The Triple Door welcomes back to the Mainstage Bob Schneider, whose charismatic voice casually reassures you that he won't let you down; he's the real thing. We tossed a few questions his way before his tour hit Seattle to learn more about the man who just might call you "honeypot". Here's what we found out:
The Triple Door: What was it like growing up in Munich? Bob Schneider: I love Munich. I don't really remember much about it from when I was growing up. I guess I went to the 1972 Olympics, but I don't remember it. I do remember some of going to the University of Maryland in Munich in the 80's. That was a blast. Probably the best two years ever. Lots of partying and not much schooling.
TD: What brought you to Texas? BS: I was going to school in El Paso and studying fine, playing in a rock band (keyboardist), and reading Spin Magazine and they kept talking about Austin in the magazine. I read about the Butthole Surfers and True Believers and it sounded like a great music scene, so I dropped out of school and moved there.
TD: Name the number 1 song listed on your iTunes' "25 Most Played" playlist? BS: 'Monstertruck' - it's a song I wrote with my six-year-old son when he was four. I guess I play this song a lot. Who knew?
TD: When you're not playing music, what are you doing? BS: I'm writing music or making art or taking care of my son or maybe going to see a movie. I keep pretty busy creating stuff. It mainly means I don't really have any kind of social life. It's pretty sad, really.
TD: What was the first song you ever played/sang? BS: I think the first song I learned was "als ich in den garden kam" which is a traditional German kids' song. I think I was three or four and I used to perform this song with my sister in front of groups of drunks at my house, sometimes late in the night.
TD: If you could play with any musician, living or dead, who would it be? BS: My favorite artist is Tom Waits, so that would be the guy.
TD: What was the best concert you ever attended? BS: Tom Waits live at The Paramount a few years ago at SXSW. I basically cried through every song and then went crazy between songs. The energy in the room was unbelievable.
TD: If you could perform in any city in the world, where would you? BS: Seattle
TD: What's you most embarrassing on stage experience? BS: I was playing a show at The Belly Up in San Diego and was insisting that the crowd clap their hands. There was a girl in the front row who refused to do it and I was giving her a hard time about it. Eventually I realized that she only had one arm.
For the month of June, the Musicquarium walls will be bombed with silk-screen gig posters and art prints by Powerslide Design Co., the brainchild of Seattle-based graphic designer Mike Klay. Join us for happy hour eats and drinks at the First Friday Art Opening w/ Mike Klay event, with live music from Smoke and Honey, on June 1st from 5-7pm.
Watch Mike in action:
Mike Klay's collection of silk screen-printed posters evoke the beauty of nature and the energy of music with sleek patterns, rough textures and simple, yet crisp, vector shapes. We sat down with the graphic artist himself to get an idea of the imagination behind such visual brilliance.
The Triple Door: What's the first art piece you can remember creating as a child? Mike Klay: Drawings of ninjas. Lots and lots of ninjas. On rooftops.
TD: If your art had a sound, what would it be? MK: A deep beat with a catchy hook. Upbeat and definitely head-nod-able.
TD: Do you have a favorite color? MK: Green and all shades of it.
TD: If you could have a drink with any visual artist, living or dead, who would it be? What would you ask him/her? MK: I've always been fascinated with how things work, I guess I would have to sip some wine with Leonardo Da Vinci. Not only being the greatest artist of all time, he had such an inventive imagination that getting to even speak with him would blow my mind.
TD: What is your favorite historical art movement? MK: The Renaissance for sure. The time of rebirth and new ideas would have been so cool to be a part of. Printing was also invented during the time which is most likely why it's my favorite. Mass producing the same image or text by hand just makes me feel that much closer to this era.
TD: Where do you find inspiration for most of you designs? MK: I find inspiration everywhere. Mostly outdoors though. I guess you could call me "outdoorsy" as cliche as that sounds, I love to get out and camp, snowboard, bike ride, etc. Most recently my son has provided quite a bit of inspiration for some art prints of construction trucks and trains.
