BITE ME! Agent Sparks Interview

AGENT SPARKS by Nikki Neil

It’s not often that you come across a band that solicits love at first listen. Agent Sparks is one of those bands. The group features Ben Einziger (vocals/guitar) and Paul Fried (bass), both of whom are Mike Einziger’s (Incubus) younger brothers. Rounding out the unit is drummer George Purviance and vocalist/keyboardist Stephanie Eitel.

Rock fans may remember Ben & Paul from Audiovent, but those days are past. As fate would have it, the brothers were steered in a different direction. Unlike Audiovent, Agent Sparks’ sound is a throw back to the late 70s/early 80s.

Agent Sparks’ full-length debut is set to be unveiled some time in 2006. In the meantime, music connoisseurs can check out the band’s EP, Not So Merry. The record represents the members’ trials and tribulations of years past. The subject matter can be a bit serious at times, but the music’s light hearted vibe adds an upbeat spin. The result is an album that is quirky, poppy, and downright enjoyable.

Ben, are you excited about your new project?

Yeah, I am very excited about it. It’s a lot of fun.

What happened with Audiovent?

Creatively we started going in different directions and so we decided to call it quits.

Audiovent was a good band. I saw you guys perform at the House of Blues. It was a good show. On the other hand, I also like Agent Sparks. It’s a different avenue altogether. How do you feel about the different styles between the two bands?

With Agent Sparks there is more of my vision as to what I always wanted to do artistically. With this band things tend to come very naturally. I write a lot of the songs, so it is a much easier process. With Audiovent it was more like an assembly line, and it took forever for one part to be finished. This band feels a lot more natural and a lot more cohesive.

Sounds like you have a lot more creative freedom.

Yes.

Your brother Paul was in Audiovent. What are his feelings about Agent Sparks?

He loves it. Within the last year he has really stepped it up as a bass player and added his own color – his own sound. He and our drummer George are definitely the backbone of this band. You can say that for a lot of bands, but with our band I like the fact that when Paul is playing it sounds like he is playing melodies not just playing the root note of what the guitar is playing. I tend to like music that weaves in and out of different notes.

How did George come to be a part of the group?

I went to camp with George, in Missouri, when I was 12 years old. I had met him through a family friend who I went to camp with. We explored caves and hung out with bats and sucked each other’s blood. It was awesome.

If you went to camp in Missouri, how did you find him in L.A?

He moved out here a couple of years ago, and I would see him on occasion. He’d come over to my house when my family would have get-togethers. When Agent Sparks started we had this other drummer named Ryan, who was playing with us for a bit, and he ended up getting a paid gig to go on tour, so we called George. He’s played drums since he was about eight years old. He is an incredible drummer, and he stopped playing drums for awhile to learn percussion. He learned how to play Afro-Cuban music and various styles of Indian and Latin music. He learned how to play everything that is involved in percussion. We jammed with him a few times for fun, so when Ryan left we said, “Let’s get George and see how he approaches music because I think he’ll do it in a different way.” We got him to come and jam with us. The first time he was a little rusty, but the overall vibe in the room – the way he played and his attitude – it was such a breath of fresh air. He was just having a good time and every rehearsal after that just got better. By the fourth rehearsal we knew he had to be in the band. Plus, he is a great guy.

How did your brother Mike (Einziger) get involved with producing the EP?

He produced the EP and the record. We recorded them both at once. I’ve always showed Mike stuff that I’ve done and after I had written a bunch of songs for Agent Sparks I played them for him and he was really into what we were doing. He was really into the direction. I don’t think he was a big Audiovent fan, but he’s a fan of Agent Sparks. He digs it a lot. One day he was giving me ideas and I can’t remember if I told him that he should produce our record or if he said, “Let me do your record.” I’m not sure which one it was. He is really good at keeping me focused because I have really bad A.D.D. sometimes, which can be a good thing for musicians because I think our art is pretty schizophrenic in a way because I can never stay in one area. He really helped to make some of my songs, before I had even shown them to the band, more cohesive. When I brought him into the band everyone really liked working with him. He helped cut off the fat on some songs and didn’t let me get too over analytical. I really respect what he does. I think he is a fantastic musician – a fantastic guitarist. We’ve always been really close.

I heard the EP was recorded in two weeks.

