Music

Gold Fools by Spanish Prisoners

Tom Jenkins | Wednesday 12 October, 2011 17:08

Gold Fools, the new album from Brooklyn quartet Spanish Prisoners, is as eclectic as it is tuneful, bringing to mind The Flaming Lips and Deerhunter amongst others. Leo Maymind and the crew have given us an exclusive four-track album teaser to share, including recent free download Rich Blood. Stream it below. Leo also took the time to answer some hastily compiled questions, risking a potential lawsuit with Elton John in the process. Good man. Download Gold Fools in its entirety here.

Spanish Prisoners – Gold Fools album teaser by snipelondon

S: Hello Spanish Prisoners, please introduce yourselves.

Hello. My name is Leo. Obsessed with sonics, coffee, and effect pedals.

S: We’re a little bit in love with your new album Gold Fools here at Snipe. Talk us through the recording process and the inspiration behind the record.

The recording process was an elaborate, two-year journey that sort of consumed my life. At the time I was working nights at a gigantic nightclub, surrounded by all sorts of ambiguously unethical acts. That sort of informed the direction of the lyrics of many of the songs- this sense of people acting with not a lot of sense of self-awareness.

Most of the album was recorded in my apartment. Some of it was recorded in my bandmate Mike’s apartment. And then bits and pieces we did at the studio where our bassist James works. The mixing process was also very lengthy, as we didn’t really know the true shape of the record until we got to mixing. The majority of the album was mixed by Dan Huron, who is a great engineer and really helped shape the final product.

Inspirations for the album were very wide-ranging. I’d say in general as a band we are attracted to things that are pleasingly sonically and have a lot of “vibe” – not precise, clinical recordings. Albums by contemporary bands like Spoon, Deerhunter, Liars, Twin Sister come to mind.

S: Your based in Brooklyn. To us cynical Londoners it seems like every man and his dog is getting signed in the borough at the moment. Is this the case, or is it really as fertile a musical breeding ground as it appears?

I think that’s probably a pretty common misconception about Brooklyn. The truth is that there are a lot of artists here that are working very hard on what they believe in and the community around them encourages that in many ways – lots of venues, lots of music lovers, lots of creative energy floating around.

S: Sounds great. Would you tell us a scandalous and potentially libelous story about a fellow Brooklyn band/artist please?

Haha- not sure if we have any that we can reveal. I think most stories we have aren’t glamorous at all- they would involve being late to brunch or something. Our bassist James works at a pretty big concert venue and has had some hysterical interactions with superstars there. When Elton John was there, he would only talk to people through his bodyguard, supposedly. I don’t think there’s a ton of drama between Brooklyn bands in general though.

S: Thank you Spanish Prisoners.

Thank you. So glad to hear you are enjoying the record!

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