Good full-band photos of The Stunning/STNNNG don't seem to be widely available, so we swiped and cropped this one from their web site.

Nick D Meiers: Seen any good movies lately?

J. Michael Ward: Not lately. The last movie I saw in theaters was The Aviator, and about a month later they were announcing Oscar nominations. There were a lot of sympathy nominations for Scorsese. Now, I'm no film critic, but there sure seemed to be a lack of redeeming qualities, and yet it got 11 nominations. Perhaps somebody could explain to me what the quantifiers for "good" are in mainstream cinema.

Of course, on the flip side, a lot of people might cringe at what I think is good. But like I said, I don't really get out to see movies much. I thought about trying Netflix, but I don't rent a lot of movies either.

NDM: What do you perceive as the high and low points of the current Minneapolis music scene?

JMW: There's sort of a musical resurgence happening in the Twin Cities right now. For a while, it seemed like all the bands I liked broke up or moved away, and I didn't make it out to too many shows. Now there are often nights when I can't make it to everything I want to see because it all falls on the same night. There are a slew of great locals -- The Blind Shake, Chariots (America, North), Build My Gallows High, Maps of Norway, Noise Quean Ant, Seawhores, Falcon Crest and Belles of Skin City, off the top of my head -- and those are just out of the types of bands I tend to gravitate toward. Great bands are popping up in genres I don't usually follow, but I'll see them by accident. For instance, there was this really terrific kinda trucker-punk band I caught in the Entry called Six Six Crush that reminded me what it's like to just let loose and rock out.

If there's a low point, I don't know about it. We've got all sorts of great venues, awesome shows almost every night of the week, and for the most part things are still affordable. I get disappointed when bands I like skip the Twin Cities because it doesn't fit into their itinerary or they don't think it's worth their while, but that's just a niggling complaint.

NDM: Who have you been listening to a lot of lately?

JMW: I've been mostly listening to albums I've bought recently. I saw this band Toys That Kill open for Dillinger Four at the Turf Club in St. Paul a couple weeks ago. I know they've been here a few times but I wasn't familiar with them and never went to see them. I hadn't seen D4 in years so I decided to venture out to the show, and Toys That Kill were really great. It's rare that I'm moved enough by a band that I'll go to buy their album on the spot, but these guys got my money. They have a really solid rhythm section and catchy, interesting music.

Otherwise, the new Hella double LP is great -- I was really impressed with their lineup expansion last time they were here. I've been listening to the new Chariots album -- it's great for driving around. STNNNG played with a terrific band in St. Louis called The Conformists and their record is probably the best one I've bought so far this year. I'm really looking forward to the Tight Phantomz full-length and seeing them at the ICTFest in Wichita next month.

NDM: Playing a lot of vids lately?

JMW: Not so much these days. I played a lot of Halo 2 over the past several months with my roommate, but I don't have the time or patience for games I can't just pick up and play these days. I wish I did -- I bought Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 back when it came out, and I've barely touched it, but I just can't dedicate my life to games like I once did. I did nearly complete Paper Mario 2, though. I got all the way to the final boss and was promptly annoyed with Nintendo after I realized there was like a 15 minute cut scene that you couldn't skip before you fought the boss. If you died (which I did), you were forced to watch it again. I don't have time for that.

NDM: That note from Sonia Grover from First Ave on the cover of your CD is hilarious. What's that latest word on the stability of the venue?

JMW: I'm hardly a spokesperson for the club. I think they're doing fine. The smoking ban in Minneapolis seems to have thinned bars out a bit, but I think places like First Avenue will continue to exist despite those roadblocks. They've been getting a lot of bigger shows in the Mainroom that I'd always envisioned getting pulled into competing Clear Channel clubs, and so I think touring artists are starting to wake up a bit and realize they should support independents, and going to be nothing but beneficial for the club down the road.

We've played the 7th St. Entry more than any other club, and it was bummer times when they closed for a bit. Things seem a lot more upbeat and positive with the new ownership these days, though, and I think we're extremely lucky to have them around.

