By: Quinn Que
Q) Jake, what was the transition like moving from The Flaming Lips to establishing Spaceface, and how did that experience inform the band’s direction?
Jake: Well, I’d been doing Spaceface the whole time I was in the Lips so the transition really just meant that I got to spend more time at home with my partner and dog and friends and that has been really lovely after spending twelve years never really feeling like anywhere was home. It gets very lonely seeing other people’s relationships deepen and grow when you only get to pop into a loved one’s life for two weeks at a time. Bandwise, I’ve always been drawn to bands that provide spectacle or an experience like the Lips or of Montreal. I think there’s a great value in putting something together that allows for people who may not know your music to have a good time. We like to throw a party. [smiles]
Q) Eric, what drew you to collaborate with Jake initially, and how do you approach songwriting together?
Eric: We were already friends, so that made it a lot easier for me to agree to and/or asking that awkward question, “Do you want to jam sometime?” … I’m actually not sure who suggested it first. I had not played guitar with anyone since I quit my high school metal band, so I was anxious to find someone to play along with. The first time Jake and I jammed a few tunes together I was pleased to see that he and I were exploring very similar chord structures … the sort of non-standard minimal chords that you don’t know the name of at first. Included in those initial hangs was Matt Strong, switching between bass and drums and guitar. I asked If I could store my half stack at their place until next time and they agreed, hesitantly. About a year later, the three of us were living together and playing songs that would soon become the first Spaceface tunes.
Jake and I know where to fall in on each other’s ideas. So, when we’re proposing a song to each other, we’re pretty good at knowing what the other wants to hear, so it pretty quick finding something to build on.
Q) How has Spaceface’s sound evolved since expanding from a duo to a four-piece with Marina and Garet joining the lineup?
Jake: It’s made a few things easier and it’s made a few arrangements soar.
Q) Your music blends psychedelic pop, funk-rock and post-disco in a unique way. What musical influences have helped shape this distinctive sound?
Jake: I am an avid crate digger and have a pretty sizable portion of my records that are dedicated to an imagined future where I’m a sample based Avalanches style artist and Eric has a pretty deep love and knowledge of 60’s pop stuff…take that and add the internet where everything is at your finger tips and I guess this is what happens? I feel like our sound is typically more defined by our limitations and abilities – there are plenty of moments where we’re going for Tyler The Creator or Bibio and what comes out is what we’re able to physically record because we both are horrible at working in the box with a DAW. It’s like two people with keyboards and a guitar tryna make a modern beat and then it comes out like beach boys with an 808. [laughs]
Q) Tell us about your upcoming album Lunar Manor. What are some of the themes you’ll be exploring?
Jake: Taking your time with it, harnessing anxiousness, missing people, loving people, feeling aimless, acceptance, frustration and trying not to completely ruin the magic of a friend on mushrooms who thinks they are seeing fireflies for the first time but you, also on mushrooms, know that they tragically do not have fireflies at Huichica Fest and it’s just regular ole non luminescent bugs dancing in a projector’s light to The Allahla’s.
Q) “Everything Is Money” opens with such a direct, biting critique of monetization. What specific experiences or observations inspired this song? And would you consider it an anti-capitalist anthem?
Jake: Yes, I would and I’d say my own poverty specifically influenced it. It’s very strange to be temporarily destitute and get caught in an endless scroll of people on the internet just selling to each other constantly. Is that what we’re supposed to do now? Just constantly sell shit to each other back and forth? Surely, that’s not our lot in life.
Q) The song’s groove is notably funky and more electronic-leaning compared to some of your previous work. What drove that direction for this particular track?
Jake: My original demo had the bassline as a big Gorillaz style synth line. In fact, a lot of my demos are more electronic leaning but back to the limitations of our abilities…Bringing them to life usually means grabbing a guitar or something and I guess I’ve been playing more synths/working with our producer, Taylor [Johnson], whose main objective was not to influence the sound but to bring the original vision to life before we tweak it…That was the ethos of most of the record.
Q) How does “Everything Is Money” fit into the broader themes and narrative of Lunar Manor as a complete album?
Jake: We wanted to explore impulses that we had eschewed on previous efforts – being fucking angry is something we usually express only through the arrangements, but even then, typically we shy away from minor keys and direct lyrics like that. Lunar Manor was about our own exploration and this definitely honors that.
Q) What kind of journey are you taking listeners on across these eleven tracks?
Jake: Ease in, get hyped, celebrate the absurdity of this silly little life, embrace your loved ones and know that the end is all we are promised. Then, ruminate on how lucky we are to know each other in this brief period of existence. It feels like a good mushroom trip to me. Loving, a little intense and ultimately, cathartic and sweet.
Q) Your cover of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” appears on the album. What drew the band to reinterpret that particular song and how did you go about making this your own?
Jake: I had a particularly rough patch a year or two ago and I was listening/singing along/crying to it a lot in my car, so I put together my own little version of it in Logic…I’ve always loved it and with new band members, you’re sorta more excited to do things they get stoked on and Rini [Aguerre] also loved the song, so I pitched it and the band dug it. We refined it and tried to make it our own a little. Our version, imo, feels like knowing this great sadness within you but you’re also at a pool party…I feel that way a lot.
Q) The album features guest appearances from members of The Flaming Lips and Labrys. How did these collaborations come about and what did they bring to the songs?
Jake: I’ve known and collaborated with these people for my entire adult life. I love them very much and they love me, too. We trust each other and work well together – I know bringing Penny, Matt, Nick, Derek or anyone in will only elevate the music and I’m very grateful for them all. ♡ It’s usually as easy as a text and grabbing lunch after and I’m incredibly lucky to be able to say that.
Q) Who would you love to collaborate with on music in the future?
Jake: I feel like I’m always thinking about this and then when I’m asked, I go blank!
Tom from Tobacco/Black Moth Super Rainbow, Teebs, Harry & The Nightgown, Low Hum, MackandGold, Sego, Tyler The Creator, Jim James, Dijon…off the top of my head ¯\_(◔ᴥ◔し)_/¯
Q) With your elaborate live shows featuring state-of-the-art lighting and projections, how do you translate the album’s varied sonic palette to the stage?
Jake: Without darkness, light is just noise. I’ve been playing a lot with that idea recently while making the visuals.
Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?
Jake: I love you, thank you for sticking with us all this time. Hope to see you soon ♡ ˚✧₊⁎♬°❀