My Hometown: How Richmond, VA Shaped Spooky Cool

By: frontman, Zac Hryciak

Where It All Began:

We all have a musical background before this project, official or not. Lee was in the Jazz program at VCU and he and I have been working together for about a decade now. Sean joined our previous band not too long after it started so we’ve been playing together for about seven years. It’s definitely a blessing to be able to work with the same musicians for so long, you get to a place where you can communicate on another level. Things don’t always need to be said and you all start to see the same picture with ease. Paula had always been involved in musical theatre. She grew up in chorus and constant vocal lessons but as far as I know this is her first project. Zavi has been in the Richmond music scene for years. He’s still working in other projects around town and we are intensely fortunate to have him on board.

Our Artistic Culture:

Richmond is an extremely art centric city. From it’s omnipresent visual art to it’s ever burgeoning music scene it is a remarkably fertile place to be an artist. Everyone I know is either in a band or creating something in some way or another and that makes for a natural channel to sharing your work even beyond a grassroots level. There is no question we would not be where we are now if it wasn’t for where we live.

Richmond and Our New Record:

The songs on Every Thing Ever were all written in Richmond, Virginia in a little shithole I used to live in on West Grace street that my friends dubbed the Dope Dorm. With this moniker in mind you can imagine my deplorable existence in that house led to some truly inspired work. The record itself was recorded all over the city. The recording and engineering of the record was a process helmed by our dear friend Michael Satterfield whose family was gracious enough to let us use their farmhouse in Goochland, Virginia (That’s right, it’s actually called Goochland) and the rest of the EP was recorded at another apartment of mine and at Michael’s house. It was an arduous process to say the least.

Our Greatest Influences:

Other than being inspired by friends of ours who are also in the music scene here, we have been almost wholly inspired by musicians outside of Richmond. It’s not that there hasn’t been great musicians to come out of Richmond, it’s just that we have a very particular taste. Influences that first come to mind are in no order The Beach Boys, Tchaikovsky, Deerhoof, Wand, Sibelius and Tame Impala just to name a few.

Richmond Venues:

There are some pretty awesome venues in Richmond. There are standbys that have been around for years and are still awesome to play e.g. Strange Matter, Gallery 5, The Camel and there is also medium to bigger venues such as The Broadberry and The National. I should also state that many venues seem to have a partiality toward specific genres, there are places I do not know about, no doubt about it. And I would not neglect to mention the ever changing house show circuit. There’s also quite a few breweries within the city limits and some of them are great places to play. We’ve probably played a few too many shows at Hardywood brewery, in fact our EP release show is there on the 3rd.

What Richmond Means To Me:

What makes Richmond so unique to us is the people. I’ve already mentioned how art blooms in this town, but it’s the diversity of the people that lends to the fecundity of the place. When we first started this project it was on the heels of a seven year long project that had ended with an implosion so to speak. So, when we started Spooky Cool we were shy and apprehensive to release anything. We had no presence online but we were practicing in a space shared by many Richmond musicians and when they heard what we had been working there was a great deal of support for what we were doing. By word of mouth we were able to gather a following and that truly is the result of people around town showing real interest in other people’s art. Our story isn’t a singular one. What makes Richmond so great is that people sincerely care about prolific creativity and they show it with their presence.

~ Zac Hryciak

Spooky Cool’s Every Thing Ever is out August 3rd

For more information visit: SpookyCoolMusic.com

Catch spooky Cool on tour:
8/3: Richmond, VA @ Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
8/4: Washington, DC @ TBA
8/5: Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
9/8: Richmond, VA @ Stone’s Throw Down in RVA Festival