Broken Spindles
By Whitney Weiss

When the Broken Spindles CD arrived in our office, we weren't sure what to expect. In general, it is good to be a bit wary of side projects.  But this was Joel from The Faint and besides, when had Saddle Creek ever steered us wrong? Happily, Fulfilled/Complete  incorporates Joel's first singing attempt with instrumental landscapes that transform from atmospheric to moody. The best simile would be "it's like Fragile-era Nine Inch Nails," but really, the album has a sound all of its own. And it's a damn good sound, indeed.




W: How did the Broken Spindles project start? This is your second album...
Joel: Well, it sort of started with a friend of mine calling me up one day and asking if I would write some music to accompany a video project he was working on. I very gladly obliged, had a good time doing it, and kept writing stuff. I felt like I had more ideas to put down, and eventually had an album. And once you have one album, you might as well make another one, right?

Yeah. What do you think has been different on Fufilled/Complete versus the first album?
Oh, you know, pretty obvious things. I sing on this one, the other one was all instrumentals. Just the overall approach, I think, was a little different in my head. I wanted to have this one feel a little more human, a little less programmed. Part of the reason I was able to do that is just because with the first record, I pretty much did everything on a laptop. And this one, I bought a very, very cheap way of recording actual things into computers. Some of the writing involved things that I would play and then manipulate or do whatever I wanted to do with that. The writing process was quite a bit different and that led to a different-feeling album.

It's a really great album.
Well, thank you.

Did you sing any with The Faint or is this your first time singing?
I would consider this my first time singing. Occasionally in The Faint there will be some little backup shout-y thing that all of us will do. I generally steer clear of anything too fancy.

What do you think of singing? Is it something you want to keep doing for Broken Spindles?
Yeah, I think so. I kind of do enjoy the process of thinking about words and all that. Yeah, I think it will be something I continue doing.

Do you have a favorite song off of the new album?
Hmm. I think right this second, probably the last one on the album called "The Dream." That may be because I'm working on video stuff right now for the tour I'm doing in June. I'm happy with how the video stuff's coming out, so I like the song right now. It's one of those things.

What is the live show going to be like?
It revolves pretty heavily on a video projection thing, a narrative-based linear mini movie I'm working on. I'm about half-done so my concept of the whole isn't quite as developed as it probably should be right now, but I'm happy with how things are coming out so far.

Is this the first time you've toured with Broken Spindles?
This will be my second tour. I played some miscellaneous shows here and there between the first tour, which was right after that first album came out, it was about five weeks in the US. The next tour will be in June in the US, and it'll be a little over three weeks.

What's your live setup going to be like? Are you going to have other musicians with you?
There's going to be two people playing stuff, myself and another guy. Mostly stringed things, no one playing any percussion stuff. That's all programmed. I think it'll be a pretty fun live show.

It sounds really interesting with the film and everything. What made you want to incorporate a linear narrative to your show?
I dunno, I think I've just been interested in that sort of thing, especially with electronic music. Coming from an instrumental side of things, at times there isn't a lot of depth without lyrics and whatnot. It's hard to put content into something like that. This seems like a good, at least interesting, way to try to do that. I think that's how I first got interested in that. Even though now I sing on some stuff, I'm still interested in it and how it can further impact whatever content you want to try to show somebody. 

What influences of yours show in Broken Spindles that don't necessarily come through with your playing for The Faint?
Probably what I guess you would call the more moody side of my musical interest. On the new record there are some piano pieces and things like that, which, generally that sort of thing probably  wouldn't work in The Faint. I think it's more just trying different things I'm interested in that may or may not have a place in The Faint. At least not yet. Maybe they will later.

What has the response to Fufilled/Complete been like so far?
Well, it came out a week ago and I haven't really heard a whole lot. I've talked to a few people, like yourself, who say you like it. Overall, the few things I've heard have been positive.

What's happening after this Broken Spindles tour?
After this Broken Spindles tour, then it's gonna be getting ready to play Faint shows. We're just gonna tour a lot in the fall, and after that, and probably more after that. It's just going to be getting stuff ready for Faint and learning how to play the songs. Doing all the things I need to do.

You have a CD coming out with them in September?
Yeah.

Wow, that's two CDs and two tours in kind of a short amount of time. Are you worried about getting burnt out at all, or are you excited?
No, I'm excited. I like to try to stay busy, especially doing something I love so much, making music and playing shows and all that. Yeah, I'm really excited.

Do you think Saddle Creek's increased media attention is going to bring a lot more people to Broken Spindles who might not hear the album otherwise?
I don't know. That would be cool if it did. I think Saddle Creek is a great label and I'm happy they're putting out some records by people who aren't so established, like myself and a few new things they're putting out. I think that's great. Hopefully, yeah, everything will go good.

What have you been listening to lately?
Pretty much Faint songs, coz we're in the studio right now and we're mixing. I just hear the same Faint song over and over and over and then a few more times. So I don't really have time to listen to anything else right now, unfortunately.

Fufilled/Complete can be purchased at www.saddle-creek.com.
The Broken Spindles tour begins in June.