Features / One Question Interviews

Sam Russo

SPB: How do you primarily find new music?

Russo: I still find new music the way I always have -- on the road and through friends. When I'm on tour I write down dozens of bands people recommend me and I always listening to the radio in the US. I have a few friends who are …

John (Stop Breathing, vocals)

SPB: What do you think of bands playing an album in its entirety as a tour concept?

John: I am all for it, as long as the albums they play are good ones!! I've only been to a couple shows like this, but I'm envious of all of you in Chicago this weekend watching …

Sims

SPB: If you could get any producer you haven’t worked with to provide beats for a song, who would you pick?

Sims: If I could work with anyone I suppose it'd be Kanye West. I think he's one of the most talented composers in the world. His vision for how songs should build, layer, and decay is …

Itai (Sweatshop Boys)

SPB: If you had your choice, which band would you love to tour with? 

Itai: Touring with another band is a complex matter, which makes this question a bit difficult to answer. Should we choose a band that we really love or people that we know that we'll surely get along with? Our problem is …

Derek (Sneeze)

SPB: What do you parents think of your music?

Derek: Honestly, both of my parents love Sneeze much much more than my older bands, haha. They're finally happy I'm in a band that doesn't just "scream bloody murder." Sometimes they're a little iffy on the lyrics ‘cause now they know I do drugs, drink excessively, smoke, …

Mike McColgan (Street Dogs, FM359)

SPB: How much space in your home is dedicated to music storage (instruments or records)?

McColgan: One entire room in my house is dedicated to all of the vinyl, CDs, instruments, stereo equipment, posters, flyers etc. that I own.

Naoko (Shonen Knife)

SPB: What is your favorite Ramones song?

Naoko: It’s impossible to choose one song. I like all Ramones songs.

Joe Holland (Sex Rays, Violent Shifters)

SPB: Do you wear earplugs when you play? Why/why not?. 

Holland: I almost always wear hearing protection at rehearsals, shooting range style "ear muffs" are the best, in my opinion. In most cases I do wear earplugs when I go to shows as a spectator, especially if the band is not "worth" …

Clay Reed (Subsonics)

SPB: It seems that the hyphenated genre "garage-punk" keeps popping up more and more. What do you think of the term?

Reed: The term garage-punk...is as meaningless and subjective as all genre labels are. Kierkegaard said: "When you label,me you negate me"...but he was maybe kinda extremist. Maybe when you label me you negate the …

Loren Shumaker-Chupp (Signals Midwest, bass)

SPB: What do your parents think of your music?

Loren Shumaker-Chupp: My parents have always appreciated that I play music and what I get out of it. It was something that they encouraged me to learn when I was younger and supported throughout grade school when I began to draw serious interest into …

Sarah Neufeld (solo, Arcade Fire)

SPB: What are the biggest challenge you face in getting the sound you want live while playing with amplified instruments?

Neufeld: I've always had a pretty good pick-up situation on my violin, so it hasn't really been an issue. It is fun to experiment with pushing the sound of that instrument in a …

Anthony (Stranger by Starlight)

SPB: What is your favorite 1970s artist?

Anthony: It's incredibly difficult to pick a favourite artist, album or even track from the entirety of the 1970s, so many things spring immediately to mind, all of which deserve to be mentioned: Leonard Cohen, The Stooges, Amon Duul II and Ash Ra Temple, Gang of Four, …

Bryan Spinks (Samothrace, vocalist/guitarist)

SPB: How did you get so bloody heavy?

Spinks: I suppose it is a culmination of some different things. Obviously the riffs have to be solid. Tone is a huge factor, too. I, as many guitarists do, have spent the past 20+ years searching for the proper tone from my amps and cabs. It …

Swordplay (Swordplay & Pierre the Motionless)

SPB: Is there a regional food you look forward to when you tour?

Swordplay: Boiled Peanuts. Probably the best part about going to the South is boiled peanuts. Last time I was in SC, I learned they can even be turned into hummus. It's delicious.

Jared (Sundowners)

SPB: What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you on a tour? Have you ever been stranded or forced to cancel?

Jared: Great question! and really annoying memories to look back on. Hahaha.

Sundowners were on an eight-to-ten hour drive to Salt Lake City maybe three weeks into the tour. We had already been missing …

Phil (Somos)

SPB: What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Somos: This is tough because I have had a lot of shitty jobs. But first would have to be babysitting rich kids. I was 18 and had just moved to San Francisco from Massachusetts. I was desperate for money and was looking for any kind of work …

Alex (Silver Snakes)

SPB: Who was your favorite band that you discovered on your last tour?

Alex: My favorite band I discovered on our last tour is Third Seven. We were playing our last show with HRVRD at The Launchpad in Albuquerque, NM and I was captivated by the music playing over the PA after sound check. Layers …

Adam (Say-10 Records)

SPB: What is your go-to karaoke song?

Adam: Let's set the stage... I am the worst karaoke performer of all time and I only participate when I am surrounded by people that treat it as if they are at an american idol try out.

I always grab the mic, wrap the chord around my …

Mike Hall (Sick Sick Birds)

SPB: If I’m not mistaken, one or two of you in Sick Sick Birds have children, correct? What do your kids think of your band?

Hall: Yes, we all have kids. There are five of them now, ranging from 2-10 years old. Mostly, I think my kids just think of the band as …

Spoonboy

SPB: Do you still get nervous before you play a show? How do you address your nerves?

Spoonboy: Sometimes. I just try to remember that I've played like 1000 shows and I just mentally teleport myself to after the show is over, where I see that everything went fine. Because, even if some shows go better than …