A Power 5 Mascot

They get the crowd into a frenzy, all while having fun doing it! Various professional and collegiate sports mascots are iconic figures; it is an essential part of college sports and a university's history. What makes a mascot great is the audience, as it is about the franchises it symbolizes! 

Despite seeing them almost every time you watch a sporting event, what do we know about the people who are the sports mascots? Beneath the costumes, who are these "performers"? 

DIBS spoke with a graduate student whose name or mascot we cannot reveal due to the university rules but is the mascot to one of the Power 5 universities and has served as the school's mascot for the longest tenure!

This particular school’s university mascot attends roughly 100 to 150 events a year this would include sporting events such as football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and gymnastics—these make up over half of the appearances the mascot makes each year. Outside of sporting events, there are campus and community events as well as photoshoots with the school's social media team, graduations, and fundraisers.

*The Power Five Universities encompass 65 schools and are considered the elite in college sports in the United States and are part of the NCAA Division I, the nation's highest level of collegiate sports.

I am aware that you can not disclose what collegiate mascot you are but do people on campus know you are?

Sadly over five years, the word has gotten out to a few people. I was already not the best about keeping secrets, which was the most challenging part of becoming the mascot. However, it is not to the point where people see me going to class and know I am the mascot, which is honestly a part of the fun. One day you can go to class as just an average student, and then the next, you are on the football field in front of tens of thousands of fans. In my opinion, that's what makes it the best college job a person can have.

Why did you want to become a mascot?

Surprisingly to many people, I was not a mascot in high school. Most college mascots I have met were not high school mascots either. However, growing up around my university, I was always incredibly spirited and went to as many sporting events as I could. I knew I wanted to continue that school spirit by becoming a super-fan when I entered college. I sat in the front row for every football and basketball game my freshman year, wearing the craziest outfits I could reasonably put together. That got me noticed by the marketing department, which led me to have an opportunity to serve as one of the school's t-shirt throwers at the games. While there, I got close with the guys who served as the mascot and encouraged me to try out. From there, the rest is history!

Could you explain the process of trying out to be the mascot?

For my program, it was a three-day process! The first step was seeing how I looked in the mascot suit. Since the program already had a few returning members, the coach wanted to pick students who were a similar size as the current members. Unfortunately, having members of varying sizes is not ideal for mascot programs as it ruins the image of there being only one 'mascot' character.

On the second day, we learned the walk and the character of the mascot and an interview with the coach. Then, after cuts were made, the remaining participants had a final tryout which consisted of improv skills, dancing skills, and overall energy. Luckily for me, everyone who was trying out at that point made it, and I officially became my school's mascot. Funnily enough, my first ever event as the mascot was only a few hours later at an event on campus, so I got thrown into mascoting quite quickly.

Currently, the team has five members, but I have been on the team with as few as four and as many as seven.

What do you think it takes to be a collegiate mascot?

The most important trait one can have is learning to be someone completely different. My mascot's personality is over the top, energetic, and loves to be the center of attention, which are traits that I do not necessarily share. However, when I put on the suit and go out to perform at an event, I lose all of my personal qualities and become that character. To be a good mascot, you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone. For example, while you may not be the type of person to run onto a basketball court during a time out and jokingly imitate the referees, that's exactly what a mascot would do. This does take a while to fully learn; however, it took me over a year to be fully comfortable putting myself in those situations. Also, while dancing skills are not mandatory (I am an example), they are incredibly beneficial.

Were there mascot mannerisms that were already in place? Or did you help create the persona?

The mascot's character was already pretty defined when I entered the team so there weren't too many mannerisms I had the opportunity to create. However, I will say that I may have influenced a few poses the mascot now does while taking pictures with fans.

Did you have any sort of training prior? Is there such a thing as Mascot classes?

Prior to my tryouts, the only training I received was from the current members teaching me the walk and the mascot's character. Once I got accepted into the program, the university sent the team to a college mascot camp in Texas, where they taught us skills such as prop making and planning skits. From there, most of the training comes from a yearly camp we have that is put on by former mascots to refresh us before the start of the fall semester. While these camps and practices are helpful, the best way to learn for me is by doing as many appearances as possible and taking critiques from the other team member.

What are some areas in which mascoting has helped you?

Performing as the mascot has helped a lot with gaining confidence, which I have struggled with for years. It taught me time management skills, as I had to learn how to balance school, social life, work, and mascoting. It taught me how to be a good teammate and work well with others. Best of all, the connections and friendships I have made while being the mascot have been life-changing.

What are some mascot rules that one should be aware of or aren't aware of?

The biggest rule of being a mascot is not taking off your head. While self-explanatory, for many programs, that is an automatic termination from the position. The second biggest rule is to not talk in the suit. Fans, students, and even university workers know this and will do their best to try to make you say something, but it's pretty easy to say collected. Another big rule is keeping your identity a secret. The fun of the mascot is that it is treated as its person and not as a suit a college kid wears. To keep that fun alive, you have to be selective about who can know. I have heard of some programs that only allow immediate family and significant others to know. I heard of a professional mascot who kept their position a secret from their child.

What challenges do you face as a mascot?

Most of the challenges I face as the mascot come from how much time obligation the position is. Over the years, I have missed numerous parties and get-togethers with friends because I was scheduled to do an event as the mascot. Of course, this is similar to almost any job, but when you throw in school and other work obligations, it can be pretty difficult to find any free time some weeks.

What do you want to do as a career?

While fairly broad at the moment, I currently want to pursue a career in the sports industry, particularly in either event management, marketing, or entertainment. However, I haven't fully shut down the idea of becoming a professional mascot, and I hope to reach out to professional teams in the near future.

Who are some mascots that inspire you?

There are so many great mascots out there that it is hard to pick just a few! Obviously, I have to say Benny the Bull is definitely one of the best! He is honestly the Michael Jordan of mascots and often sets the standard for many other mascot programs. Blue from the Indianapolis Colts is great as well! His presence online is incredible, and he has honestly turned himself into a social media celebrity. Some of my other favorites include Orbit from the Houston Astros, Stuff from the Orlando Magic, and the Phillie Phanatic from the Philadelphia Phillies!

What is something that compares to being a mascot?

Very few things! Unless you become a widely known athlete, actor, or musician, there may be no other job you can have that receives as many cheers and picture requests as a school's mascot.

Have you ever done theater?

I did a tiny bit of acting in middle and high school and even did some extra work in a few filmed projects but nothing substantial. Honestly, I wouldn't even consider myself an actor or even good at acting outside of mascot performing. However, you do have to become pretty animated when being a mascot. Since you can't speak or use facial expressions while performing, you have to be significant with your motions to convey what you're feeling. One trick, I thought, is whatever motions you make that feel overtop appear like a normal action in the mascot suit. Due to this, we are always taught to be over the top in everything we do.