We went into the rehearsal studio and banged out about 20 songs. We wrote about 26 songs for this record and we went into the studio and focused on about 15 songs for the EP and the record. We didn’t really know what was going to be on the EP, but we had two weeks to make the record because we had a limited budget. We went into the studio and in the first three days the drums and bass were all done and then after that we recorded the guitars. We recorded all the songs live at first and then over dubbed a couple of things.

Did your brother have an influence with you getting into music?

Definitely. It really started out with my mother. My mother sang in operas and plays her whole life. I grew up singing songs with her. Whenever she would sing I was pretty much hypnotized by her voice. I would be completely in another world. I loved it. I was really attracted to the sound of music. I started playing piano and then I got into guitar. As I got older I started listening to more guitar based bands, as opposed to piano based bands, and I wanted to learn how to play Metallica songs, which is how I got into playing guitar. But, my brother was a big influence as well.

How has Myspace helped the band?

Myspace is the coolest Internet site. It’s an amazing site whether you are an artist or you’re in business or whatever. It’s so cool to me to be able to get in touch with so many people. We are on there every day making new friends and getting more people into the band.

Stephanie’s voice is the perfect compliment to yours. How did you find her?

She’s the girlfriend of a good friend of mine and she was performing one night at a club and so my friends said I should go check her out. So, Paul and I went and we just thought that she had a fantastic voice. (Stephanie has done various studio work including the background vocals on Weezer’s “Beverly Hills”.) I called her one day after I had started writing songs for Agent Sparks and asked her to come over to sing some songs. She started singing some of my songs and playing acoustically and then I started to sing along with her and we started to figure out how we were going to blend together. It came really naturally. What is really special about what we have now is that it feels really natural and really honest and right. It’s amazing.

The combination of both vocals works really well with the style of music you are playing. Was that your intention from the beginning?

I had no idea. I just thought she had a great voice, and I wanted to try it out. I hadn’t listened to many male/female duet vocalists. All I knew is that I had a bunch of songs and it was like, “What am I going to do with them?” I still hadn’t shaped into being a singer yet – at least mentally. I wasn’t certain about the confidence because I had been playing guitar for so long.

You have a good singing voice. Did you take any lessons or did it come naturally for you?

I learned how to sing from my mom. She taught me the proper technique. I don’t want to sound trained like a Broadway singer. I don’t think I can sing like that. Maybe I could if I really tried. I just sing how my ear and my body feels it.

What did you learn from your time in Audiovent that you’d take with you with Agent Sparks? Or what did you learn not to do?

It was a learning experience. We had some fun times, and we had some rough times. I learned to be patient and not to rush things. Audiovent was really rushed. Audiovent had a really good run when we had it, but Agent Sparks feels, at least for me, like a much better relationship musically and artistically.

The album’s title, Not So Merry, is a bit dark. The songs themselves are upbeat, but the lyrics aren’t always so cheerful. What influences your songwriting?

A lot of factors influence my writing. I had a hard time leaning into the lead singer role. We have two lead singers, but growing up into being a front man was really hard for me because I always wanted to do that. When I was a little kid I would always watch Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, and John Lennon on video. I wasn’t watching just the guitarist. I was just really into songwriters – people who could sing. I always watched the frontman and growing into that role was really difficult for me. In general, I learned a lot about myself this year and coming out and basically writing down a lot of words. It’s pretty nerve wracking to share that with the public and say, “Here is me,” and know that you’re going to be criticized for it. That was a big leap that I needed to take. A lot of the lyrics are about that experience and a lot are about my anxiety in my own life. I have a lot of anxiety, and this is a way for me to get that out. Other songs come from falling in love. I fell in love this year. It was amazing. I’ve never done that before. Other factors that influenced the album are things that made me upset about the world and things that I think are great about the world.

So your relationship is going well?

It’s amazing.

How did it feel the first time you performed on stage as a singer? Were you nervous?

Not at all. It came so naturally. When I was up there everything clicked. It clicked like a Lego clicks with another Lego. You know how it feels when you feel really proud of yourself. Well, I felt like I finally did something that felt really right.

Well, it’s almost time for you to go on stage. Is there anything else that you want to say about the band?

Check out our website at www.agentsparks.com or myspace.com/agentsparks.