Red Sparowes Interview

GB: You’ve played a lot of shows in UK and America with Neurosis. What are the reactions that you get from the band's friends in the live shows when you play the latest songs thus far?
Greg: Well, that's not entirely true. We've only played with Neurosis in the US, and only three times. That said, people's reactions have been really positive. Fans of Neurosis seem to be very open in general and have made us feel very welcome at shows. The last two shows we played with them in January '07 were unbelievably good, everyone had a great time.

GB: Are you going to come back to Europe for live-shows? What's Europe’s response so far?
Greg: Yes, we will be back in Europe for a six week tour from mid-April through the end of May '07. Europe has been great to play. Shows vary in different countries, but generally the audience is very excited and respectful during the show. We look forward very much to coming back this spring!

GB: We 'all never forget your visit in An club in Athens last year, your
Performance was awesome. What do you remember of your visit in Athens?
Greg: None of us had been to Athens before, with the exception of our tour manager. I remember flying in and being absolutely amazed at the size of the city. The show itself was a bit stressful; we weren't playing through our own equipment and the quality of the equipment we were using wasn't very good. That said, it ended up being one of the best shows on tour. People were very responsive and we had an amazing time. It's really incredible going to Greece for the first time and playing a sold out show to a group of great people. That tour was pretty intense, we played 38 shows in 39 days and Greece was our only day off. Athens is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen, I really look forward to coming back on the next tour.



GB: I love the new album as much as your debut album, 'at the soundless
Dawn'. I believe that the sound of the latest songs is heavier and that the structure of the songs is a bit more complicated. Have you spent this time more energy in finding the right phrases, sounds and effects when composing the material of 'every red heart shines towards the sun'?
Greg: First of all, thanks; I appreciate that you like our second effort! There are several things that are different about "Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun" (ERH). First of all we finally had a complete band with the addition of Andrew Arahood (guitar) and Dave Clifford (drums), and they obviously had a huge part in the writing process. The both have very strong musical voices and they account in a large way for our progression. We also very much wanted to push ourselves on EHR and create an album that would hopefully challenge the listener and the genre itself. Our intention was to really push the dynamics of instrumental rock, while still capturing a certain emotional aesthetic.

GB: The visuals that you use is without doubt an important element of the atmosphere that is present when you play live. As i remember the main subject of the videos was the big cities'melancholy, screen-shots
of buildings, pictures that a person who lives in an industrial area sees every day in his life.. I'd like to know if there are any thoughts you'd like to share with us about the ways that the city inspire you.
Is your music somehow the soundtrack of every-day life in a big industrial city?
Greg: Josh's visuals are a huge part of our live show, without a doubt. While I hesitate to say to much about them, the general idea is to create a visual match to the emotional and conceptual content of the album itself. Our process is to write the music first, come up with a basic concept for the record and then have Josh do the visuals. So it's not so much the sound track to every day live in an industrial city, as a match to the concept of each album. A good guide is to read the lyrics as a paragraph, which will give you an idea as to the concept for each record.

GB: Godspeedyou!BlackEmperor and some other bands of the post-rock scene also use this type of concept in their live-shows, so we'd like to tell us a few words about the band's influences.
Greg: In general we're probably less influenced by more contemporary instrumental bands and more by bands like Pink Floyd, The Cure, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine. We've obviously heard and like bands like Godspeed and Mogwai, but our general influences tend to be a bit less directly associated. One thing to point out is that every member of Red Sparowes has very different influences, and it's more the marriage of these influences and styles that form our music.

GB: The bass lines are a big part not only of the rhythmic section of
Red Sparowes, they also get involved in the melodic parts of your music. Tell us Greg about your influences...
Greg: Thanks, I really focus on writing lines that create a more explicit relationship between the rhythm and melodic elements of the music. I'm glad that comes through. I've been playing bass for seventeen years now, so I have a lot of influences; not just bass players but some guitar players as well. To name a few: John Paul Jones, John Entwistle, Jaco Pastorius...Simon Gallup is a huge influence definitely...Chris Squire. I'm also heavily influenced by some guitar players; Nels Cline and Thurston Moore have changed the way I approach bass and music in general.

GB: What's the process of creating a Red Sparowes song?
Greg: There is no process. Sometimes we'll just play for hours and record everything, picking out our favorite elements. Other times people will bring in parts and we'll hash them out together. The only thing that's consistent is that it's a purely democratic process. No song is ever written by one person. Again, I think our sound is a true representation of all of the members.

GB: What do you enjoy most, composing or playing music live and why?
Greg: I enjoy both processes. Writing the music can be a really frustrating and rewarding process. You really have to dig deep into yourself to find things that are a true musical expression of where you're at at that particular moment. It can take a lot work and there are times when you're literally hitting your head against a wall, but when you can finally sit back and listen to the end result it's on the best feelings in the world. At the same time, I love traveling, and hearing the feedback from the audience is amazing. A good show to me is one where you really connect with everyone there, the other band members AND the audience. When that happens it's an almost spiritual experience for me. Both parts of being in a band are equally rewarding, and very different from each other.



GB: Some of the band's members also belong in Neurosis and Isis. As a fan of those bands I’ve noticed that when 'at the soundless dawn' was released, many people were thinking that the band was a side project, despite the fact that your sound was distinguished from those bands since the beginning. Do you believe that the response you got when touring and the welcome of your new release by the Red Sparrowes friends will erase this way of thinking about the band?
Greg: That was definitely a challenge for us as a new band. It took a lot of work for people to take us seriously, especially when both ISIS and Neurosis have such prolific members, and have recorded and created so much outside of their respective bands. So, yes, I think that, finally, after so much touring and a number of releases, people can see that we're a full time band.

GB: Any plans for Live-shows in Greece this year?
Greg: Yes, the dates are being booked now, but we'll be playing Greece this spring.

GB: Thank you very much for your time, hope that you'll come back for a
live show soon! If there is something else you'd like to say, please go ahead...
Greg: Thanks a lot! You've covered quite a bit here so I'll leave off by saying we're all really excited to come back. See you at the show!

Greg / Red Sparowes.

Interview by T.Kalamatas for GB issue #08_2007