This week’s ANCHR Artist of the week goes to Philadelphia’s SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, an experimental rock band that has been making music since 2014 with an array of band members. The band adopted their name from a 1973 Spanish film with the same title. With their eclectic and expansive sound that continues to push boundaries and evolve, we recommend them if you’re a fan of Squid, black midi, and Post Animal.

Currently, the SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE lineup consists of Zack Schwartz, Rivka Ravede, and Corey Wichlin— who all wear multiple hats for the band, contributing everything from vocals, keys, guitar, bass and drums. Most recently, the band put out their fourth studio album entitled ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH in 2021, which was released via Saddle Creek, but the first of their records that was self-recorded and produced. Schwartz says the process of recording the fourth album was completely different than the rush of making their third album Hypnic Jerks. "We had to record that in seven days, because that was the studio time we had, whereas ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH was made over the course of three, four months,” he says. Being made during pandemic times also meant the band recorded some of the material remotely, and had the time to dive deeper into multifaceted sounds and production styles.

The band describes the song “THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN'T DO” from ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH as being one showcases the growth they’ve undergone from their inception to current day. "This song draws on some of the sonic aesthetic of SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE's old records and aligns those sounds with the electronic instrumentation we've been exploring," Wichlin says.

When he first joined the group, Wichlin moved from Chicago to Philadelphia to join Ravede and Schwartz, so the band’s upcoming shows at Schubas on March 30th and 31st are partially a homecoming show. Hopefully you snagged your tickets for them already because they’re sold out, but keep an eye out for all upcoming events here.