Features / One Question Interviews

Pavel Tchikov (Ogives)

SPB: What part of your live show is the hardest on sound engineers?

Tchikov: Ogives’ music is a very wide, dynamic range and there’s lots of instrument changes. A song can start with a chamber music part, with delicate vocals and acoustic arrangement, and end up with harsh electronic noise and blasting drums, or a vocal part …

Avery Okamura (One Armed Joey - singer/guitarist)

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

Okamura: To be totally honest, I saw School of Rock and thought Jack Black was super cool, not picking up on the fact that in the movie he’s supposed to be like, a total loser…

But shortly thereafter, I …

John Brhel (Other Dangers - guitar/vocals)

SPB: Have you ever forgotten lyrics (or another part) mid-song? How did you recover?

Brhel: I’ve forgotten lyrics a few times over the years. It’s usually when performing a new song we haven’t played live much yet. Usually I’ll just sing the melody and repeat a line from earlier in the song (or sing …

Devan Bleyle (Obsolete Man)

SPB: Who designs your merch? (Any stories about the inspiration of a specific piece or, alternately, how did you get involved with this artist?)

Bleyle: Initially, we've done it all ourselves. By doing it ourselves, I mean we found public domain art and free fonts that we liked and built our designs with those. This can …

Derek (Old Ghosts)

SPB: What is the best TV theme song?

Derek: It would have to the Cheers theme (I know I’m showing my age). Some of the lyrics hit me & I find them quite relatable. Also, the piano is quite catchy.

Here’s some lyrics with my comments:

“Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.”  …

Bruno Dorella (OvO - drums,)

SPB: Walk our readers through your self-described “minimal drum kit.” How did you arrive at your sizes of what to include (or not include)?

Dorella: There are different reasons why I choose to play without kick drum. First, when I started playing drums in a band I didn't really know how to play. I was …

Orphanage Named Earth

SPB: If you could change just one thing in the human mindset today, what would it be and why?   

The desire to form hierarchy in the society. Once food became commodity and civilisation as we know it arrived, humans formed hierarchy and those in power started to control those less fortunate. This led to exploitation, slavery …

Maura (Ogikubo Station)

SPB: How did Ogikubo Station come to be? 

Maura: I was visiting my sister in Oakland and hanging out with my friend Danielle Bailey from the band Jabber in San Jose.  Danny had posted some photos of us hanging out and Mike called Danny to ask if I'd sing some vocals on a song he was working …

Ojo Por Ojo

SPB: How likely are you to pick up a record based off its cover with no knowledge of the band or music? 

Ojo Por Ojo: I have done it several times with good and bad results but it's always entertaining and fun. As a kid and before the world paid so much attention to old Mexican punk, …

Okkyung Lee

SPB: You have a classical background in your musical upbringing, but moved further and further into the experimental scene when you moved to the US. What was it that pulled you towards this scene, and what is the allure of a freer musical form?

Lee: It was about finding the very personal voice within the instrument, cello in …

Fletcher (On the Water)

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

Fletcher: Tough question: Being a high school dropout, I have worked some very shitty jobs.

Providing customer service and sales for a mail/online porn business here in Philadelphia, one of my special tasks was clearing out the voicemail for Mailing List removal. [I] had to sit through …

Evan Jacobs (Orange County Scenester – director)

SPB: Who is your favorite band discovered in the process of filming Orange County Scenester?

Jacobs: Since I was making a memoir on a scene of bands that I was, in many ways, intimately involved with, there wasn't that a band that I discovered during the making of the film.
What I …

Clint (Organized Crime Records)

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

Clint: I would say that overall about 60% of my place is consumed with music. I have been a long time avid collector.

Funny thing: I am dealing with music storage issues right now. Having a label means there are always …

Annie DeTemple (Old Man Markley)

SPB: What is the best Buck Owens song?

DeTemple: Well, my favorite Buck Owens song is "Act Naturally."  I'm not just saying that because The Beatles covered it, but it goes to show that they probably thought it was the best Buck Owens song, too!  I love “Act Naturally” for its catchy melody.  If you’re ever …

Oren Ambarchi

SPB: What is the most thankless job in the music industry?

Ambarchi: One of the many thankless jobs would be working as the house sound engineer in a club. You'd be exposed to plenty of shitty music played by obnoxious assholes at a loud volume on a regular basis. Even if you somehow enhanced the sound of the …

M. Lehto (October Falls)

SPB: What is your day job and how does it fit (or conflict) with your artistic goals?

M. Lehto: Basically I work as a branch manager at financial sector and, as I'm not a touring artist, it's quite easy to fit any band-related things into my daily schedule. Naturally sometimes the job takes a lot of …

Brandon Gallagher (Old Wounds)

SPB: Are trucker bombs allowed in the van? Have any stories?

Gallagher: At first, I had no idea what a trucker bomb was, so immediately I went to urban dictionary and found out that it simply means "pee bottle." I honestly don't think I could of gotten asked a better question, so here it goes. First …

Ryan Young (Off With Their Heads)

SPB: Is there a particular interview question you’d like to never answer again?

Young: Interviews can go one of 2 ways for me. Either they get me to talk about fond memories, or they are pestering. I've always been kind of a butthole, but any question that can be found using google will simply …

Santos Montano (Old Man Gloom)

SPB: How do you choose your album art?

Montano: There are two things that make Old Man Gloom function: Breakfast and solidarity. There is one caveat to this. Well, two. Our solidarity is compromised when I use the word "caveat," as it makes Nate furious, and the other is album art. There is simply no …