Photo: Spoon - Facebook
Spoon
Spoon
Sometimes the devil’s in the details.
As Austin-based rockers Spoon toured in support of their 2017 album Hot Thoughts, they began to realize that the songs were still taking shape with each performance.
“When we're touring on Hot Thoughts, which was recorded in sort of a standard way of like overdubs and things like that, we ended up liking our live versions better than a lot of the stuff that we had recorded,” says founding member and drummer Jim Eno during a recent phone interview.
“When you play a song live, it sort of takes on a life of its own. It gets more exciting. You get more comfortable with the song. You tend to try things, and some may work, some may not, and it can just sort of go into a different direction or just really be improved.”
With that in mind, the band decided to record their latest – and tenth overall - album – Lucifer on the Sofa, with an emphasis on capturing their live show energy.
“We did a lot of playing the songs together before we ever recorded them, to try to get that kind of feel that we had when we were actually touring with on Hot Thoughts,” says Eno. “And I think it really shows in songs like ‘Held’ and ‘The Hardest Cut.’ They just have this energy to them that feels like we've been playing them for a while.”
They achieved this mainly by jamming together in the same room. “We would work on the tracks as a band and work on our part, so we know what we're going to actually play and then start recording,” he says. “I feel like that worked pretty well.”
It also helped that everyone else – including singer Britt Daniel - had moved back to Austin a few years ago and they could work together more easily – at least whenever they weren’t on pandemic lockdowns. “It added a lot of…studio spontaneity that we had with the early records when Britt lived here, like all the way up until maybe Kill the Moonlight or so,” he says.
Prior to Spoon’s performance April 23 at The Rave, the Shepherd Express caught up with Eno to talk about band’s rejuvenated approach to writing and recording, how they dealt with the challenge of the pandemic lockdowns, and how they’ve been able to keep going strong for almost 30 years.
How did you try to stay busy during the during lockdowns?
It was a little rough. I mean, like all my sessions got cancelled, all our shows got cancelled. I didn't really. You know, some people during the pandemic were like really, really creative. And I was like, not really like that. I was like sort of more taking it day by day and just trying to get things done here and there. But I couldn't really stay creative as much as I had hoped that time would allow me. So, it's a lot of like family time, I guess, sort of how I how I dealt with it.
It looks like the band did some writing during and after lockdown.
Yeah, we had a lot of the record done before the pandemic and then the pandemic hit and everything sort of was grinding to a halt. And we ended up writing a bunch of songs. So, when we got together again, we started playing those other songs. And I think it really worked out well because it's a better record for it. And, the songs Britt wrote after lockdown probably wouldn't have made it on the record if it wasn't a lockdown. So, we got to, we got to pick and choose from a larger number of songs, which we usually don't really have that opportunity to do when it comes to records.
Did the songs he wrote before have a different sensibility the that the ones he wrote during?
They were sort of all over the place, I would say. I mean, there's the obvious one, “Lucifer on the Sofa,” the very last track on the record where it's sort of a narrative and there's a lot of imagery about Austin being shut down. I listen to some of the new songs like “Feels Alright” and stuff like that and get a sense of sort of like joy and end of the pandemic feeling. He wrote them during the pandemic. But I can sort of feel like musically and sonically, there's something optimistic about the record, which I feel excited about, and it feels like it's sort of needed now given that everyone's ready for all the lockdowns to be over and stuff.
The banter between the band between songs is great.
We love that stuff. I mean, we tend to leave in a lot of our studio banter. If we try to remove it, it just doesn't feel right. So, the sounds, noises, mistakes, conversations, all those things contribute to the feel of the track.
I liked Britt’s quote in the album’s press release about the sound on the album being like classic rock written by a guy who never got into Eric Clapton.
Yeah, totally. I mean, like, for me, I just hear like a lot of early ZZ Top and things like that in the tracks, sort of the maybe some Cheap Trick, stuff like that. Just some older, classic rock.
It must have been pretty exciting to get to channel your home state with influences like ZZ Top.
Yeah. When you're recording in a city, a lot of times that city influences things you do. You’re going out to bars after you record. You may hear something on the jukebox, and you may be like, ‘Hey, let's try this thing tomorrow on this track.’ I feel like definitely your environment rubs off into your recordings.
“The Hardest Cut” and “Astral Jacket” have an especially strong Texas influence.
I think so. “Astral Jacket,” I think, was the one where maybe Britt and Alex were in a bar, and they heard some song and then went home and figured out how they were going to approach that song.
Just by hearing something where they were at. And then obviously “The Hardest Cut” we were sort of like figuring out the direction of that. And then Britt came up with what we call the Texas riff, which is that sort of super cool riff on the intro and in the verses. So, I feel like that definitely was Texas influenced.
The others moved back to Austin a few years ago and it seems to have really re-energized the band. What did it mean to have the others back in town and to be able to record an album fully in Austin?
A lot of times we do some of the record here in Austin at my place. But this one was done pretty much all at my place and at Britt's place. But the biggest thing for me with everyone being here, especially Britt, is that it added a lot of…studio spontaneity that we had with the early records when Britt lived here, like all the way up until maybe Kill the Moonlight or so. It’s sort of like a spontaneity in the way that he may be trying something out at his house and he's like, “Hey, what are you doing? Are you cool if I come over and let's try this thing?”
