Spindrift (band)
Encyclopedia
Spindrift is a psychedelic rock
band created by singer-songwriter-composer-producer-actor Kirpatrick Thomas, who was born in Delaware as one of 5 kids. Founded in 1992, the band originated in Newark, Delaware
along with such other local bands of the period including Jake and the Stiffs, The Verge, Boy Sets Fire, Zen Guerilla and Smashing Orange
. Heavily influenced by The Doors, My Bloody Valentine, Hawkwind
, Bruce Haack
, and Chrome
, Spindrift's early stages were experimental and differed greatly from their present sound.
Six years later band members Kirpatrick Thomas, Joe Baluta and Zachary Hansen
re-located to Los Angeles. The band re-formed to include Bobby Bones of Psychic TV
, Dave Koenig, Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson
and Rob Campanella
of The Brian Jonestown Massacre
and Jason “Plucky” Anchondo of The Warlocks
. Inspired by their new locale, the band began a new stylistic approach evoking the spirit of the Old West as mythologized by Western Cinema, Spaghetti Western
s in particular.
In 2005, Kirpatrick Thomas along with filmmaker Mike Bruce began production on the independent feature film The Legend Of God’s Gun, inspired by the same classic Western Films that influenced their music, most often those directed by Sergio Leone
and scored by Ennio Morricone
.
During this period (2005–2009), the lineup consisted of David Koenig on rhythm guitar and harmonica, Julie Patterson on vocals, organ, and lap steel, Jason "Plucky" Anchondo on drums, Henry Evans on double neck bass and baritone guitar, and Kirpatrick Thomas on vocals and guitar. Tours with Dead Meadow
(Kirpatrick Thomas filled in for an ailing Jason Simons on guitar during one tour), The Black Angels
, and The Dandy Warhols followed until November 2009 when the band suffered a major lineup change due to tour burnout and financial difficulties.
It was around this time that Spindrift began performing electro-acoustic shows with a more intimate, stripped down campfire atmosphere under the name of "Bluniform" and "Boy Scout Jamboree" with Koenig and Thomas taking the lead harmonies and performing tunes written by the likes of the "singing cowboys" such as Johnny Western
, Johnny Bond
, Tex Ritter
, The Louvin Brothers, Frankie Laine
, The Sons of the Pioneers, and Rex Allen
. Spindrift also began incorporating these songs into their regular set and on occasion, would play them live.
In December 2009, Henry Evans and Kirpatrick Thomas began reforming and rebuilding Spindrift while rehearsing and writing new songs in the Gram Parsons
death room at Joshua Tree Inn. Added were Luke Dawson (who was innkeeper at the time) on pedal steel and rhythm guitar, Sasha Vallely on vocals, organ, and Native American flute, and James Acton on autoharp, vocals, and drums. The current lineup has performed at SXSW 2010, Psych Fest III, supported Black Mountain
, and toured Europe for the first time with B.R.M.C.
in May 2010. In December 2010 after a 7 week U.S. Tour and following a successful Kickstarter
campaign, the band went in and tracked Classic Soundtracks Volume 1 at Hicksville Trailer Palace in Joshua Tree, CA.
produced by Quentin Tarantino
.
The motion picture The Legend Of God’s Gun
was inspired by the Spindrift's 2002 album of the same name which was released three years prior to the making of the film. The movie's soundtrack features work from that album as well as tracks by Gram Rabbit and Mike Bruce's own band the Low-flying Owls. The album, The Legend Of God's Gun, was updated and re-released in 2007. In 2009 Tee Pee Records re-released the soundtrack and the band toured the United States, opening for The Dandy Warhols who under their Beat The World record label released the Spindrift album "The West" Nov. 2008.
Spindrift has also contributed to the VBS.tv VICE documentary series "Coffin Joe" and the songs "Ace Coletrain" and "Girlz, Booze, Gunz" were featured in the HBO Comedy series Eastbound & Down." The band has also scored a restored version of "Tecumseh's Curse", a film about the Curse of Tippecanoe
by director J.X. Williams.
