Ben Davis Read Splendid's review of The Hushed Patterns of Relief, visit Lovitt Records (Ben has a bio page there, but it's a frame, so we can't really link to it directly), or pull out all the stops and buy Ben's stuff at Insound.

You've been given a robot that can be trained to perform one standardized task perfectly, as often as necessary. What do you train it to do?

Ben Davis: Rob banks.

You are seriously ill. There are two vaccines that will save your life, but both have side effects: one will permanently eliminate your sense of taste, and the other will permanently eliminate all feeling in your genitals. Which vaccine would you choose?

Ben Davis: I'd mix the two so I could barely taste my genitals.

Somehow you've gotten into a fight with someone twice your size. Where do you aim the first punch?

Ben Davis: Depends if they have taken the genital-numbing vaccine or not.

The "fast-forward" and "skip" buttons on all your stereo equipment are broken, and you can't afford to repair them right now. For the time being, you can only listen to albums from beginning to end, without skipping any songs. Which albums in your collection are still listenable?

Ben Davis: All of them.

If given the perfect opportunity to be unjust, would a just person succumb to it?

Ben Davis: Yes.

You've been asked to write the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on yourself. What does it say?

Ben Davis: Look also under "dumbass".

You've somehow been given the chance to spend the day with a character (not an actor) from any film or television program. Who do you choose?

Ben Davis: The band Flickerstick from Bands on the Run.

If you could instantly learn to play one instrument that you don't currently play, what would it be?

Ben Davis: The guitorgan (part organ, part guitar).

The people of the town where you were born want to name a building after you. They've asked you to choose the sort of building that best matches your personality. What kind of building do you choose?

Ben Davis: A roller rink.

What month of the year do you least anticipate? Why?

Ben Davis: December -- too much happy Christian mania.

What animal would you most like to house in your back yard, if you could?

Ben Davis: A monkey.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Ben Davis: A crime-solvin' detective.

If you could buy any rare collection in the world, which collection would you choose? (This doesn't have to be a famous collection...but it can be.)

Ben Davis: A collection of Moog synthesizers.

You've been placed in the Witness Protection Program, and must change your name. You're able to pick your new name. What do you call yourself?

Ben Davis: Chase Rodrick.

What lesson should the world learn from the failure of all those dotcom businesses?

Ben Davis: Business shitheads will fall for anything.

What steps should airlines take to help avoid a repeat of the September 11th tragedy?

Ben Davis: Trained Nerf Gunners stationed at the front of each plane.

What is the greatest invention of the last ten years?

Ben Davis: The Flowbee haircutter.

Thanks to a breakthrough in technology, you can have a perfect memory-recording of one event in your life. Everything is included -- taste, smell, sound, vision and feeling; it basically means that you can relive the event over and over again. What event would you want to relive?

Ben Davis: Holding my son for the first time.

What toy from your childhood would you most like to track down now?

Ben Davis: A Big Wheel.

Assuming that money, legality, etc. is no object, what is your intoxicant of choice?

Ben Davis: Beer -- and muscle relaxants...together at last.

Which is more dangerous in the wrong hands -- guns or knowledge?

Ben Davis: The knowledge of how to use a gun.

From Ben's official bio:

"You might recognize Ben Davis from his chaotic, noisy punk rock roots. You might know him as the guy in Sleepytime Trio who would smash his bass on the ground. You might remember him as the man in Milemarker who lit his drums on fire. You will definitely change your perception about him after hearing The Hushed Patterns of Relief. Where Sleepytime Trio and Milemarker reveled fiercely in blasts and squalls, Ben's newest opus as a frontman finds him nursing tender melodies and tending to lush harmonies."

Fair enough. But what we really want to know is, is he always this talkative?