One of our features here at Scene Point Blank is our semi-daily quickie Q&A: One Question Interviews. Follow us at facebook or twitter and we'll post one interview every Monday-Thursday. Well, sometimes we miss a day, but it will be four each week regardless.
After our social media followers get the first word, we'll later post a wrap-up here at the site and archive 'em here. This week check out Q&As with Midnight Masses, The Arrivals, Sneeze and Frank Rosaly.
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Autry Fulbright II (Midnight Masses, …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead)
SPB: How did you settle on the name Midnight Masses for the project?
Autry: My dad was raised Catholic and my favorite Black Sabbath song is “War Pigs” ("generals gathered in their masses/just like witches at black masses").
Isaac Thotz (The Arrivals, Treasure Fleet)
SPB: Have you ever hooked your dangling earrings on anything?
Isaac: I've hooked them on countless things all over the universe that I'm unaware of; I've misplaced at least thirty or forty. I was down to one earring for about six months there a little while back. It was my favorite, so I was really being careful not to lose it. It had a blue dyed feather on top and then a chain that went down to an orange feather. The earring looked like something a punk would wear in an ‘80s movie--maybe like Nicholas Cage in Valley Girl. Somehow the orange feather on my favorite earring had gotten all matted with blood. I liked that even better. Then I finally lost that one too. I like the feather earrings because they dangle, but they're not heavy. Two years ago, you could pick up a feather earring set for two bucks. But then they went out of fashion, I guess, so I've just been making my own shitty earrings. I just take a thrift store earring and tie a couple feathers to it with wire or fishing string or a rubber band. I find feathers anywhere. There are endless stray bird feathers out in the world if you look for them. It seems birds lose feathers like punks lose feather earrings.
Derek (Sneeze)
SPB: What do you parents think of your music?
Derek: Honestly, both of my parents love Sneeze much much more than my older bands, haha. They're finally happy I'm in a band that doesn't just "scream bloody murder." Sometimes they're a little iffy on the lyrics ‘cause now they know I do drugs, drink excessively, smoke, and isolate myself buuuttttt they buy all the records and I send them all our new material for feedback. It still blows their mind that I tour the world without a manager and all dates booked amongst ourselves.
However, they do think our tours are equivalent to a Motley Crew one but what’s the harm in letting them think that? When growing up, my parents always bought new tapes and cds which I always listened too. Bands like Nirvana, Gin Blossoms, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains. It's something we bonded over and continue to this day.
Frank Rosaly
SPB: What's the worst (or strangest) stereotype you encounter from people when they find out you're a musician?
Frank: “It must be so fantastic to be following your dream!”
This response is probably the strangest of them all. I mean, it really bums me out. I understand that some people don’t have a calling to a particular career as a young person. Most people have a dream job they never pursue. Most people have a choice. Fear of discomfort keeps people from their calling.
*stepping on my pedestal. clear throat.*
In the United States, there is so much pressure from shit media, the poor education system, and our overwhelming Disney ® monoculture about pursuing “dreams”— big cars, boats, giant TVs… Those are things, not dreams. People often work super hard at jobs they generally don’t like for their entire lives in pursuit of things… things that make life more bearable. That’s the pursuit of comfort, which is BORING.
Some people take on a hobby, say dirt biking. Why not just work your ass off at being the baddest motocross racer EVER? Yeah, you could break your neck. Yeah, it’s tough, and maybe you’ll never be good enough. I believe if you love something, if you really love it, you will find a way to be one of the best. You’ll get to wear those Kawasaki green pants without being a poseur.
You love working in the garden on your day off? Why not work your ass off at opening an urban farm on 2 acres? Yeah, it’s rough. You may even fail. That’s a lot of money to throw away on a failed business. If your “Little Jimmy’s Cream Acre” doesn’t pan out, then you work at a gardening center for a couple years, get your shit together and do it again. Move to Iowa and work with people that are successful at running a business. Read some damn books. Learn as much as you can, then do it again.
You love playing accounting simulation games on the weekend when you’re not busy swimming with beluga whales at the Shedd Aquarium? By god, fuck the whales and start working at H&R Block right away.
*and off the pedestal*
