Favorite Tracks From First Half of 2012!

2012 has been pretty darn fantastic for music thus far. Here's 10 tracks released this year that I just can't stop listening to. This was a hard list to compile. There were at least 10 more songs that I wanted to add.

#10 Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless



#9) Tanlines - All Of Me



#8) Kishi Bashi - Bright Whites



#7) The Spinto Band - Keep Them Alive



#6) Frankie Rose - Interstellar



#5) Kids - My Sincerest Apologies



#4) CocoRosie feat. Antony Hegarty - Tearz For Animals



#3) The Eversons - Could It Ever Get Better



#2) Cheers Elephant - Leaves



#1) Moonface - Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips

Recess Fest! July 26 -29th!

Anyone who lives anywhere within a few hours drive of Charlotte, NC owes it to themselves to take a vacation and come hang out for Recess Fest, a terrific four day indie music festival taking place July 26 - 29th. This year, the entire event is capped off by a rare performance by Archers of Loaf! Event organizers Zach Reader and Casey Malone have really outdone themselves. See the full schedule below and go visit their blog for ticket info.

Recess Fest Website

THURSDAY JULY 26 
@ Petra’s Piano Bar 
OMAR EL-AMIN (8:15-8:35 pm) MARY MO (8:35-8:55 pm) YOUR FUZZY FRIENDS (8:55-9:15 pm) DEREK BLACKMON (9:15-9:35 pm) CARLTON HARGRO (9:35-9:55 pm) CHARLOTTE CAPOEIRA (9:55-10:20 pm) (intermission) THE BEAR ROMANTIC (10:40-11:25 pm) BIG MAMMA'S HOUSE OF BURLESQUE (11:40-12:40 am)

@ Common Market (Commonwealth, 21+) BATTLIN' BOBBY CHILDERS (9-9:30 pm) SERFS (9:45-10:15 pm) PEOPLE PERSON (10:30-11 pm) BLOSSOMS (11:15-11:45 pm)

FRIDAY JULY 27 
@ Snug Harbor NICHOLAS & THE HUMAN RACE (8-8:30 pm) THOSE LAVENDER WHALES (8:45-9:15 pm) LITTLE BULL LEE (9:30-10 pm) COMA CINEMA (10:15-10:45 pm) PAN (11-11:30 pm) WEEKENDERS (11:45-12:15 am) BLACK CONGO, NC (12:30-1:15 am)

@ Crown Station DIRTY DRUMMER (10:30-11 pm) DIRTY ART CLUB (11:15-11:50 pm) FOREVER F.C. (LUTE, SHYLER CHAISE, JIMMY KELSO, HIGHIMRY) (12:05-1:05 am)

@ Tommy's Pub SECRET HOSPITAL (10-10:30 pm) HUNGRY GIRL (10:45-11:15 pm) MY CAPTAIN (11:30-12 am) HOMEWRECKER (12:15-12:45 am)

@ Milestone NARRATIVES (main) (9:15-9:45 pm) NO POWER (side) (9:45-10:05 pm) RICHARD PARKER (main) (10:05-10:40 pm) GORE GORE LUCHADORES (outside) (10:40-11:40 pm) BURGLAR FUCKER (main) (11:40-12:10 am) NAILBITER (side) (12:10-12:30 am) COLUMNS (main) (12:30-1 am)

SATURDAY JULY 28 
 @ Lunchbox Records MEAT GROUP (4-4:30 pm) MON FRERE (4:45-5:15 pm) JOINT DAMAGE (5:30-6 pm)

@ Kickstand CEMENT STARS (4:30-5 pm) DRAG SOUNDS (5:15-5:45 pm) MODERN MAN (6-6:30 pm) ONE ANOTHER (6:45-7:15 pm) BRAIN F (7:30-8 pm) BAKALAO STARS (8:15-9 pm)

@ Thomas Street Tavern (21+) CAN'T KIDS (10:15-10:45 pm) THE ROYAL TINFOIL (11-11:35 pm) PULLMAN STRIKE (11:50-12:20 am)

@ Common Market (Commonwealth, 21+) LATE BLOOMER (9-9:30 pm) MUTANT LEAGUE (9:45-10:15 pm) BOA NARROW (10:30-11 pm) CREEPOID (11:15-12 am)

@ Twenty-Two LONGCHILD (9:15-9:45 pm) NOMEN NOVUM (10-10:30 pm) XOANON (10:45-11:15 pm)

