After watching two of his closest friends perform in his high school variety show during his freshman year, Paul Pollio II, now 28 years old and the current bassist for The Schwam band, was inspired to start performing.
“Watching them have a good time perform and knowing there was a talent to be proud of and a way to express themselves, I felt I didn’t have that at that time of my life,” he said.
Pollio was drawn to the bass since his friends were already playing the drums and guitar, and his father, Paul Pollio the First, is a bass player in the band Prymanda. However, when he first picked up a bass, it didn’t feel natural to him and actually felt a little silly, but his friends helped him foster the love for the bass, and when he learned the opening riff to Iron Man by Black Sabbath he had an ah-ha moment and year later he was on stage for the school variety show.
The first songs he ever performed were I Am So Sad, So Very, Very Sad, and Black Sheep from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Now, over a decade later, the Northern New Jersey-based bassist is still playing and has his own band that he started with good friend Chris Matters, Eels of Love, an instrumental prog-rock band.
“Eels is a really fun, creative outlet for me because it’s the kind of band where we all kind of do what we want and what we like; it’s an expressive tool.”
The band is currently working on a new album, and while Pollio couldn’t give too much detail, he was happy to say that they will be “going to space” in this album.
Recently, he joined the ska-punk band The Schwam after their original bassist moved and personally asked him to take over. A position he was honored to take.
“When joining The Schwam, it was like a whole genre of music for me to learn how to play,” he said. “Honing in on exactly what a bassist role is in Ska music has opened my eyes to a whole new way to play bass, which sounds crazy since I’ve been playing since high school.”
Despite juggling two bands, Pollio lives for the music, “ It’s really an extension of myself. I feel like 100 years from now, that’s my child. The music is my offspring.”
Back in September, The Schwam had a release show for their album “Raised Highways,” and Eels of Love was their opener. For the first time, Pollio did double duty. “It took a lot of me, but it was so damn worth it,” he said, “ I was able to perform with basically my two families who weren’t biological.”
Pollio, after pulling a double duty, photo taken by his bandmates in The Schwam.
Although he is entering a new chapter in his life, he’s soon getting married to his long-time girlfriend, Kylie Curry, and working on his photography, he also filmed and produced The Schwam’s most recent music videos, his love for music and performing is not going anywhere.
“As my 30s come closer and I start to do more and try different things, music has remained a consistent thing for me,” said Pollio, “It is my creative outlet, it is my stress reliever, it is my excuse to perform in front of people. It is an important part of me, even with all the life changes. One of the main consciences has been the music I love to play, the instrument I love to play, and all the amazing people I meet along the way.”
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