Locker Talk with MARVELKiND

AB: What year did this band officially start?

Ben: 1990?

Dave:  Whoa...I though this was an interview, not a test on ancient history. 92? 94?

Ben: Officially 98.

AB: A lot of bands start with a certain sound in mind. What did you guys envision when you started the band? Did you come anywhere close?

Seth: I think MK always wanted to be very progressive and kind of encapsulate everything. We were looking to be progressive and fun.

Ben: I never had any vision. I just wanted to play with people who felt as passionate about music as I did.

Seth: Yeah, I think that's right.

Ben: I mean I've got vision it's just a little hazy.

Seth: We were all friends, and these guys had a unique sound, so I was interested in trying something new.

Dave:  I think what Seth said is true though, we we're always trying to push ourselves, no matter where that took us...ideally somewhere nobody else was at.

AB: So really, you never said I want to be the next Mercury Rev or something like that?

Seth: I don't think so.

Ben: Never.

Seth: Maybe the next T-Rex.

Ben: The first MarvelKind.

Dave:  Nah..though there were of course bands along the way we all were into and kind of used as yard posts.

Ben: Goalposts.

Seth: Agreed.

Dave:  I don't think Ben and I would have played together if we didn't both like Mother Love Bone, but we never set out to be like them or anything, for example.

AB: The new record is really inspiring. Do you have tour plans to support it?


Ben: Good question.

Dave:  We've got plans to keep doing shows...

Seth: Touring would be nice, but we've done the "put your life on hold to live in a van thing"... not so much fun now-a-days. Well, pretty fun, but there's a lot of things going on in every one's life.

Ben: If the shows come, we will play them. It seems the interest is building far better than the other records.

Seth: I think it's one show at a time.  Hopefully, Chicago this winter/spring.

Dave: Another in L.A. soon as well.

Seth: It's tough for us to travel because we're in different cities. We also have a shit load of gear.

AB: This record is very 2008, I could see you guys getting a lot of attention if it was supported right.

Ben: Me too. We need some help. It's a lot of work for an independent band to do.

AB: So in today's industry climate does that mean a label or what?

Seth: Hard to say, the winds keep changing.

Ben: Investors are more like it. A few lackey's wouldn't hurt.

AB: Well hopefully somebody will hear your cry for help after this article... Your records always have a lot of electronic sounds and programming in them. Who usually does the programming, or is it a group effort?

Seth: Depending on what you mean by programming it usually starts with something from Aaron, but not all songs start with programming.

Dave:  Pretty much a group effort, other than than the percussive elements which tend to be Aaron.

Ben: Raperville [started with programming], I had a weird loop that worked well with something Aaron was working on.

AB: What kind of electronic tools did you use to create a song like "Deux Wars" for instance? What about "Jackass Pussycat" on your first ep "Mini"?


Seth: Deux Wars started with a very simple drum loop, then we recorded guitar and bass I think. After that I did a midi track for my keyboards.

Ben: That was basically a jam in the studio.

Seth: Then there were multiple takes where I tweaked the midi live as we recorded. The keyboard tracks are about five deep and all a little different, some are very different. That was a very fun song to record.

Ben: Very spontaneous.

AB: I guess I'm getting a little nerdy and asking what gear and/or software was used?

Dave:  Jackass was a drum machine which we trigger live while tracking along with the live band & live keys pretty much, if I'm remembering correctly.

Ben: Jackass started with a Casio keyboard drum machine.

Seth: I remember that, then guitars I think. That one didn't change much after the initial session, however, we went back in and recorded drums over the loop to get a better feel. Ironically, or A-ronically, he ended up playing what the loop was doing.

AB: Who in the band is an audio engineer? I know at least a couple of you have other recording projects and record other people's stuff.

Dave:  I'd say I'm the only one who would officially call himself an engineer these days, but we all record stuff.

Ben: I'm not.

Seth: I used to be, but then realized I didn't like doing it very much. I prefer recording myself and not worrying about how it all sounds. MK has always recorded. The first thing I did with the band was "Cherry Wine" at the College of DuPage studio.

Ben:  I love engineering my Tascam 4-track, keep it in the red. The Tascam 424 is very underrated.

AB: Right on!

Dave:  Benj is a master of that 4-track.

Seth: Fuck yeah.

AB: Who have you been working on recording lately Dave?

Dave: I did a record for Airiel last year...gonna mix a record for Walking Bicycles this spring.

AB: Do you produce or engineer more when you do these projects?

Dave:  It depends on the project...I'm usually involved more than just straight engineering, unless its just mixing.

AB: There is a lot of rich lyrical content on this record. Do you have a process when developing lyrics? It has to be tricky these days to write something that doesn't sound warmed over.

Ben: It's called a thesaurus.

Dave:  Hehe.

Ben: Seriously I do a lot of rewrites. I change the obvious sometimes for the funny or absurd, or just for the better.

Dave:  I tend to only do a song or two per record where I sing/write lyrics so they tend to be fairly personal, which is easy if its honest.

AB: Does the music inspire the lyrics? What comes first really?

Dave:  It happens all different ways, I would say.

Ben: Sometimes I'm just inspired by a phrase or expression. It's always different.

