Spod is one of the strongholds of Australia’s underground indie-electronic scene, but his new album Superfrenz was nearly vanquished from our planet long before it saw the light of day. Not only that, but it threatened to take its esteemed creator along with it. That was before the miraculous power of the internet stepped in to save the day. That’s right, there’s an interesting story behind the three-year journey that led up to the release of Spod’s latest LP: it almost certainly would’ve been lost forever if not for the valiant efforts of the online community over at the Mess+Noise.
“Basically, I dropped my computer with my album hard drives connected, and they all blew up, super hard,” he told ITM. “So I was at the end of three or four years of chipping away at this album and basically couldn’t visualise going ahead and had basically put Spod to bed for the forseeable future, especially this album.” Things were looking bleak, but it was a forum lurker over at Mess+Noise who stepped in and rescued him from creative annihilation. “The amazingly superbical Tanya Lumley, from hearing about this on the forums, put together a PayPal fundraiser to collect enough money to allow me to attempt to recover my hard drives! So I got one back, and with that and the fact those guys got together and made be jump out of my sook abyss gave me a huge second wind to not give up.”
So it all led to a fairytale happy ending. Superfrenz is on the record shelves, the fans are ecstatic and Spod has just embarked on a national tour that’ll see him showering the country with his creative talents and reveling in the adulation of his minions. God bless the internet. ITM chats with Spod.
Apparently, the inside cover artwork is a visual homage to everyone who helped out on the record – could you describe it for those of us who haven’t seen it?
Yeah, the original idea was to have them on the front cover, but it ended up being too much of a mess, so we kept the front cover dedicated to the return from battle, and the inside to the explosion of friendship and victory. Collating those images was a nightmare, and I missed a few peoples who didn’t get back to me with photos, but it looks amazing, and is a great way to reflect on the whole journey for me, and the people who made it happen, so awesome! I’ve always wanted to do a visual thank you page.
You had the album mastered by Bob Weston, who has been responsible for some very rock n roll albums, what made you choose to work with him?
Shellac are a top-shelf dude love band of mine, and my buddy Brett from Blacklevel Embassy recorded with him and said I should think about mastering with him. So with our dollar being strong, Bob being a legend and the fact he keeps his rates realistic due to a mountainous work ethic, it was easy, and came out super well!
I hear that Bob Weston listens to Superfrenz in his kitchen. Where does Spod listen to Superfrenz and where should your fans listen to it?
Yeah, I was scared he’d hate the shit out of it, but he said he’d listen to it in his kitchen of a night, and his wife was playing it on her radio show. Completely amazing! Ideal conditions are with a big stereo and a group full of sweet friends. It’s an album dedicated to the power of friendship, after all.
There was also a recent vinyl release of single ‘Cats’ – is that a vinyl only release? Why did you choose to go the vinyl route for that song?
Yeah, that’s vinyl only. There’s a different mix of Cats on Superfrenz, a bit more ‘heavy’ in the bottom end, but the 7” version is mixed more like an old Moog album or something. Cats was made from really old analog synths, so I wanted to keep that essence, and I just love vinyl, it’s the main way I buy music these days, and the fact I hadn’t put out vinyl was bugging me. Plus Mike ‘Peejay’ Rickards, the dude I started Spod with, is a vinyl lover and he wrote and recorded Ladybug on the spot on a 4-track tape machine. I wanted to keep the 7” as analog as possible, but just had to put We Want Some Pussy on there… I just wanted to do an exclusive thing for vinyl lovers. I’d like to do more if it wasn’t so financially destroying.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I’m not sure, no single place or idea, but just from a loose concept of creating something I want to hear, that I enjoy making and that leaves me feel happy and satisfied. I get excited by music and art that’s surprising, or you have to try to figure out where it came from, where it originally was built from. I’m always looking for something that’s brave in some way, and isn’t necessarily for everyone.
I’m particularly intrigued by the song title Time Maggots Eating The Flesh of Destiny. Where does that stem from?
