Feature / One Question Interviews
SpiritWorld

Words: Loren • August 11, 2020

SpiritWorld
SpiritWorld

Stu Folsom (SpiritWorld)

SPB: Your musical inspiration (heavy + country) combines two worlds. Was that part of the concept behind the project’s name, which is also a melding of two worlds (of sorts)?

Folsom: That is interesting. I'd like to say I was that on the ball to tie everything in but no, the name is an homage to the movie Young Guns. Our demo starts with a sample from their peyote trip. The samples are only available on the physical demos or the bandcamp stream.

When I started this project, it was just for fun. Matt Schrum (Folsom, Fight Like Hell), Justin Fornof (WristMeetRazor) and I were just hanging out making racket at Matt's apartment. Once I got really serious and writing a lot of material, I made the decision to get as weird as I want. On one hand, there is an expectation from bands to pick a genre and try to perfect that sound that I am not really interested in, and on the other hand, there is the challenge of pushing yourself to do something new and uncomfortable. I am much more intrigued by the latter and like to try out things that are new and exciting and maybe stumble onto something special.

I have played guitar just to write riffs for years, but I had never played an instrument live, much less play guitar, and sing at the same time. That alone has added a whole level of difficulty to SpiritWorld that has been very rewarding.

You are spot-on to pick up on the melding of two worlds. The worlds that I am trying to merge are my beloved hardcore punk and metal scenes with the roots music that I grew up on. I really believe that people will get behind music that is authentic and crafted with care. There is nothing stopping me from building a following of hardcore punks, skins, greasers and long hairs who are all stage diving and screaming along together except me not putting in the work.

Loren • August 11, 2020

SpiritWorld
SpiritWorld

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Pagan Rhythms
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Remind me to kick myself for sleeping on this album, but in my defense, its description as a combination of hardcore and country presents two genres that don’t exactly have a Venn diagram of overlap. SpiritWorld is the solo project and brainchild of Stu Folsom, whose namesake Las Vegas hardcore band Folsom built the foundation of the LVHC scene in … Read more

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