When London indie trailblazers Spector first emerged on the scene a decade ago their curiosity, wit, and experimentation made them stand out from their peers. While these traits have remained intact, so much has happened since that time; a couple of members have left, and the band’s release setup is completely different now.
Spector always continued to develop their sound, and their new record is no deviation. Keen to recreate the rawness of a live performance, instrumentation is placed at the front of their third studio album with the aim to capture their passion and experience gained in the live environment.
Driven by an improvisatory approach to writing, the absence of live performances due to the pandemic made them play with the idea of still playing in the live environment, fully focused on delivering in the spirit of the band’s live shows.
Playing with sonic influences that span decades of alternative and classic rock, it is clear that Spector explore fresh ground. Sounding bold and confident ‘Now Or Whenever’ is a stellar example of explosive improvisation, collaboration, and pure creativity.
Clash caught up with singer Fred MacPherson and guitarist Jed Cullen to get their sides of the story.
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Having lived with the album for longer, what are your thoughts on ‘Now Or Whenever’?
FM: Albums can be draining, challenging experiences in the recording and the promotion, and this definitely hasn’t been that, the process has been smooth, rewarding and hasn’t ruined anyone’s life. We had a weird time writing it, a good time making it, and we’ll hopefully have a great time playing it live.
Something that’s hinting greatness can be weighed down by the experience of making it somewhere else. In the past it has been a bit all over the place. You end up with an album that hints at greatness, but collapses under the weight of the experience of writing it or making it. We’ve had albums that are a bit all over the place because of that and have moments that are amazing.
Talk me through the process, what ambition and structure steered things?
FM: We wrote a lot last year. It was the first album that we wrote completely as a duo, often not in the same room. When it came to recording, it was also the first album where we had a set amount of time in one place. When the time was up, the time was up, which is normal for how recordings are made, but in the past we had approaches that were more long-form in multiple studios, with multiple producers, over longer periods of time while touring. This time we had a set concentrated amount of time in Liverpool, we knew we were making the album, and that’s given it a cohesive sound with the same people, in the same place. Often that’s what debut albums sound like, but our debut had seven producers and probably more studios, so it was nice to finally have an experience of making an album traditionally.
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You worked with Rich Turvey, how did this collaboration pan out?
JC: It was great. He’s got this way of being very ‘let’s get it done’, but he can also be extremely particular. It’s a good mix, because he’s willing to go down a rabbit hole, when you need to. Then other times, he just isn’t, it means you do get stuff done. He can empathise, while being particular about certain things, so it ends up with being a cocktail of over efficiency and minutiae detail, it gives a certain character. We’ve spent too long on our last albums, both of them went on way too long. We needed to, but it was great to get this done on time.
FM: If we were left in a room together, we would spend a year or more on an album. It’s almost like a school teacher you like, who massages your ego, but only ten percent of the time, and the rest of the time you’re trying to work for it.
This album is more guitar focused. How conscious were you about shifting things?
FM: I remember reading a 1975 quote where they said, whatever music they make, they’ll be called a guitar band, saying you may as well call us a drum band using guitar. It’s a good point that if you’re a group of people making music with instruments in the traditional format that UK’s used to, you’re a guitar band, whatever your sound.
For us it was a case of trying to make a guitar album, but while there are guitars, the guitars aren’t driving the songs. It was about writing and recording songs with the guitar at the heart of them and see what that sounds like. That’s what happens on a first album, and that’s why I describe this album as a reboot, it’s us seeing what actually happens, if we make a more guitar and vocal based album.
Is it because you’ve moved on and look at things differently now?
FM: I couldn’t even name many guitar bands I liked in 2012. Jed’s guitarist’s personality has developed, and he’s more of an accomplished and unique guitarist than he was then. It’s more interesting to bring some of that playing to the front now. Whereas before, it might not necessarily have been the most interesting part of our music, it’s part of our sound now.
JC: I agree, back then it would be more like we wanted to have a song, we wanted it to sound a certain way, and use different tools. Now, I can express myself better on guitar. Also the idea of trying to do more with less is always appealing to everyone who’s creative, and it’s always something you want to aim for.
Great themes and lyrics drive this record, how did you approach that side of things?
FM: There’s a lot about the passage of time, but not necessarily as in past and nostalgia. I feel like last year was a time warp, it interrupted how people process time and memory. A lot of memories are stimulated by things that change your normal cycle, so most people who do a nine-to-five won’t remember 330 of their walks to work, they’ll remember the day that they saw someone walking down the street.
