As San Francisco six-piece Spiritual Cramp prepare to unveil their excellent self-titled debut, we meet mastermind Michael Bingham to talk punk, perception and putting your all into something…
“California’s always been popping!” So declares Michael Bingham – the creative director, driving force and vocalist behind Spiritual Cramp. For all the talk of an exciting new generation, resurgence and revival along America’s west coast, you can’t argue with his statement, as simple as it may sound. Proceeding to reel off a list of his favourite bands – spilling over into the rest of the country and the UK – Michael is as inspired as ever by the peers that his own six-piece group find themselves alongside. “You’ll have to stop me,” he grins, “’cause I love talking about bands who inspire me.”
From Chicago post-punk outfit Stuck to hardcore up-and-comers Scowl and UK emerging stars High Vis, Michael’s list is packed with artists from all scenes and genres – somewhat of a mission statement for Spiritual Cramp. Preparing to unveil their self-titled debut album to the world, influences from indie-rock, post-punk, hardcore and skinhead punk ebb and flow throughout the record, raising eyebrows at every corner. There’s intricate hints of Rancid and Interpol; this is a memorable collection.
The group are completed by guitarists Nate Punty and Jacob Breeze, drummer Julian Smith, bassist Mike Fenton and Jose-Luna Gonzalez on tambourine/ synth. Hailing from San Francisco, the band are now dotted all over, with Michael speaking to Kerrang! via Zoom from his luminous Los Angeles home.
“It’s a little warm for my liking, but my wife is really happy here,” he says, going through the pros and cons of life in LA after making the move from San Francisco. “It doesn’t hurt to move to Los Angeles when you play in a band. There’s a lot of people down here who just, you know, make music, they just make art. That’s the kind of culture I want to be a part of.”
Throughout the conversation, it’s clear that Michael lives and breathes his artistry. Having played in numerous bands in the past, Spiritual Cramp is quintessentially his project, synonymous with his person and creative vision. “I’ve been in a lot of democratic bands, if you will,” he explains. “I realised I wanted to be the person who crafted the music, the person who was in charge of the artwork. At the end of my life, I want to make sure that I didn’t stand in my own way, and did everything to the best of my ability. Spiritual Cramp is a way for me to do that.”
Look no further than the music video for Better Off This Way for evidence of the totality of this art project. A heist and good old-fashioned desert car chase ensue, as the band encounter none other than Ian Shelton of Militarie Gun at the end of the road. Donning matching black and white suits that bear an uncanny resemblance to The Hives, it’s not the only similarity with the Swedish party rockers. Raw, riff-tastic punk rock is the name of the game across a large portion of the album, a sound epitomised by Talkin On The Internet – and one that demands to be unlocked in the live room.
“There are songs on the record that are more indie-centric, like Catch A Hot One. Herberts On Holiday is a light song. We’re not going to be doing big jump kicks, right?” Michael says. “When we play those songs in our set, everyone's going to be doing a different movement. But when we play Talkin On The Internet, there’s going to be a lot of action onstage. The videos reflect that as well.”
Curating the Spiritual Cramp live experience is a key part of the project for the frontman, who sets the record straight on his ethos. “I’m just an artist and I want to play music. If someone can connect to the way that we perform live and it strikes a chord with them, then that’s a wonderful thing.
“I see a lot of corny musicians try to use creating a space for people, a home, family, as this narrative for their band,” he continues. “Bullshit bands saying, ‘We call our fans ‘friends’.’ That’s not how I view things. Dude, I’ve got like six close friends. Everyone else can fuck off!”
It’s a mindset that stems from Michael’s personal experiences, explaining how he never quite felt at home in any particular world, scene or space. Curating your own lane – and staying in it – is the modus operandi of Spiritual Cramp, facilitating their unique position on the musical landscape where they can flip-flop between playing with indie bands like Beach Fossils and punk shows with Viagra Boys. In December, they’ll be warming up hardcore audiences for Militarie Gun as the two groups pay a visit to the UK for a full tour.
“We fit in a lot of different spaces, we occupy a lot of different corners of music and I think that plays to our advantage,” Michael considers. “At the same time, we’re not a hardcore band or an indie-rock band – so we’re not a part of the ‘San Francisco indie-rock scene’. They love us and they show us respect, but you can’t define our band as a part of that scene. In San Francisco, there’s hardcore bands, real DIY punk, then Pirates Press Records, The Old Firm Casuals, where they’re skinheads. We’re friends with all of those different groups of people, and we’re proud of that.”
A particular friend they enlisted for the album’s production was GRAMMY winner Carlos De La Garza (Paramore, M83), who worked in tandem with longtime friend and engineer Grace Coleman – with Michael and bassist Mike taking the lead. "[Grace] is a really good filter for Mike and I working together. I think she understands our language in the studio, and is an extremely valuable asset to the way that we make music,” Michael explains of their time in Different Fur studios.
“Carlos helped us kind of trim the fat off this record,” he continues. “We started out as a very lo-fi punk because that was the intention… we wanted it to sound like The Stooges. We knew that the first LP was going to have a really high production value.”
The result is a cohesive, masterful body of work, where Michael’s unique style and gang vocals take centre stage over some venomous, poignant riffage. Making their mark as trailblazers on the west coast scene, it’s about time Spiritual Cramp had their long-awaited moment.
Spiritual Cramp is due out on November 3 via Blue Grape Music. Catch them supporting Militarie Gun in the UK next month.
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