For example, when I was at mascot camp, we were taught to 'burst the bubble'. As silly as it may sound, they told us to imagine there is a bubble around us at all times, and every action you make must be big enough to burst the bubble. But, of course, I can never forget the famous quote, "If the fur ain't flying, you ain't trying!'

What are the craziest thing that you have done as a mascot or has happened to you?

Being the mascot, you are always going into crazy events. One of the coolest things I have ever done was being in a commercial in Los Angeles and having the opportunity to fly out and film there for a few days. I honestly felt like a celebrity the whole time I was there. The company behind it got me my own room in a nice hotel in Hollywood, they got me a personal driver to pick me up from the airport and bring me around the city to the filming locations, and I was given my dressing room. It was honestly one of the most surreal things I have ever done. Sadly, that was only temporary, and I had to return to college when it was finished. It was a complete roller coaster going from a pampered actor in a Los Angeles film studio to going to some business class as an unknown student within days.

Some other super cool things I have done include crowd surfing the student section during a football game, appearing at a huge ball in Washington D.C., and even meeting the crew from ESPN College Gameday. Of course, a ton of other crazy stuff has gone on, but I can't get into all of it here.

Interview by Cristina Byrne Sternberg

Rivers Langley - Alabama funny in LA

Comedian, actor, podcaster, professional wrestling commentator, AND tour guide Rivers Langley is from the great state of Alabama and is now living in the endlessly fascinating city of LA.

Langley took some whispered advice of a dying prospector promising that there was “gold in them thar hills" in California. So in 2012, he saddled up, rode out west to pursue a career in comedy and represent the great state of Alabama.

He hosts “The Goods from the Woods”, one of the longest-running independent comedy podcast in Los Angeles. He was the host of "Unnecessary Evil" at Westside Comedy Theater which was recently named by LA Weekly as one of the Top 10 stand-up shows in Los Angeles. Rivers has also appeared on the Cooking Channel's "Food: Fact or Fiction?", Comedy Central's "How To Be Broke", and Funny or Die's "Test Tube" as a member of the sketch group Hush Money.

He also had a mining company but folded in early 2013.

Introduce yourself.

I’m Rivers Langley. I’m a stand-up comedian, podcaster, professional wrestling commentator, and tour guide based out of Los Angeles, California. I was born and raised in Auburn, Alabama; a true townie. My folks are both retired school teachers. I went to Auburn High School and Auburn University where I studied English Literature and History. While at Auburn, I worked at the campus radio station, WEGL 91.1 FM, all four years I was there. By the time I graduated in the Fall of 2009, I was doing 10-12 hours of airtime per week up at WEGL. I was hosting the daily news show where we’d do comedy bits and cut it up with callers on the air. In addition to the news show and two long music shows on Sunday, I would also just hang out at the radio station during the day and if someone didn’t show up for their show, I’d jump on and fill time between classes. It was, by far, the best thing I did in college. That’s how I learned broadcasting and audio editing. I now host “The Goods from the Woods”, one of the longest-running independent comedy podcast in Los Angeles.

Why did you decide to move out to LA?

Like a lot of people, when I got done with college in 2009, there was the huge question of “Now what?” just kinda hanging over my head. I spent almost a full year in suspended animation at Auburn. I was a substitute teacher, I delivered pizzas, and I made a couple of short films with my friends. All of that was fine and good, and I think a lot of people can probably relate to this, when you find your thing it feels like you’ve got the holy spirit or something. I started doing stand-up in Auburn at the tail-end of 2010 and immediately fell in love with it. The problem was that there wasn’t a whole lot of stage time locally so I’d drive up to the open mics in Birmingham and Atlanta. At some point in mid-2011, I made the decision to try and pursue stand-up full-time and set my sights on the West Coast for the simple reason that it’s warm and there are a lot of opportunities. I worked as a delivery driver at Steak-Out in Auburn and saved up my tips for a year and a half. On July 16, 2012, I put my whole life in a Nissan hatchback and left Auburn. I had a brief stop-over in the San Francisco Bay Area (Had one REALLY crazy night where I had to follow Robin Williams at an open mic at a bar called “Dirty Trix Saloon”!) before moving to L.A. on Labor Day 2012.

Now it’s 9 years later and I’m still having a great time out here. I’m doing stand-up as much as I can, I host a podcast that a lot of folks seem to like, I do ringside commentary for a local professional wrestling promotion, and I’m a private tour guide. The tour guide gig is the best day job I’ve ever had. I get to go on vacation with people for a living! I drive folks around L.A. to all the touristy hot spots, take family pictures, talk about the history of my favorite city in the country, and crack jokes all day long. I honestly couldn’t ask for more!

*This is where I meet Rivers on a tour bus. Photos below.

How has growing up in Alabama influence your comedy? What are some things you learned growing up in AL that has helped you navigate through LA?

Alabama was an excellent place to start doing stand-up for the simple fact that the scene is almost all DIY (do it yourself). There are two clubs in the whole state and, obviously, they aren’t going to have stage time for all the locals so, if you want stage time, you have to learn how to produce shows yourself. With that comes to hazards of doing comedy in non-traditional spaces (bars, coffee shops, restaurants) that weren’t necessarily designed for that but it teaches you how to adjust on the fly and make stuff work. Some of my fondest memories of comedy are doing a bar show in Alabama that shouldn’t have worked but it did somehow.

What is your style of comedy?

This is always the hardest question to answer because it can be a bit limiting. I am absolutely not above doing a one-liner or a physical act-out. There’s not a whole lot I’m gonna steer away from on stage if I think it’ll get a laugh at the moment. That said, I suppose it’s best described as a storytelling style. I’ll have something happen to me that strikes me funny and then it’s my job to build a joke around it. Sometimes I’ll have stories that I wanna tell but I just haven’t found the angle on it so it just sort of sits in my brain as a funny thought or anecdote but not a joke. Then, one day, I find the joke, and then it’s ready to go but that process can sometimes take a while. I have things in my brain from 2017 or whatever that I still haven’t found the right angle on! 

What comedians inspire you?

George Carlin: It’s an obvious one but Class Clown was the first stand-up record I ever heard and, despite being recorded in 1972 almost all of it still holds up really well. My dad is from New York City and is an ex-Catholic school kid so George Carlin is the patron saint of the house that I grew up in.

