Bigfoot, Tool, and Dishwashing Alliances with Spill

Hailing from Lakewood, Ohio,  Spill is made up of guitarist Jack Gollon, bassist/resident yeller Bailey Dussault, drummer Oliver Drickhamer, and vocalist/guitarist/Nickleback lover Kareem Mchaourab. Spill's clamor echos their love for post-hardcore and shoegaze bands, distinguishing their sound with a mix of swirling and fuzzy melodies. Spill played at Mahall's on January 8 with Futz, Samuel Steven, and Archangel. After their show, the band graciously joined me to gossip about what inspires their music, as well as their beliefs in extraterrestrial beings. 

So, how did you get the name Spill?
Oliver: Well, originally I was going to make the band with some other people. I got it from them. Unfortunately that fell through, but the name was good, so we kept that. 

How did you form as a band?

Jack: Oliver and I met at work. My brother got me a dishwashing job at Pier W, where Oliver also works. We’d met before in passing, and I knew he played drums, so I threw out the idea of jamming sometime. He told me he was actually interested in starting a band, so we got straight to business. 

Oliver: Yeah, we've had the three of us (Jack and Bailey) for a while. Our old singer ended up joining the Navy, but we found a new one, so we are good for right now. 

What is your favorite part of being in the music scene in Cleveland? 

Jack: Meeting new people is always cool. I know that is a basic answer, but it’s a great way to see live music and go out with your friends and have a good time. I honestly just enjoy live music. 

Kareem: It's pretty cool. From what I’ve noticed, there are so many bands in the northeast Ohio area , it makes this huge army of people who all want the same thing. This makes it really easy to find support. It’s nice when you announce a show, people start coming together to make it happen. 

Do you have a favorite venue in Cleveland?

Jack: We like Mahall’s a lot, we’ve played here a bunch. We’ve played at Brother’s Lounge, in the front room. We’d like to play the back room.

Oliver: Yeah the back room is cooler. I’d like to play outside somewhere too. 

Jack: Yeah, we’ll play wherever. We’re trying to go down to Athens to play some house shows too. 

What does your song writing process look like?

Oliver: He (Jack) writes a riff and we all add onto it. 

Jack: Yeah, pretty much. I come to our practices with some stuff prepared for us try out. It’s been nice meeting up over winter break because I’ve had a lot of time to work on things. Sometimes we’ll jam and if we like something we’ll go off of that and throw the lyrics on at the end. 

Do you come up with the lyrics as a group?

Oliver: Nah.

Jack: Eh sometimes. We used to come up with them together, but that never really worked out. Nikita used to come up with a lot of the lyrics. I write some bridges, but never full songs. 

Who are your biggest musical inspirations?

All: Title Fight

Jack: Hum. Also My Bloody Valentine. I want to make cool, ambient shit like that, but faster. 

Any guilty pleasure artists?

Oliver: Bro all his (Kareem) artists are guilty pleasure artists. 

Kareem: Nickleback. You don’t know Nickleback like I do. You gotta get past “Photograph” and into the deep cuts. 

Oliver: Tool. 

Jack: I’m never guilty of anything, I’ll give you the stoic answer. But really, I like “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars.

Kareem: Yeah, that’s what your weekends looks like. 

Bailey: Probably the Dead Milkmen. 

Jack: Yeah, that’s a valid pick. 

If you could tour with anyone in the world, who would you tour with?

Kareem:  Ozzy Osbourne if he was still alive. Easy. 

Oliver: Futz.

Bailey: Fleshwater would be cool. 

Kareem: I changed my mind, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. 

Bailey: Title Fight is getting back together to tour with us. 

Jack: Hum. 

If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Jack: Hmmm. Either Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, or maybe some James Brown.

Kareem: American Idiot. Basic, but it’s a great album dude. 

Bailey: I’m between Operation Ivy and Kerplunk. 

Oliver: It’s gotta be The Last Thing You Forget. 

If you could describe your music as a Spotify Daylist, what adjectives would you use?
All: Geeked. 

Would you pick up a hitchhiker?

Jack and Oliver: Yes.

Kareem: Only if he looked like Jack. 

Bailey: I saw this hitchhiker when I was out in Yellowstone. We really wanted to pick him up, but we just had too much shit. It was unfortunate, he looked like an awesome guy. 

Kareem: If they have drugs or money, without a doubt I'm picking them up. 

Do you believe in aliens/Bigfoot?

Bailey: Aliens, 100%.

Kareem: Aliens are out there without a doubt. Since the universe is infinite, there have to be aliens. But, since the universe is so big, we will never get to see them. 

What do you think aliens look like?
Kareem: Have you seen Jack? That’s what they look like. 

Oliver: They can’t look like us because there's no way we are like the perfect shape. If aliens looked like us that would mean humans are perfect, and cmon…

Kareem: They probably look relatively similar because we are one of the longest living species. 

Oliver: Yeah, but what about cockroaches?

 Bailey: Yeah and alligators? 

Kareem: As for bigfoot, you’re looking at him.

Oliver: Nah.

Jack: Maybe

What is the most scared you’ve ever been?
Kareem: An hour ago, walking up on that stage. 

Bailey: There’s been a lot of times where I was very scared. The most recent happened when I was in an abandoned factory with my friends. There was this loud bang, followed by one set of footsteps that went into the building. Turns out this dude was there all day, and he warned us to get out. 

Jack: Driving to Cincinnati in a blizzard. It took seven hours. 

Oliver: One time I almost crashed into a telephone pole. 

Jack: We’ll leave it at that, but just know it’s a great story.