SPIRIT BOX CLASS OF 2021 ARTIST OF THE YEAR

This year, in the shape of 'Eternal Blue', Spiritbox released a debut album that dyed heavy music in their very own shade.

- JACK ROGERS

Their year has been an awful lot for anybody to take in, especially when you consider they've only played a handful of shows this year. As a result, they've become the hottest heavy band on the planet largely through screens rather than onstage. Much like the year before it, 2021 has seen Courtney, Michael and Bill finding new, ingenious ways to connect with the people who adore their band, and achieving that rarest of things and delivering on the hype. Here, Courtney LaPlante and Michael Stringer explain what it's been like to live within Spiritbox's whirlwind year.

First off, and on top of the other incredible things that 2021 has provided, how does it feel to have your debut album out in the world finally?

Courtney: I'm almost scared of it now. Like, I know that we can top it, but the thing is, more than anything, it is us figuring out who we are as musicians. And the whole process was compromised and compromised just because of the nature that it had to be made. We made it during a time when everything was shut down. We made it in a kitchen, with our producer Dan [Braunstein] of course, after all. But it's cool that it resonates with people in the way it has, just because the process was so humble. It wasn't the big elaborate thing that we always envisioned it would be.

Michael: The process made me want to rip my hair out. It was the most stressful time of my life for sure. So it's just nice knowing that people like it.