Five Minutes With ... SPINN

Photo: Charlotte Rudd

Words: Ellie Ward

We premiered last single 'Bliss' from the quartet known as SPINN, which was out in December, now they return with their third release (having made their debut earlier in 2016 with ‘Green Eyes’), 'Home', out on March 3.

Self-described as "approachable lads from Liverpool, connoisseurs of jangly dream pop", we probe a little further into SPINN with a quick-fire round of questions.

So, hello....who is answering here?
Andy and Johnny

And how and where do we find your good selves at this point?
Relaxing after a hard day's work. We actually work in the same place, how cute.

Now, you are not a solo venture so don't hog the limelight, introduce us to your fellow band members and their respective parts within the unit.
There's Johnny - lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Andy on lead guitar and synth. Then, Sean on bass and backing vocals, and lastly George - drums and backing vocals.



SPINN, the name, then - why and how? Are you keen on washing machine cycles or some such?
Windmills are a passion of ours and we wanted that to be obvious within our name.

Acting as your own PR, for those who don't know you, give us the spin on SPINN, the band, the music.
SPINN are a gang of "Approachable Lads from Liverpool who happen to be connoisseurs of indie dream pop bangers". The name came from our old name, The Spinning Tops, which we changed.

Since we featured you last with 'Bliss', how have things been going for you guys?
Things are a lot better for us now. It feels as though things are finally starting to get moving with all the gigs outside Liverpool we've been offered and features on some really great magazines and blogs, such as Dork and yourselves.

Is it hard coming from Liverpool where there tends to be a lot of expectation placed on artists?
There are a load of brilliant bands from Liverpool but I wouldn't say it was hard being from here. If anything it's an advantage as the music scene here is very close knit and tends to help each other a lot.

Your sound is very hooky, poppy, infectious, when you are putting together a new song are you consciously going for that vibe?
We tend to go for that sound purely because it's what a lot of our friends and ourselves enjoy listening to, so yeah, it's on purpose - but for all the right reasons.

Where do you usually get your song writing inspiration from? Is there a usual process that you follow when writing?
It varies for each song. It might be trying to recreate sounds we enjoy, while some songs have come came to us in dreams and others while in the shower.

Is performing live a big part of why you do what you do, or do you prefer making music, the writing and recording part of it?
We all love performing live, it's just a boss experience and it enables us to meet people and get our tunes out there physically. We're working on our live performances so soon our shows will be even better. That said, there's nothing like being in studio, it brings us a massive buzz every time we go in. It's just sick.

What is influencing you right now? Are there any certain styles you'd like to try or artists that you look at and think you'd like to try a cover of?
I don't see a change of sound anytime soon, but we've been listening to loads of different stuff recently, like soul, jazz, shoegaze, neo-folk, synthpop and a lot of the new indie stuff too.

In terms of covers we've got lots of artists that we'd like to cover: The Cure, Wild Nothing, Neutral Milk Hotel or Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. But that can wait, for now we're just gonna release original bangers.



Okay, time for a quick-fire few. 

Who would you:

a) ask to come and perform a live show with you?
Cabbage. Their live performances are insane so it would be amazing to play alongside them. Morrissey would be a laugh too, we could all dance awkwardly with no tops on.

b) like to collaborate with?
Matty and George from the 1975 would be good, their production on Pale Waves' new tune was spot on.

c) have round for a dinner party (dead or alive)?
Noel Fielding, Debbie Harry, Harrison Koisser, Brian Cox, all centric characters from Star Wars, Ed Milliband.

What plans do the band have both record and gig-wise coming up?
Hopefully a lot more out of town gigs, a tour and an EP. We have plans for another single in summer, and we're hitting the studio again in April. Keep an eye on our socials for gig dates.

You now have a few sentences for your big plug to push whatever you might want to promote. Use it wisely. Go.....
Support Girls Against xoxo

Live Dates

MARCH
03 The Magnet, Liverpool w/ Echo Beach
22 Amersham Arms, London w/ Harper
29 The Cavern Club, Liverpool - Dave Monks Presents...
APRIL
29 EBGBS, Liverpool - Liquidation
MAY
11 Bedford Esquires, Bedford w/ Courts + Idle Frets

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