In 2010, Spindrift went on to supply the score to Mike Bruce's next feature "Treasure of the Black Jaguar", an action survival story loosely based on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
.
Spindrift has cited the Sergio Leone film Once Upon a Time in the West
as a influence on the cinematic outlook for the band's music and overall look.
, J. X. Williams
, Abigail Bean, Simon Chan
, and many others. The music crossed genres such as Bollywood songs
, Science fiction, Exploitation films, and Film noir
. The album was engineered by Ethan Allen (of Gram Rabbit
) and mastered by Howie Weinberg
. The band went on to tour Europe for 2 months supporting Black Mountain, Dead Meadow, and Kurt Vile
.
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
band created by singer-songwriter-composer-producer-actor Kirpatrick Thomas, who was born in Delaware as one of 5 kids. Founded in 1992, the band originated in Newark, Delaware
Newark, Delaware
Newark is an American city in New Castle County, Delaware, west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is the home of the University of Delaware.- History :...
along with such other local bands of the period including Jake and the Stiffs, The Verge, Boy Sets Fire, Zen Guerilla and Smashing Orange
Smashing Orange
Smashing Orange was an American band formed in 1990. They released three albums before splitting up in the mid-1990s. Their early sound saw them classified as "shoegazing".-History:...
. Heavily influenced by The Doors, My Bloody Valentine, Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
, Bruce Haack
Bruce Haack
Bruce Clinton Haack was a musician, composer, and pioneer of electronic music. He was born in Alberta, Canada.-From Alberta to New York :...
, and Chrome
Chrome (band)
Chrome was an experimental rock group founded in San Francisco, California in 1976.Chrome took part of their inspiration for their rough and sometimes chaotic music from proto punk pioneers like The Stooges. The sound of the group was often coarse and featured heavy elements of feedback and...
, Spindrift's early stages were experimental and differed greatly from their present sound.
Six years later band members Kirpatrick Thomas, Joe Baluta and Zachary Hansen
Zachary Hansen
Zachary Hansen is the former drummer for such Newark, Delaware bands as Jake and the Stiffs, Medicine Man , Raised on Sugar and Spindrift, among other appearances on numerous Mid-Atlantic region recordings with such bands as The Stone Road Stalkers, Blue Water, and The Sonny Mishra Project...
re-located to Los Angeles. The band re-formed to include Bobby Bones of Psychic TV
Psychic TV
Psychic TV or PTV, is a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music...
, Dave Koenig, Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson
Frankie Emerson
Frankie Emerson, also known as Frankie Teardrop, is an American indie multi-instrumentalist, best known as a current member and for his work with the neo-psychedelic rock band, The Brian Jonestown Massacre.-The Brian Jonestown Massacre:...
and Rob Campanella
Rob Campanella
Rob Campanella is a musician, best known as a Los Angeles producer, engineer, and member of The Quarter After.-Producer, Engineer:Rob has produced and engineered albums for his own band The Quarter After, and for clients including Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Tyde, Beachwood Sparks, Goldrush, ...
of The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American eclectic musical group led by Anton Newcombe, whose music spans multiple genres including psychedelia, electronica, folk music, blues, experimental music, and many others....
and Jason “Plucky” Anchondo of The Warlocks
The Warlocks
The Warlocks are an American rock band based out of Los Angeles. Their music has been defined as neo-psychedelia, but much of it spans multiple genres.-Music:...
. Inspired by their new locale, the band began a new stylistic approach evoking the spirit of the Old West as mythologized by Western Cinema, Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s in particular.
In 2005, Kirpatrick Thomas along with filmmaker Mike Bruce began production on the independent feature film The Legend Of God’s Gun, inspired by the same classic Western Films that influenced their music, most often those directed by Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
and scored by Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
.
