I grew up in DC and my life began with punk rock. I was all about the “harDCore” scene, Dischord records, DIY, and all that. Fugazi was my favorite band; I’ve seen them over 100 times.

John is from Santa Barbara. He surfs. He grew up on SoCal punk rock and 60’s reggae. He has an unsettlingly encyclopedic knowledge of early Jamaican reggae—Desmond Decker, The Wailers, The Skatalites, Baba Brooks, all of it.

John and I met at art school in upstate NY. We spent years just fucking around on whatever instruments we could find. We played everything from jazz to country to metal to rockabilly. We just loved being around music.

In early 00’s we moved to Chinatown, NYC. We started going out to the underground dance clubs, and it changed our lives. Eighties night at Don Hill’s in the West Village- it revolved around that. There was this new sound coming out of NY- very synthetic music made in a very organic way. It was computer sounds, but made at home in the basement. It reminded me of the DIY ethos I grew up on, but with these tremendous new sounds. The Electroclash stuff, Peaches, The Rapture, the DFA, The Faint, !!!, Out Hud, etc.