#kevin march

[philalbinus]

A nice tight show but man, standing for more than two hours is a killer at the ripe ol' age of 58 when for Guided By Voices. On the other hand, Bob Pollard is a miracle. The fact that he can sing for two and a half hours is amazing, high kicks, beers and shots of something amber included. Oh, and Kevin March remains the best drummer in Rock and Roll and Doug Gillard is one tasty guitarists.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Guided By Voices & Kiwi jr Live Show Review: 6/1, Thalia Hall, Chicago

From left to right: Bobby Bare Jr., Mark Shue, Robert Pollard, Kevin March, & Doug Gillard of Guided By Voices

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Robert Pollard sure has a way of making audiences feeling special. No, I'm not just talking about giving them their money's worth with regular forty-plus-song sets. As Guided By Voices walked out to chants of "G-B-V!" on Saturday night at Thalia Hall--a chant the band itself invented in studio on Propeller opening track "Over the Neptune / Mesh Gear Fox"--Pollard let the crowd know that it was Chicago itself who were the very first to chant the band's initials back at them, on their tour for 1993's Vampire on Titus. Perhaps it was a plea to continue supporting the band as they continue to release records, often upwards of 3 per year. "We can't just rest on our laurels!" Pollard proclaimed upon introducing "Serene King", the first single from their upcoming album Strut of Kings, the band's 41st (!) record. And rest on their laurels they don't, as evidenced by the band's 40th anniversary celebration last fall, and, really, by every show they continue to play.

Gillard

The year's shows so far for Guided By Voices are opportunities for many fans, even diehards, to hear live for the first time the songs from the band's 40th album, last November's Nowhere to Go but Up, as well as those released so far from Strut of Kings. As has been the case with this current lineup since 2016, the new material is often the highlight of the set, the songs the band is most excited to play. On Saturday, swinging opener "The Race Is On, The King Is Dead" proved to be more raw than its sweeping string-laden studio version from Nowhere to Go. It stood out has having a more urgent live sound without flourishes and could become a setlist regular in that vein, like "The Rally Boys". Elsewhere, Pollard's vocals were more upfront in the mix on prog songs like "Jack of Legs" and "Song and Dance". And two of Nowhere to Go's highlights certainly showcased the band's dynamism: "How Did He Get Up There?", with its choppy riffs and syncopated verses, and "For the Home", Doug Gillard's introductory guitar prelude giving way into a mammoth rhythm riff from Bobby Bare Jr. and drums from Kevin March.

Pollard

Even at 66 years old and less than two years removed from a busted knee, Pollard's still on stage crushing Miller Lites, taking swigs from a bottle of Jose Cuervo (which he somehow passed to the crowd reaching over the Thalia Hall photo pit), and launching high-kicks. If the crowd shows enthusiasm on its own, pogoing during career hits like "Game of Pricks" and "I Am A Scientist", it seems like Pollard takes the effort to amp them up with his leg up in the air for newer songs like Welshpool Frillies cut "Romeo Surgeon". The rest of the band, too, finds ways to subtly shift tunes night by night. Gillard's riffs on Tremblers and Goggles by Rank song "Boomerang" were a bit more bluesy than I recall, while the end call and response between Pollard and Bare Jr. during Pollard solo cut "Love Is Stronger Than Witchcraft" was straight up soulful, emulating the studio version's vocal layers. GBV are also careful not to oversaturate their material. Pollard joked that this would be the last time we'd hear Surrender Your Poppy Field's slow-burning "Volcano"--it won't going to make the cut on subsequent tours--but only after playing "Planet Score", a Motivational Jumpsuit cut that has found its way back into the rotation 10 years later. So, you never know.

