‘You Shouldn’t Limit Yourself to Just Only Listening to Breakdowns’ – Spiritbox Share the Importance of Outside Influences

Spiritbox are on their way back with Tsunami Sea, and while it may be a metal album, it’s really a culmination of the band’s varied influence, something that singer Courtney LaPlante and guitarist Mike Stringer discussed on Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show.

LaPlante has been open about her love of modern R&B artists and while the influences may not be immediately obvious to listeners, she tells Jackie that most artists can’t help but be influenced by what they listen to.

“Michael and I just both love listening to everything really. Even if it’s something that we’re listening to in a studious way, like we’re listening to the production on it, or something where the lyrics are connecting or the instrumental or the whole vibe of it, I can’t help it,” says LaPlante. “I could never write stuff in a vacuum. I’m always going to be influenced by outside music.”

Stringer adds, “It’s very, very important to take inspiration for all different from all different types of music. And there’s good tone and songwriting and melody within every genre,” before concluding with a laugh, “So you shouldn’t limit yourself to just only listening to breakdowns.”

The couple dig into the creation of the new record and share why the packaging is also an important aspect for them. They also offer an update on bassist Josh Gilbert who recently lost his home in the Los Angeles wildfires and in a humorous chat, they discuss what they’ve learned about each other through touring together. Plus the couple share their resolutions for 2025.

Check out more of the chat with Spiritbox below.

It’s Full Metal Jackie and on the show with us this week, Courtney LaPlante and Mike Stringer from Spiritbox. Very excited to have you on the show for the first time. The band is promoting their new album, Tsunami Sea. Before we get into the new record, I just wanted to send along my condolences for Josh Gilbert. He lost his home in the wildfires, and the band recently launched a charity raffle to help out financially. How has Josh been handling this, and are there additional ways fans can lend their support?

Mike Stringer: Josh has been unbelievable. He lost his house. He lived in Altadena, which was very, very heavily affected and as soon as we learned about it, we were like, “Hey, whatever you need. If you need to not do the tour or we need to push everything back for the next little while,” and he was just like, “I feel like the only thing would feel right is to just be normal right now and to continue on as normal.”

So he’s holding up. Him and his wife Steph are figuring it all out. They got a new place, which is amazing. And the charity raffle’s been going great. I think we’re over 50 grand, which is amazing.

It’s pretty crazy that he’s lost everything, but he’s not wanting to stop right now.

Courtney LaPlante: A great testament to him is that this charity isn’t for Josh. This is him and Michael and all of us wanting to get together to support other people that have been affected. So it just goes to show you what great people they are were one of the worst things that could ever happen to you happened to them and they’re still thinking about how can they help other people.

It’s amazing and also very heartwarming to see when the metal community comes together and we take care of our own. With all the terrible things that are happening in the world, it’s nice when some nice stuff actually happens along the way.

LaPlante: Yes, and we’re really grateful to have the privilege of being able to take care of them, for him to be able to feel confident that our business can help him start a new life. So we’re just so grateful because a lot of people don’t have that. So I think that’s why that’s so important to us and to him to help other people too.

He’ll be okay. He’s a very resilient person. But I think when you’re the one having to deal with it, you don’t really have time to be sad and remorseful. We’re the ones that are so sad right now because we have the privilege to have to be able to do that. He has to just focus on starting his life again, essentially.

Spiritbox, “Soft Spine”

We’ve got Courtney and Mike from Spiritbox on the show with us, and we’re talking about the band’s new album, Tsunami Sea, and it’s a very mellifluous sounding title for a record. Courtney, you spoke a little about this in a fan Q and A on X after the album was announced. But how is Tsunami Sea representative of where you are at creatively and as a band as you prepare to release this new record?

LaPlante: I feel like every time we make a new body of work, it’s just confirmation again to me and to all of us in the band that we don’t have to change to be anything to continue. We’re getting to make music and play music for people and we can just not have to focus on that. Let’s just concentrate on what makes us happy to create and play.

That’s something that maybe some bands feel like they have more and more pressure on them. I’m sure that everyone’s had that thought of what if people don’t like what we are trying to make and maybe we need to make something that we know will do well. But I still haven’t felt that feeling yet.

READ MORE: Why Spiritbox’s ‘Tsunami Sea’ Feels Like a New Start for the Band

I think that this album is a perfect example of that, that it’s just we’re keeping it simple. We still just make the music that makes us feel like we’re … I think for Michael it feels like you. And then for me lyrically, it makes me feel like I’m revealing a little bit more of who I am. It’s like slowly, song by song, like an album by album.

And so this one’s the newest album, so it’s like the culmination of how I feel. I sound so edgy right now. (laughs) It’s how I feel in my brain. I feel like some people like me, it’s the only way we can really express ourselves.

