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The Gods Of War With JIM WARD From SPARTA · HEAVY Music Interviews

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  Yeah. So my name is Jim Wood. I'm in a band called Sparta
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  and we're returning to your wonderful country in May twenty twenty four and cannot wait.
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  Yeautiful Jim, thanks for joining us today, brother, thanks for having
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  me. No it worries so as you say, Spidable hit Australia in May
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  twenty twenty four for a series of shows, starting in Brisbane on May the
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  sixteenth, before moving through Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and finishing in Perth on
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  May the twenty third. Life How long has it actually been? This is
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  the last time you are out? You might it's been a while. Yeah,
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  it'll be about twelve years by the time I get there. Wow,
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  too long for sure. Well this is going to be a bit of a
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  loaded question, then mate, what's actually changed with the bands this last time
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  you are out? He? Uh? Members? For sure, there's so
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  we play as a three piece now. It's still Matt Miller on base,
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  but we have sort of a rotating cast of drummers depending on the tour.
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  So really the only two band members are Matt and I. So we make
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  the records, we sort of have other friends play drums on stuff, and
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  then we tour with you know whoever, usually it's this game named Neil Hennessy
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  that plays in Lawrence Arms and Joyce mannor he's been doing most of it.
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  So but yeah, it's other than that, you know. We we just
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  have aged gracefully and just are better looking than ever. I'm not gonna argue
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  with you there. Rather, are you gonna be playing your debut album Why
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  chap Scars to celebrate twenty years since it was released in twenty two thousand and
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  two, Like this is gonna be your first time planning that whole album eight
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  or are you doing a few shows? How to say? First? So
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  we we just finished sixty one shows of this tour, so we did.
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  We did North America and Europe and then Australia is actually the end of the
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  tour. And my rule was we can call it a twentieth year celebration if
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  it falls within twenty years of that tour, right, So that's they told
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  that tour was eighteen months long, So this is just kind of you know,
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  it's twenty twenty ish. I like you to say, he is an
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  Ish, one of the most one full words in the language. It's perfect
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  for me. Yeah, perfect, So when you first started playing this album,
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  I like, when you set out to land it to play it live,
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  like, was there any difficulties and actually being out of structure like when
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  you when you made the album, I kind of imagine you would have one
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  day. I thought that you're gonna have to play the whole thing. No,
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  and you know, we we've made this for And I sort of have
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  this philosophy when I make records that I'm gonna make a record that's gonna last.
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  It's gonna be that record forever, and that's great. But I don't
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  necessarily want to make that record on stage every night. I want to.
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  I want that. I want the music to be able to evolve, and
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  you know, within the confines of still being the same songs, it's not
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  like they're you know, it's not jazz versions of anything or anything like that,
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  but it is. I don't care too much about recreating it perfectly.
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  But we did. When the record came out, we did tours a five
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  piece, so that all the stuff that I was doing on keyboards, we
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  had a keyboard player with us who'd play sort of like third guitar at some
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  pines. And you know, now as a three piece I can really strip
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  these down to like the essence of the songs, and I have had really
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  good reactions from fans, so I'm satisfied with it. The fans semed to
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  be satisfied with it. But it's also one of those things that I I
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  said when we started this process that I don't want to re I don't want
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  to sort of relive that. I want to I want to celebrate what it
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  was, but I have no desire to dye my hair. I have no
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  desire to be twenty seven. Ever. Again, I have no desire for
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  any of that stuff. So it has to be celebrating it now, not
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  trying to recreate anything. So it's not I don't I'm not a big stickler
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  for like you know, original members or five piece has to tour so that
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  you can hear that one keyboard blip, Like, I don't care about that
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  shit. To me, it's about the emotion and and being honest and sort
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  of transparent with with how we feel and how we're playing. And that's that's
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  all intact. I gotta tell you all. I got you here, Jim,
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  and I'm pretty sure you would go. I saw you one year off
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  in the Big Day out. I'm pretty sure I might have been around three
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  thousand and two. But we had like a massive three days and we were
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  fucked in. Did your own side show in Bridsbane a place called the Roxy
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  the night after, and we were whether we should go on because we were
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  that fuck but we did anyway, and your show was it was that electric
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  made and that that brilliant that all five of us like, we walked out
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  of there as if we you know, I had twenty four hours sleep and
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  we were fuck walking in, but we came out feeling great, right like
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  your your live set is insanely brilliant. Man, Thank you, man,
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  thank you. I hope that I hope that we get to do that feeling
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  again for you. Well, I'm a bit old and how so I'm easy
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  to please. Perfect. So the alb White Tapp Scars came out after you,
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  just after your work without the driving may Lie. Was it easier a
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  hard album for you to write that stage of three like we did you want
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  to just move on quickly or was it sort of hard letting go a bit
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  at that stage? I think that we didn't even start to think about it.
