1.What albums are you currently listening to and recommend?

I listen to all kinds of stuff, so I’ll break it down into moods for you…
Some of the sounds spinning in my world this Spring (2003)…

Mellow:
Lee Perry and the Upsetters “Scratch Attack”: basically 2 classic dub reggae albums on one CD, which saves you a total of 3 trips to your stereo if you were to have to flip over the records! Dub reggae is really cool; lots of bass grooves, spacey echo, and weird sounds; kind of like incense or candles you can hear instead of smell. A good introduction to dub is the “Dubwise & Otherwise” compilation series on the Blood & Fire label. On tour, if Airin and me are driving we rock those a lot!
Bright Eyes “Lifted…”: I really wanted to hate this guy because he gets so hyped up by the music press, and seems a bit young to be taken so seriously. I’m not a huge fan of his singing voice but he has interesting lyrics and does a good job making a musical collage of different influences (Bob Dylan, Weezer, Depeche Mode, Elliott Smith). The cheapest airfare to Nebraska money can buy!
La Musica Della Mafia “Il Canto Di Malavita”: I play this when I’m cooking pasta and drinking red wine. This is a collection of historic Italian Mafia ballads; it’s all sung in Italian so it sounds candle lit and romantic, even though all of the songs are about murder, incarceration and a life of crime. Death metal eat your heart out!
Jesse Malin “The Fine Art of Self Destruction”: I like it when punks show their mellow side, it’s a nice litmus test to see if there is a vital songwriting heart under all the loud fast chaos. Jesse sang for NYC’s D-Generation. I also love when New York is the setting for anything; movies, books, poems, records. Alt-country poster boy Ryan Adams produced this stripped down rootsy record in a week. Bruce Springsteen for bar flys with blue-black hair, and the girls who love them and leave them.

Other good mellow albums to have around like sonic pillows: John Coltrane “A Love Supreme”, anything by Tom Waits, Wilco “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”, Jets to Brazil “Four Cornered Night”, Augustus Pablo “El Rockers”, Drag the River “Closed”, anything by Boards of Canada, Massive Attack (except the new one), Tosca, and Peace Orchestra; if you like downtempo electronica stuff.

More Rockin:
Iggy Pop “Lust for Life”: This record came out in 1977 (the same year Tim and Airin were born) and has only gotten cooler with age. I found it used recently for only $6, so I’ve been playing it lately. Kids will recognize the title song from various commercials and the movie Trainspotting, Chris from the Foo Fighters has the phrase “Lust for Life” tattooed on his stomach. It’s like a mantra for rock n roll romantics everywhere. David Bowie produced and co-wrote this album, it’s a must have for folks who like current bands like the Strokes.
Primal Scream “Evil Heat”: I have most of this British bands stuff. They take the dangerous rock n roll spirit of the Rolling Stones and shake it up with dance music, punk energy, fuzz guitars and supermodels (Kate Moss duets on their version of Lee Hazelwood’s classic “Some Velvet Morning”).
Taking Back Sunday “Tell All Your Friends”: The production is dodgy; sounds like they recorded it cheaply, but good songwriting transcends sound quality. They sound young; I mean that both as a compliment and a criticism. The clever lyrics and catchy songs are what keep me coming back. Plus those guys in the Reunion Show are always going on and on about these guys and whole Long Island rock scene; I’m the same way about Santa Barbara so I can appreciate their efforts.
Jackson “self-titled EP”: Debut solo work from Foo Fighters guitarist and Santa Barbara native Chris Shiflett. Chris has been the guitarist in the Foo’s for several years and can be heard on their most recent album, the acclaimed “One by One”. This EP goes to show that Dave Grohl could afford to let Chris take the wheel on future records. Tight mid-tempo rock with lyrics that reveal a broken-heart-on-a-rolled-up-sleeve, the tell-tale tattoos underneath it, and a view of the sunrise of newfound hope. Chris and I grew up together playing in bands and doing crazy shit, he’s one of my biggest influences as a musician and a great friend. www.jackson-music.com
Communique: not sure the name of their new EP, I loaned it to Tim the other day and he loved it too. These guys have a very 80’s vibe, but not in a nerdy way, in a cool way. Like Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Joe Jackson, and The Cure. They’re on Lookout Records which has always been a few steps ahead on calling tomorrow’s cool sounds (Op-Ivy, Green Day, the Donnas, the Pattern, etc).

Other rockin jams of late: The White Stripes “Elephant”, Idlewild “the remote part”, the Streets “original pirate material”, Queens of the Stoneage “songs for the deaf”, The Sounds “living in America”, Spoon “kill the moonlight”, The Ataris “so long Astoria”

2. If you were a porn star, what would your name be and why?

Your middle name and the street you grew up on, isn’t that the porn-name formula? Hmm, wouldn’t work for me; mine would sound more like a novelist, besides my middle name is a secret. Okay, I’ll tell you, Danger is my middle name! Danger Whitman, because I grew up on Whitman Street.

3. If you weren't in Sugarcult, would you be a fan of the music?

I was a fan before I joined. I saw them play around town a few times as a trio and thought they had a lot of potential. Tim gave me a cassette of “Debbie” and an early version of “Crashing Down”, that I listened to a lot. I booked them to play one of my monthly Live In a Run Down Dive parties that I did for about a year or so in Santa Barbara. I paid them in cheap beer and chump change!!!

