SPACEY JANE WELCOMES ALL THE NOISE!

INTERVIEW: Denise J. Mallabo

PHOTOGRAPHY BY:MEI KOBAYASHI

Photographer: Mei Kobayashi, Producer: Jesse Zapatero, Stylist: Joshua Alan Clark, Hair & Make-up: Patrick Santa Ana, Interview: Denise Mallabo, Retoucher: Crystal Corrales, Photographer assistant: Vin Stratton, Zach Schlieman, Location: Hype Studios LA

The contrast is striking: while their songs delve into more honest and poignant themes, their stage presence transforms every performance into a vibrant party. A goal that indie-rock band SPACEY JANE thrives to commit to almost always. “The music is devastating. It's sad music, but the show is electric, which is really cool,” says Spacey Jane front man and guitarist Caleb Harper. The band that’s formed in Perth, Western Australia just released their third studio album If That Makes Sense, which according to some people who have previewed it that it feels like it’s more personal than Sunlight and Here Comes Everybody, their previous releases. “I didn't think I could get more personal than our other records, but apparently, I've done it. It's just more of the same sad shit. A bit of love song, but not really,” shares Caleb. Spacey Jane came together in 2016 with Caleb Harper, drummer Kieran Lama, and guitarist Ashton Hardman -Le Cornu, later adding bassist Peppa Lane in 2019. Now with nine years of performances under their belt, Caleb has already accumulated a collection of unforgettable core memories from their time on stage. “I remember the first time we sold out a show in advance in Perth for like 500 tickets. We were all at work that day or at uni, and I remember finding out it sold out and I had to finish work and went to soundcheck. That was the first time I think we ever thought, ‘Huh, there's maybe something here that could go beyond just our little hometown.’ Also, the first show we ever played in London and New York, those sorts of moments for us are really special,” says Caleb. Spacey Jane has already performed at the Brixton Academy in the UK and did two nights at the Bowery Ballroom in New York. While Caleb's formative listening included bands like Wilco, The Strokes, Kings of Leon, and Arctic Monkeys, he clarifies that these influences don't define Spacey Jane's sound. The band's distinct style, he says, emerges from the varied musical backgrounds of its members.

Spacey Jane will tour their 13-track album, If That Makes Sense, starting in Australia before heading to the US, UK, and parts of Europe.

A Book Of caught up with Caleb to discuss the challenges of his move from Australia to LA, collaborations on their third album, and his advice for aspiring indie-rock bands.

Peppa wears jacket and Dress by THEO, Boots by 4CCCCEES and earrings by TOVA

Kieran wears shirt by Lord Culture, T-shirt by Second/Layer, Pants by Goodfight), Necklaces by Christine Bukkehave and Pyrrha, and shoes by Toga

Caleb wears shirt by Current Mood ,)Pants and Skirt by Personal/Own, and shoes by Maison Margiela Ashton wears leather shirt and t-shirt by Second/Layer , Pants by Goodfight , Necklace by Pyrrha

Could you describe your typical songwriting process and how do ideas usually come together within the band?

Caleb: I'm always writing down ideas. I read a lot and when I read, something will extract me, a phrase or an idea. I might write that down. And it's always, I feel like, “oh, this is profound or poetic.” I always have those words or phrases sitting there in my phone. And when I sit down to write, I just start noodling with things. It might happen when I'm just sitting on the couch playing the guitar or in my studio playing the piano. Just as things come to me, like if that melody is interesting, I'll go search for a line in my notes app that matches the vibe and build it out from there.

I think I’m really honest in songwriting—about what I'm dealing with, experiences in the past, and things I see. The goal is always just to be straight up with people in the songwriting process. And then once I get a demo together, we'd go to the band. It’s often Ashton (Hardman-Le Cornu) and I spend a lot of time working on the songs because he's quite a melodic guitar player. And a lot of those guitar parts form really important melodies and hooks in our songs. He and I will spend months together just working on his parts. And then it goes to the rest of the band and we'll sort of sit down and flesh it out. It happens in stages and there's different variations.

As a front man, how do you approach translating your personal experiences and emotions into your music?

