Bio:

"TRUE MUSICIANS...

They grow in wisdom... They are brilliant... They learn to do without and are prepared to make great sacrifices... enormous sacrifices... if I may say... Their energy is tremendous... In other words they are prepared for the struggle...and with honesty, they shall fight it... The performance of an Art demands complete self-denial... ...It was not meant as a joke what I just said...about sacrifices... The Music makes heavy demands upon those who want to devote themselves to it...This is what I have wanted you to call your attention to... A true musician must subordinate themselves their Art; ...they must place themselves above human suffering; ...they must draw courage from within...and only from within."

Eric Satie c.1887

OFFICIAL BIO:

They made their mark with their eccentric electro-pop and mind-twisting live shows that included a cast of puppets that wouldn’t be out of place in a Meet the Feebles remake. Now, THE SPORES are back with Doom Pop, an album that harnesses years of professional experiences and the energy that, until now, could only be experienced at one of their performances.

THE SPORES burst on the scene in early 2005, captivating both music fans and Los Angeles-based peers alike. THE SPORES ‘s single “(Don’t) Kill Yourself” received heavy airplay from LA’s Indie 103.1 and KROQ stations, and they built a reputation as a “band’s band.” This should come as no surprise as Molly McGuire’s (lead vocals, bass, keys) rock pedigree includes session work for Frank Black, Peaches, and Queens Of The Stone Age, and Greg “Stunbunny” Biribauer (guitars, loops, keys) has engineered for bands like At the Drive-In, Queens of the Stone Age, Archers Of Loaf, Sublime and many more. Now with the help of DJ and respected remix artist, Chris “Cpen” Penny in the studio, and Eric Micheal Pearson on drums, THE SPORES are prepared to spread their infectious sound even further.

THE SPORES ‘s first album Imagine the Future was spawned when Toronto natives McGuire and Biribauer began creating off-kilter arrangements in a home recording studio. The two took the fruits of their mad scientist aural experiments and turned them into a fantastically warped live show, complete with puppet alter-egos. Now, with thousands of tour miles and hundreds of shows under their collective belt, THE SPORES have captured the unique energy and demented frenzy of their live performances in a new album, Doom Pop. Biribauer describes the album as “an amalgamation of everything that has ever made our hearts pump, our booties swing, or the hair on the back of our necks stand on end... and the dream of living up to those standards.” The year and a half of nearly non-stop touring had a deep impact on the band and the new album as well. “Some of the incredible shows we played, from Prague to Portland, had tangible resonance on how Doom Pop sounds,” said Biribauer, “We still do all that trippy shit we've always done, but there is now a wider emotional palette of live experience behind the sound.”

From the driving beats and robotic beep bloop of “Faster Master,” to the dancy, multi-layered cacophony of “Ghost Town,” DOOMPOP is an audio snapshot of THE SPORES’ passion for combining pop sensibilities with a performance art aesthetic. Doom Pop isn’t just THE SPORES’ new album, but the band’s name for a style of music making that combines catchy melodies with artistic ambition, depicting the truths around them with a sense of style and merit. The band cites their heroes David Bowie, Bauhaus, and Johnny Cash as among the list of artists who embodied the spirit of DOOM POP. For THE SPORES, art and music are deeply intertwined.

PRESS SAMPLES:

"Opening for the Eagles are the magnificent Spores. As Luuk and I can attest to after seeing their fantastic performance at the Newclectics festival a month ago, this band have one of the coolest live shows around. Puppetry (yes, puppetry) and christmas lights. All very artistic in a cool excentric sort of way that I personly love. The band's visual attraction is only bound to their budget and their imagination, and therefore promises to bring a huge spectacle in the future. The same goes for their music, that is, to say the least, amongst the most groundbreaking to have ever come out of the so-called Josh Homme friends-club. Expect tons of samples, dancable rock, rocking dance, psychedelic tunes, phatass guitarlicks draped in effects, sometimes tuned-down low enough to feature on a drone-record. The first couple of minutes of music are refreshing enough to delay that toiletbreak, getting beerbreak or kissing your girl/boyfriendbreak. Combined with their visual arts, (detailed into the cool outfits) a Spores show is enough to get your jaw dropping onto the floor and leaving it there with your teeth shaking out of your gums due to the sick-as-fuck guitar thunder. I dare say: The Spores are one of the most exciting things in music at the moment, and their singer Molly is undoubtly an added value to the world of visual arts. One can only fantasize what this band will sound and look like in five years time." (Napalm Lex)

"When I first heard of this concert being held, I checked out this band called The Spores. This trio which claims to make electrostoner doompop and has close ties with the Queens Of The Stone Age camp. I don’t really know why, because when listening to the music itself on the internet I suspected this band can do fine on it’s own. This performance was definitely the best of the entire evening. For starters we were treated to a puppet show (by puppets who all have names and myspaces as well, check out the site for The Spores) on a already highly theatrical dressed stage, with light-tubes all across their stage, over the drumkit and amplifiers. This puppet show was extremely funny, we were introduced to a preacher, a rapping DJ, two middle-fingers and a guitar player, trust me you have to see it to believe it.

After this we knew we were in for something special. And by Jove we were right. Highly experimental pop rock with a woman on vocals and bass, a guy on guitar and another guy on drums and a shitload of samples that seemed to come from undetectable places (read: effect pedals). And instead of some random sampling, or even adding an extra dimension, the samples seemed to lead a life of their own, really making the songs whole. There was this one thing, I don’t know whether it came from the guitarist’s awesome skills or from the samples, but the manage to spew out a massive heavy stoner distortion every now and then that made my entire body tremble. Fucking kick ass. It is good to see that innovation is definitely not dead within rock music. (DemonDust)

.. ..

Member Since:

August 28, 2004

Members:

MOLLY McGUIRE
lead vocals, bass, keys, accordian

GREG BIRIBAUER
guitars, loops, programming

KENNY PIERCE
drums, backng vox, loops

CHRIS PENNY drums and backing vox on DOOM POP
ERIC PEARSON drums 08/07 thru 12/07 ..

various photos by:

CERT-8
DENNY DORAN
JARED GARDNER
BJORN JANSON
JEFFREY LILES
MARIA LUISA
SCOTT MANKOFF
MIKE MASSARO
EVA NAHON
MICHEAL NAMBURGER
ERIC MICHEAL PEARSON
KENNY PIERCE
TEO RISQUEZ
HAL SAMPLES
DAN THUY
BART VERHEISER

Influences:

Gorillaz, Pixies, Flaming Lips, Goldfrapp, Air, Boards of Canada, Chris Palmer, Inbred Bipeds, Martina Topley-Bird, Peaches, Devo

Sounds Like:

...nothing we were told to do

Record Label:

SideCho Records

Label Type:

Indie