AB: Are there lyrics on "State Of The Artificial" that are particularly special for you? Can you take some time to explain them?


Ben: The verses in "billions" have always been special.

AB: What are they about?

Dave:  Hmm...I guess I like to leave things to peoples own impressions...I always thought it was fun trying to figure out what something means. I have fun trying to figure out what the hell Ben is talking about most of the time.

Dave:  ...i mean "nobody dares call me a fagot anymore" what does that mean?

Ben: Electro do you want me to some shed light? Well a fagot is... well you know.

Dave:  Hehe. Ben was a hockey player back then... and you know about locker rooms.

AB: What about the line that follows that? "if somebody did it might just do some good." Whats that about?

Seth: Ben's haircut in the 80's I think.

Ben: More or less wishing for an axe to grind. Sometimes those battles which we put so much stock into as kids, need to find a home later in our lives.

Seth: I took it to mean that you kind of needed a reality check.

Ben: Or I just want some good guy on guy action.

Dave:  Aaron will be here in a second I'm told.

AB: So you aren't fighting for anything anymore?

Ben: Actually every song on SOTA is a battle cry.

Dave:  I'd agree with that.

Seth: Probably more so than on the previous work.

Dave:  Definitely.

Seth: I think that we've got a better perception of the things that make us worthy and good, and it's easier to yell a little louder.


[at this point Aaron Miller enters the chat room, bedlam ensues]

Roni: Hey there...it's the Ronster.

AB: Hey Aaron

Seth: Hey! We got the band back together!

Dave: Sweet!

Roni: About time gaylords.

AB: So to backtrack for Roni...we were talking about "Billions."


Roni: Did you mention Ben's a fagot?

AB: We did, its getting printed in bold.

Dave: As the cover.

AB: Anyway... the first lyric in "Billions" says something about how having a battle to fight is important...and furthermore how this record is full of battle cries.

Ben: We were talking about the songs having more of a struggle and searching for the better in the fucked up world... that kind of vibe and message.

AB: Its all a tangent about lyrics on the album. Have anything to add Roni?

Roni: I think, as someone who does not write lyrics, that MarvelKind has very good lyrics, mostly.  There have been some lemons...

Seth: Honestly, as a non lyrical guy, I think this album has the best lyrical content of any MK record.

Ben: Thanks Seth, fuck you Roni.

Roni: ...but the good ones are some of my favorite of anyone I've worked with.

AB: Aww.

Seth: I like in "Deux Wars" the part about being able to Hang with the Jocks, and the Preps and the geeks... etc.

Dave:  "...the dudes and the chicks, loners and the dicks..."

Seth: "...the few who make sense and the hypocrites..."

Roni: They all love Bueller.

Ben: It's a bit adolescent.

Seth: Sometimes they take a few listens to get, but there's real personal depth behind them, both in Electro's and Benjammin's [lyrics.]

Dave:  I mean nothing can compare to those Luda lyrics you and I work on Aaron...

Roni: How many times can you cum before I poke you to death?

[I'm so glad Roni showed up, you can tell he hits things for a living.]

Dave:  A true piece of poetry from Luda, sorry...Aaron and I worked on an R.Kelly /Ludachris remix that had some hilarious lyrical moments.


AB: No apologies that shit is gold.

AB: So to quote "Swiss Valley", "Maybe what's important maybe really shouldn't be important, maybe what's important is impossible to see." ...Whats really important to you?

Seth: Hmm, what's important... being true to yourself and being willing to question the events that happen in your life, not taking it all at face value.

Ben: Swiss Valley... Everyone gets caught up in their everyday lives and worries about shit that isn't so important. Pretty self explanatory.

Roni: Matters of consequence, to quote the little prince.

Seth: Raperville is kind of like that too, I think.

Roni: Can you hear the sample in Raperville? It says... ya know, Naperville was once considered America's most liveable community but... that was before we rolled into town.

Ben: Yeah that's the ticket.

AB: I wasn't going to mention Naperville, but how do you think growing up in that environment effected you guys? It seems a lot of talented people came out of that town, but almost none of them enjoyed living there.

Roni: Greatly and mostly positively.

Ben: Agreed. Great education system.

Roni: Yeah the Ville had a cool underbelly of people who hated the suburbs, their parents, and church.

Seth: Yeah, church sucked.

Dave:  Um...as much as I don't like it there, it was a cool environment to come up in...lots of cool kids, good drugs, that sort of thing.

Roni: Yeah a lot of acid there... Tommy Sunshine ate it all.

Dave:  He truly did.

Ben: We had a lot of freedom, in a worry-free environment.

AB: You guys come from religious families?

Ben: No. My Mom was cooler than Jesus.

Seth: Roni and I did.

Roni: My dad's a bishop, my mom a born again columnist.

Seth: Our folks were preachers at the same church.

Dave:  Not me...but we got the preachers kids in the band.

Roni: My dad is cool though. Jesus...not so cool.

Seth: Roni's dad is the most awesome bishop EVERRRR.

Ben: Roni's Dad is Jesus.

Roni: No one fucks with the Jesus.

