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Wakefield\u2019s noisy indie-punks The Spills<\/b> have been labelled Yorkshire\u2019s best kept secret. However, thanks to a stellar new full-length \u2013 the excellent \u2018Collecting Dust\u2019<\/i> \u2013 and a knock-your-socks-off exciting turn supporting labelmates Tellison, word is finally getting out about their greatness.<\/p>\n
Already Heard<\/b> sat down with guitarist\/vocalist Rob Slater and, after a brief discussion about our respective squash skills (badass, since you asked\u2026) to discuss the new album, influences and breaking out of a scene in which The Cribs still loom large\u2026<\/p>\n
AH: So my first introduction to you was supporting Tellison. Jack from Alcopop! Records said I\u2019d enjoy it and he wasn\u2019t wrong. Listening back over the new album though, it sounds like there\u2019s lots more nuances and textures and isn\u2019t quite as ferocious.<\/b>
RS: Well, most of it was recorded live. We spent a lot of time on this record getting the guitar sounds right, but there\u2019s not like tonnes of tracks and overdubs and stuffs. Maybe it depends what you\u2019re comparing it too. But, because we\u2019ve got a load of guitar parts, there\u2019s a lot of\u2026 noodling\u2026 going on (laughs). So we spent a while on it. We\u2019ve never really been into pedals before, and this is the first time that we\u2019ve really tried to amass as many pedals as we could. They\u2019re not doing crazy bass noises or anything, they\u2019re all just slightly different distortions and tones, so we\u2019ve got a bit more into that.<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: How did you hook up with Jack and Alcopop? What\u2019s the deal there?<\/b>
RS: Basically, we played a show in Wakefield, at The Hop, maybe 2012, 2013, and it was a really good line-up. We try not to play in Wakefield too often, just so people don\u2019t get sick of us. We did our album launch there last week and it was so much fun, but if you\u2019re playing there every week\u2026 there\u2019s not that many people in Wakefield, so we\u2019d be playing to the same crowd. But we did this show because it was such a good line-up. Johnny Foreigner, Paws, Wot Gorilla?, Runaround Kids \u2013 they were an amazing Wakefield band and they\u2019ve just sadly split up. So we played this gig, Johnny Foreigner headlined, they were really nice and we were chatting to them afterwards and basically, from that Johnny Foreigner were saying ridiculously nice things on the internet for quite a while.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Then we found this email in our junk folder actually \u2013 and it would\u2019ve changed things quite a bit if we hadn\u2019t seen this email \u2013 but we found an email that Johnny Foreigner had sent us. It was this amazing email about how much they liked us from the other night. Then they invited us to play this Johnny Foreigner versus London end of year show at The Garage.<\/i><\/p>\n
We feel like we owe so much to those guys. They have a really loyal fanbase and if they big you up, people take notice. And obviously, with them being an Alcopop! band, Jack looked into it I guess and that\u2019s how it all developed.<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: And the tour with Tellison \u2013 another Alcopop! band. It was quite an interesting bill. Tellison are big on classic harmonies and melodies, you\u2019re a bit more off-kilter. <\/b>
RS: I\u2019ve only just got to the point where I\u2019m not singing Tellison all day (laughs). We\u2019ve had those songs stuck in our heads for weeks. Especially when you\u2019re driving round the country, it\u2019s contagious. The melodies in that band are so strong. But then that\u2019s something we\u2019re into as well. We\u2019re not quite as\u2026 We\u2019re all big fans of strong melodies \u2013 that\u2019s certainly my kind of aim. Whether that comes across or not, that\u2019s a different matter (laughs).<\/i><\/p>\n
I think being Wakefield, you kind of forget that not every band in the country sounds like this. We always get these links to Pavement as this sort of slacker indie-rock band, but that\u2019s what we always thought music sounded like. All the bands we listened to sounded like that!<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: Talking of Wakefield, I guess The Cribs have had such a huge impact in shaping the scene and the sound of the scene, is that still prevalent.<\/b>
RS: It is a thing I suppose. I mean, we used to see those guys around quite a bit, but I feel like\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: Is it hard to break away from that association, even if you don\u2019t sound exactly like The Cribs?<\/b>
RS: It is hard. There\u2019s been a couple of scenes since The Cribs were actually playing in Wakefield, where the bands didn\u2019t sound like The Cribs but were perhaps still influenced by them, but it is hard, but we often get that one. It\u2019s an easy one for people to pick up on. I don\u2019t even know if we sound like The Cribs. I\u2019m a big fan of The Cribs, and really like those guys, but I don\u2019t know if we sound like them. But lots of people say we do. Maybe they\u2019re hearing that because they\u2019re looking for it?<\/i><\/p>\n
AH: I found it very hard to pin down if you have \u2018a sound\u2019. There\u2019s all sorts of stuff going on \u2013 a bit of indie, a bit of punk, a little bit of math, some classic alt-rock \u2013 it\u2019s a broad canvas. And then you\u2019ve mentioned an appreciation of strong melodies \u2013 so where\u2019s the inspiration? Are you all on the same page or does one of you come in and go \u2018have you heard this, this is brilliant\u2019 and that takes you off in a new direction and tangent?<\/b>
RS: We definitely listen to a \u2018core\u2019 group of bands. We all grew up together so Nirvana and Radiohead, we were always listening to them, but then people are into different stuff as well. We might have disagreements about stuff. <\/i><\/p>\n
AH: Is there anything really polarising? <\/b>
RS: (laughs) I think we\u2019re all too nice to each other if there was something that we thought were dreadful. We share so much in terms of general outlook, that if someone did really love a band, then there\u2019s enough respect there to say \u2018there must be something in it\u2019. It\u2019s almost like you don\u2019t want to say you don\u2019t like it in case they\u2019re right (laughs). <\/i><\/p>\n
AH: I think that kind of translates to your music though. With two vocalists it can be quite easy for a band to have two different identities, but your sound is very cohesive. Is that a case of being able to work things out or do you work on separate ideas but have a similar general goal? <\/b>
RS: It\u2019s a bit of both really. It\u2019s nice that you say that though. I think the dual vocals is a difficult thing. I was having this conversation last night with a friend, and he asked pretty much the same thing. The example I give\u2026 there\u2019s different song ideas that come from different people, but on certain bits, say if I\u2019ve written a little section and Chad has a full song nearly written and this little bit will fit in, then we\u2019ll have a discussion \u2013 will it work with two vocals here, will it make it better. Sometimes it can enhance. Runaround Kids absolutely nailed this stuff. Sometimes it might sound weird, sometimes we\u2019ll decide it needs one voice, sometimes maybe backing vocal. So we do think about that stuff. It\u2019s about serving the song really. You\u2019ve got to take any ego out of it. <\/i><\/p>\n
AH: And over time, you get a better ear as to what works or what doesn\u2019t work. <\/b>
RS: Yeah. And working at Greenmount Studios in Leeds with Lee and Jaime, who run that place, they\u2019re great at bouncing ideas off. We always record with those guys so if there\u2019s any uncertainty we can trust their opinions. <\/i><\/p>\n
‘Collecting Dust’<\/i> by The Spills<\/b> is out now on Alcopop! Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n
The Spills<\/strong> links: Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n