Sparks: Two Hands, One Mouth

Having inspired musicians throughout the years with their extraordinary songwriting and inimitable style, American rock ‘n’ roll duo Sparks’ live shows have become increasingly spectacular. In 2008 they performed all 21 albums in 21 nights in London and in 2011 their 22nd opus The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman was performed as a live musical at the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Now, forty years since the release of their self-titled debut album, they will present a selection of Sparks songs in their purest form. Expect to hear: This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us, Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth, Something For The Girl With Everything, Dick Around and more!

The brothers chat to Latest ahead of their gig at Brighton Dome (Thursday 25 October 2012).

Why are you doing this show as a two piece?
We are always looking for new challenges to push what we do as Sparks. And though the core of Sparks has always been Ron and me, we’ve never approached touring with just the two of us. So we thought that this time around, this could be a new challenge that would be appealing to not only ourselves, but also our audience.

Your sound is usually so rich and layered. How hard has it been to strip the songs back to just voice and keyboard?
It was a huge task. A lot of trial and error to find the songs in our vast repertoire that could work with the simplified instrumentation. And we wanted to be able to retain the energy and spirit of works even though there is only two of us on stage. But we think that we’ve come up with a strong approach to that. And if the reaction at our shows thus far in Europe are any gauge, the approach is working very well.


What has been the biggest revelation in this process?
Oddly enough, that we can in fact retain our musical integrity as well as Sparks sense of personality and style with just the two of us. Maybe that sounds obvious, but we held certain anxieties and doubts before undertaking this format; so we happily proved to ourselves that this can work.

Should the audience be expecting an acoustic show?
The one thing that we have tried to stress is that this isn’t an acoustic evening with Sparks. We hate the term singer/songwriter because it has a connotation of someone putting the audience to sleep after about 20 seconds into their opening ‘heart-felt’ acoustic tune. We wanted to retain all the power and urgency of Sparks, and to make it as far away from an acoustic performance as possible. With this approach our lyrics as well as Ron’s melodies come to the fore, yet all of the personality of the two of us and the sense of energy have also been retained.

Touring is exhausting at the best of times. How do you keep fit?
I regularly do extensive work-outs at the gym. It’s become a life-long thing now, not just something that I do before a tour. The crash course before touring is not the best approach for me. It’s better to do it constantly even when not on tour. It’s painful to keep a constant exercise regime, but there is no choice. And as a great by-product, all of the cardio-vascular workouts have helped maintain and improve my vocal range. We do all our songs in their original keys.

What has been your most memorable gig?
There are many obviously: but a few that stand-out are the 1995 show in London that we performed after not having played in the UK in twenty years. It was an amazing evening, one paper calling it one of the 50 Best concerts of all-time.

Then there is our 21 nights Spectacular in London a couple of years ago where we performed all 21 albums of ours at the time, in their entirety in 21 evenings. Something like 265 songs. Something that we feel will stand the test of time that no other group or artist will ever attempt.

And also, our performance at the 2011 LA Film Festival of the Seduction of Ingmar Bergman. It was a great compliment to have been invited to perform our opera at the LA Film fest and for it to have been so well received.

Many brothers in rock seem to fall out but you are still working together after 40 years. What’s the secret?
Have a common vision about what your music is, and to stand for something that you truly believe in and that you think is truly special, unique, and in its own universe.

Do you have certain pre-gig rituals?
Usually sacrificing a virgin or two. The usual stuff!

If you were to duet with any current artist who would it be?
Morrissey would be a treat to work with. As we both admire each other’s work so much, it would be logical for us to do a project together. We performed at his Meltdown week in London several years ago at his invitation so the next step seems to be that we should do a recorded project together. Who knows?

When you released your 21st album you played 21 albums in 21 nights and grabbed the headlines. Now you are doing something else unexpected. Do you feel that you have to keep raising the bar in order to get attention?
We do feel compelled to do something special all the time. It’s the desire to do something that we feel others can’t do. Did I mention that there are no computers on this tour…

Is the music industry over?
Didn’t you get the memo?

What do you feel about streaming services like spotify?
See the above question regarding whether the music industry is over. Services like this and iTunes helped create the demolition of the music industry. As technologic feats both are great. As serving the artist’s interest, both are destructive. It’s put an end to the concept of an album having a value as a whole unit. Now the listener can pick and chose; not what the artist had in mind.

What’s next?
Another mind-blowing, genre defying, conceptual piece. What else would you expect?