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What creation are you most proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
PB:<\/strong> Going back and listening to our album Anyway<\/em> always surprises me. I love it so much. I think it\u2019s the kinda thing that people who didn\u2019t get it will eventually come around on. Sleeper classic even for me ha.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS: <\/strong>I think the song \u201cReally Like To\u201d from our latest album Anyway<\/em> is a song that accomplishes a lot of the things I want to when writing for the band! It\u2019s loud and fast, has fun drum parts, fun to sing along to, and I got to do an ambient section at the end; I like showing it to people as an indication of where we\u2019re at right now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
JD: <\/strong>Anyway<\/em> as well \u2014 the entire process was so collaborative throughout. A lot of really great memories writing at the house and recording at Tarbox Road Studios.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Which are you least proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS:<\/strong> In 2023 I tried to get good at baking cookies, and in the process made a batch of not only the worst cookies I\u2019ve ever had, but some of the worst food I have ever experienced. They looked great, but on a first bite tasted like absolutely nothing and had a texture of chewing damp sand, and on a second bite a bitter taste began to crawl across my tongue that practically gagged me. The only other human who tasted them was my next-door neighbor, just so I could have a witness to the crime that I\u2019d committed. To this day I\u2019m still not sure how I fucked up that bad, and I\u2019ll never forget that taste.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What\u2019s the best piece of advice you\u2019ve ever received?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
AW:<\/strong> When I was a kid I met Steve Lukather, the guitarist of Toto, and I told him I wanted to be a guitarist in a band when I grow up. He told me that if I wanted to get the girls I had to either lift weights or get good at guitar solos. I\u2019ve done neither and I\u2019ve been suspicious of all advice ever since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
PB: <\/strong>My dad told me to \u201cnever give up\u201d when I was playing Zelda<\/em> in my basement as a kid. It gave me a big affinity for puzzles, very encouraging. My dad still gives me important advice at all the big moments in my life \u2014 I am very grateful to have him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS:<\/strong> Progress, not perfection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What is your current obsession?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
PB: <\/strong>Investigating criminal networks of the 1990s! More of a hobby than an obsession.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS:<\/strong> I\u2019ve unfortunately found myself going further down the rabbit hole of Deltarune<\/em> theory videos. I don\u2019t buy into the majority of the speculation shared, but I love the game and there is lots of incredible insight shared into the design of it and aspects of it mechanically and narratively that I didn\u2019t even realize I was missing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What do you do when you need to focus?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
AW:<\/strong> Modafinil. Jk lol, I try not to force focusing and just let it be a byproduct of inspiration\/motivation. I wait for the focus to come. If I\u2019m having trouble focusing on something then I probably shouldn\u2019t be doing it. Like driving a car. And if you attach rituals to focus it just invites the possibility of not being able to focus without said rituals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS:<\/strong> I wait until about 8pm, charge my phone on the other side of my studio, get a large cup of black coffee, put on my second monitor a very long playthrough of a game I\u2019m already familiar with (most recent one was Grandia II<\/em>), and keep my door shut as long as possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What do you do when you\u2019re feeling stuck?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS: <\/strong>Take a walk down the Venice boardwalk, get a two-dollar salad from Chairman Mao\u2019s, and eat while listening to music and watching people skate at the Venice bowl.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
PB: <\/strong>It\u2019s very important to fuck off for a minute. I will go out to a Smash<\/em> tournament in the Dallas area. There\u2019s a very lively scene that\u2019s super competitive and full of great people. I can always go back from that feeling fresh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
When was the last time you went somewhere without your phone?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
PB:<\/strong> My phone\u2019s dead half the time so it\u2019s a moment that can happen anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS:<\/strong> I legitimately don\u2019t remember and that depresses me!! I don\u2019t like that!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What\u2019s the last piece of physical media you bought?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS:<\/strong> About a month ago I picked up a used copy of Only Theatre of Pain<\/em> by Christian Death at Headline Records, great shop I\u2019ve been going to since I was a kid!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
JD:<\/strong> I recently bought a record of a band called \u201cSchlong\u201d at Permanent Records in LA. I love finding stuff that isn\u2019t available on streaming. It can be really easy to get complacent with what\u2019s available online but there\u2019s so much out there in the real world!!!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What do you think is worth splurging on?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
LS:<\/strong> I think the most consistent answer for me is special meals. Something unique in another country, or something really special to which I don\u2019t get to treat myself often. It\u2019s always food!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
AW:<\/strong> Vacation\/travel\/time off\/adventure etc… I wish it wasn\u2019t considered so much of a splurge. The same way you wouldn\u2019t really call going on a hike a splurge, but in a world where just existing can be expensive, I think it\u2019s something that\u2019s tremendously good for the ~soul~, and worth regularly \u201csplurging\u201d some time\/money on. I want to talk to my friends about what cool missions they went on this summer, not what new shoes they bought or whatever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
PB:<\/strong> Gonna agree 100% with Ary. The value of travel can\u2019t be overemphasized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What would the tagline for your biopic be?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n