The Spoon Benders are the coolest band you’ve never heard of.
With a thunderous energy that feels like King Crimson’s In The Court of the Crimson King meets Nirvana’s Bleach meets Deep Purple’s Machine Head, they melt faces with intricate, high-octane riffage.
The Portland, OR-based rockers formed in 2019 and have released two albums to date, with a third on the way.
I recently got the opportunity to sit down with Katy (vocals, guitar), Leo (guitar), and Casey (bass), and find out what makes the Spoon Benders tick.
Q: What sets the Spoon Benders apart from other bands?
A: Katy – “It’s a matter of us writing music we want to hear in a certain moment in time, just selfishly wanting to hear that for ourselves, and then some odd occurrences happen afterwards where other people start listening to it and then they weirdly enough come to a show, and then they come back to a show.”
Casey – “If you happen to be into our niche of this wacky little thing we’re into, which is kind of 70s prog, it’s a good way to wind down.”
Q: How would you classify your sound?
A: “We were a punk band, a psych band, and now we’re kinda prog and krautrock, like King Crimson. The new sound we’re working on right now is an amalgamation of a lot of the other things we’ve done. The first record is a lot more simplified and stripped down, and the second record has a lot more layers to it. We’re adding more layers now. That’s what’s happening.”
Q: What’s the origin of the band?
A: Leo – “I met Katy at a house show I was hosting up in Olympia, Washington. She just introduced herself to me… and she was like, that’s perfect.”
Casey – “The band came from Katy. She’s a creative powerhouse. She just picked up a guitar and didn’t even know how to play. She started a band. I liked that and I joined the band.”
Q: Who are your musical influences?
A: “Our drummer’s into a lot of Black Flag, Black Sabbath, and Mars Volta.”
Casey – “I’m all over the place. I listen to a lot of Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan.”
Katy – “I’m into jazz primarily. Miles Davis and Thelonious [Monk]. I listen to some dissonant music. I like Latin Kick a lot, I had a long four years of that in college.”
Leo – “A big one has always been Big Star. Todd Rundgren is another big one for me. Some 90s stuff like Elliott Smith. Another big one is the Grateful Dead. I mostly stay within the 60s and 70s.”
Q: What’s tour life like?
A: Leo – “It’s a lot like camping every day. A lot of people shy away from what we go through. All that social media stuff is about presenting to the world, and you don’t necessarily want them to know how gritty it can get.”
Katy – “Every experience you have throughout the day is an experience that everyone else in the band has, and so you all know each other and your thinking. It’s also beautiful. You can’t explain the positive part because it’s just the feeling of freedom. When you really want to be a musician, and you really want this to be your life, and you hate your job, and you just like to tour, it’s awesome. I think everyone has an underlying thought of like, am I living life? Am I really living my life, or am I just passing the time and working and not creating and I could be anyone, but I’m just a cog. I think everyone feels that way. And so touring just takes that away from you, and you just feel like you’re doing what you’re supposed to do.”
Casey – “It’s not very glamorous, but you have a beautiful bond with the road itself. You interact with all these people who are so unique to the region. I never thought I would say I love Arkansas, you know?”
If you like music that sounds straight out of a sci-fi alien invasion, the Spoon Benders are for you. They sound just like their name. Just like a magician bends spoons with his mind, the Spoon Benders bend minds with their music.
This band deserves so much love, and I think big things are in their future. Today the Troubadour, tomorrow Madison Square Garden.
