​Reverb Questionnaire is a list of (mostly) static questions we pose to folks outside the music industry. The questions are all answered via email. Previous participants include Michael Chabon, Michele Norris, and Janeane Garofolo. This week, before coming to the Moore, Saturday, with Whose Live Anyway, Greg Proops took a few minutes to tell us about Count Basie, Tears for Fears, and why he wasn't ready for a commitment from Lykke Li.

What music have you been listening to today?

Ambient Space Music on the computer.

Did you like it?

It is sublime.

What's your preferred method for listening to music (iPod, car, home stereo, etc.)?

1) Record player; 2) iPod; 3) Loud as f**k in the car.

When was the last time you heard "Stairway to Heaven"?

Coming from a suspicious van in Hollywood last week.

Did you turn it off?

I gave them a wide berth for my own mental health.

Do you play an instrument?

Just my dulcet nasal vocal tones.

Do you still listen to anything you were listening to in high school?

Hells, yes.

If so, what?

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​Reverb Questionnaire is a list of (mostly) static questions we pose to folks outside the music industry. The questions are all answered via email. Previous participants include Michael Chabon, Michele Norris, and Janeane Garofolo. This week, before bringing his "Jeff Ross Roasts America" tour to the Neptune, Thursday, Jeff Ross took a few minutes to talk to us about his Fedner, his Aunt Carole, and Barack Obama's member.

What music have you been listening to today? Did you like it?

I went hiking today and listened to The Who.  It helped me get up the mountain. 


What's your preferred method for listening to music (iPod, car, home stereo, etc.)?

Out of a beautiful women's mouth. 


When was the last time you heard "Stairway to Heaven"? Did you turn it off? 


Last night at The Comedy Store on The Sunset Strip. Jesus Christ was playing tambourine. I'm not making this up. 


Do you play an instrument? 


I just started playing guitar again.  In fact, I am bringing an exact replica of the Fender Stratocaster I played in high school and college on tour with me right now.  The original was stolen off the baggage claim at Newark Airport shortly after my dad passed away.  I was in college at the time and so devastated that I stopped playing completely. 

Recently my pal, the guitarist, John Mayer introduced me to his pal Mike Ellred who builds guitars for Fender.  He asked me to find pictures of my old Strat.  Then two months later a guitar case showed up at my front door with a note from Mike that said, "Pretend I beat up the baggage handlers at the airport". I was very touched and decided that sitting on a stand in my living room was no life for a guitar -- so I'll be bringing it on stage with me during this "Jeff Ross Roasts America Tour" even though I barely no how to play it. 



Do you still listen to anything you were listening to in high school? If so, what? 


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​As opposed to our favorite songs, or songs we'd like to think define our listening habits, taking a look at what a person actually listens to can be far more revealing. With that in mind, every so often we'll ask an artist to take a look at the most-played songs in their iTunes libraries and share with us the results. We do this on the honor system, and we ask our subjects to share a few words about each song.

Singer-songwriter David Dondero was fresh off a tour down under with Aussie songwriter Darron Hanlon when I approached him for our iTunes Questionnaire. "I have to be honest," Dondero began in an email. "I don't have an iPod or a smart phone. I haven't used iTunes. I still use CDs in my car," he explained.

What he submitted were these 12 titles, a few he says, were found "on Darren Hanlon's iPod last month." While not iTunes legit, Dondero's contributions are in step with the ever-roaming ways of a man who can't sit still long enough to make the technology upgrade worthwhile. The man's a notorious troubadour with as many official tours under his belt as impromptu road trips, his rich, bantering folk steeped in details of the changing American landscape. His 7th and latest release, # Zero With a Bullet, rounds out the oeuvre with songs of po'boys, the famous hoagie of New Orleans, grizzlies fishing for salmon in Alaskan streams, and Carolina women "meaner than an acre full of snakes."

Sufjan Stevens once boasted he'd score an album for each one of the 50 states, but Dondero has stories about them all in his songbook. "Yes, I've been to all the states," Dondero says. "The only one I haven't done a show in is Delaware--hopefully someday soon."

Dondero brings his caravan of tales to the Tractor Tavern this Wednesday (1/11).

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​Reverb Questionnaire is a list of (mostly) static questions we pose to folks outside the music industry. The questions are all answered via email. Previous participants include Michael Chabon, Michele Norris, and Janeane Garofolo.

You've seen Craig Robinson in The Office, Knocked Up, Zack & Miri Make a Porno, and Hot Tub Time Machine, just to name a few of his myriad appearances on the big and small screen. Before he brings his stand-up routine and band, the Nasty Delicous, to the Neptune on January 12, Robinson took a few minutes to answer the questions in our Reverb Questionnaire.

Here's what he told us about Nirvana, dancing with Prince, and Susan Sarandon:

What music have you been listening to today? Did you like it?

I am currently in Rio de Janeiro and I have been listening to a tune called "Funk", and it is awesome.  They play it here for like an hour while other songs play over it.  I love it.

What's your preferred method for listening to music (iPod, car, home stereo, etc.)?

I love my iPod Nano, or whatever it's called. It's the itty bitty one that fits in a watch.

When was the last time you heard "Stairway to Heaven"? Did you turn it off?

Ummmmm.....like 3 weeks ago at, no that was "Dream On." I last heard "Stairway to Heaven" at a bar in Hollywood like a year ago and it was on the radio so I couldn't turn it off.  I left.

