Late 2009 sees the group hitting the road with crucial scene veterans Strike Anywhere on the Bridge Nine Tour, which also includes great bands like Crime In Stereo and the boys in Ruiner. PBC blend the best elements of Americana, alternative and torn throat passion with good melody and a sense of purpose. You’ll really believe this band can get through any cold front and stick to their guns, because they rarely fail to inspire and really seem to embody the best of punk’s principles. They’ve already shared the stage with the awesome Frank Turner and even recently with Face To Face, and the list just keeps growing.

Chasing Hamburg, the band’s Bridge Nine debut (but again, sophomore full length), might not be as hyper as the frantic and awesome Sometimes…, but the slightly more laid back sound found on the new Matt Bayles produced record is still compelling. Hamburg finds an upcoming band easing into their roles and pushing at their edges. These guys are one of the bands we, as true music fans, are lucky to have. Just when it seems like nobody cares about treading the more genuine path these days, when everything is so flash in the pan, along comes a band like PBC to show some people still care about the true underground touring circuit (although I think it bodes well for mass popular culture that Ellen DeGeneres is gonna be an American Idol host ‘cuz she loves Prince and is an awesome lady).

Anyway, since my friend Sean Paul Pillsworth (an ex-member of Anadivine and my old band Divest and the current bassist/co-vocalist of the killer band Nightmares For A Week) was the first brother to get me into Polar Bear Club, I thought it would be cool to have him talk to Mr. Jimmy Stadt with me to find out the lowdown on the new Polar Bear audio manifesto.

SEAN PAUL PILLSWORTH: For all of your other recordings, you had a lot of time and no specific regimen to record under. No pressure. Now you’ve signed with Bridge Nine. How was it different writing? You weren’t home. Chasing Hamburg sees a departure from some of the styles of the past. What was behind a song like “Drifting Thing”?

MORGAN Y. EVANS: Some of the guitar playing seems more unified on parts of this record.

JIMMY STADT (Vocals): Well, time was definitely a factor this time around as it was with the other recordings. None of us have ever lived in the same city so we are constantly catching so and so up on such and such and feeling like time is constantly running out. But that's good for you. I think we just all grew as songwriters this time around. Before this album, we would write our separate parts and put’em together, all making our individual roles sound as cool as they can, but on Hamburg we would ask other band members what we could do to make their parts sound better. What can guitar A do to fit well with this vocal line or what can the bass do to really emphasize this drum part? We had each other’s backs. The song "Drifting Thing”, we wanted to try something different. Not for the sake of it, but just to branch out and do so with a song we liked. Plus we spent so much time touring with these really "singer-songwriter" bands it was kind of ingrained in us to try something like that.

SPP: My bands over the years have worked with John Naclerio a lot and he’s the man, but how was it different with Matt Bayles?

JS: Bayles and Naclerio couldn't be more different from each other! It was awesome to get a whole new perspective on recording doing Chasing Hamburg. They both are incredible at what they do. Matt is more interested in a good live sound. He wanted to make PBC sound like PBC sounds on stage every night. And we were way into that at this point, mainly because we had spent so much time touring this past year. If we went to Matt two years ago we would've been out of our element. John was perfect for us when we went to him. He's really into vocals and he's really good at them. He and I would work really intensely on vocal lines and harmonies and backgrounds. Any singer that's been to Naclerio always says that and for me at that time it was perfect. I wasn't ready for someone like Bayles.

MYE: We were listening to “Eat dinner, bury the dog…” and Sean Paul can tell there’s a room mic in John’s garage on that song. Any cool techniques on this record working with Matt?

JS: Oh I can't tell you Matt's secrets! Then every engineer in town will be copping his moves! I don't know…the awesome thing about Matt is that his recordings don't really have a characteristic or signature sound from band to band. He adapts really well but still has some staple techniques.

SPP: It’s a well known fact you were called “The Accidental Band” by AP. How is life as a traveling musician for you compared to a 9-to-5 job? You left great day jobs to pursue a career in music. What series of events or “awed moments” happened? What were the turning points, like, “Shit, we’re opening for this band”? I think in some ways there’s a dying breed of musicians that feel like that. Kids just seem to expect everything.

