1. If you didn't have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time? - Assuming this means I would never be tired, I would just feel better in general. I’d probably watch more movies and write more music or something.
2. What is your favorite piece of clothing you own / owned? - My Pipco shirt has done good things for me.
3. What hobby would you pick up if time & money weren't an issue? - I would play like every instrument.
4. What does your perfect room look like? - High ceiling, no standing waves or nodes, world’s greatest audio playback equipment, a wall of guitars, an opposite wall of keyboards, and a drumkit. Oh, and a bed I guess.
5. How often do you play sports? - NEVER
6. What fictional place would you like to visit? - A place I’d be good with just going once would be the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter, just to see the generations worth of crap that people left there. (yes i know it got burned down just pretend it didn’t)
7. What job would you be terrible at? - I mean I quit Whataburger after like a day, so.
8. When was the last time you climbed a tree? - Maybe a few months ago? I’m not sure.
9. If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance of winning a medal for? - Staying up too long.
10. What is the most annoying habit that you or other people have? - Maybe that I pick my nose? I don’t get how it’s all that annoying though, and it makes my face feel better.
11. What job do you think you'd be really good at? - Anything where I complete entertainingly challenging tasks and don’t have to talk to strangers.
12. What skill would you like to master? - Microphone placement.
13. What would be the most amazing adventure to go on? - I want to go to Frank Zappa’s old house and see the studio. It would have been even better a year ago when all his stuff was still in it, but I still want to be in the space.
14. If you had unlimited funds to build a house to live on for the rest of your life, what would the finished house look like? - Approximately like Zappa’s house, with a badass studio and comfy areas to just exist.
15. What's your favorite drink? - Water
16. What state or country do you never want to go back to? - I think I was in New Jersey for about half an hour once. Never again.
17. What songs do you have completely memorized? - Most Frank Zappa songs
18. What game or movie universe would you like to live in? - Star Trek, but the TV version.
19. What do you consider to be your best find? - I found the Grim Fandango soundtrack at a thrift store for 25 cents once. It goes on ebay for like $60.
20. Are you usually early or late? - I am early for everything. Sometimes too early. I can’t stand being late.
21. What pets did you have when you were growing up? - A series of fish that all died. The last time I had fish, one of them got hurt, and then the other one ate him.
22. When people come to you for help, what do they usually need help with? - Either my mom needs me to tell her how to do a really simple computer thing, or my friends need me to give advice on relationship troubles or something.
23. What takes up too much of your time? - When I waste time spacing out instead of doing a concrete thing that requires any kind of time investment.
24. What do you wish you knew more about? - Rudy Van Gelder’s recording techniques. Problem is he’s dead and he never told anybody what he did.
25. What would be your first question after waking up from being frozen for 100 years? - “Did The Rage And The Fury ever come out? No? FUCK”
26. What are some small things that make your day better? - I like when my friends send me stuff that made them think of me.
27. Who's your go-to band or artist when you don't know who or what to listen to? - Spirit Phone by Lemon Demon is pretty much my go-to album.
28. What's the best way to start the day? - Sleeping.
29. What TV shows do you like? - Currently airing, pretty much just Steven Universe and Orphan Black. Apart from that, Buffy, Hannibal, and Star Trek: TNG are all favorites.
30. What TV channel doesn't exist but really should? - One that airs things I might want to watch more than a few times every couple months.
31. Who has impressed you most with what they've accomplished? - Frank Zappa, Barack Obama, and the friends of mine who have to deal with their brains yelling at them. All of them are badasses.
32. What age do you wish you could stay at permanently? - Preferably none. I think every year I become a better version of myself, and I don’t want that to stop.
33. What TV show or movie do you refuse to watch? - If I hear about a thing that’s popular but like super demeaning in some way like Split or whatever, I’ll avoid it forever.
34. What's your ideal way to spend a weekend? - Sleeping late and doing something productive that’s not related to school.
35. What is something that is considered a luxury, but you don't think you could live without? - Good audio playback equipment. I can’t stand using headphones for more than like an hour or two at a time, and good speakers sound better anyway.
36. What is your claim to fame? - I posted a thing about Wedge Antilles once.
37. What is something you enjoy doing the old-fashioned way? - I totally prefer recording a whole band in a room to tracking everything individually. I do it myself because I don’t usually have other people to play with, but for other people’s music it’s just more fun when I’m capturing a live performance. It’s how so many classic recordings were done, but it’s so uncommon these days and that kinda bums me out.
