What is your least favorite article of clothing, and why?
Dave Snow: My "job interview suit" has to be the worst outfits I own by far. Wearing it usually means I'm off to put myself up for sale with a lousy firm that will underpay me and steal my time away from the things I'd much rather be doing.
What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?
Dave Snow: It makes me think of hippies. Not that there's anything wrong with hippies... I mean, they're usually great cooks and hardly anything you'd dislike. Peace, love and understanding yeah man. That's my bag. Yeah...
If you could remove 20cc's of fat from one part of your body and inject
it into another, where would the fat come from/go to?
Dave Snow: It'd come from the big toe on my left foot and go to the little toe on that same foot. That way I could wear my two right foot flip-flops during summer.
What three essential accessories would be in your dream tour van/vehicle?
Dave Snow: Aside from someone keen to do all the driving, I'd like an electric blanket and toaster oven.
Which is more frightening: a venue full of people who don't like your music, or a room full of two-year-olds? Why?
Dave Snow: Give me a room full of two-year-olds any day. Kids are so much fun. My niece is incredible, but I hardly get any time to hang out with her. If I'm in a room full of kids her age, chances are she's in there. That means all the other kids are sure to disappear into the background, because my attention going to be right on her. Grace is the biggest and the best two-year-old in the world.
Name three activities that would be more interesting/entertaining/enjoyable with the addition of monkeys.
Dave Snow: Going to the zoo would be great if chaperoned by monkeys. Aside from that, family court or the court of appeals would be fun to attend if chaired by monkeys. Anything involving food preparation would be sure to end in a food fight. Ideally it'd be a cake factory.
What was the best venue you've ever played? What's the worst? Why?
Dave Snow: The Arthouse (Melbourne, Australia) is one of the best places I've played. It's one giant mural and has to be the home of Australian rock. We just played their birthday show(s) over the weekend and had an awesome time. I think the worst show we ever played would be an all ages show out in Melbourne at a school. I think all of the kids there were in detention and made to be there under threat of further punishment. They really were not into it at all.
What was the last thing you watched on television? How did you like it?
Dave Snow: I'm watching the Australian version of Big Brother as I type. I'm trying to get to love the characters/people, but it's just too hard. They're all jerks and their excessive nudity is kinda distracting.
Describe your dream vacation.
Dave Snow: I got asked this once before. A friend asked me what I'd much rather be doing whilst we were in the tour van. His response was so much better than mine. His involved "chicks" feeding him Coke, sisters getting down on him, Palm trees, beaches, other chicks preparing joints for him, and even more exotic drugs. Mine was a simple fantasy of a flying carpet fitted out with Black Russians (a drink) on tap, and a whole lot of talking animals. I guess that's more of a fantasy than a vacation, but I'm sure that with the right amount of money, you could do anything. It only costs $4 million to go to the moon.
Does everyone need to own a computer? Why or why not?
Dave Snow: Computers are great tools, but I know a few people who get really anxious being away from one. I like em. I hate them. I'll survive without them, because I'm lucky enough to have lived without one for quite a while.
What activities (or whatever) are currently illegal, but in your opinion shouldn't be? What activities *are* legal, but should be outlawed?
Dave Snow: Motorbikes: outlaw them all. I hate them. They're dangerous and make me nervous every time I see one on the road.
Who should be the leader of the free world?
Dave Snow: Oh, another "monkey question". Definitely a monkey.
You have an eight-hour trip to your next gig. You're not driving, and you're not sleepy. You have the option of reading a book, listening to an album, watching a movie or playing a video game. Which do you choose? And what is the book/album/movie/game in question?
Dave Snow: I'm playing a video game and watching a movie. I'm obviously in the mack'n tour van, and am not likely to be able to afford to stay it for too long, so, I'm going to make the most of it all. I can read anytime, and I do own a walkman, but TV and a Playstation! It's probably be something by David Lynch or something with Molly Ringwald in it, and the game would be that Tony Hawk Skate game.
What was the best live rock show you ever saw?
Dave Snow: Fugazi, easily. And every time I've seen them it's been the same.
