OWN INTERVIEW CONTENTS Vol.14 SPIT!
Tina(Vo) , PeiGen(Gt.Vo) , Vince(Gt) , A-Pun(Ba) , Chris(Dr)
OWN (hereinafter O ): Nice to meet you! Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. First, please introduce yourselves, SPIT! members.
PeiGen (hereinafter referred to as P) : Hello everyone in Japan. I'm PeiGen , the guitarist for SPIT !! I'm in charge of the band's arrangements. As for my career, I started playing in a punk band about 15 years ago. The album we just released with SPIT! is actually songs that I'd been working on for about six years. At the time, I couldn't find a vocalist, but I met Tina about two years ago, and by bringing her on as our vocalist, I was finally able to complete the album. It's been a while since we've been active and performed as a band, but I think the sound is a more extreme hardcore punk sound.
Vince (hereafter V) : Hello. I'm Vince , the guitarist for SPIT ! SPIT! is a twin guitar band.
A-Pun (hereafter, A): Hello everyone. I'm the bassist for SPIT! and also play bass in a hardcore punk band called Selfish Sucker. Selfish Sucker has released one album. I started listening to punk in 2000 and have always preferred pop punk. After that, I discovered bands like Casualties and Exploited, and formed Selfish Sucker in college. After graduating, I met Po Wei, the guitarist for Bazooka, and he taught me about punk and crossover metal. I realized that what I really wanted to play was faster punk. I like faster, harder power violence and grindcore. In SPiT!, I want to play a different type of power violence than I've played in my previous bands.
Tina (hereafter referred to as T): Hello, I'm Tina . I'm the vocalist for SPIT!
Chris (hereafter referred to as C) I'm Chris , the drummer. Last year, my daughter was born, so things were a bit hectic and progress on the SPIT! album was delayed.
What year was O SPIT! formed?
P: I think the current members all came together and started working together in 2017 .
Please tell us how O SPIT! was formed.
C My current band leader, PeiGen , and I met while skateboarding and became friends. Then one day, PeiGen asked me if I wanted to form a band. I thought it was a great idea, so I accepted. However, we couldn't find a singer for many years, so the band was on the verge of breaking up for a while.
SPIT ! was the second punk band I ever formed. Bassist A-Pun and I are old friends, and we used to play in a band called Selfish Sucker . When I was 27 or 28 , I wanted to start a new band, but my wife had just given birth to twins, so the timing was tight. Even after I entered my 30s , A-Pun and I kept talking about starting a new band, so we decided to ask Chris, a skateboarding buddy of ours, to join us as our drummer. After that, we moved very slowly, writing songs and practicing without a vocalist for about two or three years. Then one day, a friend of mine suggested, "Why don't you invite Tina to join as a vocalist?" We also invited Vince around the same time, and that's how the current SPIT! lineup was finally assembled.
The first time I heard about SPIT! was when I saw a live video on Twitter . I was amazed at how cool they were!
Thank you, V ! The live video you saw on Twitter wasn't a self-produced event, but a studio live performance we did around 2019. We were very lucky and blessed with a lot of support from those around us. We have friends in many labels and bands, including Suck Glue Boys , Raw Noise Attack , Twin Peak Records , and Taichung 's Dirty Party , who gave us a lot of support.
OPlease tell us how you came to release your first album through the newly established Japanese label, Capture Device .
V : Around 2015 , I was a member of the indie pop band Glue . We performed in Taipei with the Japanese shoegaze band Broken Little Sister , and that's when I met Mr. Hinuma, who currently runs Capture Device . He was in Taiwan as a staff member for Broken Little Sister . He talked to me a lot and even showed me the Japanese cassette tape of Glue . He was a big fan of Glue , and he was wearing a Dischord T -shirt, so we realized we had very similar tastes in music. We kept in touch for a long time, and when I joined SPIT!, Mr. Hinuma was also starting his new label, Capture Device . That's how I ended up releasing my music on Capture Device .
O I see! So was it difficult to make your first album as SPIT !?
V: It wasn't difficult at all. We didn't have a huge budget, but we still had a lot of fun making it. We asked our friend Mark Young (Non-Point Seed /Motorik/ Fuguko) to co-produce, and he even recorded and mixed for us. Mizuno-san from the Japanese band Qujaku helped with the mastering. Capture Device introduced us to Mizuno-san.
Did the production of the album go smoothly? Do you have any stories to share about the production?
V: There weren't any particularly interesting episodes. I remember that the drummer, Chris , quickly recorded the drum parts for all the songs in about six hours.
PAbout 90 % of this album is based on songs I wrote. However, my band members came up with arrangements that I would never have thought of on my own. I'm really grateful to them. This is the best album of my career so far. Of course, I'll try to make my next album even better, but this is the best I can do so far!
