These Go to 11: interviewing Blooper

Coming from Seattle, this week we have the three members of Blooper, responsible of one of the EPs of the year, answering our weekly questionnaire.These Go to 11!

Blooper 

Wish all bloops would be like this one...

In 2011, Adriano Santi began Blooper as a solo project, releasing 'Ballard Avenue' EP. Quickly realising he wanted to assemble a full band, Darrin Ruder and Chris Quirk joined him and, as trio, they came out with 'Go Away' EP, published in May 2012. A year later, thanks to the extincted Manic Pop Records, they put out a 7'' called 'Long Distance'. Finally, this year, and with Chris Mac replacing Ruder, they've joined Jigsaw Records, publishing the EP 'So Very Small'. As we have said previously, this EP is a real pop feast, an extraordinary mixture of power-pop, surf, garage and 60's vibes, driven by guitars and full of captivating melodies. Read it carefully & enjoy it. Here we go!

The "legendary" teen movie

1. First record that you bought (be honest)

Adriano: Nirvana - 'Bleach'
Chris Mac: Jon Cougar - 'American Fool' (tape)
Chris Q: 'The Goonies Soundtrack' (tape)

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)

Adriano: First - Guns n’ Roses when I was 11. Last - Allo Darlin’ and Zebra Hunt (we played with them)
Chris Mac: Honestly don’t remember my first (my parents frequently went to concerts), last one was a house show with friends (Iji, OK Vancouver OK, etc).
Chris Q: First was The Lemonheads; the most recent was Bob Mould, with Cymbals Eat Guitars

Guilty pleasure? Yes, indeed

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)
Adriano: I don’t know if this is bad but I listen to a lot of King Crimson and Yes sometimes.
Chris Mac: I guess the only band from my early teen years that I can still tolerate in small doses is Rush. Oh, and the first Tears For Fears album is still amazing.

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)
Adriano: A first US pressing of 'She Loves You b/w I’ll Get You' on Swan Records - the Beatles’ first release in the US.
Chris Mac: Hard to say, with a collection of 15,000+ records/cds/tapes, but I might choose the 'Tomorrow Ends Today' bootleg lp from Primal Scream’s early (ie. good) period. Never seen it before, never seen it since.
Chris Q: Not a collector, sorry. I like my snare drum.

Introducing... Cheap Girls

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)

Adriano: Can I just say Elliott Smith’s entire body of work? No? Ok, the lyrics to 'Waltz #2' by Elliott Smith then.
Chris Mac: I’m gonna cheat and say the entire discography of Cheap Girls, a band that I simply cannot stop listening to, and identifying with their lyrics.
Chris Q: I’m a stereotypical drummer with no memory for lyrics, so it’s hard to say. I do like that final section of Built To Spill’s 'Kicked It In The Sun', though.

The Sonic man

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)
Adriano: George Harrison, Link Wray, Brian Wilson, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Elliott Smith.
Chris Mac: No one in particular. Anybody I’d want to talk to is approachable, but if I had to pick one who wasn't, it might be Thurston Moore.
Chris Q: Philip Glass.

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)
Adriano: Anything Reid Miles did for the Blue Note label in the 60s.
Chris Mac: Nothing really springs to mind…
Chris Q: I grew up on tapes and CDs, and the artwork didn’t stand out there unfortunately.

Murakami's cat

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both) 
Adriano: Both. My favourite movie is 'The 400 Blows' and my favourite book is 'Kafka on the Shore' by Haruki Murakami
Chris Mac: You can’t go wrong with 'Die Hard'.
Chris Q: Brazil + John Kennedy Toole’s 'Confederacy of Dunces'.

9. Release (of yours) you are most proud of

Adriano: I still really like 'Pike Street'.
Chris Mac: Probably 'Day Things Fell Apart' by Suretoss (my old band)
Chris Q: 'Shaky' is fun to play.

