For this fourth interview I had the pleasure to ask everything that I wanted to know to this new vibrant punk rock trio from Bishop's Stortford.
I was charmed by their D.I.Y approach and their lyrics which can be very mature and realistic for a young band when they decide to talk about today's society which is an important thing to do.
I hope to see them live very soon as their shows seem to be one of those constant party where you never want them to stop playing.
So make sure you check them out and read a bit more about them because they have a promising future ahead of them and you better catch them while you still can.
1 - Could you tell me how and when Spudd Cannon started, how did you all meet ?
Mike: The history of our band is a bit all over the place, to be honest. It initially started a few years ago with a couple of different members, but was only ever an occasional jamming session. Then people went to uni or joined different bands and we went our separate ways a bit. However, the 3 of us hooked up again just under a year ago, and our line up and ambition to make a go of things has been solid ever since
2 - I think your DIY approach is very inspiring for every bands out there. You recorded your first E.P "Dude, Where's My Boat, Man" in a friend's basement. Is it something that will always be part of your ways and how did the whole recording process go ? Are there any plans to record an album ?
Mike: I'd like to always retain our DIY approach as far as we can, to help retain our vision of bringing fast, catchy punk rock back to the mainstream. However, that’s not to say I’ll only ever limit that vision to just us 3. If we stumble across producers, engineers, labels or whatever that we truly believe can enhance our sound and further our band, we’re happy to listen. But I think it’s so important to our artistic integrity to keep true to ourselves and the music we love to listen to and play. I’d personally love to see a spudd album one day; but throwing out EPs works too for now - they’re quicker to make & means we can regularly have new music available to anybody who takes an interest in our bandJJ: The recording process was really good actually, most of my bass parts were one take which is unusual for me, we don't claim to be experts by any means but Mike did an awesome job at mixing and we're happy with the result.
2 - I think your DIY approach is very inspiring for every bands out there. You recorded your first E.P "Dude, Where's My Boat, Man" in a friend's basement. Is it something that will always be part of your ways and how did the whole recording process go ? Are there any plans to record an album ?
Mike: I'd like to always retain our DIY approach as far as we can, to help retain our vision of bringing fast, catchy punk rock back to the mainstream. However, that’s not to say I’ll only ever limit that vision to just us 3. If we stumble across producers, engineers, labels or whatever that we truly believe can enhance our sound and further our band, we’re happy to listen. But I think it’s so important to our artistic integrity to keep true to ourselves and the music we love to listen to and play. I’d personally love to see a spudd album one day; but throwing out EPs works too for now - they’re quicker to make & means we can regularly have new music available to anybody who takes an interest in our bandJJ: The recording process was really good actually, most of my bass parts were one take which is unusual for me, we don't claim to be experts by any means but Mike did an awesome job at mixing and we're happy with the result.
3 - What are your songs about and how do you write your lyrics ?
Mike: Our songs come from all walks of life, I guess. We have a few about boredom and the frustrations life brings, some about relationships both good and bad, and we also occasionally venture into more political-based lyrics, and how aspects of modern society sucks. The lyrical writing styles are usually inspired by the feel of the song. If I come up with a guitar part that has a bit of bite to it, like our song “Criminal Damage”, the lyrics might be slightly more serious; whereas a goofier song, like “In My Back Yard” has kinda silly lyrics cuz we feel it’s important to have fun with our music too
JJ: I didn't write for this EP but I'm hoping to contribute to our next project, my writing tends to come from experience. Even the goofier ones have probably been based on something that I've tried to find the funny side in.
4 - You don't live that far from London, do you play there often and where can we see you live this year ?
Mike: Since we reformed, we’ve been so busy rehearsing & recording our EP that we’ve only just got back into the live seen. So far we’ve mainly been playing our local scenes in Hertfordshire, Essex & Cambridgeshire - however London and beyond is most definitely on our agenda as soon as we can. We want to play everywhere we possibly can.
5 - Could you tell me a bit more about your background. Have you always been music lovers even as kids/teenagers and what is the first gig you ever went to ?
JJ: I've always loved Rock, Punk, Metal and to be honest I was quite close minded about music. It's only in may be the last 5 years I've opened up to different genres, I love Jazz these days. I go to a lot of local shows but my first proper gig was a Green Day show and it definitely knocked something loose. I joined by first band a month later and started writing pretty much immediately.
Mike: I’ve been a music fan as long as I can remember. I always used to be happy to listen to anything, and to a certain extent I still am. But the moment that really sticks in my mind is first listening to Green Day when I was 13 years old & opening my mind to punk rock, which has been my favourite type of music ever since. Having said that, the first band I ever saw live were the Red Hot Chili Peppers when I was 15, and they were pretty sick to be fairCharlie: I saw an ABBA tribute band at Audely End.
6 - If you weren't a musician what would you be ?
Mike: I mean, we all have to work day jobs now to help fund our habit of being musicians until hopefully we can do it full time. If I couldn’t manage a career in music, I’d probably like to work in art somehow. Draw comic books or something
JJ: Pro-wrestler... didn't even have to think about it
Charlie: Pirate
7 - If you were to cover a song which one would you chose and why ?
Mike: We love to throw covers into our set from bands we all mutually love, such as the Ramones or Operation Ivy. However, if I could even get close to the vocal range required, I’d love to cover a song by a band like Silverchair. Maybe do a song like “Tomorrow” or “Abuse Me”. I just love that grunge sound they used to have, and Daniel Johns’ voice is just awesome
8 - What are your top three favorite albums ?JJ: I have to throw AC/DC - Back in Black in there. Seether - Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. And to cap it off the self titled Social Distortion album.
Charlie: Can't Slow Down - Lionel Richie, Dude Ranch - Blink 182, Never mind the Bollocks- Sex Pistols
Mike: Nirvana’s “Nevermind”, “Dookie” by Green Day, and Box Car Racer’s self titled album
9 - Where would you like to be same time next year ?
Mike: More music out, more gigs, more fans!!
10 - Have you ever met any of your heroes and who are the ones you would like to meet ?
Charlie: Emile Heskey
JJ: I've never met any musical hero's, I'd love to meet Lars Fredericksen, he seems like a chill guy
Mike: I've met a few songwriters who I really look up to, such as Shaun Morgan from Seether, Jared Reddick from Bowling For Soup, and Cole & Max Becker from SWMRS, which have been really cool experiences. Thankfully they were all great guys, who made a lot of time for their fans. As for someone I’d like to meet...I’m not really sure. Krist Novoselic would be amazing. He seems super chill, and I’d love to hear some stories from his time in Nirvana.
Where you can check them out :
No comments:
Post a Comment