Skating Polly is an American rock band formed in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, United States, in 2009. The band was founded by multi-instrumentalist step-siblings Kelli Drew Mayo (born March 29, 2000) and Peyton Mckenna Bighorse (born July 11, 1995), who were 9 and 14 years old respectively. Kelli's brother Kurtis Lee Mayo joined the band on drums in 2017 so that Peyton and Kelli could focus on guitar and bass respectively. The band is noted for their alternating instruments among each member, poetic lyrics, intense live shows, melodic arrangements, and an eclectic array of songs that vary in style from

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

to piano-based

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

Biography

Early years and ''Taking Over the World'' (2009–2011)

Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse met after Mayo's father began dating Bighorse's mother. Bighorse is of Native American (

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

and Arapaho) descent. The girls' families eventually moved in together and they began playing with various musical instruments that their parents owned. The band's first setup consisted of Bighorse on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

and Mayo on basitar, a three-stringed bass instrument most notably used by alternative rock band The Presidents of the United States of America. (Mayo's father made her a basitar after she complained that a traditional six-string guitar hurt her fingers.) The girls played their first show at their family

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

party in 2009, with Bighorse playing simple drum beats while Mayo played basitar and improvised vocals. They named their band Skating Polly because they considered it "ironically juvenile." Mayo soon taught herself to play basic piano and drums while Bighorse taught herself guitar. They began writing songs at a furious pace, trading off instruments and lead vocal duties. They were eventually discovered by Chris Harris, owner of the small indie label Nice People Records based in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

. Harris showed Mayo's father how to utilize home recording equipment and the duo began recording their first album, ''Taking Over the World'', in their living room. Shortly before ''Taking Over the World'' was released on Nice People Records in November 2010, Mayo and Bighorse met Exene Cervenka of the seminal punk band X after a show in

. Cervenka was surprised by their extensive knowledge of punk rock music. She began corresponding with them via email and, after hearing ''Taking Over the World'' and demos of new songs, began discussing them in numerous interviews. (She stated in a ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' interview that, if she were in charge, she would have Skating Polly play the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

.) Cervenka eventually offered to produce the band's sophomore album. In the meantime, ''Taking Over the World'' was well-received locally and the band began to perform at clubs throughout the Midwest.

''Lost Wonderfuls'' (2011–2013)

Cervenka came to Norman, Oklahoma in December 2011 to produce what would eventually become Skating Polly's second album, ''Lost Wonderfuls''. The entire album was recorded in four days at Hook Echo Sound studios.

Blag Dahlia Paul Cafaro (born May 8, 1966), known professionally as Blag Dahlia, is an American singer and record producer, best known as the vocalist for punk band Dwarves.Ritchie, Ryan (2007)Locals Only – Blood, Guts and Literacy: Blag Dahlia steps out ...

, lead singer of the notorious punk band Dwarves, mixed a version of the album which was set to be released by a startup label in the Spring of 2012. However, the band's deal with the label fell through after the release date was repeatedly pushed back. The band went back into the studio to work on new material. Meanwhile,

Kliph Scurlock Clifton Thomas "Kliph" Scurlock (born June 16, 1973) is an American musician. He was the drummer and percussionist for alternative rock band The Flaming Lips from 2002 to 2014. Early life Scurlock was born in Topeka, Kansas, the son of Roger W. ...

, drummer of

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

, became a fan of the band and offered to remix ''Lost Wonderfuls'' while a new record deal was being finalized. ''Lost Wonderfuls'' was eventually released by the Los Angeles-based label SQE Music in April 2013. Scurlock mixed the final versions of all songs except the title track. The album is a mixture of punk rock,

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and twee pop influences and was well received. The band released music videos for the songs "Placer", "Carrots", "Kick", "Lost Wonderfuls" and "Blue Obvious." Many well-known musicians and artists have praised the band, including Rosanne Cash, Sean Lennon, Django Django,

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were an American indie pop band from New York City, formed in 2007. The band centered around founding member and principal songwriter Kip Berman (vocals, guitar). In the band's final iteration, Berman was joined ...

, Ty Segall,

Wayne Coyne Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the lead singer, guitarist, keyboardist, theremin player and songwriter for the band the Flaming Lips. Early life Coyne was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United Stat ...

(The Flaming Lips), Kate Nash, Wavves, Lori Barbero of Babes in Toyland and the actor

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. R (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor, writer, director, producer, musician, and multimedia artist. Born and raised in the State of New York to a Danish father and American mother, he also lived in Argentin ...

