Spit Rusty (Jan 2012)

This interview was made possible by collaboration with fellow member Time Signature. Many thanks to him! You may not have heard of Spit Rusty before, but they are a new band on the Danish rock scene that is quickly picking up speed. Catching them on their rise, MMA gets a peak into the workings of this promising act.

First off, congratulations on the release of your excellent debut EP Underwhelmed.

How has it been received so far?

Stefan: It�s been received very well. Critics definitely don�t seem Underwhelmed. Ha-

ha!

Morten: Thanks. Well, it�s been eagerly received, so we�re quite satisfied.

Kasper: It�s been received way better than I dreamed it would, and the reviews are

awesome!

Spit Rusty is an interesting name; where does it come from?

Stefan: That�s a quite funny story about the name. I think we came up with ideas

for like a month, without any really good names, and at one point I almost became

frustrated, �cause with no name, there�s no band! But we played around with the idea

of trying one of the band name generators that you might find via a simple Google

search. We only had to give the generator one or two words that described our band

and it would come up with suggestions. Really the non-creative way to pick a band

name. Well, the generator came up with �Spit Rusty� and we thought, It�s cool, but

seriously, a freaking generator on the internet made that name. So we went on

brainstorming, but in the end we chose Spit Rusty. It�s really cool! I like it more as the

days go by!

Martin: it�s the postmodern way of coming up with a name, ha-ha! Definitely a first.

Sometimes you�re just better off leaving things to serendipity. We really tried to

come up with something better, but in the end Spit Rusty really does sum up what

we�re about. Rock music is a way of dealing with a lot of negative emotions and in this

respect our band name creates an interesting allegory � at least in my mind.

There is a lot of variation on the EP, and you include elements from metal, hard rock

and other types of rock music. Is that why you've opted for the term "hard rock" for

your style of music rather than listing a bunch of metal/rock subgenres?

Stefan: The five individuals in the band listen to all kinds of music. So we get

inspiration to our songs from the genres we listen to, throwing ideas up when we

rehearse and then we go with our gut feeling. In the back of our minds, each of us has

a pretty clear understanding of what works and what doesn�t!

Kasper: Hard rock is just the main genre where we believe our music belongs, but as

you say, a long list of subgenres is to be found on �Underwhelmed�.

Martin: The whole genre discussion is a bit redundant, isn�t it? Well, to me the

important thing is to avoid letting certain labels confine you. We are still a brand new

band; it�s too early for us to impose limitations on ourselves.

Can you describe the four tracks on the EP for us?

Stefan: To me �Stick To The Trails� is pedal to the metal! You start out hearing the

drum intro and then comes the guitar and bass, and before you know it, we just take

off doing what we do best. �Drift Alone� appeals to anyone with long hair. It just

grooves! Simple as that! �We Will Be OK� is catchy in every way. The lyrics are easy to

sing along to and in the end, it just became too tempting. So we just had to go on with

half the tempo! That motherf*cking rocks. And at last �Those Days� is a guitar song!

Well to me it is. Ha-ha. Personally I think this is my favourite song on the EP. It just

keeps being interesting for me to listen to.

Kasper: Personally I love �We Will Be OK� it grooves, it�s easy to sing along to, and

then the twist with the Jew�s harp just makes it perfect!

Martin: As you mentioned, the four tracks are quite different, containing elements

from various genres. As far as lyrics go that�s a bit of a mash-up as well, ranging from

general existentialistic considerations to post apocalyptic images, powerlessness and

reflection. The main thing is that the listener meets our music with an open mind, so

no need to explain too much, ha!

There's a Jew's harp in "We Will Be Okay", but there was also something about a

banjo, right? Can you tell us that story.

Morten: It all boils down to banjo madness, ha-ha!

Kasper: Well that�s one of many crazy ideas that came up while

making �Underwhelmed�. We had the ideas of bringing something unusual into our

music, we tried a banjo but it turned out just a little to twisted for our taste! The Jew�s

harp unlike the banjo was just the right thing!

Martin: Our engineer plays the banjo, so we had him record a bit on a song. It really

sounded cool, but just didn�t tie in with the rest of the song. It was a spontaneous

experiment, it wouldn�t mind trying something like that again that again.

What was the recording process like?

Philip: It was slow with a lot of baths and gravy!

