Hi, everyone! I had the opportunity to have a chat with all of the members of the Santa Barbara-based surf rock group Clean Spill. The members of the band are Pat Curren (lead singer, and song of a three-time world champion surfer, Tom Curren), Geoff Shea (bass), Cameron Crabtree (guitar) and Charlie Fawcett (drums) Since, the band made their way into LA’s vibrant DIY scene back in 2013, they have released a couple of EPs and a seven-track LP last year. The young, high-flying rockers have a great sound, and I was pretty excited to learn more about these lads' journey through the LA underground.
bazzreviews: Which artists or albums had an influence on you to start a music career?
Pat Curren: I’d say when we were first starting the band, Mac DeMarco, Tame Impala, the Strokes, the Growlers, early Arctic Monkeys were pretty big for us.
Cameron Crabtree: We started this band when all of us were teenagers, so that’s the music we were listening to at that time.
Charlie Fawcett: Definitely for me, Black Sabbath and Metallica were pretty big influences. The other guys lightened me up and turned me on to some indie and surf rock stuff, though.
br: I know that all three of you were the founding members, but when did you guys first end up meeting each other?
C.F.: Pat and I met at a young age doing surf contests. We all grew up surfing, and hanging by the beach definitely strengthened the bond between us. Shortly after that, Cameron came along because he lived in the same neighborhood as Pat. We met our bass player (Geoff Shea), who was actually Cameron’s barber when he went to go get a haircut. He said he’d like to jam when we invited him into the band. We’re all surfers, but Geoff’s a boogie boarder. He’s the bass playing barber that boogie boards.
br: I’ve also heard you guys are known for rowdy live shows- do you guys thrive off of those environments rather than working in the studio?
P.C.: We love both. They have different mindsets, but we definitely like a rowdy crowd.
C.C: Play shows is so much fun. We’re feeling it, the crowd’s feeling it, but they’re two completely different things. I wouldn’t say we like one over the other. When you’re in the studio, it’s fun to write and play music together all day. It’s a place to either be really focused, or you can just screw around until you find something you like.
br: Can you guys describe how you typically make a song?
P.C.: One of us starts out with an idea and we share it with each other.
C.C.: It usually starts with a chord progression, and either Pat or I will come up with some lyrics. We try to get the band involved as well. From there, we come up with the drum and bass parts and that’s pretty much it.
br: When you’re in the studio, do you guys like getting a song perfect or do you prefer improvising?
C.C.: Recently, we were just in the studio recording thirteen new songs. For our last album, we only had about half of it written before we went in to record. A lot of it ended up being improvisation. For our earlier stuff, we typically had most of our songs worked out before we went to the studio. Our producers helped us by adding some of their ideas about sound quality and which equipment we should use. A lot of that could be considered improv, but in terms of structure, most of it is pretty worked out.
br: What do you value more- lyricism or production value and instrumentation?
P.C.: I think both are equally important. We are getting older, so I think we have to use our brains more for writing songs.
C.C.: In the past, I think the production value and instrumentation took a big priority in our music. As of late, we’re trying to focus on more of the lyricism of the songs.
*door opens*
C.F.: Sorry, Geoff just showed up halfway through asking if this was the interview.
br: If you could compare your sound to any other artist or band, who would you say?
P.C.: Weezer? And definitely the Strokes.
C.C.: I wouldn’t say Weezer, maybe their older stuff. I would for sure agree with the Strokes.
Geoff Shea.: I would say John Mayer and Slayer… John Slayer! It’s a bass player joke.
br: What songs are your favorite to perform live?
P.C.: I’d say my favorite song would be “Far Out”. It’s got a lot of energy to get us and the crowd going.
C.C.: “Barry Bones” is one of my favorites, the riff is pretty cool. You get to use some pretty fun pedals on that one.
C.F.: I like them all. I’ll enjoy a song, and the next song will be different. I can’t put my finger on just one one.
G.S.: I like “Doctor”. It’s very bass-driven.
br: You mentioned earlier about having an album in the works, can you tell me a little more about what it has in store?
C.C.: We just recorded it at the place we just produced our last EP, Nothing’s On My Mind. We’re in the end of the mixing process right now, and we think it’s going to come out later this year. It’s thirteen songs, and we’re experimenting a lot with it. It’s got some mellow stuff, but it still has the same rock-driven aspect, too. Each song brings its own little flavor to the album, and it’ll be exciting to see what people think of it.
br: What future music goals do you guys have?
P.C.: I’d like to make some stuff that’s closer to our roots, where it’s more raw and in your face. I don’t know if you’ve listened to some of our deep s--t that’s on the web, but we just recently took a couple albums off Bandcamp. If you can find it, I recommend listening to that.
C.C.: We want to go on a never-ending tour, and perform as many shows outside of our town as possible. We’d hopefully like to get our music out to a lot of different people and continue writing music.
C.F.: I’d like to maintain that, too. Other than that, no high plans for us.
Thanks again to Cameron, Pat, Charlie, and Geoff for giving me their time for an interview. For those of you who haven't checked these guys out yet, I suggest that you do! These guys have a really cool surf sound that is fun to listen to. Thanks again to all of my readers, too, for reading this article. More great stuff is on the way!
To check out some of Clean Spill's music, go to https://soundcloud.com/cleanspill
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