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  I think there was definitely a chip on the shoulder that said, oh,
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  we're the we're the three less recognizable members, so we better do this
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  fast and make it as good as we can. And you know, I've
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  been writing songs since I was twelve, so for me, I write all
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  the time, regardless of from making a record or not. So I think
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  there was definitely like a chip on the shoulder. For sure. There was
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  definitely a feeling like we had a point to prove, and I don't think
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  that it necessarily overshadowed the music, but it's definitely present in it. Making
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  the record with Jerry Finn was probably the greatest thing that we the best decision
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  we made, because he was able to take sort of that energy and that
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  sort of just grit, the pure grit that we had at that age,
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  and really channel it into the record and creativity instead of just doing ourselves in
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  or talking shit. Like I've made a point to never talk shit in the
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  press about anybody. I've stuck to that for twenty five years, and I
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  feel like it's a good way to live. But I definitely was putting all
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  of that energy into into making something and also at the same time learning how
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  to be a singer, learning how to be a front man. It's a
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  it's a different job. It's not something that I was had been doing before,
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  you know what I mean, I was a side man. I loved
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  being a side man, so it was a different gig and I kind of,
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  you know, secretly, I kind of hope I get to go back
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  to be a side man at some point because it is like my favorite job.
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  That's still leaves me to the next question, perfonally in my life.
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  I was gonna ask you about that because it was your first album. A
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  sprot may off to have been being a backup by was throughout the driving a
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  lot. How was transition there? Like? Did you did you guy to
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  classes? Did you watch out of people? Did you like? How did
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  you make that transition? I think I just kind of faked it until I
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  made it. Honestly, I didn't. I didn't have a lot of you
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  know, it's it felt natural enough, I would say before at the drive
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  and I was in a band in high school where I was a singer and
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  played maybe thirty shows, so I had some experiences as that person, but
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  obviously not on that level. So you know, going to big day out
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  in two I think it was whatever two thousand and three playing to you know,
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  tens of thousands of people sort of looking to your left and seeing your
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  giant face on a screen, like all that stuff is not my comfort zone
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  for sure. I'm not a big you know, I'm a social person,
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  but I don't need all the attention, and so it's a little bit,
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  you know, it was like a for my career. It was like a
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  mid career change. It was different. It was just different. And you
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  know, I've grown to love it for sure. I love I love my
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  job, but it was it was it was. It was tough for sure.
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  Right. So you're all celebrating twenty years that album, right, like,
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  what what is it? Do you think about it? That's made it
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  stand to test it so that it's still good enough to play twenty years later
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  and people still enjoying it. I think it's just honesty, you know.
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  I think that we we may made a very honest record. We made a
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  record that we felt that came from our hearts and from our souls. And
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  I think that if you're making something honest, I think it has a better
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  chance of spending the test of time instead of trying to be something that you're
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  not. And I know a lot of people are good at that, but
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  I'm not. So for me, it was this is the way I play
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  guitar, and this is apparently the way I sing, and this is apparently
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  the way I write lyrics. So that's what it's going to be. And
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  you know, luckily, because At the Driven never really reached its full potential.
