Meet The Spikes – a musician who believes beauty can be found in even the darkest corners of life. Blending atmospheric soundscapes with raw emotion, his debut album First Light explores hope, chaos, and love through a deeply personal lens. In this candid interview with About Insider, The Spikes talks about the inspiration behind First Light, working with filmmaker Michael Haussman, and how he keeps creativity alive while wearing many hats.
HELLO THE SPIKES, WELCOME TO ABOUTINSIDER.COM! IT’S A PLEASURE HAVING YOU WITH US. FOR THOSE WHO ARE JUST DISCOVERING YOUR MUSIC, COULD YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE SPIKES AND HOW THIS CREATIVE JOURNEY BEGAN?
The Spikes is an alias I go by as a solo artist. It allows me to escape inside a different persona when writing and performing, to maybe tap into other parts of myself that may not come out or be as daring (or reckless) as myself. It’s all in the head. This is my first solo album. The Spikes released an EP a year ago. I was born and raised in Rome to an Italian mother and American father. I spent most of my life traveling to film sets, so I have a rounded and diverse view of the world. This comes across in my writing. I started a punk band called Delicate Prey in my teens. We released an EP. Following this, I went to the U.S., under The Spikes, to pursue a solo career—and a whole lot more.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW LP, FIRST LIGHT! IT’S A DEEPLY EMOTIONAL AND CINEMATIC RECORD. WHAT INSPIRED THE CONCEPT BEHIND IT, AND WHAT DOES “FIRST LIGHT” MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?
First light is a continuation of my first EP ‘the spikes’ i wanted to explore
Thanks. The name First Light means the beginning. It’s my first album–-my beginning. But it feels like the theme of the album is about the beginning: opening our eyes to the positive–the FIRST LIGHT. This album is meant to give us positive hope amongst the world today. I am always finding beauty, even in tragedy and fear. The music is part of that entire feeling. It is more atmospheric and slightly escapist, but the lyrics are what tie it all together and give the whole album power and reason. I don’t write in a narrative form, but rather more subconscious, raw feelings and metaphors. I think this lets the audience inject themselves into the song and create their own experience.
THE LEAD SINGLE, GARDEN SONG, HAS SUCH A HAUNTING YET BEAUTIFUL QUALITY. CAN YOU SHARE THE STORY OR EMOTIONS THAT LED TO ITS CREATION?
“Garden Song” is a classical love song, but it follows no narrative, no person or story. The lyrics play with metaphors and raw feelings of being in love. That love can be defined as a girlfriend, boyfriend, a relative, or something we are trying to attain. It’s up to the audience to interpret their own love in the song. If you were in love and just wrote down ten of those feelings that you felt, and also ten of the fears, maybe this would be “Garden Song.” It feels like a more honest approach to writing a love song.
YOU COLLABORATED WITH ACCLAIMED FILMMAKER MICHAEL HAUSSMAN, HOW DID THAT PARTNERSHIP SHAPE THE VISUAL WORLD OF FIRST LIGHT AND PARTICULARLY THE GARDEN SONG VIDEO?
Michael Haussman is my father. Throughout our life, we have shared creative ideas. We think very much alike and share the same reference points. When we do a music video, he always tries to write something that honestly fits what the song means to me. We had this video idea in mind for a song off my first EP. But we revisited the idea, while sitting at this seedy café in Trastevere, Rome. From there, we started throwing out ideas, always trying to think outside the box. Our process is fun, with mutual respect. He has the experience and taste to best capture my feelings and intention of a song in visuals. I guide the visuals to fit The Spikes. The fact that we are close and share so many artistic references, means there is a lifetime of unwritten communication on a set. A glance can say a thousand things.
YOUR MUSIC BEAUTIFULLY BALANCES CHAOS AND CALM, PAIN AND REDEMPTION. WERE THESE CONTRASTS DRAWN FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OR CREATIVE EXPLORATION?
A constant theme for this album is about contrasts. The “Garden Song” video illustrates this quite well. It is about finding beauty, love and safety in places that are not necessarily peaceful or the idyllic norm. There is beauty in a tragic face. There is beauty in chaos. It is the definition of beauty. My definition includes empathy. My idea of beauty finds something different from others and that is true beauty.
