World Wide Spies Images of Black & White stirs up a Chinatown meeting - By N.L. Belardes

World Wide Spies

I was on a mission. World Wide Spies were on the loose not only in L.A., but in Chinatown on the day of the Chinese New Year parade. We were to meet incognito during the parade. And we did.

What you’re going to read is an interview with three out of four members of World Wide Spies. Interspersed in the interview will be videos and photos that tell the story of our meeting in Chinatown that had us dodging firecrackers, the mayor of L.A., a strange house, and settling in a bar at Hop Louie’s Restaurant.

It’s all in the name of World Wide Spies brand new album, Images of Black & White. Just released this week! Oh and let me just say, I can’t get their new CD out of my head. Images of Black & White is a heady album, far better than their last, with an atmosphere of triumphant cheer! Every song is lasting with “Three Cheers” a New New Wave masterpiece.

They perform at the Viper Room in Hollywood tonight.



Here's the interview:

Noveltown: Let's get right to the beefy part of this interview. I've been listening to your forthcoming album, Images Of Black & White non-stop. It's my new favorite. (I'm not lying. I'm addicted). I feel like I'm being taken back to the 1980s where songs were like seductive anthems performed at big venues. Just look at how your album starts off, it's grand, it's huge... Maybe that sounds weird, but I know U2 has a big influence on World Wide Spies. What's the feel you're going for on the new recording?


Our trip to Chinatown was filled with open doors

Steve-O: I don’t know if we were intentionally going for a certain feel for this album. We knew we wanted to do it better this time around than before. We are always trying to be better, be it, playing, writing, performing, and recording. We like to convey triumph in our music. Hopefully we do. It wasn’t really until the end of the recording process that we realized there was a feel to it. Triumph, love, lost, mystery, optimism, sadness, frustration. I guess all 4 of us were feeling all those things throughout the year.

JFK: We defiantly went for something a little more introspective this time a little darker, but we all basically made the decision to take the time in the studio and make a grand record, I think this album is really the culmination of almost 4 years of developing our style and creating something that is ours.

IZIK: We definitely made some breakthroughs on this record. The songwriting has intensified and the production quality is finally giving the music the sound it deserves. In the studio we gave ourselves enough time to lay down the songs as written and then experiment with them over the following months. That's something we never had the luxury of doing before, so the songs on this record have much more weight, much more ass, if you will. I think we're just now discovering how big the band's sound can actually be.


The day was filled with mystical creatures





Noveltown: How long has this album been in the works? The recording quality is great too... talk to me about the recording process and who was involved in the mixing and mastering?

Steve-O: A long time. We started recording the foundation tracks in December of 2005, and at first, we only thought we would be doing another 5 song EP. It wasn’t til March of 2006 that we decided to go for it, and record 5 more songs. The 10th track, however, got cut. It was a bright, upbeat pop kind of song, and we felt that it didn’t fit with the other 9 all that well. The process was great. Our engineer/producer is Mikael Karlsson, and he is from Sweden. (By the way, Swedes are just the best engineers, mixers, producers in the world, think Abba, Roxette, Ace of Base—Brilliant Pop, that stuff). He helped us so much, and it was great to work with someone that really was into our sound, and knew and understood where we were coming from. He is a pro. During the process, he became more and more of a producer as well. His ideas helped us stay on the path, and kept us focused. There was a point at which we were doing all kinds of experiments with additional tracks and ideas were being thrown around a lot. He had to go to Sweden a couple of times for mixing with his engineer friend. I think it’s by far the best recording we have ever done, and its exactly where we wanted it to be and sound like. So the flurry of activity picked up and we finished it.

JFK: Well it was supposed to take 5 weeks LOL but took almost 9 months, we didn't want to stop until it was perfect... and I am personally very very happy we took the time to make it exactly what we wanted. We all were involved throughout the whole process in all aspects of the production, sometimes causing some havoc but for the most part it was a peaceful process.

