Spiritbox guitarist Mike Stringer has addressed long-standing claims from detractors that the band was ‘manufactured’ by the music industry. The Canadian alternative metal outfit first gained widespread attention with their breakout 2020 single “Holy Roller”, which propelled them into the spotlight amid the pandemic.
While the track’s success helped Spiritbox bypass some of the usual struggles for up-and-coming bands, Stringer revealed that the pandemic actually left them $30,000 in debt, nearly derailing their momentum. Speaking with Guitar World, he recalled:
“We had a song out that people really liked, and everyone was excited we were going to play shows. Then the pandemic shut everything down and we had to pay 30 grand to come home overnight because there was a travel ban. We had no money and I went into major debt.
When we got home I said to Courtney, ‘Well, it looks like we’re done here because we can’t tour and now we’re going to have to figure out how to pay this money off.’”
Despite the financial hit, Spiritbox has since gone on to achieve two GRAMMY nominations, a collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion, and major support slots for metal and hard rock heavyweights. However, their rapid rise hasn’t been without its critics—including Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke, who has publicly feuded with the band.
Pushing back against accusations that Spiritbox was an industry plant, Stringer stated:
“It’s so funny that a lot of people think we came out of nowhere and were manufactured by the music industry to make them loads of money. That would probably be one of the worst investments from any company, ever.
If you think of how long it has taken to get this band off the ground, it has been such a slow-moving process, and after 12 years playing in bands, we’ve finally gotten to the point where we can pay rent.”
Before forming Spiritbox, Stringer and his wife, vocalist Courtney LaPlante, cut their teeth in the underground scene as members of the now-defunct mathcore outfit iwrestledabearonce. While their past experience gave them a foundation in the DIY touring circuit, Spiritbox’s pandemic-era breakthrough meant they skipped the traditional grind of endless small-venue tours, something that Stringer admits still feels surreal:
“It’s very weird. The band gained a lot of popularity when we couldn’t go out and play music. For years, everything happened behind the scenes. We’ve only recently been hitting it hard and touring.
I sometimes get freaked out when I look out at the audience and all these people are singing along. It’s so bizarre. It’s like we existed in this big blank space of uncertainty, and then all of a sudden it was, ‘Wow, look what happened!’ We’re here now and we have to continue to strike while the iron is hot.”
Spiritbox is currently on the road in support of their newly released sophomore album, Tsunami Sea, which debuted at #26 on the Billboard 200, selling 22,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, including 10,000 vinyl copies.
With Loathe & Dying Wish:
04/03 Dallas, TX – South Side Ballroom
04/04 San Antonio, TX – Boeing Center at Tech Port
04/05 Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center
04/07 Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
04/08 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
04/11 Washington, DC – MGM National Harbor
04/12 Pittsburgh, PA – UPMC Events Center
04/14 Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
04/15 Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theater
04/18 New York, NY – Hammerstein Ballroom
04/19 Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
04/21 Montreal, QC – M TELUS (no GEL)
04/23 Toronto, ON – Great Canadian Casino
04/25 Chicago, IL – Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
04/26 Madison, WI – The Sylvee
04/27 Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live at 20 Monroe
04/29 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
04/30 Des Moines, IA – Vibrant Music Hall
05/02 Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
05/03 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
05/06 Vancouver, BC – PNE Forum
05/07 Tacoma, WA – Temple Theatre
05/09 San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
05/10 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium (no GEL)
Spiritbox:
06/06 Nurnberg, GER – Rock im Park
06/07 Nurburg, GER – Rock am Ring
06/10 Leipzig, GER – Arena Leipzig
06/11 Nickelsdorf, AUT – Nova Rock
06/11-14 Hradec Kralove, CZE – Rock For People
06/12-14 Interlaken, SWI – Greenfield Festival
06/15 Derby, UK – Download Festival
06/20 Clisson, FRA – Hellfest Open Air
06/21 Dessel, BEL – Graspop Metal Meeting
06/24 Milano, ITA – Ippodromo Snai La Maura
06/26 Arnhem, NET – GelreDome (with Linkin Park)
06/28 London, UK – Wembley Stadium (with Linkin Park and JPEGMAFIA)
07/04 Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater (‘Summerfest‘)
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137 Comments
The pandemic almost shut the band down completely:
https://springgreen-caribou-353428.hostingersite.com/spiritboxs-mike-stringer-shuts-down-manufactured-band-claims-that-would-be-one-of-the-worst-investments-ever/
Industry plants and nobody is gonna mention thrown
what lol
Tristen Walthall thrown sounds good at least
Garyson Winn so does SB
neither are a plant tho
there’s a formula to growth
thrown executed perfectly
Tristen Walthall both spiritbox and thrown are awesome
Bands. Spiritbox is awesome live, people who havent seen them live stop complaining. I wasn’t a fan and that changed. Then again evryones a gatekeeper now a days and its super embarassing.,
Dayne Middleton I agree
SB isn’t even my cup of tea but you can’t deny sound and work ethic
Tristen Walthall their production work and grinding tours and releasing quality stuff. People need to leave them alone. Its all because courtney took over in IWABO that they thinks shes a plant and then immediately found success with her own project with her husband.