@ Snug Harbor KILL YOUR MULES (9:30-10 pm) JEREMIAH & THE HOWLING OWLS (10:15-10:45 pm) SCOWL BROW (11-11:30 pm) 2013 WOLVES (11:45-12:15 am) OVERMOUNTAIN MEN (12:30-1:15 am)

@ Yauhaus HUMAN PIPPI ARMSTRONG (11-11:30 pm) WHATEVER BRAINS (11:45-12:20 am)

SUNDAY JULY 29 
 @ Dialect MOENDA (3:45-4:15 pm) TOMAHAWK DEB (4:30-5 pm) JUST BRAZIL featuring MESTRE ESQUILO (6-6:30 pm) GREAT ARCHITECT (5:15-5:45 pm)

@ Rat’s Nest APPALUCIA (4-4:30 pm) THE ORCHIDALES (4:45-5:15 pm) BAOBAB (5:30-6 pm) GROSS GHOST (6:15-6:45 pm) NATIVE TRASH (7-7:30 pm)

@ Common Market (Southend) SIRS (8-8:20 pm) SPOOK HOUSES (8:25-8:50 pm) DANIEL(S) (9-9:30 pm) BO WHITE (9:40-10:10 pm)

@ Tremont Music Hall 
Casbah PAIN & PANIC (6-6:30 pm) MORAL VOID (7:20-7:50 pm) PUNCH (8:40-9:10 pm) YOUNG AND IN THE WAY (10-10:30 pm) MINORITY PARTY (12-12:30 am)
Main YARDWORK (6:40-7:10 pm) ANDY THE DOORBUM (8-8:30 pm) 25 MINUTES TO GO (9:20-9:50 pm) ARCHERS OF LOAF (10:40-11:50 pm)

Viva Indie Rock Podcast #23

Podcast #23 is available for streaming online or downloading and listening at your leisure! Live broadcast radio shows are 9pm Thursdays (EST) on PMCRadio.org.




Track List:
1) Why?  Sod in the Seed EP   Sod in the Seed
2) Thee Oh Sees  Putrifiers II   Lupine Dominus
3) Stars   The North   The Theory of Relativity
4) The Welcome Wagon  Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices  God Be With You Til We Meet Again
5) Iron and Wine  7"  One More Try
6) Videoing  Reader LP  Crimson Wave
7) A Lull  Meat Mountain EP   Still Got Pull
8) John Spencer Blues Explosion  Meat and Bones  Black Mold
9) Langhorne Slim and the Law  The Way We Move  Just A Dream
10) Dead Can Dance   Amnesia
11) The Raveonettes  Observator  Observations
12) Can  The Lost Tapes Sampler  Abra Cada Braxas

Why? Returns With Two New Releases This Fall!!

WHY? returns with their first new releases since 2009, the six track Sod in the Seed EP out August 14 in North America on Anticon / Aug. 13 in Europe on City Slang and a new LP (title TBA) to follow later this Fall. See tour dates below! Stream or download this fantastic preview track Sod in the Seed!



08-24 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note *&
08-25 - Norman, OK - Opolis *&
08-26 - Santa Fe, NM - SOL @ Santa Fe Brewing *&
08-27 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom *&
08-28 - Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex *#
08-30 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall ^*#
08-31 - Arcata, CA - Arcata Playhouse *#
09-01 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom *#
09-02 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09-03 - Boise, ID - Reef *%
09-04 - Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue *%
09-05 - Englewood, CO - The Gothic *%
09-06 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room *%
09-07 - Lawrence, KS - The Granada *%
09-08 - Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center ^*%
09-09 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall ^*%
09-10 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom ^*%
09-11 - Ithaca, NY - The Haunt^*+
09-12 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East^*+
09-13 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg ^*+
09-14 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer ^*+
09-15 - Durham, NC - Motorco Music Hall ^*+
09-16 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle ^*+
09-17 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl ^*+
09-18 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge ^*+

10-05 - Dusseldorf, Germany - New Fall Festival

10-06 - Evreux, France - L'abordage

10-07 - Paris, France - Maroquinerie

10-08 - Brighton, UK - Old Market

10-09 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom

10-10 - Manchester, UK - Central Methodist Church

10-11 - Bristol, UK - Fleece

10-12 - Glasgow, UK - SWG3

10-13 - Oxford, UK - The Bullingdon

10-15 - Berlin, Germany - Volksbuhne 

* = w/ Serengeti 

^ = w/ Doseone

& = w/ DJ Tony Trimm 

# = w/ dj sodapop

% = w/ Jel (DJ Set)

+ = w/ DJ Thanksgiving Brown  

Videoing - Crimson Wave Video

Austin, TX band Videoing mixes hi-tech intentions with lo-fi cogs, gears and whistles, offering up a sound meant to be unique but familiar, gritty but smooth, driving but calm (in a crazy sort of way). Their debut album, Reader LP is due out July 10th. Here's a quirky and fun video for the track Crimson Wave.

