The Flying Spider Revival

 

The Flying Spider Revival are a country rock and roll band that originate from South Wales, their latest album, Paraffin Waltzer is out now. A great upbeat rock and roll album with a really fun vibe. I was lucky enough to catch up with the guys ahead of their tour.

You've developed a brilliant upbeat country rock and blues sound. What drew you to that specific style of rock?

"We only know 3 chords so country seemed an obvious choice."

Your tracks feature some great guitar riffs, bass lines and harmonies, what is your process for building these songs from the ground up?

"Well, it's very organic.  Someone will bring a song sketch or sometimes even a completed song to rehearsals, then we hammer them out as a band.  With everyone's input, they might end up far and away from the basic songs they begin as.  Other times, we're just finessing quite a complete idea.  Rob P got the bassline for Page Lake Powell walking in the Camarthenshire Fans - by the time he got back to the car 6 hours later it was all written, horns and everything.  He got some funny looks as he stomped around the mountains singing the different parts mind."

What was the inspiration behind the name of the album?

"A few of the tracks took a left turn and wound up at the fairground, which in itself disorients in a polysensory excess of sounds, smells, tastes, lights, visuals, rootedness, social conventions and performativity.  So we took our Favourite fairground ride ‘The Waltzer’ and we set it ablaze with some good old ‘Paraffin’."

Swansea itself is full of musical talent, with original bands like yourselves, is there anyone on the scene that you like the sound of at the moment?

"We really like No Murder No Moustache, great songwriting.  And from slightly further afield, we have to give props to the Algal Bloom with their deep rooted Americana sound which channels The Band."

What gear do you use for a live setup and how does it compare to your studio setup?

"With the constricts of space and time, playing with multiple bands on the same bill, live we’re basically Guitar, Drums and Bass.  In the studio we tend to throw in whatever we feel works with the songs - Keyboards, Saxophones, Glockenspiels or throwing half a drum kit down a flight of stairs."

Where is your favourite place to play live?

"Well, we like playing different places - finding different audiences and meeting new and different bands.  But if we had to pick, probably The Patriot in  Crumlin, almost a hometown gig for us, played there back last year and really looking forward to our return on the 29th of this month."

What are your ultimate goals moving forward as a band?

"We want to keep writing, keep recording, keep finding more listeners who connect with what we're doing.  Bigger venues and audiences would be nice.  But the main goal is just to keep playing together and hopefully keep out of too much trouble."

One of your tracks, 'Girl and the City' has beautiful female vocals accompanying you throughout the song. Who is the singer?

"Yeah, she's great.  Helen Tuck.  Her voice fitted perfectly with what we had in mind for the song.  She's actually joining us on stage for this bunch of shows - another year and she'll be too famous to sing with us!"

As artists, what are your thoughts on the digital age of music?

"Like everything, there's a good side and a bad side.  It's easier to get stuff  released, to find new music, but it sucks when you hear about bands you really really love, bands who should be living in palaces with diamond slippers and bits of gold floating in their drinks, who have to spend 300 days a year living out of a transit van because Spotify paid them 13 dollars last month. Saying that, we're all old school and still prefer vinyl anyway."

Final word: Flying Spider Revival take the mic

"Okay.  Our difficult second album 'Paraffin Waltzer' is out now.  It took three years, two compound fractures, one emergency hospitalisation, and a global pandemic to make, so check it out.  Available on all mainstream evil soul-sucking platforms.  Then, come and see us live.  We're at the Dragonffli in Pontypool on 16 April, Creature Sound in Swansea on 22 April, and The Patriot in Crumlin on 29 April.  Have a chat to us.  Stroke Rick's very fancy stagewear.  Buy Rob T a rum.  These are all good things to be doing.  Anything else?  Support the arts.  Watching loopy wingnut videos on youtube isn't doing research.  Oh yeah, like our facebook page - it makes Mark happy.  And don't be a dick.  That about covers it. Love to you all, the Spiders x"

It was fun catching up with the guys, wishing them all the best on their upcoming gigs and the new album. Head over to their website here to check out all their merch and releases including both their albums. Don't forget to give them a follow!