INTERVIEW: Ponykiller

1)      What do you want people to hear most when they hear your music?

I want them to hear my music, whatever that means to them. I can't decide that. I just want them to hear it, and feel something.

2)      Having music on Band Camp, along with other such platforms in music right now such as Sound Cloud, Spotify and others, do you feel that music is moving into a virtual age?  Personally, I fully support the idea of downloading songs for free from Band Camp and then if I like them buying them on vinyl.

            I don't believe music is moving into a 'virtual age,' probably just a more accessible one. It is every bit as realized as before, it's just easier to access, and there is more of it available on cheaper mediums for free. Whatever ethics or practices one wants to engage with in the marketplace is entirely up to the individual.

3)      How important of a factor do you feel that record labels play in music these days when pretty much anyone can put their music on the internet as opposed to having to hand out demo tapes at shows, the distribution record labels can offer, etc.   It just seems like it’s a bit easier these days to succeed as a band- and even build up a strong fan base- before a label possibly comes calling for you.

            Large record labels have been artistically obsolete for decades. They are just now becoming financially obsolete, and some are kicking and screaming a bit more about it than others. As far as the smaller labels go, they seem a lot like art galleries, their quality is dictated by who is curating the music, and what the public wants to hear. Some rise and fall within a decade, some last longer, but they are always married to the very flexible notions of quality and taste, and to the humans who invent, project, and attempt to stabilize those notions.
 There will always be room in any economy for taste-makers, and visionaries, because they set the scene, invent the dreams and never have to sweep up or vacuum afterwards. The room cleans itself.

4)      If you could tour with any single band or musician who would you pick and why?

            I'd say Kate Bush or Jimi Hendrix, but he's dead and she never tours. So probably The Cure, because they are the only band I've listened to since I was a small child who are still active (and alive) and who I still have a massive amount of respect for live. Honestly though, it's a tricky question, because that would be a show where no one was really there to see the opening band, so it would be like sitting in the lights of someone else's fame watching their crowd watch you. All of my favorite musicians are cult-ish and in their own worlds, so to be sharing that space and without having earned it, would seem like a bummer. Almost like an invasion.
Honestly, I'd probably rather tour with a smaller band like Tv on the Radio who are amazing and might have a more flexible audience.

5)      Who is your favorite New Kid on the Block?

             I grew up in a very rural part of Northern California, and I didn't listen to the radio and we didn't really have tv, just rabbit ears with two crappy channels and PBS. So when I was very young, I didn't know who the New Kids on The Block were, I just saw their faces on the Trapper Keepers of the kids at school who lived closer to town. My first introduction to Bart Simpson, who I knew was important, was when a half used-up pencil rolled down the aisle of the school bus and I grabbed it. It had the iconic Matt Groening signature on it, which I misread as "Mah Groaning" and thought was a quote, like his catchphrase, or something. "Oh My Groaning!"

I love the Simpsons, and I wish I still had that pencil.
 

6)      Who would win in a musical fight: Jack Black or Jack White?

A musical fight? Is there such a thing? It sounds horrible. With those two, I suppose it would depend entirely on who had more fans in the audience. They both seem to have devoted fans, and strong personalities. You never seem to forget that it is one of them when they are doing anything, even trying to appear spontaneous. So whoever did his over-sized schtick more and to greater applause would probably win the Musical Fight Belt. With what they do, I go with who's richer.
Really though, one's a comedian who plays acoustic guitar and one's a guy who sells a lot of records and has a lot of fans and critical praise. It's a silly question presumably based on the contrast of their names.
So on second thought, let's not go to Camelot. For it is a silly place.