This piece was originally featured in AM02 — Issue Two of Ascribe. Click here to read it alongside the rest of the issue.
Touring for the first time in Philadelphia, Odd Polly made the journey all the way from deep in Alabama up the coast for their second stop on their self-titled EP release.
Amidst the chaos of soundcheck, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the band and just candidly hearing their stories and what they had to share. From the moment I was pitched the email for this interview I knew it would take a different form than expected. Seeing the subject line in my email that eloquently read “y’allternative band (what the f*ck is that?) review us pls” really set the tone for my approach going into this evening. The following stories I share were told to me from the most genuine and friendly people I have had the opportunity to sit down with.
Nick, Joshua, and Eli of Odd Polly were such a delight to meet and later see perform live. After a long drive from their last tour stop the day before, the boys proclaimed that they had woken up bright and early the morning of the Philadelphia show in their hotel strictly for the free continental breakfast. After reminiscing on a shared love of the perfection that is hotel waffles, the conversation quickly became very food centered right off of the bat. I’m very glad the topic went this direction as I was absolutely amazed to learn about the southern delicacy of gas station pizza that is Hunt Brothers. If you have never heard of a lukewarm slice of pizza under a heat lamp locally dubbed a “hunk,” you may be within the majority of Philadelphians missing out! Nick made sure to give us a Hunt Brothers deep cut secret of the perfect window of time in which a hunk, so aptly named, is prime for eating yet also at its prime price. Now, the whole evening should have probably been spent really delving into the historic significance of hunks of Hunt Brothers Pizza to the prosperity of Odd Polly, but the conversation really led me to my most pressing question going into this interview: if there was one story that needed to get out to the public from this informal sit-down it was the ever-present question of how the band came up with the name for the infamous song “Duke Whopperton.” This was the exclusive that needed to reach the press immediately!
The story goes back to a very late night, in the liminal hours between dusk and dawn. Joshua shared that the band was driving and simply starving as they passed a Burger King and the thought dawned on him that there was a Burger King and a Dairy Queen. In his mind, an immediate wedded connection was formed between these two fast food chain idols. Now their heads were spinning with the story of this kingdom, begging to ask the question, who was the duke? The child of the Dairy Queen and the Burger King, the most extravagant burger on the entire market, had to be Duke Whopperton. Knighted with a fry and bestowed upon the kingdom of fast food, Duke Whopperton is an iconic piece of lore.
If there was one takeaway from the evening, it would be that Odd Polly, a band infamous for lore, must be shared with the public. From Joshua’s camo crocs, no socks just straight dogs out on the fine streets of Philadelphia, to Eli proudly wearing a Morbius shirt despite never having even seen the feature film, this band was full of character and spirit of the DIY alternative scene.
Spending time to chat with such down to Earth artists who create such amazing music is an absolute gift. To conclude, despite the roundabout storytelling to get here, the most important thing to learn from Odd Polly is the importance of continuing to reconnect with the ever-present talent in your local DIY scene. You have no idea what kind of creative and kind hearts are absolutely rocking out on a Friday night in a basement near you. Go get involved in your local scene and I guarantee you’ll have the pleasure of a whole new beautiful culture surrounding you. Support local artists and a big thank you to Odd Polly for being so completely candid with a stranger on a random couch in Philadelphia. Check out their new Self-Titled EP on streaming for your listening enjoyment.
