Sparta spent Thanksgiving at a Perkins in North Platte, Neb. Or at least that's what Tony Hajjar, drummer of the El Paso, Texas, quartet, says was planned.
Hajjar called after his sound check for the Nov. 24 Sparta show in Minneapolis to chat about his band, maturity and why tour-mates Further Seems Forever and Sunshine won't be playing the final tour date in Tempe at the Marquee Theatre (730 S. Mill Ave.).
Sparta rose from the ashes of the touted lo-fi indie alternative band At The Drive-In in 2001. The Mars Volta took the two men with 'fros, and Sparta has the other three: singer Jim Ward, guitarist Paul Hinojos and Hajjar.
The three hadn't planned on coming together as a band, and each had written his own songs, Hajjar says. So, when they decided to form Sparta, they recruited Matt Miller to play bass and wrote eight songs in roughly a week. By the end of that week, Sparta had its first album, Wiretap Scars, complete.
The band regained the work ethic for which At The Drive-In was known, and Sparta hit the road for 19 months. In that year and a half span of touring, Sparta's chemistry congealed, Hajjar says.
When the band returned to the studio to record Porcelain, the new album, Sparta was ready to go.
"We recorded the whole record live," he says. "We had booked out the studio for six weeks and now had five weeks to play with different sounds."
All that experimentation led to new material. "'La Cerca' was written in one day and then recorded the next," Hajjar says with excitement.
He suggests that the ability to put an album together quickly comes from being comfortable with yourself within your band and being genuinely proud of what you are creating.
People have taken note of the change. Since its release in July, Porcelain has been hailed as a major step forward for the band. To have critics praise their new maturity in print is one thing, but fans come up to the band members after the shows with very definite opinions about the changes.
"It never hurts our feelings when someone tells us that the new record [Porcelain] blows away our first one," the drummer explains. "We love to grow, and the plan is to become better songwriters."
By that same token, Hajjar admits other fans have been just as vocal, if not more so, that Sparta did not and will not make a better album than their first album, Wiretap Scars. Either way, with Sparta's rigorous touring schedule, fans will consistently have the opportunity to tell Hajjar and the other men of Sparta how they feel about the group's progress.
"The Phoenix show is actually the last date of this tour, and it's a good city to end it in," Hajjar says. "[Phoenix crowds] got lots of energy."
However, Sparta specially tapped Sunshine, an electro-rock band from the Czech Republic, to open this tour and they, along with Further Seems Forever, will not be at the Tempe date.
"No, they don't hate you," Hajjar says with a weak laugh. "Sunshine had to go back to Europe, but they are a great band that you should listen to sometime."
Two of the bands may have copped-out on Tempe, but Christian rockers Copeland will accompany Sparta. Hajjar assures that they will more than entertain the crowd.
If not, Sparta will make sure to bring the rock.
"You know how things can start to take on meanings," he says of his band's name. "Well, originally we just liked the name, but now we find out that in Japan, 'sparta' means a modest, hard-working people. I kind of like that."
If you go:
Sparta with Copeland and Beyond Analog.@ Marquee Theatre. 730 S. Mill Ave. $15. Doors open at 5 p.m. All ages.
Reach the reporter at chelsea.ide@asu.edu.