Seth: C'mon Jesus is cool, just misunderstood.

Roni: He didn't exist I can prove it.

Ben: Dinosaurs didn't exist!


AB: Did you guys play music in church?

Seth: Actually, I did...and we were both in the choir. 

Dave:  Seth still sings like hes in the choir now.

Seth: I used to take my Mom's wireless microphone and pretend I was the disembodied voice of St. Peter.

Dave:  Luciano Larson we like to call him.

Roni: We used to try to make babies cry in church.

Seth: Hehe, that's true.

AB: Ok I'll move on to present day...Do you have plans to write more songs? Put out another record?

Roni: Til we die... next week.

Ben: No, we're just gonna do chat room interviews til we die.

Seth: Some dudes are trying to get us to cover a Devo song this year for a fan comp. I don't know what we're gonna do.

Roni: "Girl u want?"

Seth: BAH!

Dave:  I forgot about that...we gotta get on to starting that.

Ben: "Disco Dancer."

Seth: "Disco Dancer" is awesome. That would be fun. Sage [Seth's daughter] got DEV2.O for Xmas...a kid devo cover band. I think we should do one of their songs.

Dave:  What, "Boy you want?"

AB: Obviously a better band than the original that Devo 2.0.

Ben: Negative.

Roni: How is Sage?  Is she tripping yet?

Seth: Nope, but I got her drinking coffee now.

Roni: Good work.

Ben: I'm calling child services!!!


AB: Ok so to be serious... have you talked about another record?

Ben: Yes... to the record, for the record.

Roni: Off the record.

Seth: Seriously, yes, but it's a tough process.

Dave:  Yes, but one foot in front of the other...first working on getting this one out there and onto peoples minds and whatnot.

Seth: I think that we can agree that we'd really like to find our audience and get them behind us. There's a lot of MK out there that still needs to be heard.

Roni: Yeah, we feel like we just finished and would like to rock this record a bit. We're proud of this one. Adam [Olmsted] was a big help for us. He engineered and mixed. We worked on [the record] in L.A. over the last couple of years at his place. We needed his professional chops to balance our disorganized creativity

Ben: I'd really like for this album to generate enough interest, that we get to start and finish something in one fell swoop, and not over the course of a few years.

Seth: We're also trying very hard to get some videos made. It seems like that's how people listen to music these days

Ben: I know I do.

Seth: Our friend Davidson Cole has been accumulating footage for us and there's a few things in the works.

Roni: I only listen by Cochlear Implant.

Ben: Music without visuals is like chocolate without peanut butter.

AB: What music really gets your rocks off right now?

Ben: Rocks off you say?

Roni: Did I miss good questions?

Seth: I"m really into the Aesop Rock album, but when I want to rock it's still Death From Above 1979.

Ben: Negative.

Roni: Seth's picks are good.

Dave:  I was just watching Ghostland Observatory the other day.

Ben: Ghostland is great.

Roni: I still have to see them to get them fully.

Seth: Klaus Nomi.

Roni: Yeah Nomi.

Ben: I like Oasis lately, them and Robbie Williams.

Seth: Fuck you.

Roni: Hey Ben, you know how I know you're gay?

Ben: Seriously I like my music, is that lame? Fuck it, I do.

Seth: I like all the songs Tim and Eric [from Tim and Eric's Awesome Show] do..."Petite Feet" RAWKS!

Dave:  I've been watchin this Radiohead movie while we've been doing this interview...but that's not really any big inside tip.

Ben: Ok, Assassins rock. I also heard some song that Tim Armstrong did on the radio the other day, that was fun.

AB: Ok one last question...

Seth: The question from hell...

AB: So where is music going in your opinion? Have any opinion on what you think is going to be hot in the next few years?

Roni: It's always hard to say...

Seth: Hmm... I think metal (real metal) is going to come back. I don't like the Emo/metal hybrid stuff at all though.

Roni: Yeah I like metal.

Dave:  That's tough..I have no idea really.

Roni: It always depends on so many things.

Ben: The shades of gray are slowly fading, and it never turns out how you guessed. It's either super pop or death metal, nothing in between.

Dave:  It does seem like anything goes & all sorts of interesting hybrids of stuff will come about...what will stick is the question.

Roni: Some new software will make some old thing cool again.

Seth: I think it's all about videos. Also, who knows how this how Guitar hero/Rock Band thing is gonna change everything.

Roni: I bet I rule at rock band.

Dave:  Rock band is really hard if you already know how to really play guitar.

Roni: Can you tell every member of MK has serious ADHD?


AB: Haha, its hysterical to read in text.

Ben: ljhdfvikndfjvnk;dznv kjdubkvdbikdfbv

Roni: Its annoying in real life...to everyone but us. We think we're funny.

Seth: Seriously, I saw some kids who never heard anything but 50 Cent rocking The Police at the Game Stop the other day. Blew my mind.

AB: I think that's about it for the interview. Thank you guys for spending the time to talk with me. It's about time I say goodnight.


Seth: Peace... thanks 'Xander that was a lot of fun. Night guys, nice talking with everyone.

Dave:  Later yall!

Ben: Bye boys.

Roni: Ok I eat Thai now long time.