TITLE?? Q&A With Hiro Hayashi Of POLYSICS

By Matt Keeley

As I mentioned a few weeks ago on the Popshifter Blog, POLYSICS are the best band in the universe.

Their DEVO-inspired, frenetic sound not only made them huge in their native Japan, but also a cult band with ever-increasing presence around the world. After their sold-out concert in Bukodan, which was their last show with Kayo, keyboardist and co-vocalist, their guitarist Hiro Hayashi agreed to do an email interview with Popshifter about his musical influences and the future of POLYSICS.
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More Than Shakespeare Slash: Q&A With Author Myrlin Hermes

By Jemiah Jefferson

The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet, the new novel by Portland, Oregon author Myrlin A. Hermes, dismantles some of the best-known works of literature in the English language—the plays and sonnets of good ol’ Willie Shakespeare, most particularly Hamlet—and builds from their parts a unique, steamy, bisexual love triangle between three famous characters.
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The Rebirth Of The Un-Dead: Q&A With Dacre Stoker

By Lisa Anderson

Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Dracula author Bram Stoker, has co-written an official sequel, Dracula: The Un-Dead, along with screenwriter Ian Holt. I was fortunate enough to get to meet Dacre at a signing at Sherlock’s Books in Lebanon, TN this past December, and he graciously agreed to follow up with an interview by email.
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From The Daily Cal To The New Yorker: Q&A With Shannon Wheeler of Too Much Coffee Man

Interviewed by Christian Lipski

I first encountered Shannon Wheeler’s work when we were undergraduates at UC Berkeley and he drew a strip called Tooth & Justice in the school paper, The Daily Californian. He’s best known now for the character Too Much Coffee Man, who became Wheeler’s voice for social commentary and satire.

The TMCM comic series earned an Eisner award in 1995. Wheeler’s current home, Portland Oregon, saw the premiere of the Too Much Coffee Man opera in 2006 (and its extended “refill” in 2008). Wheeler also created Postage Stamp Funnies for The Onion’s print edition, and is publishing his cartoons in The New Yorker.
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The Sick Brick: Eric Weber’s Lego Art

Interviewed by Less Lee Moore

Eric Weber is an incredibly interesting and inspirational person. He’s a cult movie junkie, horror film fanatic, Divine devotée, and luckily for us, he writes about these things for Popshifter.

He’s also a visual artist who includes sketching, painting, and photography in his repertoire.

When he’s not following one of his many artistic and creative pursuits, he reenacts scenes from some of his favorite films in Lego form and photographs them.
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She’s (Not) Just A Woman: Q&A With Clementine, Drummer Extraordinaire

By Jennifer L. Sharpe

Ms. Clementine could be considered one of the music world’s most ardent admirers of Led Zeppelin. While she never experienced the band’s live performances, she recreates drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham’s daunting drum parts every night as a founding member of Zepparella.

Popshifter recently caught up with Clem as she crossed the country on Zepparella’s first US tour.
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Doin’ Alright With The Boys: Q&A With Comic Creator Darick Robertson

By Christian Lipski

Darick Robertson has been creating and illustrating comics since the age of 17, when he first published the cult favorite Space Beaver. Now an established force in the comics world, Robertson has collaborated with some of the medium’s finest writers and brought life to such larger-than-life characters as Wolverine, Nick Fury, and Spider Jerusalem. Currently he’s drawing the series The Boys, which he created with writer Garth Ennis (The Preacher, Hitman). The Boys takes a realistic (if sometimes slightly tongue-in-cheek) look at superheroes and how they would operate in our modern-day world.
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Disliking Influence: Q & A with Robert Görl of DAF

Interviewed by Emily C.

DAF, 1980
From Verschwende deine Jugend

In the late 1970s, post-punk music in Düsseldorf, Germany began to mutate into sounds which were original, energetic, and exciting. Fired up by the music coming from England (and somewhat inspired by more electronic sounds, like Düsseldorf’s own Kraftwerk), one band called Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF) began to synthesize a sound which wasn’t quite rock, wasn’t quite disco, but was innovative and unusual enough to earn them the future sobriquet as the “fathers of EBM” (electronic body music). DAF were the central figures in the musical Neue Deutsche Welle movement (German New Wave, or simply abbreviated as NDW).
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Fear Is A Woman’s Best Friend: Q & A with Deerfrance

Interviewed by Emily C.

Deerfrance is best known as John Cale’s backup vocalist from 1978 to 1981. However, she is also notable for her own inspired excursions into music, and has been pursuing a brilliant solo career as of late with Extra Virgin Mary.
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1 Top Class Manager—The Notebooks of Rob Gretton: Q & A With Lesley Gilbert

By Emily C.

A review of 1 Top Class Manager can be found here.

“[Journalist] Paul Morley’s line of questioning was about a new underground forming outside the system – how do you see the role of the band? . . . Personally I would rather adopt a different role with regards to everything. . . ”
An excerpt from Rob Gretton’s notebooks, circa 1978

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