Rob De Luca of SPREAD EAGLE : Interview
HBH: Firstly, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I really appreciate it.
HBH: Spread Eagle had been away for awhile, what was the catalyst for getting you guys back together?
Rob: We’ve actually been back together since 2006, doing USA shows and also toured UK/EU in 2017. Maybe we’ve been too selective about telling people, haha.
HBH: Can you tell us who all is in the band now?
Rob: Ray West- lead vocals, Ziv Shalev- guitars, Rik De Luca- drums and me (Rob De Luca).
HBH: You’re currently in the process of promoting a new album “Subway To The Stars” for Frontiers Music SRL. Can you talk about some of the new material maybe give us some insight to a few of your favorite tracks?
Rob: We were trying to get back to our beginning sound, without being fake or contrived. That sound is still deep within us, but we’ve also grown quite a bit. So we took what we liked about our initial sound and added in other things we’ve learned. I love all the songs on Subway To the Stars, the first video Sound Of Speed, More Wolf Than Lamb, Dead Air…
HBH: How did you guys write for the new album was it done mostly by passing ideas back and forth via the internet, or was everyone in the studio at one time writing?
Rob: Drummer Rik and I did 15-20 rehearsal/writing sessions in NYC while Ziv was demo’ing his ideas. Then Rik and I demo’d 15 ideas at his Blood Orange Sound Studios. I then brought all that music to Ziv’s studio and we mashed up everyone’s ideas together. We then sent those demos over to Mr. Ray West for his opinions and input.
HBH: What do you feel is the biggest difference from your music back then and your music now?
Rob: Experience. Control over our instruments. Control over our emotions. View of a bigger picture and a touch of stubborn belly fat.
HBH: How did you hook up with Frontiers? Did they approach you or did you guys reach out to them? I remember them doing a poll awhile back about bands people would like to see signed and Spread Eagle was getting a lot of love.
Rob: I didn’t see that poll. Yes, Frontiers SRL approached us and we thought it was a great idea.
HBH: Are there plans to tour for this album or maybe do some summer festival shows?
Rob: Absolutely! We are putting touring together now.
HBH: As far as promoting will the band be doing any videos for the new release?
Rob: BAM!!!! Here ya go!
HBH: Do you have any regrets on disbanding Spread Eagle back in the day? It seemed a lot of bands just got run over by the grunge movement or changing times, but I can’t ever remember reading any bad or negative reviews on Spread Eagle. I always thought the band stood out from the pack.
Rob: Thank you! Saying that we would have done things differently after many years of experience isn’t fair. We got lumped in with a movement because we had long hair and a couple songs that treaded that ground. However we weren’t that style. When the toilet was flushed, everyone went with it. Including bands that deserved more exposure time. That has to happen to keep things fresh and we learned a lot from it. We take those valuable lessons and walk forward with them (and carry plenty of toilet paper now)…
HBH: Is there anything you would like to add?
Rob: I’m really looking to get back out there touring with these three guys. They’re the best!
New album "Subway To The Stars" will be released on August 9th, 2019
Stream the single & pre-order the album HERE: http://radi.al/SubwayToTheStars
A limited amount of signed copies of the album available for pre-order HERE: https://shop.bandwear.com/Frontiers
“For Subway To The Stars, Spread Eagle’s primary intention was to go back to the egg. Not to the debut album, but even before then. When we were unsigned, rehearsing in the East Village NYC and just putting our first songs together. We worked every day and night on our dream. We were a gang and no one could tell us we couldn’t accomplish something. That’s when we were at our rawest and nastiest and the intensity was completely off the meter. Of course, you can never truly go back in time, everyone learns and evolves. However I wanted to remember that feeling of writing razor riffs in those basement spaces in 1989, then add it to current experiences,” says founder and bassist Rob De Luca on what fans can expect. On the first single “Sound of Speed”, De Luca continues, “We wanted something that had a strong sense of propulsion. After that verse riff popped out, the chorus and other sections flowed effortlessly. From very early on in the writing process, I felt this should be the song to reintroduce Spread Eagle. We’re happy that Frontiers had that exact same vision for it. As I said above, it invokes the spirit of our inception with some additional skills that we’ve learned.”
Tracklist: 1. Subway To The Stars 2. 29th Of February 3. Sound Of Speed 4. Dead Air 5. Grand Scam 6. More Wolf Than Lamb 7. Cut Through 8. Little Serpentina 9. Antisocial Butterfly 10. Gutter Rhymes For Valentines 11. Solitaire Line-up: Ray West – Lead Vocals Rob De Luca – Bass, Vocals Ziv Shalev – Guitars Rik De Luca – Drums, Percussion For More Info Visit: https://www.facebook.com/SpreadEagleNYC
