10 Questions we ask every band...

Spires

1). What are the names of your members?
Paul Sadler (that’s me) - vocals/guitar, Paul Cuthbert – guitar, Alex Jolley – bass, Chris Barnard - drums

2). When did you all get together?
We finally collected all our current members in early 2008, playing our first show at the end of that year, although some of the songs on ‘Spiral of Ascension’ have been round much longer.

3). How did you all meet?
Myself and Paul Cuthbert have known each other for some time, as we both grew up in West Yorkshire, so we’d been jamming ideas for a while before the idea to do it properly came about.  I met Al and Chris when I moved to Manchester, mainly through a love of music and heavy drinking, and then eventually Paul moved over as well to concentrate fully on the band.

4). How would you describe your music?
Well, we usually use the tagline “Epic Progressive Metal”, which is about as close as I can describe it without writing an essay!  Think long, complex songs that tell a story and take you on a journey.  Very intricate at times, yet also very’ songlike’, if that makes sense!

5). Who are your major influences?
The obvious ones people will pick up on are bands like Opeth, Emperor, Mastodon, Cynic etc, but this is just in the metal genre.  I guess we all share a love of Classic Rock, and older Prog,  so you could add Rush, Heart, Thin Lizzy etc to that list.  I could go on forever!

6). Complete the sentence: One day as a band we hope to…
All share a bath together.  Oh, and tour the world or something.

7). Why should people listen to your music?
I think we’re doing something that very few other UK bands are doing at the minute, which I would say in itself makes us worth listening to.  Other than that however, I’d say people should listen to us who like technicality and actual well written songs, but feel it’s too often a case of one or the other.

8). What are your plans for the upcoming year?
We’ve got a fair amount of live shows lined up for early 2012, moving into spring, a short acoustic tour, as well as mini-tours of Scotland and Ireland.  Other than that, we’ve just announced the upcoming release of an acoustic EP, hopefully in April, to bridge the gap before our second full length, which should be out at the tail end of the year.

9). What albums/EP’s have you released so far and where can people get hold of them?
We released ‘Spiral of Ascension’ in November 2010, which we’re immensely proud of, and has received some great critical acclaim.  It’s available from http://spires.bigcartel.com along with T-shirts etc, and also through the usual channels, ie iTunes, Amazon etc.

10). Finally – say something profound that will make everyone think:
If you have a minor 13th chord, lets say an Am13, does the minor refer to the minor third (in this case C), or the actual 13th note itself (the 6th up an octave).  To put it in layman’s terms, is the 13th a major 13th (F sharp), or minor 13th (F natural).  Just something I was wondering, but I often compare this conundrum to the human condition.  Perhaps we all have minor 13th tendencies deep inside.