SOUND ADVICE
Screamo Band OLTH on Broken Ribs, Skinny Jeans, and Assless Chaps
Photo courtesy of OLTH.
This is SOUND ADVICE, a weekly destination for playlists curated by Interview’s friends, enemies, and lovers. Over the past few weeks, we’ve gathered playlists by Kaliii, Thoom, and DJ Crazy Times. This week’s guest of honor is OLTH, a New-York based emo-violence quintet notorious for their lively shows, energetic crowds, and lots and lots and lots of posting. Fresh off an East-coast tour alongside like Godfuck and Aspartame, OLTH made some time to provide us with a 21-song playlist ranging from deathcore to Ayesha Erotica. Then, in our Sound Advice questionnaire, band members Dean Violante, Ben Finklestein, Danny Evans, Malcom Hoyt, and Sean Kennedy recounted a powerful encounter with a guy in assless chaps inside a mosh pit.
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Where do you dance?
HOYT: Otto’s Shrunken Head.
VIOLANTE: In the kitchen whilst chefing.
EVANS: Honestly, nowhere.
FINKELSTEIN: A lot everywhere, but not too many dance floors because I’ve been busy.
KENNEDY: I do a lot of banging my head if I’m driving alone.
What’s on your bedroom playlist?
HOYT: Sufjan Stevens.
VIOLANTE: Nenni .
EVANS: Podcasts/YouTube content about Magic: The Gathering.
FINKELSTEIN: Brian Eno.
KENNEDY: Law and Order: SVU.
Baggy jeans or skinny jeans?
EVANS: Skinny jeans and it’s not close.
HOYT: Skinny jeans forever.
VIOLANTE and KENNEDY: Jorts.
What was your first concert?
EVANS: Coheed & Cambria at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ when I was 12 or 13 years old. Seeing “Welcome Home” live after drilling it on Guitar Hero III for months was cool.
KENNEDY: Fall Out Boy at MSG with Plain White Tees and Gym Class Heroes.
HOYT: I think it was They Might Be Giants.
VIOLANTE: Skillet. I think I got a sweatband.
FINKELSTEIN: American Idol season 5 finalist tour. Stacked year: Chris Daughtry, Elliot Yamin, Katharine McPhee, and Taylor Hicks walked away with the W. Soul Patrol.
Name your favorite artist no one knows about:
EVANS: I don’t know if people know if people know about Squirrels from Hell or not, but they’re fucking awesome.
KENNEDY: The band Cutie from upstate.
VIOLANTE: Occtin Tralus.
FINKELSTEIN: L’Octin Saesus. Saw them in Akron and then the next night in Grants Reach in 2016.
What song is playing in heaven?
HOYT: “Outro” from Urfaust’s Geist ist Teufel.
VIOLANTE: “Life is a Highway” by The Flats.
FINKELSTEIN: Steely Dan discography on shuffle.
KENNEDY: Heaven is probably just the Chiodos “Best Friend” intro on an infinite loop.
What’s your favorite album cover of all time?
VIOLANTE: Views.
EVANS: Led Zeppelin’s Presence or the Alexisonfire self-titled.
FINKELSTEIN: I love the Easy Star All Star cover album of Thriller by Michael Jackson titled Thrillah.
KENNEDY: Senses Fail, Let it Enfold You. Hardest of all time.
What song on this playlist makes you cry?
EVANS: I can honestly say I’ve cried to “The Flame Deluge” in the past year.
FINKELSTEIN: “Meshuggah.” I can feel my blood moving.
VIOLANTE: “Emo Boy.”
KENNEDY: Yeaaaaahhh, “Emo Boy.”
Who do you trust most with the aux?
VIOLANTE: Ben plays chill driving music, Sean has big club hits, Mac has the nice crooner taste and scary music, Danny and I have sad stuff probably.
HOYT: Ben has gifted me priceless music memories on the road.
FINKELSTEIN: Honestly, Sean.
What’s the most intense thing a fan has done at a show?
EVABSL Someone hit the mosh pit while wearing assless pants and heels during one show.
HOYT: Talk to me, it makes me nervous.
VIOLANTE: Chris was jumping really high and maybe doing cartwheels.
What’s the best joke someone has made about your band’s name?
EVANS: None of the jokes anyone makes about our band name are funny at all.
VIOLANTE: Olth.
What’s the worst injury you’ve sustained at a show?
VIOLANTE: I cut my face open on my bass in the rain.
EVANS: I broke a string one time.
KENNEDY: