Interview

TheNwothm: Hey there thanks for doing this interview! Can you start by introducing the band and where you are from?

Chris:  Hi, thanks for inviting us.  We are High Spirits from Chicago USA!

TheNwothm:  You guys formed all the way back in 2009! How did the idea of forming High Spirits come together?

Chris:  It’s a bit different from other bands I guess.  In early 2009, I had already made demos for ten or eleven songs on my own.  Then two local gig promoters asked us to play live.  I said there was no “us”!  But I found some friends who were ready to give it a try together.  So we did that gig in August of 2009 and since then we used the same philosophy: say yes, then figure out how!

TheNwothm: We know that the US has a thriving heavy metal scene but what is it like in Chicago?

Chris:  It is very dedicated here, with people of all ages and backgrounds.  We have more live gigs than ever, but I guess that’s the same in a lot of places.

TheNwothm: So how did the band find decide on a direction both musically and lyrically? Has it changed over time?

Chris:  Well it changes from song to song.  But it all happens within a certain frame, of course, and I don’t know how to explain that.  It’s just intuition.  Over time I guess you could say that intuition gets more refined.  The whole thing also expands a little bit each time, but always around the same original center-point which is “100% high-energy rock music”.

TheNwothm: Thinking back to the start you put out a couple of demos. Did you it take you long to find your stride and do you remember much from that period?

Chris:  I remember it well, and that is still some of my favourite stuff.  I wrote it all within a period of about six months so yeah, I hit my stride immediately.  And then we even did some basic DIY kinda touring on that stuff, before we even had an album out.  It came together really well.

TheNwothm: As a band do you have a preferred method of writing and recording music?

Chris:  I write and record everything on my own.  Only Motivator has a little bit of acoustic guitar and percussion played by the studio engineer, and I let my kids hit the cymbals on the song “In the Moonlight”.

TheNwothm: You have such a large body of work, how do you pick out sets for when you perform live?

Chris:  That’s a good question.  Yeah, we do have around 50 songs now including about 6 or 7 that, thankfully, have become very well known “signature songs” that we play every show.  So unless we’re the headliner, that’s about half the set right there.  Then there is a second tier of stuff that our longtime fans will always recognise, which is maybe another 15 songs from which we pick enough to fill out the set.  Then we will usually have a new song or a “deep cut” in there as well, when there is enough time.  

TheNwothm: What songs are fan favourites and usually do not change?

Chris:  “Another Night in the City”, “When the Lights Go Down”, “Full Power”, “Flying High”, and “High Spirits”.  “Thank You” and “This is the Night” are almost in this category now too.

TheNwothm: If someone was listening to the band for the very first time what releases would you tell someone to check out?

Chris:  Probably Motivator, although no one album tells the full story.  

TheNwothm: And ultimately do you have a favourite album/ep/single etc that you are particularly fond of from discography?

Chris:  It changes all the time.  “In the Moonlight” and “Restless” are doing a lot of good work lately.  I have a lot of confidence in those two for the long run.

TheNwothm: Can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves, perhaps hobbies or your musical backgrounds?

Chris:  We are all in our 40s so we have normal lives in addition to the band.  We are on the road about one month a year, split up into smaller segments.  We try to be smart about that and cover a lot of ground and play to as many people as we can, and we always try to do at least a few gigs each year in places where we haven’t already been.  For example this year we are playing in Spain for the first time ever.

TheNwothm: You are with High Roller Records! How did that come about?

Chris:  High Roller got in touch almost immediately.  We had done our own private press LP of the 2009 demos, and they did a nice gatefold pressing that same year.  I believe Cruz del Sur was actually first though, they got their CD version out while we were waiting on the LP.  Anyway then during 2010 we had a lot of offers from a lot of record companies, but most of them didn’t really understand what we were about, and most of them didn’t offer us anything that we couldn’t do ourselves.  So I recorded Another Night with my own money and no record deal.  But then after weighing all of my options, I went again with High Roller for the release, because they were outsiders, like us, and because their musical brand was closest to our own personal tastes.  I knew that when “trad fever” was over, they would still be committed, and the other companies would have moved on to whatever the next trend might be.  That has proven to be absolutely the right decision.  The cooperation has been perfect all these 16 years.

