Features / One Question Interviews

moja

SPB: How old were you when you learned your first instrument?

Masumi: My first instrument was YAMAHA Electone when I was five years old.

Haru: I’ve never actually had formal lessons -- I’m totally self-taught. I bought my first instrument back in junior high just to start a band with my friends. I didn’t even know …

Lauren (Broken Record)

SPB: What was your first tape/cd/record?

Lauren: The first CD I bought with my own money was No Strings Attached by *NSYNC, but perhaps more formative was my second CD, Green Day’s Nimrod.

Green Day went on to become one of my all time favorites, and I think Nimrod has some of their …

Eric Angelo Bessel

SPB: Walk us through your gear setup for the recording of Mirror at Night.

Eric: I composed the album, Mirror at Night, using a pair of digital Mellotrons (proto-sampling keyboards), an Alesis Micron (keyboard synthesizer), and guitars. The Micron is a new addition, and is the main instrument for songs “Scavengers” and “Headlamps.” …

Jake LeDrew (Dial Drive – guitar/vocals)

SPB: What is your favorite Dial Drive lyric? Why?

LeDrew: I'm going to go with a lyric off our new album. "You said you hate your life. Don't waste yours just take mine." That's in the chorus of our song "Second Chances" which will be the first track on our new album …

Jay (yokedevils)

SPB: What brought you back after a hiatus from making music? 

Jay: I never really stopped making music. Over the years I’ve been stockpiling everything from small riffs and weird scale runs to “feedback ideas” and full songs. I just haven’t been doing so publicly or with a band. Life got busy and different things took …

Josh (Flutter)

SPB: Where did you learn to drive and what kind of car was it?

Josh: My first car was a 1997 Ford Taurus, mint green with matching mint green seats. I learned to drive in the rolling countryside outside of Dubuque, Iowa, where a year later I would total that same car, hitting a fire hydrant …

Christine Atturio (Little Low)

SPB: What is your favorite Disney soundtrack?

Atturio: Aladdin, hands down. Robin Williams singing "Friend Like Me" is fire! The soundtrack as a whole goes from hopeful to scary to funny and back again, sometimes even sounding like the music from Indiana Jones when he's exploring the Cave of Wonders. Me and my …

McKinnon (Normal Park)

SPB: Your bio references math rock, [my opinion] one of the sillier genre names. Is there a music term you hear often that seems like it could have been phrased better?

Tyler: I don’t mind math rock as a genre term because it’s simple and descriptive, plus the music often can be a bit silly.

Alex Gilliam (Foolsmate)

SPB: What does the term “Midwest emo” mean to you?

Gilliam: After getting this question, I immediately asked the other guys in Foolsmate for their input. Though their answers varied drastically, they all touched upon inclusion. Midwest emo has always been about being vulnerable about yourself and experiences, and what makes the scene so special …

Matt Smasher (The Planet Smashers)

SPB: How did the collabs on the new album come to be? Did you reach out to the artist with a specific idea, or just ask “hey is there something you want to do here?”

Matt: It started out super simple, just a “would you be willing to do something on our album?” …

Laura (Fortitude Valley)

SPB: What do you remember, or alternately what stands out the most, about playing the first live show with Fortitude Valley?

Laura: It was January 2020, and I remember being very nervous about having to talk to the crowd and being the front person -- something that I still find nerve wracking! 

I wrote …

Cornelius (City Speak – bass / Keep it a Secret Records)

SPB What is the longest (in terms of time) tour that you have ever been on? Would you do it again?

Cornelius: We in City Speak don't do long tours -- work, pets, life, the usual. The longest we've been on tour was just 4 days. Lots …

Mike Hard (God Bullies)

SPB: Have you played any familiar locations that survived since your last tour and, if so, what struck you on revising them? If not, is there a city or highway that gave similar "flashbacks" or surprises?

Hard: The first city that comes to mind is Dubuque Iowa. Aaron Hefel has been booking shows for …

Cheap Fix

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

Chad Nichols (guitar/vocals): You'd think with a name like Cheap Fix, we'd be all over this question. But I'm the least handy of the band members, so I've got next to nothing. All my tricks, for some reason, apply to guitar straps. …

Mike Huguenor

Tell us about the primary guitars you used making Surfing the Web with the Alien?

Mike Assatly (Unseemlier - guitar/vocals) 

SPB: Do you have a preferred model of van for touring?

Assatly: Chevy G-20 Gladiator! It was my first van, I got it from my uncle with 115,000 on it. He got rid of it for a new van because it was "old" and would start having problems. I drove it all across …

Dave Slaverave (Dollar Store - bass)

SPB: This band hits a lot of styles, all kind of overlapping at the same time. How hard was it to find “your sound” when bringing these influences together?

Slaverave: Not very hard at all actually. We're all old-ass adults who've soaked in a lot of influences at this point. It actually …

Matt (Golden Shitters)

How nervous were you the first time you played a show?

My first show was around 2002. I was 15 years old and it was a basement house party in my hometown of Welland, Ontario. I’d just proved myself to my high school buddies by singing The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” hiding under …

Jeremiah (Small Steps - guitar/vocals)

SPB: What song has the best use of whistling?

Jeremiah: I feel like the easy answer would be the Bobby McFerrin song "Don't Worry Be Happy". Which is catchy as all get out, but we prefer the road less traveled here in Small Steps. For fun, I'll go with a different pick. In …

Joliette

SPB: What foreign country has been the most fun to play?

Joliette: Our favorite country to play shows in has definitely got to be Switzerland. It’s such a beautiful and fascinating place. Despite its relatively small size, we’ve been lucky enough to play in several different regions -- including Davos, high up in the Alps. There’s this …