Features / One Question Interviews

Jon (Chokecherry)

SPB: How do you feel about the hyphenated genre terms that tend to be applied to your band?

Jon: Genre descriptions are fine because people obviously want to know what a band sounds like before they commit time or money to it. But especially in punk, all the sub-genres and sub-scenes can get a little cliquey and silly. …

Sergy Boldyrev (Cloud Maze – vocals)

SPB: What is your least favorite genre of music? Is there an artists who is an exception to that rule?

Boldyrev: My least favorite genres are probably death metal and metalcore. To be honest, I prefer relaxing and melodic music. But I do love and respect what they do on stage, it is so …

Jeremy Hiebert (Comeback Kid-guitar)

SPB: What’s your least favorite record you’ve made? Why?

Hiebert: Like I said to out label's publicist, “Do I really have to answer that one?” That's like someone asking me to do a nude photoshoot when I'm feeling fat and pasty white after the Christmas holidays. But anyways, after you have put out 5 records and …

Jarrod (City of Satellites)

SPB: Who is your favorite pre-1960s artist/band?

Jarrod: I guess when reflecting on my music collection there isn’t much from the ‘50s that makes it in there, to be honest. Having said that, I feel I have been influenced by many artists from that era (everyone has), perhaps without fully realising it. When thinking of the ‘50s …

Patrick Alberts (Call of the Void)

SPB: What do you think of (the return of) cassettes?

Alberts: I find the return of cassettes to be awesome. There is nothing I enjoy more than owning a bands demo on cassette, when it’s not available in any other format. One of my favorite releases currently is Spectral Voice's Necrotic Doom on tape. The format …

Andrew (Caffiends)

SPB: How old were you when you first learned a musical instrument?

Andrew: Here at Caffiends we take every interview as a huge honor and we are hoping to one day be able to answer this question. However, no one in Caffiends actually knows how to play their instruments, we are just really good at faking it.

CJ Ramone

SPB: In what setting are you least likely to wear a leather jacket?

Ramone: On the toilet. 

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 to all …

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...

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 everything solo, …

Chris Brokaw (solo, Wreckmeister Harmonies, The New Year, The Empty House Collective, ex-Codeine)

SPB: Rank these listening formats: cd, vinyl, cassette, digital, (other?)

Brokaw: 1) Vinyl. For so many reasons. But I guess the best is that I recently concluded that this is the best piece of art that exists. I consider music to be the most complex, thought-provoking, odd-emotion-inspiring, …

Rorik (Cloud Rat)

SPB: What characteristics make a good host when you crash on a stranger’s floor?

Rorik: Hmmmmmm.... Well, that depends on my mood and how many gigs I've played in the past 24 hours and how much driving has been done. 

1. SWIMMING POOL.
Kidding.

Host: Respectful. Good-natured. Kind. Nice to talk to. Not a complete maniac (unless …

Jeffrey Novak (Cheap Time, solo)

SPB: What inspired you to start performing solo?

Novak: I have never had much patience with waiting. I got tired of waiting to meet the right people to start a band with, so I got heavy into home recording instead. But it wasn't until I saw the Cheater Slicks play that I finally knew I …

Srini Radhakrishna (Circles, Space Raft)

SPB: Do you wear earplugs when you play? (Why/why not?)

Radhakrishna: Despite having custom earplugs made over a year ago, I've only used them once. They actually haven't even moved from where I put them the day I got them. I forget that I own them and never think to bring them to practice. I …

Dave Williams (Crusades)

SPB: What do your children think of your music?

Williams: Well, my daughter is only two-and-a-half years old, but I'm a stay-at-home-parent and so our day is pretty full of music. I do my best to be as eclectic as possible, and so we end up listening to a lot of my favourite records that perhaps aren't …

Kim Kelly (Catharsis PR, writer)

SPB: How did you first get involved in PR work?

Kelly: It happened pretty organically. By the time I decided to try my hand at PR, I'd already been writing for a variety of publications for a good four years so I had an inkling of how it all worked. As a writer, I'd also …

Jeff (Capitalist Kids)

SPB: Who is your favorite capitalist hero?

Jeff: Ha ha. I don't have a capitalist hero. The Capitalist Kids are not huge fans of capitalism, even though every once in a while someone mistakenly “likes” our Facebook page with that belief. I suppose if we want to use this question as a springboard for discussing capitalism, I'll …

PJ Fancher (The Fest ticketmaster, Grabass Charlestons/The Careeners, I worked at No Idea Records for 10 years)

Fancher: I've never seen any direct numbers proving so but I imagine that the whole download code thing has only helped vinyl sales. I actually get a bit bummed if I buy a new record and it does not have a download code. …

Chris Moore (Coke Bust/Sick Fix/D.O.C.)

SPB: What is your favorite music-related film or documentary?

Moore: It's a toss-up between Last Days Here, the documentary about Bobby Liebling the singer of Pentagram, and Hit So Hard about Patty Schemel, the drummer from Hole.

Steve Brodsky (Cave In)

SPB: Can you like a musician whose politics you disagree with?

Brodsky: Well, ZZ Top did play at George W. Bush's inaugural ceremony and it hasn't stopped me from listening to "Tejas" at least once a month.