Spiral Galaxy: An Earthbound Guide to Leaving the Planet
Spiral Galaxy began with Sara Gossett adding flute to Steve Krakow’s songs, then grew into something the two could call their own. On ‘Spiral Galaxy II’, the Chicago duo invite a roomful of friends into music built on that first, easy understanding.
When we spoke to Krakow in 2016, keeping up with his activities took some doing. The musician known as Plastic Crimewave was also drawing the underground’s history through ‘Galactic Zoo Dossier’ and ‘The Secret History of Chicago Music’, while finding time to help put neglected recordings back into circulation. Spiral Galaxy, his partnership with flautist and painter Sara Gossett, was still to come. By the time we featured their debut in 2020, they had already brought several of their musical heroes into the recording.
Their new album, ‘Spiral Galaxy II’, grew at Bobby Conn’s home studio, where friends added parts and pieces they had played live became opportunities to try something else. Gossett’s flute and Krakow’s guitar and electronics remain at its centre. For all his affection for old records, Krakow leaves plenty of room for things he could not have imagined in advance. He is equally happy to make music people can unwind to, a useful occupation when the world offers so little encouragement.
‘Spiral Galaxy II’ is out now via Cardinal Fuzz in the UK and Feeding Tube Records in the US, with guest appearances from Drazek Fuscaldo, Jen Powers and Matt Rolin, Jimmy Lacy, Lawrence Peters and Julie Pomerleau, alongside producer Bobby Conn.
Steve Krakow answered the following questions, with Sara Gossett’s approval.
“Hopefully we go places no one has quite heard before.”
When we spoke in 2016, Spiral Galaxy was not yet among the projects you mentioned. How did you and Sara first start playing together, and when did it become a proper group?
Steve Krakow: We first started jamming together very quickly after meeting, as Sara played some flute on my 2017 “solo” LP I did for Sunstone Records, ‘Feathered Serpents’. The LP was loaded up with many contributors, from Fairport Convention’s Judy Dyble (RIP) to Kaleidoscope’s Peter Daltrey, but we did a tour of the UK to support the album, with Sara playing flute on some of the album’s songs. We ended up creating some new tunes, which led to our own music as Spiral Galaxy. I wouldn’t exactly call us a proper group, but more a concept/project, where we create all the core music and there’s an additional “family” of players (indeed my brother played with us for a while), much like the Cosmic Jokers, or the album ‘Saat’, by the duo Emtidi, where loads of overdubs and Conny Plank’s studio wizardry made them sound like a full epic band.
Because you and Sara are partners as well as bandmates, do you communicate differently when you play? Has Spiral Galaxy taught you anything new about each other?
Steve Krakow: Our musical synergy and trust in each other were pretty instant and unspoken at that, we never need to discuss the music, à la saying, “maybe play this more this way” or anything, we just do it! This said, recording, playing gigs, tour-traveling together, have all been new experiences in our overall relationship, and the joy of playing with friends/heroes, getting a good studio take, seeing the world together via gigs (from Scotland to Italy), etc., has been incredible to share together. Even the lows of shows where everything goes wrong, stressful gig travels, etc., probably have brought us closer together too, as we survive this sonic pilgrimage together, it only makes us stronger!
You spent close to a year recording at Bobby Conn’s home studio. Why did you choose Bobby, and what did he bring out in the music that you had not expected?
Steve Krakow: Bobby is an old friend and our paths have crossed many times in the Chicago weirdo music scene, and I became aware of his home studio while visiting his (then-new) home. Bobby also always hosts German Krautrock legends Faust when they are in town, and has provided backup for the band. We all played a sold-out, fun gig together in 2018, and Spiral Galaxy was able to lure Jean-Hervé Péron of Faust into doing some spoken word on a song at the show (and later on our first album). So, there seemed to be this “krautrock konnection” that made loads of sense, as Bobby really understands the kosmische/motorik music strains and has great ideas, so he was our Dieter Dierks/Conny Plank! To go full circle, we convinced Bobby to put his vocal talents to use much like we had Jean-Hervé on a track. Bobby’s wife Julie is also an incredible violin player, so we gained another valuable contributor, and she made incredible meals during the sessions, so all in all, a win/win scenario!
Earlier versions of ‘Axos’ and ‘Future Fauna’ were recorded in 2020 and released on ‘Live’. What kept you returning to those pieces? What does the IV in ‘Axos IV’ refer to?
Steve Krakow: ‘Axos’ and especially ‘FF’ were very new pieces when we laid them down for the live album, which was originally recorded as a set for a virtual festival during the pandemic. They were never proper studio versions, and we like to add overdub layers and treat the studio as an instrument in itself. ‘Axos’ is a track that benefitted from collaborators Drazek Fuscaldo, who we performed with live a few times. The added “IV” indicates the quartet playing on the tune, which really transmuted the piece into a new composition.