Debra DiGiovanni: Debra is from Canada originally but is now local to Los Angeles and THANK GOD because that means I get to do shows with her sometimes and see her perform all the time! On stage, Debra is a legitimate force of nature. Her energy level is incredible and her jokes are amazing. She will hit you with one big joke and, while everyone is still laughing at that, she’ll hit you with three quick ones so you’re not even able to breathe while she’s on stage. Debra DiGiovanni is a joke machine gun and she must be seen to be believed. I don’t know if I can say that she “inspires” me because I just sit there watching her and think “Welp, I can’t do what she’s doing. She’s on fire; a whole ‘nother level” but she makes me want to work harder at what I’m doing.

Roy Wood Jr.: Roy’s from Birmingham and is probably Alabama’s most successful comedian and for good reason. I first met Roy in Los Angeles around 2014 when he was nice enough to perform on my show at Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica. Roy is one of the nicest, most down-to-earth dudes you’d ever want to meet. Now, I say this next thing not just because I know the guy but because it’s absolutely true: Roy Wood Jr. is legitimately one of the greatest stand-up comedians working today. If you see him doing small, 15-minute sets around L.A. he’s obviously a crusher but the real magic is watching Roy do long-form stuff. I got to see him do an hour at Auburn University in 2019 and it was one of the most incredible stand-up performances I’ve ever seen. I love the way he plays with silences and uses the audience’s discomfort with some of the things he’s saying to achieve a bigger laugh at the end when he hits the punchline like a pressure valve and releases the tension; a comedy Jedi master. I could get really metaphysical about it but I’d just encourage folks to watch or listen to his new special Imperfect Messenger and y’all will see what I mean.

Do you ever come back to Alabama?
I’m usually home at least twice a year (Three times if someone getting married or something) to see my folks and all my friends who still live in Auburn. I’m always home at Christmastime and then again in the Spring. I’ve been the emcee of the Old 280 Boogie Music Festival in Waverly, AL since my college radio days so I’m always home in late April for that event. While I’m home, I like to book as many stand-up gigs as I can. 

I am gonna be back in Huntsville on May 6th at “Awesome Comedy Hour” at Liquor Express and Craft Beers. Like I said, just follow me on Twitter and listen to “The Goods from the Woods” podcast. I’ll post and mention all my dates there.

Talk about the comedy scene in LA and the comedy scene in AL
I cannot stress how unbelievably huge L.A.’s comedy scene is. There are obviously the famous Hollywood clubs (The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, and The Improv) but there are also small independent comedy theaters as well as one-nighter comedy shows in every bar, coffee shop, restaurant, art gallery, bookstore, and anywhere else in town that you can fit a mic stand, a light, and a couple of chairs. Kick a loose brick in Los Angeles and a comedy show falls out. That can prove to be overwhelming for a lot of people and they just kinda stick to the neighborhoods and places they know. Personally, I like to switch it up and go everywhere. I do shows in venues all around L.A. and Los Angeles County. Honestly, the weirder and more non-traditional the venue, the better. I’m opening for a REALLY incredible comedian named Katrina Davis who’s doing a one-woman show at a gallery space on April 2nd. Just check my social media (Twitter and Instagram) @RiversLangley to see where I’m gonna be. I also do ringside commentary for a pro wrestling promotion called “Wrestling Pro Wrestling”. It’s an absolutely insane comedy show that features crazy characters and some really top-notch professional wrestling. That show is once a month. They’re on Twitter @WrestlingPW. Check that out to see when those shows are gonna be.

As for the Alabama comedy scene, understand that I’ve been out of the loop for 9 years so I’m not really qualified to speak on it aside from what I’ve observed when I’m home. That said, it’s been incredible to watch the rise of Huntsville as one of America’s best comedy cities. That can be credited to folks like Scott Eason who has run Epic Comedy Hour at Lowe Mill with my ol’ college radio pal Tim Kelly for over a decade now! Ask any comedian who’s done the show what they think and you’re going to get a glowing review. I always say “If you can’t kill it at Epic Comedy Hour, you should quit.” I just got a chance to do Stand-Up Live in Huntsville for the first time back in December and it was a great venue too! Birmingham is the place I claim as my original scene and there’s a lot of cool stuff happening there. One of my best friends in the world is Wes Van Horn. Wes is one of the funniest people I’ve ever been around and he’s been running some great shows out of Avondale Brewing Company. There’s also Alice Whatley and Lauren Lamphere who run a comedy collective in Birmingham called “Laugh Garden”. They do these really cool variety shows with music and comedians that everyone should go check out. So, even though I’m not super plugged into the scene in Alabama as I was before I left, from what I can tell it’s really vibrant and there are still young people doing it, so that’s kinda all you need.

Any tips for aspiring new stand-ups

If you’ve already started doing stand-up, keep going and say “Yes” to absolutely everything you’re comfortable with. The weirdest venues in towns you’ve never heard of can sometimes be the most fun. I did a comedy festival in the Yukon Territory up in Canada (basically the Arctic Circle) and those were some of the most fun shows I’ve ever done. Overall, the only piece of advice that I feel comfortable giving is this: Set your goals high and expectations low, and then just have fun. If you haven’t started doing stand-up yet but you’ve been thinking about it, do it. Do it now. Do not wait. I started doing stand-up when I was 24 years old. My only regret in life is that I didn’t start earlier.

Any topics that a stand-up comedian should avoid should be free to joke about anything?
You can joke about anything but make sure it’s funny. Part of that is making sure the audience finds you credible to speak on the subject. That’s why I always tell people to write about either what they know or what they’d actually like to know. Patton Oswalt once said that all jokes should be a discovery. Either it’s a set-up with a punchline the audience didn’t see coming or it’s the comedian approaching a subject from a place of ignorance and then figuring it out by the end. The joke isn’t done until you figure it out. I think that’s a great way to approach it. It’s like the thing I said about Roy earlier, use your words to build tension but make sure you’re building to SOMETHING. Don’t just say inflammatory stuff for the sake of doing it. In professional wrestling, that’s called “Cheap Heat”. Anyone can do it and if it’s done just for its own sake then why bother? 

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Interview by Cristina Byrne Sternberg

Artist Spotlight: 'Burden We Carry' by Elisabeth Stephan

Elisabeth Stephan is the artist behind “Burden We Carry” on Instagram. It’s a series of photographs in which each person writes on their back the burden in which they carry.

As Artist Elisabeth states, “We all have baggage. We get to the point where we get to see what the other‘s been carrying around all these years.”

DIBS: What inspired you to start “Burden We Carry“?

In March 2020, my grandfather gave me my deceased grandmother's diary in which poems and thoughts were written. The headline of an excerpt read "The imprisonment of being is tormenting". This sentence didn't let go of me. Through conversations with my grandfather, it turned out that this apparently outward strong, disciplined and independent woman had suffered a lot internally during her last years. She didn't want to be what she thought she had to be.

