Ian Vanek (Japanther)
SPB: Is there a regional food you look forward to when you tour?
Vanek: We eat regionally, seasonally and locally as much as possible. Japanther also forage for wild food and eat out of dumpsters. We snack on oranges and avocados off the trees in Cali and make green juice in almost every hotel room. Pizza in Manhattan, salmon in Seattle, crawfish in New Orleans, Tacos in Texas, Vietnamese in Orlando... You get the picture.
Mike Assatly (Unseemlier - guitar/vocals) SPB: Do you have a preferred model of van for touring? Assatly: Chevy G-20 Gladiator! It was my first van, I got it from my uncle with 115,000 on it. He got rid of it for a new van because it was "old" and would … Read more
Dave Slaverave (Dollar Store - bass) SPB: This band hits a lot of styles, all kind of overlapping at the same time. How hard was it to find “your sound” when bringing these influences together? Slaverave: Not very hard at all actually. We're all old-ass adults who've soaked in a … Read more
Matt (Golden Shitters) How nervous were you the first time you played a show? My first show was around 2002. I was 15 years old and it was a basement house party in my hometown of Welland, Ontario. I’d just proved myself to my high school buddies by singing The … Read more
Remember Election Day 2024? Maybe you shouldn't. Maybe you've blocked it out. That's fair, but there was one pleasant surprise that day: a new EP from Wisconsin's Arms Aloft. It took a while to claw out of the darkness in November, then Year End 2024 coverage took over the Scene … Read more
Jeremiah (Small Steps - guitar/vocals) SPB: What song has the best use of whistling? Jeremiah: I feel like the easy answer would be the Bobby McFerrin song "Don't Worry Be Happy". Which is catchy as all get out, but we prefer the road less traveled here in Small Steps. For … Read more
In the city of Brooklyn, New York's hippest borough, the pretensions of musicians trying to create songs that are both avant garde and widely accessible (a clear paradox) makes for a stifling scene. Lofts and warehouse spaces across the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick are filling with passive young professionals being bludgeoned with art. While every incarnation of noise, folk, … Read more
Mike Assatly (Unseemlier - guitar/vocals) SPB: Do you have a preferred model of van for touring? Assatly: Chevy G-20 Gladiator! It was my first van, I got it from my uncle with 115,000 on it. He got rid of it for a new van because it was "old" and would … Read more
Dave Slaverave (Dollar Store - bass) SPB: This band hits a lot of styles, all kind of overlapping at the same time. How hard was it to find “your sound” when bringing these influences together? Slaverave: Not very hard at all actually. We're all old-ass adults who've soaked in a … Read more
Matt (Golden Shitters) How nervous were you the first time you played a show? My first show was around 2002. I was 15 years old and it was a basement house party in my hometown of Welland, Ontario. I’d just proved myself to my high school buddies by singing The … Read more
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