Through the Sparks
Band Members:Jody Nelson
James Brangle
Greg Slamen
Thomas Mimikakis
Nikolaus Mimikakis
The garage is scattered with rows of old keyboard instruments and
guitars. Some are rescues from the Goodwill, others encased in
inch-thick Guitar Center gloss. Crumpled horn charts are a pile of
papers littering a nightstand beneath a framed hologram of the Last
Supper (one of three in a set behind the drums). The pieces of a
broken Phrenology head sit in a plastic CD tower awaiting a tube of
glue. Now and then when the sun comes through the cracks, the garage
looks the way a Through the Sparks record sounds. All of this is on
every song.
When Through the Sparks recorded their first full-length release,
sessions were constantly interrupted by floods in the studio due to an
adjacent swimming pool built on higher ground. Moving around twice and
finally mixing in other Birmingham studios, they were able to complete
Lazarus Beach, which was released in May of 2007.
The band relocated its Alamalibu Studios to the garage basement of
Through the Sparks singer Jody Nelson's recently acquired home in east
Birmingham, Ala.
After the first hard rain, the 80-year-old basement was full of more
than 60 gallons of water. The band moved all of its soggy equipment
into the back of a paint truck and fixed the three pin-sized holes
where the rain came in. Later, the water turned up in a puddle in the
middle of the room… more Dam-Tight on the floor, then in another spot,
steaming around the furnace. It always finds somewhere else to go.
Put the carpets outside. More Dam-Tight. Call the piano-tuner, dry out
the organ. Turn off the drier. Record more music. Fetch that shaker
out from underneath that mess of broken lawnmowers. Move that piano
out of here... it's a piece of shit. Get a piano.
All of this aside, recording records in garages has its advantages.
You're on your own time, and doing what sounds good is what gets
done... as opposed to right or wrong according to the guy at the
bona-fide studio who used to run cables for Molly Hatchet back in the
'70s.
But, Through the Sparks doesn't play what has become known as garage
rock. Self-taught, but well-learnt, the five core members of Through
the Sparks are Nelson, Greg Slamen, James Brangle and brothers Thomas
and Nikolas Mimikakis. Everyone plays just about everything, but the
band often brings in Chad Fisher and Gary Wheat to take up the slack
on horns. The occasional string section might be seen waiting in the
driveway for the door to grind its way open. Back-up singers are
called in now and then. Live, the lineup has expanded to include as
many as 14.
Instead of the Stooges, think the Basement Tapes, without the olde
world camp… or Steely Dan with it. (Then again, not on an entirely
different planet from the Stooges, either.) Imagine Burt Bacharach
writing songs for Los Lobos, but with the youthful energy of 1960s
psychedelia. Think album-era, country Grateful Dead, or
Lennon-McCartney's R&B, but with a Bowie-Reed swagger... all of this
accompanying somehow Southern songs. Pitchfork Media said in their
review of Lazarus Beach, "Lazarus Beach is a sophisticated sprawl of
sound and songs, with elements of power pop, 70s singer/songwriter,
prog, indie guitar rock, and even some smooth southern soul."
This is modern American songwriting and music production. While
covering a lot of ground, they make sure that the moment a song comes
on, you'll know it's Through the Sparks. Production is somehow clear,
but echoic, ethereal but bright, standing on a modern-quality low-end.
The band is currently at Alamalibu recording its follow-up to Lazarus
Beach and planning tours for 2008.
Booking
Road Jones Booking - Mary Jones - mary@maryjonesmanagement.com
Publicity
Pitch Perfect PR - Jessica Linker - info@pitchperfectpr.com
Website
www.throughthesparks.com
www.myspace.com/throughthesparks
Photo by Wes Frazer
Through the Sparks 