You've got questions, Jason's got answers.
1. I've been hearing about a digital EP called The Minor Keys, but I can't find any info beyond the name. Is there any you can share?
1. Ya, should be coming out in the next couple of months. It is an acoustic ep, it has a new versions of Little Bird, The Brightest of the Head, and a cover of Under the Milky Way.
2. What are some of your favorite movies?
2. I love old movies, am always watching TCM, so it changes all the time. Just watched Fiddler on the Roof which I hadn't seen since I was a little kid, never thought I was in to musicals, but what a great movie.
3. Do you enjoy classic American cinema/plays? Dial M seems influenced at least a little bit by them (the Hitchcock album title, the play "Death of a Salesman" mentioned in "Automatic").
3. Absolutely, not sure how many times it was made, but the version of death of a salesman with Dustin Hoffman is one of the saddest movies I've ever seen.
4. Any chance you could do a cover album?
4. Would love to at some point, so many good songs, so little time!
5. What's your favorite Crucified song and why?
5. Nice! When I was in 7th grade My brother Ronnie got a hold of the Crucified cassette take up your cross and I loved it. At that point I had never heard anything so "hard". We would listen to Undercover and the Altar Boys and then I heard the Crucified and thought this is what it is supposed to be...In my Opinion Mark Saloman has the best voice for that kind of thing ever...so ya, not sure I have a favorite song, but I definately loved that tape and still do.
6. In Easy Come Easy Go biography, you tell that you recorded Gold by yourself and because of that there was a lot of stress during recording session. Why did you decide to make the album without help of others musicians? Andrew Larson was in a band that time? He is on Gold?
6. That was a crossover point where the members were changing, so I was basically by myself for 90% of the recording...being so young and not knowing what I was doing it was a lot of pressure for me to finish that record...that record still sounds odd to me today.
7. Is the song "Something Evil" About the 2004 election? If not, what's it about?
7. No, I would never sing about politics...to me there is nothing more boring and over done than that.
8. When you're writing the music to a song, are you theory minded or just playing what sounds good. I have the "When I Learn to Sing" songbook and I'm a pianist that loves theory. There are some really cool chord changes and great uses of chords that are not in the key the song is in. I am curious to know if those are all thought out and planned or they just kind of happen.
8. A little bit of both I guess, I know a bit of music theory, but I am by no means a prodigy or something...I just do what I think sounds good and try and find some notes that I think are interesting to put in a part.
9. What's the story behind the song "Monster"?
9. I only wrote the music to that song, the Singer for the Crucified wrote the lyrics and the melody...you would have to ask him.
10. If you had to choose one Starflyer 59 song to be known by - to be a hit single - what would it be?
10. Oh I dont know...the song Passengers from Old kind of summs up my life in music, maybe that would have been a good one.
11. Have you every played on a Rickenbacker? If yes, did you like how it played?
11. Never recorded with one, the couple of times I picked one up to play with I just started trying to figure out Birds songs, might be hard for me to write my own songs on one of them....But I do like the bright tone they get for sure.
12. who is that talking at the end of "first heart attack"?
12. Some sample of a guy doing heart surgery...Not sure where we got it to be honest.
13. Would you ever cover one of the Brothers Martin songs as Starflyer, as you did with "West Coast Friendship"?
13.Sure, I love the Harsh Effects Of Time, I think it is the best song on that record.
14. Have you started working on the next album yet?
14. I have about 4 or 5 songs I'm happy with, would like to start recording it in the fall.
15. Imagine Starflyer was booked for a major event and the band had 12 minutes to perform (with any past or present lineup). What would the set list be?
15. I would just play the first 4 songs off of Dial M.
16. What was your favorite tour or lineup that you felt the band really clicked well?
16 Probably when it was Me, Wayne Everett and Eric Campuzano in 97 or 98.
17. I know Trey is a good drummer, but have you ever thought about drumming for Bazan and having him play drums for your set? Double the Martin, double the Bazan!
17. That would be a bad deal for Dave...he is a great Drummer, I am marginal at best!
18. I've noticed that since Old, your albums have alternated between guitar-heavy (I Am The Portuguese Blues; My Island) and synth-heavy (Talking Voice Vs. Singing Voice; Dial M). Is this pattern intentional?
18. Not really, I just get a bit tired of the standard guitar thing and want some other sounds to fill the space...I guess Im going to be doing a guitar album for the next one :)
