Culture
Spiritbox guitarist Mike Stringer talks new EP, creative evolution, and touring with Shinedown and Papa Roach
By: Nicholas Kobe
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CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (WOUB) – Canadian metal band, Spiritbox was formed in 2016 by married couple, Courtney LaPlante and Mike Stringer. The band struck gold with their early EPs, which quickly became favorites of metal fans and critics around the world with their blend of sheer brutality and catchy, soaring hooks.
In 2021 their LP Eternal Blue was released to a warm critical reception, boosting the group further into the limelight. Spiritbox shows no signs of slowing down, as the band continues to climb festival bills and has announced the release of a new forthcoming EP, The Fear of Fear, November 3.
WOUB’s Nicholas Kobe spoke to Spiritbox founding member and guitarist Mike Stringer ahead of the group’s upcoming September 6 performance at Blossom Music Center (1145 West Steels Corners Road), supporting Shinedown and Papa Roach.
So I guess first and foremost, if you had to describe it in one sentence to somebody who’s never heard of them, what is Spiritbox?
Mike Stringer:
That’s a good question. I would say it’s just a melodic, somewhat progressive metal band. It’s hard because we are always using a bunch of different genres and everything and putting it into one thing. So I just kind of narrow it down to just “melodic, progressive metal.” That’s pretty much it.
Nicholas Kobe:
Alright, well, the big news for the band is that you all have an EP coming out on November 3. What’s your favorite memory from the process of making it?
Mike Stringer:
Yeah, I’m really excited about it. Looking back on it, it was a very involved process and we got extremely nerdy with a lot of the sounds. The EP all blends into itself. There’s no stopping. I added a bunch of soundscapes and used a bunch of weird pedals in between and just kind of threw everything at the wall with it. So I’m really excited for everybody to hear it. It was interesting – and it really reminded me of making the first EP.
Nicholas Kobe:
How does the process of making an EP like this differ from the process of making a full LP, like Eternal Blue?
Mike Stringer:
I think EPs are great because they kind of give you a bit more creative fulfillment. It’s not like an album, where it’s like ‘okay, you have 12 songs and they all have to make sense together yet each have their own identity.’ An EP can be something that’s conceptual and very out there. I feel like the EPs give us a chance to explore new territory, as with the full lengths we have to be more specific. Do you know what I mean?
Nicholas Kobe:
Yeah. You feel like you have a less restraints when you’re doing an EP.
Mike Stringer:
Yeah, for sure. I feel like it’s definitely a certain moment in time and you’re able to experiment a little bit. We did that last year with an EP called Rotoscope. It was three songs and it’s very industrial and electronic. This forthcoming EP is more so revisiting the sound we had in those earlier days.
Nicholas Kobe:
How did you decide to go back to that older sound a little bit?
Mike Stringer:
Well, me and Courtney, I remember specifically last winter, we were discussing it and we love all the other stuff we’ve put out, but we just have very fond memories of starting everything; when we could just be very loose with the creativity and just being able to make whatever we enjoy, and be able to put it down and not really have to think too much about it. I think naturally our style goes to that darker melodic style. So it was almost like we had a discussion where we were like, ‘well, what if we approach things like that in 2023? What would that sound like and what would that look like and what would the concept be?’
So when we first started, we threw a bunch of actual EVP sounds on the EP and made a really, in my opinion, a very dark, kind of bleak sounding record. And we hadn’t done that for a while.
Nicholas Kobe:
When you guys are exploring this dark side on the new EP as compared to your other EPs, what’s kind of different now that you have more time behind you?
Mike Stringer:
I think it just comes down to leaning into things a little bit more and having the experience and knowing what works and what doesn’t. So there are songs off of the first EP that I really enjoy, but I know won’t really go over well live. I have a better idea of that because we have the experience of touring a lot now and seeing how the crowd would possibly respond to various songs, so we can kind of imagine that response in advance. You can still go over and above and do these over the top heavy parts, but you can kind of think contextually what that will be like live. So it’s nice to explore those things and to get really extreme with it, but then do it in a way that’s creative and that would go over well live and translate well.
Nicholas Kobe:
What about those songs that didn’t work? Why do you think they didn’t work live?
Mike Stringer:
I’m not saying that those songs are bad, but I don’t think a lot of people gravitated towards certain moments because there wasn’t a hook or they weren’t able to grab it visually, really. So I think we’re finding that and really giving that as much definition as possible – giving enough for someone to grab onto and to really attach themselves to a moment is important. And when we first started out, we were just figuring out how to do that, and we still have a long way to go, but I think now we have a better idea of what that should be. And I think that when people hear this new EP, I hope that their takeaway would be that it’s a lot more mature, but that they still feel like it’s reminiscent of what the old stuff was.
