The Spiral Theory’s debut project, Turn Of The Tide, is packed with eight songs that represent a new wave of classic rock – a unique blend of modern pop melodies, vintage guitar tones, and progressive rhythms! The band also performs note-perfect tributes to The Police, U2, and R.E.M.
The Spiral Theory includes Sandeep Swaminathan (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar), Joe Liranzo (Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals), Alan Dennis (Drums), and Clarence Poirier (Bass).
In this interview spotlight, I chat with the band about the new music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create?
We’re based in Toronto, Canada. Our style is basically rock to be simple about it. However, each song brings something a little different. Listeners will find classic rockers with big drums, more melodic pop, ballads, galloping metal. We packed in a lot over the eight songs on the album!
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
The four members are very headstrong and while we are all rock fans, our specific influences are very different. The final sound is what’s left after all the arguments! We don’t really argue, but certainly there are tense moments where we have opposing views. We just keep working it until everyone is in love with it. We end up in a different place than any one of us would have gone if writing on their own. The motivation? This will sound a pretentious, perhaps, but it’s hard to write good rock tunes that do not sound like what’s already out there. We feel we can do that. It’s a hard path to get it heard, but once people hear it, the effort is validated. We’re confident the music is good and should be heard by rock fans who are looking to update their playlists!
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Turn of the Tide is our debut album! First and foremost, we wanted an album that we were proud of no matter what anyone else thought. Of course we want everyone to love it, but for all the hard work put into it – and it was hard work – we have to really satisfy ourselves. As alluded to in the previous question, that’s easier said than done when we all have different ideas and influences. What makes one guy happy may make another guy cringe. At the end of the day though, we are four guys who would not change a single thing about the album. From every note, to the album cover, to the printing of CDs, we prevailed!
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you?
The massive challenge is that anybody and everybody with a computer and cheap mic can record a song, good or bad. There’s just too much stuff being submitted to radio, labels, review sites like IMD, etcetera. We have a good amount of marketing smarts and tech knowledge so we probably do better than most unsigned bands to rise above all the clutter. However, it’s impossible to compete with a signed band that has connected people behind them. The other challenge seems to be that saturation has led to the creation of so many micro sub-genres to keep it all organized, which is frustrating. It’s getting harder to even find a “rock” category on many platforms as it’s now split into something like 25 narrow slices. Bands increasingly have to follow certain rules to fit into a tiny community. The Spiral Theory subscribes to the idea that music is freedom and should not be constrained by rules. It’s unfortunate that even the world of independent music is developing a strictness about it. We aspire to band like The Beatles, Queen, The Police – bands that played any style you care to name, but it was still them.
That said, if we were in the pre-digital age, we wouldn’t have this album. Firstly, the band members found each other online. None of us knew each other prior to being bandmates. While we recorded the album in professional studios, the cost was certainly more manageable than it would have been a couple of decades ago. Lastly, despite all the clutter out there, we can get our music heard, literally worldwide. You just have to be prepared to think like a business person. These days, if you just want to play, and not think about the business side at all, you won’t get very far.
What was the last song you listened to?
Joker’s Game! It’s off our album and was just picked up by Humber College radio. Humber is one of the largest colleges in Canada and we are just finishing up some promo for that. The interesting thing is we sent them the full album and that’s the song they chose. We’ve been promoting a lot of other songs as “singles”, but not that one! There are always a surprise around every corner.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
We have to say CDs since we ordered a bunch for this album and we’re trying to sell them without the benefit of being about to play live due to the pandemic! We have lots available! Truthfully though, we love the idea of a full package with great artwork and with all the credits shown. It’s a great feeling to actually hold a product in your hands and pop that disc into the car player – at least for those of us who still have cars with CD players.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Spotify and Apple Music are certainly the most crucial to be on. Spotify is great as it gives artists total control over their profile with custom artwork options. Also, they do the most by far to promote independent music. Their recommended playlists are very good! We love the business model for Bandcamp. We’ve had some success selling CD’s and being able to keep most of the money. It’s still a mystery to us on how best to exploit that platform though. It’s a constant learning curve.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
We’re on all streaming platforms, but to find everything the easiest all in one spot – music, videos, future shows, etc. – we’d suggest our website: www.TheSpiralTheory.com
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you to Indie Music Discovery for giving The Spiral Theory the opportunity to share our music and story. It’s greatly appreciated!