TheNwothm: “Safe on the Other Side” is your most recent full release. What can you tell us about the record? How did you piece together?

Chris:  I used to make fully-formed demos with vocals and guitar solos and the whole thing, but with the two most recent albums I did not take the demos quite as far before I started recording the “for keeps” versions.  I don’t think this saved me any time in the long run though, because I was still making a lot of changes to the songs throughout the recording process.  That got frustrating and time-consuming.  I probably should go back to making the more detailed demo versions and making sure I have the songs right where I want them before I pick up the drumsticks.  But it’s probably even more important that I am in the right mood, the right state of mind for being creative and also being burrowed-in on a studio project.  So it can take a long time from start to finish, but that’s ok.  There is never any pressure except what I place on myself.

TheNwothm: Can you tell us a bit about the production? Where did your record it and who is the team behind it?

Chris:  Same as the previous album Hard to Stop:  I recorded everything at my home studio on Chicago’s northwest side, and then sent all the tracks to Dan Swanö for mixing and mastering at his Unisound studio.  Dan is Swedish but lives in Germany, so this was another international incident!

TheNwothm: And what does the album art represent?

Chris:  It’s a maze obviously, and it represents the need for patience and maybe a bit of cleverness, but mostly patience, to pass through the challenging times in life.  

TheNwothm: Sometimes bands hold back ideas until a later time. For this record did it feature any ideas from your earlier days?

Chris:  Yes, that’s always part of my process.  “Lonely Nights” we released a version of in 2017, and also “(There Will Be) Magic Tonight”, that one we recorded partially for Hard to Stop, although it did not get finished until now.  But the oldest thread on the new album is probably the chorus of “One Day Closer”, which has been around since maybe 2015.  I have a pretty huge archive of loose riffs and melodies, song and album titles, even a handful of complete songs.  But those do not always start (or end) as ideas for High Spirits.

TheNwothm: And what would you say your favourite tracks are from the album?

Chris:  Definitely “In the Moonlight”, and then it’s easier to say which ones I’m less happy about than chosing my favorites.  But I think “Memories” turned out quite cool.  Originally it was going to be like a bonus track or something, but it really belongs on the album.  “One Day Closer” seems to be a crowd favorite too, and I wouldn’t argue with that.

TheNwothm: Looking ahead, do you have any new music in the works?

Chris:  Not currently with High Spirits.  I have been busy with some other projects.  But it can be hard to predict when the inspiration may strike!

TheNwothm: What are your touring plans for 2025?

Chris:  We are playing the Hell’s Heroes festival in just a few days from when I am writing this, and then at the beginning of May we are playing a festival here in Chicago called Legions of Metal.  We will be in Europe for two weeks of late September into early October.  I guess it’s around 20 shows in total for 2025, which for many bands is a drop in the bucket but for us is about average.

TheNwothm: If there is one thing the band hasn’t done yet that you would like to do what would it be?

Chris:  Horns!

TheNwothm: How can our readers buy your music and merch?

Chris:  Our retail distribution is pretty good overseas and we in the major mailorders too.  But it’s more patchy in the USA so we always keep a good supply on our Bandcamp page/shop.  We try to keep the prices and shipping turnaround as low as possible and I think we’ve done a good job there.

TheNwothm: Where can fans follow you online?

Chris:  highspiritsmetal.bandcamp.com.  We have an official Facebook page too but I am thinking about letting that go and just building an actual website this summer. 

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

Chris:  Thanks for the interview!  We have never identified as NWOTHM or even as HM but it’s cool to be included.  Cheers!

Bandcamp: https://highspiritsmetal.bandcamp.com/

Label: https://www.hrrecords.de/