by Erinn Fortson
An audience is never predicable. From its magnitude to its energy, a crowd fluctuates as often as the weather; you might anticipate sunny skies, but a forecast can change within minutes.
With that said, performing in front of strangers or even long-time fans is a dicey and sometimes stressful game. But for Quiet Life, the unknown and immeasurable are what make a live show that much more exciting.
In the middle of 2012, the band toured Alaska and performed at a variety of venues throughout the state. Some of these gigs only saw 20 people. A few weeks ago, at the beginning of this month, Quiet Life was playing two back to back, sold out concerts in Philadelphia with friends The Head and the Heart.
“Every show is different,” lead singer Sean Spellman says. “You can play a show with 40 people in a bar and it can be just as exciting as playing [for] 2,000 people.”
So, needless to say, size doesn’t matter to Quiet Life because the band doesn’t really find value in volume; it’s more about the connection they feel with the listeners watching them on stage. Quiet Life thrives from the juice of the crowd; that’s the most important thing for them when it comes to performing live. And in those instances when the band can’t find that chemistry with an audience, they say to hell with it and keep playing anyways.
Quiet Life is considered a Portland band now, but the group’s beginnings start with the East Coast. Brothers Sean and Ryan Spellman are originally from New London, Connecticut, moving to the area as teens. Here, they connected with friends Thor Jensen and Craig Rupert to began the early makings of Quiet Life. As they progressed in their music, the band steadily moved towards the West Coast, picking up other members like Jesse Bates along the way. Recent collaborator Philippe Bronctein (Hip Hatchet) hooked up with Quiet Life as a fellow artist of Portland’s music scene.
Quiet Life released their second full-length album, Wild Pack, at the end of last month and it’s their first in two years.
“We made the last record in between tours, which is why it took us so long to finish it,” Spellman explains. “We try to keep that balance [but] at this point we’re just trying to hit the road as much as possible cause we want to play.”
Throughout nine tracks, you can hear that the band was inspired in a few different ways when making Wild Pack. The songs touch upon various themes; some of these are easy to pick up on and others have listeners reading between the lines.
Travel is something that consistently influences the band’s music. Because it’s such a big part of their lives, Quiet Life often use their physical journeys as a muse. Take their recent trip to the Last Frontier.
“It definitely contributed inspiration. I think going up to Alaska is a very humbling experience. It’s nothing like touring down here,” says Spellman. “We played for much longer up there. I don’t know if there’s any particular songs that have direct references to Alaska, but it’s definitely in our subconscious as a band, as we write songs and record music.”
Visiting Alaska was all around exhilarating and because the experience seems to have really left a mark on the band, they are making a documentary out of it. With the help of long-time friends Ben Fee and Colin Shane (The Sights of Sounds), Quiet Life will share their trip on film.
As with previous records, Wild Pack was self-produced by the band. And even though it only became available to the public a few weeks ago, Quiet Life is already looking ahead to the next album, contemplating how to switch it up in the studio. For starters, the group has considered recruiting an outside party to join the creative team.
“That’s probably the next step,” says Spellman. “[Producers] bring so much to the table. There [are] people that I would love to work with. I mean ultimately, in my dreams, I would love to work with Rick Rubin. That’d be pretty cool.”
For now, until their paths perhaps cross with Mr. Rubin’s, the band is busy enjoying the present, sharing their music with fans all over the map. Their tour travels across the globe continue, as Sean Spellman and his friends take full advantage of a life that is far from quiet.
