Courtney LaPlante - Spiritbox 'Holy Rollin' Good Times Ahead'

Spiritbox are fast becoming hot property in the heavy music scene, especially with their recent signing to Rise Records and today's New Music Friday drop featuring an updated rendition of their bangin' last single 'Holy Roller' this time with the added surprise of Ryo Kinoshita of Crystal Lake screaming his way into the song.

On the new collaboration Spiritbox frontwoman Courtney LaPlante says:

"Ryo is everything I strive to be in a vocalist and entertainer, so it is truly an honor to hear him performing on this track. He has been supportive of "Holy Roller" from the beginning, so it's wonderful to have him be our first ever guest vocalist. I think when people hear his verse his vocal gymnastics will blow their minds."

Ryo Kinoshita, equally as thrilled, added

"It’s an honor to be a part of one of my favorite songs of 2020. It was so much fun to sing “Holy Roller”. I really really liked the concept of the song and video, so when it was released, literally every night before I went to bed I imagined how I would sing if I did some parts of the song. I love their diversity. Courtney can be anything. She screams like a demon and whispers like an angel. I can’t wait to see how people will react to this version."

But who are Spiritbox? Where did they come from and what are they planning next? We do know an album is on the way in 2021, but what about what they're doing now? To find out, we reached out to Courtney for a chin wag and were stoked when she replied to us so have a read and start frothing your new fav heavy band...

Hey Courtney, we're late to get on the Spiritbox bandwagon, but now that we're here, we're not going anywhere. Give us a rundown, how long have you been making killer music together?

I like to say our band started when we put out our first song, in the fall of 2017. We started writing our first songs in the winter of 2015.

You've started getting traction in Australia too and this signing to Rise Records will certainly get a few more eyes on you. How are you coming to terms with your newfound rise in popularity and attention via your incredibly heavy tunes?

It is absolutely bizarre! We are all just working hard at our 9-5 jobs, and don’t have a ton of local friends that understand what our goals for the band are, so we kind of feel like we are living some sort of double life. I am also very curious to see what happens as we release more music, as our song “Holy Roller” is more of an exception to our writing style, not a rule. That is one of the upsides of making this kind of music though... I think it’s more of a compulsion than anything, so regardless of whether or not our new music is accepted by our listeners, we are satisfied with our fate, it’s just what we love to do. Having the support from Rise really bolsters our confidence in ourselves which feels amazing.

You've teamed up with Ryo from Crystal Lake for the new edition of 'Holy Roller', was that because you wanted to blow out your fans' eardrums more than the original?

We are huge fans of Crystal Lake, and we already launched a limited merch collab together, our fan’s reactions and excitement about a possible musical collaboration gave us the idea to have Ryo on our latest track. He is such a talented and creative vocalist, and I am so excited for the world to have their mind blown when they hear him on this song, just like my mind is blown every time I hear it.

Where are you planning on taking Spiritbox next? Honing in on that heavy industrial metal sound or still in the experimental phase?

Our only plan is to focus on songwriting rather than riff writing. We want to feel like we have no creative limits but we also want to respect what makes a good song. I think a good song has balance between all instruments and vocals and allows space for each part to be impactful and unforgettable. It has to sound good even if you take away most of the instruments and just play it on piano while singing.

Our debut full-length allows for space for is to explore and keep a foot (or at least a few toes) firmly planted in prog, so we really feel like there are no limits as to what can be considered a “Spiritbox song”.

Fun One: Let's pretend you're a ghost in a box (aka a Spiritbox) and you could pick one celeb/musician to haunt for the rest of their life, who would you choose and why?

Donald Trump - Someone’s gotta make sure this guy doesn’t ever get any sleep, his conscience clearly isn’t doing it for us. Maybe I could even try and go full “Ghost of Christmas Past” / Ebenezer Scrooge....something tells me that won’t work though and I would probably quit my Ghost Duties.

I love where your head is at with that one Courto hahaha thanks for the chat and all the best with everything!

Interview by Paul 'Browny' Brown (@brownypaul)

Spiritbox is
Courtney LaPlant (Vocals), Mike Stringer (Guitar) and Bill Crook (Bassist)

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Stream or grab an exclusive 7" vinyl of 'Holy Roller' here