Eternal Blue was such a beloved record, and you filled the time in between with the Rotoscope and the Fear of Fear EPs with so much acclaim out of the gate. For all that you’ve released up to this point, does that raise the bar for what passes in the studio?

Stringer: Yes, I was saying this before, but the EPs are really freeing for me because there’s not this pressure of whether it’s pressure from the creative side or the industry side, there’s not like this expectation. For me, it feels like experimentation is completely appreciated in that sense with an EP. It’s like almost like you get like a one off or whatever.

That’s why Rotoscope was more of an industrial experiment and The Fear of Fear was more of a concept. Our records are all concepts, but that one through and through is like you’re supposed to listen to it start to finish. And so with the full length, there is stress with that, but at the same time, we had a lot of time with it and we were able to sit down and I was able to write almost 25, 30 songs and to narrow it down to the best 11.

So, there’s definitely a lot of pressure, but it’s nice that from these experiences, from these releases and from playing live, you can kind of get an idea of what would work, what doesn’t work. And from a sense of like, we still love it, but maybe we should attempt this. Maybe we should try this. Let’s experiment here. Because the reaction from the crowd or …

LaPlante: Are we having fun?

Stringer: Are we having fun? So with more time and more experience, the songs change. But the full lengths are definitely, they’re the stressful ones, that’s for sure.

LaPlante: I think it’s because there’s so much lead up. When we do an EP, there’s less of a contractual obligation to do like a traditional album cycle because it isn’t an album. And so there’s just more wiggle room for the instant gratification of whatever you made and putting it out to the world. But then with full length, you want to go more traditional if you can, because you want to give it the best shot it can possibly get with promotion and stuff so that the most people can hear it for themselves.

Because of that, there’s just so much more of a climactic experience for us, so it’s more stressful.

Let’s talk about the 2025 Grammy Awards. For the second year in a row, you guys were nominated in the Best Metal Performance category. Ultimately you make music for yourself and the fans have shown their support. But what does it mean to you to receive recognition that’s more industry based?

LaPlante: When you’re in a band like ours that doesn’t have such a broad wide audience as some other genres of music, it’s not something that you ever think about. You don’t think about it in your career choices or your music choices because it’s just so far fetched to even consider it happening because bands like us just don’t. I don’t really ever see myself in those nominee names. It’s just so wild to us.

So I’m trying to look at it. Like I saw an actress have like an award speech and she said that it’s not validation but it’s confirmation. So it’s like you want to be able to not think about that and have that determine your own self worth. But it is a confirmation that you’re respected in an industry who we feel like we look to them to what is doing well and what platform they want to like.

So it’s really cool. But it still is always surreal for us because it just doesn’t make any sense.

Stringer: Agreed.

Courtney, in a recent Spin feature, you shared your love for modern R&B, shouting out Sza, Mary J. Blige as favorites in your collection of music. How much, if at all, does having influences outside your style of music factor into what you make? Do you find inspiration in artists outside of rock and metal when creating? And also, do your listening habits gravitate to something other than the style of music you work in just to have a break from it?

LaPlante: I feel like probably most musicians like whatever music they’ve listened to their whole life, it has to affect them. It has to come through and probably inspire a lot of the stuff that they do. But we’re so analytical about every little thing.

Something that I might listen to and know exactly what inspired it, like, what some band from 20 years ago and their one song on a B side, someone outside of my own head would be like, “I don’t make that connection at all.” But for me, listening to every single little thing and knowing how I came up with that idea, I just can’t help but be influenced by the type of music I listen to.

Michael and I just both love listening to everything really. Even if it’s something that we’re listening to in a studious way, like we’re listening to the production on it, or something where the lyrics are connecting or the instrumental or the whole vibe of it, I can’t help it.

I could never write stuff in a vacuum. I’m always going to be influenced by outside music. And yeah, I listen to a lot of it. I feel like a lot of metal musicians say that. We barely listen to metal, but there’s just so much great stuff out there. Sometimes, like you were saying, maybe it’s a break from what we’re doing every day, all day on tour.

Stringer: I go out of my way to not listen to metal, especially when I’m writing. Obviously you can’t really escape it. You know, it’s gonna come into your life at some point, whether it’s on YouTube and recommended or the radio or whatever.

But at the same time, I agree with Courtney. It’s very, very important to take inspiration for all different from all different types of music. And there’s good tone and songwriting and melody within every genre. So you shouldn’t limit yourself to just only listening to breakdowns. (laughs)

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about Spiritbox is there’s a very visual aesthetic to the band as well. Everything is thought out and considered. Courtney, you told a fan in your Q and A that one of the metrics of success would be finding happiness in selling a lot of vinyl, because the packaging is very thoughtful. What is the band’s experience in putting together the packaging for this record? And also, I gotta ask if you’re both vinyl fans and if there is a favorite piece of vinyl in your respective collections and why it stands out.