10. What does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)
Adriano: Like any label that’s been around for more than a couple years, “Indie” has pretty much lost all of its meaning. There are “Indie” labels that pretty much operate like majors, “Indie” bands who make craploads of money… but I think as long as the sort of do it yourself vibe is still there, that’s indie.
Chris Mac: I’d have to say that anyone who does things for themselves - for their own personal pleasure - has the indie spirit. Anyone who forms a band/starts a label without the pretense of “making it big”.
Chris Q: What they said.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Adriano: I don’t even know where I’m going to be in 10 minutes…
Chris Mac: Same house, same life. I’m very resistant to change.
Chris Q: Still playing music, probably still in basements and garages..

Zillion thanks Blooper!

"Fargo Rock City", did 80s heavy metal's matter?

Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta 
Chuck Klosterman

The things we do for love... like reading this book. Just kidding. I'm too obsessed with music not to admit I was really curious about Klosterman's attempt to defend the indefensible (in my opinion). Hair metal, heavy metal, 80's hard rock: did it matter? So when my girlfriend (confessed fan of this style) bought the book and vividly encouraged me to read it... well, I had to.

Don't tell anyone, but for the majority of this "wild ride" I was seriously amused. That has to be credited entirely to the author's brilliant writing skills. I was utterly entertained and laughing at the mixture of personal anecdotes, detailed account on bands, records, tunes, and the elaborated music theories on the importance of the 80s metal. I will definitely seek out more of his writings.

But not everything works. Or maybe, the problem is Klosterman's level of exposure here. Occasionally, but more times than it would be recommendable, you will find his reasoning attempts truncated by unnecessary, even silly anecdotes, making you miss the point of the argument. In other few cases, the book gets just boring, like the never-ending account of his favourite metal albums (didn't get the "value thing" anyway), the chapter about the "band issue", or directly dubious, like the chapter about sexism on heavy metal.

One can easily feel related to the book and understand Klosterman's fierce opinions. I did. He bursts with passion on a subject that vividly matters to him. Just like a would do with regards to alternative music. Arrogance is just around the corner, or is just a matter of interpretation or interest on the topic. At the end, nobody can argue his reasoning. Did 80s metal matter? Its obvious that it did for many many people. Like him. But he (in my opinion, of course) cannot defend the "quality argument".

Like Klosterman's, I do have my own "teenager stories" with heavy metal. On the book, he makes himself look like the "victim", as fans of 80s heavy metal now seem obliged to constantly justify themselves for what they like (or liked). But I do remember the musical isolation (heavy metal fans have a strong sense of community) during high school, as I was the one saying Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" was simply boring, or that Axl Rose's voice was extremely annoying, or that I didn't need an everlasting Slash solo in every single song. Yes, I have always been a hater of heavy metal. My guitar hero will always be The Edge. I will always prefer "Country Feedback" outro than, let's say, "Stairway to Heaven". Lyrics will always matter to me (and that makes metal look reaaaally bad, at least as bad and/or ridiculous as Tolkien). I will never get how someone who is mentally healthy can take Van Halen's "Jump" seriously. Or that playing faster or louder means playing better (I had this sort of reasoning with bands like Manowar). Or that can consider Bon Jovi's metal (or simply worth listening).

To me, hair metal was plain silly, and therefore could only be taken as (a silly) amusement, one that was recreated and I would add, tributed, by "This Is Spinal Tap". But I cannot consider it seriously now, as the majority of people do. Klosterman arguments end saying that the music you loved when you were a teenager is the music that matters. I see the point, but I can't agree with him. "My teenage music" was britpop. I still love some few bands and many tunes from that period. But I evolved, and probably only Pulp would be included now among my favourite bands. And there's nothing wrong with evolving. One band brings you to another, then to the next. That's one of the greatness of music. The amount of possibilities, new discoveries and passions while your favourites remain no matter how much times passes. Luckily, it is not a static thing. Music cannot be static.

I would love to read a "Fargo Rock City 2", to see if his opinions have changed over the years. As a matter of fact, did anyone really listened to "Chinese Democracy"? 

SCORE: 6,5/10