. Kliph Scurlock has perhaps been the band's most ardent supporter, as he can be seen wearing their T-shirt at various Flaming Lips concerts such as Freak Night, OKC Zoo Amp 2012, and Indianapolis 2013, in the documentary '' Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me'', in a

Super Bowl commercial Super Bowl commercials, colloquially known as Super Bowl ads, are high-profile television commercials featured in the U.S. television broadcast of the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). Super Bowl commercia ...

for

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

, and in the

Gruff Rhys Gruffudd Maredudd Bowen Rhys (; born 18 July 1970) is a Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author. He performs solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals, which obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He formed ...

American Interior ''American Interior'' is the fourth solo album by Gruff Rhys, released on 5 May 2014. It is a concept album based on the life of the explorer John Evans. It peaked at number 24 in the UK.http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/gruff%20rhys/ Tr ...

'' documentary.

''Fuzz Steilacoom'' (2013–2015)

In the fall of 2013, the band traveled to

Olympia, WA Olympia is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County, Washington, Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a c ...

to record their third album, ''Fuzz Steilacoom'' with K Records founder Calvin Johnson. The album was released in spring 2014.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted that the band had "subdued some of their twee-pop tendencies in favor of a raw, raucous, and more immediate sound" and praised the album as "brimming with creative wit, youthful abandon, emotional fervor, and classic punk spirit." Several songs received airplay on college radio throughout the U.S. Rodney Bingenheimer of

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The stat ...

began playing songs from the album on his influential ''Rodney on the ROQ'' program. The band toured throughout 2014 to support the record. The album was co-produced by Allan Vest, of Oklahoma indie rock band

Starlight Mints Starlight Mints were an American indie pop band from Norman, Oklahoma, United States. The band was formed in the 1990s and released four albums during the 2000s, after which they disbanded. Their last lineup consisted of Allan Vest (vocals, g ...

, and Chris Harris. Dub Narcotic Studio engineer Bob Schwenkler co-produced one song on the record, "Dead Friends." The album was named after Steilacoom Road in Olympia, WA (

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member J ...

is also named after a road near Olympia), where the duo stayed while recording the album; the word "fuzz" was added because Skating Polly felt like the most common element among all the songs was that they sounded loud, distorted, and fuzzy.

''The Big Fit'', ''The Make It All Show'', and addition of Kurtis Mayo (2015–present)

In 2015, Skating Polly toured in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in support of Babes in Toyland. In the fall of 2015 the band moved to

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. The band spent the fall of 2015 recording ''The Big Fit'' in Lawrence, KS with Kliph Scurlock. The album was released in spring 2016 and received acclaim, particularly from the UK press. ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' described the album as "overflowing with power, passion and songwriting excellence" and '' Paste'' deemed the album "one of the strongest punk records in recent memory."

Shirley Manson Shirley Ann Manson (born 26 August 1966) is a Scottish musician and actress. She is best known as the lead singer of the American alternative rock band Garbage. Manson gained media attention for her forthright style, rebellious attitude, and di ...

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

also praised the album in the press. On January 27 of 2017, the band announced on their

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

the addition of Kurtis Mayo, the girls' brother, on drums to expand the band's full potential. The band collaborated with

Louise Post Louise Lightner Post (born December 7, 1966) is an American musician. She is best known for being a vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Veruca Salt, which she co-founded with Nina Gordon in 1993. Early life Post was born in St ...

and

Nina Gordon Nina Rachel Gordon Shapiro (born November 14, 1967), known as Nina Gordon, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-founded the alternative rock band Veruca Salt and played on their first two studio albums, ''American Thighs'' ( ...

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for the three song EP ''New Trick,'' released in 2017. In 2018, Skating Polly released their fifth studio album, ''The Make It All Show''. Since the release of ''Lost Wonderfuls'', the band has garnered a considerable amount of airplay on indie and

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

stations across the United States and in certain places in Europe, particularly France. The band has toured extensively across the U.S., providing support to

Deerhoof Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised noi ...

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Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

, Kate Nash,

Emily Wells Emily Wells (born November 20, 1981) is an American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, arranger, and producer whose genres encompass alternative, experimental, hip-hop and classical. In addition to playing instruments such as violin a ...

Generationals Generationals is an American indie pop duo formed in New Orleans, Louisiana. The duo, consisting of Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer, released their debut album, ''Con Law'', in July 2009. An Extended play, EP, ''Trust'', followed in November 2010. Th ...

