Hello and welcome back to our ongoing sexification of current (and past) Staff by way of deep-diving casual-reading interview razzle, Sputnik’s very own Meet the Spartans. Allow your jaw to drop as impossible questions are posed and the Staffers you never acknowledged surpass your wildest expectations.

Today’s willing participant hates writing reviews but has written 256 of them. Please welcome Sputnik Music’s three-time Emeritus-awarded writer, Xenophanes — in we go!

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Good day, Xenophanes. Who are you and what is your story?

Hello! I’m a 32 year old guy living in the Midwest. I’m a mid-level corporate hack by day and artist by night.

I started lurking around Sputnik around 2008. A girl I was interested in had a Dir En Grey tattoo (red flag emoji) so through research I found my way here.

Flash forward to now and I have a husband and hate Dir En Grey.

You share your username with an ancient Greek philosopher – what about the original Xenophanes inspired you so?

I was sitting in a classics class circa 2009 and whatever my original original name was wasn’t jiving with me any longer. I think I remember digging his views on religion which seems so cring-y and basic to me now but oh well.

I read your username as xe-no-thanes as in Skyrim and the OG as xe-no-phan-ees as in ancient Greek. Is this okay?

No, but…

Hello and welcome back to our ongoing sexification of current Staff by way of deep-diving casual-reading interview razzle, Sputnik’s very own Meet the Spartans. Allow your jaw to drop as impossible questions are posed and the Staffers you never acknowledged surpass your wildest expectations.

Today’s willing participant is our reformed meanie-head and connoisseur of podcasts, Trebor. Please give him a hero’s welcome; in we go!

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Good afternoon, Trebor. How is your day?

Every day I have to find the motivation to keep going and that usually takes about an hour or so, so I’ll let you know in an hour.

Literally everyone knows who you are, but you’re gonna have to reintroduce yourself to save me writing a bad mini-bio.

I’ve only been banned once, I’ve almost always had a Redlettermedia avatar, I used to be a meaniehead to a lot of newer users, and 90% of my friends no longer use the site.

Red Letter Media. Click the photo for videos.

What kind of role does music play in your life compared to when you first started on Sputnik?

When I first started posting I had a broken knee and foot and couldn’t walk or do much of anything for a month, so I mostly just listened to new albums I found on Sputnik all day and posted about them. Now I can walk and go on hikes so I don’t need…

Photo by Andy Ford: http://andyfordphotography.co.uk/

Author’s note: This interview was conducted in April; however, due to personal reasons, it fell by the wayside until now. Because of this, a few questions and answers may be slightly outdated.

Please enjoy the interview.

UK upstarts Pupil Slicer are one of the most promising acts in modern mathcore. They may have only released one studio album so far, but that record has already received a great deal of critical praise and a rapidly growing fanbase. In this interview, I sat down with vocalist/guitarist Katie Davies and bassist/backing vocalist Luke Fabian to discuss everything from the creation of their debut album Mirrors, to how they signed with Prosthetic Records, to their future touring and recording plans, and much more.

Regarding the reception of Mirrors: this thing has been blowing up! How’s it felt for you? I couldn’t imagine how overwhelming that would be.

Katie: Yeah, definitely! We never could have expected this. We’ve even had people saying “I don’t really like metal but I really like this album”!

Luke: To give you an example: literally about five minutes ago, I just looked on the Bandcamp page to see the sales of the second pressing of the album, of which we had 100 copies. And we had ten left… and we put those up yesterday! In Gojira numbers it’s not that much, but it’s still pretty mindblowing.

How did you come in…

Hello and welcome back to our ongoing sexification of current Staff by way of deep-diving casual-reading interview razzle, Sputnik’s very own Meet the Spartans. Allow your jaw to drop as impossible questions are posed and the Staffers you never acknowledged surpass your wildest expectations.

Today’s willing participant is our dusky-winged angel of dark feels and industrial bops, DrGonzo1937. Please give him a hero’s welcome; in we go!

Hi Sir Gonz! Who are you? 

A 34-year-old Brit that still loves The Backstreet Boys. 

Name three things that spark joy in you.

Cats, music, and reading books.

New music vs. old music: discuss. Which occupies more of your time, and why?

I’d say it’s a healthy 50% 50% split. I feel like new music doesn’t get the credit it deserves; there’s plenty of derivative stuff out there (metal is the worst for that these days), but there’s still a lot of really innovative music out there that needs support, so I’m constantly on the lookout for that new music and talent, and I try my best to support it in any way I can.

Conversely, there’s still a lot of old music out there that I haven’t listened to yet, things which could shape my tastes for the better, so I keep my eye out for it and look to recommendations from users on Sputnikmusic.

What review are you most and least proud of from within the last year?

I’m terribly self-deprecating about my own work, so it’s hard…

Hello and welcome to our brand new hyperexciting interview series examining the nectarine banter and uncontrollable good looks of the Sputnik Staff roster.

For too long, you have watched from a distance as these Apolline sex paladins slave away on review quotas for okay-ish albums that none of you remember within a week. No more! It’s time to show Sputnik Staff at their true potential!  Let your mind blow as impossible questions are posed and Staffers you were too intimidated to remember the existence of surpass your wildest expectations.

Our first entrant is a lazy place to start because he’s the One that all of you, tyrannous majority, have already acknowledged! Give it up for Staff writer and March Madness Champion, Dewinged!

Hi Dewi. Introduce yourself!

Hi, I’m Dewi.

Why are you always so nice about music?

Well, I’m nice about everything else too, haha! (laughs alone, in the middle of the office) Aaaahhh…. I don’t know, really, it’s in my character I guess. I’ve been exposed to music since a very early age, my father was a complete maniac, he had thousands of LPs at home. Then later I started playing drums at 13, and being in bands since then, recording music yourself, it all gives you a slightly different perspective about what you’re hearing. I enjoy a lot of different genres, and I feel blessed about it.

You seem to spend roughly equal time keeping up with new music and combing through older material – an altogether too…