We sat down with Whatever Brains this week to talk about Hopscotch. Here are three of their songs.
This interview transcript has been edited for brevity. Watch the interview video below.
WH: I’m Will Huntsberry for the Raleigh Public Record and as part of our Hopscotch interview series tonight we’re talking to Whatever Brains. Tell me a little bit about what you guys have going on for Hopscotch?
Matt: Are we playing Hopscotch?
Rich: Yeah.
Matt: We are?
Rich: Tell them about it.
Evan: We have a curated show that we picked out all the bands to play on Saturday night. The Spits, Frustrations, Joint Damage, Burglar $%*#er at Slim’s.
WH: What happened with you guys curating this show? Did the people at the Indy just come and ask you to pick out a lineup?
Will: Yeah. I think once you play three years in a row they give you a curated bill and no one’s done it yet except for us, and so that’s why we got it.
WH: How did you guys going about picking who you picked? Who are you excited about seeing on that lineup most?
Everybody: The Spits.
Rich: I mean all of them equally.
WH: Hopscotch — and the show at Slim’s is a perfect example — brings together bands from all over the place. Is this the kind of thing you ever thought would happen in Raleigh?
Evan: No not at all. I wouldn’t have expected for this to happen.
Will: Yeah. I left town in 2004 or 2005 and then came back and all of a sudden downtown was a thing. Then I was like, ‘Oh there’s this music festival.’ It sort of made sense, but it’s also not what I thought would happen.
WH: What’s going on with Whatever Brains right now? Tours, albums?
Will: We just finished a tour and we’re going to do another album.
Rich: Whenever you can. But we’ve got to learn some more songs. But it’s all written. The next LP is all written. Whenever we can all learn it and find time to record it then we will.
WH: Does it make it difficult to be serious about music but also have day jobs at the same time?
Will: I think having day jobs probably makes it easier because we don’t have to rely on the band to do anything other than what we’re doing already.
Rich: It’s not make it or break it. It’s just constantly break it.
Will: We’ve never made a commercial decision ever in our life as a band. And hopefully we won’t ever have to.
Whatever Brains’ curated show begins at 8:30. Whatever Brains plays 12:30 a.m.
