![](\"\/images\/spacinlive.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNormally when a great band goes from sometimes-active to mostly-inactive
\nstatus, it’s a cause for great sadness. Not so with the case of Birds Of
\nMaya, though – guitarist Mike Polizze’s Purling Hiss is God’s gift to melodic
\nrock, and bassist Jason Killinger’s Spacin’ is the weed God smoked while
\nwrapping it. After some sporadic live shows, Deep Thuds<\/i> made the
\nsweltering summer of 2012 tolerable, grooving with the spirit of the simplest
\nVelvet Underground and Hot Tuna licks, and resulting in an unpretentious,
\ncaptivating rock record suitable for noon or midnight. Killinger’s frontwards
\nball-cap merely hints at the comfortable, casual vibe that Spacin’ exudes,
\nwith just enough kraut-rock dalliances and artsy flourishes to keep the record
\nnerds at half-smirk while the local townies dance. Killinger doesn’t do
\ninterviews, but I got him to speak about Spacin’ anyway! I sure am slick.<\/p>\n
How long has Spacin’ existed? I feel like I’ve seen the name around for a
\nfew years, and the occasional show, but I think it was pretty different
\nfrom Deep Thuds<\/i>…<\/b>
\nI’ve made late-night songs and recordings in my basement for many years. In
\nDecember of 2010 I recorded a couple of songs that sounded good together and
\ncalled it Spacin’. I convinced Ben Leaphart and Mike Polizze (the other two-
\nthirds of Birds of Maya) to play some really strange live stuff for a show and
\nthat was the first time it became a band. Some of that stuff made its way onto
\nDeep Thuds<\/i> in sections. Most of the album and live shows are comprised of myself
\nattempting to play guitar and sing, Paul Sukeena playing all of the good lead
\nguitar playing, Sean Hamilton on bass, and Eva Killinger on drums. We’ve
\nalso been a ten-piece band for a couple of shows. Spacin’ is all of this. <\/p>\n
So basically as long as it’s you on guitar and vocals, it’s Spacin’? Do you play
\nthe same songs no matter if you’re a three-piece or a ten-piece, or does the
\nlineup dictate what you’ll play?<\/b>
\nIt’s almost always the four-piece band, we just sometimes do it other ways or
\nare open to doing it in other ways. Sometimes it’s the same songs, sometimes
\nit’s much different versions of already recorded songs. We played at the
\nInstitute of Contemporary Art here in Philadelphia last fall as a ten-piece
\nband, half of which was percussion. We wrote a weird afrobeat-sounding song
\nthat we were going to play for twenty minutes, but when all was said and done,
\nthe song went for nearly an hour. None of us realized it was happening. <\/p>\n
Was it weird playing in an art museum? Do you think Spacin’ exists in that sort
\nof avant-garde music continuum, or are you more of just a band geared for
\nbackyard barbeques?<\/b>
\nThe only art world we’re ever really involved in isn’t far removed from the
\nbackyard barbeques, so we’re into both. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. <\/p>\n
So did the Rolling Stones really get in touch about your album cover? Were you
\npsyched that they somehow noticed, or was it more of a pain?<\/b>
\nThey contacted Richie Records. When Richie told me, I was indignant at the
\nidea that I couldn’t paint a mouth and tongue on our album cover if I wanted
\nto. I casually attempted to convince all of my friends that this was the result
\nof our grotesque economic machine that pressures people to syphon words, images
\nand ideas away from us and convert them into their own personal profit,
\nindefinitely. To which they all seemed to respond “Yeah, but you painted the
\nRolling Stones logo.” Ha ha. So I changed it. <\/p>\n
I know you are a graphic designer by trade… are there any other iconic rock
\nlogos you are a big fan of? If copyright laws didn’t exist, what logo would you
\nappropriate next?<\/b>
\nWhen I was a skater kid in central Pennsylvania I used to draw punk logos
\non my closet door in colored chalk for some reason. I would try to copy the
\nlogos and typefaces of bands from advertisements in either Thrasher<\/i> or
\nSessions<\/i>. I definitely got good at drawing the DRI guy, Dead Kennedys
\nlogo, Misfits skull and all that. That was the first time I ever really paid
\nattention to graphic design. I don’t think I’d ever incorporate another bands
\nlogo into our own artwork again though. I do have a pin on my backpack that is
\nthe universal “No Bullshit” sign. I might use that. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If guitars never existed, what kinda music do you think you’d be listening to?<\/b>
\nI suppose jazz could’ve happened without guitar. I don’t listen to much jazz
\n(yet) besides Pharoah Sanders or Alice Coltrane or stuff that everyone knows.
\nAlso, a lot of Brian Eno stuff doesn’t have guitar, I love Brian Eno, but I
\ndon’t think that’s what you are asking. This is the most difficult question
\nI’ve ever been asked. <\/p>\n
When did you first start playing guitar? I know you came up as a bassist…<\/b>
\nI taught myself how to play guitar in the late ’90s when I graduated high school,
\nbut I’ve still never actually learned how to play chords correctly. I think I
\nonly ever play two strings at a time. Fortunately Paul is a much better guitar
\nplayer than I am, so it makes a cool balance. Bass comes much easier to me, so
\ndo drums. <\/p>\n
Simplicity seems to be a key component of the Spacin’ sound. Is that something
\nyou purposely try to reign in, or is this just as complex as you can write?
\nThere will never be a Spacin’ prog-rock opus, right?<\/b>
\n I like a lot of music that I know we can’t pull off in good taste, but I
\ndon’t want Spacin’ to be any one thing. I would rather it be without genre
\nand hard to define. I’m not saying that’s what it is, but that’s what I would
\nlike it to be. Loose in every way.<\/p>\n
Are you working on new Spacin’ material? Any plans for another record?<\/b>
\nI have tons of songs that are waiting for us to learn them as a band. We have
\na lot of stuff we’ve done since Deep Thuds<\/i> and I’m constantly recording
\neverything. Sean was leaving my house one day and says “We should totally
\nstart recording for the next album” and I say “We have been”. Ha ha. The next
\nrecord will happen sometime this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Normally when a great band goes from sometimes-active to mostly-inactive status, it’s a cause for great sadness. Not so with the case of Birds Of Maya, though – guitarist Mike Polizze’s Purling Hiss is God’s gift to melodic rock, and bassist Jason Killinger’s Spacin’ is the weed God smoked while wrapping it. After some sporadic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6422"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6437,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6422\/revisions\/6437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}