Hailing from the South Coast of NSW, The Spindrift Saga have been belting out tunes for a number of years now. And in that time they’ve created a sound for themselves that we guarantee you’ll get hooked on. Now, with the release of their latest single In And Out Of Love, they continue to build upon their infectious brand of music.
So fresh off the single’s release, we caught up with the band to chat about the influence of nineties music, being a musician from the coast, and what the future holds.
Fresh off the release of their latest single In And Out Of Love, we caught up with South Coast outfit The Spindrift Saga to chat about the new track, nineties music, and what the future holds.
HAPPY: Hey, how’s it going? What are you up to at the moment?
DANNY: Howdy there! We are smack bang in the middle of our summer tour. It’s been sick fun so far. We’ve been lucky enough to support Thirsty Merc and The Living End on this tour already – two of our all-time favourite Aussie acts. Also just fresh off a pretty insane festival set at NelliJam music festival on the South Coast! Feeling pumped!
HAPPY: We’re really loving In And Out Of Love! Could you tell us a bit about the track?
CHRIS: We went with a different approach with almost everything this time. From recording location and almost the whole process…
DANNY: Cheers! We are stoked with this track. It all happened very quickly with this one and we took a reasonably different approach to the recording. We recorded the kit separately in a massive hall. Big room, big sound kinda theory! We feel like it worked!
If you ask me (and I’m only the drummer – so take it or leave it), this track is about our singer falling ‘in’ love recently. We think he has met his forever gal! That’s also why we reckon this track happened so effortlessly! Just popped out like a wardrobe malfunction at the super bowl! Before we knew it, BAM, it was finished. The part about falling ‘out of love’ kinda tells the tale of mixed feelings and emotions and that always ‘unknown’ element of love! Pretty deep for a drummer aye?
HAPPY: The track has kind of stepped away from the reggae vibes of Smile. Was this a conscious decision, or just the way the song came out?
CHRIS: I think most of our tracks come out with a different vibe than the last. Depending on the theme and subject. Of course, they all have similarities being written and performed by the same people.
DANNY: Nothing is ever that conscious for us. We’ve always had a theory of letting the music guide us and not vice versa. If it feels right we keep it. This track felt different for sure, but it was also ‘really’ ‘right’ jamming it! And yeah no reggae feel in this one… more straight up ‘back tempo’ alt stuff! We kinda felt like it had a Radiohead meets Nirvana kinda vibe and we were happy with that! We played at a festival on Saturday and one of the staff said: “loved your set and literally can’t find a genre where you’d fit perfectly!” I was stoked with that because maybe it means we have created something of our own…
HAPPY: You guys have been releasing music for a few years now… do you ever still feel anxious at all releasing new tunes? Or has it all just become part of the process?
CHRIS: I don’t usually feel anxious, once the final master comes through, is the point when I can relax and start focusing on the next track or project.
DANNY: I think there’s always that little bit of nervousness when you drop new music for sure. But after nearly 9 years together, we still love what we do so we kinda use that as our yardstick for success. Takes a bit of pressure off to be honest because even if the track isn’t picked up or received with open arms, we’ll still keep doing what we do! Cause we love it! People loving it is really the ‘bonus’ for us!
HAPPY: There’s a real nineties vibe to your music. What do you think it was about that era that made the music so great?
CHRIS: I think it was our age mainly, we were in our teens during the 90’s. I believe that age is when you are most easily influenced, and directed by your surroundings. Your emotional responses seem to be most sensitive at that point too, so the music from the teenage/young adult years seems to sit with you a bit more prominently, but I also think there might be more to it than that.
DANNY: This is a massive compliment for us and something we hear a lot. We all grew up listening to the 90’s alternative and grunge masters. We then went and studied formal music degrees, which taught us more about other styles like jazz, blues, funk and Latin music etc. Then, we threw the band together and tried to forget about all that uni stuff and play the music that meant the most to us. The result is what you hear today. Well, we hope so anyway!
MICK: All our favourite bands/artists were big in the 90’s. The grunge bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against The Machine, Silverchair and Faith No More etc. Also, punk bands that were around at that time like The Offspring and Blink 182. There were also alternative bands like Primus and Tool. We were all teenagers at this time and any music we listened to was and still is our favourite and biggest influence. This was the time we began our musical journey, so when we would learn and perform a song it gave us a deeper appreciation for the song and the band that composed it. I think that we feel that some of the best music (to our tastes) came from those 90’s movements.
HAPPY: Are there any particular artists that have had a significant influence on you?
CHRIS: For me personally, Primus, anything that Chris Cornell touched seemed to turn into gold, RHCP, 311, The Cat Empire, Karnivool, and also Mr Bungle’s self-titled album would definitely be one of my favourites.
DANNY: Absolutely! We get asked this a lot and we all seem to say RHCP are possibly our biggest musical influences. Chris, our frontman, loved his kinda Bungle and stuff back in the day also, but we were mostly just into that 90’s alt stuff. Particularly, the stuff with ‘groove’. Our biggest influences outside of this are definitely the ‘funk’ masters. The James Browns and the Tower of Powers! This was the stuff we fell in love with at uni. It’s gotta have that ‘groove’ and some syncopation!
HAPPY: You guys are both from the South Coast of NSW, right? Do you think your geographical location has had any impact on the music you make?
DANNY: Yep! We are all in love with the ocean and constantly inspired by the south coast. We draw a lot of inspiration from it that’s for sure. We are blessed really by our natural landscape. There is a downside though, it’s a very small place and in some ways, it’s been tough having a presence predominantly outside of the big smokes! We spend a lot of time in a van on the road together. Which is cool! Most of the time anyway!
HAPPY: You’ve previously said that you crave a world where “music is more important than politics.” Could you elaborate on this?
CHRIS: Haha don’t worry, that was just a tongue in cheek comment. Politics is important however often we find ourselves caught up in a popularity contest, and it turns into a bit of a circus. And of course, some are only in it for the cash or the illusion of power… but also, we sometimes discuss on long car trips how insignificant music is too, there can be a tendency to idealise celebrity and forget that we’re all just people.
DANNY: Ah ha! At the time I think it was about wanting a world where ‘the arts’ are valued on a deeper level. Human beings ‘need’ art. It’s good for the soul!
HAPPY: What’s next for The Spindrift Saga? Any other exciting plans in the works?
DANNY: Finishing off our summer tour! We have another Thirsty Merc support and the Untapped Festival in Canberra with the Choirboys, Thirsty Merc, The Androids, The Gadflys and a heap more. We also found out just this morning, we are now the headline act for The Festival Of King Island (TAS) for their opening night! In the more distant future, we are planning another Japan tour and hoping to get to the USA on that run too! We are also in the studio working on material and aiming to release more, possibly another record, in the next 12 months or so.
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!
DANNY: Thanks a million! See yas on the road!
Listen to In And Out Of Love here.
