Features / One Question Interviews

Georgia Maq

SPB: What song would you want played at your funeral? 

Maq: I'd like “Two Worlds” – Tiger’s Jaw played at my funeral. 

Matt Vaughn (Lesstalk Records, Michael Crafter-vocals)

SPB: Do any of your musician friends have tinnitus?

Vaughn: Yeh, I think a lot of my friends have or will have tinnitus when the years go by. I have been playing in DIY bands for about 10 years now and going to gigs every weekend as well as playing and jamming …

Lachlan R. Dale (Adrift for Days, Art As Catharsis)

SPB: How has the increasing digitisation of music changed your listening habits?

Dale: A very good question, and one I often reflect on.

There is no doubt that the digitisation of music has dramatically increased access while also increasing supply through reduced production costs.

The effect for …

Reece Prain (Diploid-bass/vocals)

SPB: How much space in your home is dedicated to music storage (records or instruments)?

Prain: I have a bandroom/equipment storage room. It’s pretty full, so lots of junk is just sort of hung around the room as well. But really, music equipment is scattered throughout the house. As for record/cds/tapes and such, I have …

Ian Miller (Roman Cities)

SPB: How important to the band’s concept was playing “era-appropriate instrumentation”?

Miller: Man, what a great question. When I was imagining this project, I had visions of headless basses and chorus pedals. But the gear ended up not really mattering. Bradley plays a Tele into a Fender combo; Dan used his giant Early Graves …

Joshua Lozano (Fashion Week – guitar/vocals)

SPB: Rank your preferred listening formats: cd, vinyl, cassette, digital, (other?)

Lozano: At home: vinyl

In the van: CD

Running on the street: iPod. 

In the ‘90s: Cassettes (mixtapes)

Brian Campeau

SPB: What is your favorite album cover of all time?

Campeau: I'm a big fan of a photo which tells a story, whether or not you understand that story. By this I mean a photo that keeps you looking at it and the more you look at it the more you discover. 

Hipgnosis (the guys …

Robert Cheeseman (Spirits – bass)

SPB: is the best hardcore song, ever?

Cheeseman: The best hardcore song? Hell if I know! One of my favorite hardcore bands though is Faded Grey. I remember downloading "The New Crusades" off of revhq sometime in late 2000 and it was definitely a gateway moment that led me to discover a lot …

Frank Godla (Meek Is Murder)

SPB: What do you think of cassettes?

Godla: They will always have a special place in my heart. I started collecting music when cassettes were still the norm, and wound up with several hundred cassette and VHS tapes in my house. I’d even make my own mixtapes to carry around in my bag, …

John (Maybeshewill)

SPB: What are you most looking forward to on your upcoming first US tour? 

John: We’re still waiting to find out if we’ll be coming over, but it’s been an aim of ours for a really long time. We don’t take as much shit from anyone else as we do from American fans who want us …

Ricky (Western Settings)

SPB: Who is the most underrated San Diego band right now?

Ricky: The most underrated band in San Diego? There are a ton. One that has grabbed my attention over the last year is a folk-punk band called Plastic City Pariah. They are talented, and kind human beings. Their music is fun, full of feeling, …

Nathan Joyner (Hot Nerds – guitar/vocals)

SPB: Who is the hottest nerd of them all?

Joyner: That's simple: any kid who stays in school is the hottest nerd of them all. So, the hottest nerd of them all changes constantly. Stay in school, kids, eat your greens, and don't back talk your parents. A close second …

John Panza (Hiram-Maxim-drums)

SPB: Has the change to more headphone listening changed how you listen to music or mix it?

Panza: Last night I witnessed – because “saw” is inadequate – Swans perform here in Cleveland. The band’s reputation for relentless, brutal, euphoric, and cilia-killing live shows is legendary. But my intro to Swans came via headphones. Back …

Matthi (Nasty-vocals)

SPB: What was the best show you’ve seen in the past year? 

Matthi: Sand at PDF Summer Bash in Osaka. Sand killed it as usual and people got crazy as fuck. Nobody cared about anything anymore. Just pure chaos.

Matt Finney (It Only Gets Worse)

SPB: How many vans have you had?

Finney: Never owned a van myself but my parents had an Astrovan in the late 90s/early 2000s. I remember my younger sister getting her hand slammed in it at least three times. No idea how that's even possible.

En Esch

SPB: How has technology changed the recording process for you between your first professional-level recordings and today?

En Esch: When I started out we worked with an Emax SE Sampler with 512k memory space saved onto a floppy disk. For each song we had very minimal and especially short samples to pick from. Now I could …

Dave Hoenack (Hymie’s Records-Minneapolis, MN)

SPB: What is your preferred way to store vinyl in a home?

Hoenack: We believe records are best stored as near your turntable as possible. A comfy couch in the same area sure helps.

Paul Lai (Upsilon Acrux)

SPB: What is your favorite venue to play?

Lai: Without a doubt it's our home away from home, Los Angeles' infamous DIY venue The Smell. It's run by Jim Smith and some volunteers.

We have a long history with Jim and The Smell. It was our first LA show back in the late …

Viktor (Tear Them Down)

SPB: Do you take any precautions to stay healthy while on the road?

Viktor: Well I think any member of any band have a brief moment before going on tour like the scene in Backstage Passport where Fat Mike puts a ton of random pills in a toiletry bag. Whether it is only some …

Jess Locke

SPB: Where in your hometown do you always bring visitors?

Locke: I'm from Avoca Beach on the Central Coast of New South Wales, AUS. It's a beautiful area of the world but, there's not a whole lot to do there unless you like nature or Shopping Centres. Luckily, I like the former. When I visit, I try …