Peter Pawlak is down to earth and downright quiet. Not shy, but self-conscious about the words he chooses to get his point across.
It’s almost hard to believe this is the guttural chaos demon at the forefront of San Jose hardcore band Spy.
On the mic, Pawlak is a feral animal. His lyrics are raw, bleak and political, criticizing society’s failures and injustices. His presence and themes perfectly match the band’s unhinged swirling hardcore beats, like an aural circle pit, all of which connects with their audience, who communicate their excitement—and frustration—through swinging limbs.
Simply put: it’s honest.
“I don’t ever want it to seem like bullshit, because it’s not,” Pawlak says. “It’s from the heart.”
Last Friday, Spy released Satisfaction, their first full-length album—ten blistering tracks of brutal societal analysis, self-reliance and existential dread. Even the title, while seemingly happy, has a deeper, darker meaning.
“It’s about the idea of being satisfied with yourself and your life,” he explains. “For the darkest part of my brain, it’s a goal that will never be achieved and I think a lot of people feel that way. True satisfaction is elusive and difficult to achieve, maybe even impossible.”
In the last three years Spy has rocketed through the world of hardcore, quickly earning a global audience. 2023 sees the group playing at least six festivals around the U.S. and Europe, with more possibly on the way.
“It’s a different vibe and a different crowd but the passion is still there,” Pawlak says, about touring Europe.
Along the way, they’ve shared the stage with heavy hitters like Municipal Waste, Knocked Loose and Ceremony. Last October, they opened up for the biggest name in current hardcore: Turnstile.
“We were hyped to be there at all,” Pawlak describes. “It’s almost less nerve-wracking because there’s no expectations on anything. If it goes well, it goes well,” he says, laughing. “And if it doesn’t, these kids aren’t there to see us anyway, so what does it matter?”
Like some others in the 40831 San Jose/Santa Cruz scene, Spy began shortly before the pandemic. Pawlak originally wrote the four songs that would become the band’s debut EP in December of 2019, recruiting drummer Cole Gilbert (from Scowl), Cody Kryst on guitar and Vince Lofranco on bass. In April, 2020, they recorded with producer Charles Toshio.
Toshio is the producer behind many releases from other 40831 artists, like Scowl, Sunami, Gulch, Eightfold Path and Pawlak’s former band World Peace.
“He’s done all of our recordings,” Pawlak states. “He knows what we’re doing and it’s comfortable because I’ve known him for ten years.”
In late 2020 second guitarist Drew Satterlund joined and in the summer of 2021 Tommy Sherry replaced Lofranco on bass. When Scowl started blowing up, Gilbert’s availability dwindled and Spy began using a rotating cast of drummers that continues today.
Their second EP, Habitual Offender, dropped in 2021, a ten-minute, six-song abrasive assault on American exceptionalism, FUD (fear, uncertainty, death) media and a society built on the backs of the working class.
By the end of that year they signed with hardcore heavyweights Triple B Records. Last year, they released a split seven-inch record on the label with fellow hardcore act Maniac.
“[Satisfaction] is different,” Pawlak admits, adding that the band has dialed in their sound.
Just don’t expect them to go soft anytime soon.
“I’m never going to clean sing on a track or anything like that,” he says. “It’s not for me. I can’t sing anyway, but we’re definitely getting more rockin’. That’s the shit we’re all into.”
One example is the single “Koniec.” Underneath all the distortion it’s easy to hear a rock and roll swagger coming through the guitar and bass riffs. However, what really stands out on the track is Pawlak singing in Polish.
“My parents are Polish immigrants,” he explains. “That was my first language growing up and [Poland is] where my whole family lives outside of my parents and my brother.”
It’s the immigrant experience that shaped Pawlak’s life, outlook and unfiltered music.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do on a track,” he says. “I’d say Satisfaction is better, stronger and peak Spy up to this point.”
Spy
Satisfaction
Out Now
