Features / One Question Interviews

Cameron (Malta)

SPB: As a songwriter, at what point does drawing influence from another subject become too close to mimicking?

Malta: When we write, we take cues from subjects everywhere, real life and every aspect of media and art, but I'll try to talk specifically about how we deal when we feel like we're mimicking songwriters and players when we …

Matthew Turner (My America – guitar/vocals)

SPB: What is the strangest trend you see in modern music (or in the industry)?

Turner: This actually came up very recently when we were in the studio recording our new album with Kevin Bernsten. We were pretty aligned in terms of musical taste with Kevin. We liked a lot of the same stuff. …

Mikey Erg

SPB: Do you get nervous before you play a show?

Erg: For the most part I'm usually more excited than nervous. Sometimes I can get a little nervous if it's a big crowd or if it's a band that hasn't gotten to rehearse all that much, but that usually goes away after the first song. 

Michael Yonkers

SPB: How does it feel to revisit music from so long ago? Are you the type of musician that enjoys playing and listening to a full back catalog or are you the type who tends to release an album and move on to the next project?

Yonkers: It is a very odd feeling, to say the least. I …

Autry Fulbright II (Midnight Masses, …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead)

SPB: How did you settle on the name Midnight Masses for the project?

Fulbright II: My dad was raised Catholic and my favorite Black Sabbath song is “War Pigs” ("generals gathered in their masses/just like witches at black masses").

Jeff (Ma Jolie)

SPB: What’s the secret to a successful tour?

Jeff: It all depends on your intentions with touring in general. If it's your career/job/profession, a lot of factors are involved with making a successful tour. Yes, full-time musicians need to make money in order to pay their bills, live in a home/apartment, and maybe even have to be …

Al Jourgensen (Ministry)

SPB: Is there a sample you’ve tried to get the rights to use but were denied?

Jourgensen: ALL OF THEM.... Just kidding. Actually the biggest sample pain in the ass was on Houses of the Molé with the use of Carmina Burana on “No W.” It was a nightmare. We'd reached out to the publisher via Sanctuary's …

Sascha (Mad Caddies)

SPB: What makes a good roadie? Have you done it? 

Sascha: We don't really use the term “roadie.” That seems kinda like an ‘80s word. We use the term “crew.”

Obviously any crew member must do their job well. Besides that they must be easy to travel with and relatively drama-free especially when under the influence of …

Avi (Magrudergrind)

SPB: What’s the secret to a successful tour?

Avi: Efficiency. Don't bring too many personal items or equipment. Bring essential equipment to retain your sound but try and borrow other items (within reason) like extra cabs for full stacks.

Tom Loftus (Modern Radio Music Label, co-owner)

SPB: What was the biggest mistake you made when starting up/learning how run a record label?

Loftus: My biggest mistake was overestimating quantity when putting out releases. There are all sorts of price breaks when you manufacture vinyl, CDs or print that make the cost per unit much cheaper. I always had a …

Ezra Arrow Kire (Morning Glory)

SPB: What do you think of Record Store Day?

Kire: Record Store Day? It should be an official national holiday! Why? Because every child of the '80s and '90s remembers going down to their local record shop and listening to those big, shiny black, magic pieces of vinyl with those gigantic headphones on, going over …

Yako (Melt Banana)

SPB: What surprised you the most on your first US tour?

Yako: I was surprised that we needed to show ID to enter the clubs. In Japan, we don't need to be over 21 to enter clubs!

Justin Wettstein (Multiple Truths)

SPB: After music, what other arts are you interested in?

Wettstein: Taking music out of the art spectrum is tough. I feel that music plays a large part in many forms of art, at least in some small capacity...so I must admit, I was a little stumped at first. When forced to think about it, though, …

Daniel O’ Sullivan (Mothlite)

SPB: How do you find the time for so many different projects?

O'Sullivan: I don't find the time because time doesn't exist. It's always now. Right now I'm answering this question, before that I was assembling an Ikea bookshelf, these are projects and they're always happening now unless they're not happening and in that context they …

Peter Mielech (Modern Radio Record Label)

SPB: You re-released old STNNNG records on the Playbutton format. How did you decide to try that format?

Mielech: It's an experiment of sorts. We've always tried to stay on top of the different ways people listen to music. Although we've always stayed true to the only time-tested format in vinyl, we were one …

Melissa B

SPB: You work as a network engineer. Are there many musicians or artists within your field/Are there many creative-types?

Melissa B: I find that there are a lot of people in the technology field that are truly musically inclined. I happen to work with several people that actually are in bands or have been working on Broadway.

There …

Brent Eyestone (Magic Bullet Records, Highness, Bleach Everything)

SPB: Who is your favorite current band to see live?

Eyestone: For the last 13 years, my absolute favorite band to see live is Sigur Rós, without question. I've seen them 38 times all around the world and their performances have always put me in a headspace that I've genuinely never felt …

Mitch Clem (artist)

SPB: How do you approach drawing an album cover as compared to a comic?

Clem: That's actually a solid question. Since I started doing comics as my primary thing like a hundred years ago, most of my growth as an artist happened within the confines of panels and, as such, I think in panels now. I don't …

Dave Dictor (MDC)

SPB: What was the largest and smallest crowd you’ve played to?

Dictor: The largest crowd was at the With Full Force Festival in what was East Germany with Motorhead, Agnostic Front, US Bombs, The Distillers. There was said to be 50,000 people there. Ozzy Osbourne was the next night's headliner at the festival. We played the smaller …

Mario Parra (More Than Sound Collective)

SPB: What’s a record you love that would surprise people?

Parra: I've always considered my taste in music to be diverse, in a limited sense; I never stray too far from pop punk, hardcore, ska punk, emo, and the like, basically because nothing else speaks to me in the same way. Aside from what …