artists » Marty O’Kane of Spiraling

“We have a lot of diverse influences, that’s kind of the root of it,” says guitarist Marty O’Kane, describing the meaning behind his band’s name, Spiraling. Tom Brislin – vocals and keyboards, Bob Hart – bass, Paul Wells – drums, and O’Kane let their eclectic influences guide each of their songs to a different sonic horizon. Before Marty teamed up with the other guys in the band, he worked with many singer/songwriters and fronted his own band for a while. However, in 2002, when all the members of Spiraling started to make music together, their status as an independent band from New Jersey perpetually rose and continues to do so.

It seems New Jersey has become somewhat of a musical epicenter. “There are a lot of really talented bands that have been coming out of here, especially within the last decade,” concurs O’Kane. He explains that this is because, “There are a lot of multicultural activities going on there (NJ), and there are a lot of styles of music.” This gave the guys an excellent starting point for their ever-so-many months on the road.

Like many bands before them, Spiraling has spent a great deal of their time touring. Recently the band toured Japan, and right away they were greeted by adoring fans. “We had just gotten out of baggage claim, and we were met by a bunch of people who were familiar with the band and wanted autographs.” This was a gratifying experience for the band, and they believe that they have websites like Myspace and Purevolume to thank. Marty went on to say, “It’s really amazing how much the internet has changed the landscape for touring musicians in that regard.”

Aside from the internet, Spiraling has acquired many new fans by touring with acts such as Live, They Might Be Giants, The Violent Femmes, Hot Hot Heat, OK GO! and many more. This has presented the opportunity for Spiraling to reach packed houses of fans from all ends of the musical spectrum.

During a stint opening for They Might Be Giants, Marty used a VOX Valvetronix AD120VTX 2×12 combo amp. After that initial positive experience with VOX, Marty went out and picked up a VOX ToneLab SE effects processor, which he recently brought on a tour of the west coast. The guys in the band couldn’t bring all of their gear on this tour, but that didn’t stop Marty from getting a good, familiar tone. “I was able to use the ToneLab on a lot of our gigs there, and it really did the job well. I could replicate what my normal home set up is with the ToneLab. It is something that is really versatile. We were playing smaller clubs and some big rooms, but the ToneLab definitely did the job in all of those situations,” said O’Kane. When asked about using the ToneLab in the recording studio, O’Kane had this to say, “It gives you a really good direct sound, and it still provides you some of the characteristics of having an actual amp…It just gives you a broad range of things to choose from, and I think that’s why it is such an asset to have in the studio.”

This isn’t the only VOX product that this guitarist has fallen in love with. Marty recently picked up a VOX AC30 Custom Classic. “A lot of times when companies make changes or try to modernize some of those old designs, they end up compromising some of the things that made it great in the first place. One thing that is really good about the new VOX AC30CC is that all of the modifications they made absolutely make sense and actually make the amp a lot better,” according to O’Kane. In the time that Marty has had the amp he has taken it into the studio for some tinkering. He finds, “The fact that it’s very responsive to what the player is doing makes it a very versatile amp. It responds really well to dynamics.”

One amp that O’Kane says that you will definitely hear in the studio is his VOX VBM-1 10 Watt Brian May amp. “It’s great to have right next to my computer if I need to figure out some stuff, and in it’s own way it has a really, really great tone,” he shares.

Spiraling is currently in the studio composing and demoing new songs. They’ll be heading out on tour soon and will be appearing at the Riverfest Arts and Music Festival in Little Rock, Arkansas along with such acts as Live and Switchfoot. For updates check out www.myspace.com/spiraling and their artist website www.spiraling.net.

By Dustin Schneider