Getting to Know Spirit Leaves

Spirit Leaves have just dropped their latest track, "Paradise in Ruin." You can check out the track here. The rapidly rising Orlando-based quintet is also dropping its debut EP, To My Detriment, on November 10th. We had the opportunity to chat with the guys about their backgrounds, creative processes, and more. Read on to discover more about your latest hard rock obsession.

MSM: Hey guys! Thanks for chatting with us! I absolutely love your sound and have already followed you on Spotify. Can you start off by telling us a little bit about your background? What first ignited your passion for music?

SPIRIT LEAVES: Hi! Thank you so much for reaching out. So stoked to be here and to be able to answer all your great questions! I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we all come from very similar backgrounds musically. We all grew up watching our rockstar heroes on TV, on Guitar Hero, and just the local scenes around us. Music has always been a big part of each of our lives, and that drive really started when we did the first note on our respective instruments.

MSM: Who are some of your biggest musical influences, and how have they helped to shape your sound?

SL: As a Band, We pull influences from everywhere. XZYLO grew up on metal but instantly fell in love with pop and R&B music. Giovanni grew up on death metal and nu-metal and slowly fell in love with K-pop and J-rock. Steven and Donnie’s influences are even bigger when it comes to music. Math Rock, Progressive music, but also Pop and R&B and anything that they deem interesting musically and melody-wise. 

MSM: Your music defies easy categorization, blending elements of different genres and styles. How do you approach genre and style when writing and recording music?

SL: We just like to write what we like. The Genre Blending is really just a byproduct of our writing sessions. We always ask the question, “Are we going too far with this? Or are we not going far enough?” That kinda stuff. There’s never no real intention to the writing when it comes to the “I want an R&B, Metal or Punk song.” It’s always just writing what we feel in the moment and then, “How do we make this Leaves?” And that’s basically the biggest gist of the writing dynamic. Write what you feel and make it as leaves as possible. 

MSM: Can you talk about the creative process behind your latest single, “Paradise in Ruin,” and what themes or messages you were trying to convey?

SL: Paradise In Ruin is a song that has gone through MANY years of reworks and musicians coming from Giovanni. Gio wrote the instrumental for that song pre covid whilst he still lived in Puerto Rico, and to him, the whole idea behind it was “How do I create an atmosphere/Ethos in which I wanna live in?” ‘What describes me musically in its purest form.” The song instrumentally is essentially what I’d like to think the inside of my head sounds like. As for the lyrics, We basically came in with the concept of “What does Paradise In Ruin mean?” Well, it means exactly that. It all seems like everything is in shambles, the world is falling over, and the drama is intense, but even though the sky is falling down, I’m at peace. Whether that’s with the vices we choose, the lives we lead, and everything included. It really is a letter to ourselves saying, “Hey, this is real bad, but uh, I can accept that I live like this, and I’m willing to change it.”

MSM: How do you stay creatively inspired and motivated as a band?

SL: We all do different things to get the creative mind flowing. Some of us love investing our time into nature and using that as fuel. Different forms of media help as well. We all watch and consume different stuff on the daily, So that helps keep the creativity going. 

MSM: If you could collaborate with any artist in the world, who would it be? 

SL: Lil B, Polyphia, Chino from Deftones, Mike Shinoda, All of these would be sick! We really don’t know? Some outrageous artist that’s not in our genre sounds fun.

MSM: What are your goals for your music career, and where do you see yourself in the next few years?

SL: All we really want is to be able to keep doing what we’ve always wanted to do with our friends and our families. I would personally say that I’d want us touring with our heroes, Making the best music possible, and probably even branching out and launching our respective businesses through music. We’d like to headline Earth. 

MSM: Can you share any interesting or surprising facts about the band or its members?

SL: This is easy. Steven's a magician, Brandon has a whole degree in sound engineering, Donnie is a model and expert rollerblades, and Giovanni is just obsessed with everything K-pop, K-dramas, and Sleep Token. 

MSM: Are there any bands you’d recommend that people might not have heard of?

SL: I’d wanna recommend each and every band that’s on our label. They all deserve the love, But, Also, We encourage for you, the reader and listener, to just get out there and listen to ANY local band in your scene and give them the support. 

MSM: Lastly, for any potential new fans, why should they check out Spirit Leaves? 

SL: We think Spirit Leaves, in and of itself, is a journey. We have our heavy moments, We have our Pop moments, and We most certainly have something for everybody. At least, we would hope! For anybody that has a darker side and a lighter side, this band is for you. XZYLO’s topics of self-love, self-loathing, outside perspective, and storytelling is something to keep our ears peeled to, Same with the instrumentals that Giovanni, Donnie, and Steven write. There’s always something going on, Even in its most minor form. We think Spirit Leaves is a force to be reckoned with, and if you like everything we’ve put out so far, then We are sure that you’ll love everything else this band has to offer.

Thank you very much,
XZYLO, Giovanni, Donnie and Stvn.
~ Spirit Leaves.

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