SPINDRIFT | |
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 Spindrift inMonument Valley in 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Founded:Newark, Delaware 2001 onwards:Los Angeles,California |
| Genres | Psychedelic rock,Acid Western,Soundtrack album |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Labels | Vacancy Records Tee Pee Records Beat The World Xemu Records Alternative Tentacles |
| Members | Kirpatrick Thomas Becca Davidson Riley Bray Joe Zabielski |
| Past members | Henry Evans James Acton Daniel Allaire Joe "Party Chango" Baluta Bobby Bones Julie Patterson Michelle Vidal Paul Budd Peter Van Kowenburg Chris Andrews Zachary Hansen Cameron Murray Blair Warner Jay Caddle Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson Dave Koenig Jason "Plucky" Anchondo Marcos Diablero Bill Degnan Dan Kerrigan Sasha Vallely Luke Dawson Thomas Bellier |
SPINDRIFT is an Americanpsychedelic rock band, created by singer-songwriter-composer-producer-actor Kirpatrick Thomas.[1] Founded in 1992, the band originated inNewark, Delaware along with such other local bands of the period including Jake and the Stiffs, The Verge,Boy Sets Fire,Zen Guerilla andSmashing Orange. Heavily influenced byThe Doors, My Bloody Valentine,Hawkwind,Bruce Haack, andChrome, SPINDRIFT's early stages were experimental and differed greatly from their present sound though the band's musical style is ever in a period of flux.
In the summer of 2001, band members Kirpatrick Thomas, Joe Baluta andZachary Hansen re-located to Los Angeles. The band re-formed to includeBobby Bones, Dave Koenig,Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson andRob Campanella ofThe Brian Jonestown Massacre and Jason “Plucky” Anchondo ofThe 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 thepsychedelic western independent feature film,The Legend Of God's Gun,[2] inspired by the same classicWestern Films that influenced their music, most often those directed bySergio Leone and scored byEnnio Morricone.[3][4]
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 withDead Meadow (Kirpatrick Thomas filled in for an ailing Jason Simons on guitar during one tour),The Black Angels, andThe 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 asJohnny Western,Johnny Bond,Tex Ritter,The Louvin Brothers,Frankie Laine,The Sons of the Pioneers, andRex Allen. Spindrift also began incorporating these songs into their regular set and on occasion, would play them live. This would prove to be a huge influence on their later years.
In December 2009, Henry Evans and Kirpatrick Thomas began reforming and rebuilding SPINDRIFT while rehearsing and writing new songs in theGram 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. This current lineup performed at SXSW 2010, Psych Fest III, supportedBlack Mountain, and toured Europe for the first time withB.R.M.C. in May 2010. In December 2010 after a 7-week U.S. Tour and following a successfulKickstarter campaign, the band went in and tracked Classic Soundtracks Volume 1 at Hicksville Trailer Palace in Joshua Tree, CA.
In 2008, SPINDRIFT contributed to the soundtrack of the feature filmHell Ride produced byQuentin Tarantino.[5][6]
The motion pictureThe 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. 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 seriesCoffin 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 theCurse of Tippecanoe by directorJ. 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 onThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
SPINDRIFT has cited the Sergio Leone filmOnce Upon a Time in the West and Sam Peckinpah'sThe Wild Bunch as cinematic influences on the band's music and overall style.
In 2011, SPINDRIFT supported the soundtrack of the award-winning skiing documentary filmAll.I.Can by Sherpa Cinema with three songs.
The 2012 filmDust Up starringAmber Benson contained a score written and performed by SPINDRIFT.[7]
In January 2016, the band contributed to the score and soundtrack of the filmDiablo, directed byLawrence Roeck and starringScott Eastwood,Danny Glover, andWalton Goggings. Also in 2016,Cherry Red Records released the 5 disc box set title "Still In A Dream: A History of Shoegaze 1988-1995” which featured Spindrift's first B-Side single "Surround Sound", originally recorded and released in 1992 by Neck Records.
In Spring of 2011, SPINDRIFT releasedClassic Soundtracks Volume 1 onXemu Records. The album featured 14 theme songs to various film scores with up to 8 different directors participating in the project. The film clips, music videos, and movie trailers all premiered onIFC and featured films byBurke Roberts,J. X. Williams,Abigail Bean,Simon Chan, and many others. The music crossed genres such asBollywood songs,Science fiction,Exploitation films, andFilm noir. The album was engineered by Ethan Allen (ofGram Rabbit) and mastered byHowie Weinberg. The band went on to tour Europe in the Spring of 2011 for 2 months supporting Black Mountain, Dead Meadow, andKurt Vile and did a full U.S. and Canadian tour in the Fall with The Black Angels and Dead Meadow totaling over 100 live shows throughout the year.
In 2012, production for the albumSpindrift - Ghost of the West[8] began. The songs consisted of variations on early golden erasinging cowboy tunes and originals. New styles and instrumentation were brought in such as Henry Evans playing acoustic upright bass, more trumpet, and the ever more present vocal harmonies. During the mixing with engineer Riley Bray, Kirpatrick brought forth the idea that the band should tourghost towns, perform the songs, and document the journey. Booking, filming, and performing during the tour was a difficult process as many of the destinations were unreachable and roads and conditions were hazardous. However, the tour brought them to over twenty-one different ghost towns, includingBodie, California,Tombstone, Arizona, andDeadwood, South Dakota, and it was all tracked and filmed. Many landmarks and monuments were also reached, such asCathedral Gorge State Park and theSonoran Desert. The soundtrack album was released October 22, 2013, onTee Pee Records and the feature film companion, directed byBurke Roberts, is set to follow in 2014. Directly following the Ghost Town Tour of October 2012, keyboardist-vocalistMichelle Vidal replaced Sasha Vallely due to her inability to tour from a recent back surgery. In 2013, the band toured the US with Joshua Tree desert palsGram Rabbit, toured Europe in the spring, and once again headlined a tour around the United States in the fall in promotion of the soundtrack which included supporting the punk bandX in front of a crowd of 7,500 at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, California. Guitarist Thomas Bellier from Paris, France, joined the band officially in January 2014 after guesting on guitar during several tours and independent gigs. Bellier also fronts the heavy surf-middle eastern influenced bandBlaak Heat and is label-mates on Tee Pee Records. Spindrift performed and screenedSpindrift - Ghost of the West atSlamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in January 2014.
In 2015, even while the lineup lost longtime bass player Henry Evans, the band continued to tour and work on new recordings and soundtrack productions with older members including bass player Joe Baluta and drummer Daniel Allare rejoining the ranks. The band's Engineer, Riley Bray, briefly filled in for Mr. Evans taking over his famed signature custom made Danelectro double neck bass and baritone guitar. After Riley's second rehearsal, the double neck was stolen and a search went out to find the unique instrument. Remarkably, due to some detective work done by Riley and one specific fans relentless internet search, the instrument was recovered in a "set up and recover" operation which local authorities helped to set up the sting operation. Highlights from 2015 were performances at Austin's "Levitation" Psychedelic Rock Festival and "Desert Stars" festival in Yucca Valley, CA. One new member, the young, talented guitarist Becca Davidson also joined the band that year.
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