> 1) First of all, how would you describe Sugarcult to someone that has never heard of you?
Ciao, we're Sugarcult, a rock band from Santa Barbara, California. We have one album out on Epitaph records called "Start Static" which comes with a free copy of our DVD called "Action". We like early Elvis Costello, Italian food, Nirvana, hard alcohol, the Ramones, girls, Cheap Trick, and movies about the Mafia. Just go to www.sugarcult.com and see for yourself!

> 2) Where did you find the inspiration for starting a band?
Saving rock n roll is a dirty job, but someone's got to do it!
When you are the type of person who loves to travel, stay up late every night, meet new people, have adventures, and be in an environment of fun and creativity, there's really no other option in life, but to form a band. We're too ugly to be porn stars.

> 3) How would you describe the lyrical content of "Start Static"?
Describing lyrics is a waste of time, what really matters is what meaning the listener gets out of our lyrics; how they relate to your life. Most of our lyrics are based on the life experiences and perspectives of our singer Tim Pagnotta.

> 4) How did you find Epitaph? Is it the label you wanted?
It was like a dream come true. We don't necessarily limit ourselves to the confines of punk rock, however we have grown up through punk and respect many of it's ideals; the same goes for Epitaph. They started as a "punk" label, and have grown to include many diverse artists (Tom Waits, the Locust, Ikara Colt, etc). Label owner Brett Gurewitz actually heard of our band through his teenage son, Max, who was a big fan of Sugarcult; Fat Mike from NOFX also put in a good word for us.

> 5) Which is the Sugarcult show that you will remember forever?
We've had so many shows, and we treat each one as a special occasion, so it's hard to tell. About 4 years ago, when we were just starting out we played on the home plate of a San Francisco Giants baseball game, as the pre-game entertainment. So there you have it, one of our first shows ever was in front of 10,000 people eating hot dogs and drinking $6 beers; it's been all down hill ever since!

> 6) Best albums in 2002 in your opinion?
I always forget. Let's see: The Used, Foo Fighters "One by One", White Stripes "White Blood Cells", Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots", the Distillers "Sing Sing Death House"; Wilco "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", Primal Scream "Evil Heat"; Spoon "Kill the Moonlight"; Susumi Yokota "the boy and the tree", The Flipsides "Clever One", Superdrag "Last Call for Vitriol", the Replacements "Let it Be" (reissue), Jets to Brazil "Perfecting Loneliness", Finch "What it is to Burn", Nerf Herder "American Cheese", Bad Astronaut "Houston We Have a Drinking Problem", the last one is my side-band with Joey Cape from Lagwagon (see www.honestdons.com for details).

> 7) What are you listening to now?
In the morning I listen to political commentary on talk radio, then to relax my nerves about the crazy fucking wars our president is getting us into I'll throw on some old soul (Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Solomon Burke, etc) or reggae music (King Tubby, the Gladiators, Augustus Pablo, etc). We're working on new Sugarcult songs right now so most of the day I'm listening to song ideas. I like hearing music that my friends make so I've been digging the new Lagwagon and The Ataris, as well as unknown demo stuff by my friend Tim Cullen (formerly of the band Summercamp), and new bands from our local scene; Brightlife, the Rosewood Fall, Death on Wednesday, Postfontaine, the Penfifteen Club, etc. That new White Stripes album is cool too. I have a cassette of the Clash's "Combat Rock" that I always play in my car, because it sounds good on my cheap stereo. In the evening it's usually downtempo trip hop like Massive Attack, Peace Orchestra, St Germain if I'm staying home; if I'm going out, then I turn up great old stuff like the Ramones, the Saints, the Buzzcocks, the New York Dolls, the Stooges, T-Rex, etc.

> 8) Besides music, do you have other interests or activities?
Travel, reading, writing, photography, cooking (my dad is Italian so I learned from the best!).

> 9) Tell me somenthing about your italian roots. (we are waiting for you to play in italy!)
My last name is DeSantis. My father is Roman, he still lives there. My mom (who is American) met him while she was teaching Modern Dance in Rome in the early '70s. We lived there until I was 3, then my mom left my dad and we moved to California. I've always had a fascination with Italian culture and history, probably as a way of getting to know that side of me, since I grew up apart from my dad. The best thing about the few years we lived there is that my mom learned how to cook Italian food. Every time I go to Europe on tour, I always jump over to Rome and visit. On the most recent trip, my girlfriend came out and we got engaged in front of the Fontana di Trevi on Valentine's Day. Our singer, Tim is half-Italian as well (Pagnotta is his last name).

And now some strange questions
10) Last movie seen?
I watched the DVD for "8 Mile" the Eminen movie, it was pretty good. I saw "Goodwill Hunting" again, and really liked it again. I haven't been to a movie for a while, I'd like to see "Gangs of New York" if it's not too late.

> 12) Favourite actor/actress?
Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Woody Allen, Nicholas Cage, Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, Frances MacDormand, Claire Forlani, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Traci Lords, Chasey Lane, Janine, Savannah.

> 13) Are you happy right now?
Happy, yes; but never complacent.

> 14) Tell something to italians (whatever you want)
We love good Chianti, Vin Santo, Grappa, Sambuca, Limoncello, etc. raid your parents liquor cabinets and come to our shows and bring us gifts! Our bass guitarist Airin, used to be a semi-professional soccer (football) player before joining Sugarcult, he played center forward. So bring him souvenirs of your favorite teams.

Ciao dall'Sugarcult,
Marko 72 (sugarcult guitarist)