The Key Studio Sessions: Spill

For the members of Lancaster indie rock crew Spill, this is their second go as a band, but very much informed by their first. The four-piece is made up of members of howling punk rock outfits Placeholder and We Were Skeletons, both of which went hard on the DIY touring circuit, landing on house shows and festivals, in some ways becoming better known in other corners of the country than they were back home. But life as a musician is easy for nobody, and when Placeholder’s set at FEST 13 – one of their final shows – pretty much consisted of frontman Brandon Gepfer playing acoustic in a courtyard, it seemed that a turning of the tide was in motion.

Enter Spill, which emerged in March with an incredible track called “Sucks Either Way.” It took a more melodic, fuzz-rock direction in the vein of Pavement, Nirvana and Weezer. Thanks to strong support from the Brooklyn Vegan crew right out the gate, the new band got their name out there in a big way, following it up with a lively music video. Lyrically, though, the song explores the flipside of creative life versus nine-to-five live in grim detail.

Gepfer sings from the point of view of a dude who works in suburban real estate; he’s totally conflicted about his job (“these people can’t afford a loan”) and hates his boss, but hey, he’s making bank. So he does things to cope: goes to Home Depot to buy new flooring. Drinks. A lot. And in his more sentimental moments, he reminisces about his former life:

Used to be in a touring band
Ask my mom to buy me a van
Drive west and fucked up
Come home and give up

This verse is punctuated by a shouted lyric from bassist Rafael Diaz, a command creative types know all too well – “Put that degree to use!”

It sounds bleak, but with poppy riffage and a singalongable hook, it becomes something of an anthem for the forgotten artists, the expressive introverts who for one reason or another couldn’t make the hustle work. So they dropped out; it’s a similar story as Death Cab for Cutie’s “The Sound of Settling,” and it’s probably the story of more people than not.

These themes of disappointment and malaise in adulthood carry across Spill’s music; songs performed in their Key Studio Session touch on careers (“Big Boss”) and relationships (“Pretend for our Friends”), and Gepfer spells it out in striking narrative detail that hits home for anybody who’s worked a shitty job, stayed with a partner they didn’t love, or found themselves backed into that “what the hell am I doing with my life” corner. I don’t know if Gepfer has read a lot Cheever or Updike, but I bet he’d appreciate them if not.

The band has two more shows to wrap up their 2015 calendar – they play The Pharmacy in South Philly on Saturday, December 5th – more information on that show here – and head up to Brooklyn on Sunday, December 13th to play Shea Stadium with The Districts’ side project Straw Hats – more on that show here. From there, the band heads into the studio to finish up its debut full-length, which they’re expecting to release in the first half of 2016. Below, listen to Spill’s Key Studio Session, and grab a free download over at our Soundcloud page.