From left to right: Mike Walker, Jeremy Gaudet, Brian Murphy, & Brohan Moore of Kiwi jr

Opening again for GBV, just like last September, was Toronto indie rock band Kiwi jr, culling from their three very good records. I thought of their opening set as a victory lap of sorts, the band now 3 years into their record deal with Sub Pop, having opened for 90s indie rock royalty like GBV and The Lemonheads. Live, they're becoming increasingly crispy, with wonderfully chintzy sounding synths introducing "Unspeakable Things", drummer Brohan Moore providing an appropriately wavy rhythm on "Salary Man", the band seamlessly diving into a galloping breakdown during the middle of "Waiting in Line". Vocalist Jeremy Gaudet's annunciation is increasingly Malkmus-esque, breathing out the final syllables of a melisma or laughing a tossed-off line like "nothing to worry about" on "Guilty Party". Yet, what separates him is his acerbic wit, clear as day even over the band's jangle. "It might take another year / It might take a shot-gunned beer / It might take a rifled deer / Head shot, night vision, sex tapе, head shot / Turn it out," from dark closer "Night Vision", sounds unexpectedly anthemic when coming from Gaudet's deadpanned delivery. Oh, and best of all, Kiwi jr played two new songs, the melancholy "I Want To Live in a World Like Polly" and the impressive "Blowin' Up". The latter started Cars-esque and punky before sporting a mid-song hip-hop drum beat with a synth freakout. If Kiwi jr continues to take the GBV route and morphs into something more kinetic, I don't think anybody will complain.

Murphy

Gaudet

[spilladabalia]

Guided By Voices - Meet The Star

[notacluedo]

obligatory gay people can’t sit in chairs joke

[evanpeterswhoresblog]

Office Secrets

Luke Cooper x f!reader

TW: smut, p in v, unprotected, fingering… lmk if there’s anything else lol

Word count: 1526

Friendly note, I wrote this all in one day so it’s probably not the best but I’ve been so obsessed w Evan lately I just needed to write lol Enjoy!!!

~~~

“So, who wants to bet the two newbies are doing it?” Meredith says as she puts coins into one of the vending machines.

“They so are,” Kevin says. “Have you seen the way they look at each other it’s like- Pam and Jim.”

“Hey!”

Angela shakes her head. “You people are disgusting… but I wouldn’t doubt it. I’ve seen them flirting on multiple occasions.”

“This is all circumstantial, it doesn’t mean they’re sleeping together,” Oscar argues.

“I would bet they are,” Phillas says with a laugh. “I mean I remember how fun it was being all secret with Bob, it’s so thrilling.”

Pam glances at you in the annex, Luke’s leaning back on your desk, smiling as you two talk. She looks back to the group and shrugs. “It’s possible they are.”

~~~

“Hey y/n, do you think you could make some copies for me?” Pam asks as you’re walking by.

“Yeah of course, double or single sided?” You reply with a smile.

“Double please.” She hands you the original.

You walk to the copier, but as you’re about to open it, Luke slips in front of you.

“Luke I was about to make copies,” you say, annoyed.

“So do I, you aren’t the only person in the office who needs to get stuff done,” he laughs.

“Since when have you ever had things to get done? You’re the laziest person here.”

“That’s hostile,” he replies, turning around to give you a smirk. “I might have to report you to HR.”

“Just please hurry up,” you mumble.

“Anything for you babe.” He winks.

You turn to the camera and stare, almost at your limit with this boy.

~~~

“I just don’t understand men sometimes it’s like, he’s so different when we’re alone yet in public he wants to be the biggest ass ever,” you rant to the camera, you’re in the hallway near the elevator where no one will hear you. “Sometimes I just want to knee him in the balls and get on with my day.”

“If he’s so annoying why do you sleep with him?”

You frown. “He’s really good at that stuff, most assholes are honestly.”

~~~

You’re at the vending machine getting a snack when you feel arms snake around your waist. You quickly turn around and push him away.

“Luke stop it we can’t be doing this here,” you whisper.

He looks out the windows then back at you. “Nobody’s around, come on just one kiss. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since last night baby.”

You and Luke were hired about three weeks ago now, both just interns to help out with the little things around the office. At first you thought Luke was an idiot slack off, but after a week of him constantly flirting with you, you decided he wasn’t that bad of a guy and of course he’s gorgeous. And, after one night where he gave you a ride home this simple work crush turned into casual sex.