, Holly Golightly, and Wavves. The band played 7 shows at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

in 2013 and recorded two Daytrotter sessions. Skating Polly's song "A Little Late" appeared during the credits of Viggo Mortensen's 2020 film ''Falling''. The members of the band attended

2020 Sundance Film Festival The 2020 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 23 to February 2, 2020. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 4, 2019. The opening night film was ''Miss Americana'' directed by Lana Wilson and produced by Morgan ...

where ''Falling'' premiered.

Influences and comparisons

Skating Polly is often compared to bands associated with the

movement such as

Bikini Kill Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...

and Babes in Toyland, but many songs bring to mind artists such as Kimya Dawson and

Beat Happening Beat Happening is an American indie pop band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi mo ...

. The band, however, denies being a part of riot grrrl. Skating Polly does not have a front person in the traditional sense, as both Mayo and Bighorse typically write and provide lead vocals for their own songs. The band is known to cover other artists and has put its spin on songs by Spacemen 3,

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...

Dead Boys The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv B ...

, Portishead, Perfume Genius, The Left Banke, Ol' Dirty Bastard, M.I.A.,

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

Nina Nastasia Nina Maria Nastasia ( ; born May 13, 1966) is an American folk singer-songwriter. A native of Los Angeles, she first came to prominence in New York City in 2000 after Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel began giving her debut album, '' Dogs'', airpla ...

and

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

Members

Current members * Kelli Mayo – lead vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, drums (2009–present) * Peyton Bighorse – guitar, vocals, bass, drums, keyboards (2009–present) * Kurtis Mayo – drums, guitar (2017–present) Timeline

Discography

Albums

*''Taking Over the World'' (Nice People, 2010) *''Lost Wonderfuls'' (SQE Music, 2013) *''Fuzz Steilacoom'' (Chap Stereo, 2014) *''The Big Fit'' (Chap Stereo, 2016) *'' The Make It All Show'' (El Camino Media, 2018)

EPs

*''Ugly Pop'' (2016) *''New Trick'' (feat.

and

) (2017)

Live releases

*''Skating Polly on Audiotree Live'' (EP) (2018)

Singles

* "Alabama Movies" / "A Little Late" (2014) * "Benny Once Told Me" (2015)‡ * "Nothing More Than a Body" (2015) * "Oddie Moore" (2016)* * "Pretective Boy (The Hey Mr. Version)" (2016)‡ * "Chipper on Ezastar" (split with "Spectacle D'Horreur" by Qui) (2016) * "Hail Mary" (feat. Louise Post and Nina Gordon) (2017)* * "Louder In Outer Space" (feat. Louise Post and Nina Gordon) (2017)* * "Queen For A Day (feat. Exene Cervenka)" (2018)* * "Camelot" (2018)* * "Hollywood Factory" (2018)* * "Play House" / "Flyer" (2019)† Notes : * Single was released digitally only : † Non-album single : ‡ Non-album single was released digitally only

Music Videos

*"Carrots" (2013) *"Blue Obvious" (2013) *"Kick" (2013) *"Placer" (2013) *"Lost Wonderfuls" (2013) *"Alabama Movies" (2014) *"Ugly" (2014) *"A Little Late" (2014) *"Van Gogh" (2015) *"Nothing More Than A Body" (2015) *"Perfume For Now" (2016) *"Pretective Boy" (2016) *"Hey Sweet" (2016) *"Stop Digging" (2016) *"For The View" (2016) *"Picker Of His Words" (2016) *"Across The Caves" (2016) *"Morning Dew" (2016) *"Oddie Moore" (2017) *"Arms And Opinions" (2017) *"Cosmetic Skull" (2017) *"Hail Mary" (2017) *"Louder In Outer Space" (2017) *"Queen For A Day" (2018) *"Hollywood Factory" (2018) *"Little Girl Blue And The Battle Envy" (2018) *"Camelot" (2018) *"Free Will At Ease" (2018) *"They're Cheap (I'm Free)" (2018) *"Play House" (2019) *"Classless Act" (2019) *"Don't Leave Me Gravity" (2021)

References

External links

Skating Polly Official Website

Skating Polly Discogs
{{Skating Polly American punk rock groups Feminist musicians Indie pop groups from Oklahoma Musical groups established in 2009 Rock music groups from Oklahoma Sibling musical groups