Rockstar Interviews: Spin Class

Photo courtesy of Memphia Music Management

Interview conducted by Anselm Anderson

Hello, how are you? Spin Class released their second EP, titled ‘Dinner at Derek’s,’ on July 18th. Could you tell us more about this release?

This EP is a new era of Spin Class. We’ve spent a year crafting our tone, writing together in the same city and playing live. Dinner at Derek’s promises a menu of short, yet full tunes, chock-full of chops and changes, riffs to make your belly rumble, and melodies you’ll find yourself singing to yourself, even when you don’t want to.

How would you compare this album to your first EP, 'Wednesday'?

We’ve approached this batch of tunes with feeling rather than thinking, which we feel comes across, especially in the performance, compared to ‘Wednesday’. We recorded the whole EP live! It was a joyous event for us, but one we loved and will likely make our process moving forward. ‘Wednesday’ was us finding our feet as a band, ‘Dinner at Derek’s’ is us letting you know we mean business!

Spin Class has been active for several years and, in that time, has released two EPs, as well as the first two singles from your forthcoming release. Could you share some insights into how the band was formed?

Well, we were all mates first and foremost, Sonny and Slater went to uni together and were in a band previously, Sam, Harry and Max (our Manager and Content Creator) grew up together in Brighton and we all knew each other through mutuals and moved to Bristol at different times (not Sonny, he’s a Bristol boy through and through – UP THE GAS). Sam was staying on Slater’s sofa for a time, could barely play the bass, and Sonny reached out, and the three of us jammed in the living room, drummerless, writing tunes for nine months or so.

We were desperate to play a gig and reached out to Harry, who was still living in Brighton, and he agreed to play with us for one night and one night only! A few of our friends let us play in their living room, and Max documented the process for us and put together a little documentary, which you can find on our YouTube Channel! Needless to say, Harry couldn’t get enough, begged to be in the band, we said “Fine, I guess if you really want to that bad”, and the rest was history! Now we are all in Bristol together as a unit and loving every second.

'Dinner at Derek’s' features a combination of alternative rock, progressive and grunge elements with a dynamic and varied style. How would you characterise your sound, and what influences contributed to this release?

What’s cool is we encourage each other to bring a piece of each one of us into each track we’ve written, and we all have a different spectrum of influences and personal tastes that mesh well together.

We’re defined by hooky riffs with violent and abrupt changes that build up into a wall-of-sound finale, which is guaranteed to be explosive. We also just love to have fun, and that naturally comes through in the music.

The album was recorded live in a small Bath studio. I've seen other bands adopt this approach. How does it affect your sound?

We recorded our last EP with Josh Gallop from Stage 2 Studios in Bath, who Louis and Sonny knew previously. Just so happens he is extremely good at what he does. When we recorded ‘Wednesday’, he was able to translate what we wrote in the living room and make it sound awesome in the studio. We also just have the best time working with him, so it was a no-brainer to go back! This time around, we tried something new and ambitious with recording live, and he had faith in us from the beginning. He’s got the ear of a bat and the fingers of a mongoose. He gives us space to do our thing, whilst also coming up with his own ideas which elevate our tracks due to his raw batgoose prowess.

The first single, ‘Bagel, Bagel, Bagel,’ appeared on charts on Apple, was mentioned in several magazine publications, and received airplay in America. How has this influenced the preparation for the EP, and what information can you share about the single?

"Bagel, Bagel, Bagel "was our most successful release yet at the time, which we couldn’t be more chuffed with! It gave us a jump start, and we hope to keep the momentum rolling! We’re learning as we go, so the plan is to keep throwing shit at the walls and put what sticks in our pockets.

How would you describe the writing process behind the album?

We had Harry here with us this time around. We wrote all the tracks in the rehearsal room and tried not to overthink it. When it came to recording, we really wanted to capture that energy, which is why we opted for a live recording.

Spin Class are based in Bristol. You have described the music scene as "the artistic melting pot." Could you explain what this means and identify which types of bands are notable in Bristol?

You'd better get your Kleenex ready, it’s a soppy one…Bristol attracts so many talented creatives, bands and more. We are just lucky sods who happen to be mates with a lot of them. Community is important to us; we wouldn’t be a band without these filmmakers, illustrators, writers, producers, promoters, DJs and other bands that lift us up with their work and support. We wanna see everyone else thrive as much as ourselves.

And finally, what are the future ambitions for the band?

We want to be the next Taylor Swift.

'Dinner at Derek's' is available now via all major streaming platforms

Social Media Links

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spinclasstheband


TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@spin.class


YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@spinclasstheband

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Copyright: Anselm Anderson ©