Stereo Invaders Webzine
SPiT LiKE THiS Interview Translation
August 2006

This was an interview carried out via email between Stereo Invaders (an Italian webzine) and me (ZiON).  I originally answered the questions in English and it was then translated into Italian for the 'zine.  For the sake of our English fans, I thought I'd better put my English translation up!  So my answers are in RED!  You can see the interview as it appears here

Q1) Hello to everyone! Thank you for accepting this interview. I am very glad to host you on the webzine. Spit Like This really look glamorous and exciting!!

Thanks for having us. And I would have to agree, SPiT LiKE THiS is glamorous and exciting!

Q2) Well, let's start telling us something about the birth of the band for the readers who should not know you.

SPiT LiKE THiS started as a duo in 2002. I met ViKKi SPiT and we quickly discovered that we shared a love for the same kinds of music, the same kinds of bands - the same kind of everything - so we decided to start a band. I had been in bands in the past, Vikki played bass already so it seemed like a good place to start. Problem was, we were totally broke. So, to raise money, we sold Vikki's used panties on eBay! We used the money wisely to ensure the future of SPiT LiKE THiS was safe. We recorded and released our first EP, "The Pop Shot!" (named after the explosive ending to every decent porno!); set up our label Megabucks Music to release our stuff and we also started up www.smellyourmum.com which is our offensive slogan t-shirt company. ALL of the money that comes through smellyourmum.com goes straight back into SPiT LiKE THiS - so go buy a t-shirt!

In 2003, after releasing our 2nd EP, "Anarchy For Two", we knew it was time to make SPiT LiKE THiS a proper band, so we started the search for our other half. Within a couple of weeks we found STEViE LEE (guitar) and ViLE GiLEZ (drums). They slotted in perfectly and, within a few months, we felt like we had been together forever. In fact, here we are, 3 years later and it is like a big, happy family! I like to think of it like the first Star Wars movie (ie Episode IV: A New Hope) - it starts off with two characters but soon involves more characters and you could not imagine it without them! That is exactly what SLT is like - take any one of us out of the equation and it doesn't work anymore.

2004 was busy for us - we recorded and released our first EP as a band, "Dragged Kicking & Screaming". We had been gigging for ages by this time and, in October of that year, we were awarded the dubious title "Trashiest Band In The UK" - a national search had been made with live finals in London supporting Acey Slade's Trashlight Vision. We won easily. 2004 ended on a real high as readers of Kerrang! magazine placed us at #8 in the Best Unsigned Band category of the Reader's Poll - an incredible achievement considering how many thousands of unsigned bands there are!

In 2005 we recorded and released our 4th EP, "Sleaze Sells…But Who's Buying?" - an ironic title for an ironic CD! This was to be our first ever CD with national distribution - our previous 3 releases were only available to buy through our website. Much to our amazement, "Sleaze Sells…" hit the Number 1 slot on the Amazon Pre-Release Chart beating bands like U2, Foo Fighters and Oasis! When it was finally released, it hit Number 5 on the Amazon CD Singles Chart; Number 8 on the UK BPI Rock Chart and Number 13 on the Prediction Chart! We only missed out on a National Chart placing due to the CD having one too many tracks to qualify. If only we had known, we'd have kept a song off!!

That CD was great for us and opened new doors. We finished off 2005 by re-releasing our "Dragged Kicking & Screaming" EP with national distribution and by supporting Fozzy, LA Guns and Wednesday 13!

2006 came along and we weren't entirely certain what to do. We really wanted to record a full-length album but didn't have enough cash. It was then we hit upon a Big Idea! We had noticed that, after doing our gigs, our sales ranking on Amazon had gone up for the two records people could buy. We realised that a new SPiT LiKE THiS fan would have to go to a few different stores if they wanted to buy all of our music. So, we decided to put EVERYTHiNG we had done up until that point onto one CD - all 4 of our EP's plus loads of Bonus Material. We called this album "SCARY TALES: The Collection", it was released in March and, at 77 minutes long, we couldn't have squeezed much more onto it! Now, when people see us live, fall in love with us, they don't have to hunt so hard for all our stuff, as it all lives together on one awesome collection! Not only that but every penny made from the sale of that album is going towards recording our Debut Studio Album which we is currently in pre-production.

