Interview with Zion of SPiT LiKE THiS

Earlier on in the year we caught up with Zion from SPiT LiKE THiS and creator of www.smellyourmum.com !


1. Who are you and what do you do?


I am Lord Zion, lead singer and co-creator of UK rock band SPiT LiKE THiS. I also started the notorious www.smellyourmum.com clothing brand with Vikki Spit, my partner in crime, who is also the bass player in SLT.


2. How did you get started?


A long time ago in Croydon, I met Vikki and we got on famously. She was like the girl version of me and, being slightly narcissistic, this appealed. Then I found out she played bass so, next thing I know, we had started a band. The name came from a spitting contest we had that night. It started off quite bleakly, we had to sell Vikki’s used panties on eBay to fund our initial recordings but it was well received thankfully! Around the same time, we set up smellyourmum.com to stop us having to get proper jobs, fund our share in the band and help promote the band. Here we are, several years later, hundreds of gigs and hundreds of thousands of man (and woman) hours later with a UK album release under our belt, with Euro releases imminent!


3. What have you got going on at the moment?


The biggest thing for us is the aforementioned Euro release. In 2009 we signed with a German manager and then with a Swedish label. Rock is pretty dead in the UK so we looked toward a much more active European market. It worked and we are grateful to be given this opportunity, although we worked damn hard for it! Our album comes out in Scandinavia on 27th January then Germany, Austria, Switzerland on 12th February. We will then start looking at other territories and look forward to a summer of Euro festivals.


4. Favourite music and why?


For me, it would have to be Adam Ant / Adam And The Ants. The line from Prince Charming “ridicule is nothing to be scared of” is a mantra for life. Nothing comes close for me. I should get that tattooed!


5. Favourite book and why?


I’m not much into Fiction and prefer reading Autobiographies. I don’t have much free time to devote to reading so I find autobiographies easier to digest than fiction. I really enjoy any book by Kevin Smith too. That man makes me laugh and I love his indie spirit.


6. Favourite film and why?


I had this discussion with Vikki just the other night. She asked me what my favourite was out of Star Wars IV “A New Hope” and Star Wars V “The Empire Strikes Back”. I think ESB is probably a better movie but, if I could only ever watch one film again, it would be ANH. It reaches in to that kid within me and brings him out, which is a good thing. The music business is a tough business to be in and you cannot afford to lose your dreams.



7. Best experience in the business?


Getting signed twice in the same year was quite extraordinary. Most bands never get signed once so, for us to achieve a goal like that two times within the same 12 months says a lot about us!


8. Why should soundscape readers care?


About SPiT LiKE THiS, I guess you mean? Well, because we are the epitome of DIY. Unlike a lot of bands that claim DIY status, we have never had parents to buy our gear or ferry us around to gigs. All money put in to the band and in to our recordings and videos is worked damn hard for by us. We have not been handed anything on a plate. Our merch company, smellyourmum.com, was set up by Vikki and I to fund our share in the band. We have sold tens of thousands of T-shirts worldwide, each of them designed by me and hand-printed by Vikki, all so we could get out there and perform. We work VERY hard indeed. And that, alone, should be worth the entry fee! But, that’s not all. We are a great live band: entertaining and energetic plus we give people something to believe in. We aren’t corporate and haven’t had a committee design our latest haircut. Love us or loathe us, we are 100% real and genuine to ourselves.


9. Tell our readers an interesting fact about yourself/company/band?


We used to own an old Daimler hearse – a 1984 DS420 – all 4.2 litres of it. Glorious machine. It was sign written in SLT livery and, naturally, we would get odd looks driving it around (it was our daily driver). One day, Vikki and I drove to the local tip to dump some rubbish. Opening up the back door to the coffin deck, we didn’t realise quite how odd it would look pulling out a long, large box from the back to toss on the heap, until we looked around to a sea of gaping mouths!


10. Best thing about coming from/being/playing in Wales?


Wales is truly one of the best places in the UK to play rock music. The big cities in England seem to be too up themselves, more interested in looking cool than having a good time. Wales is the total opposite! And I mean that in the most respectful tone imaginable. We’ve played several shows in Wales now and each one has been awesome. Basically, you guys know how to rock better than most!


11. Who are your role models/idols?


I’m not sure I have role models. I’ve carved a difficult path through life and I’ve had to do it without support. That causes you to rely on yourself and, as a result, you become your own role model. As for idols, well, we’ve been lucky enough to play with several bands that I grew up idolising. You soon realise one of two things. Either a) they are just “regular” people like your or I or, b) (most frequently) they are total tossers and not worth your respect. Sorry!


12. Hardest thing about the current business?


The liars, thieves and sharks who are all out to make a fast buck out of honest, hard working people. It seems to me that you spend a good portion of your career, as you get larger, trying to sort out all the shit from deals you had to sign early on to get larger. It’s a terrible Catch 22. I think it is a shame that nearly all people involved in the business part of the music business think that the only way they can run their business is through lying. A lot. I look forward to the day when we are in a position to expose these people. And we aren’t unique. Speak to every band and they will all have tales of shoddy dealings. There will be a lot of people reading this wondering if I am writing it about them, and that’s pretty shameful!


Check Zion and SPiT LiKE THiS out here – http://spitlikethis.com/