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The Spin Doctors are back in rotation after nearly a decade with original band members Chris Barron, Eric Schenkman, Mark White and Aaron Comess. “Nice Talking to Me” is the band’s first studio release in eleven years after riding high on the huge success of “Pocket Full of Kryptonite” which generated smash hit singles, “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and “Two Princes.”

Formed in 1988 in New York City and signed to Epic Records/Sony Music, the band's Epic debut EP Up For Grabs was recorded live at The Wetlands in Lower Manhattan and released in January 1991. In August 1991, the Spin Doctors released their full-length debut album Pocket Full Of Kryptonite. Constant touring and a wave of positive press fueled the album for nearly a year and was certified gold in 1992. Reaching the one million mark in January 1993, Kryptonite entered the Billboard Top Ten one month later. Their next two records “Turn It Upside Down” and “You’ve Got to Believe in Something” failed to ride the wave of their early monster success. Eric Schnenkman and Mark White both bailed due to conflicts and Chris Barron escaped a traumatic experience with a paralyzed vocal chord. It took the closing of The Wetlands, where the Spin Doctors got their start to reunite the group. After a brief reacquainting tour, the band agreed to produce a new album, “Nice Talking to Me,” released in September 2005.

We had the opportunity to talk with Chris Barron before a show at The Bluebird, Bloomington, Indiana about what it feels like to be a Spin Doctor again, the real scoop on why the band broke up, and his desire to be in a movie.

MusicPix: First of all, we’d like to wish you and your family a Happy Holiday! We’ve been snowed in here at MusicPix for the past few days and we’ve been listening to your latest release Nice Talking to Me. It sounds like the original Spin Doctors, the band is the original Spin Doctors, does it feel like the Spin Doctors?

Chris: Oh yea, on this record, we weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel as far as the band’s identity is concerned. We came back after a long absence and we were much more interested in exploring the true identity of the band instead of doing a whole lot of expanding. I do think the record shows some growth as well.

MusicPix: I’ve seen you perform a couple of times…most recently at Rib America Festivals in 2003/4. You gave a sneak peek of some of your new material from Nice Talking to Me…were you writing on the road and test-driving new material?

Chris: We were. We’ve never written that much on the road. A couple of the songs that ended up on the road were at least partly written on the road. We were indeed playing some songs at gigs which is a really great thing to be able to do before you put a record out to gauge people’s reactions. You really never know how people are going to react to a tune until you actually play it in front of them.

MusicPix: It took the closing of The Wetlands (NYC Club) to bring the Spin Doctors back together and I assume there’s been a lot saying- ‘that’s water under the bridge’ kind of stuff…. Now that you’ve been on the road together, and have completed a new studio album, what’s the real skinny on your relationship with each other?

Chris: Well we broke up because we weren’t really getting along. Everybody is still the same. We’re four distinctly different people and we definitely don’t always get along. But fundamentally, we really care about each other. We broke up because we kind of hated each other. But if you look underneath the surface, it was like we just really cared about each other a lot. We didn’t have the communication skills to work out simple conflicts…we had a lot going on. There are other bands who have huge hits that don’t end up having screaming fights with each other, but we did. And I think a lot of it was because we simply didn’t have the communication skills to work out little things. Little stuff would just build up and build up until we were just really mad at each other and we weren’t really sure why. But now, everybody’s a little more grown up and a little more mature but we definitely have our moments of friction like any relationship.

Spin Doctors Live Photos - Bloomington, Rib America Festival St. Louis, Minneapolis

MusicPix: Given that it’s been 11 years since your last studio release, how have you changed since the last time you were in the studio as a Spin Doctor?

Chris: I’ve logged a lot of studio time since then…it’s funny…in the time since we made our first record, I’ve learned a lot about how to make records. But also, I think I’ve learned enough to know when to not know it all and let somebody else take over a little bit. That’s why it was so great working with Matt Wallace. We went into the studio with a guy who just has brilliant ideas and it was really fun working with him and taking his suggestions. I definitely feel like I learned a lot about making records but it was great going in with Matt who knows decidedly more and it was a learning experience.

MusicPix: All of you are incredible musicians and proved that each of you stand on your own without each other. What do you like best about your reunion?

