In a recent interview with The Fuse, Luke Spiller, The Struts frontman, shared insights into the band’s latest albums, their fashion decisions, artists he’s worked with, and a few other fun topics. The Struts recently put on an amazing show at Epic Event Center in Green Bay.
When reflecting on the journey of crafting their fourth record, Spiller emphasized the unique challenges each album presented. The debut album, he noted, allowed for a great deal of creative exploration, while the second was produced during a demanding tour schedule. The third album, an unexpected project during lockdown, showcased the band’s adaptability. He said, “We had ten days booked in a studio with our producer John LaVine who has a studio at his house, and we were meant to record and write two or three songs. And then by day five we had conjured up like seven songs that were all, like, originals and we were like ‘Oh my gosh, like, there’s a little bit of lightning here in a bottle.’ And that just became a very obscure, but yet unique record, which was a complete reflection on the lockdown and everything that we were going through exactly.”
For their fourth album, Spiller revealed that The Struts decided to return to the basics, steering clear of features and investing more time over 18 months crafting the 11-track record. He said, “We were co-producers on the record, so we had a lot of control in terms of the arrangements and the sonics and exactly what we wanted. And we had, like, a huge variety of material to pick from, some of which didn’t make the record, which was still really, really great songs. But I think it’s the best aspects of our debut which showcases the band’s songwriting, but yet unlike the first, I think it captures way more than any other record. Like, how we feel and sound live, which is something that I know our immediate fan base has just been craving for. And I think we absolutely delivered that on this latest record.”
The shift to a new label played a key role in shaping the album’s sound. Spiller explained that working with Scott Borchetta and Julian Raymond, both co-producers on the album, was super important in terms of its outcome.
“They were completely instrumental in pushing us, helping us to sort of pursue certain songs and ideas when the band might have sort of, like, second-guessed themselves. So that really proved to be extremely helpful and yeah, in many ways, it’s just as much of their album as it is ours.”
He went on, “If it was up to us, I think the band even now would still be writing and creating more demos because we always put ourselves under immense pressure to sort of have those songs that are an immediate ‘wow’.”
Spiller then revealed the decision to title the album “Pretty Vicious”. He said, “I just thought… we need to sort of showcase this song because it is equally as strong of a track as some of our other singles that we’ve done in the past.”
When asked which feature artist was his favorite to work with, Spiller explained that there is a uniqueness in each experience. He praised Kesha and her talent, and singled out Robbie Williams as well, saying he was one of the most unexpected and memorable collabs he’s done. He said, “The song came out really well and it did a lot for us in the United Kingdom and carved out a pathway which, I guess in many ways, we’d struggled to sort of, um, to do ourselves up until that point in all honesty.”
Spiller emphasized the relationship between music and fashion, acknowledging that the band shines when they are considered outsiders. He explained that he has been leaning more towards a more sophisticated and masculine style, and suspected that the audience, specifically women, are going to get fed up with many bands constantly cross-dressing and are just going to want to see guys be guys. He said, “But I’m also seeing this androgynous thing being taken to a point where it’s kind of hitting the mainstream to a point where it’s not special for me anymore in my mind, if that makes any sense. And when I think about the band and I think about myself and what image I want to sort of project, seeing that and being conscious of that definitely makes me sort of re-evaluate, like, where do I want to go next. Because as far as I’m concerned, I have nothing to prove in that department and right now I’m just sort of finding a lot of joy in presenting myself in a bit more of a sophisticated sort of way.”
When asked about what he does in his free time on tour, Spiller went through what a typical day off would look like, which involved interviews, a six-mile run, and resting his voice. He shared that his favorite concert he attended as a fan was when he was able to save up his own money to go see The Darkness headline Reading Festival in 2003. He said, “That was the first one, you know, and I’m still a big fan of The Darkness ‘til this day, and it’s been really great. I’m in touch with Justin and at the Taylor Hawkins tribute show we had some great one-on-one time, and it’s still a bit surreal that I have, like, one of my childhood heroes in my phone.”
Spiller admitted, when asked if he had any memorable Wisconsin experiences, that the constant touring makes many locations blur together. He just focuses on delivering great shows to the fans that show up at each place.
The interview went on to topics of favorite cheeses, which Spiller says he doesn’t eat much of but if he had to choose is blue cheese, and whether he misses UK foods while in the U.S. He said he sometimes longs for a good Sunday roast, which is comparable to a modified version of a U.S. Thanksgiving meal.
Finally, Spiller was asked what he might be doing if he didn’t have a career in music.
“Gosh, a poet. I’d be some broke poet maybe living in some loft in Paris. You know, chasing women and drinking lots of wine and collecting muses and just writing from the heart. And probably die starving.”