You made Luke promise to keep it a secret, you didn’t want anyone at the office to think your personal life would interfere with you doing your job. So, far you don’t think anyone has figured it out, and your glad.

“Don’t talk like that here,” you say, giving him a slight glare. “We made a deal.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’m serious Luke, imagine if Michael found out. He’d make it a whole thing.”

“It probably already is a thing, Jim and Pams was.”

You scoff at him. “Okay, that doesn’t mean this has to be.”

“Whatever,” he says as he begins to walk away. “See you later.”

You give an annoyed look to the camera and shake your head before returning to your previous activity.

~~~

“Listen, y/n is a good girl I guess, I just wish she’d stop acting like the office finding out about our thing is the worst possibility imaginable,” Luke tells the crew outside the break room.

“What do you think would happen if they found out?”

“I don’t know, they’d give us weird looks. It doesn’t really matter it’s not like me and her are gonna be working here forever. At least I know I’m not, not sure what her life plans are.”

~~~

You stare at the clock and sigh, still a whole nother hour left at the office. This whole day has been terrible, mostly due to Luke. You don’t understand why he’s acting so annoying today. Usually he’s decent toward you, probably because of what he wants from you the second work ends. You turn back to your desk and start to organize papers, deciding Luke isn’t important.

A few have passed when Luke appears beside you. He leans back on your desk, one of his hands gripping the edge. You try to ignore him, keeping your attention on the stack of paper you’ve been messing with. Luke doesn’t let you ignore him forever though.

“Can you come with me somewhere where we can speak privately… away from the cameras.”

You look up at him. Is this it? Is he really going to break it off at work? You can’t believe it. You want to give him a piece of your mind, so you slightly nod and get up, following him out of the annex and down the hall to one of the stock rooms. You’re ready to start giving it to him but before you can he smashes his lips on yours.

At first, you’re caught off guard, he’s never kissed you at work before. You don’t hesitate to kiss him back however. He backs you up till the back of your legs hit a spare desk. You let him guide you onto it, your kiss turning into something more.

He bites down on your lip, his hands roaming up and down the sides of your body. You have to admit, you’d been craving this too. Even though you saw each other last night. Luke was the best you’d ever had, how were you supposed to not want him again? Even though he’s been annoying you all day you can’t help but melt into the palm of his hand, he’s just so damn attractive.

“Luke, we can’t do this at work,” you whisper, the sensible part of you taking over.

“Nobody will know, come on baby, I’ve been thinking of you all day. I need you,” he replies.

Your stomach fills with butterflies at his words. He knows exactly how to persuade you. You fall back on the desk as he kisses down your neck, Your legs wrap around his waist, he makes you feel so good. He brings his lips back up to yours as one of his hands starts to slip up your skirt and under your panties.

He starts to rub small circles on your clit; you to moan into his mouth. He smirks against your mouth. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him closer, you love the feeling of his body against yours. It’s the best you’ve ever felt.

“You’re already so wet baby,” he mumbles on your lips.

“Luke,” you moan.

“Do you want it baby?”

You nod, moving one of your hands down to rub the bulge in his pants. He grins at you and removes his fingers, beginning to undo his belt and fly. In seconds you feel his tip brushing against your entrance. He leans back over you as he begins to slowly thrust inside of you. You bite down on your lip and close your eyes, the familiar feeling of him filling you taking over.

You throw your head back as he starts fucking you. The sound of the desk hitting the wall doesn’t even register in your head. You’re too engulfed in how good Luke’s dick feels inside you, hitting that special spot that makes your legs shake. His head rests in the crook of your neck, he’s moaning and whispering all the dirty things he wants to do to you. It’s all too good to be true.

Eventually though, you feel that tightening in your stomach, your orgasm approching. Luke must realize this because he doesn’t stop his violent thrusts for even a second. You hold on to him tightly, biting down on his clothed shoulder as you finally cum. He finishes with you, pushing himself so far inside you he’s hitting your cervix.

