Share a song that feels like it has healing powers.

If I'm not mistaken this was the first Hatsune Miku song I got obsessed with. Nothing heals like the power of Hatsune Miku.

What song makes you think about the future?

There's worse things to look forward to than a cake.

Back when Bandcamp was doing it's best work they wrote a blog post about kawaii music that basically introduced me to so many great acts.

What's your favorite song to listen to while doing chores?

I just think this song is fun and why not listen to something fun while doing something tedious?

Share a song that sounds like your favorite childhood memory.

I don't see the Less Than Jake version from the first Good Burger movie, but this remix is legit really good too, so I don't mind picking this one in its place. I miss the golden age of weird TV. Obviously when Good Burger came out I didn't know who Less Than Jake was, so when I started getting in to ska with Less Than Jake in my early teenage years, imagine the delight and joy I experienced to find out that it was them! I love how this sketch comedy show I watched when I was very young went on to have a movie and that movie has a key connection to my musical tastes.

And before someone comes at me with "Melanie, what do you think of the line 'She's a dude' since you are a trans woman?," I want to say the context of dude's meaning is fluid and I can safely say that the term dude here is all inclusive. "We're ALL dudes, hey!" I've said "dude" my whole life and very rarely has the context ever been "person who identifies as a boy." Dude can be gender neutral. Dude can also be very gendered, no doubt. Context matters. How someone receives it matters, regardless of intent or context. If that line makes you uncomfortable: I fucking get it. You're not wrong. Everyone has their own views on it, and I only speak for me. My goal is to only call people what they are comfortable being called, full stop.

What's a song you'd want your best friend to hear for the first time?

Where were you when you first heard the ska spam song? My wife absolutely loves spam, and I don't know that I've forced her to partake of this delicious song.

Also when I first heard this song I didn't know who any "Jenner" was. Now I do, and I want to recognize that this song, because of time, deadnames a trans athlete. But I think it's OK because conservatives aren't people. I think conservatives can be trans, but not a trans person. And, you know, therefor shouldn't be allowed to use any public restroom. If we let non-people like conservatives use the restroom we'd have to let dogs use our restrooms and you know they'd go around licking everyone and everything. Disgusting. We don't need another Larry Craig situation on our hands. Keep conservatives out of public restrooms.

Share a song that captures the feeling of being homesick.

When this album came out last year this song fucking destroyed me. I couldn't get through it without crying.

What song makes you feel like you're part of something bigger?

It's wild to me that this song is older than I am. I would have guessed this was a 90s song, but it came out at the tail end of the 80s.

Civilization? Ha!
I call it as I see it
I call it bullshit
You know, I still cannot believe it
Our evolution now has gone the way of hate
A world evolved, resolved Into a stupid fate

Stop hate.

What's your favorite song about friendship?

Oh what's that sound? The brass horn? The chant of Football Head's name? Sure, it's a TV show theme song, recreated by Skatune Network to be more ska-y, but if you know your ska, covers of TV themes has always been a fun thing that ska bands love to do. (Primarily Less Than Jake, even way before their "TV/EP" EP.)

I think Hey Arnold is often overlooked. It's not really the same kind of whimsical absurdism that the 90's cartoons were known for. It's more grounded in reality, it's focused on city-life, and, yes, friendship. I did a rewatch a few years ago. The last half of the first episode is a real kick to the gender dysphoria teeth where Arnold's secret admirer Helga deals with being misgendered brutally for 10 minutes. This show has a lot of sincerity where many other cartoons would have been nihilistic for laughs. A lot of the show could be boiled down to: everyone is weird in their own weird way and you should have empathy for them. That's not unique to Hey Arnold, for sure, but damn does it still hold up pretty well decades later. It's truly something special.

What song do you associate with your favorite book or movie?

The Aquabats are such an interesting ska band and I'm happy they're still around today. If I recall correctly, this debut album features a lot of references to the movie Repo Man (1984) by Alex Cox starring Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton. It's the kind of movie that captures a lot of the absurdity of the American people, the punk scene, and sure, aliens.

There's this quote from Roger Ebert's review that is sticking out to me today, after having just watched Paris Texas that also came out the same year:

Repo Man comes out of left field, has no big stars, didn't cost much, takes chances, dares to be unconventional, is funny, and works. There is a lesson here.

— Roger Ebert, January 1, 1984

While I agree that this is typically the best formula for making a good movie, it's funny to hear that Harry Dean Stanton was not a big star. That might be true, but looking at his filmography I'd hardly say his resume wasn't pretty impressive as he was in Cool Hand Luke, The Godfather 2, and Farewell My Lovely. And that's just the movies I've seen that he was in prior to 1984. I also couldn't tell you that I remember him from any of those movies though, but it's been a minute since I've seen them too.

Ugh. Fuckin' death. Don't die ok?

What's a song that makes you want to learn an instrument?

I've practiced a lot of stringed instruments, but i think it would be cool to learn the software now. A few years ago I picked up Logic. Probably around the same time I got really in to 100 gecs. Probably. No coincidence there... or is there? I also have Hatsune Miku V4X and NT versions (which just got a big free update I need to check out). In 2019 I was making Hatsune Miku sings Streetlight Manifesto songs. Making Miku sound natural is a fucking talent! That I do not have! But it was fun. Then comes depression and all that fun stuff so… oh well.

So you'll never really know, know-know-know, know-know-know Anything about me, me-me-me, me-me-me No, you'll never really know, know-know-know, know-know-know Anything about me, me-me-me, me-me-me-me-me