‘E’Glynner’ apparently changed a great deal in the studio. What did the first version sound like, and how did it arrive at the version heard on the album?
Steve Krakow: ‘E’Glynner’ has always been a very loose, sort of “conceptual” set opener, with raagini drone in E (of course) and Sara and I vamping on simple figures and textures, then we often count on collaborators filling in the rest of the sonic tapestry. We have performed it live on different occasions with Drazek Fuscaldo and Jen Powers/Matt Rolin, and really liked the organic sounds they brought. Utilizing overdubs with those additional four players really transformed the track into the near-symphonic album beginner that we wanted, but never could’ve fully imagined!
“The concept for the album cover builds off the pyramid imagery Sara created for the first LP.”
Where did the five track titles come from, and what are we looking at on the cover? Is there a connection between them?
Steve Krakow: The concept for the album cover builds off the pyramid imagery Sara created for the first LP. When “musically meditating/medicating” I often see these green light patterns, and I crudely sketched a particular mountain/pyramid vision. We also really love the second “green cone” ‘Kraftwerk 2’ LP (flute/electronics!). Sara added her own ideas and elements when painting it, and later, “green themes” of fauna, the sea, and even Ireland (after a trip there) surfaced on the LP. The back cover is a sort of a “cosmic pyramid” composition of all the LP collaborators, a slight tribute to the covers/posters affiliated with the Cosmic Couriers label collective. A lot of the song titles are sort of “in-jokes” to us, words we liked, or obscure sci-fi references, so I won’t bore you there! (OK, Axos is a “parasitic, golden-skinned alien hive-mind entity” from ‘Doctor Who’.)
Most of the guests are people you and Sara had already played with. Did you know what you wanted from each person, or did you let them find their own place in the music? Which contribution surprised you most?
Steve Krakow: We really do trust our collaborators and let them do what they do naturally. We are fans of all their music, from key-whiz Jimmy Lacy aka SiP, to Lawrence Peters’ country bands. We also were lucky to “road test” live performances with nearly all of the guests as well, which confirmed this approach! Julie Pomerleau aka Monica BouBou’s violin strains surprised us the most perhaps, mostly by how lovely they are, and because we had not actually played with her before. Bobby reading my “cosmic doom poem” through effects of his choosing and adding a few little harmonies at the end (“gooooolden”) was a gooey unexpected treat too!
The rhythms come from the old drum machine, Lawrence Peters’ drumming and some of Bobby’s percussion. Were they established early, or did they change as the recordings developed?
Steve Krakow: Bobby had a more sophisticated ’70s drum machine than our Rhythm Ace, so that was applied subtly to a few tracks. Also in the studio Lawrence’s drum kit was so minimal (literally two drums) but powerful that we had to mix things very carefully as the dynamic shifts between the two drums were surprisingly intense!
You know the history of psychedelic music better than most people, and you have said that it should not simply copy the past. Does that knowledge ever get in the way when you are making your own music?
Steve Krakow: In a way, no? Luckily I am not an accomplished/schooled musician but come out of a DIY punk aesthetic where a point of view, passion, and drive are more crucial. These musical-chops limitations truly keep me from copying anything directly, I am just not capable, so I just do what I do! I am inspired by good ideas, tones, vibes, recording techniques, etc., but these can be found in organic folk music, musique concrète, modal jazz, dense ’90s hip hop, or even the blown-out tones of black metal or hardcore. I think what made all the music we love (“psych” or not) so incredible was that it looked forward at the time it was created, and assimilated all that had come before, while adding new ideas and combinations of influences (aka “true experimentation”). I like to think Spiral Galaxy does this, as there’s loads of improvisation and chance in our music, so it definitely keeps us interested! Hopefully we go places no one has quite heard before, while yes, evoking some sounds and visions of the past that we dig.
So, long story short, please never call me “retro”, though I like some “timeless aesthetics” in both visual and audio realms.
We joked in our emails that the world has gone mad, but this is a calm and often uplifting record. Was that something you and Sara needed while you were making it?
Steve Krakow: Yes! I have clearly made a lot of aggressive/abrasive/noisy music over the years, and will continue to do so, but I also have always had other projects that were more nuanced and spacey, as this energy has always been in my DNA. While I think expressing anger, dissent/protest, and even disgust, is extremely important (I wish I saw more pissed off young bands!), the world definitely needs more music to spiritually align, relax/de-stress, and leave their body/this planet! I do listen to a lot of trancey/new age/cosmic meditation music, and we are totally OK with being filed in this “record store section”!
Klemen Breznikar
Spiral Galaxy Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Cardinal Fuzz Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Feeding Tube Records Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X / Bandcamp
