What’s on your holiday wishlist?
John Hoeffleur of The Beauty Shop: An electromagnetic pulse weapon.
Ryan Groff of elsinore: To play a street fest this summer with Headlights and a special ventriloquist set by Todd Hunter opening the show with Carlye Wisel on his knee. What a dream it is!
Larry Gates of Curb Service: Piles of cash. And maybe a nice sweater.
Brett Sanderson of Headlights: My boss always gives me a Pepperidge Farm beef stick/cheese and cracker thingy with the strawberry candies. It’s been five years. I love that. He still wraps it in Christmas paper.
John Owen of Shipwreck: A matching set of those motorized mini-jeeps that rich kids get. Power Wheels. Maybe outfitted with some sort of artillery. Like Power Pheel Brady armored vehicles.
Kristov’s Agenda: A time travel device.
Tracey Morrison of Tall Tale: A new keyboard that won’t turn off in the middle of a show.
Darling Disarm’s Kayla Brown: Electric-acoustic ukulele or a Nintendo Wii!
Mark Jiggsaw of JigGsaw: A new book called Gonzo. It’s an oral history about Hunter S. Thompson.
What is the worst holiday present you have ever received?
John Hoeffleur of The Beauty Shop: Gummy bears. At least they were Haribo, the gummy bears preferred by true connoisseurs of hoof-based confections.
Ryan Groff of elsinore: Seth Fein’s dirty undies. He’ll never get them back, though.
Larry Gates of Curb Service: A stud finder. Got it five years ago and it’s still in the box. What the hell am I gonna build?
Brett Sanderson of Headlights: A mini remote control car. I was 29.
The Chemicals: An expired leg of lamb.
Michelle Razor of Boots and Bracelets: My grandma used to get me these really terrible sweaters that would have weird confetti strings on it and would say something like “Wild Thing.” If your grandma gives it to you, you have to wear it!
Steve Ucherek of The Living Blue: My brother once gave me my own comic book as a present. Thanks, man.
Jeff Dachauer of Tall Tale: My uncle gave me one of those mining lights that you wear on your head … last year.
Agent Mos: Once, one year, I had a cousin of mine give me an old four-track mixer,
because he had heard I was into making music. Mind you, the mixer itself was from the golden years of RadioShack in 1989…the moment it was plugged in, a plume of plastic smoke came up from one of the faders on the mixer. I still have it to this day, in all its fried glory.
DJ Mertz: Soup. I’m not kidding. One year I got cans of soup because my parents thought I was spending too much on groceries in college.
What is your favorite thing about the holiday season?
John Hoeffleur of The Beauty Shop: So much to love — the spike in suicides, the hypocrisy of modern Christianity, the triumph of consumerism, but mostly, wearing my mistletoe belt-buckle.
Ryan Groff of elsinore: We enjoy the nights of sweaty passion down by the fire, eating raw meat off the bone, and pedicures every other afternoon with complimentary chocolate tarts served on hand stenciled China by people actually in China. That’s a Yuletide blessing!
Larry Gates of Curb Service: Time off from work and usually a bitchin’ New Years party.
Brett Sanderson of Headlights: Spending time with family/friends. Getting in to the same political arguments on Christmas Eve with my parents. Giving gifts after that always makes everyone feel better.
The Chemicals: Giving and receiving.
Steve Ucherek of The Living Blue: Family, booze, and rock and roll.
Kristov’s Agenda: The Chancellor dressed as Mother Ginger.
Cypha MC: Favorite part about holiday season is that everyone is in a good mood and everything’s chillax’d … no beef, no drama, just good times with your peoples.
What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2008?
John Hoeffleur of The Beauty Shop: buzz asked us this last year. They remain unchanged.
Larry Gates of Curb Service: I don’t do resolutions. If I’m going to make a life-changing decision, it won’t be dictated by the calendar.
John Owen of Shipwreck: To have a good resolution for 2009.
Kristov’s Agenda: No more quantizing when we record our beats! We can do that shit ourselves! Oh, and to master the art of bi-location.
Common Loon: Just one — to turn as many people as possible on to “Gary O’Brien & Friends,” heard every afternoon on WDWS. Gary is Champaign-Urbana’s very own Larry King — minus the gravelly voice and half-dozen marriages.
Agent Mos: For a new EP, more iTunes features, an OM Hip-Hop takeover of CU, and being able to catch Krukid in person on a regular basis. The kid is so difficult to get a hold of sometimes. Otherwise, just staying level-headed and striving to be a good person.
DJ Mertz: I’m not one for formal resolutions, but I am going to try and do more with the 217Mafia to get us more local recognition and help out the local electronic music scene. I’m also going to try and take some positive new steps with my DJing “career” and lastly, I am going to try and smile as much as possible. But I do that last one every year.
Mark Jiggsaw of JigGsaw: No drinking, no smoking, no sex or swearing, workout every day, go to church on Sundays, eat healthy foods and apply for a job at NASA where I will learn to fly space crafts and study the living conditions of other solar systems.