Chris: Just the chemistry...the musical chemistry. I think that Eric put it best when he said that whatever interpersonal stuff we’ve got goin’ on, we are musical soul-mates. Something about these four guys when we get together, something happens…something that doesn’t happen when we’re with a different ensemble. I actually think that each one of us will always have to do other things because this band is kind of specific in what we do. We all have a broader musicality than the band. We all have to have other musical projects to really feel fulfilled. But when we play together, for lack of a better word, its magic…the thing that happens.

MusicPix: You guys were in heavy MTV rotation in the 90’s. Any plans for videos in your future?

Chris: Nothing specific right now but we made a documentary about the band that’s being edited right now. Mostly it’s a trip to England where we did a lot of interviews with the band, and driving around in vans eating prawn sandwiches at truck stops…It’s either going to be really funny or really boring.

MusicPix: When will it be released?

Chris: I’m not sure…it’s moving kind of slow. Stay tuned to our website-www.spindoctors.com and keep an eye out.

MusicPix: You’ve had a solid taste of touring again. What are your plans for 2006?

Chris: We have a tour that we’re putting together with VH1 Classics and the rest is still coming together. But yea, we’re going to go out and do a nice tour…come out and see everybody.

MusicPix: You’ve got a birthday coming up in February and you’re now in your late thirties. As you’ve gotten older, in what ways has your outlook and approach to music changed?

Chris: I think I know enough now to know how little I know. There was a time when I was zealously guarding my originality and striving to find my voice. Now, I think I’ve found it and secure enough to know that I’ve got a musical identity that I can branch out into other things and always be able to come back to who I am as a musician. It’s kind of freeing.

MusicPix: That leads into my next question regarding finding your voice... There was a time when you thought you might not be able to sing as you were diagnosed with a paralyzed vocal chord which has the odds of 1 out of 8 million. Now that several years have passed (1999) did you ever wonder why me? and does the experience still affect you?

Chris: Yea, I definitely thought why me? but I got a lot out of that experience. As traumatic as it was….I’ve been singing since I was a little kid and I didn’t realize how much of my identity is wrapped up in singing. So when I couldn’t sing anymore, I had to look inward and get a handle on who I am as a person if I’m not a singer. I don’t know if I can really put into words what I found when I did that but I think that it was a really grounding experience. I realized that there’s more to life than what you do for a living. Life is about the people you love and always striving to be the best person you can be and falling short of that almost all the time but giving it your best effort.

MusicPix: Regarding your treatment, I understand you did many things and there was no one treatment that can be identified as fixing the problem. Are you still practicing some of those things…like meditation and acupuncture…

Chris: I try to take good care of myself as time permits. If I get a cold or something’s going on, I’m a lot quicker to go the doctor which isn’t to say that I’m a super hypochondriac because I used to be very stoic and neglectful of stuff like that. I’ve just seen the practical side of seeing that there’s nothing going on worse than you think. I don’t get acupuncture for vocal paralysis because I don’t have a paralyzed vocal chord. But I definitely found it really useful so I get acupuncture for certain things…back pain and stuff like that because I’m confident that it really does work. I did a lot of vocal training and my voice came back and I do that periodically. I go in a get a whole bunch of voice lessons just to keep my form and technique together. I work with a brilliant voice coach, Neil Semer, who has been not only a great technical coach but a real inspiration.

MusicPix: Outside the normal rock & roll job description, you’ve done a musical, a children’s book, a benefit song for 911 rescue… and spoken word for Deepak Chopra’s, Gift of Love…is there anything else that’s outside the ‘rock music box’ in your future?

Chris: I’d love to be in a movie. I’d like to be the guy who gets shot…laughing

MusicPix: Any speaking parts or do you just want to be shot?

Chris: Yea, yea, I’d say, “Yup…gee whiz pa….”

MusicPix: Well maybe after this interview, somebody will call you…

MusicPix: You’re obviously a poet and I assume you’re a fan of Rumi because of your involvement with the Gift of Love CD, a collection of poems released in 1998… What is it about Rumi that intrigues you?

