Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A Pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Seattle critic’s darlings Spirit Award have been garnering loads of positive feedback for the upcoming record The Fear. Due out 19 May, The Fear can be pre-ordered here. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Lyon spent some time to answer a few questions with TGEFM in the latest from our Roll of the Dice interview series.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! Congrats on the upcoming May release of The Fear. What should TGEFM readers know about Spirit Award and your upcoming record?
Absolutely! Thanks for having me. They should learn everything they want to know from this interview, and sit and listen to our records front to back while laying on their floor and sipping on their favorite beverage or smoking a joint. We will slowly be teasing the release of the album with some more singles over the next few months until it’s out in May!
This album was recorded in various locations. What benefits and/or challenges did you face with such a transient recording style?
I actually really enjoyed recording this way. It can feel a little chaotic at times, but I think once you go to mix and find all the pieces are there it makes sense and adds a little character and warmth. I found at times it was nice just having me alone tracking at times, and at others it was nice to have an engineer or bandmate to bounce an idea off of. One positive was that I would sometimes get lost in writing and go for 10-12 hours a day for the first week of writing/recording the record, and that turned out some songs I’m really proud of. It was great to not have the limitations of studio time or another person’s exhaustion to weigh into the equation. There were also times during that stretch I should have had a producer to say ‘let’s call it a day’. Big props to my Producer/Engineer Trevor Spencer (Beach House, Father John Misty) who helped along the way and put all the pieces together in the end.
Speaking of locations, being a band from the Pacific Northwest, I’m sure you get tired of the question that’s coming but it’s such an interesting and diverse place and has bred so much amazing music. Why do you think the area churns out so many brilliant musicians and songwriters? How does the area feed into the music you are writing, if at all?
I think it’s a few things. I think sometimes people are just called in some weird spiritual or mystical way to put into music and words what people are feeling and to let that energy move through us. The Pacific Northwest is incredibly beautiful. We are so close to so much insanely gorgeous nature, and I think that is something that can have a huge impact on songwriting and inspiration.
Based on the album title, I think it’s important to know what you are afraid of and how you choose to react to it?
I think it’s a better question to first ask what I WAS afraid of when I wrote The Fear. I was going through a big life transformation. I had self-sabotaged a relationship with the greatest love of my life, because I was afraid of commitment. From there I just locked myself away for a week in San Juan Island at a friend’s place and just let the music pour through me. I started to realize there was a theme. I was afraid of losing myself, of making the same mistakes I made in the past, and of failure. So I made a choice. Almost anything I was afraid of I would face head-on and diminish that fear. It was scary and empowering.
What effect, if any, have the cultural and political landscapes of the last few years had on your music?
I think there is no escaping the influence of the last few years. I think as musicians that is part of our job, to raise questions at times or challenge things and hopefully, we can find common ground and not feel so alone in our thoughts.
What is it about music that you are most passionate about? What motivates you to keep writing?
I think I am most passionate about the feeling of a song more than anything. I think it’s something I just can’t live without. I tried for a few years, and I think even for myself I will always use it as an outlet to let what’s inside come out.
Portions of the album sales are going to MusiCares, what should our readers know about the organization and why it’s so important, especially in light of the last few years?
MusiCares is a nonprofit that is dedicated to helping working musicians with health and welfare issues. It has helped so many of my friends through difficult and hard times with medical bills and more. It has personally helped me when I didn’t have insurance and needed to go to therapy. They provided a number of sessions for a tiny co-pay. I am forever grateful for them and we need more services and ways to care for our artists so they aren’t struggling as much. Studies show around 73% of musicians are depressed. We’ve seen this take its toll on musicians on the road, and in some cases take their lives.
Nobody can deny the world has been changing drastically over the last few years. Where do you see the future of music, both for Spirit Award and also for the industry at large transitioning in light of these events?
I’m open and somewhat optimistic. I really want to keep making music in whatever fashion I can. It’s certainly gotten harder to tour and afford to make music, but I certainly didn’t get into music because I wanted to make money. My hope for the industry is that as Americans we take care of and honor our musicians more. Europeans do a better job of making sure musicians are treated well, have a place to stay, and are well respected. We need more grants for working artists and tax breaks. Art is so much more valuable to our well-being than society thinks it is.
One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
Pacific Northwest bands: Chinese American Bear, Flesh Produce, Milk Jennings, Shadowgraphs, Meathair, Lithics, Whitney Ballen, Telehealth, Shimmertraps, Versing, Dreamdecay.
Others: Flaural, Carriers, Clarke and the Himselfs.
Beyond the release of The Fear, what’s next for Spirit Award?
Working on another project with my friend, Connor Birch (Flaural) and James Barone (Beach House) with some other guest appearances. Slowly collecting some ideas for another Spirit Award record. We are doing some US touring this summer and UK/EU in the fall.
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
I think we covered some solid ground to digest here, so maybe for now this is good 🙂
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
