Sparta have been doing this for more than two decades now. In the early 2000s a chunk of the audience saw them as one of the two paths that opened up after At The Drive-In split, the alt-rock half opposite The Mars Volta’s prog freakouts. For anyone who came up on At The Drive-In, that connection mattered. It also stopped being the most useful way to talk about Sparta pretty quickly. Six albums in, Jim Ward’s band has its own spine, its own catalogue, and its own way of doing things, and the records keep coming out good. It is genuinely a pleasure to still be sitting down to talk about a new Sparta record in 2026.
“Cut A Silhouette” is that record. Out May 29 on Equal Vision Records and Dine Alone Records, produced, engineered and recorded by J. Robbins at his Magpie Cage studio in seven days flat. Ward was offered more time in LA or El Paso. He turned it down. By the time the trio of Ward, bassist Matt Miller and drummer Neil Hennessy walked into the room, they were not going to second-guess anything; they did not even record a backup track.
The title comes from a moment that has nothing to do with music. Ward was watching a documentary about John Candy and heard Macaulay Culkin describe meeting the comedian as someone entering your brain and cutting a silhouette.
Ward had been spinning on what to call the album for months. That line ended the search. He wanted “Cut A Silhouette” to do the same thing to whoever heard it.
The guest list around the trio is the widest of any Sparta album so far. Frank Iero co-wrote “Crater” and “Mouthbreather” (he does not play on them). Kemble Walters from Chevelle and Juliette And The Licks co-wrote “See You Soon” and plays on it, with Adrian Borgeois adding piano.
Carlos Arรฉvalo from Chicano Batman plays guitar on “Midnights“. Robbins himself appears on a number of songs alongside his Jawbox bandmate Brooks Harlan (also in War On Women).
Ward had never really co-written with outsiders before. He says it ended up being some of the best musical experiences of his life.
He calls “Cut A Silhouette” a love record.
He also calls it the close of Sparta’s Act II. Trust the River in 2020, the self-titled in 2022, and this one make up a trilogy in his head: the middle one a record built from disparate parts he had to push through, this one the one where the trio finally functions as a band.
“This feels like we’re a fucking band again,” he says. “All three of us are in a room, we’re all writing together, we’re listening to each other; this is now a constructive creative process, and it’s now the end of this era. Like, I made it through.”
We spoke with Jim…
… about the Culkin moment that ended a months-long hunt for a title, the seven days at Magpie Cage and why he turned down more studio time, what Neil Hennessy (The Lawrence Arms, Smoking Popes, Colossal, The Falcon) brings to Sparta as a trio, his new comfort with co-writing, El Paso and Juarez in 2026, running Tricky Falls and how owning a venue changed his behaviour on tour, the 2026 routing and when Europe gets its turn, and the records from the last couple of years that left a silhouette on him. Read the full conversation below.
Answers by Jim Ward
The Macaulay Culkin quote about Candy entering your brain and “cutting a silhouette” stuck so hard you ended up naming a record after it. What was going on in your head at that exact moment that made a stranger’s offhand line about a comedian who died 31 years ago feel like it was about you and this band?
Every now and then while making a record you realize it is special- no way to do that on purpose, to plan it- but all of a sudden I start worrying about fucking it up. It is so good, everything has fallen into place and I better not make a mistake, a bad decision that will derail the whole energy that is accumulating.
When I was watching the documentary and Culkin made that almost handed explanation of Candy coming into his life it just hit me. I wanted to leave that impression on people with this album- I want to cut a moment out of their life and fill it with these songs.
You’ve called this one a love record and the moment where the band feels like a fucking band again. Looking at the arc of “Trust the River” in 2020, the self titled in 2022 and now this one, do you see those three records as a trilogy that’s closing a chapter, or is “Cut A Silhouette” more of a clean break from everything that came before it?
I absolutely see this as the triumphant end to Act II of Sparta- there was a clear break in 2018, new lineup, new songs- different chainof command- I took over completely. I knew at that point that this was my band to make or break- I didnโt count on the valleys or hardships- 2018-2024 was hard, for so many reasons and I made albums in that period that I needed to make to get here. I tend to work in threes, so having this be the 3rd of Act II is significant to me. We are exiting that era as strong as we have ever been- we are a band again, we love playing live, we are healthy and happy. I am excited about the next era.
You said the self titled was made from disparate parts being brought together, and that going through it was necessary for this one to exist. When you listen back to that record now, what specifically do you hear as the part you had to push through to get here?
I think more than anything it is hearing someone struggling to find the path. If I waited for the perfect time to make a record, I never would. Part of making music is therapy to me, it is trying to figure out what is wrong with me or whats around me- when I go back and listen to it, which I just did recently, I hear experimenting. I didnโt have the same tools as I had before, it was all new. It is very exciting once you get past the panic of new.
Neil Hennessy is one of the most quietly absurd musicians in punk, the guy plays in The Lawrence Arms, Smoking Popes, Colossal, The Falcon, fills in on bass for Rise Against, and now he’s locked into Sparta. What does he bring into a room that the previous lineups didn’t have, and how does a Chicago pop punk lifer end up being the right fit for an El Paso post hardcore band?
We agree completely with that statement. Quiet, thoughtful, insanely talentedโฆ he has become our secret weapon. As a trio each leg has to hold up a huge weight and Neil more than does that. He was recommended by a mutual friend and more than anything his disposition fit perfect. His musicianship is incredible and we have 3 songwriters now, which is pure bliss for me.
Awesome. Seven days at Magpie Cage with J. Robbins is short. Was that pace something you wanted or something the schedule forced on you, and did it change how you wrote going in, knowing you wouldn’t have the luxury of second guessing in the studio?
