I first caught onto the Spongetones in the mid 1980s, through Jamie Hoover’s work with Don Dixon and Marti Jones, of whom I was a fan. I never looked back. Spongetones guitarist Steve Stoeckel’s solo album The Power Of And is a nice surprise, and a very good album indeed.

Steve was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: The Power Of And sounds so different from the Spongetones. How much of the new sound did you have in mind at the outset?

Steve Stoeckel: The Spongetones sound (a mixture of influences from The Beatles, Kinks, Who, Hollies, and other British Invasion groups plus a few 70’s and later bands) is, like those bands, a part of my DNA after this many years. That’s where I got my songwriting experience. With this solo album I deliberately went for new sounds (for me): some Celtic things (“The Emerald Sea”); a male/female duet “Why” with Irene Pena, something really new for me, kind of an Ian & Sylvia/Searchers thing; “Whistling Past Graveyards,” heavy rocker with weird chord changes. The Spongetones-like tune I put in (“Mod Girl” could have been a Spongetones song, which is why the rest of the Spongetones are on that with me) is a nod to those days.That said, in the end, I just write a lot and choose which songs I’d want on the record, without thinking about styles so much.

AW: A lot of these songs seem to be folk or folk/rock based, which I like. Is that another way you wanted to make this album different? 

SS: Ah, you spotted that. I started as a folkie before the Beatles: Peter, Paul and Mary, Kingston Trio,The Weavers, Dylan. I love folk music, and when folk rock hit I was ecstatic. This is another direction the Spongetones didn’t explore, and yes I really wanted to do this.

AW: A lot of the endings are abrupt, as in sudden fade-outs. Did the songs just seem to end that way naturally, or did you want surprise endings?

SS: Ah yes, intros and endings. First, you may have noticed most of these songs are short, many less than 3 minutes. I usually don’t like long intros and outros. I tried to paint a story or mood quickly, let the song say what it needs to, and move on. The process, start to end, is hard to describe. I like short forms in general. Haiku, for example.

AW: I like the cover. Who did the artwork?

SS: That’s a combination of Michael Slawter (the layout) and Issa Ibrahim, an artist friend whose paintings are on the front, back and inside. I’ve used both on Spongetones covers and on other projects I’ve had. They’re very talented, and both are musicians, which helps. I send them the songs and let the tunes guide them. They never fail me. Thanks for noticing!

AW:“The Monsters Under My Bed” is a great and sweet song about childhood and adulthood. Where did the idea come from?

SS: One of my favorites, thanks. I have never lost touch with my childhood. It’s provided me with so many songs and stories. When I first read Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are to my kids, I was stunned. The writing, the artwork touched me deeply. I still have that book. I also have all of Shel Silverstein’s poems--another man who completely understands.

AW: “Whistling Past Graveyards” seems to be political. Is it?

SS: Now there is an interesting question. First, the answer is “yes,” very much so. Though I’m a very political person and have written things in the past (I was a newspaper columnist for a bit), I’m a bit wary of putting too much politics/protest into my songs, which are mostly about other things. There’s a risk of turning away listeners, but after this many years, I’m turning loose of that a bit. The presidency of 45 nearly brought my country down, and the song is about him, no apologies. I’m no longer concerned about whom I might piss off in my posts or my songwriting. It’s my music.

AW: Are you planning to tour?

SS: Another good question. I’m retired from my day gig (music electronics repair) and spend most of my time recording music here in my studio. The guest musicians who are on my CD would make a great band, but the thought of hitting the road doesn’t appeal so much. I may do gigs around Charlotte. And ironically (I said I wasn’t touring) I’m putting a band together to go to Liverpool this summer to play at the IPO Festivals at The Cavern Club. I could not turn that down.

AW: And what are the Spongetones up to?

SS: Coincidentally, we are playing live again, locally. Two gigs in Charlotte nightclubs, March and May. No recording plans, but I’ll definitely be using them on my next solo CD.