Friday, May 3, 2013

Interview with Brendan Sibley of Sparhawks


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.


What’s the writing process like? Is there a main songwriter or is it a collective effort?

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):

-iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody, GooglePlay

Keep an eye out for some new merch soon as well! Take care.


Sparhawks is:

Brendan Sibley
Vladimir Kolodyazhni
Brian Davitt
Tim Martin

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