Stringer: We’re very lucky that Kevin Moore, who did Eternal Blue, he’s actually from British Columbia. We’ve known him for a very long time. He’s amazing. And with Eternal Blue, the body of work wasn’t even finished and he presented us the entire deck. Good to go. And we didn’t have any notes. We just hit yes immediately.

With this, it was really nice because we were able to do it in real time with him. So while we were still mixing, while we were still finishing up the record, he was listening to it. The album is very, very close to home. All the imagery is from Vancouver Island. A lot of the lyrics touch base on that. And he gets it because he’s from British Columbia. So we were able to get nerdy and to really go in and make this.

It’s almost like we’re giving him feedback of what the record means, what the songs mean and everything. And then in real time, he’s giving us his imagery that he’s coming up with. It’s really awesome to have someone from British Columbia and also someone that we’ve worked with since day one to do this record.

LaPlante: Obviously most people are going to consume this record digitally and we want it to look nice on your computer and on your phone and stuff. But I feel like the beauty of this vinyl is the physical copy that we’re so into. I think that people are going to see how beautiful [it is]. There’s just more than the digital cover. It’s going to look different in real life. There’s just different cool elements to the cover and what the paper is and everything.

I have an embarrassingly small vinyl collection. I’ve just always been a broke person. And I finally now am like, “Oh, yeah, I can buy that fancy vinyl that I wanted.” But of the limited amount I have, my favorite one is the Beyonce Renaissance album, because it’s one of those that has a big photo book in it. That’s a great example of beautiful packaging that got me excited about the album all over again. Do you have one?

Stringer: I do. My favorite in my collection is the Misery Signals double edition, where it’s Controller and Mirrors. But the reason why I love it so much is because I ordered a shirt from them and then that showed up.

LaPlante: Like 10 years ago or something?

Stringer: Yeah. And I just didn’t say anything. I was like, “Well, I guess this is mine now.”

As a couple, the fact that you’re in a band together means a lot of time spent together. What has been your favorite moments so far of experiencing this journey together? And what things have you found out about each other on the road that you might not have discovered otherwise?

Stringer: I love traveling with Courtney. It’s really awesome to get to go to all these amazing places together and do the tourist thing and kind of go off on our own for a little bit or go out for dinner. Also just getting to perform together and getting to play these songs and share the fulfillment of doing this, because touring is pretty hard. It’s really difficult.

LaPlante: Most people are away from their significant other.

Stringer: So we’re in the 0.1% percentile of being lucky, which is great.

LaPlante: You know what I’ve learned about you? By going on tour with him all the time is that he really needs a very cold hotel room and he can’t …. Like, he knows all of the different hacks in hotel rooms to like override the air conditioner because it only goes so low to save money. And then he knows like each brand of air conditioner. What is it called? VIP mode.

Stringer: Yeah, look up VIP Mode on YouTube.

LaPlante: So that’s been the best new thing I learned about you because we never got to really travel anywhere together before our band started touring because we’re broke idiot people that were terrible at managing our money. We spent it all on our band.

Stringer: The only thing I learned about you really is that you could fall asleep literally anywhere with any amount of noise.

{Laughs) So that’s a good skill, and important considering what you guys do. Courtney and Mike from Spiritbox with us. And it’s still fairly early in the year. Let’s talk about what your resolutions and goals for 2025.

Stringer: It’s a great question.

LaPlante: I know mine. Mine is to like be less self-deprecating. I feel like I’m very, and Michael too, I’m very uncomfortable like talking about success or career highs. It makes me very uncomfortable. And I always catch myself being really self-deprecating if someone gives me a compliment or something.

I’ve been doing interviews all morning and every time someone’s complimented me, I’ve probably changed the subject or just made a joke that actually I suck. I think it’s because I’m uncomfortable with that. So one of my goals this year is to really think about that more when I’m talking to people.

Because if someone has all that faith in you and they’re investing their time and their money to come see you and they clearly believe in you and that you’re there for a reason, in the room with them or playing a show for them, then you should respect their confidence and show your confidence back.

Stringer: I have some of those, but my main one is just to walk at least 10,000 steps, steps a day.

LaPlante: You’re doing great. He’s killing it.

Stringer: That’s my goal.

LaPlante: I’m not. I’m not doing so great, but he’s doing great.

Thanks to Courtney and Mike from Spiritbox for the interview. The band’s Tsunami Sea album is out March 7. You can get the album through their website. You can also stay up to date with the band through their Facebook, X, Instagram and Spotify accounts. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show here.