Justin (All Eyes West)
SPB: Have you ever forgotten lyrics mid-song? How did you recover?
Justin: Oh yeah! Totally. It's happened more times than I'd like to admit. Sometimes during a show, my mind will just wander off on random thoughts. Especially on a long tour. You're playing the set every night for a couple weeks straight and it becomes so familiar. We'll be rolling through songs and I'll be thinking about whether or not I fed the dog or something like that. So, I've definitely gotten to a line in a song and been clueless of what the lyrics are, just because I was spacing out.
We have a song called "Help is on the Way" from our first record. It was one of the very first songs we ever wrote together. That song has been played at every show we've ever done, not to mention, just about every practice in between. We know it like the back of our hands. So, at this one show about a year ago, we go into "Help." The intro is going and all of a sudden it occurs to me that I'm drawing a complete blank on what the first line of the song is! And from there it just snowballed through the whole first verse of the song. I was mortified.
I got through it by just making up nonsensical words and slurring through them to the melody of the song. That's my go-to recovery. By the next section of the song, I was back on track and everything was fine. But that first verse... I could feel the blood rushing to my face. I was embarrassed.
If you're playing through a smaller P.A., 9 times out of 10 no one even notices (except you, of course). However, we've played shows before where we've wanted to throw a brand new song into the set, but I don't have actual lyrics yet. I'll have a melody in mind, but no content. If we're super stoked on the tune and eager to play it out, we'll just roll with it and I do the old slurring sounds trick. That's actually been done in front of some pretty big crowds. Hope nobody noticed! We play so loud on stage, I doubt anyone can really hear what I'm singing even when I'm getting the words right!
Slim Cessna (Slim Cessna’s Auto Club)
SPB: You recently played at a brewery in Minneapolis. What are some of the more off the beaten path venues you’ve played and what are some pros and/or cons at such settings?
Slim: 15 years ago or so we played a curling club in Perth, Ontario. Munly Munly and I were so thrilled and then inspired to learn the sport and make our own chapter in Denver. We had dreams of the Winter Olympics. Someday we may still do this. The brewery in Minneapolis was a very good show, but it didn’t cause us to start our own brewery. There are already so many of those in Colorado. Plus, I always prefer a nice cold Coors.
Valenten (Askrinn)
SPB: What is your favorite music related film or documentary?
Valenten: Probably, it would be Whiplash, the recently-released jazz drumming movie. Although jazz is a genre I almost never listen to, I can only but acknowledge the quality drum patterns in this film, and I was truly mesmerized by the intense drum solo at the end of the movie. Moreover, I also found it somehow motivating for my own music, as the "hero" is working extremely hard to reach an incredible technical level. A quality film.
Dan Webb (Dan Webb and the Spiders-vocals/guitar)
SPB: How likely are you to pick up a record based off its cover with no knowledge of the band or music?
Dan: I am not likely to buy a record on the strength of its cover art alone. Record space is in short supply at the Webb house which means it's got to be a lean collection. No filler! The only records that I've ever bought this way were for chuckles out of the dollar bin. These purchases are good for a laugh but usually don't yield repeated listens. I definitely prefer to use that record shelf real estate for the hits.
