I’ve always been interested in music a little different from the norm, so when I heard Quizboy’s new EP Not Like The Others You Know, I couldn’t help but share it! It’s a rock record with a difference – it won’t be for everyone, but those into their more experimental music should get a kick out of it. Find out more about the EP below!
By Jane Howkins
You released an EP titled Not Like The Others You Know. What can you tell us about the EP?
It’s a bit like the EP from 2020. It was more like a ‘manic rush’ of inspiration and I just wanted to get something out because I have so much in the works. The title track will remain out there as a single, I feel like artistically it is a standout from what I usually do and would warrant being a snapshot in time of the catalog as a whole. The other two songs, Brave a Storm and Down by the Water (released separately on streaming services); will be re-done and included in the album set to release in the next couple of months.
How has the reception to Not Like The Others You Know been so far, and where can the EP be purchased?
Bandcamp, Bandcamp, Bandcamp! If there’s anything I would feel compelled enough to get on a soapbox about, it’s that the music industry is exploitative. There’s a ton of money that gets taken in and handled at the top of the chain. People that collect first in line, spend a good amount of that money on lawyers, lobbying, etc. to keep as much of that money at the top and not hand it to the next person. The artist is at the end of that line.
As a result, there is whole other market in the industry that exists on squeezing artists for MORE money to play the game. Not to mention a sub-market in which scammers are rampant. Places like Bandcamp, the closer we can get to direct to consumer markets for artists, are the best way you can support independent music. A lot of folks don’t have that kind of thing at the forefront of their minds these days, ya know? I get it, it’s a crazy world. However, I would implore people to take the extra time to support the arts. Doesn’t matter what it is. A dollar. A Bandcamp Friday purchase. Whatever. That’s the idea, make supporting the arts some kind of relevance. It doesn’t have to be the most important thing in your pecking order, obviously. But drop a dollar in the tip jar. You don’t want to have a world without art.
Do you plan to release any singles in the near future?
Yes, ultimately an album is close to dropping in the near future. Will I release in a ‘waterfall’ type of way with the singles? Not sure yet. Depends on how much I want to invest in the Spotify obsession when we’re good to go. I might just want to drop the whole thing and keep moving. I also have a single coming out on a French record label for a compilation album that is a tribute to the band Failure. That comes out in July.
Do you plan to release a full-length album anytime soon?
Yup. Currently in vocal tracking and shopping mixing and mastering. It might be DIY, but I’m still shopping around to see if anything peaks my interest.
Your music has an alt rock/grunge sound. What/who influences you most as an artist? What have you been listening to recently?
Definitely. The long-term influence is pretty apparent. I love PNW grunge, punk rock music. All the typical things you’d expect, Nirvana, TAD, Alice in Chains. I also love skate punk (Pennywise, Bad Religion) and early 2000s post-hardcore emo, hardcore and nu-metal. Pierce the Veil, Silverstein, Thrice, etc.
Lately? So much stuff. Literally thousands of artists. A good healthy diet of independent music. On the more mainstream side of things, I’d call out Circa Waves, Beach Bunny, Trash Boat, the new Static X. On the indie side of things, there are so many I always feel bad that I’m leaving people out. To call out a few, Scoopski, Bottlecap Mountain, Star Crumbles, Billy Lowry, Fuzzruckus, Won’t Say Rabbit, Unlucky Mammals… they’ve all got brand new awesome stuff to dive into right now.
What do you think is the biggest challenge in the music business at the moment?
The same challenge that it always was. Greed. Artists missed a window of opportunity to organize when the industry got turned upside down with digital content. Those same people that were the problem before have managed to put their meat hooks in and control things again.
Do you have anything else exciting planned for this year?
Lots and lots! Outside of the Quizboy thing that has 3 releases planned for the year, I have a radio station and blog called AMS Radio (amsradio.com). We have weekly shows that are curated by different hosts in the independent music scene, including a publication here from Musosoup. Plus, independent music running at different times throughout the day. Doing the whole playlisting thing too, curating lists that cross six different platforms (Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, and YouTube). And I also put out a monthly Creepy Pasta podcast every month, featuring a short horror story by an independent author/writer.
Where are you based? How is the music scene faring at the moment?
Portland, Oregon. It is thriving and it always has, really. The big bands always come through and tend to like it, and the local scene has always seemed to have been at the forefront of DIY punk movements. Even when they make their way up north to Seattle and then become popular **laughs**.
My favorite local band right now is a band called Help (helpifuckingneedit is the tag) on Nadine Records.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
Man, I wish! I’d love to do something like that. The logistics behind putting together something like that while still “surviving” the rat race day to day, month to month, is something I really can’t pull off right now. Bandcamp Live though! Virtual performances are in the works.
Any last words for the fans?
As applicable, thank you. The support and the opportunity to connect with anyone at all through my artistic efforts, is literally the only thing that encourages me to keep going. So thank you.