In a new chat with Kerrang, Polaris’ Jamie Hails credited a Green Day track for inspiring his path to music while discussing some of the most significant songs in his life.
After naming Green Day’s 2004 track ‘Holiday’ as the song that motivated him to pursue a music career, Hails explained:
“I remember visiting some relatives when I was around 12 years old, I think. My mum took me over to England to see some family, and one of my cousins was playing Green Day’s ‘Bullet in a Bible’ DVD. Holiday came on, and I was just watching it in awe, going, ‘Oh my god, this is amazing! Look at this; it looks like so much fun.'”
He then recalled how that live record of the band had a life-changing impact on him:
“And my cousin was like, ‘Yeah, I was at that show, I was standing right about there…’ I remember getting home from that holiday and going straight to the shops to get that DVD, and I watched it through and through, on repeat. I was like, ‘I wanna play guitar, I wanna do that!'”
Speaking to Hysteria Magazine in 2018, Jamie again named Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ as one of his favorite albums of all time and also disclosed the first track that he learned on guitar, saying:
“‘American Idiot’ was the first proper song that I learned on a guitar as well, because when I got into Green Day, and I saw ‘Bullet in a Bible,’ I was like, ‘I want to do what he’s doing! He looks like he’s having the time of his life.'”
Towards the end of his interview, Hails also revealed that the most challenging song to record in his career was ‘With Regards’ from their latest album, ‘Fatalism,’ released on September 1. The singer was dealing with many personal issues, so it was a difficult time in the studio, mainly because of the song’s emotional meaning.
You can listen to Green Day’s ‘Holiday’ below.