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 rare habit amongst Staff writers. When you reflect on everything you’ve heard this year, is there a past or present bias on the records that made the biggest impressions on you? If so, why?
I keep a pretty complicated system in place that I came up with last year in order to fill the blanks I had in past years’, or even past decades’ releases while, at the same time, being able to keep up with new releases, reviewing etc. It’s just crazy stuff, really, but it’s also been quite fun so far, and it also gave me a pretty wide perspective of where a lot of the “new” stuff comes from. There’s a bias I think, I respect long time running artists that manage to stay relevant even when the music industry has changed so much around them since the pre-internet days. Iron Maiden are a good example. I don’t share the “old is better” or “new is better” mentality though. There are classics in their own right as well as new bands doing really interesting stuff nowadays that no one has made before.
How much time do you tend to find is enough for an album?
One listen is usually enough for me to know if I want to listen to it again or not. Truth is, some albums have revealed themselves after a few listens, but I don’t always have the time to do so, unfortunately. I usually bite more than I can chew, that’s for sure.
You were ascendinominated to Staff in the same round as MiloRuggles, Nocte and TheNotrap. Could you give us a quick compare/contrast of your respective character progressions since your promotions?
Milo is one the best writers of this site, period. Brother Noct and Fer a.k.a. TheNoTrap are two of the most prolific writers on Sput and it’s thanks to them that metal has had such good coverage this year. In addition, Noct is not only half of the weekly releases team with me, but his output and its overall quality is amazing considering everything that is going on in his private life. The man’s a legend in my book (and also the one that kicked my butt back into reviewing during a time I had totally lost my mojo). TheNotrap has been basically managing the news section almost by himself too on top of his also crazy review output. Actually, I honestly don’t know why they made me staff (lol). As far as progression goes, I don’t think any of us have changed much since our user/contributor days, it’s all and the same: review, shitpost, rinse and repeat. If anything we are more active on the site than ever, trying to get as much music covered as possible.
You won Sput March Madness as a Contrib in [insert year]. Tell us about how the balance between upholding law & responsibility, and posterboying your gorgeous self as the people’s champ has shifted between your Contrib days and your Staff days.
2019, I think it was. Another mystery, Wolfe (Relinquished) should have won that year. Got the big avy though and it’s always nice to know that, well, that at least you’re not widely hated. Hosting the event the next year was quite a ride too, the biggest MM ever made! (a tradition Trifolium continued with honour). It also won me an entry on Biggles’ sputwiki. That’s where I knew I had made it far in life.
Who’s your favourite Emeritus and why?
I miss Crysis (Kyle Ward), had a very short exchange with him in one thread and he showed up during the March Madness I hosted after being gone (or in the shadows) for quite some time. Every time I visit old metal albums and their respective threads there’s either a review of his or he roasting someone’s review (lol). I also wish Xenophanes would be back to reviewing more regularly, always liked his short format, one paragraph write-ups. and the music he covered.
Name one genre you wish you enjoyed more and one that you potentially enjoy too much.
I’ll give you two. Electronic and Hip Hop. I have tried to get into those two genres as part of my combing of old releases, but they are hard to get into for me. And the reason why is because I still enjoy a bit too much old hair metal.
What are your favourite and least favourite reviews [that you’ve written lol] from this year?
My favourite is probably Emma Ruth Rundle’s because it did hurt a little to write it and I connected with the album on a level I didn’t expect. My least favourite… probably Nicarus’ since I got called out by her on facebook saying I had my facts wrong so had to edit and it was just an ugly mess. I honestly wanted to give her some exposure on this site but it all backfired somehow. Still dig the album though.
Ah yeah, I remember that Nicarus scrape – undoubtedly a rough one, but she did kinda shit the bed on you. No grief.
Anyway, on a cheerier note: three word takes on each of the following:
Infant Annihilator
Unnecessarily edgy name
Silk Sonic
Had to google
Seiko Matsuda
Johnny stalks her
lol, wrong Seiko – went for your generation xo
Taylor Swift
Respectfully matured artist
Turnstile
Makes you think
Turnover
Made one album
What’s the thing you most wish you could change about Sputnik?
Increments for everyone <3
Thank you Dewi for getting this glorious franchise off to such a delicious start!
Staff Wars will return soon, with a new participant and an even fresher set of questions!
Place your bets on who will be next, and if you have any specific questions for certain Staffers, please state them! We can’t guarantee that everything, or even anything, will be directly addressed…
…but on this website, dreams do come true sometimes!
Peace out.
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Could do like a never ending megainterview with almost everyone ever as a revolving door or something
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I will personally write up interview questions for you on miscellaneous banter that you may or may not have answers to-question 1-what is your opinion on the Rhodesian wars?
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Thanks for the shoutout, I'm all flustered
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Made one album"
lmaoo, i wish :[
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Increments for everyone
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^ was going to say that was a populist pick if ever I had seen one, Dewi for president!
I am in awe of all the work you guys do, remarkable really because presumably you have real life things going on as well!
Cheers! (this was a slightly shorter, less gushy version... but Sput gonna Sput).
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life goes on.
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That's all I have.
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love you too!
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