Dayne Middleton yep gatekeeper gate keeping is for fucking tools.
Tristen Walthall Thrown doesn’t need the extra backing. Buster Odeholm is a big enough name on his own that just being affiliated and playing drums for Thrown is enough for them to pop off
Thew Bratton Buster 100% heavily catered towards throwns success not only from his personal playing and engineering, his reputation and understanding of the industry alongside a fresh project is destined for success
Just feel like thrown is a way better band to call an industry plant over spirit box lol
Even though neither of them are
Both bands have incredible work ethic and it shows
Tristen Walthall take it you ain’t heard of , humanity’s last breath or vildhjarta then 😆
Tristen Walthall Thrown are sick dude plants or not their shows are feral
Tristen Walthall i don’t think you understand what an industry plant is. Buster odenholm and the other members of thrown have been grinding in multiple bands for 15 years at this point dude. Somebody finally getting success but it’s under a new project name isn’t an industry plant. And industry plant would be if an A&R chose some IG model and put her voice on an album and paid for the radio play. Also you clearly don’t understand that metal bands make virtually $0. There is no incentive for anyone to plant or frankly invest in anything other than for love of the music.
Jared read comments I already said they’re not
I listened to em once
Spiritbox is definitely not an industry plant. You can see when they first started working together in IWABO. Anyone that thought Spiritbox would come from that must have a fucking crystal ball or something. They built that band.
Ira GarryWith Jay Z.
Marionetta Chan which happened purely cos IWABOs manager moved to roc Nation to be a Manager. Some of your favorite bands are probably signed with sony or umg. So they must be industry plants cos big label = industry plant now
Blake Bishell yeah I still don’t see how they are a plant.
Marionetta Chan what is a woman?
Ira Garryof course you don’t
Marionetta Chan you can insist it’s so because of who they signed with, that doesn’t mean shit. I’ve followed them since they were releasing music themselves with no hype and very little fans. You’re just saying what? Because they are roc nation? GTFO lol
Marionetta Chan I don’t think you understand what a plant is or something.
No point in making metal industry plants. Shit sells no matter what.
The fact that he has to “shutdown” the ” claims” is suspicious in itself.
If somebody said I was in a secret ninja clan I would laugh and continue eating
Don Jaun Demarco they’ve been grinding for nearly two decades so I don’t blame him. Spiritbox also didn’t blow up until they already had 2 EPs out and then Holy Roller dropped.
It’s just a braindead take
Bryce Garland people act like record labels don’t have a marketing team that use strategies to promote music. I’m sure they did pay for spiritbox to get air time on satellite radio. Only way boomers were going to buy in and they did.
Don Jaun Demarco right. What claims!?
Don, you do know that is just the headline, right? It most likely went exactly like that, but “Non-chalantly shrugs off” or “flippant ignores” doesn’t get clicks.
Their music is so boring though
Ryan Bement 🤡
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Hal Johnston LMFAO
Hal Johnston damn stalker. I’m flattered. Admittedly I posted that after listening to the first couple songs. I want to like them, but Courtney’s voice just drones on. Haven’t listened to it in weeks. I stand by my whitechapel comment
Ryan Bement ah yes I stalked your public profile on social media. 😂
Hal Johnston Hahahahahahaha
Ryan Bement your cred is lost. I’d delete this lol
why do they sound like that then
As usual, if the gatekeepers spent half their butthurt internet time on actually learning to play an instrument and playing shows they could maybe say they walked a mile in Mike Stringers shoes, but most havent and odds are they wont.
