If Spell hits, Floyd likely will receive the lion's share of attention; after all, videos are part of the Island contract and, as a grinning Shavlik points out, Floyd is "a foxy babe from the badlands." The thought that her sexual presence might dominate the public's perception of the group is both amusing and somewhat mystifying to the bandmates.
"It's just weird," Floyd says. "It's like, why do people think I have to be out front? One of the guys from another record company said I'd have to be."
"Yeah," Beckman interjects, "somebody said, `Is Garrett going to be freaked out if Chanin is thrust into the frontwoman position?' thinking that Garrett's the kind of person who's going to be envious and pissed off. Like, `Goddamn it, where's my fame time?' And we're like, `Screw you. Obviously, you don't know us at all.'"
"Chanin's going to get it, though," Shavlik predicts. "She's going to get it hard, because marketing departments do that shit. I mean, she's a fabulous-looking chick--she has amazing teeth. But this is a band. Besides, there's more balls in the Breeders with Kim and Kelley Deal than there are with most of the male bands out there. Dicks have nothing to do with it. It's people."
Even before Spell's members have to worry about these issues, they are grappling with another: the expectations of bands in the Denver scene. Although Big Head Todd and the Monsters, who call Boulder home, have earned a gold record for Sister Sweetly, their first album on the Giant label, this success hasn't translated to the signings of any local performers associated with them, in part because the Monsters don't have close ties to many area bands. But Spell is intimately linked to a slew of the best acts Denver has to offer, including 16 Horsepower, Grimace, the Rok Tots, Baldo Rex, '57 Lesbian (undergoing personnel problems because of the recent departure of drummer Stewart, but still strong) and ex-Fluid guitarist Clower's new band, whimsically named Lana Turner Overdrive. If label scouts start prowling the city in search of the next Spell, they won't find one--but they'll find a slew of Spell-endorsed groups deserving of greater exposure.
Although Beckman raves about the bands mentioned above, he is understandably reticent to carry their futures on his shoulders. "If our record does great and some other bands get deals, that's wonderful," he says, "but we're in this to write songs. There are some really cool bands here, but we can't spend all our time being flag-wavers for the scene." He looks at Shavlik and Floyd and swallows hard before adding, "We've got enough to do dealing with everything else.
