Box Of Letters is more LA magic from sparkle*jets u.k., a really good late 70s update, and just good music, period.

The band was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: This sounds very 70s, which I like. Who were you listening to from that decade that influenced the album?

Mike Simmons: The bulk of this album started 20 years ago, so who knows! But Beatles and everything after is kind of our thing. I, in particular, love early 70s AM hits, and late 70s cheese.  But my 70s music and Jamie’s 70s music are super different.

Susan West: I love the cheese! I don’t want to live in a world without cheese, including musical cheese. I loved my AM radio during the 70s. AND ALSO I love the Osmonds, Jackson 5, The Defrancos. Sly and the Family Stone…

Jamie Knight: Both Mike and Susan grew up listening to 70s AM radio versus me listening to 70s FM radio. I loved the singer/songwriter music of the early 70s and then I gravitated towards jazz fusion and 70s soul music. I didn’t really like the whole rock attitude of the mid 70s. After I heard Cheap Trick and then the 70s power pop and new wave music I got back into rock music. Susan, Mike, and I get along so well because we all like similar music.

AW: This is sunshine pop for the most part, yet it seems downcast. Was this what you wanted to do, or did the songs you chose just go that way?

Mike: I don’t really think too hard about things. If a song comes I’m just happy it’s there, no matter what. It’s like a bread crumb thrown at you from the universe and you must see where it leads. The style of the music is just kinda what we like or where we’re at. The message, at least from my end, is love one another. That’s why we’re here.

Jamie Knight: I think it’s about maturity. When we started playing music together we were writing fun and very energetic songs. Susan and Mike have always been the primary lyricists and each has their own unique spin. Mike tends to be timely in his observations about life and culture, where Susan tends to like more obscure observations that are open to different interpretations. Mike will resolve conflicts with a message of love, whereas Susan will tend to be a bit “Sassy.”

AW: What’s “Hey Grandma” about, and is it a cover?

Jamie Knight: The song “Hey Grandma” is a cover by Moby Grape, who was a San Francisco band on Columbia Records. The Moby Grape was extremely popular in 1967-1969 but failed to “make it big” due to a series of management blunders and personal problems within the band. Since we didn’t write the song, I would speculate that the song is about the San Francisco Hippie scene. During the late 60s it was common to describe a girlfriend as your “old lady” and for a boyfriend to be described as her “old man.” The mini skirts were the look of the mid-60s and during the Hippie era girls started wearing “granny gowns.” sparkle* jets u.k had been invited to perform at The 2004 International Pop Overthrow in  San Francisco at a club called Thee Parkside. Whenever I think of San Francisco I still think of the Hippie days and The Summer of Love. Since we were performing in San Francisco I suggested to Mike that we play The Moby Grape song “Hey Grandma.” I was surprised that Mike knew that song since he grew up listening to 70s AM radio. I should have known better when he said, “Yeah I know 'Hey Grandma,' that’s a song by The Move.” We rehearsed it with drummer Robbie Rist and we recorded it in one take. When Robbie started turning the song a from hippie-boogie song into a Who song Mike and I just went along with it during the “trippy” instrumental section. After the track was finished, Susan came by and she and Mike sang against the track. Mike also overdubbed another guitar part.

Susan West: This song is so much fun to play. It just feels good. It’s loud, the harmonies were so easy to nail. It’s like a family backyard BBQ. Everybodies is ROCKING…and the police might come, but they are digging it too and they start to dance a little and don’t stop the party.

AW: “Love Burn” sounds slightly dirty. Is it more about sex than love?

Susan: Not dirty really, but a love song for sure, though my personal pendulum of clean and dirty is a little off and does swing. I push the envelope, and then I hide the envelope. It’s a hurts so good kind of hurt. But to answer your question, it is more about LOVE than sex. If something burns when you are having sex, that probably is bad. But something better be burning somewhere if you're talking about a love thing.

AW: This album sounds so hopeful about the future, and looks to the past for inspiration as well. That’s great, and it sounds like this is also your statement of purpose. Is it?

Mike: The Zombies cover that starts the album was an old idea where I really wanted to plant my flag and say OK WORLD WE ARE HERE, PAY ATTENTION! Then our lives turned upside down a bit. All good things. But if I had a statement of purpose, it’s try and appreciate what you have and who surrounds you in this voyage of life. It’s not easy, even when life is easy. Even harder when life gets hard. But that’s the crux of it. Music is here to entertain and heal, both to the players and the audience.

Jamie: sparkle*jets u.k. have always been about positivity, friendship, silliness,and making great music. We have been best friends for over 25 years and the spirit and energy of the band got sidetracked by the music program that we started in the early 2000s at The Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts. The last few years we have been feeling nostalgic for the “good old days” of the band and have felt the need to finish all of the unfinished songs from 2004 and 2005 that were “placed on hold” due to our school music program.

AW: “I’m Away From My Desk” could be about working for a large corporation. Or is it about being stuck in a bad job and knowing it?

Mike: At the time, I was working in a cubicle. I thought it would be something many people understood…office culture. Copy machines, conference rooms, lunch runs. It’s just about that drudgery. I’m been a classroom teacher now for the last 15 years--totally different vibe!

AW: Would you come east to bring a bit of LA magic to the Right Coast?

Mike: It would be cheaper to fly you here. 🙂