During this period (2005–2009), the lineup consisted of David Koenig on rhythm guitar and harmonica, Julie Patterson on vocals, organ, and lap steel, Jason "Plucky" Anchondo on drums, Henry Evans on double neck bass and baritone guitar, and Kirpatrick Thomas on vocals and guitar. Tours with Dead Meadow
Dead Meadow
Dead Meadow is an American hard rock band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1998. Currently comprising vocalist and guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille and drummer Mark Laughlin, the band has released five studio albums and one live album.-Biography:...
(Kirpatrick Thomas filled in for an ailing Jason Simons on guitar during one tour), The Black Angels
The Black Angels (band)
- History :Formed in May 2004, the band's name derives from the Velvet Underground song "The Black Angel's Death Song".In 2005, the Black Angels were featured on a dual-disc compilation album of psychedelic music called Psychedelica Vol.1 from Northern Star Records...
, and The Dandy Warhols followed until November 2009 when the band suffered a major lineup change due to tour burnout and financial difficulties.
It was around this time that Spindrift began performing electro-acoustic shows with a more intimate, stripped down campfire atmosphere under the name of "Bluniform" and "Boy Scout Jamboree" with Koenig and Thomas taking the lead harmonies and performing tunes written by the likes of the "singing cowboys" such as Johnny Western
Johnny Western
Johnny Western is an American country singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and radio show host. He is a member of the Western Music Association Hall of Fame and the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
, Johnny Bond
Johnny Bond
Cyrus Whitfield Bond , known professionally as Johnny Bond, was a popular American country music entertainer of the 1940s through the 1960s.-Biography:...
, Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
, The Louvin Brothers, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, The Sons of the Pioneers, and Rex Allen
Rex Allen
Rex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
. Spindrift also began incorporating these songs into their regular set and on occasion, would play them live.
In December 2009, Henry Evans and Kirpatrick Thomas began reforming and rebuilding Spindrift while rehearsing and writing new songs in the Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
death room at Joshua Tree Inn. Added were Luke Dawson (who was innkeeper at the time) on pedal steel and rhythm guitar, Sasha Vallely on vocals, organ, and Native American flute, and James Acton on autoharp, vocals, and drums. The current lineup has performed at SXSW 2010, Psych Fest III, supported Black Mountain
Black Mountain (band)
Black Mountain is a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The band is composed of Stephen McBean, Amber Webber, Matt Camirand, Jeremy Schmidt and Joshua Wells.-Overview:...
, and toured Europe for the first time with B.R.M.C.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, now based in Los Angeles. BRMC is known for their garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia sound. They are influenced by bands such as: The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Verve, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, T...
in May 2010. In December 2010 after a 7 week U.S. Tour and following a successful Kickstarter
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects. Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors, ranging from indie film and music to journalism, solar energy technology and food-related projects.-Model:...
campaign, the band went in and tracked Classic Soundtracks Volume 1 at Hicksville Trailer Palace in Joshua Tree, CA.
Soundtrack and Television
In 2008, Spindrift contributed to the soundtrack of the feature film Hell RideHell Ride
Hell Ride is a 2008 American feature film from Larry Bishop released under the "Quentin Tarantino Presents" banner.-Plot:Larry Bishop stars as biker Pistolero, the leader, or "Pres" of the Victors, a Southern California motorcycle gang...
produced by Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
.
The motion picture The Legend Of God’s Gun
The Legend of God’s Gun
The Legend Of God’s Gun is a 2008 American independently produced film celebrating the tradition of western films and the spirit of Rock and Roll...
was inspired by the Spindrift's 2002 album of the same name which was released three years prior to the making of the film. The movie's soundtrack features work from that album as well as tracks by Gram Rabbit and Mike Bruce's own band the Low-flying Owls. The album, The Legend Of God's Gun, was updated and re-released in 2007. In 2009 Tee Pee Records re-released the soundtrack and the band toured the United States, opening for The Dandy Warhols who under their Beat The World record label released the Spindrift album "The West" Nov. 2008.
