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What band did you listen to most during the eighties? Do you still like them?
Sam Lowry: Of my own choice, the Police -- and although I don't listen to them as much now, I still like them quite a bit. I also heard tons of Pink Floyd via my older brother, who I shared a bedroom with. I actually like them more now than I did then.
What is your worst memory of elementary school? Of high school?
Sam Lowry: Alcohol has successfully erased most of my memories.
You're about to -- ahem -- get lucky. What album is playing in the
background? Why'd you choose it?
Sam Lowry: I suppose it would be a bit vain to say my own record, so I'll say Paris Combo's album Living Room. It's fun and sexy and in another language so you won't have to worry about some phrase that would seem odd to hear while getting it on.
What was the first thing you ever shoplifted? Why did you take it?
Sam Lowry: I can remember stealing bubble gum as a youth and immediately getting caught by my mom. I think I inadvertently stole it. It was before I understood the modern system of goods and services, buying and selling, etc...and just put it in my pocket because I wanted it.
What's the biggest risk you've ever taken? Why did you take it?
Sam Lowry: Making my first solo album. I was teaching myself how to play guitar, sing and work my 8-track while making the record. I'm still figuring out the whole playing guitar and singing thing.
Did you go to your high school prom? If so, who did you go with?
Sam Lowry: Nope. I think I was under the impression that I was too cool to go to prom. Or maybe I couldn't find a date. Again, alcohol has taken care of most of these memory-based issues.
What movie would you recommend to absolutely anyone? Why?
Sam Lowry: Anything by Terry Gilliam because he's an underrated genius.
For reasons we won't bother going into right now, you're going to be locked in the back of a truck for a sixteen hour drive between gigs. If you could have any musician, past or present, back there to keep you company, who would it be?
Sam Lowry: Tom Waits.
What is your strongest, most unshakeable belief?
Sam Lowry: That the internet, despite many wonderful things, is significantly ruining society.
If you were a porn star, what would your "porn name" be?
Sam Lowry: George Zahora.
You're on your way to a show, and all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of a huge four-way battle between pirates, ninjas, robots and intelligent apes from the future. Your only hope of getting to your gig is to pick a side. Who do you join, and why?
Sam Lowry: I join the apes, because if they truly are intelligent then they will know how to get out of the situation without fighting (perhaps pitting the robots, ninjas and pirates against one another). Also, since they are from the future they must be able to time travel, so even if we have to fight and beat some robot, ninja, pirate ass they could manipulate time and get me to the gig on time.
If you could sponsor any beverage -- appear in their ads, receive a lifetime supply and never be seen drinking a competing product -- what beverage would it be?
Sam Lowry: Guinness.
What's wrong with Rolling Stone these days?
Sam Lowry: Their overwhelming lack of coverage of Sam Lowry.
You've traveled back in time and met yourself, age sixteen. What do you think?
Sam Lowry: Me now looking at me age 16: "Enjoy that Robert Plant hair while it lasts, buddy." Me 16 looking at me now: "I should probably start an exercise regimen now and make it part of my daily life."
Which would be worse: three hours on a bus full of four year-olds, or three hours on a bus full of eighty year-olds? Why?
Sam Lowry: The four year olds. Eighty year olds would have much better stories.
The US government is considering far more aggressive regulation of leather pants. Under the new rules, who should or shouldn't be allowed to wear them?
Sam Lowry: Only people who have been in a knife fight should have the right to wear leather pants.
What food item could you eat every day for the rest of your life without getting bored of it? What's so good about it?
Sam Lowry: Nachos. I cannot explain my addiction, I can only wallow in it.
Will the next Star Wars movie suck? Why or why not?
Sam Lowry: I have a glimmer of hope that it will not. This hope is based in the fact that we'll get to see the death of Anakin Walker and the birth of Darth Vader. So hopefully it will be as dark as The Empire Strikes Back.
How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man?
Sam Lowry: 23.
Everyone's replacing their least-favorite body parts with cybernetic
replacements. Which part(s) of your body would you replace?
Sam Lowry: My gut, although I'm not sure what good a cybernetic gut would be.
What album(s) should everyone be given on their eighteenth birthday?
Sam Lowry: The current Sam Lowry record. Ho, ho. Just kidding. I'd let them pick from the following:
Any Tom Waits Record, vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot by Sparklehorse, Pony Express Record by Shudder to Think, Mighty Like a Rose by Elvis Costello, the first Crooked Fingers record, Simon & Garfunkel's greatest hits, Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos, Soul Mining by The The, Domestica by Cursive, Emergency & I by the Dismemberment Plan, Hayden's first record or any record by Leonard Cohen.
And finally...What question should we ask in the next round of Pointless Questions?
Sam Lowry: Which water dwelling animal best represents you?
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From Sam Lowry's bio at Higher Step Records:
After years of playing in underground bands ranging in style from punk to alt-rock to ska, Sam Lowry settled in Bloomington, Indiana in the fall of '99 and began exploring for the first time his long-standing love of melancholy tinged pop. In this new direction, he has found a fitting sound for his lyrical style, which ranges from hauntingly confessional to abstract phrasings.
The first result was Down Songs from the Exile Suite, Lowry’s critically acclaimed debut album released in the fall of 2000. Named "Album of the Year" by Midwest entertainment magazine News-4U, Down Songs established Lowry as a unique artist in the current musical landscape.
Lowry’s second release, Between the Lotus and the Han, features not only his backing band, the Circumstance, but also several other guest artists. The album is a huge step in the evolution of Lowry’s sound. Combining the melody and intimacy of his live sound with the atmospheric sounds of his first album, Between the Lotus... is simultaneously more intricate and accessible.
-- George Zahora
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