Usually before my monthly band interview, I take a minute to talk about the band’s sound and what makes them stand out to me. This month proved slightly more difficult than previous months, but in the best way. As I’m listening to Long Beach’s local band Spare Parts for Broken Hearts’ EP, I Love You, I can’t point out a quirk or a gimmick, but I’m hooked simply by how good they are. That is probably the lamest review one could give, but here we are.
The band is composed of Sarah Green (or SG) and Laurita Guaico both on vocals, guitar, and/or bass at any given time with Mikey Vallejo on drums. They are relentless in their songs, propelling you forward with incredible precision and catchy hooks. With a classic rock (not to be confused with Classic Rock) sound, they make you feel exactly what they’re feeling. Believe me, a 5-song EP will not be enough to truly satisfy.
I had the opportunity to talk to the the three-piece about their time and experiences as a band.
Germ Magazine: Let’s start off with the basics. What got each of you into music, and how did you all come together to form Spare Parts for Broken Hearts?
SG: When I was growing up, my brother and I were left home alone a lot. My dad always had guitars around the house, and he bought me a drum kit when I was 13. My brother and I would spend hours and years jamming together and rotating instruments.
Laurita: So have you guys seen the movie Selena, where the dad tries to get his kids to start a band? That is pretty much my story, lol. Also, both my parents were in a Chilean folklorico band in Miami when we were kids, and they would take us to their shows and practices. As a result, my brother, sister and I are all college dropouts who still love and play music.
Mikey: That episode of I Love Lucy where Little Ricky performs a drum solo with his dad. I can remember being blown away by it. I must have been three or four at the time, and since then I had always had an affinity toward drums and music. I was also fortunate to have had great and supportive parents. They were the ones that enrolled me in lessons, bought me the drums I needed, and put up with my practicing for hours on end.
SG: Spare Parts for Broken Hearts is made up of spare parts of other bands we played in together.
GM: If you were to describe your music to someone who had never heard it before, what would you tell them?
Laurita: I would say come to our show or buy our music and decide.
Mikey: If Heart, Hole, Title Fight, and Nirvana had a baby…that would be us.
SG: If you make a mix tape for someone who listens to Queens of the Stone Age, A Perfect Circle, Heart, and/or PJ Harvey, put us on there.
GM: Love it. Who or what inspires you? That is, musically or otherwise.
SG: What inspires me musically is the connection we make with our listeners. I love knowing that I can write a song and someone will be somewhere listening to it in their own experience. When I go to see my favorite bands, I’m always waiting for that one song to be played because I’ve made it a part of so many experiences in my own life. For me there is nothing better than getting to be the performer that plays that song for you.
Laurita: My dad. He is 69 and still writing and playing music. I want to be just like him.
Mikey: Great performances inspire me. You know, when you are blown away by a band, singer, musician, DJ, or whomever, and you can tell when they are giving it their all. That really inspires me and makes me want to play and work even harder when it comes to music. I want to emulate them and convey that emotional energy, hopefully affecting people the same way they did me.
GM: You’ve been playing together for quite a while now. Do you have any funny or weird stories of things that have happened during a set?
Laurita: Sarah and I were in a band called Relish, and we covered “The Wizard” by Black Sabbath, and a fan lost it and took all his clothes off and started dancing around the club in his birthday suit.
Mikey: We just finished our set at this place called St. Rocke. It was packed, and we were moving our stuff off stage. I reached down to grab my stick bag and rip, a big tear right down the front of my crotch. I did this awkward, interpretive dance, side step thing to exit stage left. When I got off the stage I was like, “Sweet, no one noticed,” but then people started coming up to me asking where they could get a CD. Awesome.
GM: That is amazing! I think it’s important to talk about and celebrate women in the music industry, so with that in mind, what has it been like for you — a female band — in that scene?
Laurita: It has had its pros and cons. Sometimes we are not taken seriously, and that gets to me a bit because I know how hard we work and how passionate we are about our music. But when you are taken seriously and you earn the respect as a female musician, it is empowering. I want to contribute and make a difference for women’s rights, and I know that when a young female musician sees us, it inspires them to keep going and try harder.
SG: I believe it is important to talk about this, and I think it’s also important to decide on the weapon you choose to fight with. My role as a female member of Spare Parts is to continue with what I have chosen to be my strategy, to refine my skills as a musician. That comes first for me because that is the foundation of my confidence within the industry. You have to get some tools. If you don’t have the ones you want, you have to figure out how to get them and build your own foundation. The fact that women struggle in any industry is fact. If you want to write about that as an artist, cool. If you want to start an all-girl band because that’s your strategy, that’s rad. My strategy is to write about what I care about, and I care about understanding myself and my experiences with people. My strategy is to get you to relate to my struggle so you feel understood, and to do that with a solid level of musicianship. If I challenge myself, then I am challenging you. I’ve seen men wait until their friends leave to go smoke to tell us we did a good job, and we’ve played with women who couldn’t even say that to us. Assholes say things like, “You’re pretty good for a girl,” but I don’t listen to assholes. Get yourself better and then tell people how you’re doing it; assholes won’t even notice.
Mikey: Long Beach, Orange County, Los Angeles is where we play the most, and the scene seems to be pretty receptive when it comes to female bands and bands in general. What I love the most is that Sarah and Laurita are ultra talented. They can swap instruments with no problems, take the reins at singing lead, playing lead guitar, bass, drums, you name it. They make that a part of our shows, and I think that makes us stand out above any band, female or male.
GM: According to your website, your third EP, I Love You II, is coming out soon. What can you tell us about that?
SG: I can tell you that I Love You II stays true to the symmetry established by its predecessor of heavy but accessible. It’s the familiar theme of a SP/BH record, hard-selling our perspective on love, self-deprecation, and heart vs. mind topics. It’s coming out soon.
GM: Can’t wait! Many of our readers are writers and/or creators of some sort. What advice would you give them in their artistic pursuits?
Laurita: There is always room in our lives to create, and even as we get older, we have to remember how important it is to keep creating.
Mikey: Create or die! Put yourself and your creations out there and do not be afraid to fail.
SG: Find your own way to believe in whatever you call “the impossible.”
GM: That’s great advice. Finally, where can we find you and your music?
SG: I am usually walking around buying cold-pressed juice or getting brunch on Sundays. You can find us playing often in our hometown and our music is available on all social media. Go to www.sparepartsforbrokenhearts.com for everything.
GM: Thanks again for taking the time to speak with me. I can’t wait to hear your new stuff!
Check out the official music video for SP/BH’s song “Say When”:
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As always, if you know a local band that you think deserves some recognition, let me know, and I’ll check them out. Maybe you’ll see them on Germ in the future!