Most bands’ live sets are met with the usual variety of responses: a polite round of applause; vague indifference; scattered hooting and hollering; a few attaboys and high fives for a good effort.
Local noise-rockers Horse Spirit Penetrates, traffickers of loud, dissonant, free-form sonic freak-outs, have experienced all these—along with a few others that lie outside the normal spectrum.
“One time a middle-aged woman in Baltimore who had probably never been to a noise show saw us and freaked out the whole time,” recalls drummer Will Berney. “She was really psyched and hugged us after the set. Then she asked us if we played in any bands. Also, a man who said he was the cheerleading coach at Malden High insisted on taking my pulse after we played.”
“Often unexpected people are our most enthusiastic fans,” adds guitarist Kieran Lally.
Horse Spirit Penetrates were born when the two friends moved to Hadley in 2005 to start a band “because it needed to happen,” says Lally.
“We were living in Boston and Kieran asked me to be in a spiritual band that involved singing and harmonies,” Berney recalls. “We’ve known each other since early teenage-hood, and we always had a musical connection. We would both freak out over really specific moments from like a John McLaughlin record or Earth, Wind and Fire. Or Karp.”
Lally might be credited for initiating the group, but Berney says he is responsible for coining the unique moniker. “I drew a picture of the confluence of the Deerfield and North Rivers with the caption ‘Horse Spirit Penetrates,’ because there are some horses that live near that swimming hole, and you can feel their spirit penetrating the area.”
The band creates its sound through frequent jam sessions. “We play together a lot, mostly improvising,” says Berney. “Sometimes in practice we’ll find something and flesh it out a little bit, but our sets are almost all improvised. Sometimes we’ll wind up playing things that we’ve worked on.”
Berney claims the pair count a wide array of influences, some musical, some, well, spiritual: “The USA is a Monster, Olneyville Sound System, nature, freedom, food, Harvey Milk—more of an inspiration than an influence—ZZ Top, Sunny Murray, Sonny Sharrock.”
Horse Spirit Penetrates have released a handful of cassettes, most of which are no longer available due to their small production runs. They currently have two self-released 30-minute tapes still procurable, Just Goldens and Untitled.
The duo will be at 145 South St. in Northampton April 23 with Vialka from France and Boston’s Rotten Apples. They head out on tour this July with prog-rockers Genesis Climber and comedian Sharkee Katz.
Above all else, Horse Spirit Penetrates plan to keep on doing what ultimately makes them happy.
“I think we try to make the music that we want to hear,” Lally says.
Berney agrees. “Playing loud, free music has always just felt really good to me. Like I never wonder why I’m doing this.”
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/horsespiritpenetrates.
