Sam Rives Interview

Sam Rives plays the trumpet in Sweet Spirit's horn section.

What's one song you know by heart and will never forget?

My best friend growing up was Jewish--his family wasn't hugely devout, maybe, but I think they did subscribe to a magazine called "Reform Judaism."  My family didn't really have much religion at all (our halfhearted yearlong attempt to "go Catholic" notwithstanding), so I kind of envied the fact that he had a whole spiritual/cultural community/past to tap into.  Anyway, I guess he went away to camp one summer and came back making fun of this song he'd learned.  I memorized the words to be in on the joke.  And to feel like less of a wandering heathen.  Favorite bit is probably "when you're not home, and you're somewhere kind of... new-ish."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHu87vWimTg

 

If you were to create a super-band who would be in it...dead or alive?

They are mostly dead.  Maybe I can hold a seance...

Drums: Al Jackson, Jr., of the MG's and the Stax and Hi house bands.  That would be enough.  I would need no one else.  There is no one I want more.  Alt.: Kenny Buttrey.

Guitar: Steve Cropper, also of the MG's.  I think I'm just naming the MG's now.  But his combination of lead and rhythm is flawless.

Bass: Aston "Family Man" Barrett.  I've never been a big reggae-head, but this man's solid, tactful, exuberant, melodic playing is one of the great gifts to recorded sound.  I would also welcome Donald "Duck" Dunn since his MG's bros would already be hanging out.

Winds: Johnny Hodges, alto.  Coleman Hawkins, tenor.  Gerry Mulligan, baritone.  Bix Beiderbecke, trumpet, in spite of his alcoholism.  All of these guys would be slumming it a bit in an R&B/soul/blues environment, and they might sound a bit old-fashioned.  But the music would swing hard as fuck.

Piano: Paul Griffin, from those beautiful, massive, swelling choruses on "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)." Also, he was on "Like a Rolling Stone" and lots of other Dylan. 

Organ: Garth Hudson of the Band, swapping out with Cory Henry, a new jazz player who's probably one of the few real young geniuses alive today.

Vocals: I get to sing, since the whole point of forming a hodgepodge dream band is subjecting all these hotshots to my will and forcing them to play my songs.  I may be wrong, but it's probably too late for me to learn that lesson now.

What do you do and how did you get started?

For work, I teach children to read.  Musically, I sing and write songs for my band (the ole Willy Chapel--https://soundcloud.com/willychapel), toot a horn for Sweet Spirit, and play occasional country gigs and such around town.  In high school I decided to start writing songs, so I went into my neighborhood pawn shop and spent $50 on a crappy busted Casio keyboard.  I wrote a song about my friend's dog.  Then I wrote a song called "Nothing At All" which, unsurprisingly, was about just that. Nothing at all, that is.  But I kept going because I liked doing it, and now I think I'm better at it than I've ever been.  Which is a relief.

 

"I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger"...go

I wish I had just eaten the damn sweet potatoes.  I missed many Thanksgivings-full of those, all because they were unappetizingly orange.

Tell us about your best friend.

She is named Jessica, and she is my wife.  BARRFFFFFF... But freal, friends.  I'm not ashamed to tell you.  We've been together since we were fifteen.  We started our adulthood together.  She plays music with me.  She has her shit together.  She is the bread-winner.  She tried to grow tomatoes once, but only one came out.  She loves cats, so we have two.  She was a gymnast, so that was her childhood.  She loves me back.

What's something that you were afraid of but did anyway?

I can't swim.  When I was a kid, my family would go down to Nags Head, and someone would invariably goad me into the water.  I was afraid of drowning, I guess. But I went in! Like, a few times!  I don't go to the beach much anymore, since that's the easiest way of avoiding the problem.  But my friend's mom once said, "learn to swim or you'll drown in a vat someday."  I don't know why she said "vat" and not "river" or "bathtub."  But I still believe there's a huge, cartoonish water barrel waiting for me somewhere in a roadrunner-vs-the-coyote-style trap.  I tread lightly.

 

Leslie Matthews Interview

Leslie plays the Saxophone in Sweet Spirit. 

What's your zodiac sign and do you buy into that kinda thing? 