After that, I had a vision at night. I dreamed of a picture - a naked woman with this sentence on her back. I questioned it and I asked myself if my grandmother had this burden during her final years without noticing it. How many people are out there with similar feelings and how well do you actually know the people around you? Does everyone have a burden and you don't know anything about it?

DIBS: What is your intention with the burden we carry?

I want people to start talking not only about their strengths but also about their weaknesses. Personally, I think it's much more courageous to talk about that than the other way around. I want people to start dropping their masks. It gives people permission to be human and relate to one another. A sense of community. I am using this tool to remain that way.

DIBS: What’s the best part about being an artist?

You are free. You can make a difference.

You can hold up a mirror, question, reflect on and criticize society. Listening to your parents, friends or critics never changes anything. Art can only be alive if you take all your liberties. That includes disappointing expectations.

DIBS: How does your work comment on current social and political issues?

Many of our burdens, physical and mental illnesses are based on today's society and politics. They are a reflection of it.

The fast pace, the pressure to perform, the exemplified trend towards self-optimization, the expectations of others, as well as the loneliness of the individual, especially in cities, lead to obstacles and barriers for each individual. I think the western world is at its zenith.

DIBS: What’s the best way to lighten the load?

By focusing on the problem, opening up, and tackling it. One will find many people out there who are similar.

DIBS: Describe your idea of artistic success!

To change or shake up society, even if it's only a small part of it. In the end, every artist wants to make a difference.

DIBS: Lastly, what has been inspiring you lately?

A young woman who fearlessly faced and conquered her brain tumor without going blind or ending up in a wheelchair. I was very impressed by her zest for life and her new view of the world.

Hillside Solutions peels back the curtain on waste

“There’s a ton of misinformation about how our waste stream works, so much of my time is spent pulling back the curtain to reveal the truth about recycling, composting, and landfilling to inspire change,” says Brent Crampton the Director of Partnership at Hillside Solutions in Omaha, Nebraska.

Hillside Solutions was created in 2017 to connect schools, apartment communities, and businesses with the landfill, recycling, and compostable hauling services of Gretna Sanitation and the commercial composting process of Soil Dynamics. In essence, Hillside Solution's is the waste hauling company of the future — one focused on diverting materials from the landfill, providing people with sustainable alternatives, and enabling our community to live a zero waste lifestyle. 

Brent spends his days “activating people into the world of treating their waste as a resource while helping to usher in our forthcoming shift to Zero Waste culture.”

Company History Documentary Short

Why did you decide to be a part of Hillside Solutions?

When I woke up on January 1st, 2017, the world was a very different place. I had just ended a 17-year career as a full-time DJ and event promoter, in which 5 of those years I was also a nightclub owner.  But then Trump was president, and I felt the carefree era of Millennial nightlife was over, and it was now time to go in my corner and get some work done. So I took a year to figure out what that meant. And as I listened to the quiet voice inside me, I kept envisioning myself in the sustainability industry. 

Then it hit me on the head one Friday night when I was invited to participate in my one and only Shabbat dinner experience. At that dinner, while drinking wine and breaking bread as a gentile with a wonderful Jewish couple, I was handed the job I’m in now. 

How is Hillside Solutions different than any other waste management?

We’re different from most waste companies in that we own an industrial composting facility instead of a landfill. That one decision completely overhauls our priorities because we’re no longer incentivized to landfill waste. We’re incentivized to compost it. 

From what I’m told by industry insiders, it’s rare to have an organization like ours that hauls landfill, recycling, and composting material, plus composts our own material, plus produces and sells an aftermarket soil and mulch product. 

Why do you think people don't compost or recycle? 

I think a lot of people do recycle, I just don’t think many of them do it very well. And to overcome that hurdle, we need to teach it to the children as a standard curriculum, we need federal legislation that standardizes recycling practices nationwide, and require corporations to use a standard lexicon for labeling single-use items so people understand what type of material it is and where they should dispose of it. Composting isn’t normalized yet because people don’t understand it. Most people think sending food waste to the landfill is safe. But in fact, when we put an innocent head of lettuce in an anaerobic landfill environment, we’re weaponizing that flimsy ball of vegetable flesh to put off noxious, climate-warming methane gas for the next two decades. 

What are the benefits of composting and recycling?

People understand the need for recycling. The basic concept that humans make things and we should reuse those things is easy to grasp. 

But part of my job is to spread the idea that composting is just nature’s version of recycling. The two are equally important but most are sleeping at the wheel when it comes to understanding the urgency to compost. 

See, climate change has been sold to us as this really, incredibly difficult problem to solve. But if you watch movies like Kiss The Ground on Netflix, you can plainly see that the number one thing we need to do is not drive electric cars. It grows food without tilling or the use of chemicals. And the best (and more appropriate) substitute for chemicals is compost.

Here’s how it works: Our addiction to fossil fuels has taken all of that carbon from the ground and spewed it into the atmosphere. That’s caused climate change. 

Now we need to suck all of that carbon from the atmosphere back into the ground. And the way you do that is by the simple but revolutionary act of growing things. These plants draw that carbon back into the ground, then microbial life consumes the carbon, and then produces nutrients that feed the plant. Those nutrients make our food taste better, help more plants to grow, and continue to suck more carbon from the air. That’s what will fix climate change. It’s that simple (except for the fact that we need to get rid of farming subsidies while overhauling the industrial agricultural complex, but that’s another blog post). 

How to compost at home without spending a dime

Can you explain the process of recycling and composting. So once you have collected it, sorted it. What happens next? And what does the final stage look like? And what do you do with it? 
We mix food waste with oxygen, water, and a whole lot of yard trimmings and manure, which is like sending out a massive block party invite to microbial life to have an Ancient Rome-like “Eat til ya throw up” type feast/bender that lasts 1-2 months.

But instead of leaving smallpox and malaria behind like our imperialistic ancestor friends, the microbes merely leave behind nutrient-dense soil that reverses the effects of climate change. From there we mix the compost into soil blends and sell it to contractors, landscapers, farmers, and hobby gardeners. Whereas recyclables can wind up halfway around the world, the end result of composting always stays local. 

Here is something I noticed recently. I was out at a restaurant and due to COVID everything is in take-out containers and it's nice that people are using compostable take-out boxes but what I noticed is that I do not see people or the restaurant actually composting it.  So my question is, that if the take-out containers are compostable and its mix in with other trash does it compost? I am assuming that the compostable containers that are mixed in with other items do they break down quicker than the ones that aren't. But in order for any waste to be resourced again doesn't it all have to be separated properly? 

