Today we’d like to introduce you to John Spargo.
John, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I think this particular story begins in Abilene, TX. When I was 14 years old, I was exposed to the music of Black Sabbath for the very first time, and it rocked my whole world. It was like gospel, the good news! As soon as I heard that thick, oozy sound, I knew I had to hear more and more, and soon enough I was spiraling ever further into a riff rabbit hole, chasing that riff dragon, trying to recreate the face crushing sensation of hearing Black Sabbath’s music for the first time. I went on to discover other excellent bands such as Sleep, Kyuss, Electric Wizard, Graveyard, The Sword, Asteroid… the list goes on and on and on. If you haven’t figured it out, I gravitate toward a specific sub-genre of rock called “Stoner Doom” or “Heavy Psych”. Anyway, I got to where I wanted to recreate these riffs, so I picked up a guitar (and later a bass) and started learning to make my own riffs. In fact, I went so far as to pursue a music degree in college, where I learned music theory, ear training, singing, music history, classical, jazz, etc.
Alright, now I got the preamble outta the way, this is where the story gets interesting. Abilene is not a rock n roll city, or at least it wasn’t at the time that I lived there, I hear rumors that it’s slowly starting to get more hip. But anyway, it was incredibly difficult to find other people to jam some rock n roll with, not even in music school!! But I’ve had this life-long friend, Jason, who just happened to have a drumset in his bedroom growing up. He could do a rat-a-tat-tat or two, he didn’t really take it too seriously, but when we went on to be roommates in college I made him bring that old drumset into our living room, and I pretty much forced him to sit his ass behind that drumset and play some beats so that I could f**kin rock for once, man!
We had these other good friends we met in college, David and Felipe, who played guitar and we ended up forming a band called Astro Wizard (lol). We wrote some tunes, pretty clunky, but we were having fun!
But, the thing that inevitably happens among close friends happened, we had drama. And Astro Wizard was dead.
After college, I ditched Abilene and moved to the thriving pulsating wacky music pumping machine that is Austin in hopes of jamming with a new band. I got involved with various projects, nothing really took off. But I bided my time, paying the bills by working labor jobs, mostly in the brewing industry, where admittedly I have become somewhat of a controversial figure (but that’s a story for another time).
But one by one, over the course of a couple of years, the original members of Astro Wizard started moving to Austin, and we ended up talking to each other again, reestablishing our friendships. And soon enough, we were renting out hourly jam spaces and having a good ol time together. And so like a phoenix rising out of the ashes of Astro Wizard, High Orbit was born.
But drama ensued again, and we kinda stopped jamming for a while. But Felipe and I were super motivated to finally get a project off the ground, hell we had some good tunes, why not keep trying? So we tried out some other drummers to help us get things started, eventually putting one of my good brewing industry buddies, Mike, behind the kit. And so with Mike as the drummer, High Orbit played its first run of shows! And they were great! We were getting some great feedback from the crowds, and we were actually starting to get some momentum!
But then everybody’s worst nightmare happened, the goddamn COVID-19 pandemic. All shows were canceled, all jam spaces closed. And High Orbit’s sweet, sweet momentum was lost. Mike decided this was a good time as any to bow out of the band and pursue his true passion: brewing beer! (And oh boy does he brew some good beer, a success story for another time)
But Felipe and I were not giving up on this goddamned band, not now, not ever. So we rented out our own private jam space and called our one true drummer, Jason, back to the kit.
This time something amazing happened: we learned to set aside our differences, we learned to communicate effectively with one another with honesty, empathy, and understanding. We have all matured over the years, each of us growing stronger as individuals and as friends. Setting all that sappy stuff aside, it was time for High Orbit to become the loud, ripping, riffing spectacle that we had always envisioned it would be.
And so through quarantine, we worked diligently on our sound, and we even got to play a few socially distanced shows here and there.
And as things are starting to open up and feel more normal, so are we starting to pick up our momentum again. We’ve played some great shows recently and are starting to pick up some diehard fans!
We’ve even begun hanging out with our boi David again, the secret fourth member of High Orbit, will he ever grace the stage in the future? Perhaps, perhaps.
So now that High Orbit has finally found sure footing, we have begun looking to the future. This summer, we plan to start playing a lot more shows, roll out a line of merch, hell, maybe even record an album! We have blasted off, and the sky is NOT the limit.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I do bass and vocals, as well as most of the song and lyric arrangements for High Orbit.
High Orbit plays a subgenre of rock n roll known as “Heavy Psych”. Our sound is characterized by thick fuzzed out guitar tones, and we make heavy use of psychedelic effects such as wah, phaser, delay/reverb, etc.
I think one thing that sets High Orbit apart from other bands in the scene is our use of irregular song structures, guided primarily by dynamics, that is, the contrast between loud and soft volumes within a particular song. Our lyrics also take a more narrative, storytelling approach to match with the dynamics.
The song I’m personally most proud of is called “Blasting Off”. It’s a 9-minute long song in which I sing just one short verse. Our goal in constructing this song was to let the music tell the story. The first half of the song is loud and jubilant and builds up into a grand and triumphant crescendo, hopefully incepting within the listener’s mind the vision of a rocket ship blasting off into outer space. But the second half of the song is dreamy, slow, and ambient as our spaceship disengages from the rocket and drifts away into the cosmos.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Whether you are building a strong, everlasting friendship or forming a badass band, communication is key.
Contact Info:
- Email: highorbitatx@gmail.com
- Website: https://highorbitatx.bandcamp.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/high_orbit_atx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HighOrbitATX/
Image Credits
Hunter Maddox Jordan Eppinett Nik Gernert Haryo Awonggo
