Getting to Know… Spacejam | Interview 🎤

For the 80^th interview on The Musical Hype, we gain some great background and insight on the France-based, rock/punk/pop band, Spacejam.

“On stage, we go straight to the point, no time to beat around the bush. Our audience takes a one-way trip to escape and change of planet. Welcome to our world!” And what a world it is for Spacejam, the interviewees on the 80^th (!) interview in the Getting to Know… series on The Musical Hype.  Besides the aforementioned quote, excerpted from the answer to the first question, Spacejam is an English/American/French rock/punk/pop band based in France – ooh la-la! The trio is comprised of English guitarist/songwriter Sebastian Parris, American drummer KC Elstun, and French bassist Ali Lassab. As is the case in all of the Getting to Know… interviews, the band provides excellent insight into their craft. Without further ado, here is Getting to Know… Spacejam: Interview #80. 

Starting things off right, for those who may not be familiar with Spacejam, what would you say makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

Sebastian Parris, Spacejam: We spread a powerful and melodic rock with poetic and dreamlike lyrics. We are a power trio and on stage the songs are much more powerful, and they literally rock your socks off and blow your mind away. On stage, we go straight to the point, no time to beat around the bush. Our audience takes a one-way trip to escape and change of planet. Welcome to our world!

Sounds like quite a world indeed! Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did your Spacejam form and what were some of the goals or the visions, you had as a band early on?

Sebastian: Spacejam formed in 2017 with me, Sebastian Parris (guitarist/songwriter), raised near Dartford -Kent-(UK). [I was a] close friend of R. Smith of The Cure in mid-80s. Has toured the UK and Europe for 30 years in bands like The Inflicts, Bikini, Karmasonic… Drummer KC Elstun, native from Cincinnati (USA), moved to France 10 years ago. He has toured the US for 30 years and played with stars like B.B. King, Bo Didley, Lonnie Mack… [Rounding out the band is] bass player Ali Lassab, who played and toured France and Europe for more than 20 years, with Manu Chao, Glasgow, Requiem of Sylvia…

I formed my first band I was 12 after seeing The Sex Pistols on stage at Uxbridge Brunel Univ in December 77. I decided school was a big lie and I wanted to be a musician. I wanted to be a star, someone the media would chase on the streets and write stupid stories on and I would drive a Rolls Royce full of beautiful girls. I wanted to be in the sex and drugs and rock and roll world with the fame and glory that goes with it! I only had sex, drugs and rock and roll, but not all in an equal proportion! I soon realized you need to work really hard to make a living from music. As Bon Scott said, it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll!

Let’s talk more about goals. Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

Sebastian: Indeed, they have and for my own sake, I would have been dead if not! Today I just wanna rock the world to my music. I am not making music only for me, I am making music for the people, they are the ones who I care for.  people have been treated so harshly these last years and especially now, that I would like my music to make them feel human, happy, free, alive again…

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

Sebastian: I have so many musical influences…The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, all the UK and US Punk bands (Sex Pistols, Damned, Clash, Ruts, UK Subs, Ramones, Television, DK, Dead Boys, Bad Brains…) Siouxsie & Banshees, The Cure, Joy Division, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam…  They are influential because they are a part of the musician I am today. It’s not something I am conscious of when I am writing songs, but it’s in my brain in my soul, I can feel all these great musicians in me.

Ah, the fun stuff. What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance? Feel free to be creative.

Sebastian: We were touring Germany in the mid-eighties and there was that group of 2 crazy girls we met in a Bar in Dortmund after one of our shows. They took us to a strange party, and everyone was dressed like aliens and at the entrance, there were tall glasses with lots of different drugs in them and I remember the bass player and I took black pills without knowing what they were. I don’t remember what happened after that, just flashes from time to time, and the same for the tour I only remember being on the car ferry and seeing the port of Dover again. The other two in the band told us after the tour that the 2 German girls wanted to get married in England with us and they were glued to us all the time. Eventually, they were turned back by customs officials at the French border for invalid passports.

WOW! Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special? 

Sebastian: “Stay Alive.” It’s a song about love, hope, freedom and starting over. A very current song. People get it straight away. It’s got a great gimmick that you can’t get out of your head.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

Sebastian: Aside from our professional careers and the people we have worked with, I am passionate about cooking, old cars, and old planes. I am also passionate about energy medicines, Vietnamese imperial medicines, and everything that heals human beings.

Closing things out, what is Spacejam currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

Sebastian: We are working on new songs (I have another 30 songs in stock) and thinking of different ways to bring our music to our audience. I’m shooting the video clip for our song Stay Alive. I created all the sets and the story. I will direct and edit the clip for mid-June hopefully. You can find our new album, TEN, on all the current digital platforms and the CD is for sale on our website, as well as on our bandcamp. Follow Spacejam on Facebook and Instagram.

Photo Credit: Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype, Spacejam