Kind
Of Like Spitting Do Happy People Make Dumb Art?
by Monica Beilke
Big photo by Janice, small photos by Susanna
Waiche.
Art by Ian Lynam from the CD.
Ben Barnett and a rotating cast of players make up Kind of Like
Spitting, who despite whatever images their name may invoke
are not some grindcore band with bad manners. Ben writes deeply
personal songs that would be far more enjoyed stretched out
in a comfy chair than sweating it up in the pit. From his basement
apartment in Portland, Ben drank coffee, smoked cigarettes,
fought off the “Day Before Leaving To Go On Tour”
jitters and gave an interview that was almost as intimate as
his songwriting.
“Everything good in my life has come from being involved
with people who play music and my love for it. It’s helped
me get through a lot of my own personal issues that if I didn’t
have music... Fuck, I’d probably be dead.”
Ben’s songs aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy but rather
bring light to the darker side of life. To Ben’s life.
“A lot of people will probably listen to the record and
be like, ‘Dude, get over it!’ But that’s why
I did the record.”
When I asked him what, if anything, he wanted other people to
get out of his music Ben explained, “Being sad is just
one aspect of life so I can’t expect people to be huge
Kind Of Like Spitting fans all the time. If they’re into
it that really keeps me going and it helps me feel good about
what I’m doing. But at the same time I’m gonna do
it regardless, so it’s hard to throw this material out
there and be like, ‘Hey, understand my pain.’ I guess
the only thing I really want to do is feel like
I’m not alone.”
So what happens when Ben is no longer sad? Will Kind Of Like
Spitting become a pop band? “I’ve just gotta write
what comes to me and as long as I’m not manufacturing inspirato
then it’s cool.”
Ben Barnett and a rotating cast of players make up Kind of Like
Spitting, who despite whatever images their name may invoke
are not some grindcore band with bad manners. Ben writes deeply
personal songs that would be far more enjoyed stretched out
in a comfy chair than sweating it up in the pit. From his basement
apartment in Portland, Ben drank coffee, smoked cigarettes,
fought off the “Day Before Leaving To Go On Tour”
jitters and gave an interview that was almost as intimate as
his songwriting.