2005, handing over his role to cousin Ben). Institut Polaire has grown from three piece roots into a full-blown collective who currently number between seven and nine members toting everything from vintage Wurlitzer pianos to violins, banjos, trumpets, MacBooks, and glockenspiels. In recent times, the collective have shared the stage with acclaimed artists and bands including Camera Obscura, The Clientele,

Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki were an Australian indie pop band which consisted of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland. The band released five studio albums before going on hiatus: ''Fingers Crossed'' (2003), ...

Jens Lekman Jens Martin Lekman (; born 6 February 1981) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is heavily influenced by Jonathan Ric ...

Lou Barlow Louis Knox Barlow (born July 17, 1966) is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock mus ...

Gerling Gerling were an Australian electronica, alternative rock trio formed in 1993. From early 1997 the members were Darren Cross on guitar and lead vocals, Presser (real name Paul Towner) on drums and Burke Reid on guitar and vocals. Their second al ...

, New Buffalo,

Starky Starky were an Australian power pop band formed in 1998. The line-up was Beau Cassidy (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Nick Neal (bass guitar and spoons), and Jonny Wilson (guitar). Their first single, "Rock 'n' Roll is the Devils Music", was rele ...

The Panics The Panics are an indie rock band originally from Perth, Western Australia, and currently based in Melbourne, Victoria. History 2000–2006: Band formation and LittleBigMan Records The band started out while Jae Laffer (then known by his actu ...

, and

The Lucksmiths The Lucksmiths were an Australian indie pop band formed in March 1993 by Marty Donald on guitar, Mark Monnone on bass guitar and Tali White on drums and lead vocals. Louis Richter (ex-Mid State Orange) joined on guitar in 2005. They released ei ...

. Institut Polaire's debut 7-inch single "City Walls and Empires" (released through Love Is My Velocity Records) won them the Western Australian Music Industry's ' Song of the Year' Award for 2006 and has since received national airplay.

"It was a fantastic confidence boost," Hecht said about the band's win in X-Press Magazine, "To see how much things have evolved in the band dynamic, instrumentation and songwriting since recording the debut single is exciting. I think most of us would agree that we are far more proud of the music we've been writing since. And I really suspect we may take some people by surprise with the records we put out this year."

In 2007, Institut Polaire performed at the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

leg of the

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

having won

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

's Unearthed competition for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. They also performed with Bob Evans and Bobby Blackbird & The Bluejays at the WAMi-styled

Live at the Wireless ''Live at the Wireless'' is a radio show, and now a long-standing tradition, of Triple J, an Australian radio station. Live music is one of the central philosophies of the station. The live broadcasts take a number of forms. Some broadcasts are fr ...

gig at the Rosemount Hotel. The band were nominated for 'Best Indie Pop Act', at the 2007 WAMi Awards and also undertook their first national tour supporting

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...

. In February 2007, Institut Polaire announced that they have been signed as the first Australian artist on Popfrenzy Records.

"I think the main goal for 2007 is to continue to evolve and make some great records,"

Their first release was an EP called ''The Fauna and the Flora'' which was released on 1 October 2007. The EP was

Drum Media ''The Music'', (formerly known as and now incorporating ''Drum Media)'', is an online Australian music magazine. It previously existed as a street press devoted to long-form music journalism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. In ...

's 'single of the week'. Institut Polaire have also been named as one of

's Next Crop featured artists for Aus Music Month (November 2007) and have been nominated as for a 2007

J Award The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

( Unearthed new artist category). The EP also debuted at No. 19 on the AIR (Association of Independent Record Labels) singles chart. "City Walls and Empires" entered the Australian Top 40 Countdown chart at No. 40 in May 2008. In early 2008, the band relocated to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

for the foreseeable future and quickly undertook a national tour with Sydney's Cuthbert & The Night Walkers (presented by

's 'Home and Hosed') in May. Directed by Beatrice Pegard and produced by Diana Ward, the video for "City Walls and Empires" won Most Popular Music Video at the 2008 WAMi Awards. In early December, it was announced that long-time member Ben Blakeney had left the band on completely amicable terms to concentrate on his own projects. Original guitarist Ash Blakeney rejoined the band as lead guitarist. Amidst this lineup switch, the band also recruited Toby Lang (ex-

Veruca Salt Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, " Seether", that ...

and dual-

ARIA award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

winners

The Audreys The Audreys are an Australian blues and roots band which formed in Adelaide, in 2004 by founding mainstay, Taasha Coates on lead vocals, melodica, harmonica and ukulele. They have released four studio albums, '' Between Last Night and Us'' (F ...

