Brooklyn’s Team Spirit have had a busy Spring. The “new mavericks of Rock n’ Roll,” recently released a 5-song EP on Vice Records and are now hitting the road with British rockers Peace. Team Spirit deliver a proper dose of 70’s motorcycle fuzz, but with some trimmed sideburns, and nods to surf rock and classic R&B. On top of that, the band has some local history. You may recognize lead man Ayad Al Adhamy as one of the original members of Passion Pit, and Cosmo DiGiulio as the shredder that once played in DOM. Team Spirit has hit the ground running with their own brand of jams, and will make make a stop at Brighton Music Hall on Thursday, June 15th with Peace. We caught up with Ayad to learn a thing or two about a thing or two about Team Spirit.
—
Perry Eaton: First off, I know the band is based in Brooklyn, but there’s definitely some Boston history there. What are your roots in our fine city?
Ayad: I first moved to the US in 2004 to go to college in Boston. I met Toby (Bass) and Mike (Drums) in my first week of class! Cosmo (guitar) is a Massachusetts boy himself who I first actually met in Brooklyn. I spent my first American thanksgiving at Mikes in NJ and Toby and I were shred-metallers who spent days (or years!) riffing away and practising scales.
For the longest time, I felt like Team Spirit was being referred to as a side-project, but it seems like with the new EP and all of the touring you guys are doing, Team Spirit has become a bit of a different beast. Have you noticed a change in how the band has been received recently?
I definitely know what you mean! It started out as a side-project, but it immediately became my focus in life and felt like my right path. It was strange being in a full on band, but having it referred to in that way, as we were all working full time and hard at it! But yeah, it’s definitely picked up steam as a “real” god-damn rock’n’roll band!
A lot of bands have gone back to pretty primitive recording styles to get that vintage feel lately. Team Spirit seems to achieve that nostalgic sound, but in a more cleaned up way. Do you think the synthy background of some bandmates influenced the recording style this way?
I did all the recording of the EP in my studio in Greenpoint. I’ve been working on production for a while now and I think you really nailed what I was going after. I use a lot of vintage gear, with modern techniques to keep it fresh and still rockin. I think it has much less to do with working in the synth realm than just working on music (remixing / records / mixing etc). Also Jake Aron, who mixed the EP, is great and helped clean up and still saturate the recordings.
It’s hard to re-invent the wheel with rock ‘n roll, whereas, other projects you guys have been a part of have been more experimental, electronic, or cutting-edge. How do you aim to keep it fresh and original, or do you just say fuck it and try to have the best time possible?
Rock n Roll in the current day is pretty interesting as there has now been almost 70-90 years of previous rock n roll generations. We all definitely have band loves in every decade and that really helps in creating a unique amalgamation of music. I’m also an Iraqi-born, England raised transplant – I’ve had some pretty unique life experiences so far! And on top of that yeah – FUCK IT.
You guys are on a pretty eclectic Vice Records lineup. How did that relationship start?
I got the first music video for “Fuck the Beach” made and I showed it to my friend Barry who works at Vice. He loved it and sent it around and they wanted to Premiere it! The music people over there started asking about more music and what the plans were, and when Team Spirit became a full-time band we worked out a deal! Jamie (Farkas Head of A&R) really understood our variety of rock n roll and with our taste for NSFW videos it was a match made in heaven (or hell?!)
Ayad, you had previously started Black Bell Recordings. What are the big differences between putting something out on a smaller grassroots label and a much bigger label like Vice? Have there been any downsides?
Actually, no Team Spirit music was never released on Black Bell! Working with Vice however is a very different game than any of my Black Bell releases. Both are in the Warner Music system, but use a different set of internal staff (Black Bell works with ILG/ADA and Vice with WBR). Its been pretty positive honestly! Everyone is really great and on it and genuinely excited to work with us. It’s great, because we have the resources of a major, but with the independence and freedom of an indie. They were really supportive when I pitched the idea of turning the EP into an animated saga and have allowed us to lead the creative, and similarly so with the recording of the LP, where we rented a house/barn in the mountains for a month to finish writing and record drums/bass/guitar. Its showed me how WBR is adapting to the current climate of recording labels by allowing such a rad company as Vice the freedom to market bands as they wish!
I’ve heard that Cosmo joined Dom because he was getting too rowdy at a bar and one thing led to another. Then I heard that he joined Team Spirit the same way. First off, should we be worried? Secondly, if I’m looking to start a band, should I just chill at dive bars and I’ll find somebody who can shred?
Firstly, Cosmo is a grown-ass-man! And secondly, yes. Definitely. I’d say Dive/Country bars.
Team Spirit to me is a total party band. If you guys could play the wedding of any two celebrities, who would they be?
Neil Patrick Harris and Dave Burtka.
—