Chris: I haven’t read his stuff in a long time since I did the CD actually…so it’s been a long time. Just his perspective of God being the ultimate expression of love…it’s so devout. It’s very strong…It gives a lot of impact to his poetry.

MusicPix: Switching musical gears…The Who had a big impact on all of us…what is it about the music that gets you off?

Chris: The Who is one of the greatest bands of all time. Pete Townsend’s guitar playing and Keith Moon… and John Entwistle is one of my favorite rock & roll bass players of all time, and of course, Roger Daltrey has this incredible power in his voice. Working with him…hearing him…standing next to him while he was singing and hearing that beast of a voice come out of him was just amazing. We did this this gig… ‘Daltrey sings Townsend’ at Carnegie Hall and at the end of it, we were going to go out to do Join Together With the Band and the stage Manager was like…’you’re going to go out there and look at your mic and if your mic says guest you can stand in front of that mic. But if it doesn’t say guest, don’t use that mic because that’s going to be Pete Townsend’s mic…’ He said it like fifteen times and was totally adamant about it. So we go out on stage and I’m standing next to Sinead O’Connor I think…and I’m standing in this incredible limelight, spotlight, flood of white light and Pete comes out and has his guitar. I wore one of those jumpsuits in honor of him…with boots and scarf...this total homage outfit to him…and I turn and he’s standing at the next mic over and he looks at me and he does this thing with his head, like ‘come here’ and I looked side to side wondering if he was talking to me? And he did it again and nodded his head, indicating that he wanted me to come over and share a mic with him. I was just like OH MY GOD. So I go over and start into the tune. And he said The Grateful Dead did this song (in my ear) above the roaring chorus of everybody singing the song. And I was just floored. I’m singing with Pete Townsend.

MusicPix: So do you have a recording of that?

Chris: What I really wish that I had a video of it for I could play it for my grandkids…

MusicPix: Well it is Christmas…maybe Santa will hear your wish.

MusicPix: The name Spin Doctors fits your band so well. I understand that it was Eric’s idea. Is that true?

Chris: Yea, it was Eric idea. I didn’t even like it to tell the truth. We had this conversation walking along west on 14th Street in Manhattan to this Cuban restaurant that we always eat at called The Ceselt Coffee Shop. He was like, I’ve got the perfect name for the band… Spin Doctors. I was like, I don’t like it. He said do you know what it is? It’s a guy in a political campaign…you know the guy that tries to make a candidate look good? And I was like, hmm, kind of cool meaning but I still don’t like then name. He said if you can think of a better name, we’ll call the band that. I’m never going to come up with a better name so that’s going to be the name of the band.

MusicPix: Are you any more fond of it after all these years?

Chris: It’s a great name. Once it stuck and wore in…it’s a great name.

MusicPix: We have a series of questions that we ask every artist we interview called the MusicPix Six:

MusicPix: What is the first musical instrument you played and at what age?

Chris: Probably a harmonica around 4 or 5…

MusicPix: What artist/performer influenced you the most?

Chris: That’s tough….I’ve got this holy trinity of Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Bob Marley but then there’s the Beatles and The Stones…more than one that’s for sure.

MusicPix: If you weren’t in your current band, what band would you like to play in?

Chris: If I wasn’t in this band, I wouldn’t want to be in a band at all. I’d be solo…bands are a pain in the neck.

MusicPix: What are your 3 ‘desert island’ albums?

Chris: Exile of Main Street, Gosh that’s hard…Blonde on Blonde (Bob Dylan) and Coleman Hawkin’s Greatest Hits.

MusicPix: What’s your ‘perfect world?’

Chris: Long pause…I’d like to say world peace but probably just a hammock somewhere where the weather is really good…some cold beer and my wife and my daughter and my dog. Something for my daughter to drink other than beer…some cold juice for her.

The Band
Chris Barron, vocals
Eric Schenkman, guitar, vocals
Mark White, bass
Aaron Comess, drums

Discography
1991 Up for Grabs...Live
1991 Pocket Full of Kryptonite
1992 Homebelly Groove...Live
1994 Turn It Upside Down
1996 You've Got to Believe in Something
1999 Here Comes the Bride
2005 Nice Talking to Me

By Gwyn Tyme