Mido Skip Interview
First off, for the people, in your own words, who are you, what do you play, where are you from, and what is the name of your band?
My name is Ethan! i play guitar and sing, I'm from Fishtail, Montana, and the name of my band is "Mido Skip"
We definitely played a lot of shows together like 5-7 years ago, and it seems like the scene has changed a lot since then (as they do)... is that true? For better or worse? A little of both?
When I entered the punk scene in missoula, to me it seemed like it was dominated by punk rock trios who were all a few years older than me and were inspired by bands like the Lawrence Arms, Hot Water Music, and RVIVR. I had completely missed the scene era, which I think a lot of people were trying their best to not be associated with. I remember everyone was so excited that I had a band and was just playing regular punk rock because I was so young. Now, every band in Missoula is so young and so different. It's inspiring to me to see that kids see it as a viable creative outlet, and I'm so happy to see that opportunities are there for music and art. In 2014, people made fun of me for playing rock and roll because dubstep and hip hop were so ubiquitous and seemed like the obvious path forward. there were less people at shows, everyone was meaner, it was gross and smelled like cigarettes and pbr. It was better.
In general, outside looking in, Missoula always seemed like such a strange scene, since you had a combo of locals that were cool, and then ⅓ college kids that were cool, ⅓ college kids that weren’t cool, and ⅓ college kids that were too cool… which made it seem like it was potentially difficult to get any real leverage, since it was always in flux. is that a fair assessment? Curious to hear how you guys tried to/still try to navigate that, especially as a punk band, and not like a reggae cover band or string band or something.
This is a point I love talking about, because Missoula has such an incredible assortment of what kinds of music people are into. If we were in a bigger city, or just a more crowded area, I would have never played with bands like Tormi or Walking Corpse Syndrome or Baby and Bukowski. but the fact that Missoula is so small and such a tight-knit community means you always have the chance to play with someone radically different, and I love that! It also cracks me up that figureheads in the scene change every 2 semesters.
Apologies if I’m misremembering- Mido Skip is a sort of duel-fronted band, with Ethan and Alasdair doing leads on songs intermittently (There’s a reason you guys are called the Beatles of Missoula) first off- is this true? And if so, did you guys write songs separately, and bring them to the table together? Or write together? Or a little of both?
I am so honored to be called the Beatles of Missoula! Alasdair and I mostly shared vocal duties in go hibiki, along with Emory. So far live, I have been the primary vocalist with a microphone for Byron so he can make fun of me in between songs. I'm certain once we record our new songs that Alasdair will have a myriad of vocal parts, though. The songwriting process for us has most often been me bringing in a barebones version of a new song, and us going through it over and over to fill it out or add stuff in!
I’m being told that we aren’t allowed to call the subgenre of emo “skramz” anymore, and it’s just emo or post-hardcore. Was this all just a big practical joke, and this term was never allowed to be used, or are we sticking by calling it skramz still? If so, would you consider Mido Skip to be a skramz band?
Skramz is tied for my favorite genre with country. The term is cool as all hell, we should continue using it and use it more often. I think it started as a joke, and sort of spiraled out of control ala the term "twinkle daddies". But you know what else started as a joke and spiraled out of control? Me turning Mido Skip into a skramz-country band and I love it.
You guys don’t seem to be active, which makes us all the more honored and stoked that you are coming down for the fest hehe…. Are there plans to maybe start chugging back into things in the future?
We played a show on January 29th, 2020 and I kept saying to everyone I was going to work so incredibly hard on making 2020 the year of Mido Skip and I accidentally invented the novel coronavirus also known as COVID-19. BUT!!!!!!!! We've been writing a bunch and are starting to record the greatest album by any band in Montana very soon. It's going to be even better than Tarkio Live on KBGA.
What’s keeping you busy artistically, these days? Any new Go Hibiki stuff in the pipeline? Is Burial Etchings playing shows?
I'm not sure how much I can say about it, but Alasdair is the most dedicated recording musician I've ever known and he's working on so much cool stuff. And, when Byron isn't busy making a great horror podcast and doing sweet art for t-shirts, he's working on music that always blows my hair back. I have a few solo songs I've been recording, but I've mostly been working to make the new Mido Skip material as close as I can to the vision I see in my head. I think Go Hibiki is dead for good because Sagat tore out his eye, and he got Burial Etchings too.
When’s the last time you watched the King Elephant documentary?
Alasdair and I laughed so hard when we read this question because we both work at the same place and we watched it at work. There's a short scene where I'm fighting sprinklers and I wish it was extended.
Over/Under - yes, we all hate pitchfork, and yes, this is like… “their thing” but dammit! It’s too much fun not to play! I will give you a word/thing/idea, and you just have to say if you think it is underrated or overrated, and feel free to expound on your reasoning as much as you’d like, or not at all!
-Glocca Morra
Split with Summer Vacation: BASED! Just Married: CRINGE!
-Biga Pizza
CRINGE!
-Drop D teles with capos
BASED!
-SpongeBob SquarePants
BASED!
-Tie-Dye
CRINGE!
-The Blair Witch Project
I tried to watch it once but started crying during the previews because there's something wrong with my brain so - CRINGE!
-Rockin’ Rudy’s
CRINGE!
-Cats (The animal)
BASED!
-Cats (The musical)
BASED, CHAD and JELLICLE!
CRINGE!
-Super Smash Brothers
CRINGE!
-Wikipedia
BEYOND BASED!
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
pretty good
You can catch Mido Skip during this year's fest at Nova Center on August 6th at 8:15pm!