Back in 2018, plastic straws got beat up in the media narrative pretty badly. Which was great because it introduced the conversation to a wider audience that explored the effects of single-use plastics. Another great result was that many restaurants are now ditching styrofoam and converting to compostable packaging and service ware. 

But the bad news is that the story ends there for most restaurants. If they picked the book back up, they’d read that if compostable service ware goes to the landfill, it puts off methane gas for a few decades. If it goes to recycling centers, it slows them down and costs money to get it off the line. And if it winds up in your backyard compost pile, your pile isn’t vigorous enough to break it down. But if it comes to an industrial composting facility like ours, its eco-destiny will be fulfilled. 

The truth about paper straws relating to compostable serviceware

Also, in one instance this particular waste management says they do not service animal waste. I questioned if this means pet poop. I know there are a handful of definitions of what "Animal Waste" may mean. How does pet poop get sorted out in the trash? I guess I am curious about how this is managed.

 Need more context to properly answer. Feel free to call. 

What are the things that are considered TRASH? What wastes should we avoid?

Depends on where you live and what kind of infrastructure access you have, but gum (because most of it has plastic in it), single-use baby diapers, and those dumb Starbuck’s cups that have a plastic lining (which also mean you’re drinking microplastics) are some proper landfill items. 

What are some challenges you face with waste management? 

Out of all utilities, waste management is the lowest by a far margin, which inhibits innovation. A lot of communities are still paying for and getting the cable box TV service of trash. But cloud streaming any show you want at any time on any device is here, if we want it.

Is it important to manage the waste or reduce the waste?  

If we flip to the end of the “How We Survived Climate Change” book, the story doesn’t say, “And everyone recycled and composted everything.” It says, “and everyone reduced, reused, refused, and rethought our use of waste.” 

A look into our composting process

What are some of the most common things you see schools and businesses recycle?

Cardboard. It’s the easiest. 

From my understanding, there are different numbers of plastics to indicate what type of plastic it is based on how it is made. And the purpose of the number is to identify that because some plastics aren't recyclable. What are some plastics that are recyclable and what are some that aren't? Just so we know NOT to get them if we HAVE to!

Depends on where you live, but in most places, plastics #1, 2, 3, and 5 are easily recyclable. But since many products don’t label, it’s better to focus on hard, rigid plastics (like water bottles, milk jugs, and detergent containers), since those are usually the most easily recyclable. 

There are a couple of articles floating around that indicating that recycling is BS, What would you say to people who have lost faith in recycling?

Recycling is still relevant, but if you’re depending on it to fix the waste problem, you’re missing the point. It’s one cog in a big wheel of solutions we need. 

This addresses your question about why people think recycling is bogus, and then some

What is the biggest thing people get wrong about recycling?

Assuming all plastics are recyclable. 

What can people do who are passionate about the earth and the trash problem?

Hold corporations accountable and vote for pro-climate candidates. 

Why is Hillside Solutions mission important?

Solid waste is the gateway to sustainability.

Email Brent with any questions at brent@hillside.solutions and check out Hillside Solutions HERE

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Time-lapse of the compost farm

Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Anna Ohio

Over the course of my life, I've learned to recognize the feeling of experiencing something at the ground level. That notion that comes through as "I'm with this at the moments before takeoff" - the ground swelling before an eruption. That's the feeling I got the first time I heard Vita and the Woolf, notably the song "Brett" off her debut album Tunnels. There is a power and assurance in her voice that sounds undeniably as though she's in this world to make sense of things through song. Vita and the Woolf (actually Jennifer Pague, of Philadelphia and living currently in LA) are on the eve of releasing her second full-length album, Anna Ohio on August 21. - Larissa Nemeth

Read below for her incredibly open and honest answers to some of Dibs' questions and catch a glimpse inside the mind of a pretty badass chick.

What was your experience in Philadelphia - what did you take with you from that experience when you left?

I had an amazing experience in Philly. It meant a lot being surrounded by such a supportive music community. I honestly couldn't have kept the band going without the support of my friends, other local bands, local venues, and WXPN specifically.

What drives you to create music?

Music is an outlet for me when I'm feeling down. It helps me put those weird human emotions we all experience, into a body of work I can listen back to. When I'm feeling sad and lonely, there's no better feeling than to write a good sad ass song.

What is your earliest music memory?

My nanna had a piano in her house, so the first thing I would do once we got there was to hop on the piano and push down on the keys. She would sit with me and play songs while I accompanied her. My grandmother also played piano and I adored watching her play. She's an amazing piano player to this day.

What song of yours means the most to you?

That's a really good question. I think Confetti is really meaningful because I was really honest lyrically in the song. I try to stay away from being very literal but I decided to go against that rule.

What is your favorite song to perform live? 

Operator. I really like the steady groove of that song and it's just fun to play - probably because I don't have to sing really high belty vocal parts.

How has the current pandemic situation with COVID-19 impacted your process?

To be completely frank with you, I haven't written any new music. I'm pretty burnt out and unsure of where the music industry will go in the next 5 years. It's really scary especially when you've spent so many years working towards putting out a new record only to find out you can't tour while on record cycle.

What does “Anna Ohio” mean?

Anna Ohio is a fictional character who grew up in a mall in a small town in Ohio. She worked at Auntie Anne's Pretzels.

What makes you most excited about the new album?

Just having it out in the world. I've worked really hard on this piece of music and it represents a pretty intense time in my life. It's extremely personal and I tried to be very sincere in the writing.

You are a prolific music-video maker. Why are you drawn to this form of expression with your songs when many other artists have abandoned it?

I actually think music videos are becoming more and more important in the music industry. Especially with the continued rise of youtube. Visual media is very important. I like being able to potentially tell an alternative story to the song as well.

What was your experience coming up as a musician- any advice to those passionate about the craft and want to pursue it as a career?

You have to really be passionate about doing music. It's a fun ride, but there are a lot of ups and downs and there's a lot of competition. Also, the music industry is swiftly shifting due to COVID. I'm interested to see where technology goes as far as live streaming and being able to perform live.

What is your dream collaboration with a musician (living or otherwise)?

If I could write a song with Thom York, I would probably be a very content human afterwards.

What would you be if NOT a musician?

I've actually been considering becoming an Airbnb host. I think it would be fun to buy a property, decorate, brand, and meet people from all over. I have a lot of experience subletting my room/apartment because of touring, haha.

Check Vita and the Woolf ‘s Website

Social Accounts: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

INTERVIEW: Cartoonist, Writer, Musician Jeff Koterba

JEFF KOTERBA is a cartoonist, writer, musician, and creativity advocate. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and during the summer before his senior year of high school, he was struck by lightning. Instead of taking him to the hospital, his dad gave him a shot of Jack Daniels.

