David Mead (Crasher)

SPB: Besides music, what other arts interest you?

Mead: I love comedy writing, film, and film history. I love finding someone who can run lines from weird old movies with me. I have a lot of ideas for films, a few sci-fi and comedy ones that I would love to write the screenplays for sometime. I also …

Tony Bavaria (Calling Hours – guitar)

SPB: Where in your hometown do you always bring visitors?

Bavaria: One place I always bring visitors in and around Harrisburg, PA (our hometown) is Neato Burrito. There's a few of them in our area, and they're owned by guys who have been involved in the scene or playing in bands around the area …

Conan Neutron (Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends)

SPB: Each record from Conan Neutron has had a very different, yet arguably dark, theme. Do you approach each record from "ground zero," or do you see a direct lineage between each theme? (In other words, do you "build off the previous release, or start completely over" each time?)

Conan Neutron: I …

Mitchell Layton (Church Girls – guitar)

SPB: What type of guitar do you play and what’s its “origin story”?

Layton: My main guitar has changed a lot over the years depending on what style I’m playing and what I’m using it for, but for most of the Church Girls touring and studio recording I’ve used my Revered Double Agent. It’s …

Dylan (Colonial Wounds – bass/vocals)

SPB: Is there a particular musician who inspired you to start playing your instrument?

Dylan: Bass was the first instrument I learned to play and it was Hunter Burgan of AFI that inspired me the most at that point. The first song I tried to learn outside of shit like smoke on the water was …

Tony Ash (Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends – bass)

SPB: Tell us about your bass tone and how you set things up for your work in Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends?

Ash: I want to preface this by saying, this is the moment I've been practicing for throughout the entire existence of Conan Neutron and the Secret Friends. …

Bleu (Chateau Chateau)

SPB: How much space in your home is dedicated to music storage (instruments or records)?

Bleu: Most of our house is dedicated to music storage. Our “master bedroom” is actually our recording studio now, so it houses our day-to-day equipment, writing and recording computers, pianos, guitars, drum kit, trombone, keytars, etc. Basically everything you've heard on our …

Mariel (Church Girls)

SPB: What is your favorite record store, either locally or one you’ve discovered on the road?

Mariel: I like Creep Records in Philly. 

They have a great used section that's not too overwhelming. I seem to get lucky and find something on my list every time I go in.

Caleb Nichols

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

Nichols: I’m going to answer this question via a “first thought = best thought” method, and my honest first thought when I read the question was “Cranes In The Sky” by Solange. 

When I think “best pop song” I think I’m thinking about timelessness and a …

Antoine (Chalk Hands - guitar/vocals)

SPB: How did you “discover” punk rock?

Antoine: I'm old enough to be one of these people who had a cool friend who burnt a CD with loads of bands on it. I remember it was a girl I had a crush on, which is pretty fitting given the fact that that CD contained mostly …

Clara Engel

SPB: Tell us how you got certain sounds when working on Their Invisible Hands?

Engel:

Check out the record here.

Rich Horror (Cyttorak)

SPB: What is your favorite cover to play (and why)?

Horror: Without a doubt, "Boxcar" by Jawbreaker. We’ve talked about doing different covers since the inception of the band, but whenever anything slow and heavy is brought up... it's always a hard pass for me. A cover song for us isn't that appealing if we can’t completely …

Ossa Humiliata (City of Industry)

SPB: Who is your favorite lyricist?

Humiliata: Damian Abraham and Mike Haliechuk from Fucked Up. Collectively, their word play, storytelling, and creativity are always operating at 100 in my opinion.

Cody Wilson (Cody)

SPB: Your name is Cody but this isn’t a guy-with-an-acoustic-guitar thing. Do you identify it as a solo project or would you still call it a “traditional band”?

Wilson: We are definitely a traditional band and our name originated from our writing process. The songs always start with just me and my Martin D28 at home but become …

Matt Bernard (Coach’s Son)

SPB: What is your favorite record store, locally or one that you’ve found while on tour?    

Bernard: By far our favorite record store is Princeton Record Exchange (PREX) in Princeton, New Jersey. We have been going there since we were kids. They are a small store located off the main drag of downtown Princeton, where …

Jason (Chain Cult – bass)

SPB: What type of bass do you play and how did you choose it?

Jason: I have a simple fender jazz bass. Somebody, broke [into] my car and stole my previous one in an unfortunate event and I didnt have any money to buy a new one. So my friend Ilias from Lifewreck lent me …

Miski Dee (City Mouse)

SPB: What type of guitar do you play and how did you choose that model?

Dee: I absolutely love my guitar! It's a 2006 Epiphone Wilshire and I would say that it chose me. After I started City Mouse I kept switching guitars (I had a little metal Ibanez, a Squier, then a Washburn) and one day …

Lance (Caffiends – guitar)

SPB: From when you were starting out to now, what parts of your (gear) setup have really helped voice your sound over the years?

Lance: Wow, I would have to say all of our gear is really important for our sound. Haha, I mean over the years, I have learned that just turning on, plugging in, …

Rorik Brooks (Cloud Rat – guitar)

SPB: What amps do you use in Cloud Rat and how did you make that decision?

Brooks: Currently I'm using two Dean Costello HMW guitar amps and a Gallien Krueger 700 RB bass amp. I run them via two ABY pedals, and a Boss poly octave pedal and limiter for the bass signal. Can …

Corporate Citizen

SPB: What is the worst job you’ve ever had? 

Steve Diaz (guitar): Bus boy at a Mexican food restaurant for 1 day. They tried to make me recycle the chips and salsa from used tables back in the mix. Even at 16 I knew that shit was fucked.

Louis Ramsey (guitar): I worked at a siding (for houses …