Spiral Stairs

Born in Stockton, California, singer/songwriter/guitarist Christopher Scott Kannberg, performing as Spiral Stairs, gained recognition during the early 1990s through his role as guitarist and occasional songwriter in the influential indie-rock group Pavement. Launching the imprint Pray for Mojo in 1998—subsequently rebranded Amazing Grease—he assembled Preston School of Industry alongside drummer Andrew Borger and bassist Jon Erickson, both previously associated with Amazing Grease signees the Moore Brothers. The ensemble issued several well-regarded albums and supplied the core personnel for Kannberg’s initial Matador Records solo effort under the Spiral Stairs name, the 2009 album Real Feel. The next year he reunited onstage with Pavement for their retrospective tour, after which he relocated to Brisbane, Australia, alongside his spouse to raise a family. Several years later, back in Los Angeles, he scheduled studio time with former Preston School of Industry colleagues for a new Spiral Stairs project slated for 2015. When former Posies drummer and PSI member Darius Minwalla died a month before tracking began, Kannberg partnered with singer/songwriter Kelley Stoltz to reevaluate the material. The sessions, now steered toward a deeper emotional tone, enlisted bassist Matt Harris and Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff. Issued in early 2017, the resulting Doris & the Daggers included appearances by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and the National’s Matt Berninger. At the outset of 2019 he issued the single “Hyp-No-Tized,” the opening track from the full-length We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized.