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Futuristic Polar Bears: A Unique Name For A Unique Trio!

June 30, 201814 min read

It would be no exaggeration to state that the last few years have been marvellous for Futuristic Polar Bears. Owing to their amazing talent and immense dedication both behind the decks and in the studio, the trio has been on a magnificent journey and have brought the world to their feet. Trio members Luke, Rhys and Fran are now worldwide front-runners, having demolished clubs and festivals over 5 continents with their irrefutable energy and vibrant DJ sets.

futuristic polar bears

The Bears earned their recognition through various exuberant releases on labels like Revealed Recordings, Spinnin’ Records, Wall Recordings, Smash The House, Armada and Ultra, clinching consistent chart success with each and every release. Back To Earth became their first Beatport #1 in 2014, followed by a global dancefloor top 20 hit with MATTN & Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike on Smash The House and a #25 US Billboard smash with BBC Radio 1’s Danny Howard.

Their distinguished talent was fortified with the support of Top DJs of the likes of KSHMR, Tiësto, Hardwell, Martin Garrix, R3hab, Sander van Doorn, Firebeatz, Sick Individuals and most notably their label bosses at Smash The House – Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. With innumerable releases under their belt, the Futuristic Polar Bears’ continued their relationship as part of the Smash The House family which saw them play the label’s stages at Tomorrowland Brazil & Belgium in recent years as well as their House of Madness residency at Amnesia in Ibiza and their latest stadium show in Scotland. 2018 and beyond looks set to commence an arsenal of unmissable collaborations with Wolfpack, Yves V, MATTN, Diego Miranda, Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman, and with plenty more in the pipeline including the launch of their brand new label “CMMD Records” cement the Polar Bears as one of the most exciting production outfits in the industry right now.

 

The trio’s thirst for music doesn’t stop there – their cutting-edge Global Radio Show dominates the digital airwaves, going out to over a 5 million listeners in 42 countries across the world every single month.

With a packed release schedule and a tour diary crammed with worldwide club and festival dates, there’ll definitely be no state of hibernation anytime soon for these Bears…

The bears open up about their lives before music, their experiences with touring and about their upcoming label “CMMD Records”.

We hope you enjoy reading this exclusive interview with Futuristic Polar Bears!

1. You guys have done a lot of interviews over the years but I haven’t come across anything covering your lives before music. What can you tell us about what got you onto the scene back in 2010 and what you were doing prior to the music and meeting up?

FRAN: I was working on TV between 2003 & 2009 where I met Luke and we started working on some music projects together and DJing before we eventually decided to start the bears in 2010. We spent a lot of time planning it before the 1st release and it was by chance we met Rhys. He picked us from the hotel going to the club at a show we were doing in Wales and we just got on like a house on fire. He played us some of his music on the ride to the club and instantly we were blown away. The rest is history and we’ve had an incredible journey so far and definitely, the best is yet to come!

2. You’ve been through the festival circuit many times throughout the years, how has the scene evolved in your perspective? What has changed about how you play and what music you create given all of the immersive experiences you’ve had?

The scene has evolved a lot in the past few years and the competition is even harder than ever. We’re lucky in the aspect we’ve found a solid home to release music on “Smash The House” and that has opened the door to a lot of opportunities which we’re eternally grateful to Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike for the opportunity.

The problem now with the scene is the amount of throwaway music that is available and what is hot one week can be completely redundant the next. To stand out whilst playing too we’ve had to evolve the way we play with near enough every track we play a special edit and that includes our own music.

Depending on where you are in the world the way you play that music changes as well. For example in Asia vocals aren’t so big then and they love as many drops as possible whereas in Europe and America we get to push new music a bit more and not have to play as safe! It’s going to be an interesting couple of years and with the Swedes reuniting we’re predicting big room and progressive music to go on a bit of a resurgence. EDM is never going to go away its just going to adapt and evolve and it’s down to how we adapt, evolve and push new boundaries.

3. Tell us about some of the most incredible moments you’ve had as a performer.

Wow, there’s been so many over the years it’s hard to think of them all! Back in 2011, we made a vision board of things we wanted to achieve and by 2015 we’d achieved them all so now we’re onto our 2nd board. Its little things like 1st time we got upgraded to business class on a flight, first time we played Ushuaia in Ibiza which was so special to share the stage with Dannic, Bassjackers, and Mightyfools. Playing Tomorrowland Brazil and in Belgium was incredible playing alongside Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Nervo, Quintino, Steve Aoki, W&W the list goes on! Still, I think the best moment was the first time we played Las Vegas at Marquee, it was on our vision board for so long and to stand in the hotel suite looking over the Bellagio fountains prepping for playing Marquee Las Vegas will always be a special point of our career.

4. You’ve been touring intensely for a few years now. How do you all stay on top of your personal lives and mental health?

Mental health has affected a lot of people over the years and everybody has been touched by it in one way or another including all 3 of us knowing somebody close that we’ve unfortunately lost. It was an absolute honour to be part of the night at Elektriqa in Newcastle and the money we raised which was over £4500 was an incredible achievement.

On tour we try to live as healthily as possible by eating right, not drinking, getting as much rest as possible and staying in touch with loved ones at home, that’s what keeps us grounded. Keeping a fresh and healthy mind is key on tour and getting stuck in hotel rooms on your own can get tiresome and depressing. Small things we do to try and break up the monotony can be simple things like going for a walk around the block, heading to the gym and most importantly talking to wives, girlfriends and family back home which we all do. We’re also in a lucky position where 95% of the time there’s always 2 of us together so were are fortunate that we’ve always got a close friend to talk to in person.

5. EDM heavily promotes the idea of being young forever but it’s important to think about you and the music will age over time. What do you all have planned for your lives ten or twenty years down the line?

We already have plans afoot for the inevitable day when we’re too old to climb on and off festival stages whilst jumping around for 90 minutes haha. Being musicians as well as DJs and producers we’d love to get into the film scoring business and have made progressive steps forward to start moving into the film and tv side of things. We love all aspects of music and scoring using different instruments, time signatures and different styles of music really excites us. With CMMD we’re hoping to build up a stable of solid releases that are not bound by rules and regulations, we’re just making music we love to listen to and play loud and can’t wait for everybody to hear what we have in store.

LUKE: My dream would be to run a country pub when I’m older and swap loud dance music on a Friday and Saturday night for quizzes and open mic nights haha.

RHYS: Writing for film and TV alongside the lads is something we’re really excited about and when I’m done in the evening I can go for a pint at Luke’s pub lol.

FRAN: I’ve been a practising NLP for a while now and qualified as a practitioner back in 2014, I really enjoy helping people and would look to do this fulltime. I’m also managing a few new artists at the minute and am really enjoying helping them forge their career in the industry.

6. When you look back, do you think you would have done anything differently?

Oh yes, 100%, there are so many things we’d have done differently but then life is about making mistakes and learning from them. The important thing we always say is to not dwell on the past as you can’t change that and always look at how you can change the future. A big bit of advice we’d give to any reader that is looking to get into this industry is if you do mistakes and get plenty of knockbacks just remember to keep going and try even harder. Talent always rises to the top and with hard work, determination and a bit of self-belief – the sky is the limit and you can always achieve your dreams.

It has been a great pleasure interviewing one of the best talents in the industry and certainly one of the hardest working groups around. We are excited to listen to and review the songs to be released on their new label CMMD and also wish them good luck for the same. Big ups to the bears for all the wonderful answers, you can follow their socials here –

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