Sputnik Music Forums - Emo Community Thread

1 Please state your name, and responsibility in Hot Cross.

-My name is Billy and I handle the vocals.

2 What would you say most of your lyrics are about?

-Personal experience of all types.. From the most mundane encounters to
stuff that really affected me in one way or another. Usually it's the
heavy stuff with the lighter stuff mixed in, if that makes sense.

3 How long does it usually take you to write lyrics to a song?

-There is no set time really. Sometimes I can finish something in a few
minutes...other things have taken me months to feel comfortable with. It
also depends on what the song is about..in some instances I feel like I
have to be really careful about word choices while with other subjects I
just spit it all out right away and go back and edit a little bit.

4 Do you have any peculiar writing habits?

---I need to be sitting on someone's open mouth to really get **** out.
Ha ha. See, that line took me .001 seconds to write. I will stop being a
douche now. No peculiar habits really.. However when I break out of a
dry spell I carry a book around everywhere and get as much down as I
can, because you never know when the well is gonna run dry again. I
guess that's not really peculiar though.

5 At what age did you begin writing poetry/lyrics?

-Eh this is funny actually. In second grade I had an insane teacher that
would literally force me to sit and write "poems" when the rest of the
class was doing reading lessons because I was far ahead of them. Or, at
least she thought so. Thanks Mrs. Manassee. I don't know if that counts
but I guess that sparked an interest in writing..at the very least I
learned that you could do it to avoid responsibility and look at me now!
At that time I thought drawing was a lot cooler though. Actually, I
think I still believe that.

6 What comes first, music or lyrics?

-They come separately. That sounds dirty. To continue the metaphor,
sometimes I think they'd like to come together, but it takes a LOT of
flexibility and work for that to happen... Um..seriously, they are
approached separately.. I normally have pages of stuff written while the
band is working on muisc..then we try to mix it all up. Sometimes I have
to adjust things, somerimes they do.

7 What motivates you to do what you do?

-Working with close friends..meeting people and traveling. I've been
really lucky to take advantage of the opportunities to do those things.

8 What bands have influenced you musically and/or lyrically?

-The bands that have had the most profound effect on me have been
Slowdive, Black Flag, Rites of Spring. Fugazi, Bad Brains, and most
recently Mars Volta. Lyrically, I still don't think anyone comes close
to Remi from Starkweather. Other than maybe Guy Piccioto's lyrics for
Rites of Spring. In punk or metal or what have you, I haven't read
anything as compelling and emotionally devastating as the stuff Remi
writes.

9 Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

- hopefully not living at home, but hopefully still doing the band. In
which case I will probably still be living at home and working multiple
$10/hour jobs trying to pay bills. Ideally I will be in a beach house in
La Jolla subject to the whims of a wealthy wife and a bassett hound.

10 How would you describe Hot Cross’s new material?

-hmm. Difficult to play and fun.

11 What effect has Josh’s leaving the band had on writing new
material?

-Josh added a lot of elements to the band, but I think we have done an
OK job of recovering. I think the newer stuff is slightly more
aggressive and slightly more technical, but I'm not sure if that has
more to do with him leaving or us growing and trying new things.

12 You came from a band (Saetia) that was praised for their ability
to be incredibly emotional and dramatic, and now are in a band (Hot
Cross) that is praised for its technical proficiency. How do you think
yours and other bands have managed to balance these two usually
disparate musical strategies?

-We just write honestly and what comes of it, comes of it. We don't try
to do this or that..we just write and arrange til we are happy. We are
also different people with different priorities so I think everything is
naturally going to seem different, but at the very base the bands have
and had similar fundamental goals: to be fun and allow us to write music
we were/are happy with.

13 How do you feel about all the post-Saetia hype?

-I am glad people are getting something out of it. I think other people
think about it 1000 times more than any of us do.

14 Why do you think many bands gain respect after they are done?

- Good question. Punk kids always seem to romanticize what they feel
they missed out on, regardless of quality. Nostalgia is where its at I
guess.

15 What inspired the phrase “f.uck not lest ye be f.ucked”?
>> It’s one of my favorite ever.

- The golden rule! Do unto others...etc.

16 What is your favorite word?

- Brent Eyestone

17 What is your favorite tour story?

- If I revealed that I would be arrested or drawn and quartered.