+ You can live rent-free in any city in the US, where would you pack & head to and why?

trey: Portland, Oregon. I lived there for a few years before heading back east. If you love coffee, books, music, movies and beer it's a fantastic city.
mike: Some small coastal town in Alaska. Why? same as above
jonathan: San Francisco, most European of US cities, great Chinese food and Amoeba Records.
ron: I moved from Oakland, CA to portland for a reason, and I can't think of anywhere in the US I'd rather be right now. However, I would consider some canadian cities if they'd have me.

+ Bush, Kerry or Nader?

trey: Ah geeze, I like Nader, I like Nader a lot. I saw him speak a few years back and I felt more inspired, politically, than I do after watching West Wing. As the election nears however, it seems my dissatisfaction with the current administration is going to eclipse my idealism and I'll vote for Kerry.
mike: Carter
jonathan: You must be kidding, Chairman Mao.
ron: Kerry

+ Are you all still borrowing a clothing store basement for rehearsal space?

trey: Yes, I just got a new jacket. The inside pockets have zippers which I would never expect from a coat but which I now find reassuring.
mike: Yes.
jonathan: Yes.
ron: Yes, couldn't ask for a better setup, unless the same place was given to us with some windows.

+ is there any particular band/artist you know of & love that we the people should invest more time in hearing?

trey: It's not obscure but Doc Watson. Sometimes I just can't get hear the guy enough. I picked up the Folkways Recordings he did with Clarence Ashley recently and it's amazing.
mike: Micah Smaldone's CD 'Some Sweet Day', north east indie records
jonathan: Rev Charlie Jackson.
ron: Can I plug my friends? Baltimore's sharky is a great band that I helped record. Kansas City's brannock device are great Minutemen-ish rock. Also, they might be kind of well known but I love the Long Winters newest album. so that's three.

+ Mac or PC?

trey: Mac
mike: Mac
jonathan: PC - at work.
ron: Mac - no contest.


+ What was the last show (other than your own band) you attended?

trey: Richard Buckner at Space in Portland, Maine.
mike: Bright Light Group at the Stillhouse
jonathan: Seekonk at the Space.
ron: I can't remember.. .

+ Which band would you most cherish a reunion of (any band, whether members are alive or not)?

trey: I'm not a big reunion person but I would love to have seen Tim Buckley perform with his band in the late '60's.
mike: original line-up of pere ubu, with peter laughner
jonathan: The Small Faces
ron: probably slint. I never got to see them live.

+ You have to rid of every piece of vinyl in your record collection but ONE, who stays?

trey: Neil Young, On the Beach (I don't have the first Stone Roses album on vinyl).
mike: Pink Floyd - Meddle.
jonathan:Small Faces - Ogden's Nut Gone Flake.
ron: I have no idea. BREAD's greatest hits?

+ What is "Talent"?

trey: Changing a diaper in the dark.
mike: The ability to convince your wife of your need to hang out
with musicians and drink beer.
jonathan: "How Much Is That Doggie In the Window?"
ron: I think had work is more important.

+ If you could be 18 years young at any point in history, what time from the past would you choose to live in?

trey: When and where were potato chips invented?
mike: 1235 bc
jonathan: 50's or 60's
ron: Probably 1959. That way I'd be a teenager when Elvis' Sun stuff came out, and in my mid 20's during the British invasion.

+ Is the "low-carb revolution" out of control?

trey: Yes.
mike: I personally have an issue with cheese.
jonathan: Ask Ronnie.. .
ron: I'm glad that doctor from Nebraska scammed Dr. Atkins medical records. I mean, Ilove a cheeseburger as much as the next guy, but come on.

+ What question do you get asked the most that you feel should be erased from all human thought?

trey: Sometimes I get asked if any of us are from around Harpswell Sound which is understandable given the bands name. Unfortunately none of us are. Mike's probably the closest and I think he's from Ohio.
mike: "your bass player is cute, can you introduce me?"
jonathan: "How Much Is That Doggie In the Window?"
ron: They're usually asked with good intentions, so they don't bother me much.

+ Morning fuel: coffee or orange juice?

trey: coffee
mike: coffeeeeee
jonathan: coffee
ron: both.

+ Best band name of ALL TIME:

trey: Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
mike: POTTY MOUTH
jonathan: The Funk Brothers (Motown Studio Band)
ron: Orange Juice.

(stolen Q splendid) We're considering lobbying the government to pass a law banning the use of certain overplayed words --for example, "new", "flaming" and "electric" -- in band names. What other word(s) should be banned?

trey: I think such a law might prohibit the formation of a band like 'the
electric flaming news' and there could be some potential there.
mike: anything spelled phonetically, misspelled, dropped letters,
added Z's.
jonathan: "The"
ron: I have no idea.

+ Photo shoot - film or digital?

trey: Good lord, some friends gave me a digital camera right before my
daughter was born and my wife and I were able to make it work for about 2 1/2 months before something happened and our technological ineptitude became insurmountable.
mike: tinytype
jonathan: both
ron: I like both for different things.

+ Is it swift to pay $15 for 15 songs from napster now that major hands have control? Is it to make us feel less guilty or make the fat man fatter?

trey: I suppose it's less swift to go to the library and check a cd out that seems interesting but you can do this and it's great. Libraries are
incredible like that. When I think about them in a commercial context I can hardly believe they're legal.
mike: I go with the fat guy.
jonathan: Fatter.
ron: I have mixed feelings about the entire file sharing concept. On the one hand, I would never have found out about some of my favorite bands without sharing mixtapes with friends. On the other hand, I think it's very hard for independent bands and labels to stay afloat. I mean, 500 records can be a LOT for a small label and relatively unknown band. I guess it would help if people thought a little more about where their money is going to be best spent.

+ The house is on fire - what non-living item comes to mind to save?

trey: The fry daddy. I finally have a good corn dog batter recipe, one that
really sticks to the hot dog, so I'd want to grab that too.
mike: My cymbals.
jonathan: My Bass.
ron: A 1930s Epiphone Archtop that was my Great Grandfather's.

+ What scares you?

trey: Health Insurance.
mike: The monster living in my basement.
jonathan: That doggie in the window.
ron: most things.

harpswell sound
port
www.harpswellsound.com

I'm going to give it to you straight. If I keep receiving hand-delivered, unsigned artists on the same level as harpswell sound (though not every day or week, I have heard a small handful of standouts), I'm dragging myself and someone with stable credit to the local finiancial institution and we're gonna start us a damn fine little label.

It's officially the first day of spring, every window is open in my home & this sparkling 5-song EP, port, is doing a damn fine job of matching today's unblemished atmoshpere (you can even hear the front-porch rocking chair on 'settle down'). Lead vocalist Trey Hughes has a vocal approach that bridges a gap somewhere between a less-glum Simon Joyner and Joesph Arthur, had the latter chose an Americana route. Each of the five songs on port showcase a band that has far more than one or two craftful sounds in their collectiveness. Opener 'too many times', with it's driving drums & layered vocals, and instrumental closer 'the birds & the fish' (that absolutely must be heard to grasp this comparison) truly reveal a band that belongs together.

If there were bumps on the 5 road, 19 minute trip to Harpswell Sound, I must have lucked out and missed each one - I even drove 'em 3 times, and plan on going back.

Some bands just have 'it', harpswell sound got more than most.

+ k [March | 2004]__________.... . . . . .  .   .