Spender

Spender, Standing six foot four and with hands large enough to wrap mine twice over, sits, all legs and cheekbones, in a library chair just south of the city and far from the frantic atmosphere of peak hour traffic. We exchange pleasantries and I admit to my fascination with the demo's I received in the mail. His response is an awkward mixture of confidence and vague embarrassment. In hindsight I realise that Spender, new to the "solo game” has never had to be quite as honest and exposed as he is now.
I remind myself I'm here to write a story about someone that writes stories. I learn that at 29, and after years of fronting other bands, Spender has finally started back at the initial inspiration that changed his life from photojournalist to songwriter. .
"I was earning too much money busking,” he divulges.
" I was 17, broke, out of school, living out of home and I had this Alto Saxophone. I'd gotten an apprenticeship with a well renowned fashion photographer, but it wasn't my thing. I wanted to take pictures of real people and real stories. So I used to take my 35mm and my horn and head into the city. There was a Bridge I stood under for 5 years a few nights a week. I took photos and wrote articles about people on the streets. I put myself through music school. And the rest I spent on 35mm film. The money was amazing.. I was learning to improvise for hours on end without accompaniment. People put me in films, I played at weddings, funerals, I met girls, I got beaten up and robbed. It was all I needed to know that I wanted music and story telling for the rest of my life…”.
Spender grins and I know he isn’t lying. When I first heard his demo’s, this is what precisely drew me into his world in the first place, the true originality of his story telling and mesmerising quality of his distinctive voice and arrangements. .
"None of my family is musical as such. They're all visual artists" Uncle a painter, Auntie a Potter, Father an Art Dealer, Mother a fashion designer and jeweller the list goes on..” "It was the fact my Dutch Family growing up in Venezuela could dance the pants off most whitey's that I loved about music. Salsa, Tango ,Cha Cha etc.. All the music they grew up with had this really strong percussive and African influence. And it just seeped into me.“ .
“My parents record collection from a young age was a mixture of Philip Glass, Joni Mitchell, Talking Heads, Kraftwerk, Roxy Music, Bruce Springsteen Stockhausen and Laurie Anderson…” .
No doubt this eclectic yet potent mix of artists has informed the majority of music Spender has been involved with including his former band Offcutts. “ We survived lean and hungry from our music having ultimately broad and eclectic appeal. From electronic (where spender cut his programming teeth) to bluesy garage rock, to dance music. At one point we realised we’d had a high rotation single on national radio in over 5 genres! From Hip hop to dance, Folk to Rock, Funk to Indie….” .
After the wildly swerving, genre defying band Offcutts came to an endlate last year, Spender took an artist in residency in a hotel in Sydney's raw and vibrant Kings' cross for three months. Determined, he locked himself away with the intention to hone a sound the differed from anything before. Spender bloomed in that hidden room in the cross. He came out into the light with over 53 new or reworked songs. .
Shortly after this Spender approached producer Francois Tetaz (Architecture in Helsinki, Lior, Gotye, New Buffalo, Hot Little Hands) to help him pin down eloquently what he wanted to say. “… Francois just has this sound and approach that is very filmic and honest and his expertise in feature film scoring and sound design exemplifies that. He captures the essence and the simplicity of an idea and sets it against these incredibly visual sounding textures and structures….” .
Currently in Pre-Production with Tetaz on his debut release the initial influences emerging have fragments of, Talking Heads, Ray la Montagne Fela Kuti, Paul Simon, Jamie Liddell. Spender Sings and plays Saxophones, Guitars, Bass, Percussion, Chromatic Harmonica, Computers, and Drums on the Album..
I wrap up the interview and leave the library with Spender searching for books by Murakami. I sense something that is truly unique here. But more importantly I sense an urgency in Spender to be true to himself and the POETRY COLOUR AND RHYTHMIC pictures he takes with his 35mm songs.
Sunny Harding – Music Journalist