Alex (Autistic Youth)
1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2013? (In order 1-5)
- Big Eyes - Almost Famous LP. They lent us their van for a tour but that has nothing to do with the FACT that they are at the top of the heap. We all love this band. All their records are great and they seem to be getting better.
- Radioactivity - S/T LP. It’s great to have some new jams out of Denton, TX. We got to play with Marked Men at a Dirtnap Fest thing here in Portland and I was stoked to finally see them. Hopefully Radioactivity will hit the road sometime and give all the Marked Men fans something to do.
- Audacity - Butter Knife LP. We jumped on their show in Fullerton, CA and they killed it in a very big way. They are touring like crazy right now so see them if you get a chance. The record is great. There are some really funny moments, in a good way, and some really killer riffs.
- Rough Kids - The State I'm In. We played with them in LA last month. There were maybe four people besides the bands at this show but they still played an awesome set during which Crazy Lionel and I had a really great time. These guys played even after their guitar amp blew up and it took them 2 minutes to get going again.
- Kanye West - Yeezus LP. Say what you will about this psychopath, this record could not have come from anyone less crazy. It makes me want to smack the next rich white dude I meet, even if Kanye acts like he might be that rich white dude sometimes. He has a really direct and brutal approach to racial issues and I think he is pissing people off in a really productive way sometimes, which is always good.
2. What band did you discover in 2013 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
I got very into Elton Montello this year, which may be a gimme but I don’t care. It’s great. He is just great and subversive and poppy at the same time and that's the creepiest most perfect mix to me. He also became a gateway into a bunch of related stuff: Plastic Berterand and Hubble Bubble and etc.
3. How will you remember 2013? (In terms of music)
This was a good year for us musically: recording and getting an LP out always feels good. We also got a chance to tour with Freedom Club which was a major highlight of the year. Portland had a rough year though, the tragedy was spread around quite thoroughly. Houses burned and loved ones were lost and shit just happened to a lot of people in the punk scene. Everyone seems to be coming out the other side with more passion and drive and appreciation of loved ones so that's good to see. It was a year of highs and lows though, for sure.
4. What can we look forward to from you in 2014?
We are going to be in Europe late January and all of February and we hope to have a 7" single to accompany that tour, likely out on Sabotage and Taken By Surprise Records in Europe. Seve and Nick (drum and bass) are in another band (Wild Ones) that will be very busy this year so Adam and I might try to throw some ideas around and see what happens.
5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2014?
Last time I was at Blackwater Records shop I heard unmixed tracks from The Estranged. I have been listening to them obsessively since then in anticipation of this new one. The songs are their best to date. We will be in Europe at the same time and will have the chance to play a couple shows with them so I'm hoping to hear some of the new jams.
6. There is a lot of debate over streaming sites and royalties, namely with Spotify. What is your stance on the economic policies behind the current streaming services? Do you have a preferred one?
Luckily we have a great dude in Ken from Dirtnap. We don't have to deal with these big weird alien business things. All I know is the bastards will always try to get you but I have full faith that Ken is doing all he can to not let anyone get ripped off for their art. I think the idea of streaming is really good for the sake of widely distributing music of all kinds. It’s great to increase access as long as bands are not getting fucked in the process. I don't think these royalty issues are as serious in the punk scene but I could be wrong. I like the way Bandcamp is set up to give the artists full control over pricing and everything like that. They take a small percentage of sales and their emails have some weird jargon I don’t understand but it seems like a reasonably legit setup. Again, it’s just great to be able to distribute music so widely so easily. The whole piracy scare is over and now these sites are working on ways to re-monetize recorded music and I guess that’s cool if you need to eat or pay rent, but it’s not a perfect system.