IZIK: It's hard to say how long we've been working on this record. Our process is to write the songs before we even enter the studio, flesh them out until we're satisfied and then let them loose in the studio like fireworks. It's been well over a year since we started laying the songs down in our friend's studio, and we've encountered various delays along the way (which were probably actually helpful in the creative process). We had two very different mixes to choose from in the end. One was very AM-radio sounding, similar to the "thin" sound a lot of the minimalist post-punkers coming out on the radio today are using. Even though this sounded trendy and would've probably lumped us in with the radio-friendly bands coming out these days, it just lacked the power and the triumph the music was begging for. Instead we decided to mix with our friends from Sweden. They knew what we wanted and took on a key role in the album's development. We were blown away with how perfectly they were able to implement our creative vision. As we got the initial mixes from Sweden we knew this was how the record should sound. After another few months of tweaking the mixes we called on an old friend at Capitol Mastering to bring the sound to life, and he really gave the album the finishing boost it needed to jump out of the speakers.






I decided to have my fortune read.


Spies... spies...

Noveltown: There are some guest singers on the album. Does JFK have a story to share there? Does JFK have any drunken tales of late??

Steve-O: We were inspired by Simple Minds, especially from their album Once Upon A Time, and they used a lot of background vocal inflections. We tried it, I think we could have used more. Anyway, JFK’s friend, Angel, who is a brilliant vocalist, is on our song, What Are We Fighting For?, and she just nailed it. They have a vibe together for sure. They sang that part together on one mic. It was almost a Jim Morrison in the studio moment with his wife. You know from the movie.

JFK: Well now what a question... HMMM which story to talk about first !! The wonderfully talented Angel Travis is the female vocalist featured on What Are We Fighting For and now you have all the dirt on your vid about that ONE!!!! But she has been a wonderfully creative sexy force in my life for more than five years you can visit her at www.Angeltravis.com for more on her own music... it is well worth the visit!!

As for drunken escapades we have been somewhat quiet as of late… but the upcoming trip to SXSW should bring some more tales of drunken debauchery...


JFK's drunken tales?

Noveltown: When is Images Of Black & White coming out? And who designed the cover art?

IZIK: It's officially being released in March. We did a cover photo shoot with our friend Toky who is an ace photographer. He designed and conceptualized the cover art. We love his work.


What would my fortune end up becoming?


A smoky future...


A fiery dragon...


And spies hiding in the background

Noveltown: Images Of Black & White sounds like the album needed to help define the New New Wave. Maybe that's bold of me to suggest, but I like you guys as much as I like The Killers. What do you think about the New New Wave and bands like the Killers?

Steve-O: I love the Killers, Interpol, She Wants Revenge, Shinty Toy Guns, Bravery, Rock Kills Kid, etc. These bands are my favorite. Everyone has there own unique sound & style, but all fit together in a way. The bands from the “post-punk” “new wave” sound are my influences. What I play just comes out, for all of us really. In Rock N Roll there is always change, and it seems to be a new revolution against Pop, and hardcore/metal. Just like in the late 70’s. But, those things are great too. We are just on the opposite side of the Rock N Roll tree. We are on the branch that’s continuing the rock n roll, post-punk, new wave sound.

JFK: I think great that Bands like the Killers are doing so well worldwide and are being accepted into the mainstream it just paves the way for a band like ourselves to come along. I think new wave has been circa 1981-84 so far and we are more 87-89 so I think it just about the right time to be bringing out a sound like ours.

IZIK: I like the updated New Wave sound that's forming in the rock scene today. I think it still has a lot of evolution to undergo, but it's definitely getting defined as these bands break through to radio and start getting noticed internationally. What I'm not crazy about so far is the apparent lack of innovation out there. It seems these days that if you dress up a band from 1999 in suits and ties and dye their hair, all the sudden they're New Wave. So many I've seen are all look and no substance - as if adding a Cure-ish keyboard line over a pop-punk song makes it hip and New Wave. But what seems to really distinguish the good from the bad new bands is a frontman who can actually sing. I see lots of guys in eyeliner thinking they're channeling Morrissey, when all the while it sounds like Pee Wee Herman with a chest cold. That being said, there are a lot of bands out right now that really are taking the New Wave influence and forging new and exciting ideas and sounds. Every good band is an obvious combination of good influences, and the bands that are combining the best from yesterday and today are the ones that will last. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in this new digital age of music.