Q3) Since 2002 you've released many EP's ("The Pop Shot" /2002, "Anarchy For Two" /2003, "Dragged Kicking And Screaming" /2004, "Sleaze Sells ... But Who's Buying" /2005).  Do you feel the band has grown year after year, song after song?

Not necessarily song after song, but definitely year after year! The first EP was a lesson in madness, no doubt about that. The struggle that went behind recording it meant that it was VERY eclectic. Each song is very different and none of them really have much to do with SPiT LiKE THiS 2006! Not that we are disowning them, you understand, but we were still finding our feet.

The "Anarchy" EP was much more firmly the SPiT LiKE THiS that people know and love. Two of the songs have become live favourites ("Trust Your Instincts" and "Not Dead Yet") and it was a big step in establishing a sound for us.

"Dragged Kicking & Screaming" was the first full band recording so, once again, we were at the drawing board stage! The quality of the recording is great but the original mix was not so good. We have rectified that a lot on the album but it still isn't quite there. Song-wise though, it contains two more firm live favourites, "Rebel Lover" and "Obscene (But Not Heard)".

"Sleaze Sells…But Who's Buying?" is our most well-known EP and every song off it has become a fan favourite with "Trick Or Mistreat" being the most endeering track off the CD! We got closer to our original sound on this CD but the recording wasn't as good as the last! Typical! If we could have maintained the sound quality of the "Dragged" EP with the actual sound of the "Sleaze" EP we would have got it sorted! 

We have been on a steep learning curve and, since then, have been in the studio a few times to demo stuff and find the definite SPiT LiKE THiS sound. We now have that sussed and, when it is unleashed, it will blow everyone out of the skies!!

Q4) The new release "Scary Tales: The Collection" includes remastered songs from the past works, plus some rare and un-previously material for the fans. The booklet is very rich and after all you can hear 77 minutes of music! You've made a great effort for the people who want to celebrate or simply discover the magic of Spit Like This! Please, tell us something about the album.

Well, as mentioned above, it is a collection featuring ALL of the music of the 4 EP's in Chronological order PLUS rare Bonus Material that is only available on the album. Whatever we do, we try and give as much of ourselves as we possibly can. We run ourselves ragged in our attempts to offer the very best we can at that particular time. We knew that the die-hard fans would buy this album, even if they had most of it already, so we wanted to make it worth their while. The re-mastering sounds great and, like you say, the 8-page booklet is a masterpiece in itself! The CD is also a key to unlocking even MORE Bonus Material off the dedicated Scary Tales website (www.scarytales.co.uk). No-one will ever be able to accuse SPiT LiKE THiS of short-changing everyone! Even if someone only likes half of the album, with 21 songs on, that is still a hell of a lot of great music for someone to get excited about! For newcomers, they will be overwhelmed with the amount on offer to them, and the diversity. But we are always a band that will play by our own set of rules. 

Q5) Until now which are the feedback you are receiving about "Scary Tales", both from the media and the audience?

So far, it has been very positive. Obviously, there are some people that don't "get it" and that's OK - they can stick to baked beans on toast! We have always been a band that draws a line in the sand and challenges people to be either with us, or against us. That's the way we like it. We like a good fight. Those that do "get it" though, love it. And, rightly so. We are a band that writes good quality music. We have our own unique sound, style and stance. Some songs are instant, some are growers, all are great! 

Q6) Do you think people could easily get the album even out of the Great Britain?

As long as they do not fear the Internet! It is available from most major cd websites (Amazon, HMV, Virgin, Tower, CD Baby etc) - so please buy it!!

