A Few Interview Questions

For a Music Appreciation class, I have to attend a concert, write about it, and ask one of the performers several questions. Unfortunately, Against Me! never answered my myspace message. If anyone from the board knows the answer to any of these questions (as determined from past interviews, etc.), I'd really appreciate it. They're pretty general questions, so it shouldn't be too hard. Thanks.

1) Define the style of music that you perform.

2) What do you like most about this style?

3) Name two performers who influenced you musically.

4) What do you most like about the instrument that you play (or about singing)?

5) Describe one song that you play live. What key is it in, and is there a specific message or structure to it?

6) Do you feel that your music is important to society or to the world? If so, how?

Instead of a myspace you should them a few emails they tend to answer those more frequently

Yeah, I could've done that too. I've gotten Myspace replies from them before, and it's marked as read, so I was surprised to get no answer this time.

I'd definitely try an alternative method of communication but there's pretty much no time to wait. The paper is due the day after tomorrow. I'm sure it's no big deal if I can't get every answer, but it'd be nice regardless.

Anthony, i don't mean to sound like an asshole, but those are some terrible questions that the band have been over like a million times. Have you seen any interviews or read anything to do with the band? Its all there. I'm not surprised they ignored this really.

bondo wrote:

Anthony, i don't mean to sound like an asshole, but those are some terrible questions that the band have been over like a million times. Have you seen any interviews or read anything to do with the band? Its all there. I'm not surprised they ignored this really.

you might want to give him the benefit of the doubt maybe he was given those questions to ask or maybe he wants to keep it general so that people who have never heard of AM! can start to get what they're all about

Those of us in Music Appreciation are required to ask a perfomer those specific questions. My professor would obviously have no concern for me asking something like, "When will those RAR demos see the light of day?"

the answer to that qeustion is "never ever ever".

I ended up writing this (one paragraph of a four page essay about Against Me!):

"Tom Gabel of Against Me! provided me with some brief responses through e-mail. Gabel simply characterizes Against Me! as a rock band with a background in punk. He was fond of punk rock because of its inherent freedom to express oneself, although he believes that the scene has become too rigid and elitist in recent years. Perhaps this is the reason why he does not like to subscribe to any one specific genre. Growing up, Gabel was influenced by performers such as Bruce Springsteen and The Replacements. Modestly, Gabel does not believe that his music is important to society or to the world, though he believes that the subject matter itself sometimes is. This came as unsurprising to me, as Against Me! has always maintained a political stance throughout its career. Now that Tom Gabel is in his early thirties, he has newfound responsibilities, including a newborn child at home. I imagine that his association with the anarchist lifestyle would be particularly difficult as a result, so his motives to achieve financial success through music alone are completely understandable."

Sounds reasonable, right? It would've been nice if Bondo shared his/her knowledge of the answers to 4, 5, and 6, but hey, I think I did the band justice.

Late 20s*.

Damnit, I assumed he was 30 by now. Almost.