38. What's your favorite book or movie genre? - Sci-fi I guess, but I tend to really like stuff that bends genre in amusing ways regardless of the genre it’s bending.
39. How often do you people-watch? - Whenever I feel like I can get away with it.
40. What have you only recently formed an opinion about? - I realized last week that the US Democratic party is what a centrist party should be; everything is just so skewed to the right that they seem liberal by comparison. I wish we had a real liberal party that was able to compete on the national stage, but we’re never going to get away from the two party system until we change a whole lot of shit.
41. What's the best day of the year? - The best day of this year was when I saw Mike Keneally with my buddy Moped. Possibly the best day of my life?
42. What subject interests you that not many people have heard of? - I would say not enough people have heard of Frank Zappa, or at least have checked out enough of his music to have a real opinion on him.
43. How do you relax after a long day of work? - Work for me is usually doing sound for rock bands, typically until pretty late at night, so I just crawl up in bed and read dumb shit online until I drop all the energy I build up from working.
44. What's the best book series or TV series you've ever read or watched? - Hannibal for TV. I need to read the books.
45. Where is the farthest you've ever been from home? - Latvia for 5 months in 2014.
46. What's the most heartwarming thing you've ever seen? - Idk, probably some sappy romance in a show I like. I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.
47. What is the most annoying question people ask you? - This one.
48. What could you give a 40-minute presentation on with no preparation? - Frank Zappa, or any number of subcategories about him. The evolution of his guitar tone, the influence of his favorite music on his own work, his history of band members, etc.
49. If you were the dictator on a small island nation, what crazy dictator stuff would you do? - I’d do REALLY crazy shit like guarantee everyone human rights. Unless they’re nazis. Frankly I have no idea why this is crazy, but some Americans would tell you it is.
50. What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? - Listen to Frank Zappa. JK, he’s not for everyone. Everybody should go hear a band they love play live though. There’s nothing like it.
51. Would you rather go hand gliding or whitewater rafting? - HANG GLIDING FUCK YEAH
52. What's your dream car? - A self-driving one.
53. What's worth spending more on to get the best? - Right now I’m researching acoustic treatment so my speakers won’t sound like crap in my bedroom, so I’m gonna go with that.
54. What is something a ton of people are obsessed with, but you just don't get? - One night stands tbh. I’m demisexual, so it just sounds awful and gross. I’m glad other people enjoy them though.
55. What are you most looking forward to in the next 10 years? - Making a living at the thing I do.
56. Where is the most interesting place you've been? - In terms of experiencing culture, Latvia. I’m so glad I got to absorb all that information from talking to people, and it gave me a more direct experience with the after effects of totalitarianism than many Americans *coughtrumpvoterscough* have ever been exposed to.
57. What's something you've been meaning to try but haven't gotten around to it? - Fried ice cream. I’ve been fascinated by the concept since I was a kid.
58. What is the best thing that happened to you last week? - I SAW MIKE KENEALLY AND HUNG OUT WITH MY FRIEND MOPED
59. What piece of entertainment do you wish you could erase from your mind, only to experience it for the first time again? - I honestly get more enjoyment out of media when I’m experiencing it for subsequent times, so none. I love rereading books, rewatching movies, and listening to albums enough times to memorize every note.
60. If all jobs had the same pay rate and hours, what job would you want to have? - The one I have but more often.
61. What amazing thing have you done that no one was around to see? - Released music on the internet. 4 people downloaded my last single.
62. How different was your life 1 year ago? - About the same but harder. College has been getting easier for me since I’ve gotten used to it.
63. What quirks do you have? - My chin is lopsided and my left arm sticks out at an angle. As far as personality quirks, I have about as many as the average person, which is to say too many to list.
64. What would you rate 10/10? - Spirit Phone by Lemon Demon, One Size Fits All by Frank Zappa, and the Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky.
65. What fad or trend do you think should come back? - Recording live bands in a room together!
66. What is the most interesting piece of art you've seen? - I’ve seen tons of great art, but today I saw this thing that was like a giant inflatable tent that let sunlight through and turned it into different colors. Check this out.
67. What kind of art do you enjoy most? - I have no idea how to define my taste in art, I just like something or I don’t.
