Preview
SPARTA
Tuesday, June 1
MacEwan Hall (U of C)
Thanks to the wonders of technology – specifically, the Internet and digital cameras – the world has caught a glimpse of the real face of war. With his empire crumbling, U.S. President George W. Bush’s cocky swagger seems to have stiffened, while his cronies Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice try hard to keep a straight face. It looks as if the cowboy president has finally fallen off his high horse.
Sparta frontman Jim Ward couldn’t be happier with the current turn of events. A fellow Texan himself, Ward has been waiting for Bush to crash and burn ever since he slithered into office. Ward, a supporter of democratic candidate John Kerry, is a big believer in the voting process, but if Al Gore couldn’t win with a million vote lead, does Kerry even stand a chance?
"I think he totally has a chance," Ward says. "I keep saying, I think that the Republicans really messed up because they woke up my generation of Americans – which were pretty apathetic until last year. The more (the media) lets Bush speak and show what he’s doing, the better chance we have of getting him out of office."
Sparta is signed to U.S. major label Dreamworks. With their country at war and American emotions running high, people close to the band have gently advised the singer to keep his political agenda to himself.
"I’ll never be quiet, that’s for sure," he says. "That’s my favourite amendment right there. It’s written as a part of the constitution – freedom of speech."
However, Ward chooses his words carefully when the conversation turns to the subject of the military.
"Sometimes people think that if you’re not for the war, you must not be for the troops or you must be anti-military. I’m not anti-military," Ward says firmly. "I think it serves a purpose but I don’t think (Iraq) is the right place to put it. I’ve been pretty outspoken about it. The thing you don’t want to do is get on a soap box and let it overshadow the music. Everyone in the band is political but we’re not a political band."
Ward comes by his passion for politics honestly. All four members of Sparta grew up and still reside in El Paso, Texas, a city divided by ethnicity and economics. The city straddles the U.S. and Mexico – with El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico separated by the Rio Grande. Where the natural border ends, the city has put up a chain link fence to further secure its border. The fence is a constant reminder of the differing First and Third World-living conditions going on right in the band’s own backyard. Ward’s hometown has given him a unique global perspective and is the focus for most of the songs on the band’s upcoming sophomore release Porcelain.
Ward has witnessed another division – the dissolution of his previous band At The Drive-In (ATDI), whose fast-paced psych-punk caught a lot of people off guard. They were intense and honest without being contrived, able to convey emotion without being emo. In 2000, the band was on the brink of achieving Nirvana-like fame, garnering critical acclaim and a worldwide fan base. After the mainstream success of the song "One Armed Scissor," ATDI began to smell like teen spirit. A lot was riding on their album Relationship of Command and the band began a relentless touring schedule.
Their meteoric rise to fame left all musicians involved feeling trapped and exhausted. The tensions within the band were inevitably the catalyst for the breakup. In an even split, Ward, Paul Hinojos (guitarist) and Tony Hajjar (drummer) splintered off to form Sparta, while afroed Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez became the Mars Volta.
Where the Mars Volta took the psychedelic elements of ATDI and began a prog revival, Sparta maintained the frenetic rock energy of their former band. The similarity in sound to ATDI should come as no surprise, since Sparta was essentially ATDI’s rhythm section. While the Mars Volta are currently enjoying the media spotlight, Sparta is happy to bide their time and make music on their own terms.
But come on – every time he passes a newsstand and sees British press darlings Cedric and Omar on the cover of yet another major music magazine, doesn’t he get a little choked? Having had so much success so early in his career has given the singer a unique outlook on the disillusionment of fame.
"I have friends who have achieved more success than I have and I’ve seen some of them who have stayed exactly the same and I’ve seen some who have changed," Ward says. "I think the ones that secretly always wanted to be famous are the ones that have really changed in my book. I think sometimes people are nice to other people because they want to get ahead and when they get ahead, they don’t have to be so nice anymore."
So what do Ward’s friends back in El Paso think of him and his rock ’n’ roll lifestyle?
"To me the bottom line is – when I come home from touring and go to the bar with my friends, if I think I’m big shit, they’ll let me know," he says laughing. "As they should." |
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