Anonymous asked: Do you guys ever consider the impact your music has on people's lives? After a failed suicide attempt, I found myself in hospital with a lengthy recovery process ahead of me. Your music, particularly The Galilean Satellites, was really one of the things that got me through that entire ordeal. It was as if there was this other, peaceful, world I could climb into and be alone with. Looking back now I can't help but wonder if any of you think about or realize just how... monumental your art can be.

As in the earlier answer, this is one of those cases where it’s hard to imagine what the music might mean to someone else. Sure, we consider what our music might say to people, but sometimes it’s intimidating to think about and can provoke a sense of unease — because there’s a tension between artistic freedom and integrity on one hand and responsibility to people on the other. Put another way, it’s uncomfortable sometimes to realize that what you make does affect and influence others, but in ways that you can’t ever really control. Further, there’s also a realization that the people who make the music can never BE as “epic” or “monumental” as the music itself is… because we’re just people like anybody else. So there’s always the risk that the reality of the people behind the music may disappoint the fans of that music.

Anonymous asked: I really love your cover of "4th of July" from the Junius split. Soundgarden have been a favorite band of mine since I was very young and growing up in Seattle. How did you guys decide on that song? Who among the band are Soundgarden fans?

It was initially Dave’s suggestion, quite a while back actually. Everyone in the band likes Soundgarden, and we actually discussed a whole range of tracks from Superunknown. We settled on 4th of July because it just seemed like the most fun to do. The original has an apocalyptic acid-trip weirdness to it, yet there are elements that almost conjure Hendrix. We wanted to make it a big dumb pop-sludge song — replace the acid with weed, metaphorically speaking. Dave, Armine, and Eric Jernigan from City of Ships all did vocals.

Anonymous asked: I'm curious about the way you guys respond when people preface their questions with gushing compliments about your music. There doesn't appear to be much care/appreciation. I've noticed from a good amount of bands, that they don't know how to take compliments well and clam up attributed to shyness and the like, but genuinely still appreciate it. These experiences are from meeting people in person, so I'm wondering if that holds true with you guys since it's quite hard to tell over the internet.

Well we certainly do care. At the same time though, sometimes it feels like the compliments are unwarranted. It’s impossible to look at your own work objectively… and easy to be self-critical. Besides which, people whose lives have been deeply affected by something can’t look at it objectively either (nor should they need to).

So yeah, who knows how to respond to seemingly undeserved favor? Grace takes a long time to learn. I’m not old enough to grasp it yet. Doesn’t mean that affirmation isn’t appreciated; it is… but this is a question box on the internet, and that can be awkward for communicating heavy things.

On a related note, everyone in the band is introverted, so that might explain some of it. If our band had its own personality, it would be INTJ.

Anonymous asked: Would you allow other touring artists you are unfamiliar with the option of openeing for you ? Or booking an event with you ??

Sure. However in most cases it’s not up to us, it’s up to the promoter who’s doing the show. Typically, if you want to jump on a show we’re on, just get in touch with the promoter and ask.

eversonpoe asked: how do you guys feel about people getting your lyrics or artwork tattooed on them? i'm considering getting "release, revolve, renew", but i wanted to make sure that you're ok with it. maybe i'm being silly, but i would never use someone's art without permission.

It’s ok with us if people are sure that they really want it. With a decision like that, hopefully what we think wouldn’t be the biggest factor. If our music speaks to people, we want them to feel free to respond in whatever way they like.

Anonymous asked: Do you have any future plans to reschedule the shows that were cancelled due to lost luggage. You have quite a following up here in Canada.

Yes, we’re planning on coming up with Restorations in March. Info coming soon.

infinitoreciprocalis asked: Hey I recall to back when you guys had a site apart from tumblr. Would there be a chance you still have that motto from your "what we're about" section saved somewhere? I tried telling a friend of mine about how Rosetta was pretty much the only metal band I respected because of what it said and I wanted to show them but now that that page is gone, I can't even remember how my favorite part went.

That paragraph got us in trouble because it was only about 30% serious, the rest tongue-in-cheek. A bunch of reviewers and magazine writers took it WAY too seriously and tossed the word “pretentious” around a lot. That got annoying, so that’s why it’s not there.

The upshot of the bio was essentially: We care about stuff. We also try to have a sense of humor. Why do so many people (especially in “artistic” circles) act like these two things are mutually exclusive?

Anonymous asked: I was wondering in what order Matt usually has his pedals in... I've slowly been putting together a pedalboard of my own and haven't found any definitive answers on the best way to arrange them all. Thanks in advance! :)

That’s because there is no definitive answer. For info on Matt’s setup go here: http://www.anchorstates.net/2010/02/tech-pedals-2nd-update.html

It’s not totally up to date but it’s mostly accurate.

emptyhousesnj asked: I have some gear related questions: First, what guitar was Matt using in NYC last night? It looked like a dual humbucker melody maker or something. Second, what program do you use for the samples, Reason? And how did you run the sound from the laptop into the PA? It looked like there was some sort of interface. Thanks.

The guitar was a Gibson Sonex-180 Deluxe. It’s an overlooked guitar from the late 70s/early 80s that wasn’t successful because its ceramic pickups (“Velvet Brick”) were too bright and too loud, and the body isn’t even made of wood… it’s a cast resin/sawdust composite. It has a scoop-y tone and is insanely clear and articulate at high gain. It doesn’t play as well as the Les Paul, but actually sounds better in most situations, and hits harder. Go buy one right now before all the doom metal hipsters discover them and the prices go through the roof. Then get the bolt-on (!) neck replaced, the stock necks are so-so.

For samples, Armine uses Ableton Live. He connects the computer to the FX return inputs of the Roland JC-120 (bypassing the preamp, in stereo) via a M-Audio Fast Track Pro.

Anonymous asked: I keep reading that you don't see any profit from your record sales and I find that very unfair. I generally like to show my gratitude to the artists for all the work and music they have given by buying their albums (both CD and Vinyl). After hearing this i feel a bit bad to be honest because it feels almost like I'm stealing which is not what i intend to do. So what I'm asking is, are there any other ways i can help in some way to show my gratitude besides buying things when you guys tour (sinc

Just buying merch at shows is fine, or buying from our webstore helps us out a lot.

Really all we want is for people to come see us play. If you listen to the recordings, that’s great, no matter how you came by them (that’s up to you and your own ethics as far as we’re concerned). But if you don’t see us play in person, you miss half of “the music”. Come to shows; if you like what you hear, buy some merch.

When we talk about money publicly, we don’t mean to whine about it — it’s more that we just want to be transparent about some of the reasons we don’t tour more or focus on the band more.