Interview: Max Keyes of Spiral XP On The Band’s New EP ‘It’s Been A While’

Photo by Che Hise-Gattone

Spiral XP are exploding how loud pop music can be with the recent release of their second extended play, It’s Been A While. The creative brainchild of vocalist and guitarist Max Keyes, the Seattle band’s sound levels up on this go in its deep exploration of earworming hooks, mining the glimmering textures of rock music, yet transcending any firm definition of what comes out of the other end of it without exactly subscribing to the notion of being a shoegaze band.

Above all, it’s one of the finest EPs in still-early year. +rcmndedlisten spoke with Max Keyes via e-mail to discuss the evolution of the band in both its sound and its current artist makeup, hot takes on very online shoegaze discourse guys, and the recording vision for Spiral XP’s first full-length.

+rl: Most noticeable throughout It’s Been a While is how Spiral XP is careening away from familiar touchstones of lurching, feedback-laden rock heard on your 2021 EP, Drop Me In, and into a more exploratory form of noise-pop. The jams are tighter, yet weirder, and the synesthesia is bolder. How do you approach coloring in a heavy, amorphous sound reflective of bleaker themes of isolation and the crush of capitalism on everyday life with something much fuller and brighter?

Max Keyes: I try not to intellectualize our sound too much in the songwriting process and let the songs evolve as I evolve as a songwriter and a guitar player. I started playing guitar and writing music shortly before writing the songs for Drop Me In and I don’t think the songs on that EP are necessarily worse but I did feel more confident when writing the songs for It’s Been a While, which I feel is reflected in the sound. The aim was to have a collection of pop songs that are loud, interesting, and not too comfortable. I don’t think the lyrics are all that bleak but they were somewhat intentional in reigning back the bright poppiness of the songs by referencing some heavier themes.

+rl: You’ve also refined your craft by fleshing out the lineup with members Lena Farr-Morrissey, Jordan Mang, Kyle McCollum, and Daniel Byington, who come from surrounding Seattle bands like Coral Grief and Dead Family Dog. How have their tangent intuitions helped Spiral XP reach the sound as it exists here today?

MK: The EP was actually recorded while we were in the lineup reshuffling process, but Jordan and Kyle were brought over from the former lineup (with Kyle switching from drums to guitar). While I wrote the songs mostly in my bedroom, they didn’t come to life fully until I jammed them with Jordan and Kyle. It was fortuitous timing that we brought Lena in to the group as the recordings were finishing up and we were able to add her dreamy vocals to the mix, which made the songs way way less bad. We’ve changed up how we play the songs live based on all our collective strengths and it’s been cool to see the songs become more refined as we play them together. The new live lineup is evolving our sound in exciting ways and I’m looking forward to where we all take it together.

+rl: There has been plenty of “discourse” manufactured on larger platforms surrounding a new wave of shoegaze-adjacent bands pushing the aesthetic beyond an already blurry convention. Where do you see yourself fitting into that equation, if at all, here on It’s Been a While?

MK: I know what you’re referring to… unfortunately I spend too much time on Twitter. The way I stay sane in the social media hot take world we live in is to try not to engage. Either way I don’t think we really have much to add – I think most popular contemporary rock bands are influenced by shoegaze and it’s become sort of a non-descriptive and uninspiring term for music. My Bloody Valentine is obviously a huge band for us but I think we have a lot of other disparate influences also that wouldn’t normally be described as shoegaze. We just try to worry about having good songs and remove ourselves from any larger discourse or whatever the noise might be called.

+rl: How would you describe your sound, and what goals do you have for it and the band beyond this point?

MK: I think we are still finding our own sound, but ultimately I’d call it pop music, albeit louder than most pop music. We’re writing for an LP currently and will start recording soon! An LP allows more room for experimentation so I hope to be able to explore weirder and more unconventional sounds. The next record will in some ways combine the bummer rock of our first EP with the noise pop of our second. It will be more collaborative and reflect our diverse tastes to make a cohesive Spiral XP sound. 🙂

Spiral XP’s It’s Been a While is available now on Danger Collective Records.