TD: What are some of your other artistic outlets? MK: Every one in a while I'll pull out the paint brushes and have fun on canvas, but I'm no good at it. I just sculpted and assembled a mini alpine village in z scale for a model railroad. That was very time consuming and detail oriented but the final product turned out great.
TD: You've designed silk screen gig posters for tons of bands, including: M83, Death Cab for Cutie, Broken Bells, The Cars, Ratatat, Ghostland Observatory, to name a few. What band would you kill to design a poster for? MK: Quicksand, circa 1995 or The Prodigy.
TD: Who's work is hanging on your walls? MK: Duane Armstrong, Daniel Danger and Aaron Horkey
Powerslide Design Co. gig posters and hand pulled screen prints are available for purchase for the month of June in the Musicquarium. It's time to snatch em up!
The Triple Door is dipping their toes in a pool of laughs this summer with Death Defying Adventures in Comedy with Dana Gould, Cathy Sorbo, David Crowe, Lee Callahan and Jakael Tristram Trio on June 2nd for two shows!
Before cannonballing into aforementioned pool, The Triple Door got their hands on an interview between CultureMob Contributor, Tom Mohrman, and comedian Dana Gould. The interview features Gould's thoughts on visiting Seattle, his experience working on The Simpsons, and a possible collaboration with grunge godfather, Dave Grohl.
Tom Mohrman: Will the show at The Triple Door be like a cabaret? Dana Gould: It's not just people talking into a mic. Cathy is way too creative to be pigeonholed, and the people that she travels with. It's... the farther you get away from an actual theater, the more I enjoy theatrical experiences. Like to me the best version of a theatrical experience is really good haunted house around Halloween. I much more enjoy that. An unemployed hygienist in bad zombie makeup coming out of the closet, I get a much bigger thrill out of than being in Lincoln Center. What I love about Cathy, and why I work with her so much, is that she's no pigeonholed into one way of performing. She has the point of view that it can be music, it can be scenes, it can be character-her point of views is consistent, and she's always re-defining how she wants to present herself in terms of an audience. I wouldn't say it's a cabaret, but if you just come expecting people to gab into a mic, you're going to get a lot more than that. Except when I'm on. Then you're going to get exactly that.
Nashville based singer-songwriter, Matt Wertz, wholeheartedly sings his way to The Triple Door Mainstage while taking the time to reveal a few secrets to us about where he finds his musical inspiration, what hidden talents he possesses and who his musician crush is.
The Triple Door: If you could play with any musician, living or dead, who would it be? Matt Wertz: I think I'd want to be on stage with Michael Jackson during the BAD tour. I mean, could it get any better than that?
TD: What was the best concert you ever attended? MW: Easy. Bon Iver at the Ryman Auditorium on this last tour. I was elated the entire time. It's hard to describe, but I was on the edge of every emotion at once.
TD: If you could perform in any city in the world, where would you? MW: Hmmm.. well, because I haven't performed in Europe, it would be awesome to play London or Paris, but honestly, I want to play in the city where there is a room full of people who want to hear me play my songs. It doesn't matter how cool the city is if the crowd sucks!
TD: What's your most embarrassing on stage experience? MW: Hmm.. Surely it was some time when I blew a snot bubble or my voice cracked horribly or I put my foot in my mouth trying to be clever... but honestly, I'm pretty shameless, so I don't get embarrassed too easily!
TD: What inspires you to play music? MW: What inspires me to play music is knowing how much I have connected with other people's songs and realizing that folks are having that same kind of experience with my songs. It keeps me wanting to write from my heart and touch on the deeply personal that strangely seems to also be the most universal.
TD: What hidden talents do you have? MW: I've been known to arrange flowers here and there, I am a decent visual artist, and have a knack for beat boxing :)
TD: Who is your musician crush? MW: Oooh, wow. There are a few. I've always been intrigued by John Mayer, but recently I've been crushin' on Bon Iver. I love the creative freedom Justin Vernon exhibits and how he really seems to be doing music for the right reasons. It is really inspiring.
