An Interview with the band: SpękrFręks
Interview by Samuel Hayne
for darklives.com
We know the world around us isn't the best place we
want it to be, so make it better, if only for three to four minutes, and dance
your ass off." –Ed Lectronic
Very few creatures of the night take the chance to step out of the
darkness and into the daylight, but after reading the previous quote from Ed
Lectronic of SpękrFręks on a website, I decided to push
aside the pages of my latest ghostly tale and venture out of the old tomb to
give it a try. Step one on this journey into the lighter side of life was www.SpękrFręks.com, the website for the band, SpękrFręks. Their songs “Zombie” and “Bad Kitty” have been posted on darklives.com for over a year. Both songs stir the darker side of my psyche,
and I swear when I hear “Zombie” I feel like it was written just for me. Two
other samples of the band’s dance-electro-pop sound, “San FranDisco” and
“Mindgames”, can be heard on their website. I found myself at the mercy of the
hypnotic beats and desperately trying to learn the fun lyrics. My hunger for
their music having grown, I undertook the hunt to satiate it. Making contact
with the band was not difficult and I was able to obtain a rough copy of their
debut album.
We met at twilight, the band and I. Jali (pronounced Holly) Star,
the sultry vocalist with beautiful, expressive eyes was the first to arrive. Ed
Lectronic, the brawny, tattooed DJ sauntered into the room, Mak B,
self-proclaimed sex icon of the group, at his side. With all three band members
present and coffee drinks in hand, we got down to business. Now I present to
you, the fans of Dark Lives, my interview with SpękrFręks.
Samuel Hayne, for darklives.com – OK,
I’m going to start off this interview by being totally selfish because I
fucking love “Zombie”!!! What inspired that song? And why is it not on the
album?
Ed Lectronic: “Zombie” is
about being in love and watching horror movies together. (laughs) Actually I
wanted to write a song for my lover on Valentines Day. It’s about how love conquers all, including
death. It’s not on the album because it
doesn’t fit in with the other songs that our label selected. In fact it’s so different than anything we
ever do that I’m gonna release it under a different name. I plan on releasing all my darker music as
“Future Kill.”
DL – What are
your roles in SpękrFręks?
Jali Star: I’m a singer
and write melodies and lyrics
EL: God
MakB: Sex icon
JS: If he’s God
then I’m Satan!!!
DL – Speaking of
God and Satan, does religion play any part in any of your lives of in your
music?
JS: Religions are
man made and meant to instill fear, so it’s a negative influence on me.
EL: Music is God.
MB: Religion is a
crock of shit, but God is real to me.
DL – What, if any,
darker influences does the band have?
EL: My first
introduction to the “darkside” was in high school when a teacher assigned us to
read the stories of Edgar Allen Poe. I was hooked. I read everything I could by
Poe and soon moved on to the writings of Anne Rice and H.P. Lovecraft. AND I
love vampires and industrial music. The two just seem to go hand in hand.
DL – Does the
supernatural play any part in the lives of the band or the music?
JS: We lost a
friend to AIDS earlier this year. He encouraged us more than anyone to move
forward with the music. He was a DJ and not only made sure our songs were
played in the clubs, but also helped distribute “San FranDisco” to DJ’s all
across the United States. He wanted us to make it in this business more than
anything. He said that helping us get our music out to the world was his way of
leaving his mark after he passed away.
Seven days after his death we were signed to THUMP records, an
independent label that is distributed by Universal Music Group out of Los Angeles.
We like to think our friend had a hand in that.
DL – The song
“Breakdown” on your album is tight. Sounds a bit like Linkin Park. What are you
singing about?
MB: “Breakdown”
is about a relationship that I was in that went bad, but I kept myself stuck in
it. It was my own eagerness to be in a relationship that kept me there.
DL – What other
musicians are your personal influences?
JS: It’s not just
music, but also an artist’s image that can influence me. There are so many, but
to name a few influences would be David Bowie, Prince, music of the late 70’s
and early 80’s including the funk styles that came out about that time.
MB: I’d say the
music of Disney is my biggest influence.
EL: Depeche Mode,
Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, John Carpenter and the Coup DeVille’s.
DL – Oh yeah, John
Carpenter! His band did the music from Halloween and The Fog.
That’s great.
DL – What is your
favorite song on the album?
JS: “Rain” is my
favorite song. It’s semi-autobiographical, about memories of my childhood and
some of the things that happened then.
EL: It would have
to be “Rain” for me too. It’s the first piece of music I have written that is
more than just a dance beat…it’s a REAL song.
MB: I love
“Rain”. It’s like a song from a movie soundtrack.
DL – Can you sum
up your music for me? What theme pervades your lyrics?
MB: SpękrFręks
music is about escapism.
DL – If I found
myself scrying into the crystal ball that sits on my desk and looked into the
future, what would I see happening for SpękrFręks?
JS: World
domination!!! (laughs)
EL: Lots more
music.
MB: More
performances. Performing in front of your fans is the ultimate high.
Currently SpękrFręks is in negotiations with THUMP
records out of Los Angeles for a 5 year record contract. Their debut album is
scheduled to be released in early 2006 and the band says look out for a video
on music channels before the end of the year. If you like the music you hear
from the band or want to hear more, contact them at their website www.spekrfreks.com
and ask about
purchasing music or t-shirts.