) as their new drummer. The band recorded their debut album with

Craig Pilkington __NOTOC__ Craig may refer to: Geology *Craig (landform), a rocky hill or mountain often having large casims or sharp intentations. People (and fictional characters) * Craig (surname) * Craig (given name) Places Scotland * Craig, Angus, aka Barony ...

at Melbourne's Audrey Studios. Craig's previous resume included several releases for The Lucksmiths, a co-producing credit on

The Blackeyed Susans ''For the American band with a similar name, see Blackeyed Susan.'' The Blackeyed Susans are an Australian rock band, which formed in Perth in 1989. Long serving members are Phil Kakulas on bass guitar, guitar and vocals; and Rob Snarski on vo ...

ARIA-nominated '

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel ''Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, ge ...

' and engineering 2008's ARIA-winning 'Gurrumul' by

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (22 January 1971 – 25 July 2017), commonly known as Gurrumul and also referred to since his death as Dr G. Yunupingu, was an Aboriginal Australian musician of the Yolŋu peoples. A multi-instrumentalist, he played ...

. The LP, titled 'Make Your Own Mayflower', was released in 2010. The band announced its separation in January 2011. Samantha Wass and David Thirkettle-Watts currently play in the band Jack on Fire, Ash Blakeney and Toby Lang toured Australia and South America with

Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...

and Elliott Brannen returned to Perth and plays with 6s & 7s and The Autumn Isles. Erik Hecht co-wrote and sang on the track with Dirty South and Those Usual Suspects called 'Walking Alone', which went on to worldwide headline DJ support by the likes of Tiesto and

Axwell Axel Christofer Hedfors (; born 18 December 1977), better known by his stage name Axwell, is a Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and owner of Axtone Records. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia along with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angell ...

, featured in the

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

movie 'Chronicle' (2012), and appeared on the deluxe edition of the final

Swedish House Mafia Swedish House Mafia (SHM) is a Swedish house music supergroup consisting of Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. The group officially formed in late 2008, were placed at number ten on the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJ Poll 2011, and have been ...

album ' Until Now' (2012). Swedish House Mafia also named it as their Essential New Track during their guest takeover of

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and ''Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio stre ...

's show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Band members

* Ash Blakeney – guitar, vocals * Elliott Brannen – trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals, keys * Catherine Colvin – violin, vocals * Erik Hecht – vocals, guitar, banjo, keys * Toby Lang – drums, percussion * Rebecca May – keys, flute, vocals * David Thirkettle – Watts - bass * Samantha Wass – acoustic guitar, vocals, keys, piano accordion

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Awards and nominations

J Award

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's youth-focused radio station

. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

J Awards of 2007 The J Award of 2007 is the third annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). In 2007, a new award for ''Une ...

, themselves , Unearthed Artist of the Year ,

WAM Song of the Year

The

WAM Song of the Year WAM was originally formed as the Western Australian Rock Music Industry Association Inc. (WARMIA) in 1985, with its main aim to develop and run annual awards recognising achievements within the music industry in Western Australia. WAM first receiv ...

was formed by the Western Australian Rock Music Industry Association Inc. (WARMIA) in 1985, with its main aim to develop and run annual awards recognising achievements within the music industry in Western Australia. (wins only) , - , rowspan="2", 2006 , rowspan="2", "City Walls and Empires" , Pop Song of the Year , , - , Song of the Year , , -

West Australian Music Industry Awards

The

West Australian Music Industry Awards The Western Australian Music Industry Awards (commonly known as WAMis) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). The WAMi Awards are Western Aust ...

(WAMIs) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on annually by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). Institut Polaire won one awards.2008 West Australian Music Industry Award Winners
(wins only) , - , 2008 , Institut Polaire , Best Indie Pop Act , , -

References

External links

Triple J Unearthed artist profile
{{Authority control Australian indie rock groups Western Australian musical groups Musical groups established in 2004