An interview with ‘The Hoy Polloy’

By Nadine Rodriguez

Miami, being the densely populated city it is, continues to grow remarkably. It continues to grow in regards to art, culture, youth and music. Although the Miami music scene remains relatively Latin, electronic and rap oriented, there are other genres that are growing strong, composed of bands that are digging their heels in the dirt and marking their ground in the Miami music scene. One such band is “The Hoy Polloy.”

The band, although calling themselves their own genre: “alternative indie progressive,” truly make music for the masses. Sitting in on their Thursday morning practice, my ears were graced with an array of songs. One song involved a rap sequence, voiced by co-founder and frontman K Sos, another song had a jazz melody, a saxophone complementing every other instrument, and another song leaned more on the Latin side, mainly thanks to the Spanish vocals of Juan Lameiro.

Francisco Padilla, a FIU Hospitality Management graduate, was the first to speak up when I asked how the band met.

“We actually all met at The Forge, a restaurant down by Miami Beach. I had found a job there, Panther and him [K Sos] were already working there,” he said.

K Sos, whose real name is Neil Cantor, intervened, taking control of the interview. We were seated outside his apartment, the five of us trading stories. It was clear that we were on his domain, and that he was proud of what his band had accomplished in an age of what he called, instant gratification.

“I had created the band with my good friend, who was the guitar player back in the day. He left the band due to stage fright once Francisco and Panther joined. But, we started it back up again. I was passionate about what I was doing, but we didn’t have a drummer. I wanted to play our music live,” K Sos said.

Panther realizes where the conversation is heading and sits up in his seat, attentive to what the band’s frontman is saying. Having seen him lose himself playing the drums earlier in practice, I knew that he was in love with their music as well. The entire band breathed passion and energy, the air around me in the interview feeling electric and ready to rock.

“We were awful the first couple of months,” Neil continued, a smile spreading on his lips. Francisco took over the interview yet again, providing a glimpse into their personal lives for a moment.

“It’s actually pretty funny, I was leaving my wife, so was Panther. We needed something to fill up a hole in our lives.”

Panther followed suit, “I was living the same life every single day, I felt jaded, like some type of zombie. The band was exactly what I needed…It felt like I was doing what I wanted to do with my life.”
“It all started with this one song we started to get down really well,” K Sos piped up. “Francisco and Panther stayed in the band long enough to actually feel like a band, but once my old good friend left, we were missing a link.”

Francisco excitedly sits up, grinning, “This is where it gets good.”

“We ended up finding Juan on craigslist.” K Sos finally states, all four men smiling. “Six months after we find him and pick him up from the gas station nearby, he finally opens his mouth and we hear him sing…it changed our dynamic. That’s when we started to include the dual vocals.”

It seemed that the young, four men in front of me had met one another through extraordinary circumstances. As they continued to speak about their music, stating how they want to multi-dimensional and not just fit into one genre, I slowly became aware of what The Hoy Polloy was truly about. The band, instead of focusing on one genre or sounding a certain way, spread themselves out. They touch upon rap, rock, alternative, and even indie to provide listeners the ultimate experience.

The Hoy Polloy’s two EPs, whom are named after each member as part of a devious plan made by the band, are currently available on iTunes and Spotify. Fans should be excited, the band soon releasing yet another album, titled “Ferret Winter.”