It Was A Good Run is Freezing Hands’ fourth record, and it is the most consistent and best of the four.

And what does that mean?

Fourteen of the greatest (Garage/Power) pop songs!

That’s what it means!

Sweet Sweet Music spoke to Travis Spillers.

How great is the urge to stay creative? To keep writing songs and lyrics?

Oh, it’s an urge, alright. Though it might be best described as more of a chronic brain condition that won’t go away. I think I’ll be writing songs until I’m dead. They happen in my head everywhere- the toilet, the car, the line at the grocery store. It’s great to follow up on and try to finish them when I can but there’s always another festering in there (points to back of dull skull).

When was the last time you thought ‘I just wrote a hit!’?

Anytime I sing a new one and my family asks me (sometimes politely, sometimes no) to STOP singing it. I figure if it’s an earworm (gross term) and it’s annoying, that’s about most of the hits on the radio. I’ve got a number of them about chores, cooking and other shit around the house. Matt Rendon and I were going to make an album of all of those tunes called Travis Spillers “Around The House” but haven’t had the gumption to do so. They’d all be hits though, that’s for sure.

Suppose you were to introduce your music to new listeners through three songs. Which songs would those be and why?

Flipper- “Ha Ha Ha”, The Zombies “Indication”, and” Champagne and Reefer” by Muddy Waters. Then I would tell the listener to go chew on a piece of cardboard and that’s how our music would compare to those 3 gems!! But seriously, “Allergy”- cause it’s stupid, which is often how I feel writing songs AND it’s about allergies (a clever universal message). Next would be “Mobius Strip” off the new one, it’s my current favorite to play- about how folks are really into self-righteousness these days but, really, “they’re one too!” (a full circle play on the previous Flipper reference). “Pretty Ann” off the first one, it’s a true power popper but I don’t think it would have come together near as nice if it weren’t for the guys in the band adding their magic and help with arrangement and such. That’s how we work best and it is truly a pleasure to work with people who know how to make something out of nothin’!

Those magical moments when you’re working in the studio. Which moment was the most magical?

Oh, Matt and I have had some good ones over the years- in the Knockout Pills and Freezing Hands- tears and chills and fever when the hair stands up on the back of yer neck. “Oh Bird” (first album) was a big one when the harmonies came together. Really though, it happens everytime that Scott, Kevin, Matt and I get together- I feel like we hit a high at least once a night when we are practicing. It happens when we record (which is a lot). When we sit out on the back porch and listen to something Matt has just mixed, it’s a nice feeling to feel cold beer down your throat and listen to the joyful noise you and your chums have just created.

What place do you occupy in the music industry?

You know that spot behind the bottom rear part of the toilet that gets neglected cause it’s a bit hard to reach, has tiny bits of toilet paper and dust and god-knows-what-else and really, nobody gives a shit about it but it bugs you when, on occasion, you DO finally get down there to clean it and then you’re resentful that NO ONE ELSE ever bothers to clean it? On occasion, someone gives that spot a little love- hah! That’s the spot- that’s where we’re at.

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