Crushing It: Channy Leaneagh of Polica Talks with KXSU

[Photo Credit: Jonathan Weiner]

KXSU’s Julia Olson got the chance to sit down with Channy Leaneagh of Poliça to talk about her upcoming Upstream Music Festival set, some inspiration behind her latest release, United Crushers, and all things Minnesota. Check out our interview with the musician below, and be sure to Catch Poliça’s set at Upstream at Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle this weekend.

JO: Well first off, I’m from Minnesota, too, and I had the pleasure of seeing your set at the inaugural Eaux Claires, where I hear you will be returning this year. In addition to Upstream, we’ve been seeing a wave of new festivals that are more centered around performance and less on party. As a performer, what does it mean to be at a more art-centered festival like Eaux Claires and Upstream?

CL: I mean, I think there’s a way for people to enjoy art and also party. Raves are a great thing to just go, party, and listen to electronic music. As an artist, though, it can be frustrating at times when the patrons are not really listening or involved with your set. Festivals geared toward people who are actually coming to see visual artists…those are fun to perform at. That being said, we haven’t had festivals for that long in the states—not nearly as long as Europe—so in general, I think we’re still figuring out the right balance.

JO: How has the performance of your latest release, United Crushers, changed in light of recent political events? And can you tell me a little about the inspiration behind some of the themes on this album?

CL: My writing for United Crushers had a lot to do with my relationships and the world around me. Most of my records are my observations of the world at the time of writing. I really tried to look outside myself more on United Crushers—more than my previous releases. I wanted to start the story outside myself.

JO: Specifically, I was looking at the song “Wedding,” which explores themes of police brutality. What does performing a song like that now, a year later, mean to you? Do you perform it with the same mindset as you always have?

CL: No, I don’t think I perform it with exactly the same mindset. I think I didn’t understand as much when I wrote “Wedding.” I wasn’t educated enough about the way the system of media, government, and the police use those images and videos that people post on social media. We rightly should be posting videos to social media, but also need to be sensitive to the idea that it can backfire on us, and we can become more afraid, and those videos can be used to further the current police state. We have the videos of the death of [Philando] Castile while his partner, the mother of his child, is filming it live, and people need to see that. Yet, only something like 5% of the time, or 1% of the time, police officers actually get convicted for an offense, and often it’s a person of color who gets convicted, so it just continues. When I wrote “Wedding,” I don’t think I realized how bad the situation was; it’s much worse than I thought at the time. Now we have the task of wondering how can we protect ourselves and not glorify the people being murdered, glorify violence, and keep us afraid from standing up against the police. We need to balance what we put into our minds, focus on empowering each other, community, and activism, so we can all stay unafraid and willing to fight.

JO: Going off of that a bit, you mentioned earlier that you wrote United Crushers from a perspective more “outside of yourself.” Can you elaborate on this a little more?

CL: It’s the idea to not just write from inside my own head. I wanted to explore lyrics about friends and people I see on the street. There’s a song on the record—“Melting Block”—and it starts out kind of like, in Minnesota, how in the north snow starts to thaw, and we’re stuck in this ice and it starts to melt, and just watching everyone around me in my neighborhood. In the city that we live in, we’re all just sheep in wolf’s clothing. We’re all still children trying to figure out how to be adults, watching babies grow up. On the street where I live, some of my friends—seeing how we’re adults—we grow up to be responsible for ourselves, and yet we [still] need someone to look after us, and some of us don’t have that and it can feel frantic.

JO: So did this album have a different, less personal feel for you, in that case? 

CL: No, not necessarily. United Crushers is not as angsty as my previous releases. The first album was more a stream of consciousness—it was emotional, raw, and cathartic, and the second one was cathartic, too. United Crushers was less of something I needed to do emotionally, and more of trying to make something that was not just cathartic (although those are important, too). With United Crushers it was more of a craft; it wasn’t just like a vomit of emotions anymore.

JO: Lastly, as a fellow resident myself, what are some of your favorite places and things to do in our lovely city of Minneapolis?  

CL: I Love North Minneapolis, being over by the river, Boom Island, Stone Arch Bridge, all the greenspace the city has… I also love Greenroom Magazine (which is a local magazine). Also, there are just so many great people in Minneapolis.

JO: You have to visit Seward Café for me in my absence.

CL: Oh, man, that’s such a great place. And Modern Times Café…

JO: Oh, man, and Hard Times Café…

CL: It’ll still be here waiting for you when you get back!

JULIA OLSON | I hate bureaucracy | KXSU Head Reporter