[1] Pollens began in late 2008 as the composition project of Jeff Aaron Bryant and Hanna Benn, students at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.

As Bryant and Benn developed their sound in 2008 and 2009, live shows included drum machines and a rotating cast of vocalists, auxiliary instrumentalists and percussionists.

The best parts were when three female voices wove a pattern with drums, guitar and up to three synthesizers, establishing a thick layer of throbbing sound for extended periods of time.

[4] In an interview with Joe Williams of the Seattle Weekly, Benn explains that the song Helping Hand was adapted from music for a piano quartet she had previously written.

[7] In 2015, Hanna Benn left Pollens, seeking to focus on her solo work, while co-founder Jeff Bryant relocated to New York City.