I'm a Leo. I have found that hokey magazine summaries of my love life are way off base, 100% of the time, However, the more personality-based, here's-your-life-calling zodiac stuff is scary on point at times. For example, I'll read "you're into music" or "you're being a crazy woman right now" and I'm like, oh snap.

What's your spirit animal?

I like to think my spirit animal is an elephant, for whatever that's worth. I'm lumbering, compassionate... clumsy but all-around pretty lovable.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up on a semi-remote intensely wooded plateau 20 minutes north of Nashville, Tennessee. It looks like the Smoky Mountains, and I grew up tromping around on our land and just being a crazy, adventurous kid. And animals. I grew up with shit loads of animals.

What's the most memorable or interesting encounter you've had with a complete stranger?

I was at a campfire one night ages ago, and across from me in the flickering light was this dude with a full-on Canadian tuxedo. Worn cowboy hat, boots with spurs, and the multi-hue jean covering his every inch was torn up and old and sooo legit. I went and struck up a conversation with him about his incredible swagger... and he was literally the Marlboro man's brother. Well, one of the models was his brother, but still. He was the same rugged and handsome archetype, and we frowned together about lung cancer (the ironic cause of his brother's death) then he kinda strolled off into the shadows. It was surreal in a lot of ways and I'll certainly never forget it.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing this?

Maybe taking a pottery class. Or a crazy dance class. Before I started my current Batman-esque status as a paralegal by day, sax player by night, I frequently thought about trying out for some community theatre. I still think that would be fun as hell.

Was there a moment when you decided to dedicate yourself to music or did you always just know?

I have absolutely always known. I heard my first music in the womb knowing my parents, so music feels innate and part of my every being. No matter what I do in life as a job or a hobby or whatever, I will always have music. It's not that I'm dedicated, it's that music is completely inescapable. 

Cara Tillman Interview

Cara sings back-up vocals in Sweet Spirit

What's your pet peeve?
I find it really irritating when people pretend to know a lot about a topic they actually know very little about for the sake of argument or to appear smarter/better/more attractive than everyone else at the table. It's also important to remind myself that when things annoy me about other people, it might be because I possess a little more of that particular irritating quality than I care to admit.

I don't know if that even counts as a pet peeve, so here goes: the overuse of commas really chaps my ass, guys.

What's the one place you wanna see before you die? Why?
Right now I'd really like to go to Joshua Tree. A road trip there would be swell. Seems like a totally attainable goal before I shuffle off this mortal coil, yeah?

What's the worst/hardest job you've ever had?
One summer during college I waited tables at Rod's Pizza Cellar in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The owner--before he joined the great pepperoni party in the sky--was largely immobile, and he sat in his office all day watching the cameras trained on the server station. He called me to his office once to yell at me for letting too much foam spill over the side of a glass while pouring a beer. Once while taking an order at a large table of patrons I watched through the window as the kitchen manager kicked the living shit out of a man in the parking lot who returned to the restaurant to complain about an incorrect delivery order. I stayed until the end of the summer because I needed to pay rent and I had walked out on one pizza-slinging gig already, and when I finally did call it quits, I took the cash in my apron and ran out the front door an hour into my shift, cowardly but sweetly victorious.

To whom do you owe a huge thank you and why?
I suppose for obvious reasons I must thank my parents for being good at listening and quick to laugh, for giving me piano lessons and for dragging me to church three times a week for the entirety of my childhood. It was there that I learned to harmonize and, perhaps ironically, to think for myself.

If you had only 24 hours left, what would you eat?
I'd empty my bank account on oysters and smelly cheeses and pink champagne.

Is there one piece of advice or wisdom that was given to you that just stuck? If so, what was it?
I'm not sure it's advice so much as an admonition, but my grandmother used to sign off our visits with "be good," which I'm sure meant something along the lines of "behave yourself so that you may find a suitable husband and procreate," but I've come to interpret it more broadly, even if it means misbehaving.

Matt Strmiska Interview

Matt plays drums in A Giant Dog

What's the most interesting/memorable encounter you've had with a complete stranger?