Download Free Tracks from Stars & John Spencer Blues Explosion

Big week for free downloads. For the price of an email you can download these new tracks:

Stars new album The North is due out September 4th! But you can download the preview track The Theory of Relativity here:

CLICK FOR FREE STARS TRACK!

_________________________________________________________________

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion also return this September with Meat And Bone, the band’s first new studio album in eight years. Download Black Mold here!

The 1975 - Facedown Video

Fantastic video from the alarmingly lush band The 1975. Facedown is the title track from their debut EP Facedown due out Aug 6th on Dirty Hit. See below for their streaming track The City.

JJ Releases Free EP - High Summer

Download the charming new JJ EP High Summer courtesy of Secretly Canadaian!

CLICK HERE!!

Track list:

1. High Summer
2. 10
3. My Name
4. Big Hearts, Big Dreams
5. Times

Matt & Kim - Let's Go!

Today, Matt and Kim release “Let’s Go”, the first track off Lightning, their upcoming album out this fall on FADER Label. Recorded and self-produced in Brooklyn, “Let’s Go” is the band’s first original music to be issued in 2012.

Yellow Ostrich - The Shakedown Video

From their sophomore release Strange Land!

Viva Indie Rock Podcast #22

Podcast #22 is available for streaming online or downloading and listening at your leisure! Live broadcast radio shows are 9pm Thursdays (EST) on PMCRadio.org.



Tracklist:
1) Fawn  Coastlines  Break It Off
2) Doseone   G Is For Deep  Thy Pattern
3) Cat Power  Sun   Ruin
4) Penny Police  As Long As You Watch My Heart  As Long As You...
5) Langhorne Slim and the Law    The Way We Move   Two Crooked Hearts
6) Alt-J  Fitzpleasure
7) Nouveau Velo   Moestuin EP   What To Do
8) Ursprung   Ursprung  Kalte Eiche
9) The Welcome Wagon  Precious Rememdies Against Satan's Devices  The Strife Is O'er, The Battle Won
10) Olympic Swimmers   No Flags Will Fly   Father Said
11) Alice Cohen   Pink Keys   Cascading Keys
12) Erika Spring   Erika Spring  Hidden
13) Waters  If Only Single   If Only
14) Human Woman   Human Woman   Dddi

Ssion - Earthquake Video

Hey! Check out this delightfully eccentric video for Ssion's Earthquake. Their new album Bent is due out 9/18 on Dovecote Records.

7 Silly Questions w/ The Spinto Band!

So anyone paying attention to the radio show or podcast knows I absolutely adore The Spinto Band. Their latest release Shy Pursuit has generated two of my favorite tracks so far in 2012 "Keep Them Alive" and "The Living Things." My love for their infectious pop is akin to going to the refrigerator, seeing the cake, telling yourself you will have just one forkful, then sitting on the couch and devouring the whole thing. I must have listened to "Keep Them Alive" fifteen times in a row when I first heard it.



I was a bit scared that The Spinto Band would never agree to answer a 7 Silly Questions interview. To contact them I had to go through a mutual friend that works for their radio promotion company. Once I found out where they were, the hunt was on. Most of the band members were too quick and nimble to for me to catch. Thankfully, Nick Krill stumbled while trying to get away and he agreed to answer our highly dubious questions.

What's the most embarrassing band you loved as a kid?
Krill: Hmm, actually I think the moment that is the silliest is when I was a teenager and I thought The Beatles stunk. I grew up loving them as a real little kid...and then of course when I was a full fledged "teen man" I turned my back on all the music I dug when I was little. I have a moment burned in my memory of being 12 or 13 and putting on Magical Mystery Tour just to give it another shot....and then turning it off right away and thinking, "man how did I ever like this stuff." I am more embarrassed by that moment than by any band I listened too back then. Luckily by the time I was 15 I came back to my senses and started listening to The Beatles again.

What is the first record you bought?
Krill: The first might have been a compilation LP of the theme songs from all the James Bond movies.

