Interview with… Martin Broda of Cherry Pools // 03.02.18

Picture this: 80s pop, pastel colours and happy-go-lucky guitar riffs that make you want to dance around with a hairbrush in your bedroom. Vocalist Martin Broda, guitarist Matt Krumins,
bassist Talyn Prior and drummer Sean Medeiros make up the aesthetically
pleasing Toronto, Canada quartet, Cherry Pools, who do exactly that.

When Broda isn’t having vehicle trouble on the way to their first date of their
first supporting tour with PVRIS, he’s creating art any way he possibly can.
Whether that’s writing songs, photography, or drawing between sets, he likes to
embrace his creative side.

Cherry Pools, previously known as Cherry Waves, formed their new name due to
copyright issues with Sony over popular Deaftone song of the
same name. “It’s kind of funny. I was sat at our producer’s house by the pool,
working on our latest release trying to come up with new names. I looked over
at the water, and ended up with Cherry Pools,” Broda explains.

The blue-haired vocalist had been a part of several other successful music
projects, such as Curses and Abandon All Ships,
before forming Cherry Pools. He says it gives you a new outlook than those who
start with no previous experience when it comes to the music industry; “It
gives you a huge amount of education, and I feed off other people creatively.”

“I was raised on pop,” says Broda. “My older sister is into Spice Girls,
Whitney Houston, Backstreet Boys… typical 80s pop,” he explains. Though his
previous projects were considerably heavier than Cherry Pools, Broda says that
he always tries to integrate his influences despite the genre, “I always try to
include it in my vocal hooks whenever I can.”

Prior to forming Cherry Pools and after his previous band split, Broda had a
job back home in Toronto to keep himself busy. This caused him to go into a
“really weird place mentally,” as he felt he had abandoned music, and made him
question whether he really wanted to go back to normality after the life he had
previously been used to. “I had a job, my co-workers said that I had a talent.
I couldn’t give it up,” he explains.

Cherry Pools’ single, ‘Are You in Love’, which was released February 9, has
been commended for its happy-go-lucky sound and its similarity to The 1975’s
work – the minimalistic melody and off-beat lyrics are reminiscent of their
distinct sound.

Working closely with PVRIS’s director Raúl Gonzo, who has previously directed
bold coloured masterpieces for SAINTE and Melanie Iglesias, Cherry Pools took
inspiration from the “gimmicky pop vibe” of current music videos and formed a
pastel storyboard on popular website Pinterest, before bringing it to life.

Broda says he doesn’t mind the comparison, but he doesn’t necessarily agree
with it. “I enjoy The 1975 and I can see the connections, but I think pop is
moving in that general direction. Are You in Love is anthemic, it doesn’t have
a specific influence.”

With the release of their debut single, ‘Forever Young’, and ‘Are You in Love’,
Cherry Pools rose in popularity before joining PVRIS on their North American
tour. Their first show of the tour is in Atlanta, Georgia, and is almost sold
out.

“There’s going to be a lot of new faces. We’re playing to such big rooms. We
can’t wait to engage with them,” Broda states in excitement, before adding that
the band would most likely hang out at their merch stand after their sets to
help build up relationships with their audiences.

With the anticipation rising for more music from the band, Cherry Pools can’t
resist in sharing some of their future plans. “PVRIS are doing amazing. We want
to build a fanbase, and maybe once our EP is out, we’ll think about a headline
tour.”

Their third single, currently unnamed, is aimed to be released in April, with
another two following before all five singles join together into an EP. “We’ll
be focusing on our album whilst it’s rolling out, so we can aim for late 2018,
early 2019 for the album.”

Cherry Pools are set on making the best possible music that they can. “The EP
is one of my favourites. Every song has its own vibe. It’s mysterious, upbeat,
very diverse. I’m excited for what the future holds for Cherry Pools.”

Catch Cherry Pools on tour this February through March supporting PVRIS across
North America, starting on February 15 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/cherrypools

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cherrypoolsband

Website: www.cherrypoolsband.com