subject: Spindrift Is Coming To Your Town [print this page] Mixing the dusty, cinematic soundscapes of old spaghetti-western films with mind-expanding psych Rock, L.A.'s Spindrift makes music that sounds like what one would hear while tripping in the desert on a vision quest.
Since 1992, Spindrift front-man Kirpatrick Thomas self-released several records with an East-coast line-up before joining the Brian Jonestown Massacre (BJM) to play guitar on a national tour and landing in Los Angeles--where the seeds were sewn for a new West-coast version of the band.
Thomas' fascination with the West stems from his childhood passion for Western films, those scored by Ennio Morricone in particular. This early influence later played a major part in his more recent songwriting and composition.
Upon his arrival in Los Angeles, the local music scene immediately embraced his modern take on the genre, with members of BJM and The Warlocks joining Spindrift in fits and starts at first before eventually leaving their former positions to play with Spindrift full time. The West-coast line-up, or "Spindrift West" as they are some times called, prompted the rare phenomenon of creating a new genre unto its self, Spaghetti Western Psychedelia.
In 2005, Kirpatrick Thomas along with filmmaker Mike Bruce, produced a feature film entitled "The Legend Of God's Gun", based on Spindrift's 2003 album of the same name. Starring members of the band, it was shot in and around Death Valley, Joshua Tree and Los Angeles in the style of 1960's spaghetti western films, but with a more psychedelic bend reminiscent of "El Topo". The film screened at the Cannes Market in 2008 and premiered (as a drive-in) in May of the same year in Pioneertown, California. It was released in 2008 by Indican Pictures.
With a rapidly expanding fan base and a growing resume of many high profile shows, Spindrift attracted the attention of Indie 103.1 disc jockey (and Sex Pistol) Steve Jones of Jonesy's Jukebox, who began playing tracks from their album "Songs From the Ancient Age" on a regular basis. Since then, they have toured nationally a number of times, sharing the stage with such bands as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Dead Meadow, The Black Angels, Vietnam, country legend Charlie Louvin and Vacancy Records label-mates A Place To Bury Strangers.
In 2007, Spindrift headlined the Clean Air Clear Stars Global Cooling Festival in Pioneertown, CA. Thirty bands played the three-day three-stage festival, celebrating and contributing to the Spindrift legacy of the "New West" amongst the old Western movie sets of Pioneertown and the vast desert landscape surrounding. The festival has continued annually to include such performers as Dead Meadow, The Dandy Warhols, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Entrance, Robbie Krieger of The Doors, The Black Angels, Sian Alice Group and Hopewell.
In 2008, Spindrift was given the nod by Quentin Tarantino who chose their song "Indian Run" to be included in the soundtrack for the latest film he produced, "Hell Ride", starring Dennis Hopper and Michael Madsen.
Relentless US touring has given them the opportunity to support Dead Meadow, The Black Angels and The Dandy Warhols, as well as headlining nearly a dozen US tour and an appearance at The Monolith Festival at Red Rocks.
In addition to several self-released albums, Spindrift has released a four song EP entitled Goin' Down (Vacancy Records), a full length album, The West (Beat The World Records) and most recently Teepee Records has re-released The Legend Of God's Gun.
Hailed by critics as "the most relevant band in the world today" and leaders of the neo-cosmic cowboy revolution, Spindrift deserves your immediate attention.
"[Spindrift makes] you feel like you've been granted access to the distant memories of a two-bit-saloon harlot as she watches her nameless lover ride off into the sunset," said LA Weekly.
The News Journal in Delaware exclaimed, "Be ready for some psychedelic rock that leaves you feeling like you've accidentally taken acid and found yourself on the set of a spaghetti Western."
Surrounding their appearance at Austin Psych Fest with The Raveonettes and The Black Angels, and fresh from their European tour with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Spindrift are hitting the road again around the US while supporting Black Mountain and The Morlocks. They will also be playing some of their own headline shows and appearing at the Las Vegas Shakedown festival alongside The Warlocks and Lords of Altamont. Check out the band's official MySpace page for steaming audio and look for live dates throughout summer 2010.