You have always known you wanted to be a cartoonist. What was it about cartoons that you were drawn to?

For me, growing up in a chaotic household filled with broken TVs and junk, and considering all the noise from those TVs and family arguments, a blank sheet of paper represented a clean start, an escape. I actually dreamed of living on the ceiling—talk about a space for a mural!—but alas, I couldn’t overcome gravity.

Do you have any formal training or are your self taught?

It’s a mix. All along I had teachers encouraging me. I studied art pretty seriously in high school and college, although I have yet to finish my degree. But I’m also self-taught. When I was starting I sought out mentors, always asking for advice. I also lost a lot of sleep staying up practicing, just trying to get better.

It also bugs me a bit when people on Instagram say they are “self-taught” artists. Even if you have a formal education, I would certainly hope they are also self-taught but by saying that in an Instagram profile seems to diminish the person’s own work.

Where does your inspiration come from?

Everywhere and anywhere. It can be from keeping up with the news, but also from overhearing a conversation at a coffee shop. Sometimes I work backwards, like I might be enjoying an apple and days later I’ll think, gosh, is there a way for me to work an apple into a cartoon?

Who are the cartoonists you look up to?

I had many cartooning heroes when starting out, people whose work I would study, trying to figure out how they did what they did and those were Jim Borgman, Pat Oliphant, and Jeff MacNelly. These days, hands down, it’s Steve Sack in Minneapolis who draws on an iPad and his stuff is gorgeous. Certainly, I gain a lot from other cartoonists, too, but to be honest, I really don’t go out of the way to look at other work anymore. It’s more of an incidental thing now like if I’m at a cartooning salon like the ones I attend each year in France.

I would love to think I’ve been inspired by cartoonists from outside the U.S. but really, I get more from just talking with other cartoonists and from reading great books and watching great films.

You are a cartoonist, a musician, and a writer. Why is it important to have other creative outlets? How do they affect each other?

For me, because I have Tourette Syndrome, it’s a way to keep myself occupied, lest I sit around and obsess and twitch (laughs). But really, I do all those things because I must. There is a lot of suffering that goes along with creating anything, from making oneself vulnerable and I know no other way. They are all connected like I might be stuck on a cartoon idea so I’ll pick up the guitar and play a funky jazz chord and voila! A cartoon idea will come to me.

How has technology changed your art?

Working in color was a big one. There was a time when I only appeared in black and white and in print. Color and being able to use technology to make my work look a bit crisper is a good thing but I still draw with pens and brushes and ink, I love the tactile experience.

You have accomplished so much in your life creatively. Do you feel like there is more to do? Do you worry you wouldn’t have enough time to do it all?

There will never be enough time and I feel as if I am just getting started. I’m really trying to focus more on book projects—I have a couple of novels in the works and a graphic memoir. Anything worth doing takes huge amounts of time so I try to choose wisely by getting less sleep and working more (laughs). I also don’t waste time by passing it playing board games or engaging in small talk, I have zero interest in that, UNLESS those activities deepen my relationships and friendships then it’s worthwhile.

 You had a close encounter with a UFO and your work has literally flown to space. Please talk about that.

The graphic memoir I’m working on has to do with the UFO—so not really ready to talk about that. Let’s just say that I’m a believer.

Regarding my space cartoons, I had one day received an email from the International Space Station. I’d drawn a cartoon about Nebraska-born astronaut, Clay Anderson, who at that moment, was flying 200 miles above me. Someone had managed to beam the cartoon to the space station and he emailed to thank me. We became friends and a few years later, when he returned to space, he asked me to come to his launch but only if I would draw a couple of cartoons he could take on board. How could I say no?

How, in your opinion, can cartoons contribute to great freedom?

Cartoons are probably the clearest and obvious example of what freedom of speech looks like. Even when I don’t agree with a particular cartoon, I respect the cartoonist’s right to their opinion. Good cartoons can be part of a big conversation. I might not change anyone’s mind but I just love being part of the conversation.

 What do you like and dislike about doing editorial cartoons?

After I have the idea and the idea is the hard part, I enjoy losing myself in the actual drawing. When I’m inking, though, I can listen to music or French language lessons (laughs).

What I hate most is the awful stuff people say on social media about me. Never gets easier.

 Despite your own political beliefs how important is to stay unbiased in your editorial cartoons?

Some cartoonists are so stuck to one extreme or the other their work becomes predictable and boring. I mean, I admire that they stick to their convictions, but for me, the truth is often not just over here or over there but it might be in the middle or a little here and there and a bit more from way over there. So I try to look at each issue with clarity and not with hatred that has permeated so much of the current political climate. But, of course, I can’t help but see the world through my own lens. Still, I strive to seek the Truth, capital-T.

Do you think editorial cartoons will look any different in the future than they do now?

Scientists are working around the clock to create a little pill that, when swallowed, puts you in the middle of a 3D cartoon.  I really have no idea. Aside from the occasional animated editorial cartoon, the form really hasn’t changed much since Ben Franklin drew one of the first political cartoons with his “join or die” segmented snake drawing.

Do you have any new exciting projects in the works?

Besides, the books mentioned earlier? An animated short film based on a short story The New Yorker loved years ago but didn’t publish. It’s another project that is so time-consuming and I’m only writing the thing and doing the music. Not the actual animation. The animator lives in Omaha but is from Scotland by way of Australia who worked on Shrek and Lord of the Rings.

You were born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska please talk about what is it about Omaha that made you stay. How supportive has the community been with your art?

Well, I did live in Austria for two years, all while working for the World-Herald which gave me an interesting perspective. Otherwise, Omaha has advantages for creatives.

When my band played several shows in New York several years ago, it took nearly all day just to drive the van into town, unload at the club even though there was no official place to unload, find a parking spot—in one case nearly a mile away - It was a nightmare. Love that city but if I lived there I could only do one thing, maybe two. In Omaha, I can get around pretty easily and find time to write, draw, play music, and also get to the gym.

What sorta of perspective did you gain while living in Austria? Was it a personal one? An artistic one? A global one? And how did that perspective change your outlook?

Having been born in Omaha, and having lived there my whole life, it was interesting to DRAW about Omaha from the Alps rather than drawing about my surroundings. I was drawing about that place back there, in the U.S. I can’t say for sure that it changed my work in any dramatic or obvious way, but it felt I had some distance, room to breathe and that allowed the perspective to comment on things with that distance. Whereas, when living in the U.S. and commenting on things happening in Europe, well, that also feels like events that are happening way over there, stuff that doesn’t impact me directly. 

