Anonymous asked: I recently heard several rumors on the net that you guys have split up and that a determinism of morality will be your last album. I really hope this isn't the case, is it? If not, are you considering coming back to Europe to tour again? I caught you last year in Prague and you all kicked ass!

That is hilarious. In fact, we have not one but THREE releases in the works right now (EP, LP, and a split) and as far as I know, nobody is leaving. It’s even possible that a band member started this rumor to troll people.

That being said, we did go through a couple of messy breakups with our old vans. It was ugly and full of drama.

We’ll come back to Europe sooner or later. Probably sooner. Our booking guy emails us once a week about it.

Anonymous asked: I personally love listening to CD of Galillean Satellites in conjunction with albums of Tim Hecker. any other ambient artists which you think might do the trick?

Thomas Köner. Matt’s favorite.

flossyflex asked: Does Rosetta believe that the social media fueled post-millennial rise of narcissism has a negative effect on the underground music scene?

LOLLLL (not derisive, good question)

Well yeah, it has a negative effect on everything, and that includes music. Everyone’s entitled and more interested in constructing themselves than in a creative give-and-take. Everyone’s a diva. Given that most people do their best work in collaboration with other people, that’s bad for creativity generally.

Oh, and is there actually an underground music scene? This is not intended as a mockery of your question… it’s more to suggest that maybe the fact that we’re all internet-dwelling narcissists means that there is no “scene” anymore anyway. Reason being: “scene” is an intrinsically local concept — it’s in the definition of the word. A music scene used to be something that you had in your town. Now it’s “the scene” abstracted out to everywhere, including every non-major-label band everywhere. At the same time, it also connoted some sort of community in its locality, but with everyone just living online and preening all day long, that element isn’t really there anymore either.

It’s worth asking whether “virtual community” might be an oxymoron. Maybe what’s missing these days isn’t some abstract set of human character traits, but simply physical proximity to each other, with all the character-building and decency that requires.

andmedpin asked: Guys I really enjoy your music! damn! you play pretty loud, haha. I play in a band and we're trying to get a post rock-metal sound. Would you recommend a few pedals that you like?

We’re not big boutique pedal users. Most of Matt’s stuff is standard Boss gear with some creative signal routing. Anything “weird” is usually stuff that he built. Dave’s pedals are also fairly traditional — just an MXR analog delay and an EH reverb pedal, with the Fender SubLime Fuzz in the mix more recently.

raid-aereo asked: Matt, I noticed that in recent pictures you've been using a V4 in place of the Model T. What prompted this change and how are you liking it? Also, how do you run the heads together, pre-amp out of one into the power-amp in of the other? Thanks

The Model T wasn’t cutting it in terms of power — it was having trouble keeping up with the Marshall TSL. My TSL has been modified heavily and actually puts out 135W clean before clipping, and has a significant midrange bump that makes it seem louder than its power rating would indicate. The T reissue does about exactly 100W under optimal conditions, and has a very dark tonal response — so it was almost impossible to get it to seem as loud as the Marshall. It’s a fun amp in its own right and was wasted in a power slave role.

The V4 is a stopgap measure, since it also makes about exactly 100W clean. The advantage of the V4 is that it has a very flat/neutral tone stack (a James-Baxandall, which is not mid-scooped at midpoint), so it can be fed from the front of the amp, instead of the FX return. The tone controls can be used to tailor the frequency response to match the Marshall’s mid bump, which results in greater perceived headroom and power.

The V4 is about to be replaced by the Atomium Model B head, which has a frequency response very similar to the Marshall and puts out 145W before clipping.

You can find a lot more info about these amps and my work on the Atomium Tumblr.

Anonymous asked: Hey, I was wondering, as I never saw it asked earlier, is main topic of The Galilean Satellites 2001: Space Odyssey or am I over-interpreting it? I would even go as far as reading "A day of red light" as company of HAL ;)

No, Armine wrote all the lyrics for TGS before he had seen or read 2001: A Space Odyssey. Moreover, the focus on Europa comes in the later novels of that series. Matt had read the books and pointed out some of the coincidental resemblances after TGS was recorded. So Project Mercury and later works included many intentional references to the series (Clavius, the TMAs, etc.).

Anonymous asked: I've heard that you have a problem with the new release, including financial ones. Have you tried to contact the Scion A / V Metal? They help to finance an underground artists to record new material. They have already helped tens of remarkable groups. Somehow, I'm sure they will help you. Good luck to you. I look forward to the new EP, and especially the new album. With love from Ukraine! x)

Scion A/V Metal is awesome and if they got in touch with us we would consider working with them for sure. We have no problem’s with the new release beyond needing to finish writing the songs. The delay of the release has nothing to do with financial issues. Our friend Andrew Schneider, who we record with, studio was destroyed in a storm in October which is what delayed the release and changed our plans. If you’d like to help out Translator Audio (Andrew Schneider’s Studio) you can read/donate here http://unfloodbkmusic.blogspot.com/

helios-venerari asked: Super rad y'all are coming to North Carolina! Question, though: did you mean the Milestone in Charlotte? I live in Chapel Hill and I don't think there's a club called The Milestone here.

Um, yes? Sorry…… ARMINE!

triboluminiscencia asked: You guys are touring the US next summer, right? Do you have any idea where and how long will this tour be?

We are touring the US this summer(2013). We have no idea where, when, or how long as we have yet to really sit down and look at schedules. We have to write and record a record first. That is the primary goal right now.

Anonymous asked: I have a question for Armine: Have you ever experienced difficulty using your voice after touring? And how screaming in a band effect your job as a teacher, for which I know you must have to use your voice for everyday? Thanks

I’ve never had problems using my voice after a tour. At about 4 weeks into a tour my voice gets weak. At 5 weeks I talk as little as possible to conserve as much vocal energy as possible.

Teaching only suffers if I come back from a tour and immediately start teaching. That’s happened a few times but my voice heals quickly. The kids think its funny.