Catching up with Alan Sparkhawk

What: Retribution Gospel Choir

When: November 12th

Where: Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church (511 Groveland Avenue)

For Minnesota’s hometown rock hero Alan Sparkhawk, playing shows within state lines should be a psychological breeze. With a well-established career heading up the Duluth-based rock acts Low and Retribution Gospel Choir, both of which have netted an international audience, he should be able to saunter onto any Minneapolis stage with the confidence of Bruce Springsteen at an Obama rally in Ashbury Park.

But regardless of street cred, Sparhawk still found himself caught up in a small bout of anxiousness prior to Retribution Gospel Choir’s set during this summer’s Rock The Garden.

“I’m glad we were first,” Sparhawk said. “It’s sort of daunting to be in front of all these Minneapolis musicians.”

All in all, it’s a commendable attribute. Sparhawk is part of one of Minnesota’s biggest rock acts, and he remains ever humbled by his lesser-known peers.

He’s also hellishly busy. Retribution Gospel Choir had a big year. Starting it with the release of their second LP, Sparhawk and company spent a bit of time touring with The Meat Puppets. He also mentioned a lovely stint of dates taking them through the food heaven that is Spain.

“Those people are serious,” Sparhawk said in a voice full of reverence, “Every little village has some road stop restaurant where you go in, start eating, look out the window and realize that everything you’re eating was grown three hundred yards [away].”

It’s also interesting to witness such similar success from a band that differs so greatly from the output of Low. Retribution Gospel Choir is a loud, brazen and percussively complex contrast to the slow-churning expressionism of Sparkhawk’s main project.

“With Retribution Gospel Choir it’s a very different dynamic,” he said. “Eric [Pollard,] the drummer, he has his own approach, and a lot of the initial thrust of the band had to do with the way he and I interacted.”

It’s an interaction that is equally interesting to examine live offering an opportunity for a more reckless and sweaty set for those involved.

“With Low, there’s something about maintaining a certain shred of control,” Sparhawk said. “It’s a very different sort of interaction. It’s about sort of riding the edge of the knife and just sometimes never settling on one side or the other.”

However, Retribution Gospel Choir will witness a bit of a creative lull after their last collection of dates. Low, who have just wrapped up recording their newest record, will be building up their simmering monuments of dissonance overseas the following week for a string of dates in the United Kingdom. Moreover, they’ll continue to do so in their oft-occupied churches — a point of interest for the spiritually involved Sparhawk.

“You get into details of denomination,” he said, “but really it has to do with that space, and that space is where people come at their most broken sometimes and their most humble. I think that energy stays.”

While Sparhawk’s projects are ultimately ones of modest success when all is considered, he still can sit comfortably with a relatively laudable measure of fame. However, it’s his ability to never appear stagnant or lazy and always working towards a new experiment that makes him such a welcomed figure of Minnesota’s music royalty.