q&a: they shoot horses don't they?

They Shoot Horses Don't They?
Pickup Sticks (CD)

First Question

who all is in they shoot horses and what do they play?

Answer

Bruce, Chris, Ryan, Pietro, Robb, and Nut Brown... We all hit things... We break things... We all have that in common. I'm not feeling like listing the instruments instruments... I don't know why.

Q

do you write collaboratively or does somebody come in with a song and say, "okay folks, i wrote us a new song and it goes like this..."

A

I'm nut Brown. I guess I bring in the ideas but everybody has their ways with them. I'm the guy who loses sleep over the band, wondering if we made the right decision about that intro we recorded but it was Pietro's idea to record it with a previously microwaved microphone. Everybody tells me that my ideas are bad and then i come back next week with it changed just to please them. That's collaboration, isn't it?

Q

how do you all fit in the tour van? is it really big? do you have to play band tetris? who's the best at putting the stuff in the van?

A

It's fifteen seater. We should be able to fit quite comfortably in there but it always manages to get cluttered up with junk that gets collected along the way, things that we like to hit or vinyl siding that is perfect for sliding down a hill on your two feet (street sheets!). So by the end of the tour The van damned crammed. Pietro is the organizer of space...but also main junk collector.

Q

any favorite places to play on tour?

A

Anywhere in Canada. They treat us real kind up here. The Sates is tough. But you know it's good to get kicked around a bit, at least we know we have sweet mother Canada's arms to come home to.

Q

do you listen to tapes or cds in the van? or radio? or do you all talk and read to each other?

A

We have a tape player and only two cassettes, A Punks live recording and Rolling Stones, "High Tides and Green Grasses". We must have played that tape a hundred times, It's all warbly and sounding wild. We do have a cd player that has an adapter. We have a policy to listen to any given cd only once on tour. I believe the only exception we made to that rule was "Drums not Dead' by Liars and "Ships" by Danielson.

Q

what have you been listening to lately?

A

I don't know... We are agreeing less and less on albums. He thinks it's gold and I think it stinks. That's OK though. I will tell you one cassette that we all agree was terrible... The Fat Boys... i was so disappointed. I thought they were good. ????

Q

what are the good new bands in vancouver, bc that people don't know about?

A

Oh... There are tons and tons of good bands. New ones too. The Bloggers are pretty good. They have more than a hundred songs and I think they've only been around for two months. You can't beat that.

Q

who does the art on your cds? is it somebody in the band?

A

Well... kinda... julia left the band this winter to go to Germany and do art stuff. She used to play drums for us. She still does art for us and designed our website... She's still a part of the band. She did the graphic I'm sending.