Q7) Which are your main musical influences and inspirations? And what about the inspiration you get apart form music, books, arts, cinema, everyday life? It seems to me you like to mix a lot of different things: dark and horror themes, sex, the '60s, rockabilly, Danzig, Misfits, Rocky Horror Show, sleaze and garage rock, punk, etc.

Too many to realistically list! I think everything we have ever heard or viewed influences us in some way, good or bad. People pick up a lot on the Rocky Horror influence - as such, we have recorded a great version of "Sweet Transvestite" that we may release! We are also influenced by Adam Ant, T-Rex, Queen, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, cheesy horror movies, Tarantino movies and the fetish scene. I guess we are a great mixture of gothic horror, sex and rock 'n' roll!

Q8) I know you are currently working on a new album. Tell us something more about it! What do we have to expect from this new one and when it will be released?

Well, it will be like nothing you ever heard before, that's for sure! I can't say too much about it without giving the game away but it is very exciting for us. The sound will be huge. It will have all the usual SPiT LiKE THiS elements - great songs, great hooks, great choruses - plus some new ones. It will take the listener to places they may not have been for a while, if ever. Simply put, it will be a masterpiece and life-changing for us. It should be out late 2006 or early 2007.

Q9) Have you ever been to Italy?
Not yet! Italy has been kind to us so far though. Flash magazine has done plenty of features of us. There is also an Italian artist who is a great fan and promises to bring us over. Watch this space! Our drummer is half Italian so he is itching to get over there and spoil some of your women!

Q10) You have a smart and funny website. You think that internet has an important role in being a musician and an artist nowadays?

It is essential! We have been online since we started in 2002. We have many websites - if I may list them all:

www.spitlikethis.com 
www.myspace.com/spitlikethisuniverse 
www.obscenebutnotheard.co.uk 
www.smellyourmum.com  
www.streetslutz.com 
www.scarytales.co.uk 
www.sleazesells.com 
www.bringoutyourdead.co.uk 

The internet is a great way to communicate with fans and keep them up to date. Unfortunately, it also means that any idiot can set up a "band" and post themselves on the internet. Myspace is the worst for this. It makes it harder for serious bands to differentiate themselves from the wannabies. Fortunately, we can do that because we are better. Over the past couple of years, we have built up an extensive mailing list (over 13,000) which grows all the time.

Our main website (www.spitlikethis.com) is often hailed as one of the greatest band websites because it is so content rich. People can - and do - spend hours on there discovering everything there is to know about SPiT LiKE THiS.

Q11) What are your lyrics about?

Sex, freedom and death. The 3 things that affect us all. I rarely deviate from those themes and, quite occasionally, combine all 3. Sometimes there are hidden messages, other times there are not. There is nearly always humour in the lyrics - not in a funny-ha-ha kind of way, more in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. Sometimes the lyrics are autobiographical, other times they are fictional.

Q12) What about a Spit Like This live set?

Like with everything we do, we put 100% effort into it. It can get quite embarrassing when we do gigs as we are nearly always the only lightbulb in a room full of blackness. As a result, we stand out like a sore thumb. Our shows are lively, energetic, crazy, funny, bright, bold, daring, scary, shocking… everything a rock n roll show SHOULD be, plus a hell of a lot more. I have yet to see a band that comes close to out-performing us. Most bands lack any stage presence whereas we have it in abundence. In short, we rule!

Q13) Any strange or bizarre things happened during these years while playing live?

All of our shows are strange and bizarre!

Q14) Any message for our readers?

Love us or find a way to live with us, coz we aren't going away…!

Q15) Ok thank you very much guys for your precious time and kindness. Hope to hear soon some news about you. Stay Hard! Bye.

We will and thank YOU for giving us a chance to reach more people. I hope this interview will encourage more people to find out more about us and tell all their friends. The world would be so bland without people like us!

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