Salinas Records / Quaker Wedding (Marco Reosti)
1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2020? (In order 1-5)
- Dark Thoughts - Must Be Nice
- Goodbye Party - Beautiful Motors
- Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
- Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
- Constant Insult - History In Shorthand
2. What band did you discover in 2020 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
Phoebe Bridgers. I’m a little late to the game here and I can’t say that this had a particularly profound impact on my life, but both of her records were the soundtrack to a lot of lonely time spent walking aimlessly alone during a pandemic and I can think of fewer more appropriate soundtracks.
3. How will you remember 2020? (In terms of music)
It would be foolish to not answer this by saying that I will remember the moment that live music came to a grinding halt in March. I was actually scheduled to play a show on Friday, March 13th with a bunch of friends and as late as the morning of the 11th we checked in with one another and were still planning on going ahead. By the next morning it was clear that we’d have to cancel. As it has now been nearing nine months, it’s also becoming clear that just practicing is fraught with difficulty and I am curious as to what the future repercussions of this will be.
4. What can we look forward to from you in 2021?
Calyx - Stay Gone
Vacation - Existential Risks & Returns
5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2021?
Any records my friends put out… seriously. Many of my friends are unable to even practice regularly, so it’s hard to imagine what comes next. And those who can practice and record are stuck in limbo unable to play shows or tour, so I’ll be happy when my friends start putting out records again. I could use that joy in my life.
6. Trying to put a positive spin on things, what is your favorite development from the global pandemic this year? (Is there a new medium you enjoy, a specific song or collaboration, personal news, etc. that was a bright spot?)
I’m hesitant to even answer this. I think in the long run people may come away from this experience having had time to examine the habits and routines they were accustomed to and maybe change the ways they operate as artists, but it’s hard to put any positive spin on a global pandemic that has claimed over a million deaths and created massive instability.
