Interview with Spiritu

Congratulations to your excellent minidebut that have just been released. How pleased are you with the response and the presscoverage so far to the release?

(John Bess, bass) Thanks. We are stoked about the response it's been getting. We're just trying play rock the way we think it should be played, and it's humbling to have so many people be into it, both the press and the fans.

Fill me in on your background, how was Spiritu formed ?

Jadd and Chav started the band in early 2000 out of a mutual love for heavy rock. They brought in some other guys, who didn't work out, so they got rid of them. In the Summer of 2000 James, the drummer on the album and long-time friend of Jadd's, returned from England and joined the band. In October 2000, I answered an ad ooking for a heavy rock bass player and that was that. Spiritu was formed. In March 2002, after recording the album, James left the band to pursue other endeavors, he left the night after we opened for Fu Manchu no less. We brought in Ken Hiner, a guy I've known for over ten years, a sick ass drummer, and we've been writing and performing with him since.

How did you hook up with Meteor City and how pleased are you with the deal ?

Our singer Jadd is one of the co-founders of the label. We really wanted to avoid releasing this album on MeteorCity because we didn't want anyone to think it was a project of Jadd's or that we got any special treatment because he's in the band. We made the record, and started shopping it around and the guys at MeteorCity realized that they had a hole in their release schedule from a band who couldn't get their record done in time. We consulted MCY's other owner, Aaron Emmel and asked him if he thought we were right for the label. All of us have a good deal of respect for the bands on that label. Hell, they've released Nebula, Atomic Bitchwax, Blind Dog...some really great bands, and we wanted to be sure that the MeteorCity guys thought we could stand alongside those bands in terms of quality music and impact on the scene. Allthough we wanted to find a different label, we had like four days to decide...wait until this summer and maybe hear something from another label, or send this to production this week and release it in August. More than anything we wanted our music out there for people to hear, so we chose to release it. It's really the best deal. We're not contractually bound to the label, so we're free to move to a bigger label for the next record, and we get to play with some great bands live.

For this cd, you hooked up with Jack Endino the very much infamous subpop producer, how did you hook up with him and how pleased are you with the production of the disc ?

Jack was a Godsend. The label knew him through other projects he'd done for them. We didn't have a label then, so we'd been saving money to record. We were looking for an engineer and found out that he had a very small opening between other gigs, and was willing to work with us. There really was no question about it; we packed all of our gear into a minivan and drove to Seattle, recorded over three intense sixteen hour days, and drove right back. It was grueling. But the end result was a huge sounding album. We are about to start the next album and the litmus test is whether or not a producer around here can get us a sound that's this big, if not we will try to go back to Jack.

You are from the wastelands of New Mexico, have that been affective in any way for the music and lyrical direction that you have ?

Everyone is affected by their environment. I mean, we don't stare out a window at the blistering sun, or the tumbleweeds for inspiration. But, when you spend everyday, day in and day out, in a town where the only living things that thrive are weeds, cactus, and snakes, it has an effect on you for sure--we have the worst economy of any state, everything is tan or brown, there's no grass, just brown dirt, brown stucco, and blue sky. Don't get me wrong, the desert is beautiful in a very rugged, picturesque way. But, it's no joke, people get lost in the mountains or on the mesas and die. It's a tough place.

The playingtime is 40 + minutes over 6 tracks, the shortest track is 3+ and there is 3 around 9 +, did you felt at the time that those 6 were the strongest to lay down on the disc ?

Yes, they were the best. We only want to play good songs, we constantly write stuff and then drop it. A song has to really go somewhere for us to keep it. We weren't concerned with making a record full of 3-4 minute songs designed for radio play. Some in the industry think that's a poor idea, they can't market you without radio play. Conversely we didn't set out to write long songs. We just wanted to put our voice out there and sometimes it takes nine minutes to tell a story musically. As musicians we really think about our listeners, we try to take the them somewhere emotionally. That's why our songs tend to get atmoshperic, there are alot of swells and things in the background that pull the listener along. We like our songs to have twists and turns, unexpected moments for the listener and not just, verse, chorus, verse.

What amazes me the most are the variation here, a combination of groove,blues, soul, tripping acidrock and whole lot of solid slabdash doom metal + the lyrical direction along with a intense and dynamic production. How pleased are you with the mix and variations of the disc ?

The variation is something that comes natural for us. We've currently got four new songs and none of them sound alike stylistically, and none of them sound like the old songs. It's clear that it's Spiritu; it's heavy a shit, the vocals are soaring, and there's about a thousand effects swirling around, but the songs all have their own vibe. I think that comes from our different influences. We all listen to ALOT of music, very different kinds of music from classic rock, to metal, old prog, thrash, jazz, blues, punk. So our songs reflect that love for music in general. For example, most rock bands will take a riff and say "okay, what's a good rock bass line and drum part to support that?" Ken and I are both music school geeks, so we're always trying to fit other, unexpected things in, like a really progressive, odd time feel, or R&B phrasing. And you better believe if I can fit an effects pedal in there I'm gonna use it! The best part is that Jadd and Chav are all for it, it doesn't throw them off, it pushes them to find other unique parts as well. The next album is going to be HUGE. We're definately pushing ourselves to another level, Kenny's been a big part of that, he's just so damn good.

My absolute fave on the disc is Glorywhore, one of the longest here. A track with a catchy dynamic hookline, very doomy,effective and spiritual. How was that track pieced together and are the lyrics a self experience ?

That started from Chav listening to too much Church of Misery. He came into practice and started playing this slow, doomy, single note thing that he plays in the intro. James and I jumped on it and next thing we know, Chav kicks in the distortion and the whole thing takes off. That song came together pretty quick. I came up with that turnaround and the fast part, and Chav wrote the rest. It was Jadd's idea to have everyone drop out during the chorus and jsut have the bass going. I think he wanted a more straight forward pounding bassline, but that seemed to obvious, and I wanted to pay homage to the bassist from Church of Misery, a little tip of the hat because he's so bad ass. So instead what Jadd got was alot of distortion and bass whah freak outs. The lyrics are about how cool it is to play live, and it's a jab at those musicians who tend to get full of themselves thinking their better than everyone else because their in a band.

Another thing that amazes me are the classic vibe that this disc have, it is very back to basic without that much visual effects that are quite common today of the newer bands. I admire the simple attitude that this disc has, no frills just straight out and very unconventional. How pleased are you with the vibe and the direction that you have ?

You called it. We wanted the music to do the talking. That's why we made the cover art so stark, no chicks, or cars, or dragons, nothing that would categorize us. The image is an immergance, our immergance onto the scene, our music being created. I tend to see us as an AC/DC type band, no frills, no fancy shit, just straight out, mean ass rock and roll, only much heavier and more progressive! But it's the spirit of the thing, Rock, no matter how well played, should be nasty, and dirty. None of this crybaby, my daddy never loved me, I'm so tortured crap, and defiantely no pretty boy, glam shit either. Rock comes to your house, bangs your sister, drinks your beer, and then peels out in your yard when it leaves. That's rock and roll, brother.

Speaking of influences, is it any particular musical and lyrical influences that you have ?

Everything we hear. People keep comparing us to bands we don't directly listen to. We get alot of Soundgarden comments, which is cool; they were a great band. But we don't talk about their albums, Chav doesn't bust out Soundgarden riffs when he's warming up. Kyuss was great, but I never even heard them before joining this band. I'd been playing for fifteen years prior to this and never heard them, neither has Ken. But we get that comparison. You can't play doomy without someone saying Sabbath, and you can't play low and distorted without someone saying Kyuss. That's just the way it is. In that respect we'd have to say we're influenced by them in some way, but there's so much more that we actually apply musically: Rush, Skynard, Tull, Tool, Clutch, Dio, Deep Purple, Blues Traveler, Cream, Hendrix, Yes, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Return to Forever, I can think of actual moments in our songs where someone has conciously applied something from one of these bands, while someone else is applyng something from another. We don't say, "Hey, let's play a Dio part here" and everyone cops Dio. Instead, Chav will be laying down some open Neil Young chords with a Clutch feel, while Kenny lays down an old Genesis inspired cymbal work with a Tool beat, I'll try to figure out how Hendrix would play a Blues Traveler bass line under all of it, and Jadd will bust some Bruce Dickenson singing Deep Purple over all of it. That's about how we do it.

Another plus is the musicianship, phenomenal guitarwork a hammering backing section and raunchy vocals. During the recording process how was it in the studio did you do it live or did you tracking ?

Thanks alot. Because of the time constraint we recorded all of the music live, which we think gave it a great feel. Plus alot of what we do is improvisational, we really play off of each other alot, so it was cool to all be in the same room pushing each other and responding to each other. We then doubled and tripled the guitars, did a few punch ins for bass and drums and then Jadd came in and put down all his vocal tracks

Whats up in the Spiritu camp at the moment, how many livedates have you set up so far, are you planning anything for europe and when is the next Spiritu release out ?

We're going to start recording the new album next week with a local guy who did the Foghat albums in the '70s. If the inital sessions go well, we'll record the whole thing with him. We are playing a few live dates opeing for touring acts, we just opened for Juicifer, and we'll be playing with Suplecs, Eternal Elyisum, Witch Mountain, and Borgo Pass next week on the way to play the Stoner Hands of Doom Festival in Arizona. A U.S. tour of about thirty dates is planned for the summer. We had intended to play some dates in England in December to capitalize on all the great press and fan support were getting there, but the label had to do some internal restructuring and our going would hurt the release of albums by other bands. So,European dates are still to be determined.

Any last words ?

Thanks to any and all who've supported us so far. Email us, let us know you're out there. Don't listen to that slick coprorate crap the radio is trying to feed you! Call a DJ and request some real rock and roll. If they don't have our CD, give them your copy!! I'll buy you a new one.

Thanks a lot for the interview and thanks for a great disc, best wishes with everything. Look forward to see Spiritu live here in Europe very soon.

Thank you.

By Gabriel Lilliehook

Review of their awesome 6 track debut at rec18.html

Order their disc at www.meteorcity.com or www.peoplelikeyou.de

More Spiritu info at www.riffrock.com/spiritu