Rapid-fire Questions
1. What have you been listening to lately?
Joey Nebulous, Jack Washburn, Emily Yacina, and French pop music from the 60’s.
2. What are you excited about right now?
The chicken stock I have cooking on the stove right now :)
3. Who would win in a fight? Remember Sports, or Shrek’s 3 babies from Shrek the third?
Absolutely the babies, anyone but us.
4. Yo, whats Shreks last name?
It’s Shrek, Mr. Shrek.
5. Last concert you went to?
Lomelda at Boot and Saddle in Philly.
6. I ask this in most interviews, and I won’t stop until it happens. Can you write a song about Ray Romano?
Maybe! I Liked him in Parenthood.
7. What is the last thing that made you cry?
My roommate! Hi Gav!
8. How do I get Mary to stop sliding into my DM’s?
Cook her dinner.
9. What is the worst piece of advice that you can give me?
Don’t do it.
10. Can you do a cover of the “Cheers” theme song?
Nah
Isaac Gutierrez for Born Loser Magazine: To start things off, can you introduce yourself?
Carmen of Remember Sports: I’m Carmen!
BL: Can you give us some background on the band and how it formed?
RS: We started off in college as friends who all really loved music. We didn’t intend to take any of it seriously and certainly didn’t expect playing in band to become our job but here we are!
BL: I feel like a lot of bands that start in college tend to part ways and disappear when they graduate. What has motivated you to keep the band going?
RS: The fact that we got a really positive response to the music we put out when we were in college made us believe that we could do this for real. We love making music together and so far it’s been somewhat sustainable so I don’t know, we’re still here for now.
BL: So your band name was originally “Sports”, but then it was changed to “Remember Sports”. What were some of the other band names that you had considered?
RS: Hot Dog
BL: Was there a particular moment or album that inspired you to pursue music?
RS: For me Rilo Kiley is the band that made me fall in love with music, and ps Eliot is the band that made me wanna make it.
BL: What did you grow up listening to?
RS: I was a big fan of pop when I was a kid. I loved Avril and Michelle and Vanessa, lots of random girl bands they played on radio Disney, Josie and the pussycats soundtrack. I got into more indie and emo stuff when I was a teen but I really think my roots are in early aughts pop rock.
BL: The first song of yours that I heard, and personally one of my favorite songs is ‘Get Bummed Out’. Can you give us a little background on the song?
RS: I wrote this song about a dear friend of mine who I desperately wanted to be in love with. I had just gotten out of a year long on and off relationship for good that really fucked with my head and made me doubt myself in a lot of ways. I tried to force all my hopes and dreams from that last relationship onto this new one pretty much immediately after, but that’s not how it works.
BL: What has been the weirdest or craziest thing you’ve seen while on stage performing?
RS: Every time some dick is pushing people who don’t want to be pushed and there is such shock and incredulousness on their face when they are told that what they are doing is bothering people and they should stop.
BL: Do you have a favorite city or venue to visit while on tour?
RS: We all really liked boise once but I can’t remember why.
BL: I know this is random, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to know. Do you have a specific set of rules for the tour van?
RS: I’m allowed to sing whenever I want and anyone who tries to stop me is out of the band.
BL: What are some of your favorite accomplishments as far as music goes?
RS: I’m really proud of myself for making the first solo album I made in 2012 and putting it on bandcamp. I kept my songwriting really under wraps throughout high school because boys in my town didn’t take girls who made music seriously. I didn’t think I had the credentials to actually release music, then I decided that was fucking stupid and I did it anyway and that’s how this all started. That version of myself was really brave.
BL: Who would you consider you musical influences?
RS: Jenny Lewis, Katie Crutchfield, Stevie Nicks, Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse, Feist, Hop Along, Jack and Catherine from Remember Sports.
BL: You have been very vocal on social media about boycotting Amazon and their music festival because of their ties with ICE. How important do you think it is for you to use your platform to speak out?
RS: I’m a Mexican American person and while my family has never had to immigrate from Mexico (we were here first), I see faces on tv and hear voices on the radio that look and sound just like my family members and I’m reminded that these are my people. It completely breaks my heart that the United States is denying asylum and holding hostage people who are trying to make better, safer lives for themselves. Amazon has become synonymous with human rights violations, privacy violations, and is taking really scary steps towards making itself and its services indispensable to this country. That to me is really dangerous and I’m not going to stand by and watch people in our circle take money from amazon and completely ignore that reality and ignore their fans who are being affected by this every single day. People are noticing.
I’m not an activist, and we’re not a political band by any means, but we are interested in doing what’s right and speaking out when something is wrong, especially in our community. Since the No Music For Ice campaign began we have gotten a lot of messages from people who are undocumented themselves, or otherwise affected by the atrocities that Amazon is perpetuating by working with ICE and Homeland Security, telling us that seeing us take a stand is meaningful to them. That means the world to me, and shows how important it is to speak out when you have the privileges that being a citizen and having an audience afford.
BL: How important is it to you to support those who are a part of marginalized groups? In what practical ways could other people who maybe don’t have as much of a platform show support?
RS: Talk to your friends and family members about why this is important! Spread the word with whatever platform you do have. Especially for the issue of immigration, it’s really important that those of us whose lives are not actively threatened by these racist policies use our voices.
BL: Is there anything specific that you want to accomplish with or through your music?
RS: I want to make music that people can interact with as an outlet for working through whatever it is they’re going through in their lives. That’s what my favorite music has always done for me.
BL: What does “success” look like to you as far as your musical career?
RS: I’ve realized that I want to be making music for my whole life in whatever capacity I can. So I think as long as I can keep doing that it doesn’t matter to me how many people hear it or if it stays my job or not. That would make me happy.
BL: What do you enjoy doing when you’re not on tour or working on music?
RS: I like to read and cook and watch tv and run. Stuff I can space out doing.
BL: What can we expect to see from you in the future?
RS: Definitely a new album, but no telling when!
BL: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us!
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