About five years ago, a friend from Long Beach nabbed my ipod and filled it with tunes. He told me to pay special attention to his friend’s band- Delta Spirit- said they were about to explode. So for the next 6 months or so, the songs of “Ode To Sunshine” filled my headspace while I jogged or cleaned my room or entertained guests. Maybe a year later I was introduced to Brandon Young (their drummer), by a gal pal. Since then, Brandon and his wife Heather have become treasured friends of mine. And while I don’t get nervous and feel that I may puke on my shoes around them anymore (whew), to this day Delta Spirit remains one of my favorite bands.

     I’m always excited when they cut a new record, but this time around I’ve got all the symptoms of a bonafide fan-girl, anxiously awaiting the arrival of "Into The Wide", set for release on September 9^th 2014. It’s been almost two years since they’ve put out an album and as their frontman Matt Vasquez shares, it’s not for nothing that they’ve taken their time. The members of Delta Spirit have been busy growing up and overcoming some of life’s most challenging circumstances. But if these guys’ deft ability to ring the blood and truth out of trials and into their songs in the past, has any baring on their current and future capacities, than we’re all in for a real treat. Matt took a few moments to chat with me from New York, and this is what he had to say.

Delta Spirit is about to release their fourth record- does the anticipation of this release feel different than others?

Well, we’ve never had this much time off the road before making the album, so the tour and playing the songs in front of people is going to be the biggest thrill. It’s kind of a mental insanity, not being able to do the thing that you feel you’re supposed to be doing. And the excitement of getting to do this thing finally, feels great, feels phenomenal.

You guys have had some pretty unique recording experiences- cabins, friends as producers, music making, libations etc- what was this one like?

This one was hard at first and then triumphant in the end. We found a space in New York where we considered producing and recording the record ourselves, but then Sandy (Hurricane Sandy) washed it all away- we lost tons of equipment. Then over a year’s time we rebuilt it and worked on the songs, but it was rat infested and windowless, so the vibe was very claustrophobic in the beginning.

I remember that time period.

For the songwriting portion of the album it was great because I had solitude and I could walk to it from my apartment, so I’d go create these things and it was amazing. But when we all got together it was really difficult. After a year of that we hired Ben Allen who’s done Deer Hunter and Animal Collective. He’s a talent, he’s assertive, and he’s a great musician. Having him get involved was a big boost in confidence. When he lent his opinion, more times than not it was, “You guys are great, don’t worry about it.”

Then we drove to Atlanta and got into a studio with actual natural sunlight, and all of a sudden everything just clicked.

Do you think it was the physical space that made the magic happen, or was it all the waiting and anticipating?

The concepts and the music started in a place of dinginess and claustrophobia and the city, and I think that had as much to do with the record’s sound as anything, but the thing that we did that has always kind of worked for us, is to go on an adventure together. Whether it be to a cabin up in Julian, or Northern California, or Dreamland up in Woodstock- we like to go to a location with the things we’ve collected and find it together. Like at summer camp.

Is there anything in particular about this project that you guys are hoping listeners will receive other than a great sounding record?

Hopefully it’s more than just sound. I mean, what is a great record, you know? It’s something that people attach to and relate to and feel. It’s something they take with them on road trips and that they connect with emotionally. The record itself is just a document. It’s like a yearbook.

I think this record is actually different than the other albums though because over the last two years John and his wife had a baby, Brandon moved to a national forest, Kelly and I have each been experiencing New York and Will went through a lot emotionally.

Brandon got beat up the whole year because everyone [in the band] is a drummer, but when he stepped into the studio, he just swung away with both middle fingers in the air, being himself again, finally. John took no time to track his bass because he’s just so phenomenal and his heartbeat is always with Brandon. Kelly got his emotive nature and ethereal accents on the album at the very end and just really poured all this stuff out. I sang like three vocals every couple days. It wasn’t some afterthought, like “Ok now lets cut some vocals.” It was something I really got to think about. Will’s dad was diagnosed with cancer during pre-production and at the point we started recording- actually the day he tracked guitars for Into The Wide- his dad was having major surgery to find out whether or not he was going to make it. When he finished playing his parts he would just lay on the couch, face down, and nobody could talk to him. But listening to the tracks, you can really feel the pain in his playing.

I think there’s a lot of pain from this year, from all of us, in it. At least I get that sensation when I’m listening to it. Its triumph over how hard those things were.

Ok, then I will hope with you guys that other people will feel that as well cause it’s profound. I definitely believe that the strength of any artist is their capacity to channel emotion through fingertips and vocal chords etc.

Yes. It’s a lot of us in this record instead of just one person. On our last record, I would have an idea of what a song should sound like and then we all attacked it. But we’ve always been trying to do this thing where everybody’s soul is involved in the song, and this record definitely has way more of that than we’ve ever had before.

How has songwriting changed for you since you first started writing for DS?

Well, I think the forms and the stories and how those stories turn out has changed. The forms and the vernacular of songs are really [important]. Trying to figure out how to take a pop song and make it meta, and trying to take a murder ballad and make it sound like it’s from the 21^st century. Those are kind of the two main things in songwriting that I aspire to do.

I’ve been to so many DS shows and I never get tired of seeing you guys live. Every performance is so special and energized. What puts the spirit in Delta Spirit?

[Laughs] I don’t know. Or, I do know, or I think I know. […] There’s something about the way that John and Brandon play together, in terms of the rhythm section, because they’ve been playing together since they were 16. There’s something about Kelly and my relationship that includes both tension and creative respect. There’s something about Will’s guitar playing that is just far and away, it’s something to notice. And when we’re all playing on this stage and it all clicks, I feel like I’m in the best band in the world. I feel lucky that I get to do this and be in this band. Each of us feels that in our own way and it’s this idea, like, “Let’s not waste it, let’s be the song and mean it more than anybody else.”

Do you have a heroine or hero? And what makes her or him so heroic?

To me the heroes of music are the people that do exactly what they want to do because they feel that it’s the right thing to do. And then it’s cut pretty simply like that, you know? Like with Dylan, Hendrix, Nick Cave, The Beatles, Neil- Young, not Diamond. U2 is another great example, they’re a band that’s striving, not just chasing their greatest hits.

As we keep making records, the passion has to be there. And the people that I look up to are the people that are able to maintain that and have.

Ok, one more... Would you rather box DMX or John Snow?

I’d rather box John Snow.

How Come?

Cause I could take him.

I actually feel like that’d be a good match.

Yeah, I would take John Snow.

I mean, that’s a bold assertion.

Yeah. I don’t know about DMX. He’s old now, but DMX in the 90’s [laughs]. Yeah, I don’t know. I’m pretty scrappy… I think I could probably take both of them.

There’s a good answer.

For everything Delta Spirit go here.