Spencer Sutherland rolled through Toronto for a show on August 20th and I missed the show. To be clear, I drove downtown, saw the long line outside the venue, got super excited for the show, and then spent two hours waiting for CAA to come boost my dead car*. And I already know this is going to be one of those shows in my life where I spend the next five years lamenting how I wasn’t in that room.
* I am cursed.
I think I love this EP so much because it brings so many different elements to a mere five songs. There’s some gospel style choruses on “NONE of this has been about you”, classic acoustics on “It May Sound Strange” (literally reminds me of Zayn Malik??), and then there’s my personal favourite… “Freaking Out.” It has EVERYTHING (including a GREAT video that I’ve included below, PLEASE watch it).
I had the chance to chat with Spencer about his writing process, the crazy reaction to his first headlining tour, and what’s up next. Throw the EP on and give it a read!
You released your first EP back in March. Each of the tracks brings a little bit of something different in each of them. What are some things that you didn’t get a chance to try on those that you’re looking to do in the future?
I’m really excited for the next project, kind of like getting even a little bit more weird. I feel like every project evolves a little bit. It’ll be a little more left of centre and I’m excited about that. I feel like I pretty much tried everything I wanted to try, but the next one is going to have even more of that.
Well, I guess from your perspective as well, you’ve got a really interesting creative process in that you’ve literally written hundreds of songs and then only released a few. So I guess from your side, you’ve probably tried more things than any of us would even realize.
That’s 100% true. For me, writing that many songs was so good because it gave me a million different options.
So what happens to all the songs that you don’t select? Do you keep them somewhere to potentially use later or are they just part of the process?
I think for the most part, they’re just part of the process. I’m a big believer in that you have to get everything out of you. And most of the time, it’s just not usable stuff, but you need to get past that to get to the good stuff. But sometimes… there is pretty good stuff that you might write off in the moment, but then six months to a year later “oh, this is my single, it’s crazy.”
And now, obviously it’s going well! You’re currently on your first headlining tour. When I drove by the venue hours before your Toronto show, there were already girls lined up down the street. Has that been the general reaction so far?
Yeah, I mean it’s been like that and it’s been really loud. I’m not used to it yet. And there’s such dedicated fans who literally show up like a day before the show. They go SO hard, it’s really special. Even the people at the venues are like “yo, these people are the craziest crowd we’ve had.”
Yeah absolutely. I mean, living in this city going to shows… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a line like that outside The Rivoli before. Usually it’s once artists get to some of the bigger venues in the city that it gets to that point. But you’ve already locked that in so early.
It’s so special. They really do go hard, and like… obviously it would mean a lot to have a big crowd every time but no matter what happens, even if there’s 80 people… if they’re that excited, that’s all that matters to me.
I think this has been a year of a lot of milestones for you from your first EP to your first headlining tour. It’s a lot of big things happening all within twelve months. What is the next big goal or milestone that’s on your list right now?
I think the next milestone is just continuing the journey. Just getting a lot more music out and a lot more touring. I have no plans to stop any time soon. I’d love to put out an album at some point! And y’know, I’d love to… we’re doing 12 dates on this headlining tour, but I’d love to do 30 dates and be on the road for two months straight. It’s all just a continuation of where we’re heading now. I’m really happy with how things are going, and how the fans are supporting everything.
It’s so much to accomplish within one year, so to enjoy the journey is definitely important too. It happens fast.
Oh yeah.
So what’s next for you? What do you have coming up that you’re allowed to talk about?
I’ll keep it kind of vague and say… lots of music.
