Interview with Brendan
Sibley (Drums) from Sparhawks
Sparhawks is an Alternative/Post-Rock band from
Massachusetts that has been around since fall of 2011. This quartet has a sound
that is intriguing and quite difficult to define. Their high-energy
performances mesmerize crowds, and their unique style sets them apart from the many
other bands in the current local music scene. With the debut of their
full-length album, “The Cabin”, Sparhawks seems to be gathering fans and
interest every day. I was able to sit down and speak with one of the most
talented drummers I have ever seen perform live, Brendan Sibley of Sparhawks,
to gain some knowledge on the band and their background.
Want to tell me a
little bit about Sparhawks’ origins? How it all started, where you guys met,
etc.
Let’s see. Sparhawks
didn’t start with any intention of becoming the band it is today. Back in ~2010
Vlad and I were in a band “Nines and Sixes” with a few friends from our
hometown. We ended up playing one show and calling it quits. At that point we
both knew that we wanted to continue to play music together; we had really good
musical chemistry. We were living in Brighton, MA at the time and had a friend
with a vacant attic. It was really tight and stuffy up there but we made it
work.
From there we decided
to cut rent costs and move practice out to Worcester. We needed to record our
first demo, and Vlad had been friends with Brian who is an audio engineer. He
joined in on bass shortly after recording the demo, and not long after that we
got Tim on guitar. Tim had been in a band with Vlad years back. At the time, we
were all those music scene pioneer-type dudes just working and in college. Once
we formed as a quartet, the band really took off and we wrote and wrote and
wrote. Eventually our first full length was born and now we’re working on new
material for our next release.
Your style is quite
unique and pretty difficult to classify. How would you classify yourselves and
where do you think you fit in the current rock scene?
We tend to have trouble
classifying our style too. Lately we’ve been all over the place when it comes
to writing songs in a specific genre. If we had to pick specific ones we’d
would probably classify Sparhawks as a postrock-ish branch of alternative rock.
Our new songs are a bit more mathy and technical which we have a lot of fun
with.
What are some of your
major influences? Any favorite bands?
Our influences are
literally all over the place. The amount of bands we listen to collectively as
a whole would be a ridiculously long list. We’re all really into the mid-late
90’s/early 2000’s emo-alternative scene. Lately we’ve been really into
Cursive’s “Domestica”, Mew’s “And The Glass Handed Kites”, and Botch’s “We are
the Romans”. We also just went and saw TTNG out in Allston, their new album is
excellent.
We tend to show up to
practice with a case of beer and a few cigarettes and just start jamming. Most
of the time new songs are born out of nowhere. A cool riff or interesting drumbeat
tends to spontaneously turn into a ballad with multiple different parts. The
best part of it all is that none of us really say anything during that time; it
all kind of falls into place on its own. When we all decide to stop playing,
laughter erupts and we talk about what parts we liked and what parts we feel we
should keep or change.
So you guys recently
came out with a full-length album, “The Cabin”, which is not only an extraordinary
blend of genres, but has also been on repeat in my stereo ever since I bought
it. Can you talk a little about the album and where the name “The Cabin” comes
from?
That’s great to hear,
we are really glad you like it, man! The idea for The Cabin all started one day
at practice when Brian mentioned that he and Vlad had gone up to his cabin in
northern Maine for a week or so. Brian told us a story of him and Vlad arriving
at the cabin really late at night. The cabin is on a lake. They took a canoe
onto the lake with a case of beer. After 10 minutes of paddling to the middle
of the lake they realized there was a hole in the canoe; they were slowly
sinking. They ended up making it back to the dock OK, but the story alone planted
an idea in all of our heads. We needed to record an album up there in the
wilderness.
We did exactly that. We
wrote all of the songs for “The Cabin” in a 4-6 month span. Last December
(2012) we drove 6 hours up to the cabin and stayed for a week. We recorded our
record completely on our own thanks to Brian. We rocked out whenever we weren’t
recording and adventured around the forest whenever we weren’t rocking out. All
while drinking too much whiskey & tequila. It was one of the best
experiences all of us have ever had. There’s really no way to describe how
amazing it was. That was really the point where we all became best friends.
If you could be in
any other band throughout rock history which band would it be?
I personally would
have to say Pele. I’m sure there would be plenty of other responses from the
other guys in the band.
What’s your favorite
beer to drink before, during, and after a show?
Any good IPA or ale.
It really depends on the show and the mood. Sometimes a PBR tall boy gets the
job done.
Thanks for talking to me dude, is there anything
else you would like to add? Upcoming shows, events, etc.
We’ve got some shows
lined up for the next coming months, they are all listed on our facebook page:
www.facebook.com/sparhawks
Make sure to check out our new album at our bandcamp page (www.sparhawk.bandcamp.com) and if you like what you hear you can purchase it from any of the following distributors (or directly from bandcamp):
www.facebook.com/sparhawks
Make sure to check out our new album at our bandcamp page (www.sparhawk.bandcamp.com) and if you like what you hear you can purchase it from any of the following distributors (or directly from bandcamp):
-iTunes, Amazon,
Spotify, Rhapsody, GooglePlay
Keep an eye out for some new merch soon as well! Take care.
Keep an eye out for some new merch soon as well! Take care.
Sparhawks is:
Brendan Sibley
Vladimir Kolodyazhni
Brian Davitt
Tim Martin
