The Big Spank

DECEMBER 27. 2O07-JANUARY 2. 2008 WEEKLY ALIBI


After 10 years of making music in The Big Spank, singer-guitarist Mike Garcia has seen his band go from an ultra-young, semi-serious ska-punk band to a bilingual pop-rock group that risks sanity and starvation to tour the country 11 months out of the year. One thing hasn't changed, though. "We still have so much fun," Garcia says. "We wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't a great experience, and that's still how it is." The band's camaraderie on stage and off is what enticed guitarist Javier Sandoval to get out of the dumps and join The Big Spank last year. "I had just broken up with my girlfriend and I was sort of depressed," Sandoval recalls. "I started playing with these guys and I realized they're serious musicians, but they don't take themselves seriously on stage at all. As an example, the only time Mike's girlfriend allows him to grind on other girls is during our shows. We interact with the crowd, we feed off the crowd and that's why this is the most fun I've ever had in a band." About a year ago, The Big Spank boys decided to become full-time musicians. They
converted an old school bus and outfitted it with wireless Internet, a sink
and cages for their equipment. Garcia admits he was scared when the band set
out on its first tour with just one show booked and five mouths to feed. His
determination to make the experience a success lead Garcia to disregard
all manner of personal hygiene, to the point that police officers mistook him for a murderous crackhead. "We were in this sketchy neighborhood
in Los Angeles," Garcia explains. "I was walking on the street and these cops asked if they could search me. I said yeah and they asked, 'Are we gonna find a pipe? Are you a crackhead?' I said no, and then they asked me, 'Are you a murderer?' That was rough to be mistaken for a murderer in one of the toughest
neighborhoods in L.A." The Big Spank came home a few months ago to record its third full-length album, Gypsy Rug Burn. The record has a heavy Latin influence from the percussion instruments to the guitar licks, and many of the tracks are
sung in Spanish. There's even a metal-merengue song mixed in with the ska, pop
and punk elements Spank fans crave. "When we started, we never used to sing
that much in Spanish," Garcia says. "After I spent nine months living in Mexico, I came back with a whole new arsenal of Spanish songs, and I think we'll continue to do more stuff with that Latin flavor." There's no rest for
the weary, as the band plans to hit the road in the next couple months. In the meantime, the efforts of the five Spankers(including Bert Lujan on drums, Retzen Griffith on trombone and Chris Tickner on bass) are worthy of celebration. They'll get to indulge themselves with a hometown CD release party at the Launchpad, Saturday, Dec. 29. Made In Bangladesh, Half-Stache and Bazooka Jill will parry hardy at their sides. The show is all-ages
and admission is $8.
- The Weekly Alibi

Alibi October 28 - November 3, 2004

By Michael Henningsen

The Big Spank Random Acts of Spank (Redhand Records 2004)
On record, as live, The Big Spank offer up a tantalizing mishmash of funk, metal, jam rock, thrash, reggae and other musical styles, all packaged neatly in a box labeled, “Ska.” The sextet's latest release, Random Acts of Spank, even give passing nods to death metal (“Gringo”) and Afro-Cuban rhythms (“Mike Go-Go”). A mostly laid-back, sipping umbrella-drinks-in-a-hammock-on-the-beach record, the Big Spank's newest creation reveals a slightly less frantic outfit than they're often known to be onstage. It also reveals a group of musicians deliciously in the pocket and primed to groove.
- The Alibi