"No matter how far I go, my heart remains with you."
1. What is your favorite kind of music? Punk Rock, Emo, Punk, Alternative, Rock, Etc.
2. Who is your favorite band? So many… The top ones include AFI, The Beatles, Brand New, Green Day, Pink Floyd, Incubus
3. Who is your favorite solo artist? Hmm… I don’t think I have one
4. What kind of music did you like as a kid? I used to listen to everything when I was younger: Presidents of the United States of America, lots of Beatles, Weezer, lots of oldies like Strawberry Alarm Clock, America, Jimi Hendrix, and pretty much whatever the played on the radio, though I even then I didn’t really like B96. 97.2 was the best before they went techno
5. Did you ever have a crush on a musician as a kid? Hah, yeah, Paul McCartney
6. Do you have one now? Noooo… Tom DeLong, Davey Havok, Billie Joe Armstrong, Brandon Boyd
7. What kind of music do you dislike most? Rap
8. What band do you dislike most? Hmm… I think Three Doors Down, although Kryptonite was a pretty good song
9. What solo artist do you dislike most? Oh god, like 50 Cent and JayZ and SnoopDog etc. I’m a fan of real instruments, not synths.
10. Who do you think writes the best lyrics? Without a doubt Jesse Lacey of Brand New. He’s so good at using imagery, and… I don’t know… if you read the stuff as just lyrics alone with no music, it is all so damn poetic. Not many musicians can write stuff that can stand on its own two feet and still be so powerful without the music, but he’s a goddamn master at it (well, I guess that's not entirely true. I'm sure there are tons of other bands and songs out there to prove me wrong spectacularly, but this just happens to be my favorite). Here is a great example of what I mean:
“We sent out the SOS call.
It was a quater past four
in the morning
when the storm broke our second anchor line.
Four months at sea.
Four months of calm seas
only to be pounded in the shallows
off of the tip of Montauk Point.
They call them rogues.
They travel fast and alone,
one hundred foot faces
of God's good ocean gone wrong.
What they call love is a risk,
cause you will always get hit
out of nowhere
by some wave and end up on your own.
The hole in the hull defied the crews’ attempts
to bail us out,
and flooded the engines and radio.
And half buried bow.
Your tongue is a rudder.
It steers the whole ship,
sends your words past your lips,
or keeps them safe behind your teeth.
But the wrong words will strand you,
come off course while you sleep,
sweep your boat out to sea
or dashed it to bits on the reef.
The vessel groans.
The ocean pressures its frame.
Off the port I see the lighthouse
through the sleet and the rain.
And I wish for one more day
to give my love and repay debts.
But the morning finds our bodies
washed up thirty miles west.
They say that the captain
stays fast with the ship
through still and storm.
But this ain't the Dakota,
and the water is cold.
We won't have to fight for long.
This is the end.
This story's old,
but it goes on and on
until we disappear.
Calm me and let me taste
the salt that you breathed
while you were underneath.
I am the one who haunts your dreams
of mountains sunk below the sea.
I spoke the words but never
gave a thought to what they all could mean.
I know that this is what you want.
A funeral keeps both of us apart.
You know that you are not alone.
I need you like water in my lungs.
This is the end…”
“Play Crack the Sky”
And I like Davey Havok of AFI at lot too for using so many sophisticated words in his stuff. And he’s another master of imagery as well.
Roger Waters, too.
And Dave Matthews.
You can tell when I like an artist’s lyrics because they almost always make up my away messages on AOL.
11. Who do you think has the worst lyrics? Any rap artist. Here is a comparison. You can be the judge.
“Every minute is a mile.
I've never felt so hollow.
I'm an old abandoned church with broken pews
and empty aisles.
My secrets for a buck.
Watch me as I cut myself wide open
on this stage. Yes, I am paid
to spill my guts.
I won't see home till spring.
Oh, I would kill for the Atlantic,
but I am paid to make girls panic
while I sing”
Brand New, “I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light”
VS.
“Yea, we over here, with some fat chicks, haha
there so sexy i wanna bang them
give me a suckin job girl
Yo, I don’t be fucking with them fat bitches
That’s Yayo, all the fat bitches”
50 Cent, “Fat Bitch”
I think I’ve made my point.
