Will Butler (To Live a Lie Records)
1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2015? (In order 1-5)
I'm going to throw you through a loop because these [last 3] are outside genres I normally am interested in.
- The Kill - Kill Them...All LP
- Man Is The Bastard - The Lost MITB Session LP
- Title Fight - Hyperview LP
- Happy Diving - Big World LP
- Dirty Dishes - Guilty LP
2. What band did you discover in 2015 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
Again as I've mentioned above, been listening to stuff outside the normal heavier genres, maybe I'm getting softer in my old age. I ran across Happy Diving and had to hear and get everything they had for sale, it was a strange instance where I just got it. Its like overdriven shoegaze/punk/powerpop/grunge and you can tell its made by punks because the one guy in their pictures has a Gauze shirt on. Its like when the doom metal world discovered Torche.
3. How will you remember 2015? (In terms of music)
2015 is the year I tried to bucketlist all the stuff I listened to as a kid even if they aren't so good in 2015: I saw Descedents (RIPPED), Smashing Pumpkins (RULED), Primus (Actually really cool), Fear Factory (Not amazing but damn did they try), and a lot of things like that. Glad to time trip a bit.
4. What can we look forward to from you in 2016?
You're asking me like I know! 2015 was a slow year for TLAL but damn did I do some cool records, I did an 8" lathe with a screen printed B-side you can see through, a flexi postcard, a DVD/and or USB with all the first 100 releases on them. I mean what is left! I know I'll find something.
Backslider CD, Rabid Pigs LP, Sidetracked LP, and new Impulse EP is what is on the books but look for the stuff between the lines that will creep up on you!
5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2016?
I don't even know! I'm going to read through the other interviews on here and find what to be into. Oh, I want to hear the new Cave State EP (Deep Six), the Sex Prisoner LP (A389). Isn't there a new Magrudergrind coming out? Maybe that Shitstorm split with Radiation will finally happen too!
6. How relevant is the physical format record/cd/tape in 2015 and going into 2016? What do you see changing in terms of physical vs. digital discussions?
Honestly 2015 was rough on the physical format/TLAL. CDs are almost irrelevant in 2015. Tapes are so cheap and easy to come by they are hot in 2015 and I assume 2016. LPs are going to continue to be a pain to press but lets keep them alive! Physical will always win digital.
I do digital just to help the bands get some extra money and for my label too so I can put out the next LP. Movies are going to all become part of the cloud but I hope music stays tangible. Do any of the platforms really deliver well? Do they really support the underground?
