Features / One Question Interviews

Annie DeTemple (Old Man Markley)

SPB: What is the best Buck Owens song?

DeTemple: Well, my favorite Buck Owens song is "Act Naturally."  I'm not just saying that because The Beatles covered it, but it goes to show that they probably thought it was the best Buck Owens song, too!  I love “Act Naturally” for its catchy melody.  If you’re ever …

Ian Vanek (Japanther)

SPB: Is there a regional food you look forward to when you tour?

Vanek: We eat regionally, seasonally and locally as much as possible. Japanther also forage for wild food and eat out of dumpsters. We snack on oranges and avocados off the trees in Cali and make green juice in almost every hotel room. Pizza in …

Joey Cape (Lagwagon, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes)

SPB: What is the most overdone cover song? 

Cape: "Brown Eyed Girl"

Mike (Beartrap)

SPB: How do you primarily find new music these days?

Mike: The Internet. There are thousands of music blogs dedicated to whatever little niche of hardcore/punk/ whatever you subscribe to. A lot of people fight the digital age but it does help in a lot of ways too.

Kim Kelly (Catharsis PR, writer)

SPB: How did you first get involved in PR work?

Kelly: It happened pretty organically. By the time I decided to try my hand at PR, I'd already been writing for a variety of publications for a good four years so I had an inkling of how it all worked. As a writer, I'd also …

Jarrett D (Screaming Females)

SPB: What song in your active playlist requires the most practice? What part is the hardest to get down?

D: Screaming Females plays a different setlist every night. We have a catalogue of about 70 songs.

I'd like to be able to say that we could play any of those songs at any time but that's …

Haiduk

SPB: What do you remember of your first live performance ever?

Haiduk: I'd been talking to some friends from a local band about possibly, eventually doing one-man shows. So, without telling me, they went ahead and booked Haiduk and their band for a bar show 2 weeks later! The sound guy was somewhat confused when I told him the …

Pontus (Agrimonia)

SPB: What makes death metal - or metal in general - so prevalent in Sweden?

Pontus: I think there is a huge music interest in general in Sweden. This might have to do with that it’s easy to pick up and learn an instrument at an early age thanks to Sweden’s community music school, so many people who …

Peelander Yellow (Peelander-Z)

SPB: What is your favorite music-related book?

Yellow: I never read music-related book!!!

I have to learn a lot of things without music-related book!!!

music-related book never teach me how to dance "My dance"!

music-related book never show me how to kiss "My kiss"!

music-related book never bring to my world!!!

OK!! Lets start to do myself …

Chris Pepus (Razorcake)

SPB: What is your favorite thing about working with print media?

Pepus: Most of my writing appears on the web, but I still prefer to read, and write for, print. When I get a zine or a book from an independent press via U.S. Mail, the communication feels more direct than if the writing comes via internet firms …

David Yow (the Jesus Lizard, artist, Qui, Scratch Acid)

SPB: How has aging affected your musical performance?

Yow: Dunno if it's due to aging, but I have almost no desire whatever to play in some full-time musical outfit.

SPB: Is touring a larger physical burden?

Yow: I haven't done any touring in a few years, but, without a doubt, touring …

Shannon T. Moore (Activator, lead singer)

SPB: How did you “discover” punk rock?

Moore: I discovered punk rock on few different occasions in a few stages of my life. Starting with all of the media hype of the Sex Pistols and all of the times Sid Vicious was in the news. I remember seeing a clip of them doing "Anarchy …

Joe Holland (Sex Rays, Violent Shifters)

SPB: Do you wear earplugs when you play? Why/why not?. 

Holland: I almost always wear hearing protection at rehearsals, shooting range style "ear muffs" are the best, in my opinion. In most cases I do wear earplugs when I go to shows as a spectator, especially if the band is not "worth" the hearing …

Aaron Carnes (Gnarboots) 

SPB: What is the ideal format to a show line-up? (How many bands, genres, etc.?)

Carnes: I always liked lineups that were diverse. Shows with only one style of band is so boring. Back in the day when G.N.A.R.B.O.O.T. Adam and I were in ska bands, every other fucking band we played with was ska. We love …

Ben Greenberg (The Men)

SPB: What’s a record you love that would surprise people?

Greenberg: Bill Frisell - Have A Little Faith

Bill Frisell is an amazing guitar player who has released many, many, many records that I never listen to. Have A Little Faith was the first one I heard, and continues to be my favorite. His band on the record is a quintet that includes an …

Bianca Barragan (LA Zinefest organizer)

SPB: If forced to choose, what is your favorite LA-based zine (currently active)?

Barragan: After thinking about all the LA-based zines that are awesome, I'm going to have to say that my favorite right now is Razorcake because their latest issue was awesome and I am just now reading through it. Other favorites are DUM DUM Zine, Fair Dig, any zine by illustrator Helen …

Andrew Schubert (Ghostbot Records, recording engineer)

SPB: Besides music, what other arts are you into?

Schubert: Music is what I'm most passionate about. It's how I mark time and set placemarks in my life. I can remember events by what song was playing on the car stereo. But I love visual art as well. I'm not as good at remembering …

Sara Landeau (The Julie Ruin)

SPB: Did joining The Julie Ruin feel like a new band, or like you were joining one with an already-established identity?

Landeau: It felt like a brand new band, which it was. In retrospect, we probably should've changed the name because it’s the same name as Kathleen's 1998 solo moniker (Julie Ruin), but then again …

RJD2

SPB: What do you like to do on a tour off date?

RJD2: On an off date when I'm touring, two things dominate my day: food, and craigslist. That's pretty much it. So I'm on Yelp, asking on twitter, texting friends, etc to make sure I'm eating the must-have grub. And simultaneously, I'm trolling craigslist for finds on gear-synths, …

Seiji (Guitar Wolf)

SPB: How did your recent US tour with The Coathangers go?

Seiji: The girls are wonderful. Their songs are full of great ideas. They inspired us a great deal. The way they raise the excitement in the later half of the show was simply great, like pink typhoon. I'd love to invite them to Japan.