I had a long layover at DFW so I was hanging out at the T.G.I.Fridays bar for a couple beers. The gentleman to my left had clearly already had a martini or two in him and kept interrupting my conversation with the lovely flight attendant to my right. This guy would not stop bugging me, but his conversation was actually way more interesting than the other I was having. After a while, the flight attendant leaves and it's just me and this older dude getting hammered at T.G.I.Fridays, shooting the shit about baseball, music, life... just anything and everything, and having a damn good time. This guy has about 4 or 5 martinis while we're there, just getting straight sloshed. After a while he says he's gotta catch his flight. He picks up both of our tabs and refuses to let me pay. I thank him, ask where he's off to and he says he's going to a liturgical retreat, reaches into his bag and shows me his clerical collar. He's a Catholic priest.

To whom do you owe a huge thank you and why?

My entire musical family, especially my dad who raised me on the drums since I was born. They taught me through their actions the one great thing about music: friends and strangers coming together to have fun, no matter what problems people have outside. Music is an awesome, positive, healing thing.

You have 24 hours...where, with who, doing what?

I'd meet friends in New Orleans and party all night at dives and juke joints. In the morning I'd fly to Baja California, rent a motorcycle, and ride south down the coast until my time is up. Anyone and everyone is welcome.

"I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger"...go

I wish I knew that Dr. Pepper was so bad for you. I had at least 3 or 4 a day. I was Fuller from Home Alone except I didn't wet the bed.

Tell us about your best friend.

Honestly, my sister. We used to hate each other's guts when we were younger but as soon as we both moved away to college something kind of flipped. We've been through some shit together and we'll always have each other's backs.

What's your favorite pastime to do with friends and why?

Playing music, for reasons above.

Jared Boulanger & Amarah Ulghani Interview

Amarah and Jared booked and recorded Sweet Spirit's July 2014 residency at The Blackheart.

JARED, 

Tell us about your best friend.
My best friends are those who are here with me now, sharing the same experiences on whatever path we choose to walk down together. I try and treat everyone on an equal level, except for Amarah, who I share a bedroom with.

You have 24 hours...where, with who, doing what?
My last 24 hours of brain activity would include catching up on unfinished songs, giving presents to loved ones, a bowl of fettuccine alfredo & one last listen to ‘Lazer Guided Melodies’.
 " I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger"...go
I wish that I didn’t go out in the sun as much as a kid, for I fear a future of melanoma.

Up to now what has been a show or moment on the road that stands out and/or was amazing?
Back in 2009, on the very first ‘Sour Tour’, we had a day off in Athens, GA and decided to ask a music store called Wuxtry Records if we could set up our equipment on their roof overlooking the street and just play for a couple hours. A small crowd gathered and we ended up selling more merch than the night before.

Who's your favorite movie character?
One of my favorite movie characters is Gena Rowlands in ‘A Woman Under the Influence’. Her acting in that film is fully realized, utterly emotional and tragic. My perspective on many things was altered after seeing that film for the first time.

What would you be doing now if you weren't doing this?
I would be in a dark place.

AMARAH,

What's the most interesting encounter you've had with a complete stranger?
When I met Jared!

This sounds like a story! Tell us more... 
One Christmas Eve, I was driving some friends around the bars and my friend, Ana, said Jared was having an after-party at his house. We got there and realized there was no after-party, just an empty Totinos frozen pizza box and some Shiners. Ana was grossly mistaken, but felt no shame.  She immediately passed out on the couch, leaving us randos alone with this confused dude, in an empty house, in his PJ's. He got my number and we hung out a few times, but all we did was go on walks in broad daylight. Then, on New Year's Eve we met at my friends' monster backyard party and we kissed at midnight amidst a sea of peeing, puking people. SCORE!!!  The next day he left for tour, and I didn't see him for a couple of weeks (this was before I was in the band...truth time). But, he sent me postcards every day and it was a very fine courtship.  He's a very good dude.

(*Megan is also my bff)

What would you be doing now if you weren't doing this?
Helping with Eagle Claw tour! Oh my god that snuck up fast, sorry Matt!

Up to now what has been a show or moment on the road that stands out and/or was amazing?
Every show is special <3. But they need to open a Strange Matter like place in ATX stat.

