Command and Conquer - Sparta

There’s something strikingly different about Sparta to the majority of other bands milling around backstage at Give It A Name - they do not fit a certain scene or have to dress and play in a conscious way. They are their own bosses and loving every minute of it. Lead Guitarist, Keeley Davis, slips Gigwise an envious glimpse into their rather relaxed world. “We think we are a very honest band and put everything into our shows, there’s nothing fake about us and we don’t intentionally follow or fit into a certain genre.”

Constantly tagged as ‘Ex-At The Drive In members’ Sparta acquired outside help from Davis at the start of 2006 as he explains “I was previously in a band called Engine Down who toured with Sparta and so that is how we first met them. I am also a graphic designer so ended up doing Sparta’s website for their last record. My band called it quits at the same time they lost a guitar player so it seemed like a pretty good match. We wrote for a year before we even played a show together, but in the writing process I noticed we were meshing really well and when we did our first gig it definitely gelled and was instantly natural. I think it really helped we were from the same background and inspired by the same bands, it just worked.”

One of the influential bands mentioned was Oxford’s finest, Radiohead, as Davis somewhat jealously states, “I am so inspired by the way they can rewrite themselves on every record, they push the envelope so intensely and can still stay respected, I just think that is completely amazing”. In Sparta’s latest release, ‘Threes’, Radiohead-esque ‘Unstitch Your Mouth’ is one of many highlights to be found.

Davis is no stranger to experimenting musically himself, some more successful than others, but the band’s relaxed approach has left open the solo avenue to all its members which he has snapped up, explaining “It’s great to have our solo projects, because a lot of times being musicians you want to try certain things, and say you are in a heavy metal band but you are really into poppy stuff, you can try and integrate it into a band with an already established sound and it just won’t work, believe me I have tried many times. Therefore we are free to break away from the stigma of being in one band and just do something completely new and different.”

With Davis’s other project he has certainly had his eyes firmly opened to the ever changing music industry and how different it can be at the top to the very bottom. “Doing Sparta we have a major label, all this promotional help and our record is available in every store. But with my other band all we do at the moment is write music, we don’t tour or do any promotion. We just put it out on a really small label and ‘myspace’ which helps us reach places that ten years ago we would have to constantly tour to get just half the fans and exposure”.