- Spindrift (band)
-
Spindrift 
Background information Origin Delaware/California/United States Genres Psychedelic rockSoundtrack album Years active 1994–present Labels Vacancy Records
Tee Pee Records
Beat The World
Xemu RecordsAssociated acts Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Warlocks
Crooked CowboyWebsite Spindrift official website Members Kirpatrick Thomas
Henry Evans
Sasha Vallely
James Acton
Luke DawsonPast members Paul Budd
Peter Van Kowenburg
Chris Andrews
Joe "Party Chango" Baluta
Zachary Hansen
Cameron Murray
Blair Warner
Jay Caddle
Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson
Dave Koenig
Julie Patterson
Jason "Plucky" Anchondo
Marcos Diableros
Dan Allaire
Bill Degnan
Dan KerriganSpindrift 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 Westerns in particular.
In 2005, Kirpatrick Thomas along with filmmaker Mike Bruce began production on the independent feature film The Legend Of God’s Gun,[1] inspired by the same classic Western Films that influenced their music, most often those directed by Sergio Leone and scored by Ennio Morricone.[2][3]
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.
Contents
Soundtrack and Television
In 2008, Spindrift contributed to the soundtrack of the feature film Hell Ride produced by Quentin Tarantino.[4][5][6]
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.[7] 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.
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 Roberts, 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.
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1073221/ Internet Movie Database
- ^ http://www.thefrontpageonline.com/articles1-4130/AcidWesternTheLegendofGodsGun The Front Page
- ^ http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=30268 DVD Talk Online
- ^ http://www.laweekly.com/music/nightranger/bored-of-the-dance/18229/ LA Weekly
- ^ http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=520157&category=32741 The Portland Mercury
- ^ http://www.hightimes.com/ht/home/index.php?page=bow_012808 High Times
- ^ http://www.flomotions.com/0711/itv-Spindrift-Dave_Koenig.html Flomotions interview with guitarist Dave Koenig
External links
Categories:- Musical groups established in 1992
- American rock music groups
- Psychedelic musical groups
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