Inside The Bubble: Exclusive Interview With Spyderhuff

One of the sparkles in our bubbly eye is the indie benevolent band Spyderhuff. The group has a long history and deep strong strings that span throughout the music scene. They recently released a beguiling single called “Think About Me”. This record is a simplistically beautiful, throbbing urban anthem with a bluesy, country-sounding overtone. We got the chance to catch up with the band for an exclusive interview about their music, and what they’ve been up to.

The Band

Bubblingbox: The name of a band is the first expression, and sometimes the most important one. Tell us how you came up with the name of the group?

 Spyder Huff: Being raised in the Detroit area, one gets exposed to automotive history. Ed ‘Spider’ Huff was a friend of Henry Ford when they both worked at the Edison powerplant in the 1890s. Ed was a complete genius concerning all things electrical and Henry would later use his talents for the development of the early ignition systems on all Ford cars. Tom Kuhr thought Ed ‘Spider’ Huff had a nice ring to it. He changed it to ‘Spyderhuff’. It’s also meaningful. For every big successful person or idea, there is always an Ed ‘Spider’ Huff in the backroom somewhere making the wheels round. So, it’s kind of a tribute to unsung heroes. The ‘Spyderhuff’ name was used for the first version of the band in 1991. The band lasted for about a year and a half and then the name was used for Tom’s graphic design business for the next 25 years. In 2020, Tom retired from the business and resurrected the band, and called it ‘Spyderhuff’ once again.

Bubblingbox: Lay out the band members for us, who plays what?

Spyderhuff: The band is led by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Tom Kuhr. Tom plays guitar, sax, harmonica, keyboards, and banjo. Don Beyer plays bass, keyboards, and provides compositions and arrangements. He also is the wizard of production and final mixing.

Original member, Jim Pauli, provides Spyderhuff with tasteful and creative drumming. He’s been playing drums for 40 years.

‘Guitar’ Joey Gaydos joined the effort with his big brush stroke guitar tone. Joe is a veteran of the Detroit rock scene since the 1970s. Bands and album credits including ‘Mugsy’, ‘Cub Koda and the Points’, ‘Weapons’, ‘AZ.U.R’, ‘Blood Brothers’ (Rob Tyner of MC5), ‘Guitar Joey and the Best’, ‘Send More Cops’, ‘The Respectables’ (Nick Piunti), and ‘The Rockets’.

Tony Mitchell is another Detroit music veteran stretching back to the 1970s. Tony is a great drummer and percussionist. He played in the jazz-fusion band ‘Each’ and rock band ‘Full Nelson’ with Tom and Don. Then went on to the play with ‘Immunity’ and ‘Slight Return’.

Janet Swanson is a brilliant writer with deep insight and razor-sharp wit. Her lyric contributions include ‘I’m in the Middle of a Big Wide World’ on the Tired wrangler EP and ‘Revenge in Heaven’ and ‘I Always Think About What People Think About When They Think About Me’ on the current EP, Think About Me. A future release, The Seven Deadly Sins, will feature all the lyrics branded with Janet’s unique sensibility.

The Music

Bubblingbox: We understand you’ve been together since the ’70s, how was the band formed?

Spyderhuff: Tom and Don first formed a jazz-fusion band in the 1970s called ‘Each’. Next, was a rock band called ‘Full Nelson’ in the 1980s. Spyderhuff was formed in 1991 with Tom, Don, and Jim Pauli based around Tom’s songwriting. As family life started to take over, music took a back seat and decades went by. After stockpiling tune ideas throughout the years, Spyderhuff was reformed in 2020 with the EP release of Tired Wrangler. Jim, Joe, and Tony then joined the band and are featured on the new EP entitled, Think About Me.

Bubblingbox: With the band being from such an iconic music town, what is “Detroit” about you as a group? How does the city convey in your music?

Spyderhuff: First and foremost, it’s drive and punch that Detroit provides. There’s a lot of energy and movement in this town. Detroit is also a hotbed for many musical influences including punk, rock, blues, jazz, Motown, and electronic music. It’s that blending of genres that is important to the Spyderhuff sound.

Bubblingbox: Tell us about the upcoming album The Seven Deadly Sins, what is it all about?

Spyderhuff: What could be more fun than music about wrath, gluttony, lust, envy, sloth, pride, and greed? The Seven Deadly Sins will be seven songs focusing on each of the sins. The idea came from Janet Swanson looking for inspiration for song lyrics. She hit the jackpot with one song after another flying in Tom’s direction for musical direction. The lyrics range from dark to humorous with a thread of tongue-in-cheek satire weaving in and out. The music is heavy to light with Spyderhuff blues-rock-country-techno seasoning sprinkled throughout.

Watch the official video for “Think About Me” below.

The Process

Bubblingbox: We understand you create music remotely, what is the most effective way for you to achieve the results you want? Tell us about the process?

Spyderhuff: Back in 2018 with Don now living in Florida and Tom living in Michigan, both were playing around with their home recording studios trying to figure out the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) technology. They decided to do a little blues project for the purpose of test-driving and developing a process for working together remotely. After some frustrations and setbacks, they managed to glue together something that works good for serious recording and bringing others into the project.

Also Spyderhuff: The process starts with Tom building the initial tracks with all instrumentation and vocals (some final and some for reference). Each track is sent to Don where he replaces the bass track and prepares a reference mix for other instruments. For example, to replace the reference drum track, Don will strip the drum track out and insert a click track. Don will then send the reference mix with the click track to Jim and he will record a new drum track. Jim can then try different drumbeats and take time getting a good performance. The real bonus of working this way is Jim can share different versions and explore possibilities without being on-the-clock and pressed for time. This basic approach is used for other contributors and instruments.

Spyderhuff Still: After Don has all the tracks, the final mix is next. Don’s system is setup specifically for the final mix with all the necessary equipment, plugins, and effects.

Bubblingbox: Do you plan to perform live, as the country resumes normalcy? If so, when and where?

Spyderhuff: There are no current plans for performing live. The geography poses some challenges.

Bubblingbox: What is your goal a music group?

Spyderhuff: Spyderhuff wants to keep creating music, most importantly, music that bends and blends genres. Most of the members grew up in the late 60s and early 70s when music brought us together, today it seems music divides and separates us into musical tribes with no mingling allowed. It was not unusual to hear an FM rock station play Bob Dylan, Black Sabbath, and Sly & The Family Stone programmed in one block. I don’t think you’d find those three tracks together on a playlist anywhere today. We need to a little more musical diversity. The word ‘eclectic’ shouldn’t be the kiss of death.

Bubblingbox: Are there any new musicians that inspire you?

 Spyderhuff: Oh yeah! We really dig Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Primus, Artic Monkeys, Ghost of Vroom, Whitehorse, Dropkick Murphys, Dirty Honey, Sleep Nation, Loyal Lobos, and Satsang.

Bubblingbox: What do you want the world to know about you as a group?

Spyderhuff: Don’t take yourself too seriously and don’t be afraid to mix it up.

We would like to thank Tom and company for providing such insightful answers to our questions. We wish Spyderhuff the very best in all future endeavors.