Features / One Question Interviews

Jason St. Angelo (Tired Radio – bass/backing vocals)

SPB: What type of detail or opinion do you like to see in reading music coverage?

St. Angelo: This is incredibly self-centered, but I love when reviewers or journalists can hone in on the subtleties of a bassline and pick it apart from the mix to analyze its role. I …

Kieran (The Restarts)

SPB: What was the first punk show you ever went to?

Kieran: Growing up in a small Canadian town, Squamish BC, I only just started to discover punk on day trips into Vancouver city going to import record shops and second hand clothing boutiques that catered to the punk aesthetic. I had heard of a …

Mitch Vinokur (Two-Man Giant Squid)

SPB: What is the most MacGyver-esque workaround you’ve made to connect different bits of equipment?

Vinokur: To record our first album I actually did the mattress thing in my bedroom "studio." Basically. I took whatever mattresses and blankets I had and made a big square fort and put a mic and amp in …

T.J. McFaull (The Bar Stool Preachers)

SPB: Noting that Terry Hall recently passed away, what is your favorite song by The Specials and what does it mean to you?

McFaull:

“Do Nothing”

Even a band as genre specific as The Specials could slow it down and write a balladic banger like this was life-changing. The lyrics, …

Rev (The Drowns)

SPB: Noting that Terry Hall recently passed away, what is your favorite song by The Specials and what does it mean to you?

Rev: My first band ever was a ska band when I was in high school over 20 years ago now. I learned how to play “A Message To You Rudy” and “Nite …

Joe Anderl (The 1984 Draft)

SPB: What is the origin of the band name?

Anderl: Both my parents are from Omaha, Nebraska. My dad graduated from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Since my dad was in the Air Force, we moved around a lot so we didn’t have deep ties to any real geographic region or sports …

Alex (The Remote Controls)

SPB: What’s your favorite Ramones deep cut?

Alex: My favorite Ramones deep cut is “Oh Oh I Love Her So” from Leave Home. I’m a big fan of Joey’s love songs and this is one of the best. The song has a cool ‘50s/American Graffiti vibe but set against the backdrop of Coney …

Donnie Hopper (The Bare Minimum – bass)

SPB: What stands out to you about your first live show with The Bare Minimum?

Hopper: What stands out to me about my first show with the Bare Minimum was how big the shoes were that I had to fill. It was a St. Paddy's Day show on March 15th, 2019. …

Ash (The Clever References – guitar/vocals)

SPB: How important is TikTok platform for a DIY band?

Ash: It's a lottery ticket. You can do everything right on that platform, and find that the algorithm has changed and it's kinda left you behind. Alternatively, a piece of content you make might skyrocket you to fame that risks you being …

Serge Nakauchi Pelletier (TEKE::TEKE – guitar)

SPB: You use a variety of instruments. Were there any mic challenges or unique studio setups to require the sounds you achieved on Shirushi last year?

Nakauchi Pelletier: I don't recall any “challenges” per se in terms of set ups or even choices of microphones. Obviously, you want the best option for …

Joey Affatato (The Carousers)

SPB: What is the furthest you’ve ever traveled to see a show (and who was it/where)?

Affatato: The farthest I've travelled for a show was about two hours away. It was to see Badflower at the Pat Garrett Amphitheater in Strausstown, PA

Adam (The Right Here-bass)

SPB: What’s the last record you didn’t care for much on first listen that’s really grown on you since?

Adam: The album that I initially dismissed was Let It Be by The Replacements. After listening to Sorry, ma and Stink I was looking for more hard-hitting, in-your-face punk rock so I fired up Let …

Paul (Tor Johnson Records)

SPB: What’s the most challenging technology change in running a label right now, in 2021-22?

Paul: When I started the label 20 years ago the internet was nothing like it is now. Keeping up with streaming services, social media (I'm still horrible at twitter), websites (I update the store, but my website is kind …

Christian Dryden (The Ritualists – vocals/songwriter)

SPB: Besides the ‘80s and ‘90s references on display, are there any particular contemporary songwriters who inspire you?

Dryden: Yes! We love The Horrors, White Lies, Wand and Temples. They are all excellent, newish bands that really challenge the listener with incredible textures, grooves and soundscapes.  

Tyler Daniel Bean

SPB: After music, what arts interest you?

Bean: I’m inspired by the thought Annie Dillard put into creating a sentence, the quiet way Agnes Martin’s minimalism intentionally rejects the ease of machines, how Mark Rothko’s experimentations with the drying times of paint additives helped change the ways we experience modern art, the way Richard Siken …

Jebb Riley (There Were Wires)

SPB: You haven't played live in years. What do you think will be the hardest song to relearn/remaster?

Riley: I’d have to go with “Gasp”. It’s long, but it’s the many mood, tempo, and part changes in that song that I think will be challenging. When we wrote it, it was a period …

Jeff (Too Many Voices-bass)

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

Jeff: I own a few basses. I have an acoustic bass guitar I fiddle around with at home (bought that in 2004 at a music store in Denver), a Fender Musicmaster bass (which is a short-scale bass and that one …

Lauren Gurgiolo (The Dialtones)

SPB: What’s a record you’re really into that would surprise your fans?

Gurgiolo: I listened to this masterpiece from 1995 to 2006 every day. When I think of it, I immediately feel comforted and at home. I fell in love with the sound multiple times over the years, especially in emotionally rough times when …

Chris Veinot (Talk Show Host)

SPB: Was any of the “Blood in the Sand” cat footage shot specifically for the video or was it all footage you previously had on hand?

Veinot: The only thing shot specifically for the video was the intro, with Maila (the big white marshmallow doofus) lounging like an idiot in front of the …

Tommy Plural (The Plurals)

SPB: What do you remember about the first Plurals live show?

Tommy: The Plurals -- from the beginning, and to this day, Tommy, Nich, and Hattie -- started playing together when we were all still in high school, largely jamming on Pixies covers in the spring of 2004. We cycled through a lot of …