Interview With Spineshank
May 4th, 2009 by Stephanie Stevens
SPINESHANK to me means more then a band that came out of Los Angeles in 1998 with a debut album STRICTLY DIESEL that created a new atmosphere for the metal scene. These guys were the first band that really made me truly believe a band was doing it for the love of their art and not just to make a fast buck. I called them friends and would never miss a show when they came to town. So when the day came and they called it quits I was pretty damn depressed because when that was said I believe with SELF DESTRUCTIVE PATTERN was just the breaking point of what outstanding music was to be had with these four guys. A writing stage, that was bringing them to the height of success.
Five years have passed and I am finally excited to say that SPINESHANK is back in 2009 and finally we will see this band yet again take their music genre and turn it upside down with new fresh invigorating music. We are getting a taste with the new song on their Myspace called BORN CONFORM REPENT but that is just the tip of the iceberg, these guys have a lot of stuff hidden up and it’s going to be released very very soon.
For now the guys were asked to be a part of MUSIC FOR A WEAPON tour and I got the chance to see old friends, here live SPINESHANK again finally!!! But the best part was sitting down with these guys again to talk about the past, the present and future and of course to get invaded with jokes, funny moments, loving disagreements per members and getting my Massachusetts accent made fun of again. The guys are once again happy and doing things on their own terms. Welcome back SPINESHANK, for those who are new your going to be highly impressed, to those like me who have been a fan since the beginning, its beginning again stronger and better so lets get fired up!!
WHAT MADE YOU GUYS BREAK UP IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Jonny: We hated each other…JOKE!!!
Tommy: I think everyone was burnt out with each other and everything around them.
Jonny: I think it was a combination of the band being under a shit ton of pressure to be something we weren’t suppose to be by the powers that be, trying to pressure us into being something we didn’t want to be. That in turn imploded the band itself
Tommy: We had Roadrunner and our last album cost us half a million dollars and they were like we want five singles and we aren’t putting the record out unless there is five singles. We put out our first single, they worked it for two weeks then said go back and do another record.
Jonny: So that caused a lot of discouragement in the band as well.
Tommy: We worked on the record for so long and gave them five singles and it wasn’t the right singles but then again that single they did release got nominated for a Grammy so maybe Roadrunner didn’t do the right thing
SO AT THE END OF THAT TOUR CYCLE DID YOU HAVE STUFF READY TO WRITE OR WERE YOU ALREADY JUST DONE?
Jonny: No way we could have!!
Tommy: We just had put everything we had into that album
Jonny: I got to the point also where I was like the band and myself were alienated from each other. So the only way I was willing to stay on board at the time was if they would release a 2nd single, which they were not willing to do. So I needed to breathe, these guys needed to breathe, so we took a vacation, a five year vacation but a vacation.
SO DID THE REST OF YOU DO ANYTHING BECAUSE JONNY STARTED SILENT CIVILIAN!!
Tommy: Well you are going to hear it in the next year. We were writing stuff. There is a misconception that Jonny left the band. The split was mutual, we had talked and there were rumors that we were going on as SPINESHANK. We were not going to do that, it is either all four of us or none of us. So we started writing music and we were using the band name to find a singer but it was never right
Jonny: I had the pressure from my new label and managers when I got into a new band and they were saying you should throw in some SPINESHANK stuff and there was no way I could of done that, it was either the four of us or your never going to hear SPINESHANK live again
Tommy: The new record is where you’re going to hear what we were doing all this time.
Jonny: These guys did their homework all this time. What people need to understand is to be the band we are today and to write what we are writing today the imploding and splitting up need to happen because now this is the SPINESHANK that we always wanted to be, this is how we were back in 1996 when there was no one in our ears telling us what we need to say. We are calling all the shots; we are doing this new record on our own and then going with a label
Tommy: We are doing it because we want to again
Rob: It is fun again that is most important
Tommy: We had a ton of singers that came out, we had great big singers coming out who were doing it in other bands but it wasn’t right
DO YOU SEE A DRASTIC CHANGE IN THE SCENE OR INDUSTRY BETWEEN THE PAST AND NOW?
Jonny: The Industry has completely changed; it is a whole different game now. What haven’t changed are the fans
Tommy: What is weird is, well you saw it today, it was like we never left
Jonny: First show in Boston in five years and it was insane so on that end nothing but as far as the industry oh yea!!! I think there are a lot of bands from our era that couldn’t come back and do what we are doing right now. I think SPINESHANK created themselves as a band of stature and substance. We have a core fan base. I don’t know how many times a day kids come up to me and say by the time I was getting into you guys you had already split up. That is crazy to me
Tommy: We sort of are the last band of our breed, we kind of came from that old school Sepultura world where we don’t care we just went out and played and eventually we got our base and following and obviously they are still there and its cool.
