THE BLACK PEPPERCORNS
(ANSWERS PROVIDED BY IO FORTIER-KUTTNER AND ZAYNA LANGER)
What are the top three bands or artists you must see at the festival?
The Kingdom, The Gossip, The Jolenes.
What's the best memory you have of Musicfests past?
Io: Last year we signed people's shirts. Zayna: I liked all the clapping, and all the bands were really, really cool.
What would you be doing this weekend if you weren't playing MusicfestNW?
Zayna: Probably sitting at home being bored or going to a friend's house. Io: I would be taking the babysitting safety class.
Finish this sentence: "I love MusicfestNW because...."
Io: It's a lot of fun and you get to see a lot of bands play. Zayna: I don't know.
I'd rather _______ than miss playing MusicfestNW this year.
Zayna: Eat a cockroach. Io: Get grounded.
If you could change anything about MusicfestNW, what would it be?
Io: It would be more than three nights. It would be four nights. Zayna: I like it the way it is.
DEAREST, CROWN
(ANSWERS PROVIDED BY RYAN MARTIN & SEAN HARRASSER)
What are the top three bands or artists you must see at the festival?
The Decemberists, the Wrens and all of the alt-country acts at Jimmy Mak's on Saturday.
What's the best memory you have of Musicfests past?
Sean ran a 50k trail race the day of our MFNW performance in 2003. We brought a stool to the show just in case his legs gave out during our set. Sean's legs managed to hold up, but his guitar strap was unable to endure the performance. The electric guitar crashed down upon our fiddle--the guitar won that battle.
I'd rather _______ than miss playing MusicfestNW this year.
Be caught masturbating at the Republican National Convention.
If you could change anything about MusicfestNW, what would it be?
Everyone would benefit from the presence of lemonade stands. And more bands whose names have commas.
Dearest, Crown plays midnight Saturday at Jimmy Mak's.
AMOREE LOVELL
What are the top three bands or artists you must see at the festival?
Klezmocracy, thebrotheregg and Kaitlyn ni Donovan.
What's the best memory you have of Musicfests past?
The last time I played MusicfestNW, this REALLY SUPER-HANDSOME guy walked by the window during my set...he was stunning! I forgot what I was doing and had to stop in the middle of a song. Part of me would love to have him grace my life with his utter, perfect beauty again; the other part of me fears that upon meeting him, he will open his mouth and ruin it for me.
What would you be doing this weekend if you weren't playing MusicfestNW?
I would be trying to construct a birthday-cake replica of the Twin Towers for my friend's birthday, which is on Sept. 11. My last attempt was inedible--I didn't realize that Styrofoam airplanes could burn that quickly and intensely!
I'd rather ______ than miss playing MusicfestNW this year.
Re-elect Bush (though I might try to tolerate four more years of misery in exchange for a "President Hillary" in 2008).
Amoree Lovell plays 10 pm Friday at Slabtown.
PUMA FRENZY
(ANSWERS PROVIDED BY TONYA HARDING'S PUBLICIST--OR AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT THE EMAIL SAID)
What are the top three bands or artists you must see at the festival?
Audio Learning Center, The Gossip and DJ Gregarious.
I'd rather ______ than miss playing MusicfestNW this year.
Watch a Paris Hilton film while eating caramel out of a tube and letting the mess slop all over my belly, and my hands are tied behind my back...and there's a llama involved somehow...and the closed captioning is turned on loud...and I like ice cream.
If you could change anything about MusicfestNW, what would it be?
Give you guys the power to reunite bands and have Heatmiser and Swoon 23 play at La Luna.
Puma Frenzy plays 8 pm Saturday at Nocturnal.
800 OCTANE
(ANSWERS PROVIDED BY GUITARIST ERIC ACKERSON)
What are the top three bands or artists you must see at the festival?
White Hot Odyssey, New York Rifles and the Iron Maidens.
What's the best memory you have of Musicfests past?
Getting our rejection letters three years in a row and posting them on our website so the world can laugh at our inadequacies.
Finish this sentence: "I love MusicfestNW because..."
I can wave the all-access pass in the faces of my paying friends. It's really quite empowering to have such impressive credentials.
If you could change anything about MusicfestNW, what would it be?
I'd alter the schedules so that every band doesn't play on the hour. You can see more bands that way. Plus if someone sucks you can just say, "Oh, I gotta catch the 10:30 show," and leave without seeming rude.
800 Octane plays 9 pm Friday at the Paris Theatre.
For complete MusicfestNW listings, WW writers' picks and a rundown of the festival's showcases, check out WW's Guide to MusicfestNW, inserted in this issue.
Or, www.musicfestnw.com
WWeek 2015