Unicorns vs. Narwhals? Who would win in a fight?
Krill: Probably narwhals. I am basing my decision on the logic used in the movie "Mortal Kombat Annihilation." At the end of the movie the mortals had to fight some sort of fantastic god-like being, and in the end, the mortals won. To me, unicorns represent a super natural god-like creature, and then the narwhals would be the mortals that actually exist. So if "Mortal Kombat Annihilation" taught me anything, it is that a narwhal would probably win that fight.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you on the road?
Krill: We once left for a tour only to realize that bees had made a hive in one of our van seats. About an hour or two in to the drive, bees started coming out and flying around the van stinging people. We eventually had to stop the van and dismantle the seat to find the hive and remove it.

Who has the worst van etiquette?
Krill: I think we all probably have little quirks that piss each other off. For me, if something isn't causing anyone harm I let it slide because I know I am probably unconsciously doing something dumb that irks the other guys, you know? In the end...you gotta do whatever keeps you sane on tour.

Who is in heavy rotation on your iPod?
Krill: I have been listening to The Penguin Cafe Orchestra a lot. Also, a few compilations of songs recorded by producer Joe Meek have been getting a lot of spins.

What is the worst fight over nothing that you got into with each other after being road weary and exhausted?
Krill: Nothing specific is coming to mind, but my guess would be that any argument would have been over where or when to stop for a bite to eat. We all get a little "hangry" when we have not eaten anything in a while.

Sharks - Patient Spider Video!

No Gods, the debut full length album from UK band, Sharks, was released on March 20th via Rise Records. Produced by Brian McTernan (The Explosion, Hot Water Music, Cave In), No Gods swims between the rules and regulations of the iconoclastic chaos of punk rock and British indie music. Patient Spider is a musically brilliant pop song! Check it out!

Boz Boorer - Slippery Forces Video!

Boz Boorer can rightfully be described as being at the heart of the British music scene. This guitarist, songwriter and producer is known to music fans across the world as a founding member of legendary neo-rockabilly band, The Polecats and also as co-writer, guitarist and musical director over the past 20 years with former Smiths frontman, Morrissey. On top of this he also produces promising indie newcomers in his studio in Portugal and works with long-time companions like Edwyn Collins, Adam Ant and many others.

His latest album Some of the Parts is due out August 31st on Fabrique Records. If Slippery Forces is any indication, it's going to be fantastic. Check out the video below, or buy the Slippery Forces single package which includes four wonderful remixes of the track!

Viva Indie Rock Podcast #21

Podcast #21 is available for streaming online or downloading and listening at your leisure! Live broadcast radio shows are 9pm Thursdays (EST) on PMCRadio.org.



Track List:
1) Opossum  Electric Hawaii  Blue Meanies
2) Wax Idols  Schadenfreude 7"  The Last Drop
3) Fang Island  Major  Sisterly
4) Magic Trick  Ruler of the Night  Invisible At Midnight
5) Micachu and the Shapes  Never  OK
6) The Welcome Wagon  Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices  I'm Not Fine
7) Jen Schande  19 (Valencia Chapter 19)  Nice Fez
8) Langhorne Slim and the Law  The Way We Move  The Way We Move
9) Tomas Barford  Salton Sea  Came To Party
10) Each Other   Ash Mound
11) Echo Lake  Wild Peace  Wild Peace
12) Giant Giant Sand  Tuscon  Detained
13) Human Woman   Human Woman  Sleepy

Superchunk - This Summer Single!

Hey! Superchunk's new single is available! “This Summer,” the A-side of this limited-edition seven-inch, is the first new Superchunk single since the 2010 release of their widely acclaimed album Majesty Shredding. The B-side features the band’s own take on Bananarama’s ’80s hit “Cruel Summer.” As a bonus, the physical single will include a digital download code for an acoustic version of “This Summer.”



Tour Dates:
July 6 New York, NY CBGB Festival
Sept 6 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival (Mac Solo)
Sept 23 Pensacola, FL DeLuna Festival

Jen Schande - 19: Songs For and Inspired By Valencia Chapter 19

It’s been almost 10 years since Jen Schande first received critical acclaim for her split 7” with The Cribs. Since then, Jen has busied herself with her band Schande, played in former San Francisco-based queer band Boyskout and has a transatlantic recording project This Is Thunder. The July 17th release of 19:Songs For and Inspired By Valencia Chapter 19 is a fairly interesting undertaking.

