I can’t pick just one… I would enjoy following our buds U Sco and Microwaves… Great bands! The only thing at which they fail is bringing you disappointment.

What was your summer jam?

Brandon Seabrook’s “Mucoidal Woolgathering.”

What’s the best new band you have heard lately?

U Sco are amazing, and their debut is out in September on New Atlantis.

It will be Fall soon – whats your favorite fall beverage or snack?

I’m easy. No pumpkin beer, please.

Tell us a memorable thing that happened on the road recently.

Generally speaking, the van breaks down, the stereo sounds like shit, and it is always memorable. There have been some great bands, great nights spent under the redwoods or by the ocean, some foul body smells, fantastic food, old friends, and loud music, tempered with the realization that maybe this music isn’t supposed to mean anything to anyone else, and sometimes it is not sustainable to do the things you love to do as much as you want to do them.

Favorite thing about your hometown?

The humidity.

What is the most unique environment you’ve played in?

Kirby’s Beer Store in Wichita, Kansas.

What stands out to you about today’s music industry? Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic and why?

I don’t mean to sound patronizing or sanctimonious, but we get the scene we deserve. We are all consuming- pop lovers, rockers, whatever- and with the money we put into records and shows, we are setting the terms for how artists exist in our society. If we aren’t all pitching in and valuing their work when we consume it, less cool stuff will happen. I would rather own a record or a CD than stream it on Youtube. Most of the great independent record labels and distributors have packed it in, and so have most of the record stores… so we’ve lost hundreds of community centers, where you could once surround yourself with awesome music, and converse with a flesh human, who could have told you some shit about the music. Is it a coincidence that touring without losing money is practically impossible? As a culture, our actions and gestures inform the new crop of people coming into the underground scene, and the implicit statement is to take what you want, the bands owe us. The majority has effectively demonstrated that it feels entitled to taking other people’s work for granted, snagging shit for free instead of voting with their dollars to support creative energy. Each six pack of beer or pack of smokes, pair of shoes, whatever, some fraction of that could instead be going into the pockets of a band somewhere, but still, people feel comfortable setting their own irrational terms for how they show support. If you are feeding your head with sound, why not pay for it? If you can afford other shit, and you go to shows and listen to music for free, why would anyone expect labels and bands would be able to support themselves?

Hyrrokkin is from Yellow Springs, OH and is signed to New Atlantis Records.