Words: Scott Jenson 

Music can be edgy, volatile, enlightening or even destructive. But in an ever-changing industry where indie credibility is getting more and more important, it's rare to find a band (outside of the Disney umbrella) that just wants to write hooky pop music and isn’t afraid to admit it. Enter Sparky’s Flaw, from Charlottesville, Virginia and currently signed to the revived Mercury Records imprint. REAX recently spoke with lead singer Will Anderson about shitty pianos and duct-taped shoes.

REAX: So let me ask you, I’m sure you probably hear this a lot, what’s wrong with Sparky?

Will Anderson: Sparky had a duct tape shoe. He was an impeccably dressed young man. He was a good friend of ours, he used to wear three-piece suits to school except he wore a duct taped shoe which made no sense. But he loved the shoes and he said they were very comfortable, so that’s his flaw.

REAX: I don’t think having comfortable shoes is that much of a flaw.

WA: Well, yeah, I can’t blame him but it definitely looked out of place.

REAX: So tell me a little bit about your songwriting process. When you guys get together, does someone bring in a riff or do you build off melody?

WA: It’s pretty standard. I do all the writing for the band, so I am usually up from 12 p.m. to 4 a.m. and I just write, usually whenever it comes to me. I take it to the band, they either shoot it down immediately, which is often, or they really like it and they’ll go with it and the song really changes at that point because they add their touch.

REAX: How do you write it? Do you use a software program; do you just bang it out on a keyboard?

WA: I have a piano in my room that I sort of inherited from a friend of mine’s family when they moved. An out-of-tune piano and just this old, beat-up acoustic guitar with a hole in it that we got in summer camp before we were a band. I write on that, it’s two crappy instruments and I find it’s good that way because if the song is good on those two instruments then you know it’s going to be good when the whole band plays it. It’s a nice little transition from sounding really crappy to sounding really good all of a sudden. It definitely has to be quality if it's going to sound good on those instruments.

REAX: With everyone talking about  the death of major labels,  do you ever start to think ‘This isn’t a good idea, we should be with an indie label or we should be on our own.’

WA: Well, I think there’s a place for major labels too. I think there will always be. I think for our style of music and for our goals and fanbase it makes perfect sense for us to get with somebody who we can partner with who is thinking the same things in terms of touring a lot, putting our CDs and playing music that’s catchy and hooky and that is very radio-based. I understand that a lot of people don’t get that at a major label these days and I know that we’re very lucky to be in that position.

REAX: What  really inspires you to want to go out and write better music?

WA: I’m just getting back into Paul Simon and Elton John. I grew up on them and this past six months I’ve been really getting back to them and they are unbelievable. I've been trying to step up my game to get to that point but it’s very hard to do when it’s Elton John and Paul Simon.

REAX: OK, well, don’t listen to the Graceland album too much. We definitely don’t need another Vampire weekend.

WA: No, I will not try to be like them that’s for sure.

REAX: With 500,000  bands on sites like PureVolume, what would you tell people that have never heard your music to make them want to go out and grab the album?

WA: We’re catchy, it’s easy to listen to, and you’ll be singing along by the end of it and I don’t think there’s ever anything wrong with that. If you like pretentious indie stuff like Vampire Weekend, we’re probably not the band for you. But if you just like something that feels good and you can sing along to, it’s definitely worth checking out.

See them:

Jun 5-The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
Jun 7-Jack Rabbit’s, Jacksonville, FL
Jun 8-The Social w/ Eric Hutchinson and Marie Digby, Orlando, FL
Jun 10-Studio A, Miami, Florida
Jun 11-The State Theater w/ Matt Costa, St. Petersburg, FL
Jun 12-1982 Bar, Gainesville, FL
Jun 15-Greene Street, Greensboro, NC
Jun 17-The Canal Club, Richmond, VA
Jun 18-Jammin Java, Vienna, VA
Jun 19-Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ
Jun 21-Track Side Teen Center, Wilton, CT
Jun 22-Harper’s Ferry, Allston, MA
Jun 24-The Troc- Balcony, Philadelphia, PA
Jun 25-The Knitting Factory, New York, New York
Jun 26-Fletcher’s, Baltimore, MD
Jul 4-Pleasant Grove Park, Palmyra, VA