Here's the back story:
In 2000, author, Michelle Tea, published the novel Valencia. Eleven years later, the book that was named "The Bible of politicized, counter-culture, punk informed LGBT boys, girls and gender queers" is currently being transformed for the pink and silver screen. Valencia follows the tale of one twenty-something queer girl's escapades navigating life and love in San Francisco during the 1990's. Collaboration between twenty-one filmmakers, each translating a chapter of Valencia into five-minute pieces has already begun. Each filmmaker will shoot their portion with their own cast, crew, style, and interpretation of the novel. The completed project will be shown as a cohesive unit, but each individual piece will be able to stand as its own short narrative film. This process creates twenty-one lesbian focused short films unlike anything seen before.

In describing her work on 19, Schande reveals, “There was something incredibly liberating about reading Tea’s work – I found her unyielding honesty with owning her experiences explosive. Drawing on my own memories and the ability to be submerged in freedom of expression, creating music in response to Chapter 19 was effortless and this record in many ways wrote itself. Consequentially, the songs in part convey Michelle’s experiences, in part recall my own, and in many ways are a tribute to both the bridges and spaces between the two.”  The result is delightful. Schande has put out an album that evokes fond memories of 90s indie while still sounding current and modern.

This entire Valencia project is a massive undertaking and one that is a well deserved homage to the work of Michelle Tea. They are insanely lucky that Jen Schande is leading the way with a pretty fantastic album.

Moonface - Faraway Lightning Video!

Another ridiculously amazing video from Moonface! Faraway Lightning is off the recent release Heartbreaking Bravery and directed by UK artist Marsha Balaeva, who also created the video for Moonface's Teary Eyes and Bloody Lips.

Tour Dates:

06/15/12 Pontiac, MI: Pike Room

06/16/12 Chicago, IL: Lincoln Hall

06/17/12 Iowa City, IA: The Mill

06/19/12 Minneapolis, MN: 7th St. Entry

06/20/12 Lawrence, KS: Jackpot

06/21/12 Dallas, TX: Club Dada

06/22/12 Austin, TX: Red 7

06/24/12 St. Louis, MO: Luminary Center for the Arts

06/26/12 Nashville, TN: 12th & Porter

06/27/12 Atlanta, GA: Earl

06/28/12 Chapel Hill, NC: Local 506

06/29/12 Baltimore, MD: Sonar

06/30/12 New York, NY: Bowery Ballroom

07/01/12 Cambridge, MA: TT the Bears 

 

09/04/12 Salt Lake City, UT: Urban Lounge

09/05/12 Nampa, ID: Flying M Coffee Garage

09/06/12 Spokane, WA: A Club

09/07/12 Seattle, WA: The Crocodile

09/08/12 Portland, OR: The Doug Fir Lounge

09/09/12 Eugene, OR: Sam Blond's

09/11/12 Sacramento, CA: Luigis Fun Garden

09/12/12 San Francisco, CA: The Independent

09/13/12 Santa Cruz, CA: The Crepe Place

09/14/12 Visalia, CA: The Cellar Door

09/15/12 Las Vegas, NV: Beauty Bar Las Vegas

09/16/12 Tucson, AZ: Club Congress

09/17/12 Phoenix, AZ: Rhythm Room

Beach House - Lazuli Video!

Beach House just released their video for Lazuli off their 4th album Bloom! It's really a wonderful song. Take a look!

CocoRosie - We Are On Fire Video

Ok, ok...I know I have posted CocoRosie three times in the last month. But...here's their really visually stunning video for We Are On Fire. You can thank me later.

Viva Indie Rock Podcast #20

Podcast #20 is available for streaming online or downloading and listening at your leisure! Live broadcast radio shows are 9pm Thursdays (EST) on PMCRadio.org.



Track List:
1) Young Galaxy  Shoreless Kid  Youth Is Wasted On the Young
2) Dan Deacon  America  Lots
3) Wax Idols  Schadenfreude 7"  Schadenfreude
4) Langhorne Slim and the Law  The Way We Move  Bad Luck
5) Los Campesinos  Tiptoe Through the True Bits 
6) Seapony  Falling  What You Wanted
7) Merchandise  Children of Desire  In Nightmare Room
8) Ian McGlynn  Now We're Golden  Gold Morning Mend
9) Blonds  The Bad Ones  Run
10) Tomas Barford  Salton Sea  November Skies feat. Nina Kinert
11) The Intelligence  Everybodys Got It Easy But Me  Techno Tuesday
12) Laetitia Sadier  Silencio  Find Me the Pulse of the Universe
13) These United States  These United States  The Angel's Share
14) Matthew Dear  Her Fantasy  Her Fantasy
15) DNTEL  Aimlessness  Jitters

St. Vincent - Some Of Them Are Old Video

I saw this on Stereogum and could not resist reposting it. Steve Nieve, Elvis Costello's keyboardist, organizes concerts in his Paris home. St. Vincent hauntingly covers Brian Eno's Some Of Them Are Old.