12. What makes a musician good? Well, I can’t respect them unless they write their own music. I have no care for people like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, etc, who have stuff written for them. There are an amazing number of people out there, like Ashlee Simpson, whose voices are nothing exciting, but can write halfway decent music, and are, at least in my opinion, a million times better than the former two could ever be. It’s not all voice. Those people who are writing that music for them don’t give a shit about those songs. They’re only writing them so they can get the next check. The people who are out there writing stuff because they love it, not because they are getting paid to, are the ones who make music worth loving and devoting your life to, which I am grateful for.
13. What’s your favorite CD? Oh god… “Sing the Sorrow”, “The Art of Drowning”, “Black Sails in the Sunset”, “Answer that and Stay Fashionable”, “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge”, “Deja Entendu”, “What to do when You are Dead”, “The Wall”, Blink 182”, “Good Mourning”, “Wish You were Here”, “Dream to Make Believe”, “Abbey Road”, “The Beatles”, “Before these Crowded Streets”, “Warning”, “Dookie”, “Siren Song of the Counter Culture”, “Believe”, “Morning View”, “Make Yourself”, “Under the Table and Dreaming”, “Crash”, “Sing Loud, Sing Proud”, “Your Favorite Weapon”, “For Never and Ever”, “Hot Fuss”, “Stories and Alibis”… and so many more.
14. What CD do you hate? Kenny Chesney… my old room mate used to listen to it so much.
15. What is the best CD by a musician you don’t like? I’m not sure. If I don’t like them, why would I listem to them, and therefore, why would I know?
16. What is a CD you don’t like by a musician you do like? I’m not a huge fan of “Please Please Me”. I like the later Beatles stuff a lot more than the earlier stuff.
17. What’s your favorite band/artist/grout of the moment? Rise Against and My Chemical Romance, but they’ll probably stay on the list.
18. What is your guilty pleasure? Sarah McLachlan
19. How many CDs do you own? I’m not sure. Somewhere around 350, and a lot more on my computer.
20. What would be the best song to drive to? Pretty much anything
21. ...to wake up to? Hmm… no idea
22. …to fall in love to? “Hands Down” by Dashboard Confessional
23. …to fall out of love to? “Colorblind” by The Counting Crows”
24. …to fall asleep to? “Aqueous Transmission” by Incubus
25. …to die to? “If I Had It All” by Dave Matthews Band
********
2. Who is your favorite band? So many… The top ones include AFI, The Beatles, Brand New, Green Day, Pink Floyd, Incubus
3. Who is your favorite solo artist? Hmm… I don’t think I have one
4. What kind of music did you like as a kid? I used to listen to everything when I was younger: Presidents of the United States of America, lots of Beatles, Weezer, lots of oldies like Strawberry Alarm Clock, America, Jimi Hendrix, and pretty much whatever the played on the radio, though I even then I didn’t really like B96. 97.2 was the best before they went techno
5. Did you ever have a crush on a musician as a kid? Hah, yeah, Paul McCartney
6. Do you have one now? Noooo… Tom DeLong, Davey Havok, Billie Joe Armstrong, Brandon Boyd
7. What kind of music do you dislike most? Rap
8. What band do you dislike most? Hmm… I think Three Doors Down, although Kryptonite was a pretty good song
9. What solo artist do you dislike most? Oh god, like 50 Cent and JayZ and SnoopDog etc. I’m a fan of real instruments, not synths.
10. Who do you think writes the best lyrics? Without a doubt Jesse Lacey of Brand New. He’s so good at using imagery, and… I don’t know… if you read the stuff as just lyrics alone with no music, it is all so damn poetic. Not many musicians can write stuff that can stand on its own two feet and still be so powerful without the music, but he’s a goddamn master at it (well, I guess that's not entirely true. I'm sure there are tons of other bands and songs out there to prove me wrong spectacularly, but this just happens to be my favorite). Here is a great example of what I mean:
“We sent out the SOS call.
It was a quater past four
in the morning
when the storm broke our second anchor line.
Four months at sea.
Four months of calm seas
only to be pounded in the shallows
off of the tip of Montauk Point.
They call them rogues.
They travel fast and alone,
one hundred foot faces
of God's good ocean gone wrong.
What they call love is a risk,
cause you will always get hit
out of nowhere
by some wave and end up on your own.
The hole in the hull defied the crews’ attempts
to bail us out,
and flooded the engines and radio.
And half buried bow.
Your tongue is a rudder.
