Featuring all the same members as North Carolina hardcore band Thirteenth, alternative rock band Sparing are undeniably familiar faces in their hometown scene and beyond. However, I’m here to tell you that none of that has prepared you for the entirely different approach they’re taking with this band - along with their brand new single, “Lush.”
The single and EP is coming out on Sunday Drive Records, a name you’ve probably heard from bands on their roster like All Under Heaven, Glare, and so on. While Jonathan features all kinds of bands on his label, one thing that they’re slowly becoming known for is a great lineup of alternative rock and shoegaze bands - and Sparing make a wonderful addition.
Vocalist Zach Godwin and I spoke a bit about “Lush,” as well as their upcoming EP, Old Dreams.
Sparing cite influences that include bands like The Early November, Finch, Home Grown & Hawthorne Heights. (Jonathan from Sunday Drive Records also mentioned hearing a Senses Fail influence, which I could hear almost immediately.)
Asking Zach to expand on this a little, he explains, “I definitely found myself digging back into the roots of music I grew up listening to during the pandemic year. Not sure if I was just feeling nostalgic, or if it was helping me stay sane. [laughs] 90’s alt rock, grunge, 2000’s emo and pop punk. I feel like all of those influences shine through in different ways throughout the songs.”
In terms of what the single means to him, Zach shares, “‘Lush’ is, essentially, a few different points in my life morphed into one story. At the core, it was about my fear of commitment, towards old relationships, old jobs, old dreams. I was always looking for what came next, and never living in the moment. When the walls of my life started to cave in, my first thought was to run away from my problems.”
In my opinion, Old Dreams is full of strong tracks to choose from - so, what made the band choose “Lush” as a single? Zach shares that, initially, it wasn’t his first choice, but the more he listened to the track, the more it made sense to him. “... I realized it had every aspect of what I was going for on the EP. Catchy choruses that people can sing along to at shows, lead guitar melodies that will get stuck in peoples heads, and then me and my other vocalist Terry’s voices meshing for the harmonies.”
The music video for “Lush” perfectly encapsulates the mood of the song, with the imagery of the main character finding himself on “missing” posters as he escapes to the beach. This was purposeful on the band’s part - Zach adds, “I was also able to play off the ‘runaway kid’ imagery for the music video we shot, and it worked out better than I could have planned!”
More and more bands in the hardcore scene are starting bands in different genres, lending their talent to different kinds of music, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. As I mentioned previously, all the members of Sparing are also in a hardcore band called Thirteenth - this is, as Zach said in an interview with How the Gods Chill Zine, “similar to what Adventures is to Code Orange.”
Talking about this crossover, Zach says, “Sparing started as a solo project, as just a way to push myself to write more and get out of my comfort zone with writing by myself. Some stuff paid off from the early demo, but some things ended up being a learning curve for this new EP. I can’t wait to write our next full length with my Thirteenth bandmates, because our interests are very diverse, and we all bring something different to the writing process.”
What’s next for Sparing? “Getting back into a steady rotation of playing shows, hopefully meeting up with the rest of the Sunday Drive Records crew, and just pushing towards that full length!” Zach excitedly shares. “Hoping to release something small in the fall with a full length in the new year.”
Old Dreams will be out on July 30th. Listen to the single “Lush” via Spotify below, as well as on all other streaming services.
Last but not least - get acquainted with Sparing via their social media below!
-Angie
No comments
Post a Comment