Who the hell are Spiritbox? That’s what gaggles of boomers and other pre-millennials asked in November when the Canadian quartet was nominated for its second Grammy in a row for Best Metal Performance.
To the unfamiliar, Spiritbox seemed to storm the scene like a tornado through a gated community, emerging from blue skies to open 25 dates for Korn, collaborating twice with star rapper Megan Thee Stallion, decorating playlists with millions of streams and getting handpicked to play select dates with Linkin Park – all before releasing their second full-length album.
But to those in the know – including fans who’ve watched the band’s 22 music videos – Spiritbox’s ascent and their acceptance among the pantheon of greats is hardly a conundrum.
It’s the result of eclectic, accessible songwriting, out-of-the-box marketing and, yes, years of dues-paying. Not only have Spiritbox been around since 2016, the band’s main songwriters, seven-string guitarist Mike Stringer and his wife (then girlfriend) Courtney LaPlante, honed their chops in the experimental metalcore band Iwrestledabearonce (IWABO).
And, on top of their two full-lengths, Spiritbox have released four EPs, the latest of which, 2023’s The Fear of Fear, reached Number 116 on the Billboard 200 album chart and included the Grammy-nominated Cellar Door.
“It’s so funny that a lot of people think we came out of nowhere and were manufactured by the music industry to make them loads of money,” says Stringer, days after the release of Perfect Soul, the second single from the band’s new album, Tsunami Sea.
“That would probably be one of the worst investments from any company, ever. If you think of how long it has taken to get this band off the ground, it has been such a slow-moving process, and after 12 years playing in bands, we’ve finally gotten to the point where we can pay rent.”
The pandemic shut everything down and we had to pay 30 grand to come home overnight because there was a travel ban
After leaving Iwrestledabearonce, Stringer and LaPlante’s early game plan was to create public awareness online before launching a tour.
In October 2017, Spiritbox released their eyebrow-raising self-titled seven-song EP and followed 18 months later with the EP Singles Collection.
Riding the momentum of the well-received Blessed Be, they were finally ready to hit the road, and headed to Europe in February 2020 to play shows with After the Burial and Make Them Suffer. Their timing couldn’t have been worse.
“We had a song out that people really liked, and everyone was excited we were going to play shows,” Stringer says. “Then the pandemic shut everything down and we had to pay 30 grand to come home overnight because there was a travel ban. We had no money and I went into major debt.
“When we got home I said to Courtney, ‘Well, it looks like we’re done here because we can’t tour and now we’re going to have to figure out how to pay this money off.’ ”
Frustrated, but still determined, Spiritbox returned to the writing room and continued doing what they’d done for the past 24 months. The result of their efforts, their first full-length, Eternal Blue, came out in 2021 and hit Number 13 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Today, Stringer brims with optimism. The chuggy, textural and contagious Perfect Soul has accrued nearly three million streams. The video for the song has more than a million views, and there are still (as of this writing) three months to go before the gripping, multifaceted rock/metal hybrid Tsunami Sea gets released.
![A black-and-white portrait of Spritbox [L-R]: Josh Gilbert, Zev Rose, Courtney LaPlante and Mike Stringer](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4RetNdkKBzMFn6wt9cQnqM-1200-80.jpg.webp)
Dressed in a checkered red-and-white flannel shirt that covers most, but not all of the tattoo sleeve on his right arm, Stringer is stoked that so many marquee rock bands have taken an interest in Spiritbox, and he’s excited to discuss the personal and musical growth the band underwent while writing Tsunami Sea, why it’s okay for headbangers to like John Mayer and how feeling like an outcast in your hometown can be as creatively inspiring as it is depressing.
It must be strange to go from recording your debut album at home and developing a huge online fanbase to performing for huge crowds. It’s like you skipped the dive-club-playing part of your career.
“It’s very weird. The band gained a lot of popularity when we couldn’t go out and play music. For years, everything happened behind the scenes. We’ve only recently been hitting it hard and touring.
“I sometimes get freaked out when I look out at the audience and all these people are singing along. It’s so bizarre. It’s like we existed in this big blank space of uncertainty, and then all of a sudden it was, ‘Wow, look what happened!’ We’re here now and we have to continue to strike while the iron is hot.”
Was there pressure on you to follow up the success of Eternal Blue?
“The expectations on us after Eternal Blue were enormous, and trying to outdo ourselves has been a real challenge. I feel like there’s only so long that you have to dedicate to a creative project before you run out of ideas, and whenever I hit a brick wall I was like, ‘Man, we need to take this in a different direction and redo some things before it’s too late.’
“Those kinds of moments are really stressful. But, in the end, all you can do is remain true to yourself and your vision and hope people connect with it.”
When did you start working on Tsunami Sea, and how did you want it to be an evolution from Eternal Blue?
“We started in the fall of 2023. Instead of trying to make something specific to fit some genre, I focused on making good songs, whether that meant they were full of hooks or crazy-heavy.
“We had just released the Fear EP, and we took a trip to Joshua Tree [National Park, California] for a week. I basically have three or four months a year when I feel extremely creative, so I just went for it, and sometimes I did a demo a day.”