Daren WalkerI play violin and I’m in a band. Your move, simp.
Marionetta Chan also in a band as a multi instrumentalist and producer not sure how that equates to simp lol..the podium is yours what’s your beef with Spiritbox let’s hear it.
That exactly what they are. Industry plants. The general population doesn’t want this kind of shit music.
Danjo Woods the general population doesn’t even listen to rock music at all
Danjo Woods Ok nobody.
How can a band be an industry plant when the members have been around for decades playing the same shit lmao
Shawn Brown also if you was going to do an industry plant I would do pop music as that sells a tonne. Metal bands take years to get big. Partly because of all the moany fans.
Darren Bridgman spiritbox is basically pop. Leans towards the rock side of things but let’s call it what it is. It’s pop.
Shawn Brown the same shit? Spiritbox sounds like IWABO to you?
Christopher Branden yes
Shawn Brown need your hearing checked then, good sir.
Christopher Branden are you trying tell me Courtney didn’t do harsh and clean vocals, and the guitars weren’t downtuned and heavy? I don’t understand.
Shawn Brown I’m trying to tell you that IWABO and Spiritbox, while both metal, don’t sound anything alike aside from that base fact.
Christopher Branden he said it with the implied context of brass tacks, no need to split hairs.
The point remains the same – they’ve invested years together making tunes.
Nathan Brown well…..that wasn’t your original point though, was it.
Christopher Branden I’m pretty sure it was HIS original point, you just took “same shit” as some kind of insult and felt compelled to tell him something most already know.
IWABO are technical, progressive and unpredictable, Spiritbox are more fundamental – we get it, man.
IWABO + Architects Covers = PROFIT
At least Poppy is a good vocalist for them!
I mean sure, if you ignore the fact that they’re a part of the Jay Z / Roc Nation machine.
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Justin Roth that doesn’t necessarily make them industry plants. But it does explain part of the reason why they have such a wide reach to the public and so much marketing behind them from the moment that management deal was signed.
Bruno Costa and it was luck as well, IWABO’s manager moved to Roc Nation to be a manager there.
Joseph Plant I had no idea, but that sure helps explain a lot!
Bruno Deftone’s count as a plant? Madonna’s label signed them back in the day
The Mosh Network I said Spiritbox being managed by Roc Nation didn’t necessarily make them industry plants. Why would Deftones being signed to Madonna’s label count as such? That’s odd parallel thinking.
Bruno was meant for the OP but tagged you. My bad 🤘🏼
The Mosh Network deftones toured RELENTLESSLY in an era that the internet didn’t exist. They were also totally original. No one sounded like them. Spiritbox is just female fronted modern metal that’s sounded the same for the last 15 years or so. They didn’t tour at first. This is a truly awful comparison
Andrew uh, it was more or less a joke…but okay
Justin Roth the spirtbox print confirmed lol 😆
Justin Roth they’ve been in bands for over 15 years. They worked 15 years to make basically minimum wage and people like you want to claim it’s unearned or that they magically got there. It makes no sense.
Justin Roth bro I had no idea, thats crazy, jay z has a hand in mainstream rock/metal?
Justin Roth being on a big label doesnt make you and industry plant or else every big band ever would be one
Justin Roth they are not part of Roc Nation anymore, starting February this year. Also thei success has nothing to do with Jay Z or whatever
If every-time a new band come along people just go “who”and say oh they are bad we are never going to keep rock music going. We have to have new bands and we can’t just dismiss them because we don’t know them. Go and check them out. If you don’t like it that’s fine but no need to slag it off after all good art for someone is bad art to someone else. That’s fine.
Their music sounds way too perfect, and often the guitar riffs just sound like noise. To be fair, their first EP was awesome, but I haven’t been able to get into most of their stuff since. Dang, I miss IWABO.
I don’t believe him.
These claims are coming from nobodys that found out about them a month ago. Meanwhile I’ve been listening to Courtney and Mike’s stuff since she took over for Krista in Iwrestledabearonce and Mike joined on their last album. They’ve been making this kind of music for a long time now. But people are just now finding out about them. So pathetic.