4. What do you think of the bands who change their sound when they go mainstream?

I have more of a problem with bands in general that never change their sound. Music isn’t supposed to stand still, it has to keep moving and evolving or else it becomes a parody of itself. The Clash changed, The Police changed, Weezer changed, Nirvana changed, etc. Change is healthy. Bands don’t “go” mainstream, it’s usually the other way around; the mainstream catches up to bands. When bands get more popular or get on bigger labels, if their sound changes it’s usually because they can finally afford good sounding gear and not rush through the recording process a couple days. If anything the sound you get is closer to what they intended. Recent examples (AFI, the Ataris, At the Drive In)

5. If you could press the stop button on anything what would it be?

Violence, world hunger, terminal illness, ignorance, racism, sexism, and mall punk.

6. What can you tell us about the new album so far?

So far my favorite new songs are: Memory, Destination Anywhere, Back to California; and Worst December. We are more confident this time around and hopefully tighter as a band from all the touring. We love Start Static so much that we don’t want to ruin it by trying to recreate it, instead we’re aiming to make another great record that will stand up on it’s own, as well as side by side with our old record.

7. If you could meet any person dead or alive who would it be and what would you want to talk about?

It would be interesting to hang out with a family member from a few hundred years ago, and compare notes on society, ideas, physical traits, etc. I also wouldn’t mind going on a date with Madonna! My buddy Dave from Nerf Herder partied all night recently with one of his idols, Vanilla Ice, he even drank too much and puked in Ice’s hotel room!

8. If you could take any members spot (of Sugarcult) for a week, whose would it be and why?

Airin, because I used to be a bass player before I joined this band on guitar. Every so often I get homesick for the bass, and want to grab it out of Airin’s hands and rock!

9. What’s your favorite candy?

I play in a band called Sugarcult, but don’t eat that much candy. Jolly Ranchers are good especially the apple and watermelon flavors. I’m also a sucker for all those gummy sour things, especially the neon colored ones. Our merch girl Michelle is a candy addict, she always brings that stuff around. In Europe I go crazy for all the fancy chocolates, they have these things called Kinder eggs which are filled with cool miniature toys you have to assemble.

10. Are you planning on having a headlining tour in the UK anytime soon?

We’ll be there in June headlining and eating fish & chips for 2 weeks.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years, and what will you be doing?

I hope to have some kids, and a house to put all my rock memorabilia in. My kid’s chores will be to alphabetize my record collection and dust off my Spice Girls and Kiss dolls. I’ll always play music, enjoy life, and learn about new things. I’d like to get into acting. Maybe by then we’ll all be doing interviews for Sugarcult Behind the Music!

12. Did you experience any culture shock while touring England?
Yes, in the form of different flavors of potato chips. There it’s totally common to snack on prawn-cocktail chips, ketchup chips, beef flavored chips, etc. I got really into the whole prawn-cocktail thing!

13. What bands would you like to tour with in the future?
It would be fun to do a big tour with a band like the Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, No Doubt, Green Day, etc just to see what it’s like at that level of production. Some day I’d like to try touring with bands with older audiences like the Rolling Stones, U2 or Oasis to see how their fans would react to us. There’s a great new band called Communique on Lookout Records that we’d like to take out on tour and introduce to our fans. I’d love to do an all-Santa Barbara tour with us, the Ataris, Nerf Herder, Lagwagon, Mad Caddies, Tim Cullen, etc.

14. What would you do with a million dollars?
I would take what I needed to live comfortably; put some of it away for a rainy day; share it with friends and family in need; have legendary parties; and piss the rest of it away at a record store!

15. If you were directing a movie about Sugarcult, who would you cast as yourself, Tim, Airin and Ben?

I would just recycle the cast of Josie and the Pussycats, and add ex-porn star Traci Lords to play me! Either that or I’d cast various muppets and cartoon characters. Besides they already made a movie about us years ago, it’s called “Spinal Tap” you should rent it.

16. When your music career is all said and done, what do you most want to be remembered for?

Being consisitently interesting, classy, and timeless. I’d settle for “the bands Marko was in were all good bands with good songs”

17. What's the best concert you've attended?

I’ve been to too many to decide. The best I ever snuck into was Radiohead on the OK Computer tour. Due to the California smoking laws the venue had to provide an open exit door for smokers to duck out and suck on cancer sticks; I went around back to this area, picked up a cigarette butt, lit it, put it out, smiled at the guard and walked right in! I also went to a Metallica show in Los Angeles without tickets and just stood by the will call window to see if anyone had extra tickets. I saw Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers waiting in line for his passes, and went up and asked him to hook me up if he had extras. He said he needed them all for his friends; 10 minutes later he comes back and finds me, and hands me 2 backstage passes and tickets for me and my friend. Nice guy, even for a famous rockstar. Don’t get any ideas and try and sneak into our shows now y’all!!

18. Who's your favorite Prince girl and your favorite member of Duran Duran?

Vanity she was a crack fiend and was fucking Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue. Or was it Appolonia? I mix them all up. Oh wait, those 2 girls that played together on one keyboard were always my favorite. Prince got a lot of action for a man who only stood 5’2”. As far as Duran Duran goes; I always thought the keyboardist with the bleached hair, Nick Rhodes was the coolest; kind of mysterious and Andy Warhol-like. I met John Taylor once and he was a dork, good bassist though.

19. Did you ever have any nicknames when you were younger from friends or family (preferably something embarassing)?

The Klaw. I bought a vintage bowling shirt at a thrift store years ago and it had “the Klaw” embroidered on it, so when I wore it my friends jokingly called me the Klaw. A few of them still do. Fuckers! The moral of the story is, careful what you wear in irony kids!