Features / One Question Interviews

Del (Delmar & the Dedications)

SPB: What musician do you think had the greatest influence on Delmar’s sound today?  

Del: I've always been a huge fan of ‘60s girl-group pop bands, and at first, Delmar started as a cover band doing garage punk renditions of b-sides from The Chiffons, The Supremes, Lesley Gore, etc. I eventually realized that …

Larry Livermore

SPB: How do you generally find out about new music?

Livermore: Sometimes from friends, but increasingly, for the most part, nowhere.

Al (Geld – vocals)

SPB: Given that records get distributed on the internet with a global reach, and influences come in with a global reach, do you find it difficult to establish an “Australian” sound, or is it not a factor in your music? 

Al: While we do have some civic pride for Australian music (one of the …

Kevin White (Squarecrow – bass)

SPB: To you, what is the best thing about the San Diego scene right now?

White: It’s hard to identify. It’s just a group of musicians exhausting through a subsidiary fragmented universe of ego and alienation, entitlement and reproach, where diuretics and laxatives are employed to produce on a sidewalk; a San Diego …

Solveig Matthildur (Kælan Mikla)

SPB: How do fine arts, besides music, influence your approach to making music?

Matthildur: Art for me is like taking something from everyday life, a landscape, a situation, a thought, a dream or whatever you want to take, process it and put it out in another form. And I see it like all art and creations …

Mattia (Abstracter)

SPB: In my opinion Abstracter has adopted a more and more bleak sound over time. Do you perceive the development of Abstracter in the same way? What influences this development? 

Mattia: It is undeniable that the sound has gotten bleaker. This was the band's fate all along in some way. We just needed the right people …

Avola

SPB: What stood out to you the most the first time you performed as a solo musician?

Avola: My first solo performance was in 2009. It was a Sunday afternoon. I remember a lot of anxiety. I no longer had a band of hairy folks and too many amps to distract people with. Just me hunching over …

Ruby Boots

SPB: How does a musician’s politics affect your appreciation of them? Does it factor in, or can you separate the two ideas?

Ruby: I feel like using the word 'politics' as opposed to morals and values adds to the great divide that we are currently living in, I want to know where a musician stands on …

Eric Martinez (Dezorah)

SPB: What kind of guitar do you use (and why did you make this choice)? 

Eric: I play a Mexican made Fender Duo Sonic (Surf Green). I chose this guitar because I wanted something tonally versatile that would not leave me completely broke. So far it has given me everything I want in a guitar …

Tony Gonzalez (Barren Womb)

SPB: There was very little time between the first couple of Barren Womb releases. We have had to wait a bit for Old Money/New Lows. What caused the wait?

Tony: There are a couple of reasons for the gap between "Nique Everything" and "Old Money / New Lows". First of all, we were touring …

Redmer (Sun-0-Bathers)

SPB: Sun-0-Bathers sounds very true to one particular scene or sound (and mocks a couple of others just by naming the band as you did). The more truly a band presents itself, the more it makes me wonder: what guilty pleasures are hidden? So: what are your guilty pleasures outside of your general style?

Redmer: Our …

Frank Meriwether (Dark Oz)

SPB: What is the weirdest description you’ve heard of your music? Could you see where the commenter was coming from? 

Frank: I really can't think of any weird descriptions, unfortunately, but the weirdest comparison I got was comparing our music to Genesis. I started listening to music (in a way so as to form …

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers

SPB: Which venue has the best food for touring artists? 

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers: The Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC, those cats make dope tacos and have vegan options.

Travis (The Penske File)

SPB: Has your band ever been robbed on the road? (Did you recover any of your losses?) 

Travis: I would love to answer no to this question and be done with it, but that wouldn't be truthful. Last winter we were on tour in Europe. A few shows in, we stopped off in Milan, …

Barrence Whitfield & the Savages

SPB: What is your favorite restaurant to visit on tour?

Barrence Whitfield & the Savages: BBQ anywhere southern U.S.A

Sean Bohrman (Burger Records)

SPB: What is the most touching or memorable thing a fan has told you about the label?

Sean: It's happened a few times, but inspiring people to start their own labels is really gratifying. I feel inspirational in a "if these guys can do it why can't I?" type of way. Like when the …

Ojo Por Ojo

SPB: How likely are you to pick up a record based off its cover with no knowledge of the band or music? 

Ojo Por Ojo: I have done it several times with good and bad results but it's always entertaining and fun. As a kid and before the world paid so much attention to old Mexican …

Shannon (Pandemix)

SPB: Who is your favorite lyricist?

Shannon: Vi Subversa of Poison Girls. The way that she weaves the personal into the political until they are indistinguishable from each other is somehow subtle and biting all at once. Her lyrics were usually playful without ever making you question her seriousness. I think a lot of the imagery …

Jeffrey Tucholski (Gentle Leader XIV)

SPB: What was your favorite band in high school? Do they influence your songwriting or ethics in any measurable way today?

The three of us all went to high school in the mid to late ‘90s so, as one might guess, there was no shortage of legit terrible music to listen in that …

Dave Rohm (Radon)

SPB: What’s your favorite 1990s Radon song to play live?

Rohm: My favorite 1990’s Radon song to play live is called “Exhaustra.” It’s a house-rocking metal song that reminds me of the bands that we grew up listening to in Gainesville, FL. It mostly reminds me of one of my favorite bands from Gainesville called …