(September
28, 2007) 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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