NDM: Ah yes, the Minneapolis smoking ban. I heard St. Paul duped Minneapolis by proposing the no smoking idea, watched Minneapolis pass it first, and then recanted their offer to go smoke free, thus stealing the smoking crowd? Is Big V's selling out every weekend night now?

JMW: Everyone knows that people in the Twin Cities don't cross the river. Attendance at Big V's, as far as I know, is the same as it ever was. Crowded for bigger shows, and elbow room for everything else. If someone who smokes wants to go see a particular band bad enough, they're not going to care which club hosts the show.

NDM: Well, recently I had a couple friends comment to me about how they're spending more time in St. Paul these days, especially at the Turf. So... your bandmates are in other bands as well. Nate is in Rick, Adam is in The Vets, is anyone else in any other music projects?

JMW: Jesse, our new bass player, is also in another band with Alex from Hockey Night called Quantico. I'm sure it's still going, but I haven't heard anything about Rick in awhile -- Nate's been playing in Hand whenever he's not playing with us. They've been together for a couple years. And yeah, Adam's got The Vets, so Chris and I are the only ones without second bands.

NDM: Ya, so how's life as a five-piece now that you've added a bass player?

JMW: Things are going really well. Jesse knows all the old material and we're working on some new songs. We went on tour with Falcon Crest in March and we're planning out-of-town shows as we can do them. Working with five people's schedules can make things a little tricky sometimes, but we've all known Jesse for so long that his transition into the band was completely seamless.

NDM: What's your drink of choice these days?

JMW: At home it's been Jameson straight up. It's too expensive to drink good booze out on the town. When I go out it's whatever's on tap.

NDM: Are there any shows, tours, events that you're really looking forward to seeing this summer?

JMW: We're playing Day Two of the ICT Fest in Wichita, KS, and there are a lot of other friends in great bands on that day -- Tight Phantomz, Signal to Trust, Falcon Crest, Ricky Fitts, Torn Avalanche, just to name a few. I'm excited to see all those bands and to spend the day hanging out. Otherwise, I don't pay too close attention to bands to find out when they're coming -- rather, I just keep an eye on the local listings and find out what's coming up. I love when U.S. Maple rolls through town. I'd like to see Ex Models someday. Sightings is coming here at the end of May and it hasn't been determined yet whether or not I'll get to see them (we're playing a show the same night, but it might end early). Y'know, you just keep an eye out for your favorite bands.

NDM: Are you excited about any of the reunions that are springing up left and right (New York Dolls, Slint, Pixies, Gang of Four, etc.)?

JMW: Nah, I think reunions are a bad idea in general. Most bands have their reasons for doing them, and usually those reasons don't coincide with why fans would like to see them get back together. It seems, too, that a lot of these bands will play their shows in venues I'd rather not see them at anyway, and most of the time they're just a casual interest for me. Like, I own some Slint records, but I thought the idea of seeing them live sounded incredibly boring, and some live recordings I heard sort of backed that up. That's not to say it can't be exciting for someone else, but for me, I'd rather have the records and live with the fact that I missed certain bands during their peak than build up expectations that aren't going to be met.

NDM: Cool. Well is there a question you wished I would've asked you? If so, answer it too, please. Also, feel free to throw any plugs in at the end you'd like -- shout-outs, etc. Thanks.

JMW: Since we're still a relatively new band that pretty much anyone outside the Twin Cities is unfamiliar with, I guess I'd just like to mention that our record, Dignified Sissy, just came out recently on Modern Radio Record Label out of Minneapolis. It's on CD and LP and is being distributed by Southern Records, so you should be able to find it in some stores soon. We've been getting a lot of questions about the cover art and album title, so if anyone wants to hear the story, they should visit our website at http://www.stnnng.com and drop us an e-mail (that works as a plug, right?).

As far as shout outs, I'd just like to say thank you to Adam Bubolz for taking the photo on the back of our record, because we messed up big time and forget to thank him in the liner notes. Adam is a great photographer and, in my opinion, is extremely vital to the Twin Cities music scene. Talented guy, for sure, and we feel really bad that we forgot to thank him for all the help he's given us.

Outside of that, our friends know who they are and we're lucky to have such a wacky, rag-tag bunch.

-- Nick D. Meiers