Polaris (Australian band)

Polaris was formed in 2012 by drummer Daniel Furnari and Jake Steinhauser on guitar after meeting at their high school battle of the bands, quickly discovering a mutual love for metal and alternative music. The two then recruited guitarist Rick Schneider and vocalist Jamie Hails through mutual friends and word of mouth. Matt Steinhauser, Jake's brother, was brought on board to handle bass duties and completed the line-up with James West on synth/keys. The group began working on music together writing and recording their first single "Summit" and the majority of the Dichotomy EP in early 2012. In late 2012, Polaris announced the departure of both Matt Steinhauser and West. Guitarist Jake then switched onto bass to focus on his singing, as the band was pushing towards a more progressive sound.

The band began looking for a new guitarist, holding public auditions. On 18 November 2013, the band announced Ryan Siew, as their new guitarist, who was 15 years old at the time.[4] Shortly after joining the Dichotomy EP was released on 29 November 2013 independently.[5]

On 3 March 2015, the single "Unfamiliar" was released; it was the first track to feature Siew as lead guitarist. Polaris continued to write and finished an additional 5 tracks to complete their second EP titled The Guilt & The Grief. The EP was recorded with Sonny True Love and Evan Lee at STL studios on the North Coast of NSW, and it was mixed by Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland of Atrium Audio in Pennsylvania, USA. The Guilt & The Grief was released independently by the band on 29 January 2016 and landed at #34 on the ARIA charts.

On 3 November 2017, Polaris released their first studio album The Mortal Coil through Resist Records and Sharptone Records. The album was nominated for the 2018 ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album as well as for the Australian Album of the Year award at the J Awards.

On 21 February 2020, Polaris released their second studio album The Death of Me, also through Resist Records and Sharptone Records. The album was nominated for the 2020 ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album. On 3 July 2020, the band released the instrumental editions of their albums, The Mortal Coil and The Death of Me.[6][7]

In an interview with Wall of Sound, Jamie Hails confirmed the band have been working on new material during the pandemic, which they will not be releasing until they have toured The Death of Me internationally.[8]

On 27 July 2022, Australian electronic artist and producer PhaseOne released a collaboration track with the band entitled "Icarus", marking the first time the band have collaborated with another artist on new music.[9]

On 4 November 2022, Polaris announced via social media "We have entered the studio to begin assembling our next body of work" with their live sound engineer Lance Prenc at Kinglake Studios in Melbourne.

The Australian Independent Record Awards (known colloquially as the AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982.[15]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

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. They commenced in 2005.

The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of Rolling Stone magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year.[19]