Interview | This Band is Full of Spiders

Randy (POM Records): What exactly is your logic in releasing the band's next album, The Blue Lodge, so soon after your previous effort?

Leslie Kincaid (bassist): The Red Lodge was, in a lot of ways, a very flawed album. Simply put: we rushed it out and then later found that it was... um... I don't know, man - it was just missing something. It was missing that sort of energy that made The White Lodge work. I mean, don't get me wrong - it's a great record, but it's really one-sided. It was a bit boring and the only energy it had was this tense, sort of nervous energy. It was an interesting record, but it was also a very unlistenable record, if you know what I mean. It had no accessibility. The Blue Lodge is an effort to fill in what was missing and create a worthy follow-up to The White Lodge. The Blue Lodge is like the other side of the coin. It was something that needed to be created.

Randy: So you didn't feel entirely comfortable with The Red Lodge?

Leslie: There were a lot of unrefined ideas. Good ideas, definitely, but way unrefined. The Blue Lodge tones back the complexity a bit. It's a much more spacious album, which isn't to say that it's slow-paced - it's probably our "punkiest" record yet. it just... inhabits its time significantly better. It's our shortest record, but it's strong from one side to the other.

Track from The Red Lodge

Randy: You worked with three artists on this album - Agent Ohoolahan, Chester, and The Random Factor. How was it working with them?

Leslie: It was a breeze. I mean, with Agent's song ("What Happened?") being the single, obviously we feel quite strongly about it. Chester and The Random Factor are also absolutely fantastic artists. "109," is quite possibly my favorite track; it's definitely the one with the most ambition and "meat."

Randy: You dropped the Progressive part of, "Progressive Hard Rock." What's your reasoning behind that move? Marketing?

Leslie: It's just unnecessary. The word, "Progressive," has certain connotations to it that we feel like we've never quite fit under. And even if we did, we aren't going in that direction anymore.

Randy: Why is this Lodge blue?

Leslie: Beyond Blue being on the opposite end of the spectrum to red; it's also because this album has a feeling of "airiness" to it. Red is an erratic colour. Blue is a more relaxed, more focused colour. It also probably has something to do with my favorite colour being Blue.

Randy: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the track, "Nunc Anima Mea," is an older track from before even The White Lodge, correct?

Leslie: Correct. It's one of the best things we've done, honestly. Obviously it's been reworked slightly, but it was a surprisingly good fit regardless. It's a pattern really, on every release we tend to have one or two refitted songs from our past. Reworking old songs is a great way to find direction.

Randy: To wrap up, what are the band's immediate plans for the future?

Leslie:  Probably another Lodge, among other things. We've finished three albums this year, imperfect though they may be. We aren't planning on stopping any time soon. Probably take a bit of a break, though. Don't want to die and such.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. This Band is Full of Spiders will be dropping their third album later this year on POM Records. Be on the look out!