Spoon will headline their first tour Australia since 2010 this month.
The wait is over for fans of the Texan rock band Spoon. This is their first time in Australia since headlining Groovin' The Moo. The band will play songs off their latest album, 'They Want My Soul', as well as a selection from their back catalogue.
Drummer of Spoon, Jim Eno believes the band has evolved since their last visit. “We have added another member, which is going really well. I think people who haven't seen us before will be surprised at how we can pull off the songs live. The people who have seen us before will be surprised at the change of adding a new member. I feel that we have reworked some old songs and that the new songs go over really well. Having a fifth man creates more of a thicker sound.”The new member is keyboardist and guitar player Alex Fischel, who also plays with Devine Fits. Jim reflects that his inclusion brought a new dynamic to the group. “Musically, he is amazing. He has a very good sense of style in terms of what works and what doesn't.”
Spoon's latest album, 'They Want My Soul', was released in August last year, four year's after their previous album, 'Transference'. Spoon's drummer points that the break is what the band really needed. “You tour so much and you get burned out. After a little bit of taking time off, you get that itch and you get back together recording and touring and seeing how the songs go together when you tour live. I feel like four years was a long time for us, and I feel really excited about getting back into it.”
Since it's release, 'They Want My Soul' has received universal acclaim from critics and was a top four debutant in the mainstream US charts. Speaking of its success, Jim feels it comes down to a couple of factors. “I feel like it's a step forward in a few ways. I feel like it's a step forward sonically. It's a great rock record. It takes everything that is really great about Spoon's records and puts them all into one. This is a melting pot of all the other records. It ties everything together and makes a statement.
"It is also the record that is exposing the group to a new generation of fans. We've met a lot of people on the road who have said that ['They Want My Soul'] is how they discovered Spoon. [Now] they have seven records to go back and discover.”
In addition to his drumming duties, Jim is also a university trained, semi-conductor chip designer and record producer. He has recorded and produced an number of exclusive Spotify tracks for artists such as The Shins, The 1975 and The Hold Steady.Being able to work with other bands during Spoon's hiatus really helped Jim when it came to recording his own group's new album. “I did so many records during the two or three years we were taking off and it made me feel more comfortable in the studio than I was before. I did a lot of recording and mixing in the space of 18 days. I knew how to get things done faster. I felt there was all these tricks you could learn with, the more bands you work with. It was a very positive experience.”
The Texan also worked with a number of Australian artists, including Jagwar Ma and the debut album of a certain Sydney-based band that is currently making waves here and overseas. “I [produced] The Preatures record. I co-produced it with Jack [Moffitt], the guitar player. They flew over to Austin last year and I spent three weeks together and did tracks for that record. Yeah, they're great. I'm actually emailing with them now about when I go to Sydney and seeing if we can hang out.”
Even with the array of talent he has worked with, Jim has a wish list of the artists he'd like to work with in the future. “I'm a huge Smiths fan, so Morrissey would be great. But I heard he was a little difficult to work with. I'd say one of my top artists to work with would be Elvis Costello. Oh, and Kendrick Lamar. I'd love to work with that guy on his next record.”
Leading up to the release of 'They Want My Soul', Spoon offered American fans an exclusive vinyl record which contained three pre-release songs if they pre-ordered the record from an independent store. When asked about the the age-old argument: is vinyl better than CDs or MP3s, Jim uses his knowledge as a producer to weigh in. “What CDs do is that they sample the music at different points. A vinyl doesn't do that; it has all the information there. People get emotional over if there is a sonic difference. I feel that there is, but I also feel there is a tactile difference in being able to pick something up and being able to flip it and being able to read the linear notes.”
Now that Spoon is revitalised, Jim assures fans they won't have to wait as long for more material. “We are going to try and make it less than four years before our next record comes out. We'll be trying to play some new songs live, so we can do some recording at the end of the summer. Hopefully you'll get some songs a lot sooner, maybe mid-2016 hopefully. But you never know.”
Written by Nicholas Ivanovic
Spoon Tour Dates
Tue 10 Feb - The Hi-Fi (Brisbane)Wed 11 Feb - The Forum (Melbourne)
Sat 14 Feb - The Metro (Sydney)