Furthermore, living in Europe and commenting on European issues felt more immediate, more personal. Although I still had to be careful not to make my work too “inside.” Reminding myself that I was still drawing for a primarily-U.S. market. This, too: Seeing how people in Austria live—with their 4 1/2 day work weeks, and how coffee shops are places for conversation and reading, and not for sitting on your phone or laptop … and how sometimes in the U.S. we are too focused on making money or finding success or whatever. 

Since joining the Omaha World-Herald in 1989, he has been a finalist for Editorial Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society—2002—and has twice placed second in the National Headliner Awards—2000 and 2012. He has also won first place for editorial cartooning in the Great Plains Journalism Awards five times, most recently in 2017. His cartoons are distributed through Cagle Cartoons to 850 newspapers around the globe and have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, the Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, Dallas Morning News and USA Today. In 2010, two of Koterba’s cartoons flew aboard space shuttle Discovery. In 2017, he gave his second TEDx talk where he discusses Tourette’s Syndrome, vulnerability, and cartooning. His work has been included in multiple exhibits around the U.S. and in Europe, including alongside Picasso and Banksy, and in the Austrian embassy in Paris. His memoir, Inklings (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) traces Koterba’s path on his journey to become a cartoonist, and more so, to rediscover the love of his family that was there from the start. Inklings was named a Chicago Tribune Favorite Nonfiction book of 2009. Entertainment Weekly called Inklings “…a powerful and moving portrait of an artist.” In 2019 he was named a finalist for a novel in the Tucson Festival of Books, and a semi-finalist for a second novel. He is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Prairie Cats, a swing and jump-blues band he formed in 1998. The Prairie Cats have performed at the South by Southwest Music Festival, Windows on the World at the World Trade Center, and at the Derby Lounge in Hollywood. And in case there was any question, he now avoids thunderstorm whenever possible. 

Jeff’s website here and keep up with Jeff via Instagram here

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Check out The Prairie Cats website.

INTERVIEW: Translating Tradition- An Interview with Babushka's Owner, Ann.

" It's rare for me to be inspired by a business. But the moment I passed the stall in the Q-mart in Quakertown, PA called Babushka's, I was struck with a multitude of feelings. Hunger being one of them. This true gem of a shop is a weekly stop for me and I hope if you're in the area you stop by- they are open Fridays and Saturdays from 9am-9pm and Sundays 10-5. You can also activate your salivary glands by following them on Facebook (@whippedcreamontop)  and Instagram (@mybabushkas). Enjoy! " - Larissa Nemeth

DIBS: Brief Bio - Tell me about yourself and what you did leading up to Babushkas

Ann: I am a Jersey girl 100%.  Make all the fun you want of New Jersey, but growing up there was great.  I had a pretty normal childhood in the suburbs.  It was the 70’s and life was pretty simple.  We didn’t have a lot to worry about growing up.  The big excitement every year was the neighborhood block party and the 4-H fair.  

My first job was at a diner in Fairfield, NJ.  I was 14 years old.  Of course, I didn’t drive so I would ride with my dad from Bridgewater, NJ (where I grew up) to Fairfield (where my dad’s business was 45 minutes away) and he would drop me at the diner down the road.  It was owned by a very loud Greek couple.  The money was great for a kid and I really enjoyed it.  Through high school and into my early adult years I worked in a series of restaurants.  Everything from McDonald's to country club fine dining.  I was a bartender on and off for many years.

After I started having children I began working as a secretary (this was before you had to call them administrative assistants) and that eventually led to jobs in marketing which is pretty much where I stayed until the economy tanked and I found myself unemployed.

I am married to the only man on the planet who understands my kind of crazy.  Last year I came home one night and said – the ice cream shop at Qmart is available.  I want it and I want you to remodel it for me – He laughed for a minute because he thought I was joking.  When he realized I was serious he just sighed and said – My back hurts already.

DIBS: When did you open?

Ann: Babushka’s opened August 4, 2017

DIBS: What was the scariest part of opening?

Ann:  Honestly – money.  Whatever you think it is going to cost to open a business DOUBLE IT.  My husband and I work hard, but like many people, we have spent a lot of our lives living paycheck to paycheck.  Taking a financial risk this big, especially with a family to support was terrifying.  

DIBS: What is your favorite thing to make or bake?

Ann:  Chicken Soup.  Some of my earliest memories are of my Great Grandma Ann cooking (this is the Hungarian side of the family and her picture is the background on my Facebook page).   When we would visit her she was always in the kitchen, babushka on her head, making something delicious to eat.  Her soup was the best thing I ever tasted and it took me many years to recreate the flavor in my own soup.  You understand my GG Ann died when I was very young, maybe 6 or 7, so I never had the chance to learn from her, plus she spoke very little English and I only understood a little Hungarian.  Her recipes and methods didn’t get passed down.  My grandma Ann (my mother’s mother) died before I was born (my namesake) so I never got to meet her or learn from her either.  I know the years of practice and experimenting paid off because I have a customer who is a deeply rooted Hungarian and he had my soup a few months after I opened.  When I asked him if he liked it he gave me the best compliment I have ever received.  He said, “It tastes like my childhood”.  I know exactly how he feels.

DIBS: Any baking or cooking challenges you'd like to try that you haven't yet?

Ann:  Everything new is a challenge.  I’m always learning.  Last week I learned that if the frosting color doesn’t turn out the way you want it, adding more color isn’t going to help so you might as well just throw it all away and start again, which is what I had to do.  Nobody wants to eat gray icing.  I don’t have any ambition to bake extravagant desserts, but I would like to try to make some more authentic Hungarian desserts like dobosh torte and Rigo Jancsi.

DIBS: How does your family history play a role in your business?

Ann:  I talked about the soup earlier, but my very first memory of cooking was with my Great Grandma Sophie.  My parents were on a vacation and she had come to stay with me and my sister.  She wanted to make cheese blintzes.  She was a short woman, maybe 4’ 8” so she had me pulling out chairs from the kitchen table and climbing up onto the counters to fetch her the pots and pans and ingredients she couldn’t reach.  I remember watching her closely and how she taught me all of the little details that went into making her blintzes.  I was about 5 years old at the time.  

I grew up in the post war 1970’s when everyone was eating TV dinners and food from a can, but my dad always had a big garden where he grew vegetables for us to eat.  I learned what fresh food tasted like from my father’s efforts.  We would eat peas out of the pod and string beans off the vine and stuff ourselves with red raspberries right from the canes.  His garden is where I got my love of clean, fresh food.

DIBS: Do you have any dreams or visions for the future of Babushkas? 