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  No one ever saw the downside of that band. We were very lucky
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  that we got a big record deal right off the bat. People were really
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  supportive and they didn't question me, which is kind of crazy if you think
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  about it, because At the Drive and didn't sell that many records. At
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  the Drive didn't play to that many people. It was just like this great
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  possibility, right, and we sort of got to benefit. All of us
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  got to benefit from that and have careers going forward. And how many people
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  get to do that. It's very rare in this industry that you get two
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  bands, you know, it's very rare. So the fact that Right and
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  been able to make other records and solo records and solo tours and all of
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  that is, you know, I feel very fortunate. I think that I've
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  been very fortunate in this career. I never call it luck because it's not
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  luck, it's work, but fortunate. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
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  Spoder went on a bit of a hiatus in two thousand and night and returned
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  briefly between two thousand and eleven and two thousand and thirty eight, before you
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  ringing Audi permanently in two thousand and seventy eight. But looking back, my
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  lige, do you think those that stop start was helpful for the band in
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  the music? Do you think it sort of might have held you back a
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  little bit? Well, there's two ways to look at it. Right,
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  career wise, I'm not very good at doing what you're supposed to do to
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  be thaous. I'm not built that way. I don't care about that stuff.
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  You know. I always say that fame and fortune are kind of the
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  negative parts of this job. It's not my favorite part. It's not something
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  that I ever wanted or hoped for. And I always say, like I've
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  been famous enough, I'm good, you know. For me, taking breaks
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  is absolutely essential to my health because I hit a point where I just don't
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  want to do it anymore. It's not fun. And when music's not fun,
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  it's kind of torture. Because it's one of my favorite things in the
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  world, and when your favorite thing in the world has given you grief,
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  it's kind of bullshit, right. So I just made a point early on
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  that, you know, in two thousand and four, I walked away from
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  a tour and took a couple of months off, and that was the first
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  time that I realized I could say no, and that at the end of
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  the day, I'm responsible for me and my family. I'm not responsible for
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  how much money the manager's making. I'm not responsible for how much money the
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  booking agent is making. I don't give a shit if the president of the
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  label has a Ferrari. None of that stuff is important to me. So
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  what's important to me is me and my family. And sometimes you lose sight
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  of that and you get caught up in it and you sort of have to
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  to remind yourself. For some times, your wife has to remind you that
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  you're being an idiot and you need to take care of the things that are
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  important, and all of that stuff's lessons. So I would say, if
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  I didn't stop then then I probably wouldn't be here now. And I don't
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  think that's an exaggeration, and I don't mean necessarily dead. I just mean
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  I could be dead. I could be, you know, like far down
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  the alcohol route. I could be you know, just like fucking lost my
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  mind. I don't know, so I think for me to just take these
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  breaks. And it's kind of funny now after twenty years and sort of me
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  coming and going as I please, I just started working with a new management
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  company and one of the things that they were intrigued by is the fact that
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  I come and go. That's it's now become part of the story. And
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  it's not on purpose, but it's kind of worked my advantage because I don't
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  have I've never put myself in a position where I have to do something.
