Seismic Interview: Joe Syverson of Final Spins talks about his personal life, and whats next for the band.

For any of you familiar with the incredibly gifted and relatively new band (2008) Final Spins; you may have been wondering whats been going on with them, or if they have a sophomore album in the works. The answer is a whole lot, and YES! One-fifth of this wonder- band and front man Joe Syverson took the time to explain the direction of the new album (his explanation is short and sweet), his Seattle musical influences, the politics of the “Seattle scene”, surrounding himself with greatness, and most importantly his new-found focus on his brand new and beautiful daughter Poppy.

First and most importantly. Congratulations on fatherhood, Poppy is a doll. How are you settling into that role, Whats it like being a father?

Thank you, yeah she is amazing!  Being a dad rules! I always used to hear people say “words cannot describe it” and I would think that was such a cheesy answer, but, it’s totally true! Words cannot describe it!

Are you already finding inspiration in song-writing with having brought a child into the world, and will we see any of those, or will they remain personal?

Yeah, I am not to sure if those songs will come out,but definitely have been writing in  that direction…. I try not to think about stuff like “Oh where is my life right now?”, …  half way through the writing of “This is then” I flew to across the country to get sober. I don’t put that shit in my Bio… but people seem to thrive off of it! Like the more drama, the better the artist. I don’t really think its true, its like, “That’s great, you’re a crackhead/genius!” Give me a break! Like oh this is his “baby on the way record” barf! Songs are supposed to reflect your life to a certain degree, but that’s the case with everything in life no matter what you do! Are you going to say to your UPS driver?, “Man, thanks so much for the package, keep up the great work with your sobriety & not being homeless, god it’s so cool you’re doing so well!” NO! Life never stops coming at you, ya know?

Speaking of writing….its been about a little over a year since the release of “This is then, That was now.” Are you in the process of writing new songs for your sophomore album? Or how is that progressing?

Its going well.I have been doing lots of demos…. Chris Early and I are back to the drawing board (recording).The next record is going to be all analog! He has a really awesome tape machine & a space in Sodo…  we are eager to get things rolling! Chris is such an awesome guy to work with!! He did a great job with the PGM record too!

How difficult is it to juggle family, another album, and also trying to collaborate with the other band members who are out on the road with their other projects, such as Zach;who is finding critical acclaim as well, with Pearly Gates Music?

Everybody was already playing in 5 million bands so it’s no big deal. We practice at my house where I live with my fiancée and her 2 kids and we always play music or have music playing in the house. It’s not a foreign thing like ” oh Joe has to go do this now” she (fiancée) plays drums & guitar… her 10-year-old is learning guitar & drums too!! What else are we going to do? As for Zach, I think it’s so awesome he is doing well with PGM!!! I feel lucky to have people like that guy around, what more could you want?

You’re a fan of The Kinks and your last album was compared to The Kinks in a few press snips I read. Are there any local Seattle bands that you admire that have some sort of influence on you?

I think Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse) is an amazing writer as well as Sam Jayne (Love As Laughter) …. Sam is so underrated … one of the best in my opinion. I used to live with Zeke Howard (LAL) and Eric Judy (MM) , both of those guys opened my eyes to a ton of different music! Great people too! Josh and Zach Tillman are sickly prolific !Damien Jurado is awesome!!! The Moondoggies are killer!  There are a lot of places that aren’t around anymore that have influenced me more than anything else. Places like Fallout Records, The Breakroom, Rock Candy, The Velvet Elvis, the Ok Hotel, S.U.P. Hall …  too many to list!

Evolution and growth when creating music is relative depending on the artist or band. Can you tell us in which way you may see the sound changing or is it going to remain pretty consistent with the first album?

More fuzz!

There is a really strong music scene here in Seattle or Washington for that matter. Why do you think that is Or would you disagree?

Seattle is such a small town. It has such a rich history with music, even before the grunge era. 60’s garage scene was jammin…..We get like, 90 days of sunshine a year?!? I think the weather really either pushes people away to other warmer parts of the world or , it pushes them down into their basement’s or bedrooms to create!  The scene here is super high school cliquey, so that gets annoying. You gotta kinda drink with the “right” people and I don’t drink anymore so … there you go! (laughs) Fuck them! Who needs that shit anyways?! (laughing)

So when can the fans of The Final Spins catch a show next….is there an approximate time frame?

Not too sure… we would love to have a night at the Blue Moon… we will see.

Well Joe thank you for your time here at seismic-sound, I really appreciate it…

Thanks for having me, anytime. Sorry for cursing, I can’t help it! (laughs)