Stefan: We knew from the beginning that we had to make a low-budget EP and

so we ran through our contacts and ended up booking a local cheap studio for a

weekend. We scheduled every day, figuring out how long the individual recordings

were �allowed� to last. But we ran into some serious problems when some of the studio gear broke down. So suddenly we were 6 hours behind schedule, and we had to work on throughout all three nights. It was a rough weekend, but we still had time to

experiment with some funky instruments past midnight Sunday night.

What is the story behind the Underwhelmed-title? it's not exactly an underwhelming

release.

Kasper: Well the Underwhelmed-title just came up one day during a break; Martin,

completely unmotivated, said: �I just found this word that doesn�t exist as a Danish

word, but it sounds great!� and I said �Well bring it up, what is it?� and he was right, it

sounded awesome and ended up being the title on our first release.

Martin: I have a tendency to fall in love with words and phrases. I often write

down stuff I think I might use in my lyrics. Anyway, I had stumbled upon the word

Underwhelmed in a book I was reading and immediately took a liking to it. It�s

interesting �cause the antonym is lot more common and is used a lot in the Danish

language as well. The term Underwhelmed was easy to decipher, but at the time I was

unsure as to whether a Danish equivalent existed. It�s a pity we don�t have that term,

after all it�s an everyday feeling. I think the term apply to a lot of my lyrics.

Given that you are still a pretty new band, and most of Metal Music Archives' users

are probably not familiar with you yet, could you give us the background history of

Spit Rusty?

Martin: Philip, Kasper and Stefan are long-term friends and have played in different

line-ups for years. About a year ago they had just parted ways with their singer and

drummer. Through a music site they found Morten and me, and soon after we formed

Spit Rusty. The trail just materialized � and we stuck to it!

In an interview over on HMdk, you've described your style as pure Danish hard rock.

What is the hard rock and metal scene in Denmark like in general?

Martin: Denmark is a small country so niche genres in general are bound to have a

hard time. Bearing that in mind I think that the alternative scene is doing quite well.

As far as hard rock and metal go it�s like a community, you pretty much know or know

about everybody. A lot of non-musicians put their back into it as well, that�s quite

amazing.

How, would you say, does Spit Rusty fit into the Danish hard rock and metal scene?

Philip: I think we fit in quite well. We bring the magic from both the hard rock and the

metal scene!

Kasper: Well, we play hard rock like it�s meant to be played, and I�m sure that it fits

the Danish Hard Rock scene just fine!

Martin: We bring a lot of energy and performance, and we are not afraid to challenge

the conventions a bit.

And how does Spit Rusty fit into the metal music universe in general?

Martin: I admire a lot of the metal/hard rock bands from the 80ies onwards �

especially those who are still playing. We are just the new breed. We try to carry on a

music tradition and at the same time we a very aware of being an original band. You

have to bring something new to the table! In our case it�s fairly simple �cause we draw

on so many inspirations, it�s really not a pitfall for us to become too generic.

Speaking of the metal scene, do you have any touring plans, and will it be possible to

experience Spit Rusty live outside of Denmark?

Stefan: So far, we only have a few gigs scheduled. But we don�t waste our time sitting

at home and waiting for someone to hire us. We aim high at the very beginning and

we�re not shy! We know that the Rock/Metal business is tough and nothing comes

cheap, except beer! So we work 7 days a week, making bookers and venues around

the country aware of us. At the moment, we�re hoping to get a gig in London. Nuff�

said. Ha-ha!

Where can Underwhelmed be purchased?

Stefan: We had the entire EP uploaded to all of the big digital services that everyone

knows. iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Emusic etc.

Martin: If you want a physical copy just contact us and we will work something out.

And where can our users go for more information on Spit Rusty?

Stefan: Facebook is our platform of choice! We�re online every day!

What advice would you give to other bands and artists, trying to get their music

together and 'out there' in the world?

Stefan: Go with your guts! And aim high. We don�t have the recipe to success; we�re

quite aggressive when we sell Spit Rusty as a band. For now, that seems to work out

quite well!

Kasper: Talk to the people around you! Listen to the advice you get from artists and

the music business.

Martin: It�s tough; it�s a Gordian knot for most bands. You just have to work hard

everyday. Think outside the box.

Thank you for doing this interview. Is there anything you would like to say to our

users?

Stefan: Buy or stream �Underwhelmed� from the big digital platforms. Tell ALL of your

friends about us and there might just be something in it for you! We love all the good

attention!

