Buffalo's Spaced hit us up late last year telling us about their “far out hardcore” style that started with a demo in August and another short release to round out the year. 2022 saw Spaced take giant steps forward with the NMZ release “Spaced Jams” followed by what seemed like non-stop touring. Caught them on Long Island in May and was hit with just a ton of energy from their live performance that made me like “Spaced Jams” that much more once it hit. Lexi Reyngoudt was kind enough to take some time out of her day to answer these questions in this November 2022 interview. Lead photo by: Josh Brown, graphics by: Paul Turano.
1. Where exactly are you right now and what would you usually be doing at this time of the day if you weren't answering these questions?
Lexi: Right now I'm at one of my field placements for school. I'm currently in my last year of college to get my certification in English Education 7-12. I'm sitting in the middle school classroom that I'll be student teaching in once the Spring semester rolls around. (Fun fact, my cooperating teacher at this placement loves hardcore and knew about Spaced before I told him I was in the band!)
2. Tell us about “Spaced Jams” and what made you decide to essentially put all your music out on one album?
Lexi: “Spaced Jams” is a compilation of all of our music. We decided to put all of our music on one release so it would be easier for anybody who listens to us to have our music in one place. It's also a cool way to see how much we've grown since releasing the demo last year.
3. Who are the other members of Spaced and can you tell us an interesting fact about each of them?
Lexi: Lexi Reyngoudt; vocals, big K-pop stan. Donny Arthur; guitar, lover of all things horror. Joe Morganti; guitar, probably knows about that niche musician you think is unknown. John Vaughan; bass, literally always caffeinated or is planning his next coffee run. Dan McCormick; drums, the biggest Blink 182 fan in the world.
SPACED (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) JOE MORGANTI, DANIEL MCCORMICK
LEXI REYNGOUDT, JOHN VAUGHAN & DONNY ARTHUR PHOTO BY: SAM TILKINS
4. What kinds of hobbies or interests do you have outside of hardcore music?
Lexi: I've gotten super into K-pop and anime within the last 4 years. I collect manga and try to keep up with any cool anime that comes out each season. Right now my favorites are Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Attack On Titan. All pretty mainstream, but well worth the hype in my opinion! As for K-pop, I'm always up to date on new groups debuting or my favorite groups releasing new music. I saw the group Seventeen in September and that was my first K-pop concert and oh boy... literally the best time of my entire life, it was awesome.
5. What made you want to become a singer for a hardcore band? Was there a specific moment? Show? Album that you bought where you just knew this is something you wanted to do?
Lexi: I've been a fan of hardcore since 2016, but I didn't feel the click that I was looking for until I saw Have Heart play outside the Worcester Palladium in 2019. Seeing so many people come together for a band who hadn't released music in years was so inspiring and really made me want to become a part of my local scene here in Buffalo. I remember getting a tattoo from Donny shortly after that day and telling him how I wanted to get involved and then the seed was planted; he told me to make my own band which he helped me start! He got Dan, John, and Joe in the mix and we started writing music together.
SPACED @ ACT LIKE YOU KNOW FEST, TULSA, OK NOVEMBER 20, 2022. PHOTO BY: JOSH BROWN
6. Once you decided to become the singer in this band did you find it easy or hard to actually "sing" in a hardcore style. Some of the people I have asked this question to found it to be much harder than just screaming into a mic. What was your experience like?
Lexi: I wouldn't say it was easy and I knew what I was doing right from the start, but I had an idea of how I wanted to approach my vocal style pretty early on. Knocked Loose was one of the first hardcore bands I really fell in love with so at first I tried to mimic Bryan's vocals, but soon found that I was nowhere close to his. I continued to practice in my car on the way home from work and began to really like how Brendan from Turnstile and Justice from Trapped Under Ice and Angel Du$t did their vocals. When we started to record rough demos of our first few songs, I was definitely shy and not sure how to approach it, but the guys got me to relax and just go for it. That's really how I got the vocals I had on the demo, but after playing shows and getting more comfortable in front of a crowd, I think I've come a long way.
7. Where did the name Spaced come from and is there any special meaning behind it for you?
Lexi: Donny was the one who came up with the name "Spaced." We started brainstorming name ideas in the summer of 2020, and I think at that point we agreed on "Spaced Out" as our name. Once we started to get into the studio to record the demo, that's when we shortened the name. Donny was the one who created our logo and felt that shortening our name to "Spaced" would 1. help us stick out more and 2, get him to create some really cool designs based around the name.
Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allan loves him some wings from Bar Bills
8. Being that Spaced is from Buffalo, NY are Buffalo's famous chicken wings overrated? Underated? Or properly rated in your opinion? If you are vegan or vegetarian please adjust your answer.
Lexi: Okay so I've been vegetarian for over 2 years, but I know where the good wings are. If you're coming from out of town and just want to hit a chain cause it's easier, Duff's has a good selection. They're good, but not the best and they're definitely better than Anchor Bar. My personal favorite wings are from Bar Bill in East Aurora. Not only do I think they're the best wings, but so does Josh Allen so I feel like those are two dependable cosigns! However, if you want some good vegan wings, Strong Hearts and Sunshine Vegan Eats are where it's at. Both restaurants have a delicious menu of vegan goodies.
9. 2022 has been a bust out year for Spaced in regards to playing shows not only within the United States but also in Europe. Can you give us a little run down to where you played so far this year and what about your 2022 tour schedule will you remember for years to come?
Lexi: Oh god, let me try to remember a rough timeline (it's been a long year!) Our first out of town run/tour was with Broken Vow in January hitting the Midwest for the first time. In February we did a weekend run with Gel in the Northeast. March we didn't do too much, just one show in Brooklyn with Dare and Kharma. We went down South a bit and came back up playing shows with Jivebomb and Guardrails in April. May was also a slow month; we played on Long Island for the first time with One Step Closer, Gel, and Broken Vow. June was our first really busy month! We started it with a weekend run around the Northeast with Anklebiter and also played Sticks and Stones fest with New Found Glory. The end of the month was our first big boy tour with Like Pacific, Action/Adventure, and Grumpster. The LP tour went into July a bit and then we spent the rest of the month resting and preparing for Europe. Our first time overseas was in August with Comeback Kid. September we played the first ever Hold Your Ground Fest in Mississauga, Ontario Canada. We just finished a weekend run with World I Hate in the Midwest in October. Our November plans are the Snapcase show in Buffalo, an upstate unity showcase in Rochester, and heading down to Tulsa, OK for Act Like You Know Fest. Technically November, but mostly December we're finishing off the year touring with Cancer Bats and War on Women. Honestly, this entire year has been a dream for us! My personal and obvious favorite memory was touring Europe for the first time. Comeback Kid were so awesome and kind to us and we met our friends Dagger Threat for the first time (if you like Vein or Harms Way, listen to Dagger Threat.)
Spaced logo by: Jon Mayo aka Mayor_Mayo
10. Were there any cities or countries that maybe surprised you as far as their reception to Spaced? Maybe you weren't expecting a big turnout or response but were blown away?
Lexi: Any city we go to I don't expect anyone to know who we are, so I'm always surprised and happy when I see people moshing and singing along to our songs. However, the biggest surprise was our set at Brutal Assault in Czechia. For those who don't know, Brutal Assault is a HUGE metal festival and we were added to the lineup just before we left for Europe. My initial thought once we got to the fest was, "Oh my god, we are going to be the softest band here and everyone is going to hate us." None of us knew what to expect, but the guys from Comeback Kid came over to hype us up backstage before we went on. About 10 minutes before the set I looked out and saw we had about 50 people in front of the stage (which by the way the stage was massive), and I told myself that that's enough people and I could work with that. Once it was time to go on stage, I walked out and saw thousands of people staring back at me and cheering for us. I think I blacked out or something, because the set blew by before I even knew it. All I remember is jumping down to the barricade for the breakdown in “Spinning” and sharing the mic with the crowd as some people sang along and crowd surfed towards me. We finished the set by replaying 2 songs because we played our entire discography and the crowd was asking for encores. By far, my favorite set we've ever played.
11. Outside of playing music what city/cities made an impression on you for what they had to offer (aside from music) and exactly what was it about them that made them stand out?
Lexi: My favorite cities we traveled to this year were Baltimore, Manchester, and Berlin. We went to an art museum in Baltimore and went to a park to chill before we had to be at the venue and it is such a cool city! Manchester, UK was cool because when we were walking around, it didn't feel like I was in a foreign country; it felt super familiar. My personal favorite city was Berlin though. We went to this record store called Coretex Records and I found a Slugfest shirt and John found an Exhibition record which really made us feel at home.
12. What are some places that you can't wait to play in the future and what about them makes you list them?
Lexi: I'm itching for us to play the Westcoast. We have a bunch of homies out there and they're always telling us we would do so well playing shows there so hopefully we can make it out there next summer! A real bucket list country though is to tour Japan. I've always wanted to travel to Japan and go to shows there so if I was able to play there, it would be a fucking dream.