“I walked out of there with about eight songs. A month later, we took another trip there and came out with another 10 songs. I wrote about 30 songs that we demoed, and we narrowed those down to the best 11.
“By that time it was March 2024, so we recorded the entire thing over April and May. I was stressed and worried the entire time, but once we started playing the finished tracks for people and they were no longer little secrets on my iPhone, I felt so much better. And the reaction was great, which didn’t hurt.”
I thought, 'Man, let’s make the entire song revolve around this pedal sound.' So 90 percent of the guitar sound is the Rainbow Machine going on and off
The first two songs you released from Tsunami Sea, Soft Spine and Perfect Soul, exhibit two different sides of the band. Soft Spine, which came first, is the far more aggressive of the two.
“We wanted to show our old fans that we’ve grown but we haven’t changed. The song has an IWABO part. There’s a Danzig-esque half-step part, and a disgusting, dissonant tapping part, which is something I used to do all the time when I was younger, so much that I got sick of doing it.
“But when I was making that song, I just felt like it was ridiculous and required a ridiculous part. And we hadn’t done that in our catalog, so why not do a throwback? That’s part of what makes the song so fun and special for us and our old fans. It’s a wink-wink thing, especially when we play it live.”
How did you get the gnarly, teeth-gnashing guitar sound?
“I found a setting on the [EarthQuaker Devices] Rainbow Machine [polyphonic pitch shifter] pedal that sounded amazingly disgusting. When I found that sound, I thought, 'Man, let’s make the entire song revolve around this pedal sound.' So 90 percent of the guitar sound is the Rainbow Machine going on and off.”
Perfect Soul is a good example of having balance and being atmospheric and catchy
Perfect Soul is far more commercial sounding than Soft Spine.
“For the first new songs we released, we wanted to show very different sides of the band. Perfect Soul is a good example of having balance and being atmospheric and catchy. There are still loud riffs and heavy guitar, but it’s more about the melodic vocals.”
Has it been hard for you to hold back more as a guitarist and allow Courtney the spotlight instead of constantly playing?
“Yeah, at first it was – and you can hear it in the music. I was extremely riffy and filling all the space in the song. But as I got more open to different styles, my approach to playing and writing changed.
“Now, I don’t think about how many notes I can fit into a part. I just want to try to make songs that will sound good with Courtney’s vocals, and if that means being more reserved during a chorus so I can let her shine, then that’s fine.”
The songs on Tsunami Sea range from melodic rock to full-on metalcore, but there are certain thematic elements that run through the music.
“We wanted to maintain a lyrical and musical flow from the beginning to end, so the entire record is tied in with ocean sounds, which gives it this lonely feel. The album has a lot to do with the disillusionment we felt after going back to where we grew up in Victoria Island in Canada and how uncomfortable it was.”
Time is a cruel mistress. We romanticized the lives we used to have, but when you leave your home to go on tour, everyone else’s life continues
Why was it unpleasant to visit your hometown? Did people look down on you?
“Time is a cruel mistress. We romanticized the lives we used to have, but when you leave your home to go on tour, everyone else’s life continues, and your presence there gets put on pause. Our friends had been having children and meeting new people and getting new jobs and buying houses.
“When you go back, you can’t take over where you left off with them, and that’s hard to wrap your head around. Everyone wants to talk about the band. I totally get that and it’s great. And I’ll do that for sure, but after a while, I’m more interested in talking about them.
“I’ll say, ‘Well, how are you? I want to know what you’ve got going on. What are you doing?’ And a lot of times, they’ll say, ‘Oh, you know, I haven’t really been doing anything… So, what’s it like to be on the road with Korn?’”
Who are your biggest influences?
“It’s a mixture of a lot of players. I’m always amazed by James Hetfield’s rhythm playing because he’s got the tightest right hand known to man. But then, I’m in love with Dimebag Darrell’s vibrato and Misha Mansoor’s tricky riffs.
“There are good tricks and incredible techniques you can learn from watching all your favorite players and keeping them in your brain and try to emulate without just imitating.”
Do you have any non-metal guitar heroes?
“John Mayer. I know everyone mentions him, but I cannot think of another guy that has been so tuned in with his instrument. Seeing him play is like watching a master craftsman at work. I’m like, ‘How the hell is that even possible?’ Not only has he mastered his instrument, but he can write great songs.
“It’s so rare to have a guitar player that can just get up onstage and totally dominate, and then have Number 1 singles. And his voicings are so incredible, so when it comes to left-hand stuff, especially, it bleeds into my playing, for sure.”
You play Aristides seven-string guitars. When did you switch from six to seven strings?
“My first band, Fall in Archaea, kept wanting to play lower and lower. We were already at drop B on a six-string, and then I started doing that Architects tuning from their [2009] Hollow Crown record, where they take that first string down to G# and they kept the top six back at drop B, so you have this weird, dissonant note on the bottom that mimics the seven to a certain degree.
“After I started doing that, I was like, ‘Nah, I just need to get a seven.’ So when I was 17, I got my first seven-string. I fell in love with it and there was no turning back.”
- Tsunami Sea is out now via Rise Records.
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