GRRL022: New York vs. LA, the hustle, and touring with Deftones and Refused featuring Sarah Quintero of Spotlights

Grrl on Grrl: intersectional and trans-inclusive music & interview show

Happy new year, folks, and welcome to episode #22 of Grrl on Grrl!

In this episode, you’ll hear Sarah Quintero of Spotlights, a sludgegaze band from New York. She and Mario, who you heard mentioned in a cut segment I included at the end of the last episode, met in San Diego, before moving to Brooklyn where they are now based. In summer of 2016, they toured with Refused and Deftones! You’ll hear more about that in the interview. We also talk about their goals with growing the band and the supportive music scene in New York.

The first episode of 2017 runs a bit longer at 53 minutes, but it’s totally worth it because you’ll get to hear not only Spotlights, but San Diego’s Sleeping People and Seattle-based band He Whose Ox Is Gored. Enjoy!

Listen Here

http://traffic.libsyn.com/grrlongrrl/GRRL022__New_York_vs_LA_and_touring_with_Deftones_and_Refused_with_Sarah_Quintero_of_Spotlights.mp3

Download from Libsyn [53 minutes; 50.6MB] or listen at these websites [iTunes | Stitcher | TuneIn | Google Play]

Show Notes

• Collaborating with a significant other; the inception of Sleep Lady and Spotlights
• Why move to Brooklyn? How is it compared to people’s attitudes in Los Angeles?
• “The hustle”: DIY management, getting press, networking (ie making friends)
• Finding a home at St. Vitus in New York
• Sarah’s zero tolerance to getting flak as a woman in a heavier genre
  • metal as one of the most supportive music genres
  • “life’s too short for bullshit”
• The tour with Deftones and Refused
  • Brooklyn Vegan
  • Super exciting and super terrifying – “what if they’re total assholes?”
• Differences between setting up your own tour vs being on tour with an already established band
• Crowquill Records – what a record label should do
• Mario’s side solo project: Codas
• Making connections more easily now – social media – digital distribution
  • it’s easy enough to move on if something doesn’t work

Song List

• Spotlights – Hover from Tidals EP
• Sleeping People – Johnny Depp from their self-titled album (Facebook)
• He Whose Ox Is Gored – Crusade (HWOIG website)

Thanks!

Thank you so much to Sarah for speaking with me and being so inspiring, and to the folks at He Whose Ox Is Gored and Sleeping People for being part of this episode’s playlist.

And as always, thank you to Greg Guiliano of Wait Think Fast Productions and to Polish for letting me use their song “Drive” as the Grrl on Grrl theme song.