He lays on you for a few seconds before pulling himself up enough to look down at you. His chest is still heaving as he speaks in a soft voice, “I really like you y/n.”

“I really like you too Luke,” you say with a weak smile.

Both of you get yourselves decent fast, you’ve been away for at least fifteen minutes by now. You give Luke one last kiss before exiting the small room alone, he promised to wait a minute or too before following.

As you sit at your desk and resume your previous activities, Luke walks by you, sending a quick wink before disappearing into the main office. You give a small stare into one of the cameras, your face turning bright red. This was only the beginning.

[petit-papillion]

The only ones without penalty points are Charles, Alex, Pierre, Oscar, and Lando.

[d-criss-news]

littleshopnyc: Little Shop, lotta people. #LittleShopNYC

[kevindavidday]

thinking of 'thank you. you were amazing' and neil's following abrupt disappearance to the sound of doomsday by murray gold

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Fertilid's Favor by Kevin Sidharta

[hunter-sylvester]

Skullflower is Autistic: A Breakdown.

Buckle the fuck up.

Disclaimer: Don't take any of this too seriously.

Also all of this was written over a year ago with only minor edits. I'm just posting it now cause it's been rotting in my drafts and, like, fuck it.

I've wanted to try and make a comprehensive breakdown like this for a while just because I love these characters and very heavily interpret them all as autistic (with ADHD as well.) But this is just the perspective of one guy. And I probably overstate it but the fact that we can all have our own very personal interpretations about media is what's great about analysis & fandom.

Hunter Sylvester.

Yes I'm doing Hunter first, what do you think I am? Unbiased? Please.

Autistic Perfectionism. Hunter's autistic perfectionism is something I've mentioned before and somewhat struggle to describe satisfactorily. But to me the most obvious example is his inability to deal with the idea of Emily joining Skullfucker as a cellist. Obviously, there's the queer angle to this but I think two reasons can play a role at once. He's in love with Kevin so he doesn't want a girl that Kevin picked to be a part of their band. Additionally, I'd argue that he can't deal with the idea of having a girl cellist as their bass player because it in NO WAY fits the mental image that Hunter has in his mind of what he wanted Skullfucker to be. It doesn't match the perfect idea that he's dreamed of, that he holds onto for dear life, so he can't deal with it.

Hyperfixations. "Hunter's been into a lot of things since I've known him but he's stuck with metal longer than any of them." - Kevin. Need I say more? Well, I will anyway. The guy hyperfixates. I think the closest thing we have to a canon confirmed hyperfixation is Dungeons & Dragons. Because of what in my mind is a combination of Autism and ADHD in Hunter, they don't fully leave him. He still likes and plays D&D, but he's not as obsessed with it as he used to be when he made his dad buy him the most ridiculous game terrain that fucking lights up.

Special Interests. I think one of the easiest claims to make is that metal is a special interest for Hunter. He entrenches his entire life in it and reaches for it when a stressful situation happens to try and make himself feel more okay. (getting his hair cut off by Skip and relating his new look to Jason Newsted) It's clearly something that comforts him, having been obsessed with it ever since his mom left. Which, regardless of the specific circumstances, is a horridly stressful situation for any 12-13 year old.

Struggles with social interaction. He doesn't seem to have a lot of friends. He gets along with Robbie, Kevin (obviously) and the people he plays D&D with but that seems to be it. Especially whenever the situation gets very stressful, Hunter's mind immediately reaches for his comfort interest to try and make it through (or to lash out). He can't easily just be comfortable in a strange social situation. Or a strange situation in general.

Stims. Hunter stims by playing guitar. That's it, that's the whole point. And there's this little move:

Kevin Schlieb.

Neutrality. The way Kevin just takes Hunter and Emily as they are feels autistic to me.

