Features / One Question Interviews

Joe Holland (Sex Rays, Violent Shifters)

SPB: Do you wear earplugs when you play? Why/why not?. 

Holland: I almost always wear hearing protection at rehearsals, shooting range style "ear muffs" are the best, in my opinion. In most cases I do wear earplugs when I go to shows as a spectator, especially if the band is not "worth" …

Aaron Carnes (Gnarboots) 

SPB: What is the ideal format to a show line-up? (How many bands, genres, etc.?)

Carnes: I always liked lineups that were diverse. Shows with only one style of band is so boring. Back in the day when G.N.A.R.B.O.O.T. Adam and I were in ska bands, every other fucking band we played with was ska. …

Ben Greenberg (The Men)

SPB: What’s a record you love that would surprise people?

Greenberg: Bill Frisell - Have A Little Faith

Bill Frisell is an amazing guitar player who has released many, many, many records that I never listen to. Have A Little Faith was the first one I heard, and continues to be my favorite. …

Bianca Barragan (LA Zinefest organizer)

SPB: If forced to choose, what is your favorite LA-based zine (currently active)?

Barragan: After thinking about all the LA-based zines that are awesome, I'm going to have to say that my favorite right now is Razorcake because their latest issue was awesome and I am just now reading through it. Other favorites …

Andrew Schubert (Ghostbot Records, recording engineer)

SPB: Besides music, what other arts are you into?

Schubert: Music is what I'm most passionate about. It's how I mark time and set placemarks in my life. I can remember events by what song was playing on the car stereo. But I love visual art as well. I'm not as good at …

Sara Landeau (The Julie Ruin)

SPB: Did joining The Julie Ruin feel like a new band, or like you were joining one with an already-established identity?

Landeau: It felt like a brand new band, which it was. In retrospect, we probably should've changed the name because it’s the same name as Kathleen's 1998 solo moniker (Julie Ruin), but …

RJD2

SPB: What do you like to do on a tour off date?

RJD2: On an off date when I'm touring, two things dominate my day: food, and craigslist. That's pretty much it. So I'm on Yelp, asking on twitter, texting friends, etc to make sure I'm eating the must-have grub. And simultaneously, I'm trolling craigslist for finds …

Seiji (Guitar Wolf)

SPB: How did your recent US tour with The Coathangers go?

Seiji: The girls are wonderful. Their songs are full of great ideas. They inspired us a great deal. The way they raise the excitement in the later half of the show was simply great, like pink typhoon. I'd love to invite them to Japan.

Hannah Blumenfeld (White Murder)

SPB: What is the worst job you’ve ever had?

Blumenfeld: Substitute teaching. I was way too young and it was just complete chaos all the time: all grades all categories. One day in the middle school I lost it and called a student a bitch. I was so freaked out, thinking I was going …

Alan Sparhawk, Low

SPB: What's a record you love that would surprise people?

Sparhawk: Barbara Streisand's Greatest Hits

Mike Riley (Toxic Pop Records/Firestarter Records)

SPB: While the meaning of Toxic Pop's name is fairly obvious, how has its meaning changed to you since the label was first formed?

Riley: The label was formed in 2007 as a "sister" label to Firestarter Records, which I had been running since 2002. The first release, the Sick Sick Birds …

Paul Needza Friend

SPB: What do you think of band’s playing a record in its entirety for a tour concept?

Paul: I suppose that depends on the integrity of the album in question. If there's only a couple choice tracks on the latest record, then maybe the band should consider performing their "Best Of..." album, if they even …

Kolin (The Rackatees, drums)

SPB: What is the longest (in time) that you have been on tour? Would you do it again?

Kolin: Our nine-day tour throughout the Southeast U.S. last September is the most consecutive days we've toured thus far. We know that's not much at all, but we try to make up for that by mini-touring …

Dan Abbott (Bobby Joe Ebola)

SPB: What is the furthest you've traveled to play a single show (vs setting up a corresponding tour)?

Abbott: Driving or flying? Somewhere around 1997 or so, we were contacted by a private college in Ohio. They offered us $900 to come play in their student events hall. Our tech-bubble housemate had the …

Chris Clavin (Plan-it-X Records, Ghost Mice)

SPB: You released the DVD with all of your releases in a digital format. Where did the idea come from?

Clavin: We didn't, we talked about it, but we didn't. The idea was and still is, when the label ends, to make all the music available for free, but since the digital …

Matt Arbogast (The Gunshy)

SPB: What is your favorite restaurant to hit while on tour?

Arbogast: Spiral Diner, Ft. Worth, Texas

Spiral Diner is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. Whenever we're nearby I make it a point to stop here for some awesome, healthy food. They're a vegan restaurant, but even the most burger-loving folks in …

Adam Davis (Gnarboots)

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

Davis: My least favorite genre lately has been punk rock. For all of the chest thumping about originality, rebellion and chaos, you would be hard pressed to find a more stagnant, elitist, and safe/boring musical …

Joseph Ross Camuglia

SPB: What is the largest crowd you have played to? Did you approach the set differently?

Camuglia: Well, I played a 3 song set at the 25 the Anniversary of Woodstock at the original site in Bethel, NY in 1994 to an estimated crowd of 70,000 people.       

I don't know the exact number except …

Bo Hansen (Heavy Times)

SPB: What club (that you've played) has the worst bathroom?

Hansen: There used to be this DIY show spot/skateboard ramp in Chicago called the Beerics. During shows, to accommodate all of the attendees, one of the "bathrooms" in that place was just a 5 gallon bucket in a pantry. That was pretty fucking gross.

Tom Loftus (Modern Radio Music Label, co-owner)

SPB: What was the biggest mistake you made when starting up/learning how run a record label?

Loftus: My biggest mistake was overestimating quantity when putting out releases. There are all sorts of price breaks when you manufacture vinyl, CDs or print that make the cost per unit much cheaper. I always …