The spies had a moment of fortune as well...


And contemplated life in a new culture...


...filled with child-like thoughts... and triumphant music.

Noveltown: I think the last I saw you guys you performed at a strange little Bakersfield club called Azuls. You guys were on the patio blasting your tunes. I rocked out. You rocked out, JFK wooed everyone insight. Looks like you're playing bigger and better venues all the time in LA these days... What's your favorite LA venue?

Steve-O: Well, I hope we are playing better venues! It’s always nice to move up the club ladder. I really like The Viper Room. Its small, and comfy. Very inviting. Plus, I don’t have to load in my drum set! No just kidding. They do have a house kit there, which is cool.

JFK: Hmm .. my favorite venue is actually the Viper room.. its not as big as the other venues but it is very intimate and the sound is always amazing, I think as a starting band if we are to rate venues the sound has to be almost the #1 priority because it doesn't matter how much you rehearse if on show night the sound guy blows or the PA sucks .. well unfortunately that's what the audience hears, we don't have the luxury
of a dedicated sound guy so we have to take what we can get (The sound guy position is open by the way so if you are a kick arse techi the Spies need YOU!!!)
IZIK: The Derby in Los Feliz has probably been my favorite room in LA. We promoted our own night there for about a year that featured up and coming New Wave revivalist bands. It has a lot of history and the sound is top-notch for a club that size. For us, playing there is like a sports team playing a home game.


They stood atop this balcony, snuck onto it really, walking like the spies they are, right through someone's Chinatown birthday party. Super secret agents can do that.


The town became theirs...

Noveltown: You guys going to be touring around with the new album? How are you promoting this time around?

Steve-O: Hope too. We are getting played on Indie 103.1FM in Los Angeles. That helps a lot. Um, Lots of viral marketing tactics. Its top secret stuff.

JFK: Most of our promotion is online in blogs and reviews and interviews like this one, we are starting to get some great radio play and that's key to any albums success commercially, we book all of our own shows and we are planning a full schedule for this year so watch this space, the next show is at the Viper room on March 12th the CD release party that I’m sure you will be at young Nick :o)

IZIK: We're planning on touring a lot in the next year. We took a lot of time off to concentrate on the record, but now we're ready to put the wheels to the road and find new adventures in new cities and old haunts. Myspace has been a really helpful promotional tool. It's amazing how networking has been made so easy. We dedicate a lot of time to keeping up our relationships with fans online and making new friends and fans wherever we go. Until we get access to something bigger, our main promotion is and has been personal contact and word of mouth.


Three spies, missing one... JAX...


A final moment of reflection...

Noveltown: Please explain JFK's new look... and the rest of the band while you're at it...

Steve-O: He…we, are still swagger. No sense of style whatsoever!!! Can’t go wrong with Black & White, and a flat iron. So our stylist says…

JFK: I think as the music evolves so does everything else, so the new look is a little harder a little more edgy, but all in all I think it works well for us ... every time we release some new music we try to change up the style to match the albums current.

IZIK: JFK's look has undergone many transformations, but the same can be said about us a whole. We've always chosen to wear what we liked. When we first formed in 2003, our look was mainly short hair and suits and ties. Then all the sudden, every single artist, professional and amateur, was donning that look. Rappers were wearing suit coats with jeans, hard rock bands were wearing ties with wristbands, it was getting overdone quick. Our style now has evolved into a simpler, more space-age quality. Looking like punky accountants is a thing of the past. We're now more attracted to the idea of the raw look of a rock n' roll band from the future.

Noveltown: Thanks for talking to Noveltown today. I hope to see World Wide Spies at the Viper Room in March...

Steve-O: Thanks Nick!! Can’t wait to hang out and have a few pints!

JFK: Come on down mate and perhaps you will just have to be involved in one of those JFK drunken tales ... we will kidnap you and take you with us ..... bring your drinkin’ shoes !!

IZIK: Thanks! See you there!


Time to clean up the mischief...