Do you play an instrument?

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Renee McMahon

Seattle's Death Cab for Cutie, featuring Chris Walla, plays KeyArena on Saturday. The Head and the Heart open.

​Reverb Questionnaire is a (mostly) static list of questions we pose via e-mail to folks in and outside the music industry (Sarah Silverman, Michael Chabon, and Michele Norris, etc). This week, we reached out to guitarist/producer/songwriter Chris Walla, who plays KeyArena on Saturday with his band, Death Cab for Cutie. Here, Walla talks about why he wouldn't shut off the sound man's air supply, and why "'Supporting an artist you love' isn't a crazy concept."

What music have you been listening to today? Did you like it?

Today at the breakfast restaurant I heard 'Is This It?' by the Strokes. I liked it a great deal, it's been quite some time. After that, Kaputt by Destroyer came on and everything got quiet.

What's your preferred method for listening to music (iPod, car, home stereo, etc.)?

Most of my music listening happens in the studio or in the car. I don't like my iPod much and usually don't know where it is.

When was the last time you heard "Stairway to Heaven"? Did you turn it off?

Just a few weeks ago, and I absolutely did not turn it off; in fact, I was genuinely moved.

Do you still listen to anything you were listening to in high school? If so, what?

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The Trashy Trash DJs join 70 other Seattle bands at SW's Reverb Local Music Festival on Saturday, October 8. They play Bastille at 7:30 p.m.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.

What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for the Seattle scene?

Trashy Trash DJs' Same DNA: I think the legacy of the grunge explosion is definitely something that looms over the heads of people in the Seattle music scene. There's a sense of urgency to break out of the city and dominate, be it in sales or general industry hype--as in "Who will be the next Mix-a-Lot? Who will be the new Nirvana?" That's definitely left a hurdle for entertainers in Seattle to think about.

But I think there are a lot of forward-minded artists and promoters operating in the city who can relate to and respect the very DIY, "fuck what everyone else is doing" aspect of what made grunge great--the bubble of independence of creating something small and new without mimicking what everyone else is doing to be successful. I think that's the best part of the energy of this city, is that we all know what could happen if you fuck around and start something amazing.

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Shown here with Cobirds bandmate Rachel Flotard, Rusty Willoughby was a big part of the Seattle music scene when grunge exploded. Cobirds Unite play SW's Reverb Fest's Conor Byrne stage Oct. 8 at 12:30 a.m.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.

Seattle Weekly: What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for the Seattle scene?

Rusty Willoughby: I'm not sure about everyone else, but it shook me to the core and I hated playing music for a long time after watching what a bit of media attention did to the music community of this town. It was a shifting point, culturally, so I can see the interest from a purely archaeological perspective, or a music history perspective. But I was young and impressionable and it scared the crap out of me.

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Witch Gardens plays Reverb Fest's NY Fashion Academy stage at 9:30 p.m. this Saturday, October 8.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.

SW: What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for the Seattle scene?

Witch Gardens' Beth Corry: I'd say the grunge explosion did the Seattle scene many favors. Because of all of the musical activity here in the '90s, the city has essentially been set up to support and encourage musicians here. Between the vast community of musicians we have here and the support surrounding them, I think we have a lot to thank the grunge explosion for.

Do you hear many influences of the sound in today's bands?

Absolutely. Although grunge was a passing trend in some ways, to me it still sounds exactly like what Seattle feels like, and I think there are a lot of bands around today that embody that Seattle and Pacific Northwest sound. The underground/DIY music scene in Seattle is so diverse though that it certainly has all that and more going on right now.

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Jenny Jimenez

Kevin Barrans' Sons of Warren Oates joins 70 other Seattle bands at SW's Reverb Local Music Festival, Saturday in Ballard. Oates' Sons play Conor Byrne at 9:30 p.m.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.SW: What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for
the Seattle scene?

Maldives'/Sons of Warren Oates' Kevin Barrans: I think the legacy of the grunge explosion is simply that it put Seattle back in the minds of a music world that had somewhat forgotten about it. I think saying anything more than that is just reading too much into the situation. It was great new music at a time when Seattle and the rest of the world really needed it.

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Red Jacket Mine joins 70 other Seattle bands at SW's Reverb Local Music Festival on Saturday, October 8. They play the Tractor at 3 p.m.

​This post is part of the special Reverb Questionnaire series in which we ask local bands to discuss the legacy of the Seattle music explosion of 1991, as well as the class of 2011.

SW: What do you think the legacy of the 1991 grunge explosion is for the Seattle scene?
Red Jacket Mine's Lincoln Barr: Well, most of the characters are still kicking around and playing in bands - many of them quite good - so that's one legacy. Pick up a VCR at Value Village, pop in your long-neglected copy of Hype!, and see how many folks you recognize from the previous night's show at the Sunset.

Do you hear many influences of the sound in today's bands?
While there seems to be an emphasis on kinder, gentler sounds right now, I think you can draw a pretty straight line (through Mr. Elliott Smith and host of pretenders) back to the '91 sound. The melodies and rhythms are decidedly white, for the most part, and 'feelings' are still the primary lyrical focus. The '90s took the hump right out of rock, I'm afraid.

In what ways are your band influenced by the 1991 sound?
We try to ignore music made after 1982 or so. I've heard that listening to too much music made during your lifetime will make you go blind, and I'm not about to take that chance.

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