There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not just to pay the bills. Jobs provide new challenges, personal fulfillment and, yes, some rent or gas money. And usually when somebody is writing a new record or scheduling a …
Paul (The COVIDS – guitar)
SPB: This band formed during shutdowns and didn’t get to play live for some time. What is the longest you’ve gone, with COVIDS or any band, between forming and actually playing your first show?
Paul: For all of us it was definitely this …
Dick Lucas (Subhumans UK)
SPB: How involved were you in the box set project?
Lucas: Most of my involvement was with going back through my old diaries to see if what I'd written when we were recording the albums made any sort of readable outline of what happened …
Eric Urbach (States of Nature)
SPB: Which song that you wrote are you most proud of (and why)?
Urbach: States of Nature has been working on a new LP now for quite some time, and I feel most proud about the fact that we were able to put …
Jeff Byers (Northeast Regional)
SPB: What is your favorite workplace-set TV show?
Byers: While not set in the workplace, I've mostly been watching Survivor of late, which inspired the lyrics to the hit Northeast Regional single "The Archivists." But my wife and I have also been slowly rewatching …
Tommy Rehbein (Toilet Rats)
SPB: What inspired the theme behind Toilet Rats and how did it evolve from that first concept?
Rehbein: The world was on lockdown. Solitude. A one-person project beneath the sleepy streets of Minneapolis, MN. Songs that are grimy and to-the-point. How has it evolved? …
Ben Coleman (Hunting Lions – vocals)
SPB: You’ve played with many musicians in your career. In this band, whose songwriting process or stage mannerisms were the biggest adjustment for you to adapt to?
Coleman: Between the spark of an idea and the realization of 2 or 3 minutes …
Christopher Archuleta (Box Elder – guitar/vocals)
SPB: Do you have a favorite lyric/snippet ever? (What and why?)
Archuleta: Probably from the song “Minimums.” off of our EP of the same name. "Finding places to reset again. It all just felt so permanent. Just you and me in the …
David Schellenberg (Tunic)
SPB: How has COVID/illness-risk changed how you tour? Do you take any precautions in terms of health, diet, housing, etc?
Schellenberg: The biggest change for us is we now stay in motels/hotels as a way to keep us out of strangers’ houses -- as when …
Jake (Lightweight)
SPB: You just released The Next One’s on You, the third in a series of EPs. What inspired the trilogy concept with these (and what will follow it up)?
Jake: So the answer to this question is really two fold: there’s the creative answer and the …
Keaton Rogers (Raised on TV)
SPB: What’s a record you love that would surprise people?
Rogers: That's a cool question. Hmm, a rock record, or any record along those lines, probably wouldn't be a surprise to anyone. I'll go with The Slim Shady LP from Eminem, his first …
King Yosef
SPB: What is a city or country that you would love to play but never have?
King Yosef: I have not played a show in mainland Australia yet, but would love to. Specifically Melbourne, as I have quite a few friends there, get a lot of …
Jaake Margo (Sweet Gloom – vocals/guitar)
SPB: You covered “Jaded” for the Operation Ivy tribute. Why that song (and did you have a second choice)?
Margo: "Jaded" was always my favorite Operation Ivy song, so when the opportunity came to cover it, I jumped on the chance. …
Chris X (Reptilian Records)
SPB: What’s an often overlooked but essential skillset for running a label in 2023?
Chris X: With the side job I picked up two weeks ago on top of label/mailorder, I'm kinda fried. I thought about it over the last day or so, but …
Alyssa Moore & Randy Moore (The Moore Family Band – vocals/guitar)
SPB: Was the plan always to go with the name The Moore Family Band, or did you start with something else in mind and move toward the obvious?
Alyssa & Randy: It was pretty organic. We made …
Logan Hammon (Small Crush-vocals/guitar)
SPB: How do you choose your album art?
Hammond: I love to design my own album art to reflect the feeling of the album. Making it handmade is my favorite way to do it, so it really feels like my art coming to life. …
Paul (Long Relief)
SPB: What inspired the seemingly baseball-ish name?
Paul: I was an enormous nerd about baseball as a kid, and pitching long relief is a weird kind of purgatory for a pitcher to be in. It’s usually either someone who used to be a starter but …
Rafa (Flores y Fuego)
SPB: What are some of the best venues to play at in Mexico?
Rafa: We are from Guadalajara. Here, the best venues for playing underground music is the “Foro Indepencia” and for bigger bands there is “C3”.