PCM's Kristyn spoke to Joe Beck, drummer for The Spill Canvas about their new CD "No Really, I'm Fine" and their tour. They also spoke a bit about how the guys spend their spare time, and realized what a small world we live in...Read on!

K: Today we would like to talk about the new record and the tour. Are you guys excited for the new release?

J: Oh, yeah we're pumped, you know we're also starting to get really nervous, it's next Tuesday, and the time is running really short, but we're definitely excited and equally as excited to get out on the road and play shows again.

K: That's great. So tell me a little bit about the band. How did you all meet?

J: You know, way back in the day I was sophomore in high school and Nick was a senior. We were at a talent show at our high school and Nick was playing guitar, like a solo acoustic song, and I was playing a drum solo, and we kind of met there. I was like; if you never need a drummer give me a call. Two years past and he was kind of doing other things, he gave me a call and he was like "hey, I am trying to put this together, do you want to be apart of it?" We built the band around that and slowly and surely we got to the line-up we have today. So, we're just psyched about where we are at!

K: That is good to hear! So about your writing process, how is your chemistry with that?

J: You know it's kind of evolved more, the more songs we write, we kind of find our niche in what we do. Kind of what happens is Nick will bring a germ of an idea, whether it be a simple thing as if just a lyric that he wants to try to use or a just a couple chords, then him and I will flush out the rhythms and kind of get a rough structure down and then we will bring that to the other guys and then they will add their own taste to everything, so it is a cool group process. It is kind of fun to see it take form from the very beginning.

K: I definitely noticed that a lot of your lyrics are very emotionally charged, where do you pull the inspiration for that?

J: It is just the main theme that we try to have in all of our songs and that is honesty. Being honest with yourself and with others is so important. You know, I think we have portrayed that, whether it is love or different variations of that, just to be honest. We just draw from life experiences and some are fiction to still get that point across, ultimately we just try to be honest with everything.

K: A lot of the songs really make me think about all those relationships that went sour, and where your head is at during those times.

J: Absolutely, there are definitely those on there, we don't lie to ourselves and say that those kinds of relationships don't happen. So, we definitely put all sorts songs on there. You know a lot of bands will just put the lovey dovey ones, but you have to put the real life on there.

K: Yes, I agree. I see that your tour is taking you to the Philly area, which is right by us on Nov. 6th.

J: Yeah, the Trocadero is where we are playing I believe

K: Have you been to Philly before?

J: Yeah, we have played there quite a bit; actually it is quickly turning into one of our favorite places to play. It's just a cool area. I used to live in Wilmington, DE.

K: That is where we are located!

J: Are you serious?

K: I am serious (laughing)

J: That is hilarious (laughing)

J: I lived there for three years right before I moved to South Dakota.

K: Wow, what part of Wilmington

J: I went to Brandywine High School, do you know where that is?

K: I went to Concord!

J: Oh, you did

K: I did (laughs)

J: That's funny; it's either Brandywine or Concord, that's where all my friends are

K: Ah, our schools were rivals (laughs)

J: That's hilarious, too funny (laughs) Yeah, we are definitely excited to come back to that area.

K: So, I am guessing you have had the whole Philly cheese steak?

J: Oh yeah, that is one of the biggest things we look forward to when coming to the area. Getting to go to Pat's or Genos and whatever, we love Philly cheese steaks.

K: Well, when you are in town, we would love to bring you guys some cheese steaks!

J: We'd love that! We'll never turn that down!

K: Great!

K: Back on topic now. (laughs) Where do you see the future of music heading and where do you see the band in that picture?

J: You know I think is kind of impossible to predict what the entire music industry is going to do. I think that is just so hard to do, you know bands come out of no where all the time, changing the entire industry. Where we fit into that that? Hopefully we are one of those bands that changes music, just gets out there and does it the organic way like it is supposed to be done, where bands like are just blowing up out of nowhere, without having to put any hard work into it. You know hopefully we make it, but who knows, we are taking it one day at a time, one CD at a time and whatever happens, happens I guess.

K: Well, that is how you have to do it.

J: Absolutely

K: Before you got into music, what are some other jobs that you had?

J: I worked at a restaurant, I love cooking, I was a chef, Nick worked at a coffee shop, and the other guys didn't really have jobs, (jokingly) they were kinda lazy! So, basically it was just Nick and I that had jobs. It is nice to get to the point where you don't have to have a job when you get back from tour though, that is for sure.

K: Oh, I can imagine! So, tell me about some of your influences?

J: We listen to a lot of classic rock. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, are all some of our favorites. And the new stuff would be Saves the Day, Jimmy Eat World, John Mayer, we try to listen to as much of different kinds of music as we can, you know be it bluegrass or country or hip-hip or whatever, we try to draw influences from every kind of music cause there are so many different types out there.

K: So, have you had any crazy fan experiences yet?

J: It has not gotten too bad yet. This one girl got a tattoo of Nick on her stomach; it is a picture of Nick playing guitar on her stomach. It is just kind of awkward, it is almost embarrassing. She came up to us on Warped Tour, and pulled up her shirt to show us this tattoo, and we are like " Cool", but it is more creepy than anything,

K: Yeah, just a bit

J: But nothing too crazy yet.

K: How was life on the Warped Tour?

J: It was fun! It has hot and sweaty and we didn't get to take as many showers as we had hoped. But it was a successful summer, lots of people out at the shows, and you reach a crowd you normally wouldn't reach, and you get to spend time with lots of other bands. So, it was definitely a fun summer and we will never forget it.

K: Awesome. What would say is the main message you are trying to convey with the new record?

J: I guess, just honesty, which is the central theme throughout the entire CD, and just be honest with yourself. I guess that is it, it is pretty simple, we don't beat around the bush, it is just right there.

K: That is good. Do you have any favorite songs to play live?

J: Obviously it is going to be so much fun to play some of these new songs live. We have done some stuff that we've never done before, so it is going to be kind of fun. As far as the older songs go, it is always fun to play the ones that the crowd gets into, because they beef it up and they just make it so much fun because they are so in to it, and then it's hard not to get into. Songs like StapleGun are always fun to play because the crowd feeds off that.

K: So, if you have any spare time now, what do you like to do in your spare time?

J: I like golfing in my spare time, it is a kind of dorky thing to do I know, but I love golfing. I love all sorts of sports and I try to stay active and be outside as much as I can. The other guys, when we get home, we see each other so much on tour, we just try to get way from each other. A couple of the guys are very into video games and they will play video games for 8 hours a day. But other than that we're pretty boring.

K: Well, my fiancée is like that with the video game thing, so I can understand.

J: Yeah, absolutely.

K: I read that you guys designed a controller for Guitar Hero

J: Yeah, Yeah, that was really cool. They came to us and were like we want to send you this Guitar Hero controller to design and kind of mess around with so we can auction it off for charity. So it was a cool opportunity we had and association with Guitar Hero. We love the game.

K: Do you guys have any tracks in the game?

J: No, that is a goal. We would like to have something in the next game. We'll see how realistic that is, but we'll see. That would be awesome; it would be sweet to be on that game for sure.

K: We love the game as well.

J: It is definitely high on our list. We are trying to get everyone over at the company by saying "Hey, you can have one of our songs", so we are trying, we are working on it.

K: That would be sweet! Well, that is just about all the questions I have, is there anything else you would like to add.

J: Thank you very much for your time

K: Oh, you are quite welcome! Thanks for talking to us and we will be in touch

J: I can not wait to be back in Philly cheese steak land again!

K: Well, we can't wait to see you guys!

J: Perfect, it should be a lot of fun!

Video for "All Over You" off the album "Smile for Them":

 

 

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