So this is an incredibly big record for me. Rid of Me is a record that she wrote in a couple of weeks, which also, as a writer, really kind of distressed me that someone could be that good in such a short amount of time. She made it with Steve Albini [Editor’s note: This interview was recorded prior to Albini’s passing.] I never heard a record of a three piece that’s been more in tune. Was it Robert Ellis [and Steve Vaughan]? The expression between the three of them to take very raw — basic’s the wrong word because it’s really elevated — but there’s something base about it and raw, but it takes all three of them to make it work. The dynamics of each of the three members. It’s not just a PJ Harvey record. It’s actually the three of them.

I must have played this record to death. When I went to make Sixteen Stone, I remember all I wanted to do was make every song sound more like Rid of Me. While I was in the studio, going, “How do we get it to be more like this?” I’ve never done that with anyone, but I did it with her.

I’ve got my first guitar off of her, because she played a Jazzmaster at that show [I was at] where she was shouted at from the crowd. I hadn’t seen that and I was like, “Super cool guitar.” So when I got a record deal, I went to this store called Vintage and Rare in London and in the window, they had the same Jazzmaster, same as Polly was playing. So I was like, “Oh my god, I’m one step closer of a thousand steps.

Essential Track: “Man-Size.” What I liked about it is that when she wants to get heavy and aggressive, she’s more aggressive than anyone. She can do white chalk and can be sort of very poetic and lilting, but when she wants to give it…

Former music teacher Andrew Dickson recalls working with the young PJ Harvey when she and Bridport's other favourite diva Jess Upton (who now has her own soul band) formed the Hat Band, along with Thea Martin and drummer Ben Stephens.

Mr Dickson, who writes music for film and theatre said: "She stood very quietly at the back and played saxophone. She was always very serious."

Mr Dickson said Polly then went on to join Bologna, a performance band that liked to stage offthewall shows with people cooking and juggling and doing circus tricks on stage.

He said: "I write music for film and theatre and Bologna was just about writing for fun. We performed in village halls and charity gigs at the arts centre. It was really good fun."

Mr Dickson said even then Polly was always the quiet one at the back playing the saxophone. She also wrote songs for the band and Mr Dickson recalled one she had written about road kill called Dead Things on the Road Again.

He said: "I always knew she was a terrific musician and had lots of potential, she took it very seriously. And that's how she has got to where she is today, she has always worked so hard."

Polly then moved to London where it wasn't long before her individual sound and style got her noticed and she officially became a solo artist.

It's always heart-warming to read such level of praise people have for her! I wonder what tour/year that was. I remember a similar story somebody reported here years ago, where apparently Polly was in such a good spirit after a date of the TBYML tour, that she went to a different venue with her band and spent the rest of the night singing.

a few comments on Polly's early years!
dunno if it's been ppsted before https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/53582 ... rit-award/

https://x.com/CoreMathsTom/status/1528365899824222209
https://x.com/neilgharrison/status/1186368278047920129
Tom Rainbow
@CoreMathsTom
·
May 22, 2022
Wasn't she in a band with Max Griffiths around then...as I recall they asked her to leave as she wasn't quite good enough! I may have made that up.


neil harrison
@neilgharrison
·
May 22, 2022
Yes indeed! ‘The Bloody Assize’ with Jethro Marshall. Think they borrowed very heavily from Julian Cope’s early solo stuff

My dad is not very good at talking generally, but he plays guitar and makes guitars sometimes and he loved music. He’d always watch Jools Holland, so sometimes I’d try and stay up and watch it too. PJ Harvey was on it a lot and I just loved her performance and loved the music. It was somehow a bonding thing, because my dad had a lot of PJ Harvey CDs. I’ve just listened to her for years. It’s been a constant throughout my life.

This album specifically I never had until a couple years ago. I was more listening to other ones, like Rid Of Me, and for some reason this was the only one that I hadn’t really listened to much. Recently, I’ve been listening to it on repeat, so I thought I had to put this one in.

I have a lot of respect for her and she’s a great performer live. Just the fact she plays guitar and is just bad ass, genuinely, but then totally sweet in real life. She was the first person where I was like, proper nervous when I accidentally met her backstage at an ATP. I was playing a Portishead curated one in 2011 or something ages ago, but there was a weird situation where I bumped into PJ Harvey in the back. She was saying ‘Am I allowed to go onstage’ or something and I was too nervous to say no to PJ. I just was like, ‘I think the door’s over there’. She was so sweet, and I just thought ‘wow’. I remember hearing that she learns a new instrument with each album. That sort of approach is cool, when you create your own challenge with each one. It has a reason and a purpose and you can hear that with all her albums.

Day 2 of counting down to The Great Impersonator, October 25th ⭐️

THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR #2: PJ HARVEY

TRACK 3: Dog Years

One of my absolute favorite songs on the album, inspired by one of the most influential artists of my lifetime.

Courtney Love praising PJ and dissing Steve Albini on a personal fax around 1993: