Introduce yourself… (Where are you from, what band do you play in etc..)

CC Voltage: I’m from Abbotsford, then Vancouver, then Cologne, then Berlin, and now from Vancouver. I play the bass, although I’ve been waiting over 20 years to play guitar again.

The Silo: I’m from all over the place, and I currently live in Chicago. I play drums, sing and record stuff for Autogramm.

Jiffy Marx: I’m originally from Calgary but have now lived in Vancouver longer than I’ve lived anywhere else. I play synth in Autogramm, bass in Night Court and guitar in Jiffy Marker and on the few solo things I’ve released.

Lars Von Seattle: As the moniker suggests, I’m from Seattle and currently live there again after years of living all over the place. I play guitar in Autogramm.

Why do you play music?

CC Voltage: Hanging with pals mostly. It’s a weird cycle of writing, recording, releasing, touring with some kind of carrot at the end that you never reach.

The Silo: Pretty much all I know how to do! Plus I love it, and I love hanging with these guys…

Jiffy Marx: I ask myself that a lot as I’m often unsure. I would say mostly I can’t help it and since things seem to be going pretty well right now I guess I wanna see where it goes..

Lars Von Seattle: I think it’s fun being part of a collaborative effort that has both immediate and delayed gratification. Playing music with and for others scratches a creative itch that I think is unique from other forms of expression. It brings people together.

What was a major influence on you as an Artist/Band? What’s a favourite book or film?

CC Voltage: On the Road by Jack Kerouac was probably a bigger influence on me than I realized until just now. I’ve always had this love of nomadic travel which was probably inspired partly by that novel. Being in a band is obviously an extension of that.

The Silo: Space Is The Place, the Sun Ra film. I love how it illustrates Sun Ra’s world, illuminating his approach to music and the people around him while not falling into any sort of typical documentary format. The music and visual element is truly inspiring and really mind expanding for me.

Jiffy Marx: I’m not sure if there’s any books that we’ve all read, maybe Lonely Boy by Steve Jones? On The Road is probably a pretty good pick but I mostly read music biographies and pulp noir type stuff. And i like art books and graphic novels too, I’m a huge Gary Panter fan, Raymond Pettibon, Charles Burns and love everything by Dan Clowes.

Lars Von Seattle: It’s no literary masterwork, but as it relates to music, reading Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain as a teenager when it was released was kind of life changing. It was just exactly what I wanted to know about at that time, and the interviews were edited in a very clever, novel way. I feel like it popularized oral histories as a genre, as well.

Do you prefer the recording process or performing live? What would be a dream collaboration?

CC Voltage: I like the traveling part of being in a band best, so I guess the live part. Although there is a lot of sitting around waiting which I’m not very good at. As for a dream collaboration, I’ve already set the wheels in motion to do a kids album with Adrian Popovich (Tricky Woo / American Lips) and Mason Lowe (Bread & Butter). That’s been a backburner project for a couple of years. The dream part is actually getting it finished!

The Silo: I like both, in equal measure. I’m a studio person and spend lots of my time doing that for Autogramm and others, but I like it to be balanced with the looser structure of playing and travelling. I love that feeling of being on the road, waking up every morning and knowing exactly what you have to do. Get in the van, soundcheck, eat, play!

Jiffy Marx: I love writing songs and recording, especially the collaborative aspects of it but I also love traveling so Autogramm sort of is a dream collaboration for me! Could be cool to record with John Reis or Jeff Burke just to see what it sounds like since we will unfortunately never know what it would sound like to be produced by Tommy Erdelyi or Ric Ocasek. I mean if anyone has any strings they could pull I wouldn’t kick Jeff Lynne out of the studio for eating crackers!

Lars Von Seattle: I would say I like both, as well, as they’re such different approaches to presenting music to an audience. Playing live has more to do with immediacy and frisson, whereas recording is usually a much more lengthy and structured process.

Describe a favourite album.

CC Voltage: As with most people who’ve spent a lifetime surrounded by music, it’s hard to pick just one. I will say that after a few beers I tend to sit down with my headphones and put on Def Leppard's “High and Dry”. I rarely mention this, but perhaps this is an indication that this album is my favorite? It’s kind of a perfect rock album. I also love The Professionals “Didn’t See it Coming”.

The Silo: Prince “Dirty Mind”. Funk, fidelity, minimalism, emotion, talent!

Jiffy Marx: Too many to name but I was listening to To Hell With The Boys pretty much non stop while we were writing this record and did the same with Dust by The Rubs last year.

Lars Von Seattle: While reading Jeff’s copy of the Replacements’ biography recently, I was reminded of and revisited their album, Let It Be. I like how loose and live-feeling the recording is, paired with great songwriting and some unexpected-for-punk acoustic instruments, like mandolin and piano. I also think it’s funny they stole a Beatles LP title.

What's your favourite local haunt?

CC Voltage: I tend to stay home, but when I do leave the house I go to White Spot!

The Silo: The Empty Bottle. One of Chicago’s all-time greatest venues and hangouts.

Jiffy Marx: An old homey of ours just opened a place here called the Andrea Gail that I like to go to and there’s lots of good local venues right now like the Black Lab, Green Auto and the Red Gate, lol wait I’m noticing a pattern here..

Lars Von Seattle: Here in Seattle, the Clock-Out Lounge is a great venue, pizza joint, and bar. The owner and staff are friends, and I can walk there from my house.

What's your strangest experience while performing live?

CC Voltage: I played in a band called Dysnea Boys in Berlin. Every show was a strange experience. Our singer Jason Honea tended to know a lot of “out there” people throughout Europe. I remember some drunken guy who cornered us at a show in Belgium who had his ding-dong out and was pulling on it saying “how low can you go” in a very thick accent.

Jiffy Marx: Lots of crazy stuff has happened to me on tour but nothing too crazy while performing.. I once played a basement show where a cymbal stand fell over just perfectly so the cymbal severed the cord of the power bar that was powering the whole band.

Lars Von Seattle: I got electrocuted pretty bad on stage years ago. It was definitely a strange and terrifying experience.

What are some of your favourite aspects of being a musician where you live?

CC Voltage: Since moving back from Berlin I haven’t felt very connected to Vancouver, so I’m not the best person to ask. I really like the mountains and ocean though.

The Silo: Chicago is a very inspiring place to be a musician. Lots of people doing their thing here to a high level, and lots of venues to check it out. If you’re feeling low on creative juice, just go out and see some amazing band that will kick your ass. I think practically everyone is a better musician than me here, and that gets me motivated to get better at what I’m doing.

Jiffy Marx: Vancouver has a good scene right now i think. There’s lots of great bands and lots of good shows. Young people are going to shows and dancing in the pit which is always pretty awesome to see (as long as everyone is being respectful) and I’m also seeing more older people at shows as well.

Lars Von Seattle: Seattle continues to have a very supportive local music scene. Although many venues closed in the past few years, the ones that continue are excellent spaces for local up-and-coming musicians, and KEXP is essential in promoting local artists to a wider audience.

Has the current COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine influenced your creative process?

CC Voltage: Not as much as having a baby. I don’t have anywhere to write music now.

The Silo: I’m not actually sure. So much is just living in the moment you’re in, and my approach has changed constantly over the course of my life. For a while everything was remote due to circumstance and maybe some of those things have stuck, but that is not so much a hard limitation at the moment. I do studio work in person and remotely nearly half and half these days.

Jiffy Marx: Very much so. I have been going to more shows and writing more music. The pandemic has taught me to carpe more diems!

Lars Von Seattle: It made remote collaboration more common, I think.

If you weren’t playing music in (your city here) where would you be?

CC Voltage: I love Los Angeles. We have a lot of musical friends there, so making music would be easy. I’m a new dad though, so that’ll have to wait.

The Silo: I’ve always wanted to live in Mexico City. Maybe one day!

Jiffy Marx: I’ve lived in Canada, the U.S., and Asia so I’d like to say Europe or maybe Australia if I was playing music- Europe is great for touring and Australia seems to have an awesome music scene happening right now.

Lars Von Seattle: I really enjoy traveling but I also like where I live, so I’d probably still be here.

Any sage advice for young musicians?

CC Voltage: Follow the recipe when making stuffing, too much sage will ruin the batch!

The Silo: Make the music you want, don’t listen to industry types and don’t listen to old people like me!!

Jiffy Marx: Don’t give up on bad ideas!

Lars Von Seattle: I don’t think I can improve upon the sage advice offered here by the Silo– I concur!

Check out Autogramm’s latest release, the infectious Music That Humans Can Play below!

Pleased To Meet Me: Autogramm