Features / One Question Interviews

James Goodson (Teen Death, guitar/vocals)

SPB: Who is your favorite band to see live?

Goodson: I think my favorite band to see live is AFI. Not only are they one of my favorite bands in general, they also kill it live. Every show feels special and epic: they always seem like they're giving it everything they've got. They …

Toby Driver

SPB: How have your musical taste evolved over the years? Do you think your “high school self” would appreciate the music you make now?

Driver: I think my aesthetics are still similar to what they were when I was in high school, but I'm quite a bit more open-minded when it comes to the social implications …

Richard Minino (Horsebites)

SPB: Do you think the digitalization of music has negatively influenced your trade as there is less emphasis on cover art?

Minino: Not necessarily because now bands are putting a lot of that lost income in their merch. If their record sales are down because of downloading then they just make other stuff for people …

Josh Weaver (Royal Thunder)

SPB: Do you have a favorite type of van or bus?

Weaver: Dodge Ram vans are definitely our favorite vans. I bought a ‘95 full luxury Dodge Ram van from my friend Johnny Collins for $200 around 2007-2008. It had 200k original miles on it and Johhny's band, Thunderlip, had used it for years. …

Austin McCutchen (Choir Vandals, vocals)

SPB: What is your favorite cover to play? Why?

McCutchen: Choir Vandals as a band has actually never done a cover, but for me personally I love covering any Elliott Smith song. Most of his songs are decently difficult so I feel accomplished after learning them and I feel such a strong connection …

Luke Schwartz (Loose Planes, vocals)

SPB: What is the worst stereotype you encounter when strangers discover you’re in a band?
 
Schwartz: The worst stereotype I encounter when people find out I'm in a band is usually that I'm rich. Normal people aren't aware of the fact that musicians are making a fraction of what they were ten years …

Krigeist (Barshasketh)

SPB: What are the origins for the name of the band? 

Krigeist: Barshasketh was something I read years ago in an occult text around the time I was composing the first demo. It refers to a subconscious pit of destruction relating to self-advancement.

David Vincent Kelling (Culture Abuse, vocals)

SPB: What is most ridiculous sub-genre name you’ve heard?

Kelling: Calling something a sub genre is fucking ridiculous in general, still rock and roll to me...

Niklas (Ef)

SPB: If you had your choice, which guest musician would you want to feature on an album?

EF: Have always put a lot of interest in arranging strings and horns in order to create a beautiful and bombastic touch to the normal guitar based post rock setting. Until now we (or our member Daniel) have been …

Laura Pleasants (Kylesa)

SPB: When you're on tour, how is it decided (or who decides) where you'll eat?

Pleasants: The promoter generally sets the schedule. Sometimes they will ask when we would like to eat and then we'll decide on the spot.

Neil Debnam (Fighting Kites)

SPB: Is there a particular record you've heard this year that surprised you? In both a good or a bad way?

Debnam: Speaking from a strictly personal point of view rather than as the mouthpiece of four individuals now separated geographically by a few thousand miles, I think it has to be Robert Turman's …

Russ Van Cleave (The Tim Version)

SPB: What got you interested in pursuing science on a professional level?

Van Cleave: There are a lot of different reasons, but the easiest answer I could probably give would be high school physics. I quit marching band my senior year so I could free up room to take a physics class. …

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 …

Dex Romweber (Dex Romweber Duo)

SPB: Who is the first musician whose technique or technicality really stood out to you?

Romweber: Benny Joy of Tampa, FL and his guitarist Big John Taylor. Find “I'm Doubtful of your Love”and “Hey High School Baby.”

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 …

Austin (Delay, bass/vocals)

SPB: What is your most common tour food? 

Austin: I am answering on everyone's behalf in the band. I would say our most common tour food is burritos, especially if we are going to the West Coast where, in our humble opinions, the burritos are great, plentiful, cheap, and filling. Plus, burritos can be modified …

Caina

SPB: You've been active again for a year, what's been the highlight of the time you've been back?

Caina: It's been a pretty frenetic year with a lot of highs and lows. Recording the upcoming Setter of Unseen Snares LP was cool because I worked with an external producer for the first time after 10 years doing …

Jesse Matthewson (Ken Mode)

SPB: You recently released a live recording done at the BBC, what was recording there like and was it something you wanted to do/thought about at all? 

Matthewson: The recording experience at BBC was on a short list of some of the coolest things we've been able to do as a band! I honestly …

Christian Määttä (Bombshell Rocks)

SPB: How has your local music scene changed since you were last active?

Määttä: Well, the majority of us live in other cities today so it's hard to keep up with the local scene in Västerås where we are from. But I know there is a new generation of kids struggling to make themselves …

Tristan Shone (Author and Punisher)

SPB: You are building your own instruments and that is quite impressive on its own. How do you go about building those “Drone/Dub Machines?” 

Shone: It is a long process where I initially have an idea of a sound and also a motion that I think would be satisfying to marry to that …