Interview: Parts & Spares
Photo supplied by Parts & Spares.
A windfall can be fruit that drops when it’s ripe or fruit torn from the branch before its time. For London indie-folk trio Parts & Spares, that image gave their six-song debut EP, Windfalls, its title. Frida Jones, Kaisha McGroarty and Luther Jones draw on English and Irish folk and the lives they share. In this interview, they talk about hearing “You Won” on KEXP, making their first record together and finding new songs in what life leaves behind.
What inspires your music?
We're inspired by the small, personal, domestic experiences that somehow become the biggest things in our lives. The moments that shatter us, change us, mend us and leave their scars. Love, loss, regret, joy, the things we wish we'd said and the things we wish we hadn't. What's extraordinary is how these experiences seem to repeat themselves across generations. We all go through them, we recognise them in one another, and yet so often we face them feeling completely alone.
There's a particular kind of melancholy in all of this that we find almost delicious. Not necessarily sadness, but the strange pleasure of feeling something deeply, even when it hurts. In many ways, it's what makes being alive so wonderful.
Our name comes from the idea of the parts and spares of something once treasured but no longer whole. The pieces that are left behind, that still have some life and value in them, even if the original thing is broken beyond repair. We like to think of our songs in the same way. Taking fragments of experience, memories and feelings, and making something new from them. Perhaps something that might mean something to somebody else, too.
Who are some of your influences?
Our influences are pretty diverse. We all grew up with the raw songwriting of the '60s and early '70s — Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen floating up the stairs. Our cultural roots are in English and Irish folk and traditional music, which continues to find its way into what we do.
These days, we find ourselves listening to everyone from Bon Iver, Hailaker and Big Thief to AURORA, Florence + The Machine, Angie McMahon and Daughter.
What are some of your favorite memories from your career?
There have been some extraordinary moments. We sent our song You Won to Cheryl Waters at KEXP in Seattle, and within moments she'd replied to say how much she loved it. Hearing her play it on her show was a wonderful, slightly surreal experience.
We've also developed a lovely ongoing relationship with BBC Introducing, who've championed our music, made us Featured Artists, selected us for Track of the Week and invited us into the studio to record a live session. Hearing your own songs coming out of the radio never really gets old.
And then there are the live shows. Playing to audiences in London and beyond, feeling the air move in the room, that extraordinary sense of connection when people you've never met are sharing something that began as a little idea in your head.
But honestly, I think the thing we treasure most is that we've found a way to live our lives and be creative together. To write songs, travel, rehearse, record, perform and share all these extraordinary experiences with each other. To us it feels like the most natural thing in the world, but judging by people's reactions, perhaps it isn't.
Photo supplied by Parts & Spares.
Which of your songs/EPs/albums is your favorite and why?
It would have to be Windfalls, our debut EP. The title comes from the idea of fruit falling from a tree. Sometimes it's ripe and ready, sometimes it's torn away before its time. Either way, there's a kind of violence in the falling, but also the possibility of something new growing from what lands on the ground.
The six songs are about family, memory, love, loss and the things we carry with us. About the sweetness and the bruising of experience, the things we inherit, the things we have to let go of, and finding some measure of acceptance in it all. There's a lyric, "sugar turns to alcohol", which captures something of that idea — the sweetness of life changing into something else, something perhaps more complicated, but no less intoxicating.
Making it took an enormous amount from us, creatively and personally, but it gave us so much back. Somewhere in those six songs we found the path we're on now. Not just musically, but in what we wanted to say and how we wanted to say it. It's a record about things ending and changing, but for us it turned out to be a beginning.
Who are some of the collaborators who helped you create your favorite works?
We've been incredibly lucky with the people who've become part of our little world.
Sean Rogan is a producer who approached us after one of our earliest gigs. We went on to make Windfalls together and continue to work with him today. His musicianship, extraordinary taste and understanding of what we're trying to do make him feel like another member of Parts & Spares.
Johnny Wen is an artist who helps us create the visual world around our music, developing our own little folklore and traditions along the way. His work is all over Windfalls, and the world we're building together continues to influence everything we're creating now.
Producer Jack Segal helps us discover new ways of working together as a band in the studio, changing how we approach recording and how we respond to one another musically.
And Peter Waterman, producer and sonic mastermind, is teaching us that microphones are instruments too. He's holding our hands as we explore a more spontaneous, intuitive way of making music, encouraging us to trust our instincts and embrace the unexpected.
There are so many more people we'd love to mention. Our extraordinary friend and fiddle player Henry Webster, Mera Royle and her heavenly harp, Sophie Ackroyd, with whom we made our very first track and a recording we're still so proud of, our friend Thomas Gilbert, who makes music videos with us, and countless others. In fact, one of the most gratifying things about making music has been discovering just how many wonderful people it brings into your life, and how much richer the whole experience becomes for having shared it with them.
Photo supplied by Parts & Spares.
What are you most excited to bring to your fans next?
We're working on new music that feels both like a continuation of Windfalls and an expansion of the world we began creating with it.
There's been a lot more exploration this time, more people, more influences, more experimentation and a willingness to let the music surprise us. But perhaps the biggest difference is a growing willingness to let go. To be less precious about our ideas, to follow things we don't entirely understand, and to allow the music to become something we couldn't have imagined at the outset.
We feel like we know the path we're on now, even if we have no idea where it leads. That's what makes it exciting.
Expect new music from late January 2027.
What are your goals for this upcoming year?
We want to get our new music out into the world and give it every chance to be heard. We've put so much of ourselves into these songs, and the thought of them finding their way into other people's lives is incredibly exciting. We want to reach further, play to bigger audiences and see how far we can take this.
We'd love to spend more time playing festivals in 2027. We're applying to quite a few at the moment and already have a couple of appearances confirmed that we can't announce just yet. There's something about taking our music out into a field full of strangers that we find irresistible.
We want to keep recording too, in unusual places, with interesting people, finding new ways to capture the moments when something unexpected happens.
Ultimately, we want to make more music, share it with more people, and give ourselves over to it as much as we possibly can. We love doing this, and we want to see just how much of our lives we can build around it.
How can your fans and our readers best support you right now?
It's a difficult world for independent musicians, and the follows, listens, saves and shares really do make a difference. We know every band is asking for the same things, but if you hear something you love, tell someone about it. It's such a small thing, but it means an enormous amount to us.
But more than anything, we love meeting people at our shows. Making new friends through music has become one of the most rewarding parts of doing this.
We also have a monthly newsletter that we put a lot of thought and love into. It's a little window into our world, with stories, conversations, music and whatever else has caught our imagination that month. We'd love people to read it, subscribe and become part of the conversation.
And finally, we make our own merch, much of it designed, printed or assembled by hand. We put a lot of love into it, and if you'd like to take a little piece of Parts & Spares home with you, you can find us on Bandcamp.
Listen to Windfalls
Parts & Spares official site · Leftovers, the band’s newsletter