Brooklyn indie-rockers smell like Team Spirit

Brooklyn’s Team Spirit rolled into D.C. Saturday evening for a show at Rock & Roll Hotel, a little more than halfway into its tour opening for British band Peace. We were supposed to meet Team Spirit at the venue around 6 p.m. for an interview, but unwittingly drove directly into the Capital Pride parade on our way across town.

When we finally arrived the band was in the middle of its soundcheck and it was immediately clear that this would be an interesting interview. As we waited toward the back of the venue, we had a brief exchange with Peace’s tour manager. After learning we were there to interview Team Spirit, her response was ominous: “Oh, lucky you. They’re characters.”

We could have gathered that much based on the band’s lighthearted, yet sometimes devious music. It is even more obvious when you watch the band’s set of tripped-out animated videos for the tracks off its recent EP.

Team Spirit’s frontman, Ayad Al Adhamy, has already accomplished quite a bit in his relatively short career. Al Adhamy was a founding member of Passion Pit, and–after graduating from Berklee College of Music–he started Black Bell Records and released the Joy Formidable’s acclaimed debut EP. That kind of early success usually leaves musician-types with a jaded, pretentious disposition, but Al Adhamy has an infectious enthusiasm about him and is one of the nicer guys you will encounter in this industry.

The band wrapped up its soundcheck, and the guys headed back to the green room to mack on some chicken wings. We got a chance to rap with Al Adhamy about the band’s upcoming full-length and Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. Check it out after the jump.

So how’s the touring going so far?

Great!

You’re about halfway done, right?

I’d say about two-thirds. We have been on the road since [May] 20^th, so like 18 days? We have another week or so left.

Is this your first time playing D.C. as Team Spirit?

I think so. We have played Vienna, Va., but that’s as close as we have gotten to D.C.

Jammin’ Java?

Yeah! Jammin’ Java, the strip mall joint. I remember that spot. It was awesome, actually. We had a really good time there.

Yeah, it’s a pretty solid venue for being out in the suburbs.

They have really good sound in there. I guess they’re like, “We’re gonna take ourselves serious as fuck!”

You guys released the EP a couple of months ago, are you working on a full-length now?

We are, actually. We are probably about six songs deep in it right now. We rented out a barn in upstate New York and moved all of our recording gear to it. We recorded all of the drums, bass and guitar up there and we are finishing it up in New York [city] right now. So yeah, hopefully that will be done in about a month or so.

Is that coming out on Vice Records as well?

It is. Those guys [Vice] have been awesome.

They’ve put together one hell of a roster.

Yeah! It’s kind of diverse and eclectic, but pretty rockin’. They have like, Black Lips, King Khan and then Justice and Action Bronson. And Snoop Lion?! Fuck yeah, dude.

Did you guys get to play at Viceland at all during SXSW?

We did actually. We played the first night with Wavves and Japandroids. It was awesome, my guitar crowd surfed at that show. I did a solo in the crowd and then my guitar crowd-surfed all the way back. One of my favorite experiences, actually.

Are there any particular artists or albums that have influenced the way you guys make music?

Shit. Um, Thin Lizzy to Michael Jackson to Everclear, Elvis Presely. The Rolling Stones, we’ve been listening to a lot lately, especially when we were up in the mountains.

Any particular Stones album?

Exile On Main Street, especially when we were in the barn. We watched the documentary on one drunken night and we were like, “THIS IS AWESOME!” We want to get ex-communicated from a country.

You guys have a set of really trippy animated videos for tracks off the new EP.

Yeah, we’re through three of five tracks now.

Will there be videos for the other two also?

Yeah, we’re doing the whole EP. If you watch them all in a row, and you’re really stoned, you’ll see a connection. There is an overarching story that kind of got thrown together haphazardly after the fact.

So the first one is, “Jesus, He’s Alright,” and we commit blasphemy by taking over a church and God sends us to hell, where we abduct Satan’s future bride. That leads to the, “Fuck the Beach,” video which is basically [Satan’s future bride] being like, “Let’s go to the beach.” Then the fourth one is pretty out there. You’ll have to watch that one, it ends pretty drastically.

Did you write the songs with this storyline in place?

No, no. Not at all, totally unrelated. It was kind of like Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, where he was like, [Ed. note: the following is sung in a Michael Jackson voice] “I’m gonna write a record and put some moves together, which make no sense for all that.” It’s crazy. It’s like having two different stories, it’s fun. Music videos hardly ever match lyrics these days anyway.

Yeah, and it’s cool to see animated music videos.

Yeah, the series has come across pretty well so far, and they’re kind of fun to watch. It’s cool because we grew up watching weird MTV and weird 70s animation like Heavy Traffic and Wizards which are really crazy animations.

So, other than the albums and the videos, do you guys have anything exciting on the horizon?

That’s about it right now. We have the record and some more touring. Hopefully we’ll go on tour again in, like, August or September. We have some warehouse parties in Brooklyn and other fun stuff like that, but after this tour we’re just chilling for a little bit and finishing the record.

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