(Photos provided by artist)
Since joining the chorus and various other music ensembles in high school, Kelven Polite's ’22 interest in creating music has only grown exponentially.
Polite initially picked up instruments like the bass and ukulele — no matter them being quite different — but he quickly began playing more guitar, which remains his go-to today. After a not-so-basic story of getting stuck in Brazil because of documentation issues, where the music there, among other things, influenced him to begin writing in accordance to the Maf rock genre.
Maf rock is a sub-genre of post rock (which focuses more on experimenting with textures of sound rather than traditional song structures). Polite describes it as being “characterized by odd and changing time signatures, and a two handed tapping method, where instead of strumming the guitar you tap on the fret board which creates a peaceful texture to the notes.”
Other than that, Polite pulls inspiration from jazz, low fi hip-hop, and Brazilian music. His tunes use characteristics of jazz and ambient chords to create a different texture to his music which differentiates it from exclusively being Maf rock. Polite draws from the tension and release of jazz, saying “the odd time signatures can make you feel uneasy, but when it all comes together there is an element of relief.”
Although he primarily writes instrumental songs, he also experiments with writing lyrics for some of his creations by pulling from his life and emotions. One of his favorite songs that he wrote is about his friend from high school after she got a septum piercing, and is titled “Minotaur II.”
Though the song started because Polite’s friend simply claimed he should write a song about her — plus the fact that it was initially inspired by how she resembled a minotaur with the nose piercing — the track ultimately discusses the type of person she is.
Currently Polite is working on an EP that will be released late November, and will feature multiple Skidmore bands and also individual artists. The EP is being mixed by Brendan Wright ’18 who graduated last spring, and listeners should expect to hear collaborations with Campo and Clifford, to name a few. Until then, Polite can be seen performing as part of the group NuNote.
Although music is a big passion of his, Polite is currently studying computer science as a backup plan, which he says could lead to a more stable career than music. Yet he is adamant that if the chance does arise for him to do something with music, then he would of course purse it — and it’s no surprise that we hope he does.