Spineshank

Gigz with Robert Garcia and Tommy Decker from Spineshank @ Metropol

9-26-03




RC: This is Rob from Spineshank, the bass player. We got the new
     video we're gonna be peeping it up on the show today, you got
     a new CD (Self-Destructive Pattern). The Height of 
     Calloussness had quite a bit of notariaty when it came out,
     we played all the videos. I think you  had two videos off of
     that.
Rob: Yeah
RC: We got you covered on the new one. First thing I guess I wanted
     to talk to you about, just in the track itself it seems, like
     you said, it's more raw than The Height of Callousness. Which
     had a little more computer digital sampling going on. 
Rob: Yeah we've always been a digital band, you know all the 
     samples and all the loops and stuff. It's always been a part
     of it, we just wanted to take it down a notch and depend on
     all four of us. Not so much depend on on the digital stuff but
     just make it background stuff.
RC: Who did most of the digital work?
Rob: Tom and some of the engineers when we were recording. We just
     wanted to make sure it was like an old school rock thing.
     Everyone and their mother is using digital stuff now and their
     just milking it now. It's like come on guys.
RC: This new track is pretty rockin'. What did you guys do, just
     harbor up in a little hot room somewhere?
Rob: Yeah we have a studio in LA. We held ourselves up for about a
     year and a half, that's why we were gone for so long, and then
     recorded and now we have this.
RC: That's cool.
Rob: Yeah, I'm just glad we're finally out and finally got the
     album out. This is all we've wanted to do. We disappeared for
     two and a half years or whatever.
RC: Has it been that long.
Rob: Yeah it's been about that long.
RC: I think they worked the video out later after that, while you
     were already probably in production.
Rob: Yeah, how did they do that. Sorry I'm a little out of it.
RC: He's on pain medication.
Rob: I fractured my arm and split my head the other day.
RC: I can see the fresh stitches up there. Abusing the Spineshank
     are we?
ROb: Yeah apparantly. For the video we did that shortly after we 
     recorded. It came out on line but the album wasn't set up yet.
     So we had to push it back and push the video back, and that's
     why it came out as late as it did.
RC: It was kind of like a sleeper thing.
Rob: Yeah, it's been good. It's been getting a good response,
     everyone likes it. 
RC: How long did you tour behind the first album?
Rob: The first album, Strictly Diesel, we actually only toured for
     like two or three months and then we got our equipment stolen.
     Our system went down in Fear factory, cut that short. Then we
     toured for about two years. Our last show was september 9,
     2001, then we got stuck overseas when the 11th happened.
RC: We actually left New York the day before that happened, we were
     quite lucky. 
Rob: Very lucky, so we got stuck there and then we did this album.
     We went to get back in to writing mode, like what are we
     going to do, how are we gonna do this. We wrote a handful of
     songs and it just wasn't happening and then we were just like
     screw the rules. When we're writing an album we always have 
     to do it where we're like borderline self-destructive. Here
     comes our drummer. (Tommy walks in)
RC: Rob was telling us a little bit about how you stripped down a
     little bit more on this CD. It's a little more raw, a little
     more agressive.
Tommy: Yeah
RC: As a drummer's perspective you gotta be happy.
Tommy: Oh I love it. It's not actually as raw as I would have liked
     it but we really cut down. Like on The Height of Callousness a
     lot of stuff was based on loops. Like Cyanide 2600, there's 25
     loops in that song. Now it was like we just wanted to get back
     to being a band, you know kind of jamming.
RC: Yeah I've noticed like even with bands like Static-X, on their
     last CD, they're cutting back on a lot of the programs.
Tommy: We grew up listening to just a lot of stright up rock bands
     and it was like us just wanting to get back to that. Like A
     Rage Against the Machine kind of vibe, we're it's just the
     four guys vibing up.
RC: You've been touring hard on this tour. You've been out for like
     three weeks now?
Rob: We did some other stuff before this.
Tommy: We did a month with Powerman and Adema and then we were in
     Europe before that. We leave before Europe on the first.
RC: What kind of response are you getting back on the new stuff?
Tommy: Oh it's been great. Kids were singing along before the
     record was even out. so you know that was a good sign after
     being gone for so long, we were a little, not worried but
     scared to see how people were gonna accept it. If they were
     gonna remember us or if they were even still gonna care.
RC: Oh yeah, you know how the industry is.
Tommy: Yeah, it's such a fast food mentality. If you're not in
     their face all the time they forget. luckily we got some cool
     fans that as soon as we got out there it was like we never
     left.
RC: There seems to be a resurge in more of the hard-core type of
     fans, which hasn't been around in a while. Like in the 80s,
     you had people following specific bands, like Pantera or
     Metallica, what not. I see that starting to bloom again.
Tommy: What I think is people are tired of being told what to
     listen to you know. I mean MTV gives you what they give you.
     Luckily they got Headbanger's Ball, Uraniam, these kinds of
     things but you know when you listen to the radio it's the same
     ten bands.
RC: It's very homoganized.
TOmmy: Kids are smarter than that, they'll search out good music
     and find it. Luckily we've been around for a long time doing
     this and we're not gonna stop, and we're not gonna change our
     style to get on the radio or get on MTV. It's just like we're
     Spineshank and if you like it you like it and if you don't,
     don't.
RC: That's what it's about folks, you hear that. I'ls like to thank
     you guys, here's Smothered off the new CD (Self-Destructive
     Pattern).

For More Info Go To www.spineshank.com

Interview Page Rock Circus Contents

Contents / Gigz's Bio / Barbie's Bio / Zoa's Bio / Beth's Bio / Playlists

Interviews / News & Contacts / Photos / Mission / Reviews / Message Board / Links