Hotspit on "Cave Dweller" | Q&A + New Release

Rapidfire Questions

1. What have you been listening to lately?

State Park Ranger, Chronophage, Dry Cleaning and Why Bonnie

2. Will we ever get to see Hotspit play at The Gathering of the Juggalos?

If Hotspit played at the gathering of the juggalos would you come in full regalia??

Absolutely.

3. I’m not entirely sure what Be Real is. Am I old?? I’m so scared of getting old, I’m only good at being young.

I think that’s okay Be Real seems scary to me

4. Why are pringles so different from other potato chips?

Because they arent! That! good!

5. When I die and you play “Boom” by P.O.D. as they lower my casket?

Yes

6. Who would win in a fight? Hotspit (with shaved heads) or Dr. Phil with hair implants/full head of hair?

There’s no escaping Dr. Phil’s power

7. Brenden Fraser pulls up next to you in a car and says “Get in. There’s no time to explain.” What do you do?

Get in

8. Which online music publication based out of Dallas that’s interviewed you twice is your favorite?

Born Loser ((((:

9. If you could play a show at any fictional location, where would you play?

You know the opening scene of Blade? I want to play there.

10. Any local bands that you think everyone should listen to?

Rikki Rakki, Spooky Cool, Night Idea, Adi Guerrerx <3

The last time we talked was back in October of 2021! What have you been up to since then?

We toured a few times, played a lot of local shows, and ended up in the studio a couple of times!

If we get to do 3 interviews together, I’ll mail you a medal. What do you want it to say?

#1 Born Loser Hotspit

I know this Q&A is supposed to be about your new release, but I just want to know if we can expect any more Hotspit tshirts? I’m trying to buy all the Hotspit merch.

Totally!

You released your latest single, “Cave Dweller”, earlier this week! How does it feel to be able to share that with the world?

It feels just as exciting as it does relieving. This might be the opposite way to do things but I feel like once a song is recorded and released I can take it out of the set list. I love this song so much but we have been playing it for awhile, so it makes me excited to make some room for new material. Also very stoked to have a polished studio version of the song out along with the already released Audiotree Live version. It’s cool that people are allowed both iterations.

What were the inspirations behind the song, and what was the writing/recording process like for that track?

When writing I tend to draw from a few experiences at once. And this song has been particularly hard for me to track down as far as an inspiration goes. I remember potentially wanting the song to be about my experience being queer, but then it switched to maybe addiction enabling, and I find it sits somewhere in a space of yearning. I think I’m happy to not have figured it all out yet. Usually the songs will reveal themselves to me when I’m ready(so sorry for the corny line). The writing process was an interesting one because when I brought it to the band it was originally a slow and brooding song. There’s a live version of that style of Cave Dweller on our Macrock 2021 Virtual Set. But as we played the song more we just stared hitting it harder, and we sort of landed in the middle as far as feel goes. We recorded it in two places. The meat of the song at Drop Of Sun in Asheville, and then the string section in Richmond, VA at our friend’s Bryan Walthall’s home studio. We want to give a big shout out to Bryan Walthall for always being down to work with us, Jessika Blanks for recording those violin stacks and making the song shine and to my very own dad Ted Fogarty for laying down some stand up bass as well.

What is the most important thing for you when it comes to writing a song?

Feeling. I want, if anything, the song to leave you with something, and hopefully that’s the same feeling I attempt to encapsulate.

Is there anything you want you listeners to take away from the single?

Nothing in particular. If they enjoy it that’s good enough for me. But hopefully they can relate to it somehow, and it gives them something they can carry with them.

I thought I was going crazy for a while. For some reason in the back of my mind I kept thinking that you already had a song called Cave Dweller, then I realized that you had played it in your Audiotree live session. So I’m not crazy!

You are not crazy!

Speaking of your audiotree live session, it’s hands down one of my favorite performances on the channel. It’s crazy to me when a band is as good live as they are in studio recordings. What was that experience like?

Thank you so so much. It was a very nerve racking experience for all of us. It was one of the biggest opportunities we’ve ever been offered, and we all obviously wanted to nail it. Anytime people ask me about it i usually tell them how frustrating it is to watch myself have a panic attack but look as calm as ever. But there was a clear moment for me when I thought “I’m having a heart attack and I need to end this live session.” But I didn’t and we were fine and I’m so happy with the way that it turned out. Also just want to note that sometimes people ask how we got on Audiotree and the answer is we emailed them and asked if we could. Sometimes people just say yes!

I read in a previous interview that you like to open up with CC to kind of set the tone/ quiet the room for your set. Was knowing how to arrange your setlists something that you kind of learned along the way?

Definitely. We like to play around with set order to keep us and the audience engaged. We try and make it so there are limited breaks for talking as that can be generally awkward for me. But it feels like we’ve tried endless set arrangements and that’s been really helpful for our confidence.

If I ever get the chance to see you live and you play CC or Epitaph I will 100% cry. And probably start a moshpit. The slowest, saddest moshpit.

I would really love to see that.

Can we expect a new album or EP anytime soon?

Yes(:>* We have a new EP queued up and will hopefully have it released before the end of the year!

I saw that you had a few shows recently in Asheville, Richmond, and DC. Do you have any other shows coming up this year??

We will be playing the Broke Royals album release show in DC at Songbyrd towards the end of October and then a Halloween house show in Asheville the day after that, where we are attempting to do a Smashing Pumpkins cover set hehe. Might play a show in Norfolk in November, but other that that we are trying to lay a little low. We played a lot of shows this year and are taking a small break at least from local shows.

Any plans to come to Texas anytime in the near future? Or do you hate us?

We would love to come to Texas and I think that will be the next on our list when the talk of tour comes back around. Texas is very far away from us but we do love you.

What are you currently working on?