1) For those who don't know Sugarcult, tell us about the group?
We started out at the end of the 20th century in a small town in southern California called Santa Barbara. We played lots of shows and constantly wrote new songs so we'd have an excuse to play more shows. We put out our recordings ourselves and eventually got to make a 'real' record, "Start Static". Since then all we've done is toured non-stop for over 2 years, stopping recently only to make another record. We've maintained our own website from the start of this band, so go check out www.sugarcult.com for all the stuff I left out or was too lazy to write about in this interview!

2) What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?
We like to watch the bands we're on tour with, so we get all attached to their songs for a while; later if you're feeling nostalgic about a particularly fun tour, you can pop on their record and trigger all kinds of good memories. We just toured with this great new band called Motion City Soundtrack, they're on Epitaph but have a sound all their own; kind of a mix of the Pixies, Jawbox, Weezer, Superchunk, and Ultimate Fakebook, which are all bands I like. It's very convenient when a new band comes along that blends elements of several good bands, that way it saves you time and the hassle of listening to all the individual bands seperately! We all listen to a wide range of music, in general we tend to stay away from stuff that uses similar ideas and textures as our own band. We get enough guitar, bass, drums and 3-minute songs every night on stage. I like weird film-score artsy electronica and instrumental music like Boards of Canada, Autechre, Godspeed You Black Emperor, DJ Shadow, Brian Eno, Tricky, etc and trashy rock like early Rolling Stones, 70's punk, Primal Scream, White Stripes, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, etc. We all love the last few Flaming Lips records, Wilco, Ryan Adams, Spoon, the Used, the Police, Cheap Trick, the Replacements, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, etc. The list goes on, to be totally honest we'll listen to whatever's around; maybe we all hit a record store and are passing around the new Radiohead, or some old Clash album we found used; or we hit some radio station and raided their promotional closet and are listening to all the newest bands; I recently stole a copy of the new single by Brand New from a station in London, they're a good band. The sound of life is nice too, sometimes it's just like, turn that fuckin music off, I want to hear life go by, or better yet, eavesdrop on that couple's argument!

3) How did it feel to hear your song played all over the airwaves?
It's surreal. We don't really listen to the radio much so we take it on good faith that they are actually playing us out there. Luckily, our label sends us reports and friends and family will call up and be like, "oh my god, I'm sitting in the worst traffic jam and my air conditioner is broken, but your song just came on and totally cheered me up!" We work really hard on our band so it's a great feeling to have people recognize that we've accomplished something special. There have been a few times where we were on a long drive flipping through stations and suddenly one of our songs comes on, you try and be cool and humble about it at first then it's like, "Dude that sounds fucking rad, turn it up! No way, we're on the radio along with Nirvana, and all those other bands!" It's all high fives and "fuck yeahs". That said, it doesn't come close to the thrill of playing live; we live for our shows.

4) What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?
I would have to credit our local music scene for showing us that playing music professionally was something you could actually pull off with a little luck and a lot of hard work. For a relatively small town Santa Barbara has yielded a lot of bands that have gone on to success. To name a few: Lagwagon, Nerf Herder, the Ataris, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Snot, Dishwalla, Mad Caddies, etc. Everyone who does music in Santa Barbara knows and supports eachother, so we've been lucky to learn a lot from all those bands.

5) What message would you like to say to your fans and people who want to be just like you?
Support your local scene. Competition and rivalry among local bands and music fanatics can destroy the foundations of a good scene. Reach out to other bands from other cities and trade shows with them. Get involved. It's good to establish relationships with everyone in your area who has anything to do with music; the record store clerks, the guys at the musical instrument shop, the venues, the other kids you see at all the shows. Other than that, just keep at it, try to develop your own sound rather than just mimicking the bands you like. It all starts at home, then you take it on the road. I always say: think globally, act locally. Most important of all: have fun!!!