Polaris

Polaris
Background information
Origin	Sydney, NSW
Genres	Metalcore
Years active	2012 - present
Associated acts	Windwaker
Members	Jamie Hails Daniel Furnari Rick Schneider Jake Steinhauser
Past members	Ryan Siew James West Matt Steinhauser

Band members

• Current line-up
  • Jamie Hails (vocals)
  • Daniel Furnari (drums)
  • Rick Schneider (guitar)
  • Jake Steinhauser (bass, vocals)
  • Jesse Crofts (guitar) (touring member)

• Former members
  • Ryan Siew (guitar) 2013 - 2023 d. 19.6.23
  • James West (synths, keys) 2012 - 2014
  • Matt Steinhauser (bass) 2012 - 2013

Band information

Polaris is a Sydney metalcore band formed in 2012 by Daniel Furnari and Jake Steinhauser. Jamie Hails and Rick Schneider were also soon recruited and the original line-up was completed by bassist Matt Steinhauser and James West on keys and synths. Dichotomy was recorded during 2012 and 2013, and before it was released both West and Matt Steinhauser had left the group. Jake Steinhauser switched to bass and 15 year old Ryan Siew joined the band.

Dichotomy was released in November 2013, eleven days after Siew joined. His first recording with them was the 2016 EP The Guilt & the Grief that reached #34 on the ARIA singles chart. This Mortal Coil followed in November 2017 and charted for a week, hitting #6. The album was supported by a capital city tour with The Plot in You and Alpha Wolf. Later in the year they played shows with Parkway Drive ahead of another tour in November with The Devil Wears Prada. This Mortal Coil was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album. Early the following year the band opened the main stage at the Download Festival in Melbourne and Sydney.

Polaris' next album The Death of Me was released in February 2020. The album reached #3 on the ARIA chart and also charted in Germany and on Billboard's Heatseeker chart. It was also nominated for an ARIA Award in the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal category. Polaris then toured nationally with Wage War and Alpha Wolf but further live activities were stalled by COVID and their next major appearance was at the Knight and Day Festival in December 2021. Their promised 2021 tour finally went ahead in mid 2022 with Alpha Wolf and in April they also appeared at the Groovin' the Moo festival.

In early 2023 the band played a 10th anniversary Australian tour and prepared for the release of their third album with the release of "Inhumane" in May. An Australian tour with August Burns Red and Kublai Khan TX for September was announced before the band left on a tour to Europe, without Siew who had been suffering from ill-health. Several days into the tour, Polaris withdrew from the shows after learning of Siew's death on June 19. His passing was announced on June 27.

Fatalism was released on September 1, 2023 and immediately peaked at #1 on the ARIA chart. The promised national tour moved forward, with Jesse Croft from Windwaker on lead guitar.

Discography

Albums:

2017	This Mortal Coil	Resist
2020	The Death of Me	Resist
2023	Fatalism	Resist

Singles:

2017	Consume	Resist
2017	The Remedy	Resist
2017	Lucid	Resist
2019	Masochist	Resist
2020	Hypermania	Resist
2020	Landmine	Resist
2020	Vagabond	Resist
2021	All of This is Fleeting	Resist
2023	Inhumane	Resist
2023	Nightmare	Resist
2023	Overflow	Resist

EPs:

2013	Dichotomy	Independent
2016	The Guilt & the Grief	Independent