SPIRIT CARAVAN

SPIRIT CARAVAN INTERVIEW SENT TO ME.
Scott Weinrich, more commonly known as Wino began with The Obsessed. He later fronted the ever ominous St. Vitus only to return to The Obsessed
Though true innovators to the American doom rock scene, The Obsessed eventually called it quits due to various reasons including sour label
relations. He wrote new tunes constantly and before long joined forces with
ex-Wretched drummer Gary Ison and ex-Unorthodox bassist Dave Sherman (and
sound man Chris Kozlowski who would eventually become an integral part of the
band) to form today's SPIRIT CARAVAN. Formerly known as Shine, SPIRIT CARAVAN
is chock full of thick, chunky soul......retro metaphora-rock unquestionably
heavy and endlessly engrossing. Toting the fruit of their current Jug Fulla
Sun release on Joe Lally's label, Tolotta, SPIRIT CARAVAN bring all the prime
qualities of retro 70's rock to a new level. The brain behind the music
speaks.......WINO ON THE NAME CHANGE FROM SHINE TO SPIRIT CARAVAN.
There is another band called Shine in Arizona. They were a bit poppier. We
got e-mails sent to our web-site. They were like, "Hey, we hate to be dicks
but...." I mean, they did everything right by American law. Our webmaster
tried sorting it. I think she may have been a little combative at first
(laughing) so they carried it one step further and threatened with their
lawyer. We were gonna be ShineAD for a while but then they were like, "Well
our lawyer said this and our lawyer said that." I almost got the impression
that they were just some kids who didn't have lawyers at all. So that was
just the way things worked out. SPIRIT CARAVAN is actually an old Obsessed
song. It's still positive. Kind of hippie....
WINO ON THIS YEAR'S MARCH METAL MELTDOWN (Note: Spirit Caravan played in the
middle room on the Relapse stage):
You know, if I had known it was going to be set up like that we wouldn't have
been there. I mean, it was so cool of Relapse to have us there but.....It's
the promoter of that Fest (Jack Koshack). I mean, he's completely exploiting
these bands. To charge kids that much money to play, to have them sell
tickets and then to have two stages side by side with bands playing the same
time. I mean, it really had nothing to do with anyone there. The people
running the PA were beautiful people. I mean the guy there totally apologized
to us. That sort of thing is a sound man's nightmare. I still had a great
monitor and people were still into it but no matter how good the sound is,
when you have a band playing ten feet away from you at the same time.....
WINO ON THE "STONER ROCK" MOVEMENT:
I think people are just hungry for melody. They want to hear something they
can remember and think about. My emphasis is on melody. That's why there's a
hard rock explosion. And melody doesn't have to mean "happy". I think a lot
of people equate melodic music with happy music. Some of the heaviest
Obsessed songs were melodic. I mean, people can be angry but there doesn't
have to be some weird spin on it. All the gimmicks. The spikes and the eye
make up. Who's gonna top Venom?! I saw them in '87. The drummer came out on a
20 foot drum riser. There were like 13 MASSIVE explosions. It was the
heaviest thing I had ever seen. I've never seen ANY band out do that. We have
melody. We have positivity. We have anger but I don't want people listening
to my music and go burn things. I've always stood my ground about that.
WINO ON HIS MUSICAL TASTES & PLAYING:
I love Gov't Mule a lot. Fu Manchu. Jazz. I listen to a lot of older stuff.
When I was younger I was really into Hendrix and Black Sabbath. I saw Sabbath
in '72 and it changed my life. I started playing guitar when I was 9 years
old. I took lessons with this really cool guy. We would just jam. He taught
me the basics. Hammer ons. Pull offs. But what I REALLY learned was how to
stay in tune. People don't think that's something but it has so much to do
with your overall sound. It's almost an art form.THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND ADVICE:
We've had a lot of really nice offers from a variety of labels. We've made
some mistakes when were with Columbia (in The Obsessed). Our company
suggested we use a realy big name producer and so on. It's really important
to work with the label. I mean, when it comes to integrity that's entirely up
to the band. If you're on a major label you need a radio song and that's just
how it is. If the band is willing to compromise their sound to get on the
radio then that's the decision of the band but a major isn't going to waste
too much time on a band that won't sell immediately. If you don't have a
radio song you'll inevitably get dropped. The communication thing is really
important to. Staying close with your label. I think, especially for bands
relatively new to the industry and every band for that matter, a good lawyer
is really important. You need lawyer not affiliated with the label in any way
to read over the contract.ON SPIRIT CARAVAN'S SIGNATURE SOUND:
I mean, hopefully we have a personalized sound. I think we do I just hope
other people think we do (laughing). We have a deep, low sort of vintage
sound. We don't have a sharp sound at all. I always try to have a sort of
positive message. With the St. Vitas stuff, we were a little more menacing.
We're all really good friends (speaking of the rest of the members). We get
along really well. We really get together when we rehearse and talk things
out. We never fight over things and I think that accounts for a lot of how we
come off to people.ON WINO IN THE 21ST CENTURY:
I just want to continue my path. We're just gonna keep making music people
appreciate. I don't really care about becoming big. I just want to make music
that people can really touch. I just thank everyone for believing and I'm
happy to have my shit together........DISCOGRAPHYSPIRIT CARAVAN Jug Fulla Sun
SPIRIT CARAVAN - Dreamwheel EPTHE OBSESSED - Incarnate
SPIRIT CARAVAN - Darkness & Longing Split 7" (with 60 Watt Shaman)SHINE - 7"
THE OBSESSED - The Church Within
THE OBSESSED - Lunar Womb
THE OBSESSED - S/TBy
Interview by Liz Ciavarella