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Interview with Rubblebucket Orchestra

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

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 interview for Glide Magazine. www.glidemagazine.com May 2009

mb:What was the very first album you ever bought?

kal:My Ace of Base tape. Then my first CD was Highlights From The Phantom of the Opera. I was kind of behind some of my other elementary school buddies who had CD players and Madonna CDs. My first cool album that I’m actually proud of was probably The Miseducation of Lauren Hill (but I think it was actually my sister’s).
 
mb:What is one of your favorite bands to see live now?

kal:I love Giant Panda Guerilla dub Squad. I could listen to them all day and night. I love big wild bands like Nomo and Antibalas. I also love to see/hear a Boston-based band called Cuddle Magic.
 
mb:What is the most frustrating thing about being in a band?

kal:Nothing really… I love it. Being in a band is like having your family around you all the time. For some people that might not be a good thing but for me it generally is.

mb:What is your favorite city to play?

kal:It depends on the season… winter touring in the northern half of this country can be brutal, even in amazing cities like Madison, WI, Boulder, CO and of course Burlington, VT! The past few times that I have visited Fort Collins, CO I have felt so at home, and so appreciated by the audience. However, NYC might get the pick just for the pure thrill.
 
mb:Are you guys concerned with your health while on the road, if yes what are you doing to stay healthy?

kal:It is so difficult to keep my body feeling good on the road… a constant struggle. I try to always eat good food, and we make a lot of simple healthy band meals. Recently, partway through a 34-hour drive from Denver to Boston, via Chicago I made a commitment to run laps around every single rest area we stopped at. I followed through. It felt soooo right. I’m going to do that more often from now on.
 
mb:What are some other creative outlets you have other than music?

kal:I like to make art and graphics. I do lots of the Rubblebucket posters, and I did the album artwork for Rose’s dream. I make so many beaded bracelets, I just can’t stop. I give them to people I love.
 
mb:What are some of your favorite publications?

kal:I like the BBC, National Geographic, Utne Reader, Cabinet! I just discovered Make Magazine which seems amazing. A longtime friend of my family’s, Sam Bartlett, makes an awesome zine called Stuntology and Tuneology. Also, I think that the fact Rubblebucket has a couple of Nylon enthusiasts speaks well of the band.

mb:What do you think is special and unique about your band?

kal:Nine geeky minds having fun and being rock stars.
 
mb:In ten years I want…….

kal:have made a thousand bajillion beaded bracelets.
 

mb:2 a.m. means A. time to party or B. time to sleep?

kal:AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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interview with The Sound Of Urchin

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

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MB:What was it like playing on the Craig Ferguson show?

SOU:Well,  it was one of the biggest highlights so far in Urchin history.  I mean, it was one of those things where you know that it’s gonna be stapled in time, and if you nail the performance, it will represent you to the world.  We were so pumped that morning, and the whole experience could not have gone better.  The coolest thing was when we were loading into CBS studios, the first thing we saw was Bob Barker’s big white Cadillac parked right at the loading dock!  Now, we are huge "Price is Right" fans, so we were blown away by the whole thing… and then after we recorded the show, the producer asked us if we wanted to go backstage to the Price is Right set, so we did, fresh off of playing on the show, and spun the big wheel and saw all the games and prizes – it was nuts;  especially because the song we played (There Are People In The Clouds) has the line "I’m gonna spin the big wheel" in it.  Sometimes life just works like that, nuts.  But the coolest thing about playing the show was when they said go and we rocked the song out in front of the studio audience, and we saw a bunch of fans and friends from LA stand up and go crazy, it was like a gig, but on TV, on this set that I’ve seen on TV before.  It was really cool.

MB:Who has  been your biggest musical influences?

SOU:I mean, I have so many influences, but off the top of my head… Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy is a huge influence, and he is SO underrated, with so many amazing songs that span the spectrum…  Bob Pollard of Guided By Voices, another one who is just amazing…  Stephen Malkmus of Pavement…  and then there’s like Springsteen, Slayer, Marley (I’m a huge classic reggae fan), Flaming Lips, John Bonham and Zeppelin, old Aerosmith, The Clash, Motley Crue, 70′s oldies… man, so many influences… anthem-rock

MB:What are a few things you must have in your dressing room?

SOU:Peace and quiet before the show (which never happens!), a bottle of Jack and diet coke (gotta watch the empty calories), a place to plug my i-phone in to listen to 70′s oldies music (last time we played Nectar’s we listened to nothing but Carole King!), a big couch to lay down and veg before the show, i like to have either Subway or sushi before a show, heat, plenty of waters and towels (!), the accommodations to party and bring back people to party after the show (I’m old school like that).


MB:It’s four  hours before your show where would you be and what would you be doing?

SOU:Laying on the big couch (see above), listening to 70′s oldies music, getting ready to eat some Subway or sushi (I have to digest before the show so I don’t eat close to showtime), and waiting out the excruciating hours before we get to turn it up and rock out!


MB:If you could pick any meal to have before a show what would it be-beverage included?

SOU:I have had the best shows after a good light sushi meal, your basic tuna roll, eel avocado roll, maybe some brown rice and gyoza appetizer or something…  and some hot sake, but not too much…  I gotta go light before a show, otherwise it just weighs me down and I have a sluggish experience on stage.  I also can’t drink too much before a show, I need to go into it with all the energy and a clear head.  Once I’m on stage I can nurse some Jack between songs and enjoy the show, but I still can’t get too messed up.  It doesn’t do well for me being the singer and the drummer, ha ha.


MB:What is your favorite album to listen to while you are trying to relax? 

SOU:Probably Survival by Bob Marley.  Or any old classic reggae…  the Lee Scratch Perry Arkology box set, yeah, that too.
MB:If you could hang with anyone still alive, not a musician, who would it be?

SOU:Wow, good question…  hmmm…  you are stumping me on this one… Anthony Bourdain!  Because I think the guy is brilliant, would be a good hang, and I know I could learn something from him… he seems honest and insightful, and down to earth, and not preachy or full of himself, and not self-righteous.  There is nothing worse than people who are self-righteous.

MB:If you weren’t the drummer/singer for Sound of Urchin what would you be doing?

SOU:I would do something real easy, like mow lawns at a resort in southern Florida or something.  Something outside in the sun, in Florida, or Mexico.  Mexico is my favorite place in the universe, fyi.
MB:Birds or Bees?

SOU:That’s easy, bees!  "God make bees, bees make honey, God make man, man make money", a quote from Yellowman.

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