Ann:  I would love to see Babushka’s open new stores in different locations.  As long as I can maintain the feel and quality.  That is pretty far down the road at this point.  Right now I am working on perfecting the menu and expanding it a little bit.  There are still a lot of things I want to do to make this shop the absolute best it can be.

DIBS: Do you feel the experience of owning and operating a business as a woman is different for You?

Ann:  Since I never ran a business as a man, I don’t know if it is different or not.  I can tell you that when customers ask about the owner, they usually ask for a ‘he’ and not a ‘she’.  People are still stuck in the mindset that restaurants are run by men.  I’m okay with that.  I like the idea that I am setting an example for the young women that work for me.  I am showing them that women can do anything thing they want, including running a business.

DIBS: What do you think is unique about operating out of the q-mart?

Ann:  The Qmart itself is a unique place, so of course, running a business there will automatically come with an extra helping of Quakertown charm.  I love it.  Every weekend the hallways are filled with an interesting cross-section of humanity and there is no way to pigeonhole who the ‘Qmart shopper’ is anymore.  The market has been open for 85 years and has had to change along with the needs of the people who shop there so it is constantly in transition.  One of the reasons I chose to open Babushka’s in the farmers market was that I saw the next generation of Qmart shoppers looking for something more like they would experience in Philly or New Hope without having to make the long drive.  They want familiar but fabulous and I hope that is what I am giving them.

DIBS: Any crazy stories or experiences you can share?

Ann:  I don’t know about crazy, but interesting things happen every weekend.  It’s just part of the deal that comes with being in the Qmart.

DIBS: What's the #1 reason you can give for someone to stop by and give Babushkas a try?

Ann: Quality.  We all need to eat to survive.  Shouldn’t eating be more than that?  If you are going to come into my store and hand over your hard earned money I want to be certain that you feel it was worth it.  I am always asking customers what they think, how I can improve, what would they like to see offered because the customer experience is what matters beyond all else.  If I work hard to provide the best quality in everything from the ice cream to cupcakes to soup and bagels, then add in staff that are as dedicated as I am to making every person who comes into Babushka’s feel valued and appreciated I have a winning combination.  It seems to be working so far.

Images Provided by Ann

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What's Spinning? The Great Unwashed - Clean Out of Our Minds

Chris, is the owner of Quattro Music Company located in scenic Thomas, West Virginia, he specializes in used and vintage instruments.  He fills DIBS in about his record of the month and if you are in the area make to check out his cool shop.

Name of record/artist:  The Great Unwashed - Clean Out of Our Minds

An About: “The Clean is an indie rock band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1978, and have been described as the most influential band to come from the Flying Nun label, whose repertoire included many major components of the "Dunedin Sound".[1][2] Led through a number of early rotating line-ups by brothers Hamish and David Kilgour, the band settled on their well-known and current line-up with bassist Robert Scott.[1] The band name comes from a character from the movie Free Ride called Mr. Clean.[3]”

What do you do when you’re a little independent rock band that suddenly writes a hit song?  The Clean managed to do just that.  Their single “Tally Ho” is still were guarded among audiophiles as being one of the better pop songs ever written. Probably the best song that ever came out of New Zealand for sure. But the pressures and the expectations placed upon the small band became too much and pretty quickly.

They took a break, Robert Scott started the amazing band The Bats but David and Hamish keep working.  Enter The Great Unwashed.

DIBS: What emotion does this record invoke for you?

CHRIS: Pure inspiration.  The idea that it takes good equipment, money, a perfect voice, flawless talent and a marketable face is what it takes to make music is such a farce.  This is the sound of thrift store guitars, grandma’s autoharp, cheesy keyboards, a cheap tape recorder, a little reverb, a great dose of boredom and the need to create. Those are the true elements of lasting music.  The lack of expecting a return on the investment one makes to write music.

DIBS: What is your favorite instrumentation part on this album? 

CHRIS: I mean... all of it.  I just think it’s a spare sounding record, all the pieces are important.  If I have to choose one thing it’s the low fidelity of it. There is so much constant texture (especially on vinyl) that its the instrument that isn’t being spoken of but it would be missed if it wasn’t there.

DIBS: Does this record bring back any memories for you?

CHRIS: Mostly it takes me to the place of when I first started writing music.  It’s not off-putting.  It doesn’t say to the listener “hey, you can’t do this, kid... leave the rock stardom up to the gods among humans”.  I feel like so much music is regarded as otherworldly, as stars aligning and making a once in a lifetime achievement.  Music should be more terrestrial than that.  We all can make music if we want to.

DIBS: What are the highlight tracks?  

CHRIS: I could name my favorite tracks, but I won’t.  We live in an age of the “Single” of rapid disinterest and instant gratification.  This a record to listen to from start to finish.  On a little bit of too early morning with coffee and a book, maybe slightly hungover, and let it be the way it was meant to be heard.

DIBS: Describe the album artwork

CHRIS: Ambition is not a word I would use to describe this records art.  It’s almost an afterthought.  Also a hands-on design.  The “outside the lines” flowers and the old school punk collage back cover just says “we did this” from back to front and start to finish.  A true independent record.

DIBS: RAPID WORD ASSOCIATION - What is the FIRST word that comes to your head when this album comes on?  

CHRIS: Boredom. This is the sound of people with time on their hands, maybe it’s a gen x thing.   The need to create while also destroying.  Knowing that this isn’t going to be played on the local rock station but there is a need to make in spite of a bleak outlook at the world. 

DIBS: Why should WE listen to this record?

CHRIS: Being from 1982/1983 as far the song writing and recording goes it’s important.  We have a preconceived notion of what the 1980s sort of felt and sounded like as far as music goes. I think we know, there’s always music in the scenery, the periphery. But I think there are some records that really doesn’t sound of their time. This is certainly one of them.  I certainly would think that Pavement probably wouldn’t be quite Pavement without this record, as well as a lot of other indie acts certainly knew and owe a great deal to The Brothers Kilgour.   It just displays a record collection that I don’t believe was being overly represented at this time. Now, I think we all agree how brilliant some of the middle era Kinks records were, Syd Barrett, The incredible string band, The Byrd’s county records and the post-punk scene as a whole... bands like Television Personalities, Swell Maps, Young Marble Giants and The Undertones specifically.  Just the fact that this is the New Zealand band.  If you aren’t aware, there has been an incredible underground music scene in NZ for many many years. I’m always fascinated by What small pockets of a community can create independently of the world as a whole. It’s definitely something that doesn’t happen as much anymore because we're all interconnected.  But there was a time region cities and entire countries developed unique fingerprints of sound based solely on the fact that they were isolated. It’s an important lesson to learn, live where you live.