RECORD STORE DAY TALKS TO SPOON

 

BRIAN BAKER (Record Store Day): Transference is a very raw, back to basics album. What led you to this particular outcome?

BRITT DANIEL (Spoon): A lot of different things. One of the most obvious ones was that we made our last four records with producer Mike McCarthy and I really liked the way they turned out, especially the last one. I felt like we knew we could make a good record with him, and we knew if we put in the time and he put in the effort that we’d come up with something good. But I just wanted to make a different sounding kind of record, and if mistakes were to be made, have them be purely my mistakes.

 

What was the biggest difference in the process as a result of not working with Mike this time?

The biggest difference was that a lot of it was done alone by me in my basement; maybe a third was done like that, but it was the end third. When we record with Mike, it can get kind of intense. For Ga Ga Ga, we were together almost every day, six days a week for the last five months we were working on it. There were times where I felt like I had no idea when it was going to be finished. This time we were recording in different locations, different periods of time, and always with time off between them. A little less intense.

 

Did you have all of the songs written when you started Transference, or were you writing as you went along?

We were coming up with songs as we went along. At some point we knew what all the songs were going to be, but when we started we only had a few.

 

Did anything in particular inspire this set of songs?

No, not really. It’s time to make a record.

 

Is there a trigger? What tells you it’s time for a new record?

I guess when we get tired of touring the last one and want to come up with a new batch of songs. And hearing things that get you inspired to buckle down and do it again.

 

So, you’re not the kind that writes constantly?

I try to, but it’s kind of hard for me to write on the road, so it’s usually better for me to have a bit of time to myself where I can really get into it and focus. I’ve never been the kind of guy that writes those songs like in the days before recording, when those songs had to be a little basic and easy to remember after hearing it at the campfire one time. I’ve never really been good at writing that kind of song. It’s usually got something that’s more individual. Because of that it’s never been easy to write in the back of the bus in the midst of a bunch of chaos.

 

This is a much simpler album, and you recorded this one live in the studio...

Half of [the songs] were recorded live in the studio and half of them were just demos that I recorded alone at home.

 

When you did record live, did that give you a different mindset about preparing for recording, as opposed to knowing that you’re recording and assembling pieces and building tracks from the ground up?

I’ve always demoed songs; it was just that this time we decided that these demos sounded like they could be used. I think we said to each other, “I don’t know why we would need to re-record them.” Or in some cases we tried to re-record the songs, like the song “Trouble Comes Running.” The version you’re hearing on the record is one that we recorded in a practice space on cassette when we were trying to figure out how we were going to play it. That was the recording we referenced when we tried to record it again, and we just never beat it. We tried doing it in more hi-fi situations, but it was just a great, spontaneous performance that was golden.

 

What are some of the high points of Transference for you personally?

I like how it starts out; it kind of sounds magical and mysterious. I like the transitions—the transitions are real good. And I like the lyrics on “The Mystery Zone.” What about you?

 

Well, I love the single, “Written in Reverse.” It’s got a great Stones-y swagger to it, sort of Exile on Main Street vintage. And I love “Goodnight Laura.” It’s a gorgeous piano ballad, very Paul McCartney. The best of McCartney, not the lowball end.

Well, thank you.

 

Absolutely. Did the responses to Ga Ga Ga, positive and negative, have any impact on the way you wanted to approach Transference?

I don’t think the responses did, but I think it’s a valid consideration that we unconsciously react to the way we feel about the album before. For instance, for Kill the Moonlight, I felt like the one before, Girls Can Tell, was all about traditional songwriting, like oldies radio type of songs. So, for Kill the Moonlight, without really knowing exactly why, I think we gravitated toward the more new wave, weirder, sort of bizarre arrangements and demo-like recording quality. When I listen to Ga Ga Ga, it’s very hi-fi and it’s got kind of a glassiness to it, which worked real well; when that record was done, I couldn’t have been happier about how it sounded. So, we probably reacted a little bit against that to make things a little grittier and uglier. But honestly, we never sit down and say, “Let’s make it grittier and uglier.” We say, “What songs do we have and how do we come up with 10 or 11 that are amazing?”

 

Did you have more than the 11 that wound up on Transference?

Yes, there were a lot of other songs we were working on, but I wouldn’t say that any of them got finished. There were a couple more that we recorded pretty far down the line before we went, “Ah, it’s not working,” and dumping them.

 

So, are those likely to hang around and show up someplace else?

Yeah. One of those songs I thought was really good, but we got to a place in recording where we just couldn’t pull it together. Lots of times, putting something aside for a few months or even a year... you come back to it and it’s obvious how to make it work. I bet that’ll happen. Maybe it’ll just be a b-side or something, but I’m sure we’ll use it in some way.

 

Have you played out since finishing this record?

Yeah, we’ve done maybe five shows. Not exactly touring, but a few. And we’ll be starting in a week or so.

 

Did you play some of the new material out for those shows?

We played some of the songs out. Just a few. We used to be able to play more of them, then we recorded them, got them sounding like we liked them and now we’re trying to figure out how we play it live in a way that’s as good as the recording, which is kind of an ironic way of thinking about it. We’ve been playing “Got Nuffin,” “Written in Reverse” and “The Mystery Zone.”

 

How is the new material affecting the way you revisit the old material?

It hasn’t yet. We haven’t gotten that far into it yet. Those things kind of change over time, but not a lot yet.

 

Spoon’s been together for over 15 years now. What’s the most significant change in the band in that time together?

We discovered reverb. We used to be very much against reverb, and then it became a thing we welcomed and sought after.

 

What was the turning point there?

Listening to oldies radio. The Supremes, Creedence, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, any Motown.

 

What was it that you were against initially and found a way to change your mind about?

It’s this undefinable aesthetic that you’re not necessarily consciously thinking about. At the time, I thought things sounded realer and rawer when they were not reverbed or not even roomy. I thought getting down to brass tacks and the heart of everything was just very direct sounds. If you listen to A Series of Sneaks, that’s what you’re hearing. Everything is on one plane. We had a lot of arguments with the engineer/producer on that album about how dry we wanted it to be and him trying to force it to be otherwise. Then you grow up or learn a little more, you listen to different records and you think, “All these records that I love do this and this,” and one of those things was using reverb. So, I was like, maybe I shouldn’t be shying away from this or insisting on the dryness.

 

Ah well, live and learn.

Yep.

 

Well, what are your plans after Transference drops?

We go to Europe briefly, then we do a big old U.S. tour in March and April, then we go to Australia. Then I don’t know. I guess we’ll see how much fun we’re having.

 

I think all bands have some record store experiences in their histories, on either side of the counter. What’s yours?

Well, they’re purely on the buying side of the counter. When I grew up, record stores were in malls and it was the one place in the mall where I’d want to hang out and kind of look around endlessly. And you know, I remember buying records in a grocery store. I bought a Bee Gees record in a grocery store. I would still rather have that physical product and be able to hold it, not only before I bought it, but definitely after. It just feels more permanent. Anything can happen to your data.

 

Have you done anything for Record Store Day in the past?

We’ve never been asked to, I don’t believe. But there’s a message in our liner notes that says, “Buying records in records stores is cool.” So, we gave them that. They didn’t ask us to or anything. That’s just the way I feel about it.

 

How important have record stores been to you as an individual and as a band?

Very important. That’s just the way I like doing it. I like it being a specialized thing. Somebody used to go to the butcher shop and now they go to the grocery store. I’d rather go to the music store than go to the big box retailer where everything is secondary. I want to get specialized.

 

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