Kasper: Listen up; we will rock you world!

Spit Rusty's MMA Profile may be found here.

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Conor Fynes Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 06 Jun 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 83	Post Options Post Reply Quote Conor Fynes Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Jan 2012 at 8:26pm
	This interview was made possible by collaboration with fellow member Time Signature. Many thanks to him! You may not have heard of Spit Rusty before, but they are a new band on the Danish rock scene that is quickly picking up speed. Catching them on their rise, MMA gets a peak into the workings of this promising act. First off, congratulations on the release of your excellent debut EP Underwhelmed. How has it been received so far? Stefan: It�s been received very well. Critics definitely don�t seem Underwhelmed. Ha- ha! Morten: Thanks. Well, it�s been eagerly received, so we�re quite satisfied. Kasper: It�s been received way better than I dreamed it would, and the reviews are awesome! Spit Rusty is an interesting name; where does it come from? Stefan: That�s a quite funny story about the name. I think we came up with ideas for like a month, without any really good names, and at one point I almost became frustrated, �cause with no name, there�s no band! But we played around with the idea of trying one of the band name generators that you might find via a simple Google search. We only had to give the generator one or two words that described our band and it would come up with suggestions. Really the non-creative way to pick a band name. Well, the generator came up with �Spit Rusty� and we thought, It�s cool, but seriously, a freaking generator on the internet made that name. So we went on brainstorming, but in the end we chose Spit Rusty. It�s really cool! I like it more as the days go by! Martin: it�s the postmodern way of coming up with a name, ha-ha! Definitely a first. Sometimes you�re just better off leaving things to serendipity. We really tried to come up with something better, but in the end Spit Rusty really does sum up what we�re about. Rock music is a way of dealing with a lot of negative emotions and in this respect our band name creates an interesting allegory � at least in my mind. There is a lot of variation on the EP, and you include elements from metal, hard rock and other types of rock music. Is that why you've opted for the term "hard rock" for your style of music rather than listing a bunch of metal/rock subgenres? Stefan: The five individuals in the band listen to all kinds of music. So we get inspiration to our songs from the genres we listen to, throwing ideas up when we rehearse and then we go with our gut feeling. In the back of our minds, each of us has a pretty clear understanding of what works and what doesn�t! Kasper: Hard rock is just the main genre where we believe our music belongs, but as you say, a long list of subgenres is to be found on �Underwhelmed�. Martin: The whole genre discussion is a bit redundant, isn�t it? Well, to me the important thing is to avoid letting certain labels confine you. We are still a brand new band; it�s too early for us to impose limitations on ourselves. Can you describe the four tracks on the EP for us? Stefan: To me �Stick To The Trails� is pedal to the metal! You start out hearing the drum intro and then comes the guitar and bass, and before you know it, we just take off doing what we do best. �Drift Alone� appeals to anyone with long hair. It just grooves! Simple as that! �We Will Be OK� is catchy in every way. The lyrics are easy to sing along to and in the end, it just became too tempting. So we just had to go on with half the tempo! That motherfcking rocks. And at last �Those Days� is a guitar song! Well to me it is. Ha-ha. Personally I think this is my favourite song on the EP. It just keeps being interesting for me to listen to. Kasper: Personally I love �We Will Be OK� it grooves, it�s easy to sing along to, and then the twist with the Jew�s harp just makes it perfect! Martin: As you mentioned, the four tracks are quite different, containing elements from various genres. As far as lyrics go that�s a bit of a mash-up as well, ranging from general existentialistic considerations to post apocalyptic images, powerlessness and reflection. The main thing is that the listener meets our music with an open mind, so no need to explain too much, ha! There's a Jew's harp in "We Will Be Okay", but there was also something about a* banjo, right? Can you tell us that story. Morten: It all boils down to banjo madness, ha-ha! Kasper: Well that�s one of many crazy ideas that came up while making �Underwhelmed�. We had the ideas of bringing something unusual into our music, we tried a banjo but it turned out just a little to twisted for our taste! The Jew�s harp unlike the banjo was just the right thing! Martin: Our engineer plays the banjo, so we had him record a bit on a song. It really sounded cool, but just didn�t tie in with the rest of the song. It was a spontaneous experiment, it wouldn�t mind trying something like that again that again. What was the recording process like? Philip: It was slow with a lot of baths and gravy! Stefan: We knew