Interviews

Throughout the history of popular music there has been galvanizing events that have defined a sound, style and generation. Whether it was Elvis shaking his hips The Beatles landing in America Woodstock The punk scene Michael Jackson Moon Walking NWA being embraced by white suburban teens The Nirvana Smells like Teen Spirit video Or the birth of Justin Bieber Every so often someone catches lightning in a bottle and turns the collective consciousness on its ear by kicking it in its asshole. Detroit's Daniel Dahmer aka The SWAG OVERLORD aka Merle SWAGGARD is that man for these times. We recently sat down with Daniel Dahmer to discuss his music, his career, his loves, and his life. SYFFAL: Who the Fuck are you and how did you get so fly? Daniel Dahmer: I am Daniel fucking Dahmer (Yes Jeffrey...

Shakey Graves created one of my favorite albums of the year. It's as calming as a massage of the prostate, if that calms you. It's as relaxing as a toot on the ol' poop chut, if that relaxes you. It's as easy on the ears as a tickle of the ol' pickle, if you're into pickle ticklin'. AND WHO ISN'T INTO PICKLE TICKLIN'? What's most amazing about my special interview friend Shake Graves, isn't his gold plated spitoon or his bar doors with wings male tramp stamp, it's that I was in love with his his music WEEKS before falling spurs over chaps for his gorgeous country croonin' and front porch rockin' chair email stylings. He's not only simply beautiful, the sangin's he spits from his spit hole is on par to be played at my funeral. I love this man. SYFFAL: I hate reading as much as I hate the...

Every since I was a child I have been attracted to the darkness. I don't know if it was something I was born with or something that was nurtured in me, but for as long as I can remember I was always drawn to it. It is what brought me into horror movies, heavy metal, thrash metal, black metal, and in a weird way hip hop. Sure the music was party music but in my suburban enclave in upstate New York the work of Biz Markie seemed just as subversive as the most satanic of metal I could find. As I grew older I let myself free of my dark fascinations, my actions were no longer ruled by them and my personality actually grew to become a personality and not just an extension of whatever music I was listening too. However, I am still weirdly obsessed with people that are. It is one of the reasons I...

I initially contacted the bassist from Snowmine, Jay Goodman, to see if they'd cover a theme song for our awesome Pop Cultures Collide feature. Rather than hash out the details via e-mail, me and Jay had a friendly FaceBook chat. Immediately, Jay impressed me with his ability to effortlessly incorporate poop puns into everyday conversation. Jay had me laughing so hard I almost had a shart attack. Poop puns are the shit! Long story short, we put the Pop Cultures Collide cover on hold and arranged ourselves an interview because I knew Snowmine wouldn't be the type of vaginas who'd shy away from our probing questions. Furthermore, I love their music because it gets my hairz raisin' in all the right places... if you know what I mean. Jay hooked me up with front man, question answerer, and...

Andrew Bothwell, better known as rapper Astronautalis is about to drop his fourth record entitled, This is Our Science. It will be his first release on Fake Four, Inc. Astro has toured relentlessly, battled at Scribble Jam, and seems to have finally found his voice. This is Our Science is going to blow you away, so don't come to me crying like a li'l ole beeyatch about how I didn't warn you. Fuck off, I did. Astronautalis was kind enough to take time away from performing at Bumbershoot, and other festivals, shows, and bar mitzvahs to play along, Syffal-style, and answer my absurd questions. And much like he does the rapping, he does it better than a lot of you duds. Brandon Backhaus: Dear Andy, may I call you Andy? First and foremost let me say that I have listened to your new record and...

If there's one thing I know, it's creepy. I come from a creepy Luxembourgian family who has, for years, invested in the dark arts and the procreation of lizards with purple scrotes, tongues and urine. My first forced tattoo was a picture of a wolf having its way with a roller derby queen while a group of high school freshmen chanted "HAM SANDWICH! HAM SANDWICH!". I think it's delightfully humorous, others have called it creepy. Which is mad gay yo. Fortunately, our next interview victim, RAPEWOLF(POW!), knows nothing of the word creepy. Creepy to RAPEWOLF (POW! POW!) is a sensible dinner followed by a mere walk around the neighborhood. RAPEWOLF (POW!) sees every moment of rest as an opportunity to perform sit ups, push ups, pull ups or call people pussies. It's rather endearing. He isn't...

I spent a lot of time in the New York City hip hop scene. Dating all the way back to 1995, when I performed at the All That and Words open mic nights at the Nuyorican Poets café. I have thrown shows, performed at more venues than I care to remember, many of which have long since vanished off the urban landscape. I used to rap in the parks, on the streets, in front of Fat Beats. I was involved with the music and the scene of a good 14 years. It is one of the main reasons I try to not write about rap. I am much more interested in pursuing other avenues and artists. Rap is sort of like old friends. I love seeing them when I see them, but I would much rather spend time with my kids and people that I share common interests with now. Every now and then, I am forced to come out of my self-...

Everyone has people that roll in the same circle yet they are on the fringes of each other's lives. The friends of friends of friends. You know that they are good people because of who they are down with. For me, Josh Kaufman of Rocketship Park is one of those people. I know Josh, but I don't know him, know him. You know what I mean? Josh works with a lot of people I am friends with or was friends with but have since lost contact with. I have always known him as a talented workhorse of a musician from the numerous times I have seen him live over the years. Talented and quiet is how I would describe him. I recently reconnected with Josh because I reconnected with some of those mutual friends. Whether it was Nathanial Martinez and his Thieving Irons project which features Josh prominently...

The reason I even started SYFFAL was to find bands like Mother Mother. I had been in such a rut musically that I had to kick start my listening habits to force myself to explore new things, very much the same way I use alcohol and Samantha Foxx posters to kick start relations. I needed a way to take that first step in a journey, a journey with no destination but tons of stops on the way. I got to Mother Mother via PS I Love You in 3 moves. PS I Love You recommended the Toronto-based group The Metz, which led me to their label-mates, The Meligrove band, who lead me to their publicist who happens to represent Mother Mother. The world is small and if you venture outside of your comfort zone you never know what kind of people you will run into. You might even run into a band that makes killer...

Mac Lethal. He is a confused and angry little man. Pissed off at his own skin for not reasons unknown (pssst, I know what they are, but I'm not telling. psssst, it rhymes with "carrots julienne"), Mister Mac doesn't even know that I consider him Canadian. While interviewing him I realized he has no fucking clue about his Canadian heritage, nor does he know much about his ancestral roots as they pertain to the freedom and sovereignty of the Inuit peoples. I understand his confusion because; I too, was once unaware of my African roots. Most people just look at me and see a white bald chubby guy with a hot wife and excellent calves, but actually, I'm a Build-A-Bear franchisee. You will respect my fluff gun, or I shall insert you with a little squeezable noisemaker that opera sings the entire...