Features / One Question Interviews

Big Chungus

SPB: Wet Cassettes released your latest so we think you may be biased. Anyway, rank your preference of music media formats for listening: cd, vinyl, cassette, digital, (other?)

Big Chungus: As a former subterranean creature, I, like so many of you human Americans, prefer things that taste good versus what's good for me. And yeah, I …

Nick Hertzberg (Wet Cassettes-owner)

SPB: What band has the best logo of all time?

Hertzberg: This is a tough one. First of all, as someone who grew up a metal-head, my mind goes THERE first. Most "ordinary bands" change fonts and imagery and don't have a logo that sticks with them during their tenure, right? But, when I …

Chase D. Spruiell (Big Loser)

SPB: What is the largest crowd you’ve played to (back when people did that)? Did you approach the set differently than a “normal” show?

Spruiell:

1. One time I was opening up for this famous K-Pop singer in San Francisco. I can’t remember her name, but she was playing a sold-out show …

Laura Larson (Scrunchies)

SPB: What is the highest number of bands you’ve been in at one time?

Larson:

Tony (Barren Womb)

SPB: Were there any amps, cabs or anything else that stood out in the studio when you recorded Lizard Lounge?

Tony: There was nothing very unusual about the amp setup for the Lizard Lounge recording sessions, in fact it was very similar to the setup we’ve been running live for years. I split my signal …

Jake Robertson (Alien Nosejob)

SPB: What was the inspiration to start Alien Nosejob?

Robertson: I listen to a lot of different types of music, but often bands are restricted to one style. I love hanging out with friends at the pub and band practice and all that, but I also have a fondness for locking myself in a …

John Payne (Heart & Lung-bass/vocals)

SPB:I hear you work closely with Karamu House. Tell us a bit about how you got involved and what it means to you, personally.

Payne: Karamu House is the oldest Black theater in the country, and virtually no one in Cleveland has ever heard of it! I most definitely hadn’t until I …

Kaelan Mikla

SPB: What piece of equipment is most essential or definitive or “the Kaelan Mikla sound”?

Kaelan Mikla: We feel like all our instruments and vocals are equally important as they all combine to create the Kælan Mikla sound, but the MF DRIVE by MOOG bass effect is one of our favorites. It has a brutal and …

Chris (Hey Colossus – guitar)

SPB: You’ve dubbed your backline “The Pirate Ship.” Care to tell us why? (And how you put it together?) 

Chris: The simple answer is: "Have you seen it?".

When we played Glastonbury we had to set all our gear up behind the stage on ramps so the crew could put it …

Jason (Chain Cult – bass)

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

Jason: I have a simple fender jazz bass. Somebody, broke [into] my car and stole my previous one in an unfortunate event and I didnt have any money to buy a new one. So my friend Ilias from Lifewreck …

Larry Livermore (Lookout Records founder)

SPB: What studios played a role in defining “the Lookout sound” of the label’s early years?

Livermore: All the early Lookout releases were recorded in one of two studios. The first was Dangerous Rhythm, in Oakland, CA, run by Kevin Army and Matt Wallace (by the time we began working with Kevin in …

Todd Allen (Squarecrow)

SPB: What amps do you use, and how did you decide on that setup?

Allen: I upgraded from some random half stack with a Boss Metal Zone pedal to a Fender Deville 4x10 combo amp because I was playing in a rockabilly punk band at the time (2009). It makes noise, goes “crunch” when I …

Multicult (Nick Skrobisz/Rebecca Burchette – guitar/bass)

SPB: Describe your pedal board: How did you choose which pedals to use and why did you arrange them as you did?

Earthset

SPB: You released a live soundtrack to L’Uomo Meccanico at the start of the year. As a project so focused on live performance, how have this year’s COVID-19 restrictions impacted your creative process?

Earthset: The Covid-19 crisis had a huge impact on our project. Here in Italy things were really bad at the beginning, so places such …

Al Smith (Geld-vocals)

SPB: What is the most overrated guitar feature?

Smith: It may seem rich to bemoan something Geld has casually lent on in our last few records, but the “howl of cicadas” guitar tone feels pretty played out at this point. I mean, don’t get me wrong, a big come to Jesus moment for me was …

Miski Dee (City Mouse)

SPB: What type of guitar do you play and how did you choose that model?

Dee: I absolutely love my guitar! It's a 2006 Epiphone Wilshire and I would say that it chose me. After I started City Mouse I kept switching guitars (I had a little metal Ibanez, a Squier, then a Washburn) …

Teddy Panopoulos

SPB: The new record is strictly analog. Can you walk us through the (main) gear that you used?

Steven Mandell (American Standards – bass)

SPB: Show us your rig setup and tell us what you like about it.

Gino Bambino (Gino and the Goons)

SPB: Walk our readers through your kit and offer insight as to how you arrived at your sizes (shells and cymbals).  

Gino: I have a 1966 set of Champagne sparkle Ludwig drums. It’s not worth much due to the fact they made so many at that time and the shape it’s in …

Michael J. Wolf (Wolf-Face)

SPB: How has Wolf-Face’s mission/concept changed since the band first formed?

Wolf: My mission to spread the word about the trials and tribulations of being a teenage werewolf remains unchanged—that we all have things that make us different from our peers. Everyone can relate to the idea of not being like other people and …