Features / One Question Interviews

Robert Cheeseman (Spirits – bass)

SPB: is the best hardcore song, ever?

Cheeseman: The best hardcore song? Hell if I know! One of my favorite hardcore bands though is Faded Grey. I remember downloading "The New Crusades" off of revhq sometime in late 2000 and it was definitely a gateway moment that led me to discover a lot …

Frank Godla (Meek Is Murder)

SPB: What do you think of cassettes?

Godla: They will always have a special place in my heart. I started collecting music when cassettes were still the norm, and wound up with several hundred cassette and VHS tapes in my house. I’d even make my own mixtapes to carry around in my bag, …

John (Maybeshewill)

SPB: What are you most looking forward to on your upcoming first US tour? 

John: We’re still waiting to find out if we’ll be coming over, but it’s been an aim of ours for a really long time. We don’t take as much shit from anyone else as we do from American fans who want us …

Ricky (Western Settings)

SPB: Who is the most underrated San Diego band right now?

Ricky: The most underrated band in San Diego? There are a ton. One that has grabbed my attention over the last year is a folk-punk band called Plastic City Pariah. They are talented, and kind human beings. Their music is fun, full of feeling, …

Nathan Joyner (Hot Nerds – guitar/vocals)

SPB: Who is the hottest nerd of them all?

Joyner: That's simple: any kid who stays in school is the hottest nerd of them all. So, the hottest nerd of them all changes constantly. Stay in school, kids, eat your greens, and don't back talk your parents. A close second …

John Panza (Hiram-Maxim-drums)

SPB: Has the change to more headphone listening changed how you listen to music or mix it?

Panza: Last night I witnessed – because “saw” is inadequate – Swans perform here in Cleveland. The band’s reputation for relentless, brutal, euphoric, and cilia-killing live shows is legendary. But my intro to Swans came via headphones. Back …

Matthi (Nasty-vocals)

SPB: What was the best show you’ve seen in the past year? 

Matthi: Sand at PDF Summer Bash in Osaka. Sand killed it as usual and people got crazy as fuck. Nobody cared about anything anymore. Just pure chaos.

Matt Finney (It Only Gets Worse)

SPB: How many vans have you had?

Finney: Never owned a van myself but my parents had an Astrovan in the late 90s/early 2000s. I remember my younger sister getting her hand slammed in it at least three times. No idea how that's even possible.

En Esch

SPB: How has technology changed the recording process for you between your first professional-level recordings and today?

En Esch: When I started out we worked with an Emax SE Sampler with 512k memory space saved onto a floppy disk. For each song we had very minimal and especially short samples to pick from. Now I could …

Dave Hoenack (Hymie’s Records-Minneapolis, MN)

SPB: What is your preferred way to store vinyl in a home?

Hoenack: We believe records are best stored as near your turntable as possible. A comfy couch in the same area sure helps.

Paul Lai (Upsilon Acrux)

SPB: What is your favorite venue to play?

Lai: Without a doubt it's our home away from home, Los Angeles' infamous DIY venue The Smell. It's run by Jim Smith and some volunteers.

We have a long history with Jim and The Smell. It was our first LA show back in the late …

Viktor (Tear Them Down)

SPB: Do you take any precautions to stay healthy while on the road?

Viktor: Well I think any member of any band have a brief moment before going on tour like the scene in Backstage Passport where Fat Mike puts a ton of random pills in a toiletry bag. Whether it is only some …

Jess Locke

SPB: Where in your hometown do you always bring visitors?

Locke: I'm from Avoca Beach on the Central Coast of New South Wales, AUS. It's a beautiful area of the world but, there's not a whole lot to do there unless you like nature or Shopping Centres. Luckily, I like the former. When I visit, I try …

Mike Keller (Meek Is Murder)

SPB: What do you think of cassettes?

Keller: Whenever people try to give us band demos on CD, I’m always like, “Sorry, we’re only set up for tapes.” Our van has a tape deck and for a while I had no way of playing CDs at home since my computer had the Aliens DVD …

Curtis Meacham (Monkey-vocals)

SPB: What is something more people should know about the San Jose scene?

Meacham: San Jose is a pretty cool place. Its 45 minutes south of San Francisco and gets some of the biggest shows on off-nights because it's close enough to the City to catch major acts coming through.

San Jose and its …

Jon (Chokecherry)

SPB: How do you feel about the hyphenated genre terms that tend to be applied to your band?

Jon: Genre descriptions are fine because people obviously want to know what a band sounds like before they commit time or money to it. But especially in punk, all the sub-genres and sub-scenes can get a little cliquey …

Dave (Reckless Records, Chicago-buyer)

SPB: How do you recommend people store their vinyl at home?

Dave: Vertically.

Matt Scheuermann (roses)

SPB: Coming into the Philadelphia music scene, what were your expectations (if any) and have those early expectations and perceptions changed over time? 

Scheuermann: Every time I'd visit Philly, I was always inspired. I'd always loved the people here and the music was just so great and diverse. So my expectations were somewhat based in …

Sergy Boldyrev (Cloud Maze – vocals)

SPB: What is your least favorite genre of music? Is there an artists who is an exception to that rule?

Boldyrev: My least favorite genres are probably death metal and metalcore. To be honest, I prefer relaxing and melodic music. But I do love and respect what they do on stage, it …

Jeremy Hiebert (Comeback Kid-guitar)

SPB: What’s your least favorite record you’ve made? Why?

Hiebert: Like I said to out label's publicist, “Do I really have to answer that one?” That's like someone asking me to do a nude photoshoot when I'm feeling fat and pasty white after the Christmas holidays. But anyways, after you have put out 5 …