Losing a band member can easily mean the end of a band. Not so for Dolly Spartans. They return with Time Sides With No One. Five Garage Pop gems. Michael Eliran tells about challanges and dedication.

You can feel the pain listening to It’s Not Easy. Difficult song to write?

“It’s Not Easy” was definitely a challenge, but the evolution of the song came pretty naturally. The process was definitely driven by emotion first and foremost. I came up with the beginning part in the middle of the night. I couldn’t sleep so I brought my guitar into the bathroom (not to use the bathroom but because the acoustics were different and it was an isolated space) and that’s where the first part of the song was written. In the weeks after that the song came together bit by bit. It took a lot because I had an idea where I wanted the song to go, so in that sense it was difficult, but it was a natural process.

Losing a band member can easily mean the end of a band?

It definitely can, and for a while we had no idea what we were going to do. Losing Chris was really hard, and for the following months we were basically inactive. All we could do was continue to work on the EP as a dedication to him. The momentum to keep going came from us wanting to honor him.

Garage Pop. That’s exactly what it is, isn’t it? And New York all over?

Yeah I guess you could say that. It’s not really my place to categorize my music, but it seems like that label’s stuck. New York’s not really one thing at this point; there’s so much going on that although there are definitely those kinds of bands here, it’s not the predominant sound by a long shot.

The meaning of ‘success’ has changed over the years. When will the new record be a success?

Success is entirely subjective. To me, this EP is “successful” as long as people get something out of the songs or can relate to them. Also, we’ve been donating our EP proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union so if our contributions help them in any way, that’s another form of “success” for us.

She will decide on a 5 song mixtape if there is going to be a second date. Which 5 would you put on?

Oh man. I couldn’t possibly pick five… we’ll get back to you on that.

How will 2017 look like?

It’s gonna be a busy year. We’re playing a bunch of shows these coming months and touring, as well as working on videos, so stay tuned.
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