Features / One Question Interviews

Cindy Marabito (The Dicks From Texas)

SPB: Living in Austin and being a part of South by Southwest for the last several years, I'm often struck by the, what I might label, "niche" music documentaries that pop up, in seemingly increasing numbers, from year to year. How would you assess the market for these types of documentaries, have things …

SPB: What do you think of bands playing albums-in-full as a tour concept?

Great Cynics: We think it's great! If it's a celebration of that album then more power to them. It's always strange going back to something you did in the past. You realise how much you've changed as a person and/or musician. It's a bit like dipping …

SPB: Has the change to more headphone listening of music changed you compose or mix your work?

Higgins: I can't say that the prevalence of headphones per se has changed how I compose or mix, but in general I am always very concerned by the spatial and immersive quality of my recordings, aiming for maximum depth and a sense …

Taylor Iversen (Abrams)

SPB: What’s your favorite stretch of highway to drive in the US?

Taylor: When we were leaving Joshua Tree after our most recent show there, some sagely person told us to take a scenic route to get to where we were going. 

We ended up cutting through the Mojave National Preserve on our way …

Greg (All People)

SPB: What are the origins for the band name All People?

Greg: We first came up with the name for our band while waiting in the airport on our way home from the Asian Man Records 15 year anniversary shows in 2011. D-Ray and I were in San Francisco, waiting to fly back to New …

Matt King (Illustrations)

SPB: What appeals to you about self-releasing records?

Matt: I appreciate the idea of self-releasing records because the entire process is handled by the artist. There is no middleman. It's all in your hands. That's probably my favorite part of the process, because I personally like to take care of the details myself to see …

Jeffrey Blum (Drip-Fed)

SPB: When writing songs, how do you draw the line between taking influence and mimicking?

Jeffrey: Writing songs has always been and continues to be a frustrating process for me. It doesn't come easy like I see in a lot of people around me. I usually write by messing around on my guitar until I …

Jeff Bobula (Crushed)

Terry Orlando (Hellkeeper)

SPB: If you had the choice, which song of yours would you want to hear covered by another artist? By whom? 

Orlando: First off I'd like to say that this was a really hard question for us because we all have fairly different ears for our own music and that caused a lot of hilarious …

Jonathan Smith (Vassals – drums)

SPB: What’s your preferred listening medium/in which order would you rank cd, vinyl, digital, cassette, (other?)?

Smith: Vinyl all the way! I’m really into ritual. I like the idea of looking through a library and choosing a record, having to physically drop the needle and be a part of the process. Not to …

Sean Arenas 

SPB: What song would you want played at your funeral? 

Sean: It took me a bit to decide what song because I don't want something totally depressing playing at my funeral.

So, I figured Tom Waits' "Anywhere I Lay My Head" perfectly combines both the downbeat and the upbeat. Waits' gravelly vocals and vagabond …

Frank Discussion (The Feederz-guitar/vocals)

SPB: How did the current line-up come together?

Discussion: Clear Bob was our first bass player and he still lives in Arizona. Thomas at Slope first contacted him to see if he could reach me about the idea of doing another record. This was right after Annoying Orange won the election, ripping apart the …

Mike Felumlee (The Bigger Empty)

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

Femumlee: Yes, I wear earplugs now, but have just started wearing them over the last couple of years.

This can be taken as a cautionary tale for the young rockers out there. I'm 42 years old and have been actively playing shows …

Tomber Lever

SPB: What band has the best logo of all time?

Tomber Lever: We would say that Titus Andronicus has the best band logo! Not only is it a T and A for their name, it’s an upside down cross and an anarchy sign! No Gods, No Masters!

Jason Navarro (Hellmouth, Suicide Machines)

SPB: You’ve released a trilogy of records. How has your original vision changed over the years it took for the releases to come to fruition?

Navarro: Well, I never thought the trilogy would end on a more positive note. Which partially through the record it became personal and became a positive change in …

Bobby Kapp

SPB: You (and Matthew Shipp) come from two different eras of the NY free jazz scene. What did you discover in your recording sessions, about either the past and the present of the scene?

Kapp: Although there is twenty years between us and each era is different, there are very similar aspects.

One is …

Tim Martinkøvixxx (Fast Break! Records – label manager)

SPB: What is the best pop song of the last 10 years?

Martinkøvixxx: I'm going to cite a track that I found wholly by accident but not, not entirely by design.. Independent music is where my heart lies, so an argument can be made for many tracks form many labels …

Amirtha Kidambi

SPB: Your new album features a fair deal of spiritual themes, for instance the themes of creation, destruction, rebirth and repetition. Do you feel that themes from your own background, such as Hinduism, bring a more personal and unique tone to your concepts, and act as an aid in the construction of your music?

KidambI: Absolutely. …

Bruce Lamont (Brain Tentacles)

SBP: You have a dense and complex sound, heavily featuring jazz influences and an extreme metal basis. Since you are all heavily involved in the more experimental edge of the heavy spectrum, what do you feel like is the next step for the sound of Brain Tentacles?

Lamont: 2017 is the year that we …

Fluffy (The Ejector Seats/The By-Products – bass/vocals)

SPB: How has the increasing digitalization of music changed how you listen to or consume music?

Fluffy: Well...this is a sensitive subject for me!

Mostly...I hate the digitization of music! I'm not a "purist" or anything...I just love records and the whole process/religious experience of listening to them. Don't get …