Well known fact: When Pharrell Williams and William Hugo of The Neptunes were looking to re-cut their side project N.E.R.D.’s debut, In Search Of…, with live instrumentation, they could have chosen almost any established rock star they wanted. Lesser known fact: Williams and Hugo chose Spymob for the highly coveted gig.
Yes, Spymob, then a four-piece from Minnesota with a buzzed-about vintage-sounding demo, caught the ears of this revolutionary production tandem. Like N.E.R.D.’s no rules barred music that pushes the envelope of genre stirring, it was Spymob who enlivened the band’s chemistry of hip-hip, rock and soul with their own 70’s rooted groove/funk/slick sound. Soon enough, the four-piece were on the road as the touring backing band for N.E.R.D. which soon allowed for more “once in a lifetime” opportunities: Saturday Night Live, the Late Show With David Letterman, and generous radio and MTV play. Amidst these favorable circumstances, lead singer/keyboardist John Otsby is not afraid to admit “yes, we’ve been extremely fortunate.”
Although the tag of “coat-tailer” may be easily applied given N.E.R.D.’s successes, Spymob wants to set the rules straight – they aren’t a sure shot to fall into backing band status for long. With their recent debut, Sitting Around Keeping Score, Spymob is eager to attest their genre clashing music is a blueprint for establishment as “career” artists. Otsby, along with Brent Paschke (guitar), Christain Twigg (bass) and Eric Fawcett (drums) have just gotten back from a lengthy tour opening and backing N.E.R.D., as well as opening for diverse acts, The Black Eyed Peas and The Thrills.
We caught up with Otsby at home in Minnesota, just before Spymob was to head overseas for yet another N.E.R.D. tour. By the way the acronym stands for: No one Ever Really Dies; Another fact you may or may not know.
After all your work with N.E.R.D., do you feel you’ve accomplished much of what you set out for originally?
We feel like playing with them has just been really great for Spymob, and for getting our name out to a lot of people. We know that we’ve really increased our fanbase because of playing with them and the visibility. Obviously the Neptunes and N.E.R.D. are really hot these days, so it’s been great for us. Eventually our plan is that when Spymob gets to the point where it’s more self-sustaining out on the road, breaking from those guys. And they understand that and we understand that. But at this point in time, it’s been really great for us.
Do you see Spymob as offering something entirely unique? After opening for a hip-hop act and then opening for The Thrills, who have more in common with the Beach Boys, that’s an odd combo.
I don’t know, we’ve gotten some unusually cool opportunities. It started with the fact that Pharrell [Williams] and Chad [Hugo] were big Spymob fans. I think we’re in the same boat with a lot of bands, we’re just out there trying to sell records. We’re not there yet and still have a cult following, but we’d love to not have our audience limited to that and have as many people as possible to know our music and come out and see us. We’ve had some really cool and unique opportunities, but I think ultimately we’re in the same boat with a lot of other bands that are struggling to establish their careers.
How do you hope to stay relevant in the long term? Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Eminem have legitimate staying power – you don’t see one-hit wonders as much in the hip-hop community.
These days we don’t really think about that. We used to be long term focused, and “how are we going to establish careers for ourselves,” but after being in this business and having the successes and the huge failures we’ve had of being on different record labels, our attitude is basically one album at a time. Our goal now is just to tour and really get as many people as possible to listen to this record. There is so much of it you can’t control. If it turns out we have a long career and a loyal fan base, that would be the greatest. But if in two years it all dries up….whatever. At this point, we cared so long, at some point you almost develop an attitude like we can’t control it, lets not worry about it.
What was the inspiration for the new album, Sitting Around Keeping Score? With lyrics revolving around dogs, motherhood, cars and fishing poles, it seems like a scrapbook of your childhood – was that a theme you were going for?
That wasn’t intentional. As the main writer and lyricist, I just try and write songs without trying to write, without a certain style. Those are just the subjects and themes that sort of inspire me to write songs. Sort of everyday household, “what’s happening in your neighborhood things” are what inspire me. I don’t think it’s intentional, but really the only way I know how to write.
Well, it’s been said that you’ve gone to some really weird places to find inspiration.
I think Eric said that. To me, the way that I think of that – and obviously you would think of things not necessarily being a big influence – for me, I think of it more of as when you write songs and get creative. A lot of times the coolest stuff when you’re creating, you almost feel slightly embarrassed. I think that’s a natural thing, like the lyrics might be goofy, or “this sounds cheesy,” but it works. I think writing songs and getting creative is pushing about that, but a lot of time it’s about being cool and, pushing past the weird, is what’s cool.
At this point, do you consider yourself an established piano/keyboard player, or are you still in the learning process?
I consider myself a meat and potatoes piano player. Mainly I’m a piano player, sort of like a songwriter, who writes on an acoustic guitar. I love my keyboards, but it’s always been about creating songs on them.
How do you take the Steely Dan comparisons, obviously that is a band most people have a love/hate relationship with?
I take it as a compliment. Obviously, when we were younger we didn’t like being compared to other bands at all. But the reality, I think a large part of the band’s sound is the classic influences, and sometimes we wear those influences on our sleeve – the pop music that employed more involved chord progressions, like Steely Dan, Burt Bacharach, Beach Boys and Todd Rundgren.
The band name, Spymob, lends itself to a misconception of a rather hardcore sound, but obviously that doesn’t sound like you at all.
I know it doesn’t. Early on, like most bands, we would have a lot of brainstorming about what we would call the band or always wanting to change it. So for some reason just off the top of my head, I just thought up of the name Spymob. And then we kind of did think, you know, that it doesn’t really sound like us, but sometimes it’s kind of a cool thing. I think it’s kind of cool how the Grateful Dead doesn’t really sound as heavy and ominous as the name sounds.
