Los Angeles’s own spaghetti-western band, Spindrift, isn’t what you think, given that seemingly sorry label I’ve slapped on them because I think it makes for a compelling opener. But it’s the truth in a good way. Equal parts desperado rockers and Morricone savants, theirs is a rich, hypnotic sound that could only be born in LA.

The Legend of God’s Gun, their modern hybrid western movie, will be released in 2008. The soundtrack is available now.

Front man Kirpatrick Thomas answered a few Halloween questions.

What did you dress up as for Halloween when you were kids?

Dave was a space alien and Zorro. I’ve been a robot, King Neptune, El Sobero (the character I play in our film,) Satan, a priest– anything but myself. That would be the scariest. It’s kind of funny but right now there are a couple people watching Halloween in the other room right now. Its sounds pretty bad.

What will Spindrift be doing for their Halloween show this year?

We’ll be performing in Atlanta at The Earl on Halloween night with The Black Angels (already sounds creepy) and I suppose we will acquire whatever possible costuming we can get on the way out there from Los Angeles. Last tour our guitar player bought a clown suit and wore it the whole time at SXSW in Austin. I’m just trying to figure out where I can buy a gorilla suit for our guitar player Dave.

Any consensus among you for a favorite horror movie?

No, we only watch westerns, but Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter is the closest I’ll get. A good Italian “horror western” is The Strangers Gundown.

What’s the scariest thing about LA?

6th Street, police helicopters at night, the Griffith Park fire, the shape my car is in, LAX.

Photographs by Melanie Leigh