Spray Paint : Interview

2 albums in and midway through a tour with Protomartyr, Austin's Spray Paint are going from strength to strength with their experimental punk songs.  Part Wire, part Intelligence, part AFrames and ALL Spray Paint - this trio are fast becoming one of my favourite bands of 2014, so it was a no brainer to try and get a hold of the group and find out a little more about them... so here we go,  Spray Paint in their own words - thanks goes out to the band for taking part.

Let's start with some introductions, who are you and what do you play?

Cory Plump: guitar/vocals
George Dishner: guitar/vocals
Chris Stephenson: drums/vocals

Are you in any other projects?

George and Cory are in a band called Expensive Shit, Chris is in Dikes of Holland.

You've just started a tour with Protomartyr, how has it been going? Anywhere you're particularly keen on playing? 

We love Protomartyr! We met them SXSW before last and have played with them touring through Detroit. They're great dudes and we're big fans of their music. Highlights thus far have been Death by Audio in Brooklyn and PJ's Lager House in Detroit. 

Do you enjoy touring?

We do enjoy touring, though we've done our share with this band and projects past, it's nice to take a break from the monotony of day jobs and especially nice to escape the Texas summer for a month.

What's the most memorable show you've played to date?

Gonerfest is probably the most memorable show we've played this past fall. Memphis is a rad place! In a former band we played before Drunkdriver and discovered the impact and difference playing through big, loud amps makes.

Can you tell us what it's like being in a band in Austin right now? Seems like a pretty happenin' place...

Austin is certainly saturated with music, lots of garage rock bands, lots of any type of band really. I don't think we'd change much besides that Austin's infrastructure lacks basements making house shows and diy venues somewhat of a rarity. Not much we can do about that. The venues here that are worth playing have great ethos as far as paying bands fairly and putting on good, well attended shows, our mainstays being Beerland and Hotel Vegas.

I read that Spray Paint were in the list for best performing punk band in the Austin Chronicle - what do you make of that? Do you care what other people think?

Well, that's very kind of them to say! It's much appreciated, we're not trying to rule any sort of roost or win contests, we're content writing what we like and performing what we aren't sick of yet. We also make a point to space out our local shows, it's very easy to overbook yourself in Austin.

You put out two records last year with SS - anything planned for 2014?  Are you having particularly fecund period of writing music?

We are trying to complete an album of material for Monofonus Press, we'll hit the writing process hard upon our return. We've always set tough deadlines for ourselves which I think is necessary for any artist to get anything done. It's also great for preventing overthought.

How does forming a song come about for you? Do band members create elements and bring the to a practice?  Or do you jam together and see how things evolve from there?

As far as our writing process goes it's very loose. Sometimes someone will show up with a riff, most often we see what happens after a few beers. We'll also listen to whatever song grabbed someone's attention that particular day and use it as a starting point.

Do you prefer playing or recording?

We prefer the writing process to recording and playing. Recording is fun, mixing can be annoying. Playing a good show is pretty cool too.

Record Store Day is upon - I was curious to know what your stance on the event is?

We're all avid record collectors, not the sort that's waiting in line for Record Store Day, but happy it exists and that music can still be purchased in physical form. Some scores of this tour: Kitchen and the Plastic Spoons, Fripp/Eno, Circuit Rider, Bob Wills, Little Jimmy Dickens, Gram Parsons, some early Royal Rasses.....

How would you spend your ideal day off?

Days off on tour have been the best when we've planned a camping trip. Didn't get a chance this time around. The best of those was Patrick's Point in the redwoods.

A question I always finish on “I’m full of dust and guitars” – Syd Barrett, if you were sliced in half what would be inside?

Cans, bags, and dumpsters! 

You can find Spray Paint Records for sale here

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