Edgar Wright & Sparks Interview: The Sparks Brothers

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

True story – I'd only vaguely heard of Sparks before catching Edgar Wright's documentary, The Sparks Brothers, at Sundance (read my review). I remember seeing them in 1977's Rollercoaster on TV one afternoon and thinking they had to be a fake band, with Ron Mael's toothbrush mustache and Russell's flowing locks. But real they were, and after watching the doc I fell deep down a Sparks rabbit hole. As we've been in lockdown here in Montreal, I've spent my days listening to Sparks songs over and over, so it was a thrill to speak to them and Edgar Wright.

In our interview, we discuss how tricky it is performing as brothers for fifty years as kind of the anti-Oasis (brothers that still work well together), working with Leos Carax on Annette the musical, and being the authors of the greatest ever song about sperm – Tryouts for the Human Race!