Connor Saunders Unicron.
Nathan Daniel don’t forget Fall in Archea!
Connor Saunders cool bro no-one gives a shit, this band is fucking ass
Ash Bilton No one cares eh? Tell that to their Tens of millions of streams, sold out shows and millions of fans. You aren’t unique. Go listen to some dad rock or something hahaha
If you can gloss over a member’s death like nothing happened your definitely manufacturer material.
Alex bro was out of the band for years, what’d you want them to do?
Is this the new way of saying “overnight success a decade in the making”?
Mike is a saint , the internet is dumb.
ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ꜰᴜʟʟ ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ ʟɪɴᴋ 👉https://ln.run/dwoTc
Both Mike and Courtney were staple members of the Western Canadian metal scene for years. They frequently traveled across Canada for the love of it. All their success is due to hard work and dedication.
Cody Schubert They were also part of Iwrestledabearonce, which was a fairly successful band from Louisiana (oddly enough, considering how far away it is from Canada lmao)
It’s not like they came out of no where with Spiritbox. It’s just their most successful venture.
Spiritbox is great yall just lame as fuck and always want something to hate on cause your miserable.
lmao the only reason people say they’re industry plants is because they’re fronted by a woman, and I don’t even enjoy their music.
I mean they were a sideroject IWABO, so it’s moot.
🇺🇸🖤 Spiritbox f the haters 💯🌎🤘
And Iwrestledabearonce? …yeah thought so
They almost stopped making music during covid, i’m sure they would have been “planted” prior.
IWABO also exists
Jay Wagner or…. Look up unicron and fall in archaea
I feel bad for Mike. He’s stuck listening to Courtney’s BS all day.
Jay Z controls Spiritbox lol
😂😂
Their music is just way too over produced
Dale Tatum facts
Dale Tatum this has nothing to do with the conversation
Dale Tatum what is an example of a band that isn’t “overproduced” today?
Jordan Milner I can’t get into modern bands because they’re so over produced.
Dale Tatum what bands do you like then?
Jordan Milner one that can’t afford studio time or producers 😅
Jordan Milner Blood Incantation, Dvne, Ulcerate all released killer records last year that weren’t hyper-compressed / overproduced.
The issue with bands like Spiritbox is they’re perfectly quantized, filled with samples, layered with synths and choked by compression. As a result it feels robotic. Drums on the newest Spiritbox record could be MIDI and it wouldn’t make a difference because they’re so heavily sampled. When people complain about overproduction this is usually what they mean, it doesn’t mean that sounding good = bad. TesseracT and Disembodied Tyrant are good examples of bands with very modern production that still have nuance
Ryan Kelleher absolute elsewhere was my favorite album of last year. Cutting the throat of God was in my top 10. Your explanation is great, and now I understand.
To me, Spiritbox sits in the gateway Metal category. Their sound is meant for a broad audience. They have pop style production because that’s essentially the audience they’re targeting. I dislike the term “overproduced” because it’s basically saying the producer is too good at their job. Daniel Braunstein is an incredibly talented producer. He gave Spiritbox the exact sound they were going for, and elevated it even further. If they had a more organic production, they probably wouldn’t be nearly as big, and that’s simply not their goal.
If you even know who bands like blood incantation and disembodied tyrant are, then you are probably not in spiritbox’s target audience 😂.
Jordan Milner all good points. I think you’re right that “overproduced” isn’t really the best word for it, I think their producers did exactly what they intended and did it well. And you’re right, it works for what they are looking to do.
I do think that’s what people usually mean when they make that criticism though. The inevitable sacrifice of the more polished sound is losing a lot dynamics IME. Listening to something like In Utero or Doolittle is a good contrast, you can hear the room in the snares and it just has a lot of headroom. My band absolutely goes for the huge compressed thing too so I’m not shitting on it just explaining.
PS love that you also recognize how amazing those records are. Dvne’s was severely underrated IMO if you haven’t checked it out. Little more djenty but great writing.