68. What do you hope never changes? - I hope Lemon Demon albums keep coming out. I don’t know how you could top Spirit Phone though.
69. What city would you most like to live in? - Somewhere in California might be fun.
70. What movie title best describes your life? - It Might Get Loud
71. Why did you decide to do the work you are doing now? - Because I’m good at it and it’s damn fun
72. What's the best way a person can spend their time? - Making themselves happy in a positive way.
73. If you suddenly became a master at woodworking, what would you make? - A badass guitar. Possibly something like Jerry Garcia’s Wolf with a billion knobs and stuff.
74. Where is the most relaxing place you've ever been? - My bedroom
75. What's the luckiest thing that has ever happened to you? - I SAW MIKE KENEALLY WITH MY BUDDY MOPED AND WE HUNG OUT WITH THE BAND FOR A MINUTE
76. Where would you rather be from? - I’m technically from New York, but I was 3 when I moved so it doesn’t really matter where I’m actually from.
77. What are some things you've had to unlearn? - I mean there’s the obvious ones like racism, sexism, being a dick in general, but also I had some bad audio habits that I’ve had to kick. I always have to force myself to mix my own vocals loud enough on my song, which led into me doing something similar when I first started doing live sound for other people. Audiences like hearing what the singer is saying.
78. What do you look forward to in the next 6 months? - I can’t wait to sleep more this summer. (This is a reoccurring theme in this ask thing isn’t it)
79. What website do you visit most often? - Tumblr is probably the one I spend the most overall time on, but I usually split my time fairly evenly. I look at Facebook a lot, but usually not for more than a few moments at a time. I read a decent amount of Twitter, but I almost never tweet anything. I also like looking at instruments for sale on Craigslist.
80. What one thing do you really want but can't afford? - Probably some guitar or keyboard. Shit, if I could I would have every instrument ever.
81. Where do you usually go when you have free time? - My bedroom.
82. Where would you spend all your time if you could? - My bedroom.
83. What's special about the place you grew up? - I have a really nice bedroom. It’s changed a lot depending on what I use it for at the time, but it’s been the same color since I picked it out when I was 4.
84. What age do you want to live to? - I’m good with whatever life gives me. I could live to 100 but I wouldn’t be too peeved if I died next week.
85. What are you most likely to become famous for? - My dream is to be that producer at the Grammys who called Taylor Swift on the phone from the podium to say their album won. That was the coolest.
86. What are you absolutely determined to do? - Someday I want to do a really awesome orchestral recording. I don’t even care that much what the music is, I just want to do that.
87. What is the most impressive thing you know how to do? - I can make bands of old dudes who are wary of a spunky young sound person like me by making them sound as good as possible.
88. What do you wish you knew more about? - Drum overhead placement.
89. What question would you most like to know the answer to? - How the heck do I get that clean tone that Zappa had in 1988.
90. What question can you ask to find out the most about a person? - “Why did you vote for who you did in 2016?”
91. When was the last time you changed your opinion or belief about something major? - I feel like most opinion changes happen so gradually that they’re hard to notice, so I have no idea.
92. What's the best compliment you've ever received? - I really like when people compare my music to Zappa without knowing that I love him as much as I do.
93. As the only human left on earth, what would you do? - Find the Zappa vault and listen to everything, then die.
94. Who inspires you to be better? - My friends, who are all awesome.
95. What do you want your epitaph to be? - “Eh, good enough I guess”
96. What haven't you grown out of? - Shirts I had when I was like 14, interestingly.
97. In what situation or place would you feel most out of place in? - Any social event with tons of people I don’t know and where I don’t have a friend keeping me company the whole time.
98. What's the dumbest thing you've done that actually turned out pretty well? - I made a tumblr, which has given me multiple good friends.
99. If someone wrote a book on an event in your life, what would the book be about? - Idk, that would be a pretty boring book for anyone who didn’t know me.
100. What's something you will never do again? - Talk to this one asshole.
101. How do you hope you'll change as a person in the future? - I want to like myself more.
102. What keeps you up at night? - Usually the internet. On more fun nights, conversations with friends.
103. What's the most surprising self-realization you've had? - “Oh shit, 14 year old me was a fuckin’ asshole”
104. What is the most illegal thing you've ever done? - nah
105. How do you get in the way of your own success? - I’m not as proactive about looking for work as I probably should be. Same with getting ahead in school. I tend to put in just the work that will get me by in my classes, and I don’t really pursue any extracurricuals or anything.
