Major Matt asks Dan Fishback (Cheese On Bread, Old Hat) 5 questions (#21)

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1. How did we originally meet?
I saw you at one of my first anti-hoots in Summer 2003, when I was 21. I think you played acoustic guitar and Nan drummed on the back of a wooden chair. I remember being like, "Wow, these are ADULTS, and they're hanging out at this awesome place with all these weird, awesome kids." I really looked up to you guys for that. Not just you and Nan, but also Mike and Dina from Prewar Yardsale, and Danny Kelly, and anyone who I perceived as significantly older than me. I feel like Cool Adulthood had never really occurred to me before, and it sort of changed my life. Now that I'm about to turn 30, and have been hanging out with 20-year-olds, I've been reflecting on what it means to suddenly be on the other side of that kind of relationship. (I don't remember the moment we actually met, probably because I must have been really nervous, and blocked it out.)

2. 3 things that make you happy?
Okay, three things that make me happy. ONE: Seeing my friends make amazing art; TWO: Seeing evidence that people are taking their lives into their own hands, whether it's making their lifestyle sustainable, or overthrowing their government - just taking responsibility for their destiny; THREE: Feeling loved and respected by people I love and respect.

3. 3 things that make you sad?
Three things that make me sad. ONE: People ignoring their responsibilities to their planet and one another; TWO: The triumph of shitty art; THREE: Feeling disrespected.

4. What is your favorite color?
I can't think about colors in isolation. Lately I've been thinking about light blue & purpley-pink. There's a lot of this combo in San Francisco.

5. 3 people who inspire you?
Today I'm really inspired by one of my best friends in the universe, Miss Dave End. There are a lot of reasons to be inspired by Dave End, most obviously their life-altering songs and performances, but right now I'm just really inspired by their commitment to truth - to what is really happening, in the moment, right now. It's impossible to ignore the truth of reality when you're engaging with Dave End, and that's a quality I admire and to which I aspire. I'm also really inspired by Majela Zeze Diamond, or, as she calls herself, "The Queen of Vagina." She makes YouTube videos of herself singing amazing songs like "Show Me Your Genitals" with amazing lyrics like, "Men are stupid; I don't even respect them. I use men to have sex; I use them and leave them,I am very promiscuous; I use men and leave them. My name is promiscuous." These lyrics might sound stupid, but her delivery is so self-possessed and straight-forward. She's not trying to be sexy. She's not even trying to be funny. She's just talking. The ease with which she performs kinda blows my mind. I wish I was as comfortable as her. I strongly recommend checking out her entire catalog. I've also been really inspired lately by Neil Gaiman. I just bought a bunch of his old "Sandman" comics from Lach, after reading the whole series several years ago. I love these books for the opposite reason that I love Dave End. They're so fantastical, so outside of reality, and in being so utterly fictional, they end up feeling like your own memoirs. I usually have a lot of trouble producing fiction, and Gaiman makes it all seem so obvious.
http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/artists/dan-fishback