Features / One Question Interviews

Dave Castillo (White Widows Pact)

SPB: How do you find new music?

Castillo: Call me old fashioned but usually I find out about new music through my friends. A lot of them are a part of music in one way or another so I get the scoop on a ton of great stuff. It's also part of my …

Rob Moran (Unbroken)

SPB: Have you ever heard your band covered by somebody else? What did you think?

Moran: I've heard a few covers over the years, some live and some recorded and it is always humbling. Of all the ones I've heard, Planes Mistaken For Stars was one that really nailed it. I could feel the angst …

Rebecca Foon (Esmerine)

SPB: What is your favorite 1960s artist?

Foon: Jimi Hendrix.

He probably fits under the category of people I would want to meet most as well. I have been inspired by him for as long as I can remember.

Alex (Wonk Unit)

SPB: How do you describe the band’s changes from Day One into what it is today, sound-wise?

Alex: The biggest change is a total reversal in songwriting style. For our first two albums I was writing lyrics to music, some pretty crazy technical stuff. These days (for the last two records) I'm writing music to …

Joel (City States)

SPB: How do you find the time to work on so many projects and do your regular day job (if you have one)? 

Joel: At the risk of sounding overly technical, a lot of my productivity just comes down to really rigorous planning and time management. I do have a full-time job as an art …

Dave Curran (Pigs, Unsane)

SPB: What’s the first thing you do when you get home after a long tour?

Curran: I curl up in fetal position and sleep for 5 days. Then I go on tour again...

Jon Lebiecki (Undesirable People)

SPB: Winter touring: yes or now (and why/got any stories)?

Lebiecki: Yes, absolutely. Simply because we’ve got a sick record coming out on 12” that we need entire world to hear. I’m not quite sure where we are headed yet because we don’t have a booking agent. I think the plan is to head …

Neon Shudder

SPB: It seems like there would be a temptation when working within the world of cyberpunk to make soundtracks to situations presented in pre-existing games, books, or movies. Do you find yourself doing that, or do you try to represent your own imaginary worlds and situations with your music?  

Neon Shudder: The name "neon shudder" was …

Francis Beringer (Caustic Casanova)

SPB: Do you get nerves before you play a show?

Beringer: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I used to get nerves before every show, now it happens only once in a while. There are different kinds of nerves - the "no one is here" nerves, the "there are so many people here" nerves, and the …

Tyler Forsythe (Axis)

SPB: What was your first musical instrument? How old were you?

Forsythe: I started playing bass when I was 11 and it was the first instrument I had ever really had an interest in playing. My older brother had already been playing for years so it was somewhat easy for me to feel motivated to …

Nathan Gray (solo, Boysetsfire)

SPB: Can you like a musician whose politics you disagree with?

Gray: Can you? Yes. Should you? Well, that is up to the individual. There are many hymns that I rather enjoy, but do not agree at all with the content. I am also not a huge fan of limiting ones musical experience due …

Vezzo (Sophie Lillienne)

SPB: Maybe it says something about my musical preconceptions, but I expected something entirely different when I first listened to Sophie Lillienne. Where did the band name come from - is it just me who was entirely confused by it at first?

Vezzo: Well… a lot of people is confused at first by the name …

Mazz-1 (The Pests)

SPB: What was the first punk show you attended?

Mazz-1: If I remember correctly, the first one I attended was one that I played at 15 years old. I don't even remember the name of my band at the time. We opened for New Jersey band Catch 22 at Storyville in New Orleans French Quarter.

Rick Jimenez (Extinction A.D.)

SPB: Is there any specific restaurant you make a point to hit when you go on tour?

Jimenez: Kuma's Corner in Chicago. Metal themed burger bar with the occasional wrestling mural...Can't go wrong. My only gripe is that the Metallica burger isn't my favorite. Hopefully in time they'll be an Extinction A.D. burger which …

Hank Shteamer (STATS – drums)

SPB: What do you remember of playing your first live show (with STATS)?

Shteamer: STATS started life as a band called Stay Fucked. The personnel was me, STATS guitarist Joe Petrucelli, and Tom Kelly (a dear friend, both then and now) on bass. Together, we came up with some of the core ideas …

John (Dead Bars)

SPB: What does your name mean?

John: It comes from a long history of drinking by myself at bars with no one in them.

Lionel Ziblat (Modest Midget)

SPB: Which music by classical composers do you think has held up the best into the 21st century? 

Lionel: Great question! Since it's also a great passion of mine to write for Classical instances (choirs, orchestras and chamber), I try to keep in touch with contemporary Classical music as well. You'll be amazed how much …

Chuck Stern (Stern)

SPB: How do you draw the line between taking influence and mimicking?

Stern: I think of this as reverential versus referential. Influences are what shape us. They're crucial, but I've never really wanted to cover anyone else's songs or duplicate a specific style. Mimicry falls flat and is often reduced to what it isn't. …

Kenny Brown (Loud Boyz-vocals)

SPB: How has your musical taste evolved over the years? Do you think your “high school self” would appreciate the music you make now?

Brown: I'm pretty much exactly the same! Loud Boyz is derived from the same punk bands we grew up listening to in high school. Before this band I was in …

Jim (Boilerman)

SPB: What’s with the numerical song titles on the EP? 

Jim: The deal with the numerical song titles for the 10" is two-fold. First, all the songs on the record deal with really similar subject matter -- they're all more or less about different facets of existential anxiety. I also feel like the songs flow together …