Jonny: Today was pretty God damn heavy. I was curious to see how the Boston show would be and today just awed me since we did have a great market here for radio and what not. Kids were throwing down!!! They knew every word and every song
AND YOU SAW BOOBS TODAY ALSO!!
Jonny: How genius is that, did you see the back of my guitar?
YES I DID. SHOW YOUR TITS!! THAT IS GENIUS (LAUGHING)
Tommy: You saw two boobs right?
Jonny: I saw a couple of boobs. I saw sets of boobs
Tommy: Ahh so you saw multiple boobs
Jonny: There was one really good rack!!
Tommy: He saw 5 boobs today
Jonny: I did and one of them was Tommy’s!
SO IS THE ALBUM YOU BEEN WRITING COMPLETELY DONE?
Band: NO
Tommy: We are half way there
Jonny: We are going to write our best shit when we get back home but we usually write the best stuff when we are actually recording the record.
Tommy: We have about ten songs done
HAVE YOU SEEN A CHANGE OR YOU STILL THE SAME?
Tommy: We are SPINESHANK, we have never been different we are just writing more stuff. It’s heavier then it has ever been and at the same time it’s also the mellowest shit we ever wrote. There are songs that will make you cry. There is acoustic shit
Rob: It is more organic
(Mike comes roaming in the back to find some cold beer and joins the interview)
MIKE WHAT HAVE YOU MISSED MOST ABOUT THESE GUYS?
Mike: I don’t!!!! (laughing)
WERE YOU A BIG PART WITH WRITING WHILE YOU HAD THE TIME OFF?
Mike: No I don’t write I just show up and play. No seriously it usually just starts with me and Tommy so I was the big part also.
SO WHILE JONNY WAS AWAY IT DIDN’T AFFECT THE WRITING?
Mike: At the end of the process of course because when the songs are done he puts his vocals but we also all collaborate on that part too. That is the way it has always been
Tommy: Sometimes it starts as a drum arrangement because this is a part I am really feeling to be part of a song and we write the riffs around it all comes about differently and if the vocals work we have a song, if we don’t then we throw it away and start fresh
SINCE YOU GUYS DO PRODUCE YOU WILLING TO BE THE MAIN PRODUCERS?
Mike: I think we will just do it ourselves.
Tommy: Like I was saying before, our last record cost a half a million dollars to do and it was ridiculous. The three or four songs we have right now are finished, sounds better then anything we have ever done and we spent zero on it.
AFTER THIS TOUR, ARE YOU HEADING HOME?
Mike: We are going to do a headlining run, we are going to pimp ourselves out after Music As A Weapon tour to make our way home. Then we will finish writing and then recording. Then hopefully be back out on the road by Oct.
THE SONG ON YOUR MYSPACE BORN CONFORM REPENT IS THAT COMPLETELY DONE OR DEMO VERSION?
Mike: Nothing with us is ever done until it’s out.
Tommy: I don’t see a problem with it as it is right now but you never know after we are done recording the rest of the record we might go back and re do that because it might be that much better
SOME BANDS GO BACK AND TAKE A PART OF THE LAST RECORD THEY DID TO BRING SOMETHING TO THE NEW ONE. YOU GUYS DO BACK INTO YOUR CAREER OR IS THIS A FRESH START?
Tommy: We went back to relearn the songs to play them live (laughing) but as far as writing it has always been looking forward with us, we don’t look back, it is not like we are trying to top anything or redo past success. This is what SPINESHANK is about, moving forward. If you look at every one of our records they are all crazy different. It has been five years, obviously we have changed a lot and we do things different now so why go back to live in the past
Jonny: It is cool just to watch the evolution of where the band started and where we are now.
DO YOU ALL HAVE YOUR TOUR LEGS BACK?
Jonny: I don’t know you tell us you saw us play today.
NO, YOU DO ONSTAGE; I’M TALKING ABOUT THE LIFE THIS IS FOR YOU ON THE ROAD?
Jonny: Yea we hate each other again (laughing)
Tommy: Now that everyone is over being sick. We had a rough start to this tour everyone got super sick. I had walking phenomena for the first week and half
I TOLD YOU GUYS LONG AGO YOU CANT BE MAKING OUT WITH EACH OTHER WHEN YOU GET SICK!!