Our management kept asking if I wanted to extend time by going to LA or El Paso- I just said if you give me 7 days, I will finish. If you give me a month I will finishโฆ I felt so ready to make this record. We spent more time writing and recording demos and debating and tweaking that by the time we walked in I was just confident. We didnโt even record an extra track for backup- I just knew- and when you know you know.
Robbins, Brooks Harlan, both Jawbox guys, plus Frank Iero co writing “Crater” and “Mouthbreather”, Kemble Walters from Chevelle co writing “See You Soon”, Carlos Arรฉvalo from Chicano Batman on “Midnights”. This is the most outside collaboration any Sparta record has ever had. Was that a deliberate move to break the band out of its own gravity, or did it just unfold naturally as you were writing?
When we started the record process I was missing having a second riff writer in the band- usually the other guitar player. I am really enjoying being a trio though so I didnโt want to add a member. Instead I started quietly asking friends and friends of friends about co-writing. I had never really done it with outsiders so Iw as timid but it ended up being some of the best musical experiences of my life.
“Everything You Say” started at your house in El Paso, got tweaked in a hotel room in Oklahoma City, and was being played at soundcheck the same night. Are there other songs on the record that mutated like that on the road, and do you find yourself writing differently in hotels than you do at home?
There are several. I had about 30 ideas at the beginning, which got whittled down every session- some songs or riffs just felt wrong place/wrong time- others slowly evolved. I write a lot and I change my ideas a lot- so sometimes I would come back to a writing session with a new version of an old idea and it fit. My favorite moments are when I play the boys something and I can see their faces light up. I know it found a landing spot and get invigorated.
You’ve talked about imposter syndrome and being more famous at 23 than you’ve been since. What does it feel like making a record at this stage of your career where the old comparison points just don’t apply anymore, and how do you stop yourself from writing toward an idea of what people think Sparta should sound like?
Great question – I think what you achieve with time, at least for me, is calmness. I feel good in my skin, I know more who I am then ever before, I am confident and comfortable. With all of that it is easier to look back and appreciate your work, good and not so good, and learn from it. The guy who wrote Cut Your Ribbon is still a part of me, there has just been so much added to my life- it is easy to reference but not mimic or depend on that guy.
In the Minero interview you said you don’t listen to enough new music for what you do, that you’ve sort of aged out of being in the scene every night and have to put effort into staying connected. What’s the last record by a younger band that genuinely got under your skin, and how did you find it?
I was turned onto Teenage Halloween by my wife, she saw them in El Paso while I was tour but bought all the vinyl they had- I love them. I canโt wait to see them live. Gus Baldwin and The Sketch are fantastic- we played with them in Atlanta last year and it was a breath of fresh air.
Staying on that, El Paso always felt geographically isolated when you were coming up, you said yourselves you only got to see DIY bands that came through. What’s the local scene in El Paso and Juarez looking like right now in 2025 and 2026 that someone outside the city should know about, any bands or venues we should be watching from a distance?
There continue to be a revolving cast of characters- so many young folks move to bigger cities when they can that it is hard to really get traction here. The venues pretty much come and go- Estereomance is probably the band touring and recording in an interesting way to me. They do what they do so well- really interesting.
Sol Summit on May 3 is your first show with this lineup at home, and the festival itself is built around El Paso’s binational identity. What’s it like playing a hometown record release in a setting that’s deliberately framing itself as cultural rather than commercial, and is there something in that framing that overlaps with what you wanted “Cut A Silhouette” to feel like?
This lineup has been at it for a couple years- it is just the first record for the 3 of us together. So, Neil has been here multiple times before. I think that trying to make a cultural festival is a challenge because are people coming to see bands or to celebrate culture? What are people willing to pay for either and how do they overlap? I think they will have to adjust a little next year- it was the first version and it was successful at proof of concept, and I think with some adjusting it will keep growing. I have never approached making art as commercial, except when I tried to write for commercials and wouldnโt take the feedback so I was fired. It is not my thing. Making money is just not that important to me.
You ran Tricky Falls as a venue from 2011 to 2018, you’ve owned Eloise with Kristine for years, you sit on the El Paso Community Foundation board. Has being a small business owner and a scene infrastructure person changed how you think about touring bands rolling through cities, what they need, how venues treat them?
I think more than anything it made me realize how important my attitude on tour is. I have always been pretty respectful on tour but safer owning a venue and watching how utterly shitty bands can be, I am more respectful than ever. I know how hard it is just to keep the lights on, I try to keep my complaints to myself and keep a good attitude. It is really important to know people are really doing most of this (music) for the love, very few people get wealthy- so letโs try to just be kind and have fun.
Hallelujah to that.
The 2026 tour route is Latin America headline shows and US supports for Jimmy Eat World and The Toadies, but Europe is conspicuously not on the calendar. Is that a logistics call, a label call, or a deliberate choice, and what would have to line up for Sparta to do a proper European run on this record?
It is now. It was a timing thing. We will always come to Europe. Always.
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You explicitly said playing anniversary records and resting on old albums sounds fucking boring to you. With “Cut A Silhouette” framed as the end of this era, what does the next era look like in your head right now, even loosely, and is it Sparta, solo, Sleepercar, something nobody’s seen yet?
All of the above. I have been making music with old friends, new friends and everything inbetween- I will keep making and releasing music sa long as I can. As long as it is fun. I am more in love with music than I have been in a very long time and I just want to enjoy it.
Last one and feel free to be brief. Records that left a silhouette on you the way Macaulay Culkin described Candy. Not your obvious lifelong influences. The two or three records from the last couple of years that did that to you.
IDLES, TURNSTILE, HAYLEY WILLIAMS.
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