Ryan Kelleher crazy you say this since millions of people have gotten emotion and feeling out of their music and become fans. Maybe its a personal preference and not an objective fact especially since they sound the same live as they do on record
Jordan Milner For a new band that I’ve been digging is SpiritWorld. Check them out if you haven’t heard of them. Pretty straight forward and they combine a lot of the stuff I like
Ryan Kelleher excellent synopsis. The casual listener doesn’t know what any of that means, nor do they care. I say this all the time and people look at me like I’m crazy
Dale Tatum I ran lights for their first headliner ever in Grand Rapids, MI for the Upheaval Festival afterparty and they absolutely slayed. Whatever is overproduced to you doesn’t mean shit unless youve seen both their sound check and live show following because they get the fuuuu*k down.
Chase Maycroft I’ve seen them live. They’re alright
Dale Tatum yup I guess you win 😂
Chase Maycroft Nothing to win or lose about. I just personally think their music is over produced and just can’t get into it. All modern bands are that way. Live shows are cool and sound great, just can’t connect with the band. It’s just too fake
Chase Maycroft nobody cares
Patrick Goodman about your little problem? Awe I’m sorry 😢
Chase Maycroft seems like you’re the one with the problem.
Patrick Goodman tru
Dale Tatum 🤣
Dale Tatum they’re a generic modern metalcore band, essentially just pop music, it’s to be expected.
Eric Axel Wallin Exactly. That’s why I can’t get into modern metal.
Eric Axel Wallin y’all call anything generic that isn’t constantly the same boring bands that aren’t popular anymore
Even IF the “industry”, or whatever you think you understand professional music to be, backed them because they saw success… who cares? Isn’t that the point of doing anything professionally? Grinding hard and catching the right attention opens doors and reveals opportunities. If every artist was criticized for taking advantage of that then they’re all plants by definition.
Lorance Smith that’s the thing. They didn’t grind hard. They were around for 3 years before their first live show. To attain the level of success they did without touring makes one question things.
And yes, NOW, they are grinding hard
Andrew Michaeldo you even know who the band members are lmao.
They’ve been around for like… almost 2 decades in music.
Andrew Michael they were in bands touring for years and Spiritbox was a side project, became the main gig then COVID happened. You couldn’t tour like you want them to during that time and they just had a song pop off. Not from lack of trying 🤷🏻♂️
The Mosh Network they started in 17 and didn’t tour until 2020. Ironically… during covid times.
Andrew okay
Andrew Michael I personally think it’s just not a meritocracy where bands that grind out on tours get the most promotion. Look at Wisp (who I think is great). She had one song which used a prerecorded beat and had played one talent show and she got a major label deal and they promoted the hell out of her. It’s more the label’s perceived value of the artist; not necessarily how much they have grinded.
Not even industry plants or why did IWOBO split lmao. The fact is they make great music even if the new album was kinda mid to me
The sheeple claiming this listen to too much pop music where all the songs and artists come off an assembly line, have a 3week shelf life, then scrapped never to be heard again
Nah, their singer is just a loudmouth with terrible takes and a huge ego.
Manufactured doesn’t mean successful.
*sleep token
Yeah they are Not industry plants but it is weird how they blew up out of nowhere.
Other bands like Fleshwater and narrow head are still grinding hard as hell since they haven’t reached the level that spiritbox is in at all.
Abelardo Ramirez it hasn’t been out of nowhere, it’s been a slow slip into mediocrity that the population loves.
Abelardo Ramirez right. I get they put their time in with other bands. But they were around a few years before they played a single live show. That’s what gets some people. They didn’t slog it out on the road playing in front of 20 people in a dive bar. And good for them I guess. But when you attain this level of success without touring in the beginning.. people start to wonder how.
Abelardo RamirezThey were very, very clever with how they used YouTube and the internet as a whole, from the horror-style music videos, to Courtney’s impressive range and the band’s past musical history already having something of a cult status among their fans.
It made sense, when the singles came out, they were in an excellent position for a new band, but Rule of Nines, Holy Roller and Blessed Be were stratospheric for them with Courtney’s 1-take performances, and taking advantage of the rise of music react channels and videos.
They had their fingers on the pulse, knew how to work it in their favour, Eternal Blue was so incredibly hyped, and whilst the album wasn’t a masterpiece or anything, for a first album, it was shockingly good! They just went up from there.
Lots of butthurt lads in here. Get over it they are making it and your band went nowhere.