One of Canada’s most popular New Wave pop bands, The Spoons continues to demonstrate their cultural relevance and creativity, 40 years on since they burst onto the scene with songs such as Nova Heart, Romantic Traffic, Arias & Symphonies, Tell No Lies and Old Emotions, dominating the charts as well as play on MuchMusic.
Not content so simply slip into the role of nostalgia act, the band, which is currently centred on founding members Sandy Horne and Gordon Deppe, has released two albums of new material since 2010, including New Day New World, which came out in 2019. Seeking a way to offer something positive in the current climate, they decided to shoot a video for the song Landing Lights from the latest album, which focuses on the importance of social distancing, but also has an overriding message of hope.
Landing Lights is one of the songs from the band’s 2019 release, New Day New World, which was The Spoons first album of new material since 2011’s Static in Transmission. The song itself had significant meaning as to the nature of relationships and their often complex and emotional unpredictability, but in the wake of the current worldwide Covid-19 crisis, takes on a whole new significance, which is the reason why band founders Horne (bass/vocals) and Deppe (guitar/vocals) chose to create a new video for it, and release it in the midst of all the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic.
“We have an imaginative filmmaker who made the first two videos for the album and he came to us and said, ‘you know, I can do something without even having to leave your house.’ And that’s where the Landing Lights video came from. And as for why now, I think the whole title and tone of the album New Day New World is kind of the reason why. It’s crazy how the song Landing Lights really fits in, lyrically, with what’s going on now, even though originally it was more about relationships and going through the crazy turbulence and storms and then the landing lights sort of guide you back to where you started from. If you look at it from a different perspective, with what we’re currently going through, it really worked great with the visuals Peter came up with of us, kind of on our own, plus the various stock footage and new footage he used,” said Deppe, who is self-isolating in his Oakville home, while Horne is self-isolating at her home near Guelph.
Besides a general sense of caring, compassion and community that The Spoons want to evoke and promote with the Landing Lights video, there are intensely personal reasons why Horne and Deppe wanted to dedicate it and pay tribute to the front line workers who are most at risk of being exposed to the virus – especially those within the health care sector.
“Our video director, Peter Sacco his partner is a front line health care worker, and that was kind of the spark for doing the video. My daughter [Alexis] is an RN [Registered Nurse] and works in Toronto at a hospital, and Gord’s wife [Megan] is a pharmacist and a front line worker. So, we’re all super freaked out that our loved ones are on the front line of all this,” Horne explained.
“My daughter calls me almost every day just because she needs to talk to somebody. They can talk to each other within their team at work, but she needs some outside stuff. She knows she has colleagues calling their own family doctors asking what they should do, what extra precautions they can come up with, because they’re not really getting any support and guidance in a lot of ways.”
“My wife, like all her colleagues, and all health care workers, is sometimes really scared and really nervous to go to work. But they know they have to. At the same time, they have to put on a brave face in front of people they are dealing with because they are even more worried, and people in my wife’s position have to make them feel like it’s going to be okay. So, yeah, it’s hard,” Deppe added.
As well, the video also focusses attention on the battles being fought by individuals who have contracted the virus and celebrating those who have survived and mourning those who were taken by Covid-19’s harsh symptoms.
“Fortunately, I don’t know anybody that has been taken away and passed over to the other side because of this. My dad is in a long-term care facility and they don’t have any outbreaks there, thank goodness, but they are locked down, and he’s got dementia, so he doesn’t understand. I called him a couple of days ago and he was crying and not understanding why we can’t come and see him, and worried that he was going to die there alone if we don’t come see him. It’s terrible, and it’s awful for this man who doesn’t have the ability to understand the situation anymore. And there are lots of people who are in a similar situation – or worse,” said Horne.
There has already been a lot of great feedback for the Landing Lights video, which both Horne and Deppe sincerely appreciate.
“The nicest thing I hear from people is that the video makes them feel like they’re not alone during this who thing. Although that wasn’t really the intent. We didn’t want to be preachy and go on and on about staying home and washing your hands. There is some messaging about that, but overall, the big theme is that we are still together and it’s hopeful and we can get out of this. People are saying that the video makes them feel a little bit better that we’re all sharing a similar situation,” Deppe said.
A new video for the title track from New Day New World is expected in the next few weeks and will be filmed and edited in a similar manner as Landing Lights, with the subjects in the various snippets filming themselves.
“It’s even more appropriate than Landing Lights for these times, but the video is going to look more beyond this current situation, at the same time, sharing what we’re all going through. And we’re going to be bringing in a whole bunch of other prominent people from music, sports and TV that are going to be involved in this. At the end of the video, it’s going to show that we will move ahead, having learned something,” said Deppe.
“At this point, no one is making any money from this. We’re taking a song that already exists, and we’re doing a little work on it and putting something with a simple message out there that we hope people take to heart. So why not do it?”
Ultimately these videos are really all Deppe and Horne can do. Deppe is also a touring member of British 1980s pop icons A Flock of Seagulls and all their touring plans are on hold as well.
“I miss playing like crazy of course. I am supposed to be in the States right now. And when all this really started to ramp up, I was supposed to be on an 1980s cruise, which would have been the worst place to be. But the whole summer is shot, including the big Lost ‘80s tour that we do every year,” he said.
“And we lost all our Spoons date as well. And it’s the 40th anniversary of The Spoons in 2020. So what timing is that for a pandemic? We were going to do something with the original lineup and bring Rob [Preuss] and Derrick {Ross] back for a big music festival and a couple of other big shows at the end of the summer. So, I think we will just have to celebrate our 40th next year,” added Horne.
At the end of the day, or more appropriately, at the end of this crisis, both Horne and Deppe hope that people’s heightened appreciation for the arts in general, and music in particular as a balm for their isolation and disconnectedness, will carry forward into a new normal.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword where people really need it now, and almost crave it, but can’t get it unless they’re just listening to music or live streaming these home concerts. And nobody is really making any money from it, so it’s a tough place to be right now. It’s not quite an essential thing; I am never going to say we’re that important in the great scheme of things because it’s just music. But people do miss it as part of their soul, part of their life,” said Deppe.
“And people used to take things for granted, not just music, but a lot of things in life. It used to be, ‘ah, I don’t need to go see that band,’ or ‘I don’t need to pay for that song,’ and it didn’t have any value for them. Now, I think people are seeing the value in things like art and music.”
For more information on The Spoons, New Day New World, Landing Lights video and any other forthcoming videos, visit the band’s social media channels or https://www.spoonsmusic.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for 30 years. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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