Space Oddity: A Conversation with J Spaceman of Spiritualized
by Adam Perry for Boulder Weekly 3/31/2022
Perhaps the signature sentiment of Jason Pierce’s career as the frontman and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized can be found on 1997’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space: “All I want in life’s a little bit of love to take the pain away”—repeated while a lush, anthemic monolith builds around Pierce’s vocals.
The album became the Abbey Road for lovers of indie rock. However, on the phone with Pierce (aka J Spaceman) recently from his native England, he shared that discovering a certain Motor City madman at a young age had more of an effect on his trajectory than other classic-rock icons one might assume informed the grand psychedelia of Spiritualized.
“They used to sell LP records in the chemist, in the center of town,” says Pierce, born in Rugby, Warwickshire. “One day, I was flipping through and saw the Stooges’ Raw Power and just fell in love. It made sense in my life. Maybe I saw somebody like an ally: If they can do that, I can do anything. It really did change my world. It felt like I’d discovered this secret. Nobody else knew this record; nobody else knew what it was about.”
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Adam Perry 