And if he's in L.A. or in Portland, you know that doesn't work. That never happens. So, it was pretty exciting to have him back here because it was just like spontaneous kinds of rehearsals and meet ups to work on things, which was really, really fun. It's one thing I really like about the early records was how close in proximity we were, and it was always like “hey I'm not doing anything, come on over,” you know, super fun. So, we got we got back into that, which I really enjoyed.
It must be nice having your own studio where you can take as much time as you want.
Yeah, I mean, it's a blessing and a curse, you know? Infinite studio time is not really good for a record either, you know? I feel like records need constraints around them to sort of push you to be creative and to try to finish things up. It's one of the hard things to know. Like when you're working on a song, like when is that song done? If you're a band that only has five days in the studio and you have to get the record done…you know when that record is done, you know? But I mean, that being said, it's pretty awesome to have a space and to be able to work whenever we want and just keep working until everything is perfect.
What was one of your favorite moments recording the album?
I remember working on “Held” and, we had been playing that song live for a little bit. But then we really hammered it out in the studio and the way we recorded that, we did two completely different band takes and panned one left and one right. I think we ended up using the bass right up the middle. We picked one bass part because stereo bass can be a little wonky, but so but there are a lot of times when we've done double drums, sort of La Fleetwood Mac and Wings, I guess a lot of other bands had done that. But the idea of doing two complete band takes, I feel, was sort of the idea behind that track, and it worked out really well, but I think we can pull that off because we knew the track so well, and that's one of the pluses of playing it as a band so much.
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“Held,” is originally by the band Smog. What led the band to covering it?
It was a song we've played live and we like doing covers on the records. We like doing one maybe, but obviously not like super well-known ones. And we had always liked how that went over live. We also felt like it would be a good a good part of the record. It's a sort of slower tempo one, but it really rocks. So, it sort of gave us the idea that if that song was first, we could have a sequence that could build from there. If you start off with a banger, sometimes it's really you can't really go anywhere from there. So, this is like more of a slow burn. And we also liked a lot of the intro chatter. We felt like that was a cool way to start the record.
What was the biggest surprise recording the album?
I mean, definitely like the pandemic. We had to take breaks when we thought the record was eighty percent done. That's really hard to do to just have the wind fall out of the sails like that. And we also planned on a lot of sessions. We planned the sessions and then it ended up being like it was in the middle of the huge spikes that we had throughout the two-year period, so we had had to cancel a few of them. So those were really difficult. But Britt was writing songs at the time, so if you look at it from a whole, it's a way better record because he had some time to write some new songs and they ended up being great.
What was the most challenging song to arrange?
I remember “The Hardest Cut” before Britt came up with the Texas riff. That one was a little bit of a challenge. “Satellite” we had recorded two times before, and it never worked. So, this is the third time we recorded that song. And we feel like this was the version that we were sort of searching for. I think on that one had to do with getting the sort of intro transitions into the louder part working and so that took a little while.
With this being the band's 10th album, what does that milestone mean to you?
I just look at it like we just put out another great record. You know? That's what we do. And we work really hard to keep putting out records. So, I don't really see an issue with having an 11th record. So, I think it's sort of like another step in our career. Getting to ten is a cool milestone, but right now it just feels like another. A really great record. Really great rock record, I would say.
What do you think the key is to stay musically sharp at your ages?
Well, a couple of things. I feel like it's good to try not to repeat yourselves. You hear a band that hits a formula that works and then they stick with that formula, and it just becomes sort of a watered-down version of it. We try pretty hard not to reproduce ourselves, especially in the studio with sonic things and with parts and stuff like that. So, we're conscious of that and I think it is good. It keeps us on our toes, and it keeps us challenged to try to come up with new sounds. I mean, that and the other elephant in the room is just that everything is based around Britt's songs and he's writing great songs. I feel like these are the best songs he's ever written, so that makes it a lot easier to have a great record when you have a great songwriter who is still hitting it out of the park.
What's one of your favorite Milwaukee memories?
We have an old tour manager that used to live there, Mike Sheinbach. And I just remember whenever we would go to Milwaukee, he would always take us to these killer hole in the wall bars and we would always have a great time. I feel like there was probably like some bowling happening to which we're all fans of. So, I’m looking forward to getting back. Everyone is ready for touring to happen again. So, when we do play shows, there's like a newfound energy to the band and the crowd and it's pretty exciting. So, looking forward to getting back there.
You have a background and electrical engineering. How have lessons you learned from that helped you out with music?
I don't know if it's really helped me much. I sort of know how what it's like to be part of a team, and it probably helps me in the studio a little bit, but overall, you know, I think it's just a very different thing doing music.
It looks like it's been quite a while since you did stuff with that.
Exactly. It's been about 15 years, I would say.
It's interesting how your path can change so quickly.
Yeah, I know. It's pretty amazing. Usually going from something like computer design to music doesn't usually happen. It's usually the other way. People get burned out on music and then go get the real job. So, I sort of went backwards.