V: I've never played in a hardcore punk / power violence band like SPIT! or recorded a full album, so it was a great experience.
What are the highlights of O SPIT! 's first album?
P: I'd like people to pay attention to the fact that this album contains elements of not only hardcore punk / power violence, but also sludge. Many of the songs on the album incorporate elements of D- beat, grindcore, and other genres. I hope that this becomes a favorite album for those who listen to it.
OWhat was the reaction after the album was released?
P: I started an Instagram account, and after releasing my album, I received messages from many countries. I was really happy to receive offers to release cassette tapes and CDs from all over the world. Also, Suck Glue Boys , a Taiwanese punk band who released a cassette tape for SPIT!, performed at a free show on May 14th . It was the first time in a while that so many fans were forming mosh pits, and it became a very fond memory.
I think Tina 's vocals are a big feature of O SPIT !. What kind of music influenced you?
To be honest, when I joined the band, I just sang as hard as I could, without being influenced by anyone else's voice. After that, I started to consciously listen to other female vocalists, such as DETESTATION, PUNCH, ADACTA, and Exotica. The more I perform, the lower my voice gets, so I rarely take inspiration from other people's singing styles.
The song titles are also unique, such as "Stone Head," " I Hate Banana ," and " GoDieGo ." What are the contents of the songs?
The lyrics are about a variety of things (laughs). They talk about the demon that lives inside the womb, or how much I hate bananas. They also talk about the betrayal of a friend, and the deprivation of freedom... The content of each song is different. Oh! I should have made a lyric sheet and included it on the CD , sorry. I just remembered that (tears).
V: The lyrics were written based on Tina ’s own thoughts. Communication with co-producer Mark also went well. I think all the members are happy with the result.
OPlease tell us if there are any bands that have influenced you in terms of sound.
P : A lot of crust punk bands. I love Discharge , Nausea , Skitsystem , Disclose , Disease , etc. I was also very influenced by the first two albums that Trash Talk and Ceremony released. I would say that these bands I just mentioned were the biggest influences on SPIT!
Do you have any favorite Japanese bands?
My favorite Japanese bands are DISCLOSE , GAUZE , UNHOLY GRAVE , KLONNS , Eat Shit and Die , and CLOWN . I also recently featured a band called ONLY THE LAST SONG on UniteAsia . I sent them an Instagram message, but unfortunately I didn't get a reply (lol).
A SLANG , BBQ CHICKENS , Viscera Infest, Unholy Grave .
I find Japanese new wave / post-punk from the 1980s fascinating, such as ZELDA , Maneki Neko Kagekidan, Mon Mon Club , and Aunt Sally . I recently bought the vinyl version of NON BAND 's second album, their first in 40 years. It's just as fascinating as ever.
V Ginkgo Boyz , Eastern Youth, Yura Yura Teikoku, Number Girls, Advantage Lucy, Lamp, Sunny Day Service, Church of Misery, Chage & ASKA . Also my friends' bands.
C L'Arc ~ en ~ Ciel (laughs). I saw their concert in Taiwan.
O So, please tell us if there are any bands you've been checking out recently.
Kendrick Lamar's previous album.
P If I could just introduce some of my favorite punk bands these days: BOAK , ONLY THE LAST SONG , GEL , SPY , SLANT , SHEER MAG , EAGLE TWIN , SPEECH ODD , WORLD PEACE , HETH , SPY . I'm also really looking forward to the new WORMROT album.
AAlso WORMROT .
V Landlord / Jacob Tanaka, Pharmacist ( JP ), Fury , Third face , Lyrical School , Heresy , Ratcage .
C Shimajiro. I've been watching it with my daughter recently (laughs).
I'd like to know the current state of the punk scene in Taiwan.
Taichung is the center of Taiwan, and is home to a band called Defeated the Giant , who are good friends with the Kaohsiung band Deadpan . They love Youth of Today , Have Heart , and Turnstile , and are passionate and energetic about hosting events. New screamo bands like Flin and Eyeball Killer are also active there. In Taipei, SPIT! has performed live alongside Toxic Blad , L-Schema , Accomplices , and Suck Glue Boy .
P: For me, Taiwanese punk started when some of my old friends started social activism. Around 2001 , we started holding free shows and releasing DIY -style records to voice our dissatisfaction with the government. It was a punk resistance movement that was more anti-government conscious than following the rules of the past. From there, I aimed to create a scene not only through albums and live shows, but also with friends I met through blogs and other sources at the time.
Please tell us about SPIT! 's future activities!
V: We are currently in contact with several overseas labels, but it's still in the process. We also have a couple of live shows planned in Taipei and Taichung. We hope to perform in Japan in the near future!
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer this interview!
SPIT! Thank you very much from all of us. We appreciate it!
【 INFO 】
bandcamp
https://capturedevice.bandcamp.com/album/spit
