Originally published in Excommunication issue #1

For our readers who are unfamiliar with Q And Not U, what kind of music can they expect?
I’m never comfortable answering that question, ’cause it’s hard to answer when you’re in the band. I consider us a punk band, though that means different things to different people. Ian MacKaye made the joke recently that we were a “hard wave” band, which isn’t all that far off. There are so many disparate elements that get into our sound, so it’s hard for us to describe.

What happened in November of 2001 to shake up the band’s line-up?
After three years or so with Matt Borlik in the band, Chris, Harris and I decided that we couldn’t continue as it was, so we parted ways with Matt. Things weren’t working anymore, personally or musically, so it was our only course of action at that point.

What can we expect to be different from the songs that the band is writing now?
It definitely sounds different now. I think the songwriting now is more thoughtful. There’s more a dance edge than there was before. Songs also aren’t as full-on all the time, like they were. We’re trying some different instruments as well.

Tell us about your experiences with the DC scene.
That’s sort of a broad question, but I can answer it by saying that I wouldn’t want to be a band anywhere else. There are plenty of places to play if you work for it. There are so many great bands (Fugazi, El Guapo, Black Eyes, Dismemberment Plan, Dame Fate, etc.) and people, too. There’s a history here and it’s one I’d like to keep going. We’ve always been well supported here and the scene of younger musicians is really impressive.That was sort of the gist of our first album cover; to show that there was a group of young people involved in music in D.C.

Ian MacKaye and Don Zientara (Inner Ear Studios) produced your first LP. What was like working with such prominent members of the underground music world?
It was great. They’re both excellent people and are a lot of fun to work with. They’ve been working together for more than 20 years and Don’s recording experiences go even further back. They’re both experts at finding sounds and offering ideas, as well as knowing how to get the most out of sessions. They’re dedicated to the songs and they know when to push on or to pull back.

How was the progression from playing local shows to making extended tours? Was it intimidating at first?
No, not at all. I’d gone on tour before with my old band, so it wasn’t much of a switch. Granted, Q And Not U has toured way, way more than any of my old bands, but touring was something I’d had enough experience in to not be intimidated. Getting out of town and playing to more people just made the most sense.

What’s your most memorable show?
There are many, including great shows in Athens, Georgia, Wooster, Ohio, Lawrence, Kansas, and a bunch in DC. My favorite so far, though, is our most recent DC show. It was our first big show as a trio and we had the best turnout for a DC show we’ve ever had. It was nice to see.

What are the long term goals for the band?
We don’t really think of the band in that sense. I’m sure I could speak for us all in that we’d like the band to be enjoyable and to keep making music and we like and to see as much of the world as we can.

Will your next release be on Dischord?
Yes, we have a single that just came out and our next album will be out on Dischord in the fall.

Ever get any hate mail? How about fan mail?
Hate mail is very rare. I can only think of a couple emails and they weren’t even really of the “hate” variety. They were more snide than anything. Fan mail, we do better at. People have been really nice about emailing us and saying nice things about the music or a show.

Who designs the website?
I do. My web design experience is admittedly limited, so I just keep it basic. But it has everything up there that I’m really interested in having anyway. I plan to add more stuff, like music downloads and a more expanded press section, so zine people can download pictures and such. But I don’t know if it’s get much fancier, though I’ll clean it up some this summer and make it more user friendly.