Struggles with social interaction. And he clearly wants it to be easier for him. He wants to connect to people but he doesn't know how. It's not like he doesn't understand people. He does. He understands Hunter better than Hunter understands himself. "sometimes he's not so nice to people when he's uncomfortable" "You are afraid of everybody" "you treat everybody like shit and you make them hate you" But that understanding of how people think and work doesn't translate to his direct interactions with most of his peers. Maybe because he understands other neurodivergent people but not neurotypicals. The fact he does have a decent read on, at the very least, his best friend could also be indicative of the extra work Kevin has had to put in over the course of his life to try and understand people to begin with.

Directness. A lot of Kevin does feel direct to me. I suppose in a 'what you see is what you get' sort of way. He obviously has the whole protagonist thing going on which tends to end you up with pretty neutral, earnest and open characters.

Stims:

Emily Spector.

Gets overstimulated. Emily's outbursts could be attributed more to a struggle regulating her emotions. It's not a huge stretch to assume her mystery medication is a mood stabilizer. However, the idea of it being a combination of being overstimulated and then no longer being able to deal with her anger on top of the distress she's already feeling feels apt to me. This is a stretch, but, we only ever see her have outbursts at school. A nightmare environment for the stimuli sensitive. Emily is by far the character out of the main three we spend the least time with, which could easily explain my previous point away. We hardly see her out of school to begin with. But I think there can be merit in taking it as a part of the story, rather than an incidental effect of her being left by the wayside.

Black and white thinking. "So first you tell me that I should hate him, and now you want me to help him?" - Emily. No, he didn't say you should hate him, Emily. "You have every right to be mad- especially at Hunter!" - Kevin.

Directness. I mean she literally calls up Kevin to ask him if he wants to go fuck in a parking lot and more power to her. But it is very direct.

Struggles with social interaction. And apart from Skip & Co. having a particular hate-boner for Hunter, Emily might actually be the most widely ostracized for her lack of social finesse. Which would check out because society is brutally cruel to girls. Kevin is shown to have some positive interaction outside of the other two main characters, so is Hunter. And, yes, so is Emily. But it's only with the janitor of the school, who she is implied to have had previous interactions with. Having your only friend at school be the fucking janitor is not a neurotypical experience. I know I certainly got along easier with a handful of teachers than I did with my peers back when I was at school.

Whatever this is. Fam, I've BEEN there...but it's not neurotypical:

A 'little' note to end on: I want to state that I love all three of these character very dearly. I don't pretend that I don't have a favorite, but they are all amazing. There's various reasons why Metal Lords is such a comforting movie, but a big one, is that the characters act in a way that feels incredibly familiar. They act like me. They act like my autistic friends. We make weird facial expressions, we understand the world and each other through our interests. The way all of them talk feels so close to home. (The swearing is actually part of that. A lot of real people swear and over-censoring of that tends to bug me but that's kinda beside the point lmao)

[snowflakebottles-art]

BACKGROUND JUMPSCARE AAAAAHHH!!!!!!!

had fun w/ that one unironically though :^)

[sinceileftyoublog]

Quiz Show Interview: Montclair-ians Who Rock

BY JORDAN MAINZER

When you haven’t played music for 25 years and get back into it, you take nothing for granted, from the voice memo feature on your smartphone to the ability to self-release music. That was certainly the case for Chris Matthews, the former Shudder To Think guitarist whose official last show with the post-hardcore greats was in 1992. Since then, he played a couple songs at a reunion show, but had mostly, for all intents and purposes, quit music. Fast-forward to the late 2010s, Matthews was living in Montclair, New Jersey, working as a professor at Montclair State. He had been added to Parents Who Rock, a database of Montclair-based parents who happened to play music, in any capacity, and received an email from another person in the organization, none other than Guided By Voices drummer--and former Shudder To Think member--Kevin March. They laughed at the connection and began jamming. Matthews asked his neighbor Frank Gibbons, who had played in bands in college, to join on bass. Quiz Show was born.