What is Stange Matter for those of us that don't know?
Haha! Strange Matter is this venue in Richmond, VA that is also an arcade.  It has sandwiches named after things in Star Wars and Star Trek. They're way legit sandwiches. But, it's funny because by day families eat there, and at night it's a punk rock venue with this giant stage and legit sound system. It was one of the best shows we ever played, they have a cool scene there.

To whom do you owe a huge thank you and why?
Thanks Megan for taking me to get that restraining order that one time in college!

If you could get in a tour bus with any band dead or alive who, why, and what would it look like?
It would be a mega band of Ted Leo (guitar), Carrie Brownstein (guitar), Aimee Mann (guitar), Shannon Wright (guitar), Georgia Hubley (drums), Joaquin Phoenix, Vincent Gallo, Jim Jarmusch, ohhh wait I don't know where I'm going with this...

What's been your greatest moment of doubt how did you get through it?
One time we drove straight from New York to Austin in one fell swoop it was like 30 hours, I thought for sure it was impossible and that we were gonna die. I was so pissed. But we didn't die, because Chris swerved at the last second.

What did Chris swerve to miss?
A car! We were driving 30 hours straight from CMJ in NYC cause one of our bandmates had to get back to work at ye olde food truck the next morning. It drives a person crazy driving that long, even in shifts. I learned, in college from my vertebrate physiology professor, about this hypnosis thing that can happen while driving.  The white lines on the interstate kinda put you in a trance and you don't notice the stuff going around you.  On the home stretch we came so close to dying. The car in front of us had come to a sudden stop on the interstate from going 70 or whatever it was.  We were in a 15 passenger van full of gear with no time to stop. Then, Chris just, bam, maneuvered around it so expertly. Everyone was screaming, but it was back to normal so fast. We coulda flipped over! We coulda flew into the ditch! I think he pulled it off cause he plays videogames.

Best of Sweet Spirit Blog "2014"

                                                                                        

What will your legacy be when you die?

I buried a shit-ton of Gi-Joes in my neighbor’s back yard.  I hope someone finds them some day.
     
     -Daniel Blanchard


If you could get in tour bus with any band ever, who would it be, why and what would it look like?
If I could ride with someone, it would be that band in the Muppet movie, I think they're called Electric Mayhem.  Just hanging, you know, me and my Muppet friends, moving right along.
    
     -Jon Fichter

If you could sing for one of your heroes, who would it be?
I would like to commission Bette Midler to sing The Wind Beneath my Wings to Louis C.K. And I get to be there, and it's just the three of us in one room.
   
     -Sabrina Ellis

To whom do you owe a huge thank you to and why?
First and foremost are my mom and dad. They bought me drums when I was fuckin 3! They put up with so much crap and always encouraged me, let me have a half stack in my bedroom, didn't kill me when I told them that grades didn't matter when I was 13 because I was gonna play music...

     -Josh Merry

You have 24 hours, where, with who, and what?
This is a very morbid scenario. The idea of dying is difficult to grasp to say the least. I would probably be at home trying to relax and enjoy stuff but end up spending most of the time thinking about the fact that in a few hours I would enter the death realm.

     -Jake Knight

What would you be doing now if you weren’t pursuing music?
Before I moved to Austin, I did Search Engine Optimization in Houston. Its one of those jobs where you sit in a tiny cubicle and contemplate suicide all day. So probably death. Death or Graphic Design I do have a degree in that.

     -Andrew Cashen

Is there one piece of advice or wisdom that was given to you that just stuck, if so what was it?
If you don't like someone, don't say anything.

     -JWC III

If you could get in a tour bus with any band dead or alive who, why, and what would it look like?
Harry Nilsson and John Lennon during the Pussy Cats album period... I'd get to choose which one I could kiss every night and there would be a giant bubble bath on the tour bus that I'd sit in while they sang "Many Rivers to Cross" to me while I get to drink a giant frozen daiquiri out of a fish bowl and then in the morning when we're hungover we could sing "All My Life" while Im cuddled between the two of them and do it all over again!

     -Sara Ostovar

...A couple neighborhood guys spotted us, and after the shock of seeing us wandering the streets wore off, they began to chase us. We got disoriented and a little lost, darting down alleys and hoping there wasn't more trouble around each corner...

     -Rick Pierik

    -photos of Sweet Spirit by Steven Ruud