Q&A with Spacerace

I first saw Spacerace as Kitty in the Tree about a year ago at CMJ. It wasn't a show I had planned to attend. They were a reputed power pop outfit, and I am not a fan. There's something too disconcerting about grown men pouting over the sorts of romances last attainable holding hands in the third grade.

Turned out Kitty/Spacerace has two things going that are hard to find conjointly in most bands?attitude and songs. It's actually more 60s Brit-rock than power pop. With single names?Orion (real name, his dad's an astronomer) on vocals, Patrick and Eric on guitars, Danny on bass and Tom on drums?and this lineup is about to change?they come across damn Tigerbeat friendly, but Spacerace is rooted in the East Village and regularly display enough disorderly conduct that even when doing their most sleekly arranged pop tracks they're majorly credible.

I recently spoke to Orion and Eric about the changes the band's been through.

?

For a power pop band, Kitty in the Tree had quite a debaucherous reputation. There were arrests, you were frequently booted from bars, just all kinds of chaos. Now you have a new name, new look, a more serious attitude. What happened?

Orion: It's definitely more than just a name change. Everything, from our point of view, is different. Post-9/11, we decided we wanted to start a new band that had a really positive outlook, a good message to take to our generation. We met up with [new manager] Ray, who helped get us focused. We met up with Eric. Then Ray got us into the studio and we started recording. We just turned the page, getting these demos out. People responded positively to the new material, and we just began having a new outlook on how to be a band. The new image is more of a decision between ourselves to present a unified approach to our group.

How long have you been together now?

Orion: Spacerace has been together four months. Dan, Pat and I met in college. Eric grew up in the same town as I did?Redbank, NJ. Tom we met in the city. Spacerace was formed hanging out in Lower East Side bars.

You went to school for musical theater. Did you initially intend to become an actor?

I did. I had been performing since the age of 11 doing theater, and that was my dream. I got a musical theater scholarship for college and my future was already planned out, but about six months before I went to school, a girlfriend of mine had broken up with me who loved James Taylor and Paul Simon. I thought if I could learn to play a couple of their songs, she would learn to love me again. Once I learned to play guitar and write my own songs a whole new world opened up, and from that day on I never put the guitar down and I just kept writing.

Eric: Did you just stand out her window like, "Whoa I see fire and I see rain...?

Orion: I did. And she said, "My dad has a gun and he'll kill you. You have to leave now."

Spacerace has a song called "Starfucker." Now that you've been showcasing and attracting more attention, is it easy to tell the difference between a starfucker and the average fan?

Orion: I love starfuckers. Those are the only girls I ever wind up ending up with, so that's a good thing. But yeah, I think I could tell the difference between the two. Although I'm completely satisfied with meaningless groupie sex.

I found this post online describing your band as having "an extraordinary following of really cute but archetypal suburban MTV caricature girls." What are they talking about?

Orion: I think that the general attitude of our shows leads to the free-for-all mentality they may be talking about, but I try to bring that free spirit out of people. That's my goal as a performer. I think that people that come see our show respond to that. We have people jump up and make out with us onstage because we invite that to happen. We're not afraid of that, and in fact encourage it?that's what being in a band is all about. It's just having the most fun you can in that 45 minutes. Tomorrow we just all have to go back to our jobs, so for now let's have an epic blast.

Rumor has it Spacerace was banned from a particular NYC club because someone found one of your songs offensive.

Orion: We have a song called "I Love Girls." Somebody who had worked at the club found it offensive, but we weren't banned. I find that disturbing only because there's a double standard. Basically, when you break it down, for me and for anyone I know, rock is about sex and drugs, making great music and having fun. When I sing a song like "I Love Girls," all of a sudden I'm wrong for singing that, but who doesn't? It's just because I say it loud and clear with big rock guitars.

With all the attention focused on bands like the Strokes, Mooney Suzuki and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs lately, do you think it's become more competitive in New York?

Orion: I think it has always been competitive. It just happens there's a spotlight on New York right now because a lot of the bands have been signed. The best thing is there's just so much energy here naturally, and there are so many creative and talented people. The worst thing is that it's largely driven by hype and not by merit. It's very cliquey and a little pretentious, but I think maybe that's because there's a lot of competition. You know, everyone's trying to get that golden ticket and claw their way to the top. The competition is definitely good though...

When people think of NYC bands they tend to think of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Strokes. When we make our record it will show a whole different side that's not all art-school garage rock, but pop with some credibility coming out of the East Village.