Blast From the Past: Interview with Sugarcult

A few weeks ago I posted my first interview with Ace Enders featured on Jane Magazine's music section of their Web site when I interned there. This week's edition of "Blast From the Past" is another Jane feature.

Fellow Jane intern Monica Perry and I (check out her amazing blog here — cleverly titled Our Jane) got tickets to see Sugarcult in concert a few years back. I knew some of their radio hits but had no idea what the guys looked like to approach them for an interview (should have done my research!) so when we noticed a bunch of girls talking to a tall man by the backstage area we assumed it had to be one of the guys from the band. We walked over and asked a fan who it was and she told us it was Sugarcult guitarist Marko DeSantis. I was doing a write-up for the school paper of the show so I approached him, asking if they did interviews. He then took my notebook and pen right out of my hands and wrote down his email address adding, "Just don't go out giving this to everyone."

That was my very first impromptu venture of going up to a band and getting an interview and it was so invigorating! Little did I know a few years later I'd be doing this all the time and I must say, it never gets old. If I could interview a new band every day of the week I'd be content! Read my Jane feature below and for the full transcription of my interview with Marko click here.

Interview with Sugarcult's Marko DeSantis

Sugarcult's latest album "Lights Out" is all about "escapism and the guilty pleasures people indulge in that bring temporary happiness but are ultimately self destructive; casual sex, drugs, pop-culture," says lead guitarist Marko DeSantis. Intern Annie talks to him to find out what he actually means by all that.

On the track "Explode" you sing, "The radio is here to stay, turn it off and walk away." Have you been burned by commercial radio?
The music business is all so political, but at the same time we can be happy that some good music is getting a fair shake with bands like the White Stripes and the Killers. It's just sad when places like Philadelphia and New York City don't even have a rock station anymore.

If the radio is too commercialized for you, where do you find out about new bands?
I've never really listened to commercial radio; growing up it was all about going to shows, word of mouth, mix-tapes, magazines, digging through the racks in indie record shops. Today it's not much different, but iTunes, websites and file sharing just make it easier to get turned on to stuff. My favorite way to discover a band is to see them play live and unexpectedly be blown away.

So who are you into now?
Lately I've been listening to The Adored, TV on the Radio, The Strays, Maxeen, Against Me. I'm always diggin' old jams by Tom Petty, Smashing Pumpkins, The Clash, Superdrag, and The Cars.

What inspires your music and this album?
There's an old quote attributed to John Lennon, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." I think the same thing can be said about creating music; you set out to document your experiences and what's in your head and then it becomes something bigger than the sum of its parts.

—Annie
October 27, 2006
Annie | Music | Permalink | Comments (1)

I love the honesty! Read more of my interview with Marko here and be sure to check out Sugarcult on MySpace if you haven't yet.