MYE: Entitled brats.

JS: The “accidental band” thing was weird. I don't know, I was worried it made it sound like our hearts weren't really in this. But whatever, kids will think what they want. Anyway, we have had soooo many awed moments. Our first tour as a full-time band was opening for American Steel and Gaslight Anthem. We just finished six shows with Face to Face! The awe is definitely there for us still. But being a musician is a lot like starting your own business, ya know? Be prepared to lose money and you'll be ok. We can't pay a lot of our bills comfortably just yet, so that stress is different from 9-to-5 life, but hopefully that will change. And if it doesn't, we still have the best times and best stories and best friends in the world. That's worth a lot.

MYE: You said it, man. I like the lyric “All my friends are living saints, broken still but never breaking”. It’s almost shocking to hear a punk or hardcore band saying good things about friends for once! [laughing]

JS: Isn't it? Those lyrics were a real conscious effort for me. I told myself, "Hey, don't write another sad song. There's too much to be glad about." I always wanted PBC to be a band that encompassed everything. All of our influences, all of our experiences and all of our friends. That's where that song comes from.

MYE: Right on. I like that. I have a “solo” project called Walking Bombs and just wrote a song “+ Side For Eos” about looking on the bright side even when it feels hopeless. I can relate! Hey, What prompted the 7-inch, “The Summer Of George”?

SPP: …Besides Seinfeld?

JS: Well, the title was just a Seinfeld reference. You can take meanings from it if you want. Being in a band is a lot like George's "Summer of George", we have discovered. But we more just love Seinfeld! The idea for the 7-inch was two fold. Promotion for the full-length and making our B-side song available. We wanted to name something after Lebowski or Seinfeld and this time Seinfeld won.

MYE: When in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, have you ever been tempted to climb drunk onto a giant Adirondack Chair? I was visiting my friends in the band I Multiply up near Auburn, New York and saw a huge chair outside a motel and was so all about it, but they made me wuss out and we snuck into a playground and drank beers on the jungle gym instead.

JS: [laughing] I have sat in many an Adirondack chair, but never drunk. I wouldn't recommend it though. Those things will either kill you or put you in the best sleep of your life.

MYE: A lot of the popularity of the band grew by word of mouth and touring and now it has snowballed. What’s the most shocking part of it all for you? Also, are you stoked to be touring with Set Your Goals? That band seems to have a great perspective on punk rock.

JS: It's always shocking to get e-mails from Japan and Russia and what-not asking you to tour there. We've been overseas a couple times now and the first time was pretty shocking. We played a sold out off-date show outside London and kids went crazy! We just finished the tour with SYG and going into it, honestly, I didn't know much about them. They were part of a scene I wasn't really part of anymore, or so I thought. But two days into it we knew those guys were awesome and really do have a great attitude on it all. I want to tour with them again real soon.

SPP: It seems like you guys sing a lot about where you’re from. Do you think that’ll change now that you’re traveling a lot? I know where Morgan and I are from, Kingston, New York… Well, let’s just say we could write 20 albums about it!

MYE: For better or worse.

JS: I don't think it will change, but who knows? Home is always home though. I'm from Rochester, New York and no one who was born on the west coast is dying to move out here, but to me it's really a special place. I'm totally biased though, and that's all it is.

SPP: “One Hit Back” as a new song is your hit back towards “keyboard cowboys” talking shit on message boards. Do kids have too much time on their hands?

JS: I don't know what it is and I never will. That song was just a straight up vent for me. It will never change. Kids will feel the need to talk shit until the end of time. Ya can't let it get to you too much though. You'll drive yourself crazy if you do.

MYE: I think “See The Wind” is my favorite song on the new one. This record feels a bit less frantic. “Our Ballads” was very personal and so awesome. This record, “See The Wind” aside, feels a bit more laid back, but still good. Any thoughts, or disagree? What were you listening to while making this new LP?

JS: I think the songwriting is more laid back. We wanted to rely on simpler things to convey our ideas instead of crazy ins and outs. When we were making this I was listening to a lot of the Replacements and the Hold Steady and the Get Up Kids. Those bands are really simple in a lot of ways but still universal. That's kinda the vibe we were toying with this time around but with a twist of PBC.