It steers the whole ship,
sends your words past your lips,
or keeps them safe behind your teeth.
But the wrong words will strand you,
come off course while you sleep,
sweep your boat out to sea
or dashed it to bits on the reef.
The vessel groans.
The ocean pressures its frame.
Off the port I see the lighthouse
through the sleet and the rain.
And I wish for one more day
to give my love and repay debts.
But the morning finds our bodies
washed up thirty miles west.
They say that the captain
stays fast with the ship
through still and storm.
But this ain't the Dakota,
and the water is cold.
We won't have to fight for long.
This is the end.
This story's old,
but it goes on and on
until we disappear.
Calm me and let me taste
the salt that you breathed
while you were underneath.
I am the one who haunts your dreams
of mountains sunk below the sea.
I spoke the words but never
gave a thought to what they all could mean.
I know that this is what you want.
A funeral keeps both of us apart.
You know that you are not alone.
I need you like water in my lungs.
This is the end…”
“Play Crack the Sky”
And I like Davey Havok of AFI at lot too for using so many sophisticated words in his stuff. And he’s another master of imagery as well.
Roger Waters, too.
And Dave Matthews.
You can tell when I like an artist’s lyrics because they almost always make up my away messages on AOL.
11. Who do you think has the worst lyrics? Any rap artist. Here is a comparison. You can be the judge.
“Every minute is a mile.
I've never felt so hollow.
I'm an old abandoned church with broken pews
and empty aisles.
My secrets for a buck.
Watch me as I cut myself wide open
on this stage. Yes, I am paid
to spill my guts.
I won't see home till spring.
Oh, I would kill for the Atlantic,
but I am paid to make girls panic
while I sing”
Brand New, “I Will Play My Game Beneath the Spin Light”
VS.
“Yea, we over here, with some fat chicks, haha
there so sexy i wanna bang them
give me a suckin job girl
Yo, I don’t be fucking with them fat bitches
That’s Yayo, all the fat bitches”
50 Cent, “Fat Bitch”
I think I’ve made my point.
12. What makes a musician good? Well, I can’t respect them unless they write their own music. I have no care for people like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, etc, who have stuff written for them. There are an amazing number of people out there, like Ashlee Simpson, whose voices are nothing exciting, but can write halfway decent music, and are, at least in my opinion, a million times better than the former two could ever be. It’s not all voice. Those people who are writing that music for them don’t give a shit about those songs. They’re only writing them so they can get the next check. The people who are out there writing stuff because they love it, not because they are getting paid to, are the ones who make music worth loving and devoting your life to, which I am grateful for.
13. What’s your favorite CD? Oh god… “Sing the Sorrow”, “The Art of Drowning”, “Black Sails in the Sunset”, “Answer that and Stay Fashionable”, “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge”, “Deja Entendu”, “What to do when You are Dead”, “The Wall”, Blink 182”, “Good Mourning”, “Wish You were Here”, “Dream to Make Believe”, “Abbey Road”, “The Beatles”, “Before these Crowded Streets”, “Warning”, “Dookie”, “Siren Song of the Counter Culture”, “Believe”, “Morning View”, “Make Yourself”, “Under the Table and Dreaming”, “Crash”, “Sing Loud, Sing Proud”, “Your Favorite Weapon”, “For Never and Ever”, “Hot Fuss”, “Stories and Alibis”… and so many more.
14. What CD do you hate? Kenny Chesney… my old room mate used to listen to it so much.
15. What is the best CD by a musician you don’t like? I’m not sure. If I don’t like them, why would I listem to them, and therefore, why would I know?
16. What is a CD you don’t like by a musician you do like? I’m not a huge fan of “Please Please Me”. I like the later Beatles stuff a lot more than the earlier stuff.
17. What’s your favorite band/artist/grout of the moment? Rise Against and My Chemical Romance, but they’ll probably stay on the list.
18. What is your guilty pleasure? Sarah McLachlan
19. How many CDs do you own? I’m not sure. Somewhere around 350, and a lot more on my computer.
20. What would be the best song to drive to? Pretty much anything
21. ...to wake up to? Hmm… no idea
22. …to fall in love to? “Hands Down” by Dashboard Confessional
23. …to fall out of love to? “Colorblind” by The Counting Crows”
24. …to fall asleep to? “Aqueous Transmission” by Incubus
25. …to die to? “If I Had It All” by Dave Matthews Band
********