8/25/2009 8:00 PM at Brutal Sound Effects Festival
2700 16th St, San Francisco, California 94103
Cost: $3
Walter Funk
Lenny Bove
They both play strange instruments, electronics and otherwise.
LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Kwisp: Passion of music, desire to spread our sonic weirdness, and make use of strange electronics and instruments. Also a strong dislike of much of today’s popular music, so instead of complaining, why not change things?
LB: How did you find each other??
K: We met playing in Cork Marcheschi’s band, Fifty Foot Hose. They're an experimental electronic rock band, who started over 30 years ago in San Francisco, way ahead of their time. They're an amazing local underground legend, a very early example of rock bands utilizing live electronics.
LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
K: So many great moments, but at recent show we were slated to come on at exactly midnight on Easter morning, at an event where everyone were dressed like rabbits. There were multiple stages, the act before our set was a DJ who was playing typical dance music. So we came on, did our slowed down twisted elf-cat Polynesian chorus song, freaked the hell out of them, and they ran away like crybabies, all dressed like rabbits, the exact second Easter began. The cool thing was, lots of other people came in after that, we played for two hours straight, and it was an awesome gig. There was just that wacky transition.
LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
K: We practice at our secret location. We drink Bhang Lassi. When not practicing music, Walter works on Hologlyphic movies, and Lenny works on paintings, sculptures, and Tesla Coils.
LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
K: It's a mixed bag, some things have always been hard, some things are better now, some were better in the past. Hard to define.
LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??
K: Lots of diverse bands to play with and great audiences who appreciate unique music.
LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
K: Our music is very esoteric and diverse. We are playing the International Ambient Industrial Music Festival in San Francisco early fall. A few new CDs on the way, one is a collaboration with Daevid Allen from the amazing band Gong.
LB: what’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
K: There are two CDs out now and also some comp tracks out there. The two CDs are called Teriyaki Vest Odyssey and Altered States of Alien Kwisp. The first one you can get on CD Baby and the Alien Kwisp CD you can get from the Gong website.
LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
K: We love so many types of music, rock, Gamelan, electronic weirdness, free jazz, and Tantric Appalachian Pygmy music.
LB: Favorite venue to Play??
K: No Favorites, so many great places.
LB: Have you played El Rincon before? What do you like it?
K: No, but Kwisp has played Noise Pancakes several times, which is kind of related to Brutal Sound Effects Festival. Walter also did a Brutal SFX Festival with his Hologlyphic Video Art.
LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
K: We are Pufferfish, and do our appropriate ritual, listening to Puff the Magic Dragon backwards.
LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
K: Multiple directions, there will be more stale plastic lip synch music out there as technology progress, but hopefully more live acts with actually perform their music again. So many performances these days are canned, we are trying to move away from all that canned crap, but still use cool technology to make live music.
LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
K: We have tracks that people can download. There is also stuff for sale, while we'd like to get support as artists as we can continue to create more music, we don't want to police the internet or invade people's privacy.
AQ at the Che Cafe 8/19/09 pictured l-r: Gabe Serbian, Scott AQ, Bramdon Relf, Rob Crow, Mike Watt, Eric AQ, Erin AQ Photo by Chuck Pegot
