As soon as the Scandinavian tour of Spiders kicked off, supporting The Hellacopters, and, with a great new album “Sharp Objects” on their luggage (release date February 14), we had the pleasure to speak with the band’s founder John Hoyles, one of the most talented musicians, songwriters, guitarists (you name it!) who was kind enough to speak with Myth of Rock.
Find out more about his band, influences, other groups he has played and his passion regarding the second hand record shops.
Enjoy!
Hi John, and thank you for this interview with Myth of Rock. It was great to meet you last Friday, on the first day of the Scandinavian tour, supporting The Hellacopters in Stockholm (show report available here). Honestly, it couldn’t be a better band to play together with The Hellacopters! And you played fantastic!
Thank you, it was great to see you too! Its a dream come true to do a Scandinavian tour with The Hellacopters as it feels like our music style fits together well, and also a great opportunity to showcase our upcoming album.
Could you please tell us a few introductory things about the Spiders, for those who do not know the details, how did the band get together at the beginning, the progress and the line-up changes until now?
We started out in Gothenburg around 2011, at the time it was me and Ann-Sofie, bass player called Matteo Gambacorta and drummer Axel Sjöberg who also played in Graveyard. We recorded a EP that was released on a a local label called Crusher Records. Axel had to leave because Graveyard became big and he didnt have time for both bands so we brought in Ricard Harryson on drums from The Maharadjas and recorded our first full length in 2012. We secured a record label with Universal and recorded two more albums in 2014 and 2018 during which time Matteo left and Olle Griphammar joined on bass. Over the years we have toured really alot in Europe and the US supporting bands like Graveyard, Uncle Acid, Kvelertak and Blood Ceremony.
When Covid hit we decided to have a break and since then we have written our new album Sharp Objects that we recorded it with legendary producer Chips Kiesbye. We now have two new band members, Oskar Brindmark who took over the drums after Ricard and a second guitarist Rickard Hellgren.
In regard to the new album, first of all, I must admit that I like it a lot. It shows the evolution of the sound of the band the of the group per se of course and it sure has all the DNA elements of the previous releases. Would you like to share with us a few details of the recording process, the songwriting contributions of the other members, and what are the challenges, if you and the other band members have for example a regular work schedule, in regard to the rehearsals or recordings, etc.?
Well a lot of the songs started off as demos I wrote at home during Covid. The band met a couple of days in a row and we worked on the songs together. The others in the band brought along their song ideas and we ended up with about 16 songs. We recorded them with Chips Kiesbye at his home studio in a small town called Limmared about one hour from Gothenburg. We all have regular jobs and some have families so it took some time to finish the recording but it was a fun time and Im very pleased with the result. Martin “Konie” Erenchrona from Viagra Boys, Les Big Bird mixed the album in Stockholm. Our contract with Universal had ended so it also took sometime to find a new label but in the end we found Wild Kingdom/Sound Pollution so we are super pleased!
How difficult or challenging is it for you to manage any line-up changes? The band has evolved since the first EP/LP.
Its always difficult when you get to our age and have been playing so long to keep the same line up. Its more of a hobby band as we don’t make much money so it becomes a strain for those who have wives and children at home.
“Fun in the Sun” and “Life Mission” are two of the tracks which stand out from the album, and are favorites of mine. I truly believe that you are an exceptional singer apart from a phenomenal guitar player. Based on your solo album as well, and other collaborations you have done in the past, you have a great vocal performance which perfectly fits the songs I must say. Could you tell us a bit, how it is to manage the vocals as well? Do you separately practice for it or it just comes out naturally when recording the album? And also, do you have a specific inspiration(s) when it comes to your vocals?
Thank you! I didn’t start singing until I released my solo album. I was always quite self-conscious and didn’t like to be in the centre, I just preferred to stand on the side of the stage playing guitar . I’ve never really practiced singing I just started when we were rehearsing and I saw it as bit of a challenge and my vocal style sort of came naturally. I was born in London and my dads english so I suppose I have a London accent when I sing.
It seems that Spiders are on a great form lately, an exciting new album is going to be released, so the question for you is, what is your vision for the band? What would you like to achieve in the next years and how do you see the band evolving?
We are all super stoked to have a new album coming out. I hope we can do some tours and play some festivals. My hopes are to be able to go back to the US and also play Japan and Australia would be a dream and we want to start writing a new album soon so we can have it out next year. We will see what happens.
You have participated in different bands, projects throughout the years, e.g.: Witchcraft, Big Kizz, The Population, you released your solo EP, generally you are super active all those years, that’s great news for us! Do you have anything exciting coming up, apart from Spiders of course?
We started recording an EP with The Population a few months ago that I hope we can finish soon. Axel who plays drums has an other band called Graens and we are fully booked with Spiders at the moment so we will see when we can. The recordings sound cool because we recorded the tracks on a 8 track tape machine and sounds quite raw Stooges style.
What are the top 3 bands that have inspired you mostly, and also, who are your top 3 favorite guitarists?
That’s a difficult question as it changes over the years but the bands that have inspired me the most is probably Cream, The Rolling Stones and Black Sabbath. They are the bands I grew up with when I got into music and my parents listened a lot to the Stones and The Beatles.
My top guitarists are Jimi Hendrix, early Eric Clapton and maybe Richie Blackmore. I listened al lot to John Mayall when I was growing up and I also liked Peter Green and Mick Taylor.
Are you a Spotify or a Vinyl person when it comes to listening to music? And also, could you share with us what have you listened to lately? Anything new?
Me and Ann-Sofie live together and must have over 1000 vinyls together. I used to collect records, mostly obscure 60s and 70s rock bands and loved going to record fairs finding new bands. I still like going to second hand record shops but I don’t get the chance as often as we live out in the countryside. I sometimes use Spotify to check out new bands but I mostly like my vinyl collection. I don’t often listen to music after the 70s haha but I like new bands such as the Swedish band Viagra Boys and also the Australian band Amyl And The Sniffers. I think they are great.
Very interesting! Ok, so, I leave the last word for your message to the fans and our readers!
I hope you like the new album and hope to see you at a show near you!
Thank you very much John for your time, it was a pleasure to have spoken with you and hope to see you soon again!
Thanks Antonis, likewise, hope too see you soon! cheers!
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(pictures from John’s Facebook profile)