from the beginning that we had to make a low-budget EP and so we ran through our contacts and ended up booking a local cheap studio for a weekend. We scheduled every day, figuring out how long the individual recordings were �allowed� to last. But we ran into some serious problems when some of the studio gear broke down. So suddenly we were 6 hours behind schedule, and we had to work on throughout all three nights. It was a rough weekend, but we still had time to experiment with some funky instruments past midnight Sunday night. What is the story behind the Underwhelmed-title? it's not exactly an underwhelming release. Kasper: Well the Underwhelmed-title just came up one day during a break; Martin, completely unmotivated, said: �I just found this word that doesn�t exist as a Danish word, but it sounds great!� and I said �Well bring it up, what is it?� and he was right, it sounded awesome and ended up being the title on our first release. Martin: I have a tendency to fall in love with words and phrases. I often write down stuff I think I might use in my lyrics. Anyway, I had stumbled upon the word Underwhelmed in a book I was reading and immediately took a liking to it. It�s interesting �cause the antonym is lot more common and is used a lot in the Danish language as well. The term Underwhelmed was easy to decipher, but at the time I was unsure as to whether a Danish equivalent existed. It�s a pity we don�t have that term, after all it�s an everyday feeling. I think the term apply to a lot of my lyrics. Given that you are still a pretty new band, and most of Metal Music Archives' users are probably not familiar with you yet, could you give us the background history of Spit Rusty? Martin: Philip, Kasper and Stefan are long-term friends and have played in different line-ups for years. About a year ago they had just parted ways with their singer and drummer. Through a music site they found Morten and me, and soon after we formed Spit Rusty. The trail just materialized � and we stuck to it! In an interview over on HMdk, you've described your style as pure Danish hard rock. What is the hard rock and metal scene in Denmark like in general? Martin: Denmark is a small country so niche genres in general are bound to have a hard time. Bearing that in mind I think that the alternative scene is doing quite well. As far as hard rock and metal go it�s like a community, you pretty much know or know about everybody. A lot of non-musicians put their back into it as well, that�s quite amazing. How, would you say, does Spit Rusty fit into the Danish hard rock and metal scene? Philip: I think we fit in quite well. We bring the magic from both the hard rock and the metal scene! Kasper: Well, we play hard rock like it�s meant to be played, and I�m sure that it fits the Danish Hard Rock scene just fine! Martin: We bring a lot of energy and performance, and we are not afraid to challenge the conventions a bit. And how does Spit Rusty fit into the metal music universe in general? Martin: I admire a lot of the metal/hard rock bands from the 80ies onwards � especially those who are still playing. We are just the new breed. We try to carry on a music tradition and at the same time we a very aware of being an original band. You have to bring something new to the table! In our case it�s fairly simple �cause we draw on so many inspirations, it�s really not a pitfall for us to become too generic. Speaking of the metal scene, do you have any touring plans, and will it be possible to experience Spit Rusty live outside of Denmark? Stefan: So far, we only have a few gigs scheduled. But we don�t waste our time sitting at home and waiting for someone to hire us. We aim high at the very beginning and we�re not shy! We know that the Rock/Metal business is tough and nothing comes cheap, except beer! So we work 7 days a week, making bookers and venues around the country aware of us. At the moment, we�re hoping to get a gig in London. Nuff� said. Ha-ha! Where can Underwhelmed be purchased? Stefan: We had the entire EP uploaded to all of the big digital services that everyone knows. iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Emusic etc. Martin: If you want a physical copy just contact us and we will work something out. And where can our users go for more information on Spit Rusty? Stefan: Facebook is our platform of choice! We�re online every day! What advice would you give to other bands and artists, trying to get their music together and 'out there' in the world? Stefan: Go with your guts! And aim high. We don�t have the recipe to success; we�re quite aggressive when we sell Spit Rusty as a band. For now, that seems to work out quite well! Kasper: Talk to the people around you! Listen to the advice you get from artists and the music business. Martin: It�s tough; it�s a Gordian knot for most bands. You just have to work hard everyday. Think outside the box. Thank you for doing this interview. Is there anything you would like to say to our users? Stefan: Buy or stream �Underwhelmed� from the big digital platforms. Tell ALL of your friends about us and there might just be something in it for you! We love all the good attention! Kasper: Listen up; we will rock you world! Spit Rusty's MMA Profile may be found here.