Here is the second half of Jonathan Diener of The Swellers answering street teamer questions!
10. What would you be doing right now if you weren’t touring in this band?
Anto is an electrician, Ryan works at a pizza place, Nick records bands and I… well, I hang out with my dog. I’d probably try to get a job at some music company or join another band. Hopefully The Swellers last forever so I don’t need to think about that one!
11. What was the last book you read?
I started reading Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series and I’m two books into that and I’m almost done with the second book of The Hunger Games right now. Fun times!
12. What are your thoughts on Spotify?
I absolutely LOVE Spotify. All of my friends in the music industry were almost angry I already didn’t have a premium account. It really changed everything. Ten bucks a month to still support artists, listen to TONS of new music and other people’s playlists and from all of this I’m able to show people what I’m listening to way easier. It’s amazing.
13. Have you ever had a song that you worked on for a while before realizing it was really bad?
YES. A lot. Nick usually doesn’t have bad songs, he just has songs that wouldn’t fit The Swellers. I on the other hand have some songs I think rule at 3am and demo… then get really bummed I even thought about them haha.
14. What’s your favorite website to spend time on when bored?
I’m usually refreshing twitter, tumblr, Facebook and looking at my Instagram all day long. I just keep pressing refresh until a few hours later when I realize nothing is going on haha. I also like Absolutepunk, Punknews, Property Of Zack and Alternative Press sites for news.
15. Five essential can’t-live-without items while on tour?
iPhone, Laptop, iPod, Febreeze, and DEODORANT. You need to stay entertained, you need to stay clean and you need to SMELL clean. We’re gone a lot and in a close space together… RESPECT OUR SENSE OF SMELL!
16. What was the first FBR record you ever bought?
I think it had to be Paramore’s “Riot!” unless Lifetime’s self-titled came out before then… I’m not super sure haha. I wish I had a cooler answer like some 7” from Animal Chin… but alas.
17. What was your parents’ reaction when you told them the band would be full-time/replace school and work and everything?
At first they were skeptical as all parents should be. We knew what we wanted at an early age. As time went on they saw how serious we were getting, record labels approaching us and us getting on some Warped Tour dates before we were out of high school. Finally Nick’s first semester of College was interrupted by the band A Wilhelm Scream taking him on tour to play bass, paying his drop-out fee and thus this monster of touring began. You can thank them for us doing this, my parents. They’re incredibly supportive in every way, and I think saying “we want a van instead of a college education” is a lot more cost effective for two brilliant babies (Nick and myself)
18. Why did you decide on the Good For Me album cover? What does it mean to you?
I was listening to the record before I fell asleep in the early stages and realized the theme of the album of nostalgia. I was trying to imagine something that would look like an album cover we’d find at a record store in the 90s and wanted a dog, a house and a little kid hanging out. It’s almost kind of spooky because from the back the kid looks like Nick or I as kids. I think it fits the vibe of the record well and it makes a LOT of people ask questions which means it’s on their mind which means we’ve done our job!
