In a large town with large ideas and big imaginations, three men made promises to each other as teens that they would form a band together in the future. The town was Los Angeles; the men were Matt Green, Rob Morton, & Athan Maroulis.
Matt and Rob started the band Spahn Ranch doring the spring of '92 as an off project. The band released their self titled ebut that launched off a tremendous sound of pure energy. The band later picked up Athan(ex- Executive Slacks front man; also Faranheit 451 and Tubalcain) as their full time vocalist and lyricist.
The men originally all met during Goth days as teens at NYC Danceteria in '84 and made their promise that wouldn't b fulfilled for another decade.
The first full length LP called Collateral Damage came out in '93 and a tour followed that fall. A year after that they released "The Blackmail Starters Kit" which was a 6 song EP of remixes from the first LP. The album gave a darker and bleaker sound to the band. Athan explains more...
"It is a kind of collection of oddities. Lyrically and conceptually, both of the albums are in the same side of the fence. My lyrics are pase-up, they are bits and pieces tied up together ....similar to strane streams of consciousness that I like towrite about. Both of the albums could almost be a double record in a way..."
Matt explains where they got the name for the group and the EP....
"Spahn Ranch? It's a movie ranch...we're really into mvies alot. That's where they filmed "Duel In The Sky", the Gregory Peck film....Blackmail Starter Kit? It's kind of a joke. The EP consist of out-takes from the album; a couple of demos, out takes , a rejected mix..then right before we went on tour, Judson was going to remix two of the other songs but we had no idea what they were going to come out like. He was nervous about doing them nd he said, 'What if you don't like them?' and we're like,'Look. We trust you no matter what you give us, it will go on the EP' So the joke with us is like...the Blackmail Starter Kit. It's odds and ends..."
The band caught the eye(ear) of director David Madden(Hand That Rocks The Craddle & Eve of Destruction) who ended up casting them in Seperate Lives. The action didn't stop there. The band was released on several compilation LP's like, The Whip, Industrial Revolution 1-3, and The Colours of Zoth Ommog...
....Talking of Zoth Ommog; a label in Germany that covers Indust/Goth/experiment/etc..., ther band ended up joining this label hich helped them extremely.
They also put out ther first video, Breath and Taxes, which can be seen on the Industrial Revolution and Gothic Industrial Alternative Visuals video comp's.
With so many previous membership to other great bands, the men of Spahn Ranch mention a little of their history and how they would describe their music today...
"Anything dark..is probably going to be called Goth. If you like a jangly pop muisc, anything dark from Brian Eno too...is easy to throw a label at 'that dress up music'. There are Goth elements to it, but we're sampled electronic music. Goth does not come from there-bass drums, guitar, maybe a drum machine. While the vocalist tend to have that...English flair. I thinkthey were off by calling us Goth."
....On Spahn Ranch...
"Matt, you're not going to like what I'm going to say but I think we're lounge music for 2025. If you walked into one of the bars in Blade Runner, music like ours would probably be playing....
Matt-"On an AM station."
Athan-"By that time we'll probably be pretty wimpy. Fourteen minute tones are going to be music."
Matt-(laughing)"Industrial in thirty years will be a gian axe coming out of a speaker and hitting you in the head. Wow! That was excellent"
The band also had their dislikes...
Matt-"The thing that's pathetic is, those morons saying 'It's not real music-it's computers' Computers don't write music. That's saying, 'Oh, well, it's easy; your guitar writes the songs' Only a moron would think that way. Unfortunately, there are a lot of morons out there.
When I die, I don't want one of these fuckin' stupid new wave headstones"
Athan-"Hey-canI get mine in Starburst colors?"
Matt-"A Techno Headstone!"
The band also mentioned their influences musically and lyrically...
Athan-"...We were Goths with open minds, so even at the time one could look through our record collections and think we had some loose brain cells. One can be influenced by any number of things, sometimes I am more influenced by the hum of a machine than any band, but some agreed musical influences are Sisters of Mercy, early punk, Killing Joke, Wire and Wagner.
...I like engines and mechanical things. I work on old cars. I own a few old cars and really enjoy working on them. So formed the interest in the sound and the feeling that this kind of music evokes are basically from that.
My influences in literature are kind of all over the the place. I really love the Americana aspect of say a Steinbeck; there's so much hope in his writing. Then there's the ark stuff, like Sylvia Plath. She's a dark poet, she really got down there and made depression a career...as well as Poe, another great writer."
Along with their climbing career and many tours with other groups(ex: Chem Lab), the band had many bizarre stories while on the road(especially in a '69 Dodge van) Matt describes an incident...
"Strange experience....(cracks up laughing) playing in Alabama and pulling up to a 'Bluegrass Bar'. It was located in an alley in like, a total white-trash neighborhood, and when I walked inside there was five hillbillies sitting at the bar, and a big sticker over the bar that said,'I love Bluegrass'. That place was the size of my living room and it was pretty scary, I was ready to get backin the van and leave! But we did the show and it actually turned out to be good 'cause the place was packed; all these kids came down, every psycho in that city was there! It was pretty cool....I think the guy who managed the place, or whatever, was looking to expand his horizons....or contract them...."
'95 came around and The Coil One LP was released. This was the bands turning ppint. The lyrics became darker than ever. But with all Spahn Ranch music, it was totally engulfed in electronics. This LP contained 10 tracks that wiped the electronics boards into total chaotic static and energy overload.
The group explains their view on the style of their music. Matt starts with his thoughts on sampling...
"I believe in the attitude of everythings open, everythings free. I'm not saying that the people who take the entire licks or whatever, thats wrong, but I just don't think it's as interesting...
...It's a lot more work, yu have to spend a lot of more time ....with this stuff;it's tedious work, it takes a bit longer..."
The band Later released In Parts Assembly Soley and their latest effort Architecture, which may be their best effort yet. Even with a bumpy ride of pro-Carles Manson accussations and allegedly ripping off a REM song, and even only seeing each other by e-mail or phone , the band has always been able to pull through. This band has established it's roots and will not bend to the storm of the future. They will stand along the other greats like Kraftwerk and Eno...
Athan-"I want to make as many creative reeases as possible. I want to make it all worth it. It feels good to have the finished product in your hand and know that it's in the stores. It's almost like a finished painting. It isn't real for me until I'm holding it in my hand. Music is my main interest...it is sort of a drug to me"