Caleb: When I write a song, I want to feel moved by it and then the hope is, and seemingly it seems to work out this way, is that if it affects me deeply, then it will affect other people deeply as well. I've come to realize that there are 8 billion unique experiences in this world, but there are far fewer unique feelings and emotions. No matter what I've experienced, what I've been through, everyone experienced that one way or another. For me, how I speak to those feelings as succinctly and poetically as possible? And that people can also connect with our music, which is the goal of our music.

With each album (Sunlight, Here Comes Everybody), do you consciously try to push yourselves creatively or explore new sound?

Caleb: Yeah, I think so and sometimes it's hard for me to always hear the evolution. When you're so attached to the music, it's pretty hard to pull yourself back and look at it from a different perspective. But yes, I think there is an evolution in music and we never go into the process of an album with a goal on what we want to sound, but the goal is just to not do the same thing. And I get very easily sick of my songwriting style where I keep doing this thing and I refuse to do that again. My friend Jordy, who is also a musician, after showing him the album, he’s like, “yeah, that's a Caleb melody.” I was like, “Fuck!” I have created my own set of conventions, having done this for so long now that you start to repeat stuff. The goal for us is always to expand. And this record (If That Makes Sense) was really synth heavy. We’re in rehearsals at the moment and I'm barely playing guitar on the new songs, only five or six.

Peppa wears: Blazer and corset top by Natashia, Shorts by KAOS, Heels by Jonak, Earrings by Christine Bukkehave 

Caleb wears: Blazer and pants by Personal/Own, Shirt by Second/Layer, Shoes by Toga

Congratulations on the release of If That Makes Sense. I was able to listen to the entire album and my favorite track would have to be “ILY the Most.”

Caleb: I've heard that from a couple of people now, actually. It's the first of Spacey Jane's piano ballads. We didn't really think of it as a song that would be popular, but I hear it more and more people saying they like it. We've been learning it. We're going to play it on the tour. It's very hard to sing the song but I'm excited for it.

Is there like a predominant theme or messages that the band had to explore for this album?

Caleb: Not intentionally, like it wasn't like this is what we're looking at. The album was made in Los Angeles. I'm back in Australia now and sort of split my time depending on what's happening with work but I really moved to L.A. for like two years to make the album. And I uprooted my life and set up shop there. There’s a lot of feelings of isolation. It was exciting and beautiful but also super challenging. There's a lot of cultural similarities, but also a lot of culture shock between Australia and L.A. I've had a decade here that I just see my friend group every weekend. Doing stuff like getting a driver's license and finding out how to go to the doctor and stuff like takes a toll.

I think the theme for me was this kind of trying to make sense of and reconcile all those things in the past and trying to define myself as my own person, not just the product of the life back in Australia. There's a lot of reflection and sort of trying to piece things together throughout my life before America and kind of not doing a good job of it. Like at least internally, struggling to make sense of it in a way.

Kieran wears: Shirt by Goodfight, Vest by Sons of Gemini, Shorts and skirt by Personal/Own, Shoes by Toga

Ashton wears: Sweater by YASHY, Skirt by Personal/Own, Necklace by Pyrrha, Rings by Christine Bukkehave

Were there bands or musicians that you guys were listening to while working on this album?

Caleb: Some things that I wanted to bring to the record was some of that hit 80s sound in Australia, we call it pub rock. It's like bands like INXS, lesser known bands outside of Australia, but in Australia, like Icehouse and Ganggajang. There's something about them that feels uniquely Australian, the synth sounds, the big snares. It's definitely mimics a lot of the other 80s stuff around the world. But we brought some of that into it. And I know Ashton was listening to a lot of Tom Petty, which I think you’ll hear throughout the record a little bit. It's kind of like little influences, but not necessarily overarching.

What’s with the album title?

Caleb: I've had the idea floating around my head for ages before we even really worked on the record. I just liked it as a phrase and there's something about this thing that people would ask me in the first and second albums, before we start going out, we're like, “okay, the record's ready. And let's start telling the story of this record.” And people are like, “So what's it about? What's the overall theme?” And I was like, “there isn't one.” I don't want to have to prescribe this whole idea to a record. I don't really know what it's about. It's just a bunch of songs we made over this period of time. It represents a period of time in our lives, not an idea. It's kind of this word salad, a bunch of thoughts that aren't necessarily fully coherent. They don't always connect. I feel like I say it all the time. I'll say a bunch of things and say, if that makes sense. It's like, I don't really know.

