Question One: What do you each find personally the most difficult part about being rock stars?

We tour incessantly, so being away from home/family/friends for so long can be difficult. They say the pay is for all the hours spent travelling and months away from home; the shows are free! I hate junk food and big-chain restaurants in general, all of which are almost unavoidable on tour. For the most part, I love everything about being a professional musician: writing, recording, touring, meeting fans, making new friends, seeing the world, working hard, etc.

Question Two: What do you find the most rewarding part about being a rock star?

The feeling of having built your own destiny. We started this band in a tiny room in Santa Barbara, CA and now, just a few years later, have records, shows, and fans all over the planet. Rock n roll is one of the last ways a kid from a small town can experience the American dream.

Question Three: Do you have any tips on becoming a rock star?

Check out my essay on this on the 'links' page on www.sugarcult.com, In short: Think globally, act locally. The goal should be to make good music, not to be rich and famous. Money and fame are results, not reasons. Music is worthwhile in and of itself. Have fun, but work hard too!

Question Four: How did you get your music heard and out there?

We played shows and recorded demos whenever possible and encouraged friends and fans to spread the word. We also had a website and kept an email list of fans. If your music is any good and you make yourselves available, the word tends to get out there on it's own.

Question Five: How do you think of your songs? Do they just come to you pretty easily, with just a little editing involved with them? Or do you have to put a little though in each song and maybe think about it for days?

It's always different. Some songs almost write themselves; you pick up a guitar while you're waiting for someone to come over, the next thing you know, you're calling your answering machine to and making an impromptu demo recording of a cool song idea. Othertimes, the whole band will fight about a song until we come up with an arrangement we all like. It's always nice to keep songs open for change until you get into the recording studio and actually lay them down; even then the songs evolve as you tour them night after night.

Question Six: What drove you to become a musician? When was the first time you began in music?

I've always been obsessed with rock n roll, when I was only 6 I discovered Kiss, and AC/DC, then came the Police, and Cheap Trick. I related to those wacky musicians more than any sports or anything else; had posters on my wall and everything. My mom would let me go to one concert a month; I would always get there early in the day and observe every detail (tour bus, sound check, musical equipment, etc). In highschool I got into 80's metal (Motley Crue, Metallica, Guns n Roses), punk rock (GBH, Sex Pistols, the Decendents, New York Dolls, Social Distortion), and even classic rock (Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, David Bowie, etc). Around that time I was forming various bands with friends from the neighborhood who were also just learning their instruments, we practiced a lot and slowly got better. We'd go to big concerts and tiny shows in people's drive-ways or backyards; eventually we realized we could play shows too. I played in several bands all through highschool and college and I've been doing it ever since; the rest is history!

Question Seven: When you started the band, Sugarcult, what were your hopes to get out of the band? Are they different now?

We started this band for 3 reasons to make music, to play it for people, and to have fun. It's a lot of hard work, but it's very satisfying, especially getting the respect of people we respect in other bands and all of our fans. We are lucky to make a living doing this, but we'd would do it anyway.

Question eight: What is your message to people who want to become rock stars?

Make sure it's because you love music first and foremost. All of the money, fame, and lavish lifestyle are just the shiny wrapper the media and the music business creates to sell the fantasy of rockstardom to the masses. That stuff is totally meaningless and hollow, without music made of honesty, hard work, heart and soul.
yours truly,
Marko 72 (sugarcult)