That song stemmed from a one take jam, a car trip with a friend Keita, my obsession with the passage of time, and just the general misuse of time and privilege that goes on these days. I wanted to make something that took its time to tell an urgent message.
Tell us a bit about your South by Southwest experience, did you win many fans or have plans to head back to the States for more shows?
It was pretty sweet times! Shows went really well, we went down super well in New York with Electric Six at the Bowery Ballroom. I was just there to party and play, and that we did. I’m looking at touring proper next year over there, possibly relocating for a while. We’ll see, the whole country may be nothing but a puddle by then.
You’ve also done quite a bit of work with the boys from Regurgitator – joining them on the road for their national tour and the ‘BLOX’ project with Quan. How did that friendship come about? Are they a big influence on your work?
Yeah, they’re super dudes! They were the first Australian band I saw when I was young that made me think that you can make music how ever the hell you want, without having to be a certain kind of band. Doing Blox with Quan was a bit of an honour, and my first real collaboration outside of doing Spod, really. Poor Quan having to put up with that….
Having a look at what you’ve been up to this year – there are some impressive shows to check off – aside from supporting local heroes like Regurgitator, you’ve also recently supported The Faint and played a few of the Parklife festivals. Is now the time of Spod? Is it all starting to happen?
Yeah, it’s all picked up this year, largely due to my amazing manager being a legend. I’ve really put everything I’ve got to getting Spod running properly this year after taking so long just treading water. It’s good to be back into the swing of it all with a bunch of new songs!
The first time I saw a live Spod show, was back in the Scorpions of Sexx (backup dancers) days and I always thought that added a great performance edge to your shows. I know they’ve been missed by many of your fans. I read that on this tour you will have the 4 woman dance act ‘The Orsumettes’ with you. Who are The Awesomettes?
No one misses them more than I! The Scorpionz have moved onto new realms of awesomeness, which is great. We just hit a spot where I needed to record and they needed to get on with their lives. The Orsumettes have come as an amazing present of wonderment, and you really have to come along to the shows to revel in the majesty! Unfortunately due to logistics, they can only make it to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Byron until this album sells 20 trillion copies.
I also heard you have a very special live band set in place for the Melbourne leg of the tour. Can you tell us a bit about them?I’ve got a special band for the whole tour! The Orsumators! Built from bands I respect and love with dudes I respect and love. Andrew and Darren from Tucker Bs, Conrad from Richard In Yr Mind and the wonder & mystery of Taylor Tyler, the worlds greatest session drummer from LA… Their version of Cats is beyond spectacular!
You often play with the same bands when you go to a city. In Melbourne I’ve noticed you are often joined by Black Level Embassy, The Night Terrors, etc. Is it just mates gigging with mates, or are you just really big fans of their work?
It’s an even balance of being a huge fan of their work, and good friends. Touring is always way more fun with a bunch of buddies, so any chance I can get to hang out with these guys is a blessing, then having them want to be in my band is the biggest honour ever. I’d like to get every person who’s ever been in my band to make a megaspodtacular. That’d be like a million super rad people.
What sort of set can we expect from Spod on this tour, will it be mostly new material, or will you be whipping out some old crowd favourites?
It’s gonna be a good mix of the two. Some new interpretations of old songs, and if anyone wants anything in particular, they only have to ask and I’ll do my best!
And finally, where to from here? What is the plan after this tour?
A long sit down, and a bunch of time just hanging out with friends and family, then hopefully start working on the new album, more film clips, planning overseas action and a bunch of collaborations and remixes, both of my music and for others hopefully. To just stay really busy and productive whilst finally having more time to catch up with people.
Catch Spod as he takes it across the country…
Oct 11th – Shapes, Perth
Oct 17th – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne
Oct 18th – Enigma Bar, Adelaide
Oct 24th – Oxford Tavern, Wollongong
Oct 25th – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Oct 31st – Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay
Nov 1st – The Step Inn, Brisbane
Nov 2nd – Sol Bar, Coolum
