EMQ’s With Spread Thin
EMQ’s With Spread Thin
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with USA Hardcore band, Spread Thin. Huge thanks to their Guitarist, Alex DeWall, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My name is Alex DeWall and I play guitar in Spread Thin. The band started in 2020, my old band had recently dissolved, and I needed an outlet to express myself through music again. I started by writing riffs at my desk at home and sending them to our drummer, Tristan Wells, to write drums to. Soon after, we began getting together and Bryan W. Fleming, our bassist, joined us in writing. The original intention was to write music and release it online just for fun and as something to do but quickly turned into much more than that. We had enough material for a 15-minute set and began booking shows. We did have a vocalist at the time but he left to focus on his other projects, so we reached out to Ben Deml on 3 days’ notice of our first show. After that, we had our line up you know us as today. Since then, we’ve played a handful of shows and released a demo of 3 songs while we worked on demoing more music.
How did you come up with your band name?
The name, Spread Thin, comes from a song of the same name by the band Narrow Hearts. Narrow Hearts is one of my favourite bands from Wisconsin and had a massive influence on me when getting into our local scene.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We’re from the United States of America and live in the southwestern part of the state of Wisconsin. In our hometown of La Crosse, we have a very strong scene, composed of all types of music. The metal / rock scene being the largest of it all, is thriving and continues to grow as new bands emerge. We’re very proud of our scene and encourage anyone in the area to come to a show and hang out!
What is your latest release?
At the time of writing this, our latest release is for the lead single off our new record titled “Factory Job”. The song is a ruthless venting session for anyone who has experienced how draining it is to work in a factory.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Personally, my greatest influences come from Weekend Nachos, Slipknot, Nails, Magrudergrind, and Nails. Each of those bands has everything I love about heavy music and were massive inspirations to writing this new record, “World of Snakes”.
What first got you into music?
Metallica when I was a kid and from then my admiration for music has only grown. Once I started going to local shows, I dove even further into music, and that is the reason I started playing in bands.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
There are so many artists I would love to collaborate with, right now my number one pick would be Taylor Young. I’m a massive fan of all of his work and I think it would be such an incredible experience to work with someone as talented and knowledgeable as he is.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
If I had to pick one festival in the world to play, I’d pick FYA. Every year I watch all the sets that go up online and my mind is blown every single time. The energy looks unmatched and one day we will play FYA.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
I have yet to receive a gift from a fan but if anyone would like to gift me something, I would love a nice craft root beer, I’m a simple man.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Support your scene, without a local scene we wouldn’t be a band. You never know what might happen if you go to a show.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Joey Jordison from Slipknot, no hesitation, it would have to be him. Slipknot is one of the most influential bands in my life and I believe Joey was one of the best metal drummers of our time.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
What I enjoy most about being a musician is getting to share my art with the world, the feeling of playing a show and hearing what people think of our music is unmatched. The absolute worst part of being a musician is loading in and loading out of a show, if you’ve ever played a show before then you know how much it sucks to load out at the end of the night.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
If there was only one thing I could change about the music industry it would have to be how artists get paid. Our time is anything but free when it comes to creating, art requires all kinds of sacrifices to do what we love and it’s unfair for corporations to take as huge of a cut as they do.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
The first album that comes to mind is “Worthless” by Weekend Nachos. To me, that is a perfect record from front to back, with zero skips, it’s the best.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Vinyl is my favourite format, especially for collecting. I love physical media and being able to own a piece of music that I love is something I enjoy being able to do.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
I’ve played plenty of shows over the years with different bands but the one that stands out the most for me, is when another band of mine played our first show in our hometown for the best show of the year at our Day After Xmas Extravaganza. The sense of community and love during that show is something I will never forget.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
If I weren’t a musician, I’d be doing everything I do now that isn’t music. I’m a father, a photographer, a videographer, and host a podcast called “The Things We’ve Scene”. My life is extremely busy and there’s never a dull moment but I’m thankful that playing music is part of it.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
I’d be inviting Brendan Murphy, Colin Young, Bo Lueders, Adam Sandler, and Tim Robinson. That would be the most eventful and entertaining dinner ever, I could die happily after that.
What’s next for the band?
We have a few shows coming up to celebrate the release of “World of Snakes”. July 26th in Sparta, WI at the Barney Community Center then July 27th in Milwaukee, WI at Falcon Bowl, if you’re in the area come hangout with us!
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We like to keep things easy so check out linktr.ee/spreadthin608 to find all of our socials and our music!
Facebook.com/spreadthin608 | Instagram.com/spreadthin608 | Tiktok.com/@spreadthin608 | Youtube.com/@spreadthin8134
Linktr.ee/spreadthin608 | Spotify | Apple Music | Spreadthin608.bandcamp.com
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct
name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a
Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
I’m not very knowledgeable in bread but I’d like to say it’s a bap. My decision entirely is based on the fact that I think that’s a silly term for bread and I like it.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for having me, I appreciate it! If you’ve gotten this far, our new record, “World of Snakes” comes out July 26th, 2024, and you can pre-order it NOW on Bandcamp and Apple Music! Check it out and you’ll hear more from us very soon.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