Scientists have suggested that trainspotting (the hobby of obsessively traveling rail lines, watching trains, cataloguing engine numbers, etc.) is a form of autism. What other so-called "hobbies" might actually be deep-seated psychological disorders?
Dave Snow: Religiously watching Big Brother has to be indicative of some sort of disorder. That show is the pits. It's all about voyeurism and people who find it compelling are probably screwed up somehow. I don't know how exactly, but they've some sort of problem. Come on, they most likely also find Survivor compelling and vital viewing.
You're in an elevator with Mariah Carey, Marilyn Manson and George W. Bush. The elevator becomes trapped between floors. What happens next?
Dave Snow: Marilyn Manson begins to cry, Mariah writes a song about it all (the pain, the turmoil, the high notes), and Bush wants a re-count of what floors we've passed to work out exactly where he stands. I guess I'd just wait for it all to get fixed. My Dad's girlfriend got stuck in an elevator and now won't go in them. So I'd probably savor my last few moments in an elevator before I get a complex about the things.
You've been given the opportunity to play -- all expenses paid -- in a foreign country that bands don't normally get to visit. You get to pick the country. Where do you go?
Dave Snow: Greenland. I don't know why. I guess I like the cold and my favorite color is green. The flight would take a bit of time from Australia. Hell, we'll play anywhere, so it doesn't really matter. Everything is a long way away from Australia, so wherever we go it'll be a long trip. I think we're all getting used to that. Even within Australia it takes forever to get interstate.
What food item do you always eat, even though you shouldn't? And why shouldn't you be eating it?
Dave Snow: I love vegemite on toast. It's good for you, but I often get lazy, usually at night, and wind up eating half a loaf of bread worth right before going to sleep. That can't be good for me, but damn it, it just tastes so fucking good.
Why are frogs amusing?
Dave Snow: Every time I picture frogs, I picture Kermit, from the Muppets. I remember watching that show every Sunday night with my brothers and sisters, and having such a good time singing and dancing and all that. I guess I'm reminded of how stupid we must have looked in our pajamas jumping about on the lounge, and that gives me an association of frogs and funny things. I don't, however, feel that frogs are intrinsically funny beings. Kermit is, but your run of the mill frog is just a frog and not an entertainer.
Your favorite broken-up band is going to reunite for one show only at the venue of your choice (yes, we know this is implausible. Who cares?). Who's the band, and what's the venue?
Dave Snow: Easy, Bon Scott is back from the dead and AC/DC are playing in my back yard. I know they're not broken up, but they're not quite whole without Bon Scott. If you get to indulge the implausible, I get to twist the question.
Is the Internet destroying the English language?
Dave Snow: No.com. People still have to read and write. Sure, language is easily manipulated into fluid hybrid, but I'd hardly say that change is destruction. It's just a variant of what you can find via other forms of communication.
Several US states have adopted "three strikes and you're out" laws, which basically mean that after you're found guilty of three felonies, you're imprisoned for life. How do you feel about that? Is it effective lawmaking, or needlessly harsh?
Dave Snow: Such policies have been used before. Thatcherism took a "get tough on crime" approach to policing and it doesn't seem to have worked. Australia has been heading down a similar path recently, too. I think that there needs to be a thorough overview of the way discretionary powers are used within the police force first, before you can commit to something so arbitrary. I don't think that such policies should be put in place at the expense of other approaches to policing that can keep people out of prisons and away from the courts for minor/misdemeanor charges. I really don't think prisons are places that teach people how to respect one another. They seem to be more effective in refining criminal skills. I really don't know how to be concise on such a huge question. I guess what I'd stress the most, is that something that attempts to ignore difference, is only going to ruin the lives of those who don't fit into it's model of normality. I'd like to think that the Criminal Justice system was open to tailoring help to each person in accordance to their individual needs, whilst being mindful of the severity of their crime.
· · · · · · ·
As the Fueled By Ramen website says, "Blueline Medic use two guitars, a bass
and drums to make music that is textured and
passionate, where invigorating tunes are allied with incisive lyrics." We won't argue with that. The Melbourne, Australia-based band's latest disc, The Apology Wars, hits Stateside shops on July 10th, 2001. Dave Snow is the band's bassist, and one of the best Pointless Question answerers we've met.
-- George Zahora
| 
