Features / One Question Interviews

Dick Lucas (Subhumans UK)

SPB: How involved were you in the box set project? 

Lucas: Most of my involvement was with going back through my old diaries to see if what I'd written when we were recording the albums made any sort of readable outline of what happened in the studio, and when I “tested” some entries on Daryl from …

Eric Angelo Bessel (Lore City, solo artist)

SPB: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Bessel: When beginning a new song, my go-to foundational drone is the Mellotron’s cello. There’s something about this 60-70 year old recorded cello that sets me into motion. I work my way through a new song by intuitively responding to the culmination of sounds, and …

Paul (The COVIDS – guitar)

SPB: This band formed during shutdowns and didn’t get to play live for some time. What is the longest you’ve gone, with COVIDS or any band, between forming and actually playing your first show?

Paul: For all of us it was definitely this band that took the longest to get from rehearsal studio to the …

Mike (DeeCRACKS)

SPB: What show, outside of Austria, have you been most excited to play (either because of the city, the venue, or the rest of the lineup)?

Mike: Tough question actually. We've done a lot of touring in our 20 years as a band and basically every adventure we were and still are excited for. The first proper tour …

Jason St. Angelo (Tired Radio – bass/backing vocals)

SPB: What type of detail or opinion do you like to see in reading music coverage?

St. Angelo: This is incredibly self-centered, but I love when reviewers or journalists can hone in on the subtleties of a bassline and pick it apart from the mix to analyze its role. I think it's …

Shaun Osburn (Middle-Aged Queers)

SPB: What was the first concert you went to?

Osburn: I want to parse this out into three different answers, because I think all of them are important milestones in shaping my musical interests and influences.

FIRST CONCERT: Jimmy Buffett. I believe I was six years-old. My dad is still a huge parrothead. I got in …

Mike Terry (Jukebox Romantics – vocals/guitar)

SPB: How nervous were you the first time you played a live show?

Terry: The first show I ever played was a basement show. It was basically inviting people over to our band practice in our drummer‘s basement on a Friday afternoon and too many people found out because we were basically the only …

Kieran (The Restarts)

SPB: What was the first punk show you ever went to?

Kieran: Growing up in a small Canadian town, Squamish BC, I only just started to discover punk on day trips into Vancouver city going to import record shops and second hand clothing boutiques that catered to the punk aesthetic. I had heard of a Vancouver artist …

Paula Lombardo (Venamoris)

SPB: It sounds like you were hesitant to return to music performance. What about the response to Venamoris has surprised you most?

Lombardo: Yes, I was hesitant. And now I’m left with the realization that my hesitancy was built on lies we tell ourselves.

There have been many surprises on this journey. But at this moment, I’m …

[ASS][ASS][INS]

SPB: What was the first record you ever bought?

Gab of Thunder: If I'm not mistaken my first vinyl record I bought was the self-titled Adolescents album. My parents had a record player and a small stack of records that sat in our dining room and I put it in front so everyone could see it. This was cool …

Jeff Dean (Heavy Seas – vocals/guitar)

SPB: What venue has the best food (for touring bands)?

Dean: Honestly, I think Beat Kitchen in Chicago has the best food for a music venue. I used to live down the street from there and I would just go there, whether I was playing a show or not, to eat. Also really wonderful staff, …

John Hoffman (Vacation, The Mimes)

SPB: From when you were starting out to now, what parts of your setup in studio have help to voice your sound as it stands today?

Hoffman: I'd have to say it's my Tascam 122 cassette deck. It's a two-track cassette desk that can monitor the recording of the cassette's audio in real time and …

Justin Baker (Neckscars – guitar)

SPB: What is your favorite protest song?

Baker: While growing up listening to punk rock, I was introduced to many perspectives that were foreign at the time. Propagandhi said "Fuck the Border" and the flag, Bad Religion challenged traditional spiritually and the Dead Kennedys spoke against corruption and war. Among the countless protest songs I've …

Martin (Mosaic)

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

Martin: I really like old-fashioned logos - like the old Tiamat or Katatonia logo - which are quite similar, to be honest. Those are really remarkable in their style, still have a classic feel, and represent the music best.

Suzi Moon

SPB: You’ve played in bands and, somewhat recently, shifted to a solo focus. How does it feel different “from the stage” when it’s your name on the bill instead of a band name?

Moon: Well, technically I am still in a band -- the gang mentality is still there. The Suzi Moon Band wouldn’t work without my super …

Dave Lombardo (Venamoris, Fantomas, ex-Slayer)

SPB: You’re known as a drummer: what was the first instrument you learned to play (and what else you play overall)? 

Lombardo: The first instrument I learned to play was the marching drum. I was in 4th grade, I believe I was 9 years old. Other than drums, I can get by on guitar and …

Mitch Vinokur (Two-Man Giant Squid)

SPB: What is the most MacGyver-esque workaround you’ve made to connect different bits of equipment?

Vinokur: To record our first album I actually did the mattress thing in my bedroom "studio." Basically. I took whatever mattresses and blankets I had and made a big square fort and put a mic and amp in the center. …

The Berserker Blóthar (GWAR)

SPB: GWAR has an elaborate live show, to put it mildly. Is there a particular venue that stands out to you as a challenge for your live show that ultimately turned out to make it more unique in a good way?

The Berserker Blóthar: Tacoland in San Antonio, Texas. We were just getting started and played …

Stomatopod

SPB: What song has the best use of whistling? 

Elliot: “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John....the whistle is the hook....and starts the song... (although that Guns ‘N’ Roses song probably sold more records...)

Sharon: “Love Is A Battlefield” by Pat Benatar.

Her album Crimes of Passion was the first cassette I ever bought (but that song was not …

Up For Nothing

What is your favorite stretch of highway to drive (on tour)?

Favorite stretch of highway for us would be the legendary I-95, which travels all the way across the east coast of the US. So many of our best memories as a band have come through driving up and down that highway. It’s a really special stretch …