Spencer Seim

Spencer Seim
Spencer playing in Hella at the High Five in Columbus, Ohio
Background information
Born (1981-01-28) January 28, 1981
Genres Math rock, experimental rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Electric guitar
Associated acts Hella, sBACH, The Advantage, Solos

Spencer Seim (born January 28, 1981) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist in the band Hella. He is also the drummer in the Nintendo music cover band called The Advantage and has a solo project named sBACH. The sticker on the cover of the self-titled release says "a thousand times better than Hella or The Advantage".

Equipment

Spencer's guitars, SF3 and SF0SS, are designed by Scott French. They feature a nut pickup, a built-in amplified egg shaker, and individual outputs for each string pickup. His own beard clippings are used in the finish of the SF0SS. In February 2006 Spencer bought another Scott French guitar, made of eucalyptus and grafted walnut measuring ½ inch thick around the outside edge of the guitar's entire body. This is the only guitar Spencer used on Hella's 2007 release There's No 666 in Outer Space.

When Hella was a two piece, Spencer only used a Boss LS-2 Line Selector to switch between distortion and clean tones. He played a Bently "Flowercaster" (a Telecaster copy) and used a Mesa Boogie Mark III amp with white tolex. On the tour following the release of Church Gone Wild/Chirpin' Hard, Spencer was seen with an expanded setup using a pedal board.

Playing style

His composition style is mode heavy. He has been practicing on and off with Zach Hill (Hella drummer) since they both started playing music and both have been influencing each other throughout their musicianship. While playing for Hella (as a two piece), he strums while muting certain strings with his left hand, giving him the ability to play clear melodies while voicing chords without sacrificing power for either. He also uses two hand tapping to play from disparate areas of the fret board, and he uses rapid tremolo picking to create an intense, droning effect. Polyrhythms often appear throughout his compositions, giving the impression of two instruments playing instead of one. Playing for The Advantage, Spencer drums employing methods such as repetitive doubles on a single bass drum and quick cymbal muting. Spencer's style also often incorporates complex time signatures, well evidenced on Chirpin' Hard and recordings by the Advantage.

Discography

With Byre

With Solos

With Crock

With sBACH

With The Advantage

  • The Advantage (April 6, 2004, 5RC)
  • 2004 West Coast Tour CD (February 2004, self-released)
  • 2004 US Tour CD (October 2004, self-released)
  • Elf Titled (January 24, 2006, 5RC)
  • "Underwear: So Big!" 2006 Tour CD-R (August 2006, self-released)

With Hella

Albums

EPs

  • Leather Diamond CD-R EP (2001)
  • Falam Dynasty 7" (2002, 5RC)
  • Bitches Ain't Shit But Good People EP (2003, Suicide Squeeze)
  • Total Bugs Bunny On Wild Bass EP (2003, Narnack Records)
  • Acoustics EP (2004 & 2005, Toad Records (Japan); 2006, 5RC (US), with additional songs)
  • Concentration Face/Homeboy DVD/CD EP (2005, 5RC)

Split releases

  • Live 2xCD (Sick Room, October 10, 2003) (with Dilute)
  • Hella/Four Tet Split 7" (Ache, March 12, 2004) (with Four Tet)

References

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