106. What are you afraid people see when they look at you? - Acne some nerd who talks about stuff they don’t care about
107. What is your biggest regret? - nah
108. What do you look down on people for? - Being children. Not like, I think badly of them for being childish, I mean I have to literally look down at kids because I’m taller than they are.
109. What bridges do you not regret burning? - There’s a couple I should have burned sooner, but one of them I just had no idea who he really was for the longest time.
110. What lie do you tell most often? - “I can sing”
111. What would be your spirit animal? - Isn’t this appropriation or something? I’m not completely clear on this one so somebody let me know.
112. What is the best & worst thing about getting older? - Best is being a smarter, better version of myself. Worst is taxes.
113. What are you most likely very wrong about? - I believe that the US has a fundamental promise of hope.
114. If you had a personal flag, what would be on it? - Idk, designing flags is hard.
115. What's happened that changed your view on the world? - November 2016 made me doubt 113.
116. What is the biggest lesson you've learned? - There are more terrible people in the world than I hoped.
117. What is the most immature thing you do? - I still think fart jokes are more often hilarious than they are bad.
118. What are you famous for among your friends & family? - Existing?
119. If your childhood had a smell, what would it be? - Cheese, then the absence of cheese, then lots of cheese.
120. What one responsibility do you wish you didn't have? - I support the institution of taxation as a necessary part of running a functional government, but I wish I didn’t have to pay 15% as a freelancer.
121. What are 3 things you want to accomplish before you die? - Record an orchestra, Have somebody heard of me by reputation who’s not a friend of a friend or something, and have dinner with Joe Travers.
122. What do you want to tell your 10-year-old self? - “You’re gonna like music more than acting, so you might as well get a head start.”
123. What's the best thing you got from your parents? - I’d like to think I have at least some of my dad’s work ethic. I definitely have his sense of humor.
124. What's the best thing about you? - I’m good at talking with people.
125. What blows your mind? - There are over a hundred Zappa albums.
126. Have you ever saved someone's life? - Not directly
127. What are you really good at but embarrassed to be good at? - Honestly can’t think of anything. Ask me later.
128. What would a mirror opposite of you look like? - Clear skin, bad taste in media, shitty friend, makes a living.
129. What are 3 interesting facts about you? - I’m tired, I should go to bed, and I think this is an absurdly long ask thing.
130. Which of your scars has the best story behind it? - There’s a scar on my finger from the first time I ever used a pocket knife. It was a gift from a friend’s uncle or some such relative, and he freaked out 100x more than I did when I cut myself.
131. What's the title of the current chapter in your life? - “Now we’re getting somewhere I guess”
132. What were some of the biggest turning points in your life? - Doing DI, being politely kicked out of DI because I didn’t realize yet that depression was a thing and it was affecting my work, apprenticing at a venue, probably some other, more pleasant stuff.
133. What's the hardest lesson you've learned? - No matter how far I go at being what I consider a good person, I can always do better.
134. What do people think is weird about you? - I like some really weird music.
135. What mistake do you keep making? - Carrying too much stuff at once. Thankfully I don’t usually drop it though.
136. What have you created that you're most proud of? My Christmas album.
137. What do you doubt? - That I’m good at music.
138. What are some of your morals? - The current president is Bad.
139. What do you want to be remembered for? - Being a good friend and also making cool music.
140. What do you regret not doing in your childhood years? - I never got to go to Legoland back when I would have enjoyed it most. I’d still love to go tbh.
141. What is your favorite fragrance? - Whatever my friends each smell like, because it makes me think of them.
142. What do you think your last words will be? “Well okay”
143. Who or what do you take for granted? - Probably that my parents will always be there if I need them.
144. Why would you be annoying as a roommate? - Loud music all the time.
145. What is something you're insecure about? - My face
146. What's the best & worst piece of advice you've received? - Best is “done is better than perfect”. Worst is “put that pressure zone mic at an angle from the ground.
147. What irrational fears do you have? - If a friend doesn’t text me back I sometimes worry that they’re dead. It’s annoying.
148. What makes a good life? - Doing whatever it is that makes you happy and leaving a good impression on the people in your life.
149. What's the last adventure you went on? - I went to McKinney and SAW MIKE KENEALLY
150. What is the most memorable gift you've received? - My dad gave me a Gibson SG. It’s pretty great.
