The Inquisition: 085.My Education

1. How did you came up with the name of the band?

Scott Telles (bass): It's a William Burroughs book. A compilation of his dreams.

2. Do you have a standard procedure of creating a song? Do you just jam around or is there a main riff and the track is build up on it?

Scott: Somebody brings in a riff, an idea or a song, and the rest of it beat it, cajole it, threaten it, and stomp on it until it cries out "Uncle!" and becomes a My Education song.

3. What are your influences and what kind of music do you hear when you are at home?

Scott: We all have large record collections and we all listen to a huge variety of music. Speaking personally, right now I'm going through a Cannonball Adderly and Martinis phase! But you can find us listening to everything from Arvo Part to Brian Eno, Cam'ron and Wolves In The Throne Room.

4. Which is the one album you can't live without?

James Alexander (viola): Stranded by Roxy Music.

Scott: The Saga of Doremi Fasol Latido by Hawkwind

5. What's the first record you've ever bought?

James: A 45 of a song called “Bad Blood” by Neil Sedaka. I have no idea why.

Scott: I ordered a bunch of records from one of those Columbia House offers. I can't remember them all, but I know I got the first Boston album and "Leftoverture" by Kansas. Hells yeah!

6. Name a band that you would like to share the stage or tour with?

James: Current band? Goat.

Scott: Ash Ra Tempel.

7. Did the internet and specially the blogs helped to spread your music around the world? Name a place (country) that you were surprised to know your music has reached to?

James: Absolutely, and conversely we find out about so much great stuff from other parts of the world in the same way. Lately someone in Malaysia has been streaming some of our stuff.

8. Do you support the idea of bandcamp where fans can decide the price or services like Spotify?

James: I think you don’t really have a choice anymore. It would be nice if Spotify was more lucrative for musicians and bands on our end of the popularity scale, though.

Scott: I agree. We have never really seen any income from Spotify, but we make money from bandcamp all the time.

9. Where do you see yourselves in 10 years?

James: I hope I’m still playing and recording music. I think it would be great if there were still a version of My Education to make music with, but I’ll settle for just being alive and healthy enough to play.

Scott: Can I quit my day job now?

10. Is the artwork of an album important nowadays in the digital era?

James: That’s a good question. I used to scrutinize album covers for all the names, iconography, arcane symbols and so on. Then CDs came along, and I’d crack open the booklet inside and see if there was anything interesting, but the cover art was so small it lost significance. The only physical media I buy anymore is vinyl records, and I don’t know that the artwork really matters much to me anymore. I’m more interested in the quality of the vinyl. And if it’s something I am streaming, I probably never even see the artwork. Regardless, I guess I still think if you are releasing music as an album – no matter what the format – there should still be art and that art is still important whether anyone sees it or not.

Scott: And let's not forget about the credits. I gotta have the liner notes and credits. I'm an obsessive with my favorite artists, and I like to read who played what, who produced, etc etc.

11. What is you favorite album cover?

James: Henry Cow’s “Legend”. Of the three Henry Cow ‘sock’ covers, I think this sock most perfectly conveys the quintessence of the material within.

Scott: Matching Mole - Little Red Record - just brilliant.

12. It seems that a lot of people are turning on vinyl again. Why do you think that is and which is your preferable media format?

James: vinyl all the way. My father loved vinyl records (he had a particular fondness for Greek artists Vangelis and Nana Mouskouri!) and he played them all the time. He built his own phono preamp and integrated amplifier. Whether it’s real or imaginary, nothing sounds better to my ears than a good vinyl record played on a proper setup. In the digital age there’s ever less and less that is real and intrinsic that we can hold onto anymore. The restrictions of the vinyl format do a couple of things as well - they force you to sit down and actually listen instead of just having music serve as background for your workout or whatever; and it forces the artist to really consider what is essential and that can fit into a 45 minute time block with a break directly in the middle.

Scott: I listen to vinyl a LOT, especially at home, but much of my most serious listening is done in the car on the CD player in traffic where I have almost no distractions. Then again, I still have a cassette deck in the van as well, so I'm omnivorous!

13. What's the most vivid story or moment as a band?

Scott: Playing our score for "Sunrise" outdoors on a giant inflatable screen smack in the middle of downtown Houston with the skyline all around us was pretty awesome. Dunk! Fest in Belgium was amazing - in fact, our whole 21 show European tour in 2013 is one of the highlights of my life!

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