Spam Allstars
Interview with Andrew Yeomanson aka DJ Le Spam
Words Stephanie Bolling

REAX: How did band name/your name come about?
DJ Le Spam: Around 1994 in Miami, I used to go to a little studio to experiment and record my ideas. One of the first tunes we did was a little Cuban riff overlaid with dialogue from an early 80s spam commercial. I thought it was funny so I started playing it for my friends. The name is a nod to our absurdist roots.

REAX: Your music is described as an electronic descarga. Explain that more?
DJLS: Descarga music is a form that developed in the early 60s among the Latin musicians in Cuba and New York, most notably Cachao and Charlie Palmieri's bands. It’s basically a group improvising around a groove. I guess to me our music is like a modern version of that style, employing samplers and drum machines and effects.

REAX: Are most of your songs instrumental?
DJLS: I'm not a songwriter. I make grooves. That’s what I like to do. I get excited by a great bass and drum groove. And I love horns. So for years we had no vocals at all. After Tomas Diaz started playing with the band regularly he started grabbing the microphone and improvising from time to time. I liked the combination and so did the audience. Now it’s about 80 instrumental with a few vocal numbers thrown in there.

REAX: Your Fuacata Live! album was nominated for a Grammy. I know SA were surprised. Has that set a goal for the band or at least gear you all towards that achievement?
DJLS: As you said it was a big surprise to get that nomination. Especially as an independent group, and considering the entire album was two tracks to a CD burner. When I’m recording an album I'm really just trying to do the best job I can and make something that we can all be proud of. If that leads to wider recognition then great, but I’d never sit there thinking "Oh yeah, this is Grammy material!"

REAX:  As a first time listener/show attendee, what experience are you trying to provide? Do you have an intended message of the music?
DJLS: We want our listeners to participate, to get up and dance, have a good time, get lost in the music or whatever (just leave the harmonicas at home folks!).  I would not say there in an overt message as most of our stuff is instrumental, but it is our intention to bring people together to enjoy the music and dance together.

REAX: You’re on the Langerado lineup, but you also have another show later that night. Are you hanging around for any bands? If you could/would stay, which performances would be must sees?
DJLS: There’s so much to see. I’m not really into the noodley shit, so I’d probably check out Antibalas, MMW, The New Mastersounds, and I've always wanted to see The Lee Boys, but we’ll be out of there right after our set.

REAX: You do 200 plus shows a year? Is it difficult to get everyone on board? Sometimes missing members?
DJLS: Yes, that's how it’s been the last few years. It’s how we make our living, one show at a time. Being that we have such a hectic schedule sometimes we have to juggle members, but it keep things interesting and we generally have enough auxiliary members. Sometimes a change in instrumentation makes things interesting!

REAX: Are you working on a new album?
DJLS: I’m working on a few projects at the moment; trying to make 2008 a studio year. First up we are recording a vintage analog Latin funk project featuring all the members of the band and some guests, most likely we'll be calling it something different. We’re recording everything to tape and only using vintage gear. I’m pretty happy with the results so far; we'll be releasing these as 45's first off (and of course miserable mp3's too!). Aside from that we'll be getting into the next Spam Allstars album too and I am recording some with other bands as well.

REAX:  Is the sound I hear today what it was five years ago?
DJLS: Of course not. It’s a constant evolution. I would say that the arrangements are much more thought out than they were five years ago, plus the band is tighter overall. If we were just doing the same thing I'd go nuts!

REAX:  If there were no constraints in finances, time, etc., where would you like to take the band? Or are you happy being the local jives?
DJLS: Well at this point we're playing all over the country. That’s where we've been putting our resources for the last four years. We play regularly in New York, Boston, Vermont, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, the Carolinas, California and all around Florida. In 2005, we took the band to Europe for the first time and played Denmark, Holland and the UK. Last summer we did the Montréal Jazz Festival, Toronto and Central Park Summerstage. It’s a long and arduous process. There’s a lot of ground to cover and it takes a lot of money to travel to some of these places. We use the money we make from our shows in South Florida, club dates, private parties etc. to make this happen. So it’s the support that we get from our fans down here that makes it possible to do this stuff.  The hardest thing is having to turn down opportunities to play in markets that we've been trying to get for a long time because of finances. In 2006  we had offers to play at jazz festivals in Istanbul and Copenhagen and we had to turn them down because it was going to cost us too much money. Those are frustrating decisions.

REAX:  Is it hard being Independent? Is that a trend you plan on following?
DJLS: It’s the path we've chosen. I think it’s what suits me best. I don’t think I could stand being mired in the machinations of a big label, or even a small one. If we want something done we do it. If you want something from us, you call us and deal with us. We stand to benefit the most from our labors like this. I'm not sure a label could do any better for us than we can do for ourselves at this point as most of them are in disarray living off their back catalogs and throwing fistfuls of shit at the wall to see what sticks. 

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