Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
Shaun Smail-Guitar/Vocals Scott Smail-Drums Jimmy Conrad- Bass
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Spiral Crush? How long has the band been around?
Spiral Crush Started in 2001 with original bass player Brian Krause and released a self titled CD.
In 2003 Shaun Smail and Scott Smail were asked to Join the Detroit band Throttlebody. Spiral Crush broke up at this time. In 2006 two members of Throttlebody, Andy patalan and Kyle Neely joined the platinum selling Detroit band Sponge.
In 2007 Shaun and Scott Smail decided to put Spiral Crush back together with new bass player Jimmy Conrad. They released a second album titled Nothing To Lose. After 3 years of playing live and promoting that album, the band went on hiatus.
In 2013 the band decided to start writing material for another album. Unfortunately, there seemed to be some major writers block going on. Slowly they worked through this frustrating period and finally released their third album Electric Life in March of 2015.
After playing countless shows opening for many national acts including Buckcherry, Sebastian Bach, Seether, Saving Abel and much more, they have started writing songs for what will be their 4th Album
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
The name Spiral Crush comes from the names of two songs by bands that Spiral Crush are inspired by.
Sugartooth- Spiral and Anthrax- Crush
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Shaun brings in the riffs and the band jams on them until there is a basic structure. Shaun writes the lyrics with occasional help from Scott with melodies.
The topics of our songs are life, love and career. We're always trying to put a positive outlook into our lyrics. They're mostly about how to make the most out the time you have in this world.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
That changes from day to day. There are always the classics like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and AC/DC. Currently, Shaun is listening to a lot of today' s alternative bands and 80's new wave. Scott is rocking out to his favorite newer hard rock bands and Jimmy is revisiting his love of Tool and many other heavy metal bands. It should make for an interesting 4th album
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
For Shaun and Scott it was when they borrowed a friends casset tape of Quiet Riot's Metal Health. For Jimmy it was seeing the Metallica documentary Cliff 'Em All.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …
Our pre show ritual is out on some great tunes, have a couple of drinks and just hang out together and crack some jokes. Just get a fun and positive vibe going.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
We have been lucky enough to live near Flint Michigan and the world famous Machine Shop concert venue. We also been lucky enough to have formed a friendship and good working relationship with the Machine Shop owner and staff. This has allowed us to share the stage with a great number of national touring artists that we respect and admire. Also, having our music played on local radio in Detroit and Flint has been pretty cool as well.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Van Halen back in the hey day of the David Lee Roth era. It seems like it would have been one hell of a party!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Spiral Crush is about sharing a Damn good time with as many people as possible through the joy of music. We love and appreciate many different styles, genres, and artists. We look forward to sharing our personal brand of music