Features / One Question Interviews

Mitch Clem (artist)

SPB: How do you approach drawing an album cover as compared to a comic?

Clem: That's actually a solid question. Since I started doing comics as my primary thing like a hundred years ago, most of my growth as an artist happened within the confines of panels and, as such, I think in panels now. …

M. Lehto (October Falls)

SPB: What is your day job and how does it fit (or conflict) with your artistic goals?

M. Lehto: Basically I work as a branch manager at financial sector and, as I'm not a touring artist, it's quite easy to fit any band-related things into my daily schedule. Naturally sometimes the job takes a …

Russell Emerson Hall (Tyranny Is Tyranny, vocals/guitar)

SPB: Do you do anything to reduce gas consumption/cost while on tour?

Hall: We downsized our speaker cabinets slightly and got the smallest vehicle we could all fit into (Honda Odyssey). It's a bit weird to think that promotion and distribution can all be handled with a laptop at home, but …

Monet Wong (L’Assassins, guitar)

SPB: L’Assassins definitely utilizes style as an element of the band in addition to the music. How do you feel the two are intertwined?

Assassins: It’s funny that we seem to be able to get asked this type of question a lot - even though style is intertwined almost universally with every band: even …

Westin Glass (The Thermals)

SPB: Who is your favorite band you discovered on your last tour?

Glass: The most recent Thermals tour was in Europe. We played with a lot of good bands on that tour, at festivals and club shows all over the place. Our favorite was a band called Brawlers that opened our show at the …

Andy Nelson (Paint It Black, Ceremony)

SPB: It seems that Philadelphia is consistently turning out new bands and rejuvenating the scene with new blood. What do you think keeps the scene active with new bands (and who are some of your current favorites)?

Nelson: Philadelphia is perhaps advantageously situated equidistant from two other major East Coast cities -- …

Adam Sonderberg (Haptic)

SPB: What is the worst stereotype you encountered when people find you’re in a band?

Sonderberg: That the band must "rock." While I'd occasionally like to rock, I don't.

Jenks Miller (Horseback, solo)

SPB: What part of your live show do you find the hardest on sound engineers?

Miller: The biggest challenge in Horseback's live shows is getting the vocals to sit right in the mix. Most bands feature vocals at the front of the mix; I prefer our harsh textures to sit further back and blend …

Ryan Woods (High Dive/Defiance, Ohio)

SPB: After playing in a larger band (in terms of # of people in the band), how is it to tour with a 3 piece?

Woods: This is a perfect question for High Dive. In fact, we started the band with the purpose of traveling light, only three of us in Toby's station …

Nate Allen (Destroy Nate Allen)

SPB: What’s the story behind your band name?

Allen: I had played music as "Nate Allen" for a few years in San Francisco. Nobody really cared. I had done a few northwest shows but for the most part the music was just mediocre Johnny Cash and Social Distortion worship and nothing special. After …

Dylan Walker (Full of Hell)

SPB: What do you think when fans run onstage and sing into the mic during a song?

Walker: I think it’s cool. It means the kids actually enjoy the music and the lyrics mean something to them.

Dave Dictor (MDC)

SPB: What was the largest and smallest crowd you’ve played to?

Dictor: The largest crowd was at the With Full Force Festival in what was East Germany with Motorhead, Agnostic Front, US Bombs, The Distillers. There was said to be 50,000 people there. Ozzy Osbourne was the next night's headliner at the festival. We played …

BJ Rochinich (Ancient Shores, SPB columnist)

SPB: What got you interested in film beyond casual observation?

Rochinich: I took a psychology of cinema class in college that showed me what I'm seeing when watching a film. The audio and cinematography that construct a film can be looked at closely to gain a better grasp on the intent of …

Brandon Gallagher (Old Wounds)

SPB: Are trucker bombs allowed in the van? Have any stories?

Gallagher: At first, I had no idea what a trucker bomb was, so immediately I went to urban dictionary and found out that it simply means "pee bottle." I honestly don't think I could of gotten asked a better question, so here it …

Urlo (Ufomammut)

SPB: Who is the most overrated band or musician of all time?

Urlo: Surely, the most overrated band of all time is an Italian trio called Ufomammut.

Neurosis

SPB: Personally speaking, what is the least favorite record you’ve released (of your own records, that is)? Why?

Neurosis: No regrets. Everything we have ever done and been a part of has made us who we are today. Each is crucial to our evolution as a band and human beings.

Annie Sparrows (Soviettes, FM Wired, Lil Happiness, God Damn Doo Wop Band)

SPB: What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you on tour? Have you ever been stranded or had to cancel?

Sparrows: Yes, I TOTALLY got left at a gas station in the middle of nowhere by accident. Everyone else got about 5 miles away when they …

John Moen (Perhapst, Decemberists, Stephen Malmus & the Jicks)

SPB: Writing a solo record is a much different project than writing with a band. How did your approach on the new record vary from when you put together the self-titled release? What did you learn or adapt in the five years in between?

Moen: Quite a lot of …

Thom Wasluck (Planning For Burial, Music Ruins Lives)

SPB: What is the last record you didn’t care for on first listen but has grown on you since?

Wasluck: At first this will sound bad because they are my friends, but I'm going to say Sunbather by Deafheaven, though not because I didn't care for it, but because I …

Mike (Iron Chic, Dead Broke Rekerds)

SPB: What was the first tape/cd/record you bought with your own money?

Mike: Green Day - 1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours CD