It's almost a way of washing my hands of the record in terms of what it's about, it's yours now. interpret this how you want.

You have collaborated with people like Mike Crossey (The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Wolf Alice), with songwriters Jackson “Day Wave” Phillips and Sarah Aarons (Childish Gambino, Miley Cyrus, Lykke Li) on this album. How did these collaborations influence the band's creative process compared to your previous work?

Caleb: It's different for all of them. It's the first time I've ever written with other people on an album. Sarah is an amazing songwriter. She's done a lot of amazing pop records. She works in the R&B space a lot. She's very melody focused and lyric focused. And for her, I think the thing I got the most out of her was not doing too much with the melody. If it's good, keep it like that. And also making sure that to always connect in a song. It's like every line needs to keep telling the story so that the full thing makes sense no matter where you pick it up Jackson is an amazing producer. He works with a lot of weird tunings and weird sounds. And the way we worked in sessions together was like, he would sort of have these chord ideas and beats and I would just essentially riff on top of them lyrically and melodically that's why you’d hear these really weird melodies in the songs I did with him because I wasn't touching an instrument the whole time. And that's not something I've ever done before. I'm always playing keyboard or guitar when I'm writing. I think that was cool. I think I explored different ways of singing because I had unlocked that a bit.

And then Mike, who produced the record, is incredible. He's done some really amazing records that I love over the last 20 years. What's great about Mike is that he's a really good engineer, first of all, so the record sounds amazing. Just on a music nerd perspective, sonically, it's perfect. And he's similar to us. He never wants to make the same record twice. And he's super particular. Everything, every part of the song is thought about. You can't get away with just half-assing something or putting something in. We put everything into the song and then strip out lots of bits by the time we got to mixing. And he's a very opinionated guy, but he holds his opinions gently.

How do you feel your live performances have evolved over the years?

Caleb: I think the main way we've evolved is we can be looser on stage because we're better at our instruments. And we know the routine now. At the same time, the venues get bigger, so we get more scared. So that sort of tempers the excitement and the looseness sometimes. I think we've gotten more comfortable in that space. And for me, I'm not super comfortable in big crowds. I don't like public speaking. But feeling the excitement, knowing that people that see you, being empowered by that has really given me a lot of energy on stage over the last couple of years.

This tour coming up, I think it's gonna be the most “theatrical,” which should be fun. But they can expect us to be as sweaty and as ever and jump around more than ever. And just have fun. Like, the Spacey Jane show is fun. That's the whole point.

What advice would you give to other aspiring indie rock bands trying to make their mark in the music industry?

Caleb: Make music that you believe in, stand behind it. When you sing it, make sure that something about it means something. If it's just fluff, if you're just trying to make a vibe, I don't think that that necessarily works for indie rock. I think it needs to be something that grabs people. That to me is really important. And also, just play as many shows as you can. We played and played and played and played before we put any music out. We played for a year, twice a weekend. When you're a band, when you're playing your instruments on stage, there is no substitute for building that chemistry on stage by doing it on stage. You have to do that. Get out of the bedroom and just try to play shows. And then that will get you closer as a group and make you play better together, which I think is an important thing.

If you could go back and give a young Caleb a piece of advice what would it be?

Oh, it would just be to love yourself and don't doubt yourself as much as you did.

Have you read any good books lately?

Caleb: I have read a few good books lately. What did I read that I really liked? I just read John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden,” which I loved, finally got around to that. I read “All Fours” by Miranda July. Okay. And I'm reading the Carolyn Bessett - Kennedy book right now, a biography.

If your life is a book, what kind of book would it be and why?

If my life could be a book, the books I was obsessed with as a kid, right? Were like Alex Rider and Ranger's Apprentice. It's essentially like YA fiction where they're like teenage kids who get thrust into this world of being a spy or basically a vigilante. My life isn't like that, but that's what I would like my life to be. I would like to be 16 again and become like a secret agent. That would be sick.