Last year forced everyone to confront repetition in a way, a limitation on what people could do. Writing lyrics during that sometimes felt like going around in circles. I tried to lean into that and write unthinkingly, see what themes came up. I consciously wanted it to be slightly less about social things and life, as there was less socialising, there are less stories, the words are simpler and more emotional. But there’s more for people to feel, rather than think.
The songs on the record seem to derive from an emotional place.
FM: I tried to have more lyrics that set a scene and are less preoccupied with trying to prove that we’re clever at lyrics. I had been feeling self-conscious about lyrics that sound like lyrics. There’s been a lot of Spector songs that are a little overwritten, many of the songs that people fell in love with had simple words, with the occasional cool line rather than every line fighting to be cool. There’s more light and shade, a blurring that colours more of an expression, and makes it work better as an album, rather than sounding like shopping lists.
Speaking with fans, they always have different favourite songs. The idea that lyrics will change over time isn’t necessarily the sense of the direction we’re going in, but these songs are the ones that felt right to us, they’re consistent in that they generally have heart. Whereas, songs we wrote that had more brain than heart, we didn’t pick for this record.
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You mention the fans, who are loyal and committed. In what way does that relationship continue to evolve?
JC: Right from the start we had a lot of people interested. Our shows were good, I loved playing them, but I remember this point where it felt like there was a shift, and the feeling in the room changed. Suddenly it felt like everyone there just loved the music. It was actually after the second album, maybe even off the second album tour.
How personal is the connection with your fans? do you know some by name?
FM: What’s nice is, we know and recognise lots of people. What’s also great is that those people change, it’s not the same people who’ve been coming since 2012. Each era has created new fans, and that’s a comfort to us, our fanbase is not a static group of people.
At a certain point, there seems to be an influx of younger, excited people. It’s nice to know that the music’s connecting with people, not just on a nostalgic level. If we didn’t have the fan reaction that we did, we would have split up by now. We played a gig in St Albans recently, as warm up for our tour, and that provides you with the reassurance that there’s a reason be in a band, even when it can seem illogical.
What are your considerations in terms of taking the new songs from studio to stage?
FM: Ironically, we’ve rehearsed for this tour more than any tour in recent memory. It feels like it might be set to move again, but that all feeds into the spirit of this album, everything keeps moving from the release date, vinyl delays, and touring. It’s almost like an album that exists outside of time, but around this period to the extent that with an album written with live shows in mind, with loads of time spent rehearsing behind closed doors for a tour that’s maybe doomed to never happen. It feels like the perfect umbrella for that.
The title seems made for a classic rock album, which was one thing I wanted. Psychologically, everything has been harder work for everyone this last few years. Songwriting doesn’t come as easily, when you’re not having real life experiences, you’ve been sitting at home for three months, so you don’t necessarily get inspired as much. We had a seance to bring up feelings, emotions as a drive to write something good.
Your fanbase is key when it comes to staying together. Did Spector come close to splitting?
FM: Various people have left and joined over the years, it’s more like an open door policy. I don’t think that it would be a case of ending the band per se, but doing the band when it’s worth doing. There were points, where it has been let’s go and take a few years away, but we always end up doing stuff most years, there hasn’t been a year since we started where we’ve not written or recorded anything. Even though our release schedule can look haphazard over the years, we’ve written some of our best songs every year. If we were to do a chart of what songs are written every year, it’s been relatively consistent, even in the years that seem quieter from the outside. But three more pandemic years, and that dedication will probably be tested.
This record is self-released. What has that journey been like?
FM: It’s through a distributor, who has paid for the recording. It’s self-releasing in that everything’s orchestrated and put together independently with us and our management. It’s been a positive experience working independently, we put out our last three EPs and compilation independently as well. That was a confidence boost in keeping the band together, we realised that we would be able to maintain the business side of it without a major label.
The most influential music of the past decade will definitely be made outside of those structures. So part of the whole getting a record deal was to make sure someone was going to be able to manufacture vinyl and CD and getting them distributed all over the world. People still love vinyl, and now the distribution side is taken care of that’s a crazy upheaval in terms of how quickly you can have a song everywhere in the world. It’s annoying that it’s free, but you can’t have it all.
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‘Now Or Whenever’ is out now.
Words: Susan Hansen
Photography: Jamie Spencer
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