What is your name and role within the band?
Ryan Spellman. Backbone. On and off the stage.
How did you start?
Brother Sean and I grew up playing together in our family garage. Quiet Life first hit the stage at the El n Gee Club in New London, CT in 2004.
Where are you based?
Every member of the band lives in a different state. Though it’s easiest to say what the rest of the world says, Quiet Life is from America.
Please give an example of your music writing process?
Sean will usually come to the band with a basic skeleton of a song and let us all do our thing. It’s fairly simple when it comes to us writing songs together.
What are you working on right now?
Enjoying life. Thinking about the next record.
What is your gear setup?
Mostly I like playing my 20″ Stewart (60’s Japanese) gold sparkle kick drum with 13″ Slingerland and 18″ Ludwig champagne sparkle toms. Acrolite snare. UFIP crash, Istanbul ride, Paiste hats. But since we’ve been flying to shows lately I’m playing whatever kit is backlined. Usually the ole SIR Pearl rental! Always travel with cymbals and snare.
What do you like to do outside of music and does it affect your music?
Sean and I enjoy surfing and being near the ocean as much as possible. Jesse lives in Colorado and loves the mountains. So yeah, I do think our laid back lifestyles tend to influence our music for sure. It’s all about that easy listening. But when we take it to the stage it’s a different story. That’s when Magico, member #4, really shines. He lives in one of those big tall glass buildings in Atlantic City and really brings that “crush it” vibe to the crowd. All in, ya know?
How would you describe your music genre?
We’ve got harmonies if you like Dr. Dog.
We’ve got guitarmonies if you like Thin Lizzy.
We’ve got pedal steel if you like Keith Urban.
We’ve got a singing drummer if you like The Band.
Jesse’s got a 5 string fretless bass if you like Primus.
Do you know any music theory?
Yeah, we all know a little bit, not as much as we should though.
What are your plans for the future?
Rock n Roll all night. Party every few days.
How did you get into music?
We were all lucky enough to have parents that really appreciated music. Even if they didn’t play music, they all thought it was important to have in our lives and all pushed us hard to stick with it while we were growing up. We owe it all to their support. It’s pretty cool that we can all say, “Man, I remember when my dad used to play this record…”.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Crimetown.
Who are your top 5 influences and icons?
Springsteen. Levon. Neil. Turtle. Wingnut.
When are you playing next?
PICKATHON in Portland, OR. America’s best festival.