Features / One Question Interviews

Ian MacDougall (Nice Surprise – guitar/vocals/bass)

SPB: Is Nice Surprise primarily a two-person project? What is the origin story?

MacDougall: Nice Surprise is myself, Ian MacDougall on Vocals/Guitar/Bass and Stuart Sikes doing the recording and drums. It was pretty much born out of quarantine boredom and our love of fuzzed out punk/garage music. I’ve recorded and interned in …

Lindsay DeGroot (Fox Face - lead guitar, vocals)

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

DeGroot: I started playing guitar when I was 25 years-old. A few years before that, I played drums for the first time for "All Messed Up." All Messed Up is a yearly "randomized musical experiment" in Milwaukee, WI, where …

Sean Arenas (Pinned in Place – guitar)

SPB: What guitar do you play (and how did you choose it)?

Arenas: I've only ever owned one electric guitar: my purple Fender Standard Telecaster, a Mexican model. I purchased it when I was nineteen from a sixteen-year-old kid in Temple City, Calif. His mom forced him to sell it because …

Gene Woolfolk III (Vincas - guitar)

SPB: What type of guitar do you play for live gigs and how/why did you choose it?

Woolfolk: I have a plethora of large, heavy tube amps but none of them fit in a minivan. Chris lets me use his Musicman HD-130 2x10 combo for Vincas because I need something loud, clean, …

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 …

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 …

Ossa Humiliata (City of Industry)

SPB: Who is your favorite lyricist?

Humiliata: Damian Abraham and Mike Haliechuk from Fucked Up. Collectively, their word play, storytelling, and creativity are always operating at 100 in my opinion.

Matt P. (Bummer)

What is your amp setup and how did you choose to pair that with your guitar?

Matt says:

Kenny Feinstein (Water Tower)  

SPB: You’ve been through a lot and your songs reflect that. Can you tell us the symbolism or how you landed on the Water Tower name?

Feinstein: Thank you for asking. Thank you for taking the time to listen to and understand my songs. I think it takes someone who has been through …

Jason Fusco (Shehehe)

SPB: What drummer (not your own band) stand out to you the most?

My faFusco: vorite drummer is Michael Gonzalez of the local Athens, GA band Deep State. I just really dig his driving style of playing. It's aggresive, but fluid, reminds me of why I play drums in the first place, to really feel …

Vincent (Faux Depart)

SPB: Which records do you consider essential for the development of Faux Depart's music?

Vincent: Well, we're big music nerds but if I have to name 3 albums that are key influences in our music, I'd say WIPERS "Is this real", WIRE "pink flag" and FEELIES "crazy rhythms."

They all have both punk and …

R. Boyd

SPB: Is there a particular album or artist that inspired you to start writing your own music when you were younger?

Boyd: No particular album or artist but I was really into ‘90s grunge when that hit. My neighbor who had learned to play guitar showed me some chords and really inspired me. He definitely played …

SJC (Mycelium Cloak – drums/lyrics/vocals)

SPB: Has being on a stage regularly changed how you interact with strangers? Are you more/less social because of your stage experience? 

SJC: When I first started playing music, it definitely made me more social. Simply playing with other bands extended my network of friends. As I became an ancient head in punk …

Matt Muffin (Lollygagger)

SPB: Have you ever forgotten lyrics or the music for a song while playing live? How did you recover?

Muffin: The best story I have is....

A few years ago, Mike and I played in a band called The Peekaboos, which later pretty much became rebranded as "Lollygagger" when Kinsey joined. One of our …

Kaada

SPB: For Misinterpretations, you used a grand piano that was (as I understand it) modified with something called Putty Kit, which leads to a unique sound. What is your experience using this and what inspired this project?

Kaada: Putty-Kit goes under many different names : Heftemasse/Klebemasse, Tack-it, Multi-Tac to name a few. It’s that thing you …

Fred Gunn (Hiram-Maxim – vocals)

SPB: From when you were starting out to now, what parts of your setup have really helped voice your sound over the years?

Gunn: Prior to forming HIRAM-MAXIM, I performed exclusively in punk bands. The extent of my gear was nothing of my own. I’d just show up and use the club’s microphone. …

Mikey Erg

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

Mikey: My current kit is a Ludwig Blue Vistalite kit with a 26" kick drum and 14" and 18" toms. My snare is a Pork Pie "Pig lite" 13x7 snare that I just LOVE the …

Rash

SPB: What is your favorite protest song?

Eric (vocals): "The Dream is Dead" by Blight

Jesse (guitar): "Police State" by Dead Prez

Skyler (drums): "Draft Morning" by The Byrds

Jim (bass): "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Mad Caddies

SPB: Was the mic’ing of the horns in the studio different for Punk Rocksteady than on “traditional” Mad Caddies records?

Mad Caddies: The mic and position always changes depending on the horn sound. Punk Rocksteady was mostly close miking. On older records the room mics played a bigger role in the mix. 

Jarboe

SPB: What is the “go to” Jarboe keyboard (make/model) and what makes this one so essential for you?

Jarboe: M-Audio PROKEYS88 

Reliable slave / interface for the Mac recording application I use.