Features / One Question Interviews

Trevor Bebee (Mercy Ties)

SPB: Any new thoughts, perspectives, or memories of this tour as you prep for a new round on the road?

Bebee: Yeah, from 2013 to 2024 my perspective on playing in a touring hardcore band has changed a lot. Since being inactive for so long, I really miss just hanging out with my friends, …

Tommy Colliton (Curse Words)

SPB: What is the most tiresome stereotype about punk rock?      

Colliton: I find one of the most tiresome stereotypes would be that punk has to be yelling angry, aggressive lyrics. While there’s plenty to be pissed off about and it’s rather cathartic yelling along in a sweaty pit full of friends, there’s other ways …

David Jarnstrom (Rad Owl)

SPB: What was the inspiration in starting this band?
A midlife crisis? 

Jarnstrom: In all seriousness, Rad Owl was a bit of a nostalgia trip at first. We were childhood friends who had grown up discovering metal and punk rock and hardcore together in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. We had learned how …

Matthew Brammer (Six Below Zero)

SPB: Can you walk us through your studio or recording set-up to get a glimpse of how a one-man band works for Six Below Zero?

Brammer: Since I don't play live anymore, I'm pretty much 100% "in the box" these days. Especially since a lot of amp sims and digital tools have gotten …

Sarah (Queen Serene)

SPB: How did you connect with Craig Ross for the new record?

Sarah: Craig Ross (not to be confused with Lenny Kravitz’s guitarist, haha) is a regular at the coffee shop that I used to work at in Austin. He would come in every morning, sit at the bar, and we’d always end up talking …

Lane Oliver (Yatsu – guitar)

SPB: Which of your songs is hardest to play live?

Oliver: The hardest song to play live is typically “Influencers & Straw Men.” Everyone’s respective parts are incredibly frenetic and full of rapid tempo changes. For guitar, the intro and closing riffs fly up and down the neck and can be pretty tricky …

Aaron (The Snorts-guitar/vocals)

SPB: Other than the new live record, what is your favorite split record, ever?

Aaron: My favorite split of all time is: Spark Lights Friction / Ruined in a Day from 2000. That version of “Hearts and Canons” from Spark Lights just rips. 

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The Snorts has a new split 12" with 2AMature. …

Yanmark Berube (2AMature-drums)

SPB: Do you collect physical media?

Berube: Absolutely, we collect physical media. It’s the only REAL way to own it. When you buy media digitally, you’re usually just purchasing the rights to access it, which can be revoked at any time. With physical media, it’s yours forever. Plus, when the AI overlords eventually take over, …

Matthew Brammer (Six Below Zero)

SPB: Six Below Zero is both a solo project and you live in Wyoming, so I imagine you have limited live opportunities -- that said, does the project ever play live and does that possibility affect how you approach songwriting?

Brammer: Consistently playing live is, and always has been, a challenge in my …

Mario (Big Sad - bass)    

SPB: Who is the most underrated Florida band (current or all-time, your choice)?

Mario: Grabass Charlestons/Careeners

Not only is their entire catalog solid, but their last LP, Dale & The Careeners is the best album No Idea Records ever put out. Whenever I find a copy I buy it to give to …

Derek (Static Friction)

SPB: What is the furthest you’ve ever traveled to see a single show (and who was it)?

Derek: Oh boy, I just so happen to have a good answer for this one. My wife and I have been planning an Italy trip for about a year and a half and just shifted it from next …

Sam (Feel It Records)

SPB: What is your favorite album cover of all time?

Sam: Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

Totally iconic, striking, and still relevant to this day. Still wakes me up every time I pick it out to spin.

Steven Fairweather (Gob)

SPB: How many people mispronounce your name as an Arrested Development reference?

Fairweather: HAHA! Not too many actually! I’m sure it’s maybe more of an issue when Googling the band. But we were once out on a run of shows with a band called “Seaway,” so for a gig poster we used a photo of …

Jared Rosenbaum (Hollow Howl)

SPB: How much space in your home is dedicated to music storage (instruments or records)?

Rosenblum: We live in an old farmhouse. Not a big affluent one with beautiful metal fixtures and woodwork. Just a little old house from the 1870s. So it predates the consumer economy and it definitely wasn’t designed to hold …

Douglas Busson (Yuasa-Exide)

SPB: Health problems led to this project as well as a new way of physically playing guitar. What is it like to listen to these songs? Do they take you through that discomfort again?

Busson: Listening back to the early albums doesn’t cause me any discomfort (except for my discomfort at how repetitive I was …

Roman Remains (Coughin Vicars - vocals)

SPB: What is the worst reunion concert you’ve seen? –

Roman: I can't recall ever walking away from a reunion gig I've invested in with disappointment.

Rocket from the Crypt, Danzig doing Samhain, The Make up, Jawbreaker, E.S.G, Pentagram, Bl'ast, Negative Approach, all falling into this category.

Others I maybe …

Thrin Vianale (winded – guitar/vocals)

Winded appear to live by DIY in the punk world, but with a wider range of influences. Who is a favorite band (not associated with "punk") who has influenced your style or approach?

I would have to say the band Low has probably been one of the most consistent inspirations for this project. …

Dave-O (Night Court)

SPB" You just released your third record in the last four years. How do you know when it’s “time” to record and release a new full-length?

Dave-O: Well, technically $HIT MACHINE is our fourth album in four years - although Nervous Birds One and Too are being re-released as one LP next year so I …

Worst Ways

(Grant - Guitar, Ryan - Guitar, Trevor - Drums, Phil - Bass/Backing Vocals, Jonnie - Vocals)

SPB: What song in your current setlist is the hardest to nail live (what part is the most challenging)?

Grant: Oh, easy. "Better Off", the first half of the song when played how it's recorded is down picking as …

Keddie Smith (Keddies Resort – vocals/guitar)

SPB: Is there a regional food you look forward to on tour?

Smith: As a man with no proper education I do not know what "regional" means but lemme tell you, I was 250 pounds a few years ago so I do nothing but think about food. When I'm not eating cheeseburgers …