SPACED @ KUNG FU NECKTIE, PHILADELPHIA, PA DECEMBER 2, 2022. PHOTO BY: EMILY HARTMANN
13. What are your drives like going between cities on a tour?
Lexi: Dan's dad has a van that he lets us use for touring and any out of town one offs we have. Dan usually drives since it's his family's vehicle, but if needed Donny, John, or I will tap in. We're all pretty chill about what music plays, but if you catch us doing a long drive through the night, some weird shit starts playing. Joe is usually the one who stays awake with whoever is driving so he'll cater to whoever is up. Now if it gets late enough and we're all feeling silly, we get the butt rock playlist going or just play some random shit to make sure we stay awake. We love a good Puddle Of Mudd jam session in the van! We also love to stop for snacks if we need them. We'll hit the occasional gas station or a nice vegan spot when we get to the city we're playing, but if we're in the Midwest you already know we're going to Sheetz. One thing about Spaced is we love our snacky snacks and drinky drinks.
14. What do you remember from the first Spaced show? Who else played? When was it? Where was it? What kind of reaction did you get?
Lexi: The first show Spaced ever played was at this random parking lot in Buffalo with Smash 'N Grab and Exhibition. This was one of the first shows back since the pandemic had started and a whole bunch of people came out for it. I was nervous and quite literally almost shit myself during our set, but it was fun! We had a few moshers and some people even knew the words. A lot of our friends who don't really listen to hardcore came out to support and they kept telling us we have something special that could go a long way. It was a really great way to start the band off and it has only gotten better since.
PHOTO BY: EMILY HARTMANN
15. Can you name 3 singers from any genre of music who you would say have influenced you and what you do in Spaced and maybe give a little something on each one as to what it is that makes them an influence?
Lexi: 1. Not to be that person, but Hayley Williams from Paramore; she was the first girl I saw in punk music that really made me believe I could be up on a stage too.
2. Brendan Yates from Turnstile; I find a lot of inspiration from his vocals, but also from his stage presence. He just goes up there and has the best time and it really makes me want to do the same thing!
3. Kat from Scowl; watching her embrace her femininity has inspired me to experiment with my wardrobe and also how I present myself on stage. I use she/they pronouns and some days I feel more masculine than others, but when I really want to be feminine I feel like it's okay to show that because of her. It's okay to be hyper-feminine in hardcore because you can still be a fucking badass.
16. Three things that scare the crap out of you?
Lexi: 1. Men (the bad ones; don't give me some bullshit that not all men are bad. I know!) 2. Big spiders, like the ones that shouldn't be in your house, but somehow got in. 3. Being disliked for no reason.
Terror bomber jacket!
17. What is your current favorite band t-shirt or gear?
Lexi: My current favorite piece of merch is this Terror bomber jacket my friend Kat gave me! I met her through going to hardcore shows in WNY and one day she was like, "I have this Terror bomber jacket that I never wear, do you want it?" Of course I said yes and she gave it to me the next time I was in Syracuse for a show! I've only worn it once, but have gotten many compliments on it.
18. Do your parents or close family & friends show interest in your music and if so what do they think?
Lexi: My family at first didn't quite understand Spaced. They were supportive, but weren't sure what the goal was! My parents and sister came and saw us in Buffalo when we played here on the Like Pacific tour and after our set they began to understand what we were doing and what hardcore was. My dad is in his 60's and told me, "If I was 40 years younger I would've been in that pit!" I'm always bringing home merch to give to them and they're always excited to wear it and tell our extended family and their friends about the band!
19. Past or present, if you could join and be the singer for any band in any kind of music who would you want it to be with? Favorite song or album by that band?
Lexi: Trapped Under Ice. I would have so much fun being the vocalist in that band! I love all of their songs, but “Big Kiss Goodnight” as a whole is just a perfect album in my opinion.
20. What are Spaced plans for the rest of 2022 and when can we expect a follow up to "Spaced Jams"?
Lexi: We have a few out of town shows along with playing Act Like You Know Fest in Tulsa and going on tour with Cancer Bats and War on Women. As far as new music goes, we have a little something in the works. We should hopefully have those out early next year!
SPACED @ STICKS & STONES FEST, WORCESTER, MA JUNE 4, 2022. PHOTO BY: EMILY HARTMANN
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