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 Manhattan, salmon in Seattle, crawfish in New Orleans, Tacos in Texas, Vietnamese in Orlando... You get the picture.
Cesar Ruiz (The Seize - vocals) SPB: How do you typically choose your album art? Ruiz: Album art has started with lyrics. When I’m writing, I’ll have these images in mind that represent the feelings or themes within the songs. Those ideas usually become the starting point for the cover. … Read more
Neil Erskine (Chairmaker) SPB: If Chairmaker had a physical form like a place, a thing, or a smell, what would it be? Erskine: There is a very specific chair - but you've got to read Banks' Use of Weapons. No spoilers. Read more
Ugly Stick SPB: Describe in your own words the “Columbus Sound” and what it means or has meant to you and your musical output. David Holm (vocals and guitars): As it pertains to Ugly Stick I would say it's kind of an amalgam of punk rock, country, and classic rock. … Read more
Every year we diligently assemble a list of our favorite albums of the year. Each SPB staff member enters the large arena we nickname THE DOJO, and yells out the name of their top album of the year. Rival staffers quickly assemble and shout out their own highly-favored record, and … Read more
For many years now, Scene Point Blank has taken the opportunity as the year ends to formally "pass the mic" to our friends on the other side of the mostly-imaginary divide between listeners and artists. This year is no exception as we ask a bunch of bands, artists and labels … Read more
In the city of Brooklyn, New York's hippest borough, the pretensions of musicians trying to create songs that are both avant garde and widely accessible (a clear paradox) makes for a stifling scene. Lofts and warehouse spaces across the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick are filling with passive young professionals being bludgeoned with art. While every incarnation of noise, folk, … Read more
Cesar Ruiz (The Seize - vocals) SPB: How do you typically choose your album art? Ruiz: Album art has started with lyrics. When I’m writing, I’ll have these images in mind that represent the feelings or themes within the songs. Those ideas usually become the starting point for the cover. … Read more
Neil Erskine (Chairmaker) SPB: If Chairmaker had a physical form like a place, a thing, or a smell, what would it be? Erskine: There is a very specific chair - but you've got to read Banks' Use of Weapons. No spoilers. Read more
Ugly Stick SPB: Describe in your own words the “Columbus Sound” and what it means or has meant to you and your musical output. David Holm (vocals and guitars): As it pertains to Ugly Stick I would say it's kind of an amalgam of punk rock, country, and classic rock. … Read more
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