When in Shudder To Think, Matthews never sang or wrote vocal melodies, as that was Craig Wedren’s lane. He stuck to guitar parts. Originally, March was the lead singer of Quiz Show, but during a recording session with Montclair-based Ray Ketchem at his studio Magic Door, he found himself singing backing melodies, then asked by March and Ketchem to become the lead singer. Why the hell not? He hadn’t done much music-wise for 25 years. The first song that really clicked with Matthews as singer was “Pom Pom Boy”, his gentle vocal harmonies surfing on top of a disco-rock beat. When he realized that the band could self-release, Quiz Show started uploading songs as they were finished. The first was “Sound of Kissing”, though “Pom Pom Boy” was close to follow, as were the scratchy “Big Bank Theory”, post-hardcore callback “What If?”, slow-burner “Dime A Dozen”, and more.

Eventually, though, March became too busy with the ever-prolific GBV, and Gibbons backed out after COVID hit. But Matthews was having too much fun. March essentially handpicked drummer Joe Billy (also from School of Rock Montclair) to replace him, and Matthews realized that Jesse Krakow--yet another former Shudder To Think member--lived nearby. When Krakow came on board as the new bassist, the new lineup in a couple years recorded and released two EPs, Geographic and Stole the Sky, under Ketchum’s newly minted Magic Door Record Label. Then, in a roundabout way--fitting for the loose, ramshackle nature of how Quiz Show came to be--Ketchum suggested Quiz Show rerelease all of their old lineup recordings under the label, as their debut LP. After a couple hours of remastering, their self-titled debut full-length was born, finally out today.

Though Quiz Show are undoubtedly looking forward, because the band is essentially Matthews’ first lead project, the songs on Quiz Show jive with the spirit of the new lineup’s first two EPs, even when March sings, like on the subdued “Always Waiting”. Deftly journeying from chugging and wiry punk to power pop to dirges, the collection highlights Matthews’ masterful-as-ever guitar compositions and introduces him as an eternally emotive lyricist. 

A couple weeks ago, I spoke with Matthews over the phone about the history of Quiz Show, the new lineup, his newfound appreciation for writing lyrics, and the process of making the band’s look-back of a debut. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: Was it always the plan for Quiz Show’s debut album to be a collection of all its previously released singles?

Chris Matthews: No--when we started playing, we were putting things out on our own, because you can put it anywhere without a label. We were recording one or two songs at a time and releasing them as singles. It was exciting to put something out every three or four months. Along the way, the owner of Magic Door, where we record, Ray Ketchem, decided to start the Magic Door Record Label for bands that record there and want to release under his umbrella. He invited us to do that. We released two EPs under that label, and Ray said, “Now that we’re doing this, maybe we should rerelease everything on Magic Door and have everything under the one name.” In the beginning, we didn’t have an LP in mind because we were going song by song. It’s nice it’s lasted this long and we have enough music to put out an album.

SILY: Why did Frank and Kevin leave and Jesse and Joe come in?

CM: The band started with Kevin and me. Montclair is an interesting suburb. A lot of people in media and the arts end up here. I teach as a professor at Montclair State; I just happen to be a musician as well. Kevin lives in town, and we found each other through an organization called Parents Who Rock, which was organized by a woman who realized a lot of the musicians in town had been devoting a lot of their time to raising their kids and didn’t get a chance to play music. She put together events where people, low bar, could play together. Kevin found my name on there and reached out, asking, “Are you that Chris Matthews who was in Shudder To Think?” I wrote him back, “Are you the Kevin March who was in Shudder To Think?” [laughs] We figured it out and started playing music together. It kind of clicked. Kevin’s a super enthusiastic person. I told him, “I haven’t played music in 25 years. This is kind of fun, but I don’t really have the chance to do it.” He said, “That doesn’t matter. You have to come back into it and start writing songs again.” He liked what I had come up with, and we started to put a band together. Frank lives around the corner from me, and we know each other from the neighborhood. I said, “Do you want to try playing bass with us?” He said, “Sure!” He’d been out of music for longer than I had, and he was never really in music beyond college bands. We put that together.