To address the chaos theme, I think to constantly juxtapose a peaceful situation to what could suddenly become a nightmare is life. This is something I hit on in many songs. The ability for life to suddenly veer off course in a way we never saw coming. There is a metaphor of a killer always present in many songs. This is not to be taken in the literal sense, but it is the tragedy always lingering about, waiting to happen, which is life and a good thing to know. Not so we are frightened, but so we can enjoy life now, in the moment. As I said in “Garden Song,” “Just sit back and enjoy the view.” In the end, this album is saying hold on tight to the reins or the steering wheel. It’s a hell of a ride, but we will come out okay and better from it.
YOU WEAR MULTIPLE HATS AS PRODUCER, PERFORMER, AND STORYTELLER. HOW DO YOU KEEP THAT RAW EMOTIONAL CONNECTION ALIVE WHILE HANDLING THE TECHNICAL SIDE OF PRODUCTION?
It is exactly what you said, wearing many hats. It is important not to confuse the hats when you grab them for the day. In other words, you should approach your day as a creative force when writing, recording, painting, or doing your creative things. Get out of bed, shower, and dress in that role. Like an actor playing a role, today you are Mr. Creative. Put on the right hat and play it to the fullest. Don’t ever break character. The same for the opposite role. The productive Mother Fucker. Get out of bed and dress, drink a lot of coffee (joke), and be that guy. Don’t forget the hat. I really believe in this. That’s why I am The Spikes. Not Iago Haussman. Every day we are all acting. In ways we don’t even realize. So just be aware and do it better. I think when you start to cross roles mistakes happen. You lose focus. Each of these roles takes focus.
THE GARDEN SONG VIDEO CELEBRATES LOVE IN ALL ITS FORMS, ACROSS AGES, FACES, AND STORIES. WHAT MESSAGE WERE YOU HOPING TO LEAVE WITH VIEWERS THROUGH THAT IMAGERY?
I always wanted this video to hit a much larger emotion than a simple, single person or love story. We saw the potential of visually telling this story to an unsuspecting audience in a real Italian social club with old, young, damaged, optimistic, pessimistic, and forlorn faces. So, we got a whole cross section of real-life Italians from the Roman neighborhood where I grew up. From tattooed break dancers to old ladies playing bridge. I perform the song by simply walking into this real-life social club – which acts as a neighborhood place to play cards, have a birthday, get a drink or have dance lessons. I am a stranger here. Yet I plug in a mic and just sing. They sort of ignored me at first. Until they cannot. Because I must win them over. For real. I had to work hard. The music begins to move them – each in their own way. Each is different. But when you see the lyrics set against the different faces of different ages, and how they move to the music, the words take on new meaning. Maybe in a way you did not think about before.
AS FIRST LIGHT MAKES ITS WAY INTO THE WORLD, WHAT DO YOU HOPE LISTENERS TAKE AWAY FROM IT? AND WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE SPIKES AFTER THIS RELEASE?
Each song on FIRST LIGHT was approached entirely differently. The instrumentation varied per song. But there is a cohesive narrative to the sound scape and lyrics. As I said earlier, this album is meant to give us positive hope amongst the world today. I am always finding beauty, even in tragedy and fear. Some songs were written very easy. Some started as poems and found themselves set to music. I even used the cut-up technique developed by William Burroughs, known as random selection on the song Sapling Tree. This is something Bowie used on Life on Mars. You cut out each sentence and then randomly select them and rearrange them blindly into a song. Your intention is in the words. But how they are juxtaposed can alter the meaning. I don’t like to describe my music too much, because it feels like I am trying to find a reason why I did what I did. Rather than just enjoy it. I am constantly performing and recording. Now I am working on a series of super interesting and unsuspecting covers. This album is only the first light. Much more to shine.
You can listen the song here ffm.to/7kn1mka
For more information and to connect with The Spikes, please visit Website thespikes.org, Instagram @the__spikes, Facebook, YouTube @the__spikes, and Spotify.
