Quasi Interview: SXSW 2010

Portland trio Quasi, which was initially a long-time duo of Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes, recently released their eighth full-length album, American Gong. The acclaimed indie rock group, which shares roots with bands like Sleater-Kinney and Built to Spill, has been consistently releasing music since the early '90s. Weiss, drummer for the band, shares her thoughts on Quasi and playing SXSW.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Rebellious, anti-corporate, loud rock 'n' roll, peppered with pop harmonies, shredding guitar solos, hum-able bass lines and long drum fills.

How did your band form?

Sam and I moved to Portland from San Francisco and in 1989 and started playing music together in our basement. We cut our teeth in the infamous, early '90s local Portland clubs like The X-Ray Cafe, Satyricon and La Luna. We were in a three-piece band called Motorgoat for a year, and then the bass player left town and Quasi the two-piece was born.

What are your musical influences?

We were pretty much raised on '70s classic rock like Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, Zeppelin, Yes, The Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and a lot of great radio from that era. But our influences run a large gamut, including Zambian music, British Folk, British Punk, American Punk, Post Punk, '60s pop, the Stooges, Wire, Sebadoh, The Clash, early R.E.M, Dylan, Motown. Really, though, my biggest musical influence has been my bandmates, especially Sam, hands down.

How did you come up with your band name?

Sam thought of it. In the pre-"Google Search" era, it seemed like quite a good name to me.

What's your biggest vice?

Sugar.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Sunscreen, a black sharpie and note pad to make the set list, sunglasses, a hat, water, sensible shoes, concealer, hopefully a meal ticket, cell phone for rendezvousing with friends.

Who was your first celeb crush?

Scott Baio.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

I like the song "Toxic" by Britney Spears and also "Ain't No Other Man" by Christina Aguilera.

Beatles or Stones?

We play a game called "Who Would You Rather" where we chose between two (usually hot) actors or actresses. If you absolutely can't decide, you call "sandwich." Okay, answer to this has to be "sandwich."

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

A nervous breakdown.

What do you hope to gain from your trip to SXSW this year?

Oh geez, I don't know. Have some laughs, see some friends, blow some minds, eat Mexican food.

Are there any other artists or bands you hope to see play?

Ty Seagall, Thee Oh Sees, Wild Yaks, Liars.

How do you keep things interesting onstage?

The live performance should be a lot of fun, for us and for the audience. We enjoy playing a lot, and hopefully that shows. We keep it interesting by improvising every now and then, and by switching up the set list every day. We're ragged and imperfect, often turning mistakes into happy accidents.

What is one thing people should know about your band that they might not know?

We've got a killer bass player now named Joanna Bolme. She rules.


Emily Zemler is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.