The Mynabirds - Generals Video

No longer just minor member of Bright Eyes touring band, Laura Burhenn is back with her second album under the name The Mynabirds. Check out the video for the title track Generals courtesy of IFC.com!

Dan Deacon Announces New Album, Tour Dates, & Free MP3!!

Dan Deacon's new album America is out August 28th on Domino Records! Here's a great preview MP3 Lots! See below for Summer tour dates!




Tour Dates!
* solo performance
# Dan Deacon Ensemble
^ w/ 2 drummers

07-07 Des Moines, IA - 80/35 Festival
07-12 New York, NY - Pier 84
07-14 Cincinatti, OH - Bunbury Music Festival
07-21 Antigonish, NS - Evolve Festival *
09-01 Chicago, IL - North Coast Music Festival #
09-07 Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Music Festival #
09-19 Prague, CZ - Meet Factory ^
09-20 Berlin, DE - Festsall Kreuzberg ^
09-21 Hamburg, DE - Reepers ^
09-22 Eindehoven, NL - Area 51 ^
09-23 Amsterdam, NL - Bitterzoet ^
09-24 Brussels, BE - Botanique ^
09-25 Paris, FR - Le Trebando ^
09-26 London, UK - Scala ^
09-28 Manchester, UK - Islington Mill ^
09-29 Brighton, UK - The Haunt ^

7 Silly Questions w/ The Eversons!

Full disclosure. I love love love The Eversons. I have never met them. They don't know me. According to the interwebs, their home country of New Zealand is 8532 miles (13,000+ kilometers) away, so they are fairly safe from me becoming a stalker. But, something in their charming pop songs strikes a chord in me and I can't resist listening to tracks like "Could It Ever Get Better" and "I'm A Conservative" over and over and over again.



Last month, The Eversons released their first full length album Summer Feeling on Lil' Chief Records. With all the whirlwind commotion associated with a new record release, promotion, and playing shows, I am lucky The Eversons had any time for me at all. But thankfully, we were able to track down guitarist Blair Everson and force him to answer some seriously suspect questions.

What's the most embarrassing band you loved as a kid?
BE: Tom Jones. I was so fucking into Tom Jones. My parents took me to a Tom Jones concert in Wellington when I was like seven and I wore the Reload tour t shirt until it faded into dust.

What is the first record you bought?
BE: My dad bought me the first Presidents of the USA album around the time it came out. My taste in music would only decline for the following 15 years.

Unicorns vs. Narwhals? Who would win in a fight?
BE: I think narwhals are a real thing and unicorns are fantasy. And since dreams are so often mercillesly crushed by reality, I’m going to have to get behind the violent and bloody death of the unicorn.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you on the road?
BE: When we were driving back from Auckland last week, I took a wrong turn while the others were asleep and ended up going via the West Coast of the North Island, which was quite novel to see as it’s so beautiful, but added a couple of hours to the usual eight and a half hour trip. By the time we got to Whanganui I was so exhausted I ordered at Burger King in a full on Shakespearean accent without realising what I was doing. I would file this mostly under stupidity rather than humour, though.

Who has the worst van etiquette?
BE: We’re all pretty good actually, but Chris ‘Safe Hands’ Young might win the prize for the time he broke Tim’s car stereo just by touching it. Though there was much fury directed at me for the time I made everyone wait while I assembled a bagel in the back of the car. I have since taken great steps to improve my road food preparation and will never again be seen travelling with an entire basil plant.

Who is in heavy rotation on your iPod?
I’ve been listening to a lot of early Elvis lately. So good.

What is the worst fight over nothing that you got into with each other after being road weary and exhausted?
BE: On our way back from Napier the other day Tim and I had a brief argument about whether he’d actually seen a sign that said ‘Wellington’ or not. It was quickly diffused by Mark telling us how much it hurts him when his dads fight. But that’s probably the most tension on record- we’re all pretty mild dudes and New Zealand is so small it’s pretty hard to get too road weary.