“It’s okay to be sad, to be isolated and talk about it, to be sneering, to be off-putting if that’s how you feel, and it’s also okay to be really friendly and warm to people. It’s authenticity,” explains Spiritual Cramp vocalist and frontman Mike Bingham, talking about life and the nucleus of the band’s new album, Rude, out now on Blue Grape Music.
“I hang out with my wife, exercise, write music, go to shows, and work my job to make money. My life is simple, and there’s a lot of it in those areas.”
Bingham is excited over the constant motion in his life and even more so for Spiritual Cramp’s new album.
“This version of the band and Rude is just the most refined version of those sonic and storytelling elements, the best songwriting we’ve done, and the most interesting stories we’ve told,” he beams. “They’re the funniest, most serious, and saddest stories too.”
It’s a direct look into Mike Bingham himself. “It is an authentic representation of who I am. It’s my output with lots of other people’s input. It’s a pathway for me to speak, but at the end of the day I have these intelligent people helping me be the best version of me.” Spiritual Cramp is Bingham and Bingham is Spiritual Cramp.
“You’ve Got My Number” off of the new album is a song Bingham can’t wait to get out there. “It’s like a dub reggae song and it’s featuring my friend Sharon Van Etten, who is an incredible artist—it’s a duet between me and Sharon. It has a giant chorus and I think is one of my favorite songs we’ve ever written. On our second 7-inch we had a song called ‘850 Bryant,’ which is a song about burning down the police station, and was also a reggae-style duet. So, it’s like a bigger version. It is a fun song about being lonely,” he laughs.
This new chapter also sees the band venture into an uncharted territory for Bingham: working with producer John Congleton. “I usually produce all our records with our bassist Mike Fenton, and this was our first time having a producer. It was really interesting to have someone in the room kind of like shush me at times. Like, most of the time in the studio when I talk, everyone listens. This time I’d start speaking and the producer would be like ‘Hey man, I’m trying to talk.’ That was kind of a tough pill for me to swallow,” Bingham says ruefully. “It was interesting, and learning to be quiet and trusting in this cool Grammy award winning producer was cool. It was fun to learn that if I want this project to grow, I need help.”
Spiritual Cramp walks a fine line with their sound, and it is intentional, or as Bingham puts it, “to be a wiry 70s punk band and mid-2000s indie rock band and inject it with this gigantic sing-a-longable chorus, then throw in some samples and post punk elements. That’s what I think I’d like to get across.”
To get this sound Bingham and Fenton typically would send demos back and forth, piecing together songs. For Rude, they took a different approach: “For this record what we did is we took the demos and sent them to the rest of the band and said, ‘Hey, here is thirty songs, let’s workshop them.’ Our guitarist Nate will chop it all up and do a bunch of crazy shit and send it back, all the guitars in particular for this record, and I’ve never had someone do that before because it’s always just been me. He just really understands how to write a riff a certain way. We’ll be workshopping and he’ll be like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna play it like this.’ Or ‘I don’t think it should be this way, it should be that way.’ And I’ll listen to him and be like ‘Yeah man, I think you got a better sense of it than I do!’ Then Jose will come in with all these cool samples to piece into songs and it all comes together.”
With six band members, each member brings a unique and fun element to the band. The chemistry between them isn’t just in the music and performance though—they all vibe together on personal levels.
“Everyone is super respectful and cool, like at the end of the day I’m still the person whose project it is, and they’re so cool about that. Sometimes I’ll be like ‘No, I don’t like that and I wanna do it the original way.’ And in that moment is there a time for ego or a time for humility, and all the time everyone is like, ‘Yeah cool, no worries, I just wanna suggest it.’ And I’m like ‘Thank you, keep suggesting things.’ It is harmonious and respectful because they know that I love them and vice versa.”
San Francisco is Spiritual Cramp’s city, and Spiritual Cramp is San Francisco’s band. “We had our first practice at Music City Studios and at the time we all lived in the city and it was truly from the city. The feeling, community, and identity that I gained while living in San Francisco, it’s like everything to me. I found who I am there,” he expresses. “It’s my spot. I don’t like driving; I love the people, the weather, and the culture. The business mechanics of Spiritual Cramp may be in LA but the heart and person that I learned to be is at the corner of Pine and Gough Street. That’s where it happened and that’s where its gonna stay when I write every song.”
Bingham and crew are also known for their sharp attire. Spiritual Cramp is always dressed for success and know how to be properly fitted. For San Francisco style and weather Bingham knows how to navigate the wardrobe. “I’ll start the outfit out with some 18oz Tellason jeans produced in Marin, a button up shirt, and a nice thick sweater. Then some sneakers, probably Adidas or Vans. If it’s a little cold I’ll put on an Arc’teryx jacket over all that, but if it’s a little warmer maybe a light Harrington jacket over it instead,” he says gleefully, adding, “It’s the layers!”
Rude has attitude no doubt. “Go fuck yourself,” Bingham says with a grin. “That’s kinda been the point of the band, is that and me doing whatever I want to do. I want to sing about being sad, being lonely, but I wanna be funny, loud, over the top, and silly. I spent so many years of my life chasing what I thought was cool and desperately wanting people to look at me and say, ‘He’s cool.’ As the band has continued down the road, I’ve realized that the more truly authentic with everything that I am, the better. There’s so much that you can be and feel and I want people to connect with that. People have emotions and feelings and can often say one thing but feel another. “I can timidly be like, ‘What do you think of this outfit?’ and also be like, ‘I don’t care what you think of me!’ That’s what every human being feels,” he explains. “I am all these people that I described to you, and that’s part of the message of this band and this album, to be yourself and to be authentic.”
Rude is out now and you can order it from Blue Grape Music. Follow Spiritual Cramp on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.
