Armand Lance - Spirit Mother
What groups left a huge impression on you early on? What would you and your friends do for fun in the early days? Did you participate in any groups prior to Spirit Mother? How did you initially meet your bandmates and what led to the decision to call yourselves Spirit Mother?
As a kid, my mom had a tape player in her car and “Zeppelin I” and ZZ Top’s “Eliminator” never left it. They were my daily soundtracks to and from school and everywhere else we went. So those were ingrained into my head at a really early age whether I liked it or not (I liked it). In high school, “Surfer Rosa” and “Doolittle” by the Pixies never left my car. You can probably trace Pixies influences in just about everything I’ve ever written. They will always be an all time favorite for me. Growing up I spent a lot of time playing guitar, writing songs, and not getting invited to parties.
I met SJ first, and we decided to make the band and to call it Spirit Mother. We began playing local shows just wherever we could with whoever would be the backing band. At the time we were constantly having different friends and musicians filter in and out. We had our first festival set coming up and no drummer when Landon came into the picture. He took the songs and really turned the parts into his own. It wasn’t until I switched from guitar to bass (we played as a trio for about 6 months - bass, drums, and violin) that I met Sean.
I had to down-tune the bass and make up a tuning that allowed me to do the running bass riffs and sing the melodies originally written for playing chords on guitar. Our sound became deeper and heavier as a trio, and Sean’s guitar playing matched our new sound perfect, and once again our new addition took the existing parts and personified them in his style. The lineup solidified at that point. It’s crazy to think that what started as a total bummer led us to finding our sound, solidifying our lineup, and making us friends and road dogs for life. Everything happens for a reason.
What did you want to express and achieve with this group that was different from a lot of the other bands coming out of Long Beach at the time? What did you want your sound to be? What was the chemistry like between everyone upon first meeting/jamming together and when was that exactly?
I try my best to never measure us to anyone. We prefer to just keep our heads down, hustle our asses off and do what we do. I think it makes the sound more honest that way. Other than my songwriting, the band’s sound itself came circumstantially. From losing our bassist at the time, me going to bass, making up a tuning to make it work without guitar, the gradual additions of Landon and Sean just molded everything into what it is now. It was never much of a conscious decision.
Prior to the band’s full length debut, you guys recorded a split single on Nite Time Records. Can you tell me about that?
We met Nick at a show one night and he offered to put out a single of ours right then and there. I have to admit I really didn’t believe him. So I offered Nick “Heathens” which was the very first song written under the name Spirit Mother. The song was written well before I knew what direction we were heading. It’s so old there’s not even violin in it! I tracked a Rhoades electric piano thinking we may have a keyboardist at some point. Little did I know, Nick was a rare man of his word in Los Angeles. A gem of a human being. It’s because of him that we still play Heathens today. It’s fun, but personally I’m not a fan of the song.
How did you guys approach the band's debut LP, ‘Cadets;? How did the deal with Polymer come about and When/where was that recorded? Tell me about writing and recording that album. Can you walk me through the process of writing and recording the material that's featured on it?
“Cadets” was recorded before Landon and Sean joined the band. We tracked at Jazzcats Studio in Long Beach, CA. It was written and recorded before we had a set lineup because those were the circumstances at the time and sometimes it’s just not realistic to wait until everything’s perfect. Polymer is ran by a very good friend of ours who was also based in Long Beach at the time. Eric put us out at a time no one else would and we will always be family.
When/where was the band’s first gig? Did you guys get out and tour that first record? How did you guys initially meet the folks over at Heavy Psych Sounds? Tell me about the ‘Live In The Mojave Desert’ series you guys are involved with. When and where did recording begin for that project and about how long did that particular process take from start to finish?
“Cadets” was released March 1st, 2020. We were ready to tour, but obviously all that got axed. The band signed to Giant Rock Records for the LITMD album which was released jointly with Heavy Psych Sounds so we’ve actually never met them. If the Heavy Psych family reads this, thank you for getting our music to Europe! We recorded at an isolated location in the Mojave Desert (hence the name) in the fall of 2020. We got the call last minute due to another band’s sudden cancellation. Almost literally last minute. We had 1 day to agree, and 1 day to assemble the band (who was all spread out at the time due to COVID), and get our asses from Oregon to the Mojave to film/record our set.
16 hours of straight driving, a couple hours of sleep at a sketchy motel, and there we were. It was a concert so our live album was tracked in just a couple hours including all production related stuff. But the production team had been there working their asses off and really set up one of the best sets and best video/audio quality we’ve ever seen! We wanna give a shout out to Ryan Jones for giving us a chance, taking good care of us, and putting out our record! And to Lance Gordon of Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Show for his sage advice and for advocating for us early on!
What is the band’s set up gear wise? At this point, you guys have a few records under your belt. What has changed about the group and what direction do you find yourselves gravitating towards at this point in the band’s career? Were you guys touring/playing on this album when Covid hit? How have you managed to stay positive during this pandemic?
We’re all using Fender amps nowadays - Deville’s, Twins, Bassmans. Just works best for what we’re doin. Another circumstantial direction regarding our setup is that SJ is not always able to tour these days. So Camille stepped in on violin on the road. And what started as a touring musician filling in, became a member of our family and our 5th band member. We just started playing some shows as a 5 piece so keep an eye out for that! We had shows all the way up to the COVID shutdown. We played the last night of live music in California at the Lodge Room in LA with Blackwater Holy Light which was a really great send off. The Mojave project definitely kept us busy throughout the shutdown and we wrote new music with the downtime.
Something that happened to a lot of bands across the world was the silence of live music. How did you guys handle that? Have you guys continued to write music and work on things in the ways you could during this time? What has it been like to be able to play shows again? You guys are hitting the road in May with Blackwater Holylight, that has to be exciting!
We are STOKED to hit the road with BWHL! Their new album is epic and we can’t wait to hear it live. Seems only right that the finale of the tour is back at the Lodgeroom where we played with them right before the shut down a couple years back.
How have you wanted to approach this year now that things are kinda shifting back to ‘normal’? What are you most eager to express and explore with your music? Can we expect a new record/project in the near future? What do you think you’ve learned the most about yourself and the world since this the pandemic? What have taken from all this?
I’d say we’re most eager to put out new music and play it live. We have a new record written and ready to record and we will be playing some of these new songs for the upcoming tour! As much initiative as it takes to work in music (a lot), there is a natural flow to it as well. To just go with things that aren’t always ideal at surface level, working with and not against it, and letting it lead you somewhere you never thought you’d be has been eye opening for us.
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Keep an eye out for new music from us in the coming year, and we’ll see you on the road this summer!
https://www.spiritmotherofficial.com/
https://www.instagram.com/spiritmotherband/
Dakota Brown
