Opening for Rage Against the Machine is no small task for any normal band. Good thing Stanford Prison Experiment isn't your normal band.
Formed about six years ago in Los Angeles, S.P.E. has toiled in the L.A. underground with almost none of the recognition they deserved. Guitarist Mike Starkey and vocalist Mario Jimenez have known each other since grade school. Drummer Davey Latter and bassist Mark Fraser complete the hardcore quartet.
Jimenez talked about S.P.E.'s motivation to form and influences along the way in a telephone interview with The Michigan Daily. "Early on, we were influenced by a lot of old punk rock stuff," Jimenez said. "Just the fact that anybody could pick up an instrument and make music ... that anyone could play. It's not some bullshit rock star thing where you're some super specially gifted person to play in a band. That kind of encouraged us to (form the band) ... that anyone ... can express ideas and share viewpoints on things and not bullshit ideas popular rock tends to have."
With influences from Minor Threat and Black Flag to current bands like Unwound and Jesus Lizard, Stanford Prison Experiment's music is definitely rooted in punk rock. However, their sound is more aggressive than most hardcore bands, and can be compared to former metal-punk outfit Quicksand. What's striking about S.P.E. is the emotion and urgency that shines through in their music and lyrics.
Many of Stanford Prison Experiment's songs have a political edge to them, something Jimenez said has always intrigued the band. "I think most of us have a healthy dislike of the average American culture and what it is," Jimenez stated. "Pretty much a lot of things that make American culture are repulsive to us, and so we just kind of react to those things ... For the most part, what is popular is pretty shitty."
S.P.E. is not another political ranter like Rage Against the Machine, however. Jimenez admitted that S.P.E. is not "a focused political band." He said they "try to just write about what moves (them) and what bothers (them) and what interests (them)."
Stanford Prison Experiment's first self-titled album on World Domination Records, released in 1993, immediately cemented the band's underground popularity. The album was a solid debut, drawing comparisons to Tool and Rage, two bands to come out of S.P.E.'s post-punk L.A. scene. In 1995, S.P.E. released "The Gato Hunch," the album they have been endlessly touring with for the past 12 months.
"The Gato Hunch" is a great album, filled with more public dissatisfaction than ever. On "Cansado," Jimenez yells about the state of popular culture: "Still the cowards have their way / We're all devoured by the fake." "Hardcore Idiot" is pretty self-explanatory: "All I hear is your voice / Looks like it's wake up time." "The Gato Hunch" incorporates a more complex and live sound than the first album, something Jimenez said was natural. "We were definitely going for something a little more on the second record and trying out different sounds," Jimenez said. "My biggest worry was that (the record) never sounded like we do live."
The live sound is difficult to capture in a small, apathetic studio, especially when you rock out as intensely as S.P.E. does live. The band's aggressive, driving force behind Starkey's hard-ass riffs, Latter's pounding rhythm, Fraser's basslines and Jimenez's intense stage presence is really something to see.
Jimenez said that touring just allows the band to grow more and more: "Touring's important. In a sense, we learn a lot about playing songs over in different ways. It makes you a better band ..."
Stanford Prison Experiment (S.P.E.) is made up of Mario Jimenez, Mark Fraser, Davey Latter and Mike Starkey.