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  And I hate that word. I hate when people tell you you have to
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  do something because you don't. You don't have to do anything. I mean
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  literally, you don't have to breathe. But there's consequences, right, you
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  don't have to take the tour that you don't want to take. There might
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  be consequences. We don't have to do it. I hate that. And
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  it's so easy to tell a young band you got to do this, you
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  have to do this, or else you're gonna ruin your career. You're gonna
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  ruin their career. You're gonna fuck up everybody's life if you don't do it
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  now, it's never gonna happen. And I think it's because they know how
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  hard it is to get one level up in this gig. It seemed incredibly
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  hard. But at the same time, what you do is you just run
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  people into the ground. Like there's no reason that people that do what I
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  do for a living should be so depressed that they're killing themselves. There's no
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  reason for that. But we put ourselves in these situations where you just can't
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  get out of them. And I was lucky enough that I had a breaking
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  point early on that wasn't so bad that I was able to come out of
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  it. But what I came out with was like, oh shit, I
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  don't have to do this, Like I don't fucking care if you make money,
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  you know what I mean. I care about my family, my life,
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  Like I get to be selfish because I'm the one making this. I'm
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  the one that's making all of this, And I don't have to listen to
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  you. I can, and I choose to most of the time, but
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  I don't have to, you know what I mean? Yeah, maybe do
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  you have any idea how fucking spriice. Will you have run? Thank you,
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  great fucking monologue. Band like that should be that should go after musicians
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  every way when they take their first step. That's brilliant. Well, thank
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  you man. I've always I've always tried to put myself in a position where
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  I can be around young bands and be a voice of reason that has nothing
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  to gain from it. Yeah, because that's the that's the biggest problem in
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  this industry, is that you're around people that have to they gain from what
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  they advise you on. And there's no way a manager is ever going to
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  let a band talk to me if if they know what I'm gonna say,
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  you know what I mean. It's not like I can be a consultant or
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  I could. You know, no one's ever going to go and talk to
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  the band let me fuck up their world. You know. Honesty is a
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  very underwriting commodity and its Yeah, yeah, for sure. Sure, your
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  most racing album, Belaves, came out in twenty twenty, but I thought,
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  have you heard anything you since said? So? We had we had
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  a self titled record that came out in twenty twenty one. For twenty twenty
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  two, yeah, that was last year. Yeah, We had a record
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  that came out last year, a Sparta record, and then the year before
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  that, I put out a solo record called Daggers with my friends Tucker Rule
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  playing drums and Ben Kenny plain bass that came out pretty ridiculously awesome. And
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  again, it's just that you get to an age where you get to do
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  what you want and it's so much fun and technology. As much as it's
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  taken income from us because of streaming, et cetera, it's also given us
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  the ability to make records in our houses and that's that's amazing. I got
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  to make that record in like three weeks with my friends on email. That's
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  fucking crazy. You know, I'm shure this big lad. Listen this said
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  stew what I really know whose spotter is and and what you've done for the
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  music industry, man say for those people describe as spot to show and then
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  what they can expect if they chat up and see you when you come out
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  of you. So I like to just say that we're basically a blue collar
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  working band. You know, there's not a lot of pretension, there's not
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  a lot of uh, you know, we're just we're just a humble,
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  hard working band, and I like to I like to play my ass off,
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  you know what I mean. I like to get I like to get
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  sweaty, and I like to emote and I like to feel and none of
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  it is pre planned and none of it is fake. So it's kind of
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  just like a good, honest rock show. And you know, my favorite
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  compliments in the world are at the end of the night when when a crew
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  at a club says, man, you guys, were you were a dream.
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  You're a dream to have, you know. That's that to me is
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  the biggest compliment. When people that do this every day recognize that you're nice
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  people and you work hard and you don't ask for stupid shit, and you
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  don't cause problems, and you do your job and you get out of everybody's
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  way and you're appreciative, and so to me, it's I wouldn't get to
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  do this without the fans, so obviously they're number one, but I also
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  wouldn't get to do this without the guy that's loading in the PA, without
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  the guy who's mixing, without the guy who's going to sweep up at the
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  end of the night, Like, all of those people make my dreams possible.
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  And I'm grateful, and I try to remind myself of that, and
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  I try and make a note to thank everybody that I can, as long
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  as it's an honest thank you, and I'm not just kissing somebody's ass.
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  But if it's a good night, I'd like to be appreciative, and I
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  think everybody has a better day. O. Brother, Well, thanks very
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  much you talking, Jim. It's been absolutely pleasure speaking. Might I'll be
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  front center at the Bridsbane show, so hopefully I catch your hand we can
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  have to be out awesome. Man, I'll be there right, might you
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  take care? Brother, keep smile and mine. Yeah, thank you so
• 16:48
  much, man, take care, pleasure, Bye bye