Spindrift has also contributed to the VBS.tv VICE documentary series "Coffin Joe" and the songs "Ace Coletrain" and "Girlz, Booze, Gunz" were featured in the HBO Comedy series Eastbound & Down." The band has also scored a restored version of "Tecumseh's Curse", a film about the Curse of Tippecanoe
Curse of Tippecanoe
The term Curse of Tippecanoe refers to the pattern where from 1840 to 1960 each American president who won an election in a year ending in zero died in office...
by director J.X. Williams.
In 2010, Spindrift went on to supply the score to Mike Bruce's next feature "Treasure of the Black Jaguar", an action survival story loosely based on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a 1948 American film written and directed by John Huston, a feature film adaptation of B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name, in which two Americans Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin during the 1920s in Mexico join with an old-timer, Howard , to prospect for gold...
.
Spindrift has cited the Sergio Leone film Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures. It stars Henry Fonda cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit, and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader with a...
as a influence on the cinematic outlook for the band's music and overall look.
Classic Soundtracks
In Spring of 2011, Spindrift released Classic Soundtracks Volume 1 on Xemu Records. The album featured 14 theme songs to various film scores they are set to and up to 8 different directors participated in the project. The film clips, music videos, and movie trailers were all premiered on IFC and featured films by Burke RobertsBurke Roberts
Burke Roberts is an American film director and multimedia artist. His work has been exhibited at numerous international film festivals,fine art galleries, museums and independent cinemas.Roberts grew up on a ranch in Colorado....
, J. X. Williams
J. X. Williams
J.X. Williams is an American avant-garde filmmaker and director. Numerous critics have cited him to be one of the most influential figures in American avant-garde cinema . Williams was an innovative cult director for several notorious exploitation films produced in the 1960s and 1970s...
, Abigail Bean, Simon Chan
Simon Chan
Dr Simon Chan is a Christian theologian, who is the Earnest Lau Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean of Studies at Trinity Theological College, Singapore. He is the author of: Man & Sin, Pentecostal Theology & Christian Spiritual Tradition, Liturgical Theology and Spiritual Theology. He...
, and many others. The music crossed genres such as Bollywood songs
Bollywood songs
Bollywood songs, more formally known as Hindi movie songs, are songs featured in Bollywood films, often performed in item numbers.The language of Hindi movie songs, generally termed Hindi, can be complex. Some songs are saturated with Urdu and Persian terms and it is not uncommon to hear use of...
, Science fiction, Exploitation films, and Film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
. The album was engineered by Ethan Allen (of Gram Rabbit
Gram Rabbit
Gram Rabbit is a rock band based in Joshua Tree, California. The group consists of vocalist/keyboardist/bassist/guitarist Jesika von Rabbit, guitarist/bassist/programmer/vocalist Todd Rutherford, drummer Hayden Scott and guitarist/producer Ethan Allen. Their musical style has been described as an...
) and mastered by Howie Weinberg
Howie Weinberg
Howie Weinberg is a music mastering engineer who has worked with numerous bands.- Career :He has worked at Masterdisk, New York City, since 1977...
. The band went on to tour Europe for 2 months supporting Black Mountain, Dead Meadow, and Kurt Vile
Kurt Vile
Kurt Vile is a guitarist and singer born in 1980 from the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. He was signed by Matador Records as a solo artist in May 2009....
.
External links
- Official Website
- Cover Photo from The LA Record
- July 2007 Interview with L.A. RecordL.A. RecordL.A. Record is an independent music magazine originally published weekly as a broadsheet poster. The poster usually depicts a local Los Angeles musicians and according to the magazine editors is meant to recreate an iconic album cover. In March 2008, it began publishing as a monthly magazine with a...
- Cover story from LA Alternative
- Report by The News Journal
- Feature in LA WeeklyLA WeeklyLA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
- Article in Soma Scene
- Biography from Vacancy Records