Interview with Spill Sixteen

 

Spill Sixteen – Interview with JJ, Dave, Steve, Indy and a late Mewsy J at HRH AOR Festival 2013

Interviewed by: Matt

Spill Sixteen hail from Sheffield, a band with Raw talent and a great sense of humour!

 

Hi Guys,

Can you start by telling us guys a bit about yourselves?  How you formed etc
 

Dave – “Sure, I came in from an advert on a website saying, band looking for Drummer, preferably Tommy Lee, but anyone else will do as long as you look cool”

JJ – “That was absolutely the advert!”

Dave – “I wasn’t Tommy Lee but I thought Id give it a go anyway”

JJ – “I was in a Sheffield band and it just kinda fell apart, Mewsy ( Guitarist) was in another one, so we were friends and we kinda said do you fancy havin a Jam and we kinda started doin some songs and we put this awful advert up”

Dave –“ Which got my interest” J

JJ – “I’d been in bands with Steve before and played him some stuff and he was, yeah that’s cool, and he was already in a band so I thought, he’s no way got time for us, so he said, well what if I make time, and I said – You’re in!, Indy was in the same band as Mewsie and I bumped into him at Sheffield train station and that was sort of it”

Dave – “Yeah and we just practised and practised”

JJ – “ What a terrible get-together story eh? ( laughs), it just sort of happened, and there were bands we’d been in who wanted to be Motley Crue, or a case of, It’s my band do as I say and we didn’t want that so we’ve got this collective thing going where no-one’s the boss and it kinda works well”

So where did the name come from?

Dave – “As I remember that was Andy outside our rehearsal room just throwing words together, we don’t know what it means but we like it! And it stuck!”

JJ – “ What I think is cool is if you shorten it to S16 you get a Sheffield postcode that doesn’t exist,”

Didn’t East 17 do that? J

Dave – “Someone was bound to mention that! ( Laughing )”

JJ – “We did want East 17 but it had already been taken!”

What’s your biggest achievement so far?

Both – “Easy, this so far, this I guess but also the album, this is the biggest gig so far”

At this point Steve and Indy Join, telling the band  “ This is that “hench guy” I said who was interviewing us “ to which everyone bursts out into laughter

JJ– “The feedback from the album has been really good”

I actually listened to the album a couple of days before the interview, and check out the review  on the site J

So who are your influences?

Dave – “Its all eclectic”

JJ – “Motley Crue, Backyard Babies, stuff like that”

Dave – “Anything metal, Motorhead etc”

JJ – “Andy is Rolling stones etc, oh and Japanese pop!”

Steve –“ I love anything, good music transcends genre I think anyway”

So who else you looking to see as well as Tesla

JJ – “Danny Vaughn, who we supported one night and he is awesome he helped us out a lot and nearly appeared on the album – maybe next time though, he’s such a genuine nice guy”

At this point I told Steve his vocals are strong too, and got my revenge for the “Hench” comment, by adding I’m glad that you’re in this though rather than Backstreet boys

Steve –“ I failed though that’s why I’m here!”  ( More laughter from all )

So what’s the next 12 months offer for you guys?

JJ – “A few festivals and working on the new album”

I was going to ask who’s the Joker of the band but it seem’s like you guys are on an equal par!

JJ – “Yeah we’re all messed up!, No, I’d have to say  Mewsie with his Camelot joke”

At this point Mewsie tells the Camelot joke involving a guy dressed as King Arthur J

So is this the perfect gig for you guys so local?

Steve – “I’m just so chuffed to be here, we could be anywhere on the bill and it would be amazing, there’s so many great bands.”

And so I sign off and say goodbye to the guys,

Matt “ Hench” Farrington