After Mike Stringer’s Instagram post in early 2024 blew up online, the Spiritbox guitarist and singer Courtney LaPlante explain how they did “fake Jordan Fish propaganda by accident” and why he didn’t actually produce their new record.
Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante and Mike Stringer have clarified that Jordan Fish didn’t produce the band’s forthcoming second album Tsunami Sea.
The internet practically exploded at the start of the year when Mike shared a photo of Jordan in the studio with them on Instagram, leading many to believe that they were all officially working together. However, in a new interview on the Zach Sang Show, the pair confirm that Tsunami Sea was done with Spiritbox’s longtime producer Dan Braunstein – and that hanging out with Jordan was essentially more of a casual session thing.
“Michael did fake Jordan Fish propaganda by accident,” Courtney explains (transcribed via Kerrang!). “We were really embarrassed, because it’s like Jordan’s so cool and nice and awesome to work with, that you forget that he’s a famous person. So we went and did some songwriting sessions with him, and Michael posted a picture being like, ‘Hanging with Jordan!’”
“I would always just put something in my story, right?” Mike continues. “I’ve done it all the time with Zakk [Cervini] or Drew [Fulk] or any of these guys. So I just wasn’t thinking about the repercussions – I wasn’t thinking about anything. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m here with my buddy Jordan, we’re making some music, I’ll just do a quick little thing.’ That was the last day, and a few hours later, the first one goes up: ‘Jordan Fish is in the studio with Spiritbox! He’s writing their album!’”
“I’m like, ‘Michael, Jordan’s famous! People are excited!’” Courtney adds.
Pictured above: Mike’s Instagram post from January 2024.
“At this point we’re driving home and Jordan’s in the car with us and I’m like, ‘I’m sorry about that…’” Mike says. “And he’s like, ‘It’s alright,’ being super nice about it. And then I wake up the next day, and it’s like, ‘Holy shit!’”
The guitarist adds that, “For the record, I would love to [work with Jordan]. He’s so talented. The only thing that happened was our timelines just didn’t match. We did those sessions and then left for tour, and then he picked up, obviously, like two or three records. So he was like, ‘I’m booked.’”
“We have our little team – we don’t change,” Courtney says. “We have our circle, and it works. We don’t need to mess with it. But we learned a lot from Jordan, just hanging out with him for three days. From a production standpoint it was really cool to watch him do stuff. He’s awesome. But Michael did Jordan propaganda by accident.”
“In the future I hope that we can work together, and maybe next time I won’t post a photo of him in the studio…” Mike concludes.
Tsunami Sea – the follow-up to 2021’s breakout LP Eternal Blue – is due out on March 7, 2025 via Pale Chord in partnership with Rise Records. Watch the interview below:
Catch Spiritbox at the following UK and European dates next year:
February 2025
13 London Alexandra Palace
15 Berlin Columbiahalle
16 Tilburg Poppodium 013
18 Paris L’Olympia
19 Köln Palladium
20 Frankfurt Zoom
22 Munich Tonhalle
23 Hamburg Freiheit 36
Plus, see them at Download Festival 2025.
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