Jonny: Hey hey then we break the tight bond we have (laughing)
Mike: We got two fags in the band, you find out who they are!! (laughing) It is your guess.
Jonny: She is like Jonny is, defiantly involved,…..(hahahahahah)
Tommy: But yea I was super sick and I thought God am I too old for this but then I got rid of it and I was like alright its all coming back. I’m having fun again, it is like riding a bike, the four of us get onstage, get a couple of beers in us and we are all ready
WHEN I HAD MY INTERVIEW WITH ROB FROM CHIMAIRA HE TOLD ME YOU GUYS WERE THE ONES THAT TOOK THEM OUT ON THE ROAD FOR THEIR FIRST TOUR!
Mike: First tour, first tour as a signed band and first European tour
Tommy: There would be no Chimaira if it wasn’t for us!!
Mike: Don’t say that!!
Jonny: (lauging) Yea you tell Rob Arnold we said that (laughing)
Tommy: They are a great band and they deserve it, but they followed us on that first tour in a station wagon and Matt’s Green Blazer
Mike: But all we could do was help them out to a certain point, then its all about them. But the reason they are successful is because they are a good fuckin band
Tommy: NO the reason they are successful is because of us, SPINESHANK. They would be nothing without us (laughing)
SHOULD I PRINT THAT
Tommy: Yea print that shit (laughing)
WHO IS THE BAND THAT GAVE YOU GUYS A HELP IN THE BEGINNING?
Jonny: Fear Factory
Tommy: Machine Head helped us
Mike: Well this came later like mid career SPINESHANK but Disturbed defiantly helped us with giving us lots of exposure and taking us on tour with them and putting us in front of 5000 kids a night but we do our thing. But like I said before whoever helps you out can just do so much then you still got to kick ass, write good songs and perform good shows. But I would say Disturbed I have to give the number one spot to, they have helped out more then any other band in the genre
Tommy: And the Monkees!!!
NO BEACH BOYS!!
Tommy: No Beach Boys only helped in Rob’s abortion but other then that (laughing)
Mike: We have been fortunate enough to tour with some awesome bands like Disturbed, Slipknot, Sepultura, Fear Factory so we had some good tours and some good friends in the business.
LABEL INTEREST?
Mike: There is talk and interest, we will see
Tommy: SPINESHANK is kind of a crazy band where there is like radio and then there is heavy elements.
Mike: There is street credibility and then there is radio credibility so we always have had that fine line. The loose plan is to do the record on our own and then shop it or license it or whatever to a label that is going to believe in us and going to put it out and do the right thing
Tommy: We have been at it for a long time and it would be nice to make money this time.
AND YOU GUYS KNOW YOUR SHIT THIS TIME AROUND!
Mike: When we signed to Roadrunner I was 19 I think. I was just thinking I’m on the same label as Machine Head and Fear Factory and Sepultura and just signed on the dotted line. I didn’t look at anything and in a lot of aspects we got fucked in the ass
MADE YOU STRONGER THOUGH
Mike: Well I would have rather not been fucked in the ass. (laughing)
Tommy: I’d rather be less strong and richer (Laughing)
Mike: No, I mean, it’s a dog eat dog industry and in the end it is still a business. Our outlook is if anyone is going to make money off of SPINESHANK I think the vast majority of it should be going to SPINESHANK and not the entity surrounding SPINESHANK
WORKING TITLE FOR THE ALBUM?
Tommy: We do but it hasn’t been Ok’d by everyone so we can’t say, but it is good!! Well I think it is good.
Mike: Me too
Tommy: It is almost a concept album
Mike: It is not like the Wall or anything.
Tommy: But there is like a tie in for the album. But all our records do that even if you look at SELF DESTRUCTIVE PATTERN that was all about going crazy and being self destructive, obsessive compulsive so it always loosely ties in lyrically but this one ties in a little more so then any other record we have done
HARDER TO WRITE THIS WAY?
Tommy: The easiest record we’ve ever written because we are all doing it together with the same reason, the first time since the debut album. There is no fight, there is no label, there is no one pulling Jonny aside telling him he needs to write singles, no one is fucking with us. Just four of us involved writing music to love and things just come easier that way
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANNA ADD?
Tommy: Everyone go check out our Myspace page. www,myspace.com/spineshankAnd add us and we are glad to be back.
Mike: That is our life line right now, Myspace