Nicholas Kobe:
Yeah. And have you guys had a lot of fan demand to go back? How have the fans kind of taken to this so far?
Mike Stringer:
It’s funny. We put out The Void a couple months ago, and to me that song is just any other one of our songs. If you listen to Eternal Blue, we have songs like The Summit. We have songs like Secret Garden where there isn’t a heavy part. It’s just very kind of hooky and catchy and melodic. So I didn’t think that there was going to be any sort of major discussion about ‘why is it so different? Why are they doing this?’ I saw a lot of people concerned that this was the new direction and stuff, but ultimately this band is just kind of whatever we feel like in the moment.
So although there’s a song like The Void on the EP, there’s also our heaviest song that we’ve ever made on the EP as well that people haven’t heard yet. So yeah, it’s interesting to see some feedback from the fans. We don’t really go into writing being like, ‘oh, well, I saw a lot of comments of people saying they would like this type of song, so let’s make it,’ you know what I mean? We don’t do that.
But that being said, sometimes when you’re experimenting and you’re trying stuff, numbers don’t lie and you do see feedback. I think for us though, it was genuinely just us wanting to revisit that, and we had gone simpler with some riffs before and we have also sprinkled in some more technical stuff this time around. It was just kind of like, ‘let’s just keep it more consistent.’ Let’s keep it pretty technical. You know what I mean? Let’s try to up the riffs. Let’s try to just progress things in this direction and think about how we used to go about it beforehand and see what that would sound like. So we did that and this is kind of the end result, which again, I can’t wait for everybody to hear.
Nicholas Kobe:
Yeah, that’s definitely sounds exciting. You guys are currently on tour with Shinedown and Papa Roach. How has that experience been so far with you? You haven’t gone out yet, so what are you looking forward to with it?
Mike Stringer:
I’m so excited because these are two bands that are seasoned veterans that just know it in and out and are such incredible musicians and also incredible performers. And these moments for us getting paired with these types of bands, it’s very unique and we’re very grateful that we get to do it, but also they’re just the hugest learning moments for us. I’m excited for the shows, don’t get me wrong, but I’m also just as excited to learn about how bands like that function and how they go about things day-to-day and their gear and all their setups and stuff. And I’m also just excited to hang out with them because they’re such genuinely nice kind people. So this is going to be a big tour for us. We’re really, really excited, but ultimately for selfish reasons, I’m excited for the learning aspect.
Nicholas Kobe:
I mean, it is a craft and it’s definitely good to learn from the people you’re with. Are there any other bands that you’d really like to learn from?
Mike Stringer:
Oh man. I mean, Meshuggah comes to mind. I saw them live for the first time a couple months ago. It’s kind of like a running joke through our camp because we’ve had a few other opportunities where we’ve played the same festival or the same day or something, and for months gearing up to it we’re like, ‘oh my God, we’re finally get to see Meshuggah,’ and then the day of something dramatic will happen and we’ll have to leave early or something stupid.
But I finally caught them. We were in Europe and I was in disbelief. I’m one of those guys that pulled out my camera and I filmed some parts of the set, and usually when people do that I’m like, ‘you’re never going to watch that,’ but I straight up watched those clips for a week straight afterwards, just listening, because it was just so impressive. And that’s the first one that comes to mind for sure. I feel like that camp just is on another planet and they just have it figured out and it’s perfect. I just have never witnessed anything that proficient in my life. It is just incredible. It’s amazing.
I mean, especially how long they’ve been going and watching their progression online and the live videos and stuff. I mean, it is so intimidating to watch those guys stand there and just play the heaviest music known to man perfectly. That’s so complex. It just blows my mind. How are they even doing this? They’re frigging robots.
Nicholas Kobe:
Yeah. So I guess one more question before we wrap up here. What do you think is kind of the future for Spiritbox? Obviously you guys have this EP coming out, but what do you just see as just the general goal for this band?
Mike Stringer:
You know what? So much of this has been such a whirlwind and I’m finding myself to be in disbelief that we’ve gotten to this point. So it’s hard for me to say for sure what I think the future is because for me, I’m just trying to think of it, enjoy it, and I don’t try to set too many expectations. As long as we keep doing what we’re doing and the music is made for ourselves and because we’re very into it and we’re passionate about it, then it doesn’t matter if we’re playing to five people.
It doesn’t matter if we’re playing to 50,000 people. It’s what we need to be doing, and I’ll be extremely happy if we can continue doing that. And I hope that people stay along for the ride and I hope that we can continue to grow, but basically just trying to make as much diverse music as possible within the catalog and just try to connect with as many people as possible too. And yeah, I am very fortunate we’ve gotten this far and I hope we can continue and just keep growing. So I hope that’s what happens.