ADAM: Thanks for taking the time for our li'l interview. How's life treating you these days?
GREG GILES (vocals, guitars): Life is good. Things seem to be improving in nearly imperceptible increments, but they are improving nonetheless. We performed at Noisepop for the first time, San Francisco's most notable music festival for bands like ours, and I expected a sort-of vapid industry supermarket, but the organizers have kept it reasonably independent and booked excellent acts, and it was a fabulous honor to open for John Darnielle who is just about the swellest musician you could ever hope to meet. The head of Absolutely Kosher, Cory, was there supporting the Extra Glenns and Xiu Xiu, selling their merchandise, like any label owner worth his salt should do, and he was a splendid down-to-earth fellow. Even the volunteers for Noisepop were kind-hearted. Altogether it restored my faith in the music community, in the support we should have for each other, and overall, that it hasn't gotten too competitive or pretentious for its own good. Not that I have had any particularly bad experience, but these days, you enter into music expecting the worst before you have time to cultivate your own impressions. I have been pleasantly surprised.
KELLY ATKINS (vocals, keyboards): Life has been really interesting lately, amazing how you continue to learn and grow even after you feel like you should have everything figured out. The old saying is really true: You seem to know everything when you are young, but the older you get, you realize you know very little. The world seems a bigger and bigger place. In a sense, it's really cool.
ADAM: OK, here's the question I've been dying to ask: what's with the shout-out to Tony Danza in the credits of Decline of Day?
KELLY: Hehe...that's all Joe's doing. Mr. Danza has become the subject of many non-sequitur jokes in this band. For example, Joe might say something like: "Tony Danza jumped the spaghetti wagon today in a canoe made of pencil shavings! Har har! Eat my goat hoof paddy wack!" Basically just the most random shit you can think of, and that's Joe's sense of humor. Because we are geeks, it gets us laughing every time. I think poor Tony gets used because he represents a pretty random iconic figure. Poor Tony. Something about him is just so damn funny...in spite of excellent acting skills, of course.
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