Features / One Question Interviews

Alix (Daydream)

SPB: What do you remember of playing your first show?

Alix: My first show ever was when I was 13 years old. My two younger brothers and I formed a cover band with a friend and we called it FEENIX. We played a benefit party at a church that we all grew up going to (against our will …

Mike Moderski (Greylock)

SPB: What’s the most overrated guitar feature?

Moderski: Guitar strings. There’s so much hype that goes into branding when really they’re just tiny metal cables. Expensive or not, if you play hard enough and sweat your strings will rust.

Jeff (…Whatever That Means)

SPB: Your lineup features members from multiple countries. Who is an overlooked/influential punk band you’d like to shout out from each of your home countries?

Jeff: Like you said, besides the members who were born and raised here in Korea, we have members from the US, and Poland, but we’ve all lived in Korea for pretty …

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 when we were …

Iman (Iman’s League)

SPB: What do you think is the most unique thing about Singapore’s punk scene, when compared to more well-known scenes, such as the USA or UK?

Iman: The Singapore punk scene is known to be hardworking and self-reliant. We organize shows on our own and make our way to other countries to showcase ourselves. This is probably …

Jon Pagano (Sullest, Weak Teeth, Best Practices)

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

Pagano: Preparation and communication are critical. Plan a route, then plan a secondary route, and honestly for good measure, plan a third route. With so many variables, you’ll want as much flexibility as possible in case something falls through. Make sure you get time off …

Yianna (Vouna)

SPB: How did you choose the guest artists for this record?

Yianna: Everyone was a very natural addition to the record:

Autumn Kassel and Caitlin Fate were both members of the live line-up at the time, before they both moved to New Orleans. Autumn had been playing the synth interlude of What Once Was live and Caitlin had …

Suho (Sidecar)

SPB: How is the Busan scene different than other punk scenes in Korea? (What makes it unique compared to, for example, Seoul?)

Suho: Besides the 1990s when punk rock was at its peak in Busan, it’s a challenge to play punk here because Busan doesn’t always have many bands, and the number of venues is small. However, due …

BEDTIMEMAGIC

SPB: How do you typically find new music?

Nicholas (bass): My favorite way to find new music is through compilations and trading tapes. The "Reality" series, and the "Cry Now, Cry Later" series were integral to my childhood. Heck, even the "Punk-O-Rama" releases were pretty rad. Now I like to check out bands by following rabbit holes on YouTube …

Andrew (Raw Grip)

SPB: Your record is releasing on 6 different labels (in 6 countries). How did you connect with so many different labels?

Andrew: We have been in the punk hardcore scene for a long time and during all this time we have gathered a lot of different contacts and acquaintances, so finding labels was not a problem for us, …

Shaf (Naedr)

SPB: Exploring a new (to me) scene is always interesting and the Singapore scene is largely unknown to me. Please be our guide and show us a couple of highlights of the scene, where should we start exploring in your opinion? 

Shaf: To be honest we have no idea where to even begin, haha. But in any case …

Bryan W. Fleming (Rig Time! – vocals/drums)

SPB: As a band that’s very active on the road, how have you adjusted or focused your creative energy over the past year (plus)?

Fleming: Before the world shut down, we were ready to hit about 150 tour dates in 2020. We had to shift our focus from creating an intense live performance, …

Rich Horror (Cyttorak)

SPB: What is your favorite cover to play (and why)?

Horror: Without a doubt, "Boxcar" by Jawbreaker. We’ve talked about doing different covers since the inception of the band, but whenever anything slow and heavy is brought up... it's always a hard pass for me. A cover song for us isn't that appealing if we can’t completely …

John Hastie (Nonagon)

SPB: What stands out to you the most, today, when you listen to (or think back on) your first record?

Hastie: Honestly, when I listen to No Sun, all I want to do is scream at us to calm the heck down. Those songs are somewhat complicated (at least for us) and were significantly slower when we …

Johnny and Abigail Poppke (Peroxide Blonde – guitar/vocals and bass)

SPB: The US went into shutdown shortly after the band formed. How did that hiatus, for lack of a better word, change the band’s direction or concept (or didn’t it)?

Peroxide Blonde: Right before the pandemic, we had put out a demo and were just starting to play shows. It …

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 actually does …

Tim Fennelly (Urethane)

SPB: The band was formed during the pandemic but you now have a few live dates scheduled as things open back up. Was Urethane formed as a “bedroom project” or was live performance something you always had in mind?

Fennelly: During the beginning of the pandemic, when I realized that shows, and pretty much life in general was …

Produced By A Girl

SPB: The compilation collects a variety of artists -- how did you narrow it down to the final 5 on the album? 

I presented the opportunity to over 100 female indie artists. Through demo selection, A&R talks, project synergy discussions and a couple months of roundtables, we narrowed it down to about 5 artists that made the …

Adam Nice (A.M. Nice – guitar/vocals)

SPB: Were there any amps, cabs or anything else that stood out when you recorded with Steve Wethington at Candyland studio for your upcoming album?

Nice: Our friend Jeff’s microphone stand with a built-in cup holder stood out as the worst piece of gear I’ve ever seen, however this Musicman HD130 amp head stood out …

Wingtips (Vincent Segretario)

SPB: Your work is often compared to ‘80s synth sounds. What are some contemporary artists who inspire you, either directly or indirectly?

Segretario: Some current artists which come to mind who we draw influence from currently are CHVRCHES, FKA twigs, 3TEETH, The Soft Moon, and HEALTH. Mainly, these are sonic influences whom I'd say we pay a …