Unsigned Artists

Fresh off tour with Horse, Sean K of LA based dance thrash Thriller was nice enough to chat for a few!

First off, how is everyone? Everyone as in, myself, Sean Kanouse are doing great!

You have a lot of genres going on, what do you like to classify it as? Powerslop. To be honest though, I don't really know a cool way to classify it. Everyone has clever genre names they've made up and they all suck. It's just Hardcore & Dance Pop. But, it's only sort of Hardcore and only sort of Dance Pop in a very Punk influenced kinda way... Follow? At least the new stuff is. Does that make any sense? Crystal clear for all your readers!

From June to September you guys went pretty much non stop cross country; What state was the most fun to play? Who danced the most? Greenville, NC was a blast. It was at a house and the kids there are the best. It was real rowdy. A lot of rural towns really got down. Casper, WY & Minot, ND really can compete for that dance title. Baltimore was a real fun time. In this tiny basement. There's plenty more that get down that we didn't hit on the tour. If I mentioned them, I'd be lying to myself but not mentioning them could be seriously unjust. Hmm... K! Santa Cruz, CA and Brawley, CA are great too!

After you play a show, what kind of impression do you want to leave? “Thriller was (fill in the blank)_” Thriller was EXQUISATORY tonight! And I will go to every show and buy every piece of merchandise and follow their entire catalog of music 'til the day I die.

Any juicy stories from tour? Juicy? Hmm... I have to think about that one. I will finish the rest of the interview.

How did you kill time on long drives and did it make you want to kill each other? On our first tour, ever, none of us brought computers or anything. We just talked to each other and hung. At this point, we have a new van and we all have laptops. We all love watching movies or sleeping. That's the only way to pass the time. The only thing that creates tension is the A/C. Some people, like myself, love it to be an arctic tundra in the van. Others don't. We can leave it at that.

What’s been different since signing with Guevara? That kids from all over the world can buy our cd now. We didn't have the know how to get our stuff in the online stores. Thanks Andre and Dan!

How do you feel about major labels? I don't have much of an opinion. Labels aren't what they used to be... You don't even need a record label now-a-days if you know what you're doing. That being said, you can have much more longevity and success on a smaller label and grow with that label rather than the expectations and pressures you would have on a larger label.

What do you guys want to be doing in 20 years? Hopefully we will still be DIY touring, be flooded with debts we will never be able to pay back and never have a record in stores!

What do you think Michael Jackson thinks of your band name? Who? I don't know him.

Any words of wisdom for new bands? Quit now while you still have time!

Tracy McLaughlin