POP INTERVIEW: The SPiN Bandmates Get on MTV!
You know those people who you see again in five years, and they are still the same old bums complaining about being in the same situation? Since I last wrote about the fabulous boys of SPiN, a band similar to your favorite late 90’s Top 40 rock, they’ve gotten a song played on The Real World competition spinoff and put out more great material.
What have you been up to since I last spoke with you?
Hank: Looking handsome, writing / recording new music, looking handsome some more.
How did your song end up getting on “The Real World/Road Rules Challenger?”
Jim: We will sell out to anybody if the price is right (and usually the price is a round of cheap whiskey). Guess we have a music supervisor fan over at MTV and he’s got a few fans too now!
You released some material for Facebook friends first. Have you ever received negative reactions from Internet friends that ended up helping you – constructive criticism?
Hank: We get more negative feedback then good from our closest friends, which is fine because even if you sell a million copies of a song in the US, that just means that 310 million people either a) didn’t like it enough to buy, b) hate it, or c) stole it. We like to think that 307.5 million stole it and the other 3.5 million bought Gangnam style instead. Damn that infectious Psy fella.
Where did the darkness on your somewhat newish song, “The Scream Inside,” come from?
E: Jim is kinda twisted, as individuals go. Actually, we all worked on the lyrics to that one and it went through three different versions before we ended up with “The Scream Inside”. It may have just been the frustration of not being able to think of lyrics for a good riff.
Have you ever thought of writing songs for women? I thought Hayley Williams might be able to sing material like “Sing Myself,” also on that EP.
Lou: Our songs are available for anyone to sing and re-record, at a premium of course. If you can get Hayley Williams on that, we can talk finder’s fee. Seriously, we write different kinds of songs and I’m sure sooner or later we’ll feel that it would be best suited for someone else, if they’re interested. That’s the catch. Do you happen to know if Adele needs a song for her next album?
Have you lightened up in general for your newest EP and the song it was named for, “Hard to Ignore?” Or is it a mask you’re wearing?
Jim: Music to us at least, is not about one or two emotions. Music should be about all emotions. Some artists just do happy, some just do angry. We do whatever we are feeling at the moment. That’s the way it should be. I mean, how can a band write an angry song after they made 12 million dollars and have had three ways with 2 hot chicks and a retired gymnast? Shouldn’t their next album be pretty happy?
Were you inspired by 90’s music for “For Your Love?” The verse comes off like that.
Lou: Actually, we were inspired by Jim’s dad’s band “Flashback” who played it one night when we went out to see them. They’re great. They did the Yardbirds song one night and we just thought, wow, we should do something with this.
Where are you off to next and what will you be doing?
E: Not sure about where, although we should head down to Florida, since we haven’t played that part of the east coast. We’re working on another music video and in the meantime, writing more, recording more, playing more. Trying to grow as a band through the writing and recording process, and popping our heads up once in a while to give a little live handsomeness to the masses.
