My Audio World
Irwin Sparkes of The Hoosiers
Ahead of the release of their new album Compassion, Irwin sat down with Flare to talk about creativity, songwriting, live performance and the importance of staying playful. From the pressure of early success to finding freedom in the creative process, he reflects on the moments, memories and mindset that continue to shape The Hoosiers today.
Q: You've got a new album on the way. How are you feeling about it?
I feel ecstatic and full of confidence and hope for this album, called Compassion, which is out on the 15th of May. It's the embodiment of so much love and attention from myself and Al. I'm also a little bit nervous because now comes the tricky bit of flogging it.
Q: Was there a clear starting point or theme behind the whole record?
Yeah, we're in a little purple patch of creativity right now. Around lockdown, myself and Al spoke to the man who signed us, Craig Logan, who was the bassist in Bros before becoming head of RCA Records at a ludicrously young age.
He convinced us that rather than just releasing the odd song now and again, people wanted to hear an album. We made Confidence a couple of years ago and just wanted to keep that momentum going. I feel like in anything creative, momentum is the lifeblood.
So we picked up where we left off with Confidence for our second album beginning with a C, Compassion. And our third one? Maybe Curiosity. I haven’t told the drummer that yet though.
Q: Is there a track on the
album that feels especially important to you?
We have a track called Sleeping with the Lights On that really sticks out. We’ve gone through a few lineup changes over the years and this song features writing from every member.
We’d been trying to crack it since around 2009. We knew the riff had something special, but we couldn’t quite get there. Then eventually the chorus just arrived in one of those “that’s it!” moments.
So much of songwriting is getting out of your own way and asking, “What does the song want to be?”
Q: How has your songwriting changed since the early days of The Hoosiers?
Early on it felt like waiting for lightning to strike. We’d write 50 awful songs and then suddenly stumble across one where we’d think, “Oh, there’s something there.”
Later, Craig Logan encouraged us to do co-writes and that became a huge education. We worked with people like Cathy Dennis and Rick Nowels and learnt there are countless ways into a song.
Now I’m constantly writing ideas down, recording voice notes at 3am, whatever it takes.
I remember being on a camping trip with my daughter’s class, unable to sleep, and suddenly realising two songs that didn’t work separately could be stitched together. That became Automatic Glow, which is now a single on the album.
"Now I’m constantly writing ideas down, recording voice notes at 3am, whatever it takes."
Q: It must have been fascinating writing with people like Cathy Dennis.
Totally. Cathy made it really clear she wasn’t musically trained. Her ears were her instrument. Because she wasn’t constrained by theory, she could come up with melodies that were so original and hooky.
Actually, I’ve got a better answer for what matters most creatively: playfulness.
Al and I talk about this all the time. The best performers in sport often look like they’re enjoying themselves even under pressure.
We learnt the opposite during our football scholarship in America. Everything became so intense and pressured that it killed the joy of it.
With music, we’ve learnt you need space to make mistakes, experiment and have fun. We love the process more now than we ever have.
Favourite Memories
Q: What are some of your favourite memories from being in The Hoosiers?
I’m proud that we’ve managed to make this our full-time living for nearly 20 years.
We came from Reading, weren’t part of any particular scene and just figured things out as we went along. But we’ve had incredible moments. Meeting Huey Lewis after being interviewed by Terry Wogan, watching Ben Folds side-stage at Glastonbury before we went on, doing a duet with Ricky Gervais, chatting with Trevor Horn at Sam West.
But mostly I’m proud of the amount of fun we’ve had doing it.
Writing vs Performing
Q: Do you prefer writing or playing live
They’re wildly different, but we’ve always loved playing live. Hearing people sing songs back to you never stops being surreal.
You realise these songs you wrote in a bedroom somewhere have gone off and had lives of their own. They’re not yours anymore.
That’s probably the most enjoyable part of all of this.
Irwin
"I can't lay out a superlative that's strong enough...as a creator, I want people to have this experience."
Music and Human Connection
Q: I think music affects people in a really emotional way.
Yeah, I think music helps people feel less alone.
It occupies this strange space somewhere between the physical and spiritual. It reminds people that a lot of what they’re feeling is part of the human experience.
Songs become little windows into emotions people maybe struggle to explain otherwise.
Looking Back
Q: Do older songs take on new meaning now when you perform them?
Definitely. There’s an old saying: “No man steps in the same river twice.” When I play older songs like Goodbye Mr. A, it feels like digging up a time capsule.
I can hear some of the unresolved conflict and desperation in those recordings now, but I also feel grateful towards them. They’ve given me a career and people still want to hear them 20 years later.
I feel very lucky.
Q: Looking back, is there anything you’d tell your younger self?
Keep songwriting fun.
There was so much pressure after the first record succeeded that writing started feeling like work. I think if we’d learnt earlier how to stay playful and loose creatively, we would’ve enjoyed the process more.
On Creativity
Q: What’s had the biggest impact on how you write over the years?
Songwriting still feels like alchemy to me. You can put four chords together and suddenly discover something emotional and exciting.
The best moments are when you play something and immediately want to hear it again. That excitement is what keeps you chasing songs.
I love that you called it alchemy.
It really does feel magical sometimes. A lot of creativity is about getting out of your own way and turning down your internal editor.
If you overthink too early, you kill ideas before they have a chance.
I think there’s a balance between criticism and being your own cheerleader. You can’t expect other people to fall in love with something if you’re not in love with it yourself.
Quick Fire Round
Sound Affects
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I know I should say the laughter of my children, but honestly it’s probably the sound of switching on a bit of musical kit. The hum of an amp kicking in. You know playtime is about to start.
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Negative whining. Children, bandmates… Alan!
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Seeing Bob Dylan in Hyde Park when I was 15. I just didn’t get it at the time. Years later I finally understood what everyone was talking about and it felt incredibly rewarding.
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We played loads of Blur covers during the Britpop era. Playing covers was such a good education because you get to look under the bonnet and see how songs work.
Then it became about getting in a room with friends and making a horrible noise together. Nothing else made me feel like that.
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Dijon is incredible. He makes albums feel exciting and immersive again.
And Chappell Roan too. She’s doing something really special in pop music. We actually play Pink Pony Club live sometimes and it’s become one of our favourite moments in the set because audiences react so strongly to it.
