Scott Spillane

Scott Spillane was born in Bitburg, Germany. He lived in Turkey as a very young child, but was raised mostly in Bossier City, Louisiana. He moved to Athens in 1999 to play music. Scott has played with The Gerbils, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, of Montreal and Elf Power and currently sings with the Athens Cowboy Choir and has a solo project as well. He is a carpenter, and works as a Commercial Site Superintendent for JOMA Construction. Scott lives off Timothy Road with his wife Sally, daughter Maggie, two dogs, Peaches and Judy, and his cat, Tiger.

 

 

 

What inspired or led you to your current career?

 

I like to say that I moved to Athens in the traditional route to be a musician and became a carpenter. There was nothing else I could do, so I started doing demolition, digging holes underneath houses and all that, and I learned the trade from there.

 

What is your favorite restaurant in Athens, and what do you love there?

 

The sad part is it is closing. The Big Family Cafe in Homewood Hill and I love the Cape Cod Benedict there.

 

If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?

 

I would go to Antarctica. I have never been and it is kind of the undiscovered continent kind of thing still. All there is are research stations so it would be really interesting to go some place where very few people ever set foot.

 

What is your favorite movie, or the first movie you remember seeing in a theatre?

 

My favorite movie is It Is a Wonderful Life. I cannot remember the name of the first movie I ever saw, but it had something to do with space. There was a rocketship to the moon and there was this weird ball and this astronaut got dragged behind the ball. I was in Turkey at the time, and I remember jumping up, opening up the door because I had to leave because I was so scared. All of the light flooded into the theater and everyone started yelling at me.

 

What advice do you often give your daughter?

 

Give as little personal information as you can on the internet at all times. Nothing goes away on the internet. Nothing disappears. The Internet is forever no matter how well you hide your tracks or erase everything, they can still look it up. Turn your locations off.

 

What would be your top 3 bands to see if you could see any from any point in time?

 

Édith Piaf in her heyday in a smoky bar somewhere; that would be awesome. The Osmonds, the year they put out The Plan because I would love to see the Osmond Brothers play it live. That would be amazing. Then, Palace Brothers, their first tour when they were touring “There is No One What Will Take Care of You.” Even though I did see that show, I would love to see it again.

 

What is your favorite season in Athens?

 

I like the summer. Spring there is way too much pollen in the air. Everybody has got all these flowers, it is horrible. Winter is too wet. Fall is okay, but it is still a little too wet. Summer, because I like the heat. It is a lot easier to work in the heat than in the cold.

 

What is your favorite thing to do in Athens?

 

I like just hanging out in front of Flicker Bar and shooting the shit with the locals.

 

What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?

 

I am in the middle of building a deck of cards from found cards. I find them on the streets or in trash cans. I have about thirty cards last count. I have been doing it for almost fifteen years, if not a little longer than that. It is getting a lot harder now. It was easier during the poker boom when everyone was playing poker. There were cards all over the place. Now they’re harder to find. Whenever I am out touring, I walk and look for cards.

 

What are three words or phrases that come to mind when you think of the word “home”?

 

Comfort, love and family.

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