I’m not gonna lie, when Placeholder broke up I was pretty sad. I had just got into them and you know when you find a band, know that you’ll probably see them on one of your trips the US but then get those hopes dashed when they break up soon after that. That was my situation. But out of that, in a collision course with We Are Skeletons, Spill was born. I had a chat with singer Brandon Gepfer about how the band came about, why we should all quit our 9-5 office jobs and their new EP below.
How did you guys come about as a band? You feature ex members of Placeholder and We Are Skeletons, what pushed or influenced you to get to the sound on the EP? It’s pretty different from both of those bands!
When Placeholder broke up, we pretty much already knew we still wanted to play music together (Andrew Gelburd, Marco Florey and myself) but we wanted to have some time to not be bogged down by being in a band. I took some time to write and became better friends with Rafael Diaz (bass/vocals for We Were Skeletons) and we just clicked and wanted to get a band started. All of us started writing together in February 2015. The sound is certainly different from both past bands, but I think that has more to do with a different chemistry. Raf still plays a lot of quirky bass lines that he did with Skeletons and I still write the same three chord pop song, haha.
How did quitting your job influenced your creative process/songs you’ve been writing? I assumed ‘Sucks Either Way’ was about the job leaving. IIs it something you recommend people do if life is getting stale? Did it help at all? Has the writing process for Spill been cathartic for you what with all the big changes from that?
The EP was written about being stuck in a job and that being a poison on your relationships, whether it be your romantic partner or friends. The boredom of working in a cubicle and sending out foreclosure letters really fucked with me. So, I’m glad I got out of that but, is it recommended? Sure, for your mental health. Financially, haha probably not the best decision I’ve made. It puts a whole new line of stresses on you but, working in a restaurant isn’t all that bad. Writing these songs is essentially my therapy.
In regards to working in cubicles and getting stuck in cycles, do you think a we’ve got to a stage where people are just working to exist (pay bills/get food/etc – all important things) rather than working to enhance things we love? Is restoring a balance between work and play is more important than money?
I had an office job (and I might be going back to one for a bit) and I made more than enough money to exist. Weekends off, paid vacation, money in a 401k…that is all perfect for someone that wants to achieve those things, and some people only want that. I get it. I go through cycles in my life where I want to be comfortable and I do those things, then I want to be challenged and I blow everything up and sleep on someones couch for a month and figure something else out. Kinda rambling here, so I’m not sure I answered the question. To put it simply, I work for a while, save money…then bullshit around, play shows, travel and have recreational fun…when the money runs out, I put the suit and tie back on. I’m fortunate enough to always land on my feet, I recognize not everyone is able to do that and they got stuck being unhappy for a long period of time.
How hard is it to be completely honest when you’re writing about things like relationships gone wrong? Do you end up communicating things you felt but didn’t ever say before the relationship ended?
It’s hard. I have a hard time talking to a physical human being but, it’s really easy masking that in a song. It’s probably why most of my relationships have failed miserably, haha.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? Tours? More music? World domination?
The rest of 2015 is just going to be dedicated to pushing the EP, we have a few short runs planned but, nothing huge. The focus is also shifting to finishing up writing our LP and see where it all goes from there!
What’s the music scene like in Lancaster?
Two of us live in Philly and then Raf and myself live in Lancaster. The music scene in Lancaster is small, but it always ends up getting cool things. I like it a lot but, I’ve been here for a while and it gets stale. I’ll probably make the move to Philadelphia soon but I have a hard time committing to anything.
We hear loads about Philly bands in the UK, they tour here all the time. What do you think makes that area so special?
Philly is cool because it has a big number of locals and transplants coming together to pretty much achieve the same thing for a music scene. I think the success of certain bands push the drive for other musicians, promoters and people in general to do better.
What music have you been excited for in 2015? What are you looking forward to?
I have been jamming The Weaks pretty frequently. They just released a record on Lame-o records, which is very cool. Looking forward to a See Through Dresses release on Tiny Engines, I think this fall?
You can pre-order Spill’s new EP right now over here.