Interview: Spirytus Feel The Love From Fred Durst

“Spirtyus! Remember that f**king name,” said Limp Bizkit frontman, Fred Durst. MusicReview certainly didn’t forget them – in fact, we’ve been keeping a rather close eye on the boys from Nottingham, England. Vocalist Ryan Walton and guitarist Andy K caught up with Sergio and discussed what’s cooking in the world of Spirytus.

Since we last chatted, a lot has been happening for you guys. You’re finally set to release your self-titled debut album, been sponsored by Ibanez, and have had some pretty rad gigs with Shadows Fall and Skindred in the meanwhile. So what held up the initial release of the album?

Ryan: We were shopping the album out to labels and that kind of takes time, as you need to chase and follow up everything. We’ve been playing a lot of shows in support of the album too, so it all takes time, but we’ve finally signed and we’re stoked that everyone’s about to hear the record.

Speaking of getting signed, just how hard is it to get a label to give a shit about you?

Ryan: It’s very hard. Unless you get spotted at a show, most of the time it’s about word of mouth. Labels won’t just turn up to your shows. They need to feel the buzz. It’s getting there, slowly but surely.

Andy K: I think it really depends on the label. We’ve had some labels who aren’t bothered and some labels that were dying to sign us, but for various reasons we didn’t sign with them. We’re happy with the deal we have with Quick Fist and we’re looking forward to working with them.

As your name gets bigger, so does the fan base. Is the groupie following growing as well?

Ryan: I’ll let Andy answer this one… I’m not interested in groupies. I have a beautiful girlfriend that I’m madly in love with. She’s my groupie! Adam loves it though, especially the older woman.

Andy K: Groupies? What are they?

It must obviously piss you off how the music industry runs, but do you ever get disheartened by it?

Ryan: No, not really. To be honest, if you let it get to you, then you’re in the wrong business. You just have to keep your head up and keep plugging away at it. It’s cool when people that you look up to, who are in the industry, give you praise. The people buying the music and coming to the shows make it totally worthwhile. There’s nothing like seeing people singing a song you wrote right back at you at a show.

Andy K: We tend not to look at the bad side of things. As a band we try and stay as optimistic as possible. We love to write, play and record music, and, like Ryan said, if you let the knock backs get to you then you’re in the wrong industry.

What is Spirtyus’ tactic in dealing with bullshit promoters?

Ryan: You ever see that movie Madagascar? Well, we do what the penguins say… ‘Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave’. You can’t let them bother you. We just remember who they are and they get put on the blacklist, that way we know to be very, very wary when in contact with them.

Andy K: Yeah we’ve had our fair share of them, but our manager, Heather, deals with them. She doesn’t take any shit, so we leave her to deal with them.

Fred Durst can’t seem to stop mentioning you guys. Why is this? Is one of your guys supplying him with red caps?

Ryan: That’d be me! I’m not supplying him with red caps though. I’m a huge Bizkit fan and have been since I was 14. They were the band that got me into metal in general. I’m there, every time they come to the UK and I guarantee that I will be at the front for their show. It’s that simple. It’s just what you like ain’t it? It was phat when he pulled me up onstage at Download, even cooler when he pulled me up onstage at London last year. The fact that he remembered me when he saw me in the crowd at Reading and gave us a shout out was sick! ‘Spirytus in the house!’ It would be nice if he signed us to Interscope one day….maybe for our next album!

Do you feel that Spirytus have reached a turning point in their career?

Ryan: I wouldn’t say that we’ve reached a turning point. We’re definitely moving up the ladder, but I think we have to wait to see how successful the album is and what the reaction is like over the next year before we can say we’re at the next level, i.e. picking up tour supports with bigger artists, bigger recognition and radio play. We’ll see.

Andy K: The ball is definitely moving now with the album signing and being endorsed by both Adam’s and my favourite guitar brand, Ibanez. I’ve only ever played Ibanez since I was 12 or 13, and now to be recognised by such a great guitar company as one of their artists is a real honour.

What’s next on the table for Spirytus?

Ryan: World Domination. I want to play big, big shows and I want the whole crowd to be as in to it as I am. That’s the plan; to make every show we play as enjoyable as possible.

Andy K: We’ve got a couple of great potential tours in the pipeline that we’re waiting to confirm. We’re really excited to see how the public like our new album and how well it sells. We put a lot of hard work into it, so fingers crossed.

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za
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