Very important questions for Spare Parts For Broken Hearts

Hello, and welcome back to “You Oughta Know” where I introduce cool new (or just new to me) bands to share them with the world. This time, we’re talking to Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, a rocking trio from Long Beach, made up of Sarah Green (vocals/guitar/bass), Laurita Guaico (vocals/guitar/bass), and Mikey Vallejo (drums). I think of them as the new Hole. Personally, I think their music is perfect to listen to if you’re going through a breakup or if you’re driving on a highway late at night and are looking to rock out all by yourself, with reckless abandon. Their latest EP is titled “I Love You,” and let me tell you, the feeling is mutual. Here’s what they had to say about everything from their band name to their Game of Thrones addiction:

Hello Giggles: Thanks for talking to me for Hello Giggles! Can you tell me, how did you come up with your band name?

Sarah: Our band name came from a long process of throwing our favorite words into a hat and seeing what weird or likable name could possibly derive from that. After a series of ridiculous mash-ups, we decided to revert back to an original idea. Laurita and I are long time Thom Yorke/Radiohead fans. In the song, “Black Swan,” we thought he said “I’ll be your Spare Parts for Broken Hearts”. Turns out, that wasn’t true but we loved it anyway.

HG: Excellent. What’s your favorite show memory?

Sarah: My favorite show memory is probably playing the sold out House of Blues show with Lit this year. Or when we entered our first Battle of the Bands and it seemed like every friend and fan we had showed up to help us win.

Laurita: When our old band Relish covered “The Wizard” by Black Sabbath and one of our fans freaked out and took off all his clothes and started dancing around the club.

Mikey: Being the newbie to the band, I have only played a handful of shows with SP4BH so I would have to say [my favorite memory is] my first show with them.  We were opening for a band named Killola, it was sold out, and I had less than a week to learn SP4BH’s set.  It was nerve racking but I love that kind of pressure.  The show went off without a hitch and I had a great time.

HG: Who are your favorite artists/bands? Both past and present?

Sarah: My top 5 favorite artists/bands of all time are The Smiths, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Portishead, and Radiohead. My new favorite artist is definitely Twin Shadow.

Laurita: Metallica (pre Black album).  Fugazi,  Radiohead,  Melvins, PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, The Chariot, and The Evens.

Mikey: Hmmm, I listen to a ton of a artists/bands.  My all time favorites, my idols really, are The Cure and The Police.  I can listen to their albums constantly and they never get old to me.  Currently, my favorites are The Octopus Project, LCD Soundsystem, Phantogram, The Joy Formidable, STRFKR, Crystal Castles, The Chain Gang of 1974, Miami Horror, Title Fight and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.  I can’t seem to stop listening to them.

HG: And I hear many of those bands in your sound! Let’s say you’ve got $100. How do you use it to have the best night ever?

Sarah: I would build out some sort of giant concoction of breakable things, including glass, plaster, paper, wood and cardboard. Me and my best friends would all get axes, matches, headphones and rollerblades, and would get to trash and destroy everything. Do you think we could do that for $100?

Mikey: A martini/Game of Thrones party at my house to kick off the new season! I geek out pretty hard on that show and I love drinking martinis so there you have it.  Of course we would all get drunk and play on my drums after. That would be the best night ever.

HG: Indeed. Finally, pitch me Spare Parts for Broken Hearts: The Movie.

Sarah: [It would be] episodes of Seinfeld back to back. No relation to Spare Parts, just episodes of Seinfeld back to back. Or a compilation of people in costumes dancing and falling over and over, set to a sound track by Spare Parts for Broken Hearts.

Mikey: It would be a combination of World War Z, Starship Troopers and Footloose, but taking place after the dust settles from the zombie/alien apocalypse.

The main plot involves the last surviving town’s preacher who bans music and dancing forever.  The ban is two-fold, first to prevent immoral acts of indecency from occurring within the last remaining human population and second, to not attract the wild herd of zombie-aliens that lie beyond the town’s protective walls.

However, due to their insatiable drive to play music, Sarah, Laurita and Mikey (AKA Spare Parts for Broken Hearts) find it impossible to live in a world without music and dancing.  So they take it upon themselves to venture out beyond the walls in a last ditch Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider quest to find the last remaining guitar, bass and drums.  Once the instruments have been found, the band returns only to find that the zombie-aliens have begun storming the towns walls and all looks to be lost.

In a self-sacrificing effort, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts decide to play in the hope of distracting the marauding horde of zombie-aliens away from the town.  Just as the horde approaches Sarah and Laurita — the benefits of being a drummer, I sit behind them — something magical happens.  Peace and harmony takes over the horde, dancing between the zombie-aliens and humans, it’s beautiful.  They all get along. . .until SP4BH runs out of material. Cut scene . . . cue sequel!

HG: Sounds awesome. Thanks, guys!

(Image via Facebook)