Kevin is the drummer for Guided By Voices, who release a new record every 3 weeks. So he just got busy. He couldn’t commit to doing it. He’s also the general manager for the School of Rock Montclair. He’s got a full-time straight job, running that business, and then is in [GBV]. He didn’t have enough time. With the pandemic, things slowed down, and Frank backed out. At that point, I didn’t want to stop. I knew Joe from School of Rock. My older kid took classes there. Kevin recommended Joe take over for him as the drummer in the band. In a roundabout way, Jesse, who also played with Shudder To Think on tours, ended up living nearby. When I reached out to him, he said, “Hell yeah, I’d love to play!” So that’s who we are now: Joe, Jesse, and Chris, and we’re staying that way. At least for now.

SILY: Had you and Kevin ever crossed paths in Shudder To Think?

CM: One night on a reunion tour in 2010-ish, they played the Bowery Ballroom in New York, and I was living here. Kevin was in that band, so I came up and played a couple Shudder To Think songs with the band just for the fun of it. He and I played two songs together. I hadn’t met him before and hadn’t seen him since. It was a surprising situation. I give Kevin all the credit. He said, “You’re gonna be surprised how much people like having you back in the scene making and playing music.” He’s just been a big fan.

SILY: You’ve said that this band has made you realize you enjoyed singing as much as playing guitar. How did you feel about both before?

CM: I was just a guitar player and hadn’t sang on anything, and you know Shudder To Think well enough to know that you don’t really enter the space occupied by Craig Wedren and his vocal talents. You just let that be, and I did the guitar parts, and it worked great. But when we started playing as what became Quiz Show, Kevin was doing vocals. You can hear him singing on “Pom Pom Boy” and “Withstand” and “Always Waiting”. Even with “Withstand”, I sang in the middle. Kevin and Ray, who we were always recording with, said, “You should just sing. Make this your thing.” I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’ll give it a shot.” I do like it. It is fun. The best part is not the singing, because I don’t think I can pull it off very well, but I like coming up with vocal melodies and having that be an extra piece of creative work. Craig always wrote vocal melodies, because that was his job. It’s been fun to do that as part of the process. The guitar is just fantastic. One of the things that surprised me was that I played now and again in the 25 years since I was in a band, and you’d think I didn’t remember how to play, but I never forgot. I was able to pick it up as if I never put it down. I’m doing some of my best playing now.

SILY: What would you say is the biggest difference between the remastered versions of these songs and the originally released versions?

CM: I was with Ray, and we didn’t do much. We listened to each song and picked out a couple of really minor things that weren’t mixed just right or had always been bugging me. But we didn’t try to change much of anything. The remastering was just to make them feel like they were all together when recorded, like the tonal mixes, so there wasn’t anything that was radically out of line. It wasn’t like that anyway, since we recorded everything at Ray’s place, so it took [just] a couple hours of work. We weren’t intending to create something new, but to create something more coherent from start to finish.

SILY: In between now and the last time you were writing music, do you have any newfound influences?

CM: Musically, the things I started listening to after leaving the band haven’t really influenced me. I lived for a while in New Orleans and really loved brass band stuff, probably because it wasn’t the same stuff I was playing, and I wasn’t watching it critiquing the guitar player. But I don’t think it had any influence on the way I write guitar. After hanging up the guitar, Built to Spill was the first band I really discovered. They’ve remained a centerpiece kind of band doing it exactly right. I’m always happy with where they’re going, and the feel of their songs--especially the guitar. Bands come and go, but I always stick with Built to Spill.

SILY: What did you think of their most recent record?

CM: I’m not sure I know their most recent record. I’m a terrible music fan. [laughs]

SILY: Did you lead off this record with “Sound of Kissing” because it was Quiz Show’s first-ever released song?

CM: We had always decided on it. Ray especially had influence on it. He said, “That’s your best song!” [laughs] We recorded “Withstand” and “Pom Pom Boy” first but didn’t release them, because we didn’t know what we were doing. At that point, I didn’t know you could just self-release, sign up for a distributor, and it’ll end up being on Spotify, and you’ll be a real band. But “Sound of Kissing” was the most exemplary of what we were trying to do, bringing these three musicians together as a sound. That’s why I’m the only vocalist, because at that point, they had said, “You should just sing.” I’m waiting for someone to say, “You should stop singing,” but as long as they don’t say that, I’ll keep going. It makes it easier. I don’t have to find someone else.

SILY: Did you approach the sequencing like you were making a mixtape of your own songs?

CM: Yeah, Ray and I did that. It might be a small number of people listening to an album in order, but we had that thought of what should come next. We wanted “Mannequin Sun” at the end because it was the only unreleased piece [on a Quiz Show-only release].

SILY: It’s also a good closer, a tonal wildcard, and in terms of pace.

CM: Yeah. It’s a weird song.

SILY: Are you playing these songs live and writing new material with the new lineup?

CM: Yeah. We’re definitely still playing many of these--not all of them. That’s only because some of them I can’t pull off with the vocals and guitar live, and others we haven’t had time for the new guys to learn. The three of us have written, recorded, and released two EPs, and we’re still writing. I love writing music, and the voice memo phenomenon on my iPhone, I remember how many times I sat down to write, put my guitar down to go eat something, and came back and it was like it was never done. Being able to have it as a shitty little voice recording is great. I have dozens of songs we can work on. It’s a matter of finding the time and finding what’s a right fit for this band. After this, we have three songs ready to record, and I don’t know whether we’ll do another EP or collect them as a new LP with the new lineup. We’ll keep releasing, for sure.

SILY: Do you often find yourself coming up with a melody, recording it, and realizing later it’s from something?

CM: That hasn’t happened. I always start with the guitar. The vocal melodies are always built on top of an existing guitar idea. That’s how I’ve always written. I have a three-quarter size acoustic guitar in my office, and that’s how I do most of my writing. I’ll break from whatever I’m doing, pick up a guitar, and that’ll be the start of a song. I don’t think I’ve ever recorded something and thought, “That already exists.” But if I was singing, I’m sure I would do that in a heartbeat. It’s so ethereal, versus your hands doing something.

SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately that’s caught your attention?

CM: Like everybody else, I love the new world of television shows that you can watch. I’m watching The Last Of Us, and I’m not sure I like it. It’s a bit of a strange show. I think I thought it would be something else, and I’m coming to terms with what it is. Reading, I do all my reading for work, so I don’t spend much time reading other things. But I did just read a book by Dan Chaon, a murder mystery. He wrote one called Sleepwalk which was also very strange, which I recommend. I’m also a big Carl Hiaasen fan, if you like trashy Florida man stories. Music-wise, I don’t know if there’s anything new that I’ve paid attention to. There’s a lot of K-pop coming from my house, because my daughter’s a BTS fan, along with everybody else on the planet.

SILY: Do you have a favorite song on the Quiz Show album?

CM: “Pom Pom Boy”. The music, the vocals, the feel of the whole song. I’ve always loved that. It could be the one where even more than “Sound of Kissing”, we realized we knew what we were doing. There were a couple of other songs that don’t exist anymore where [we didn’t.] I love playing “Almost Famous”.

SILY: It’s very hard-charging.

CM: It’s a ton of fun, and I have a couple of friends who love it. “Big Bank Theory”, we don’t play it because I can’t do the guitar and vocals, so I’m trying to see if Jesse on bass can do the guitar line. I really love that one. It’s a quieter song, but I feel like the way it came together as a written song, I’ve always been happy with.

[norasakavictweets]

[solo-uso]

Throwback House Show hug from March 2022

[fragmentedblade]

The "Dan Heng is Dan Feng" dogmatics annoy me a lot. It entirely brushes off one of the most interesting and prevalent questions posed by the game, incarnated by several characters and stories that give the question different hues with different potential answers, and a constant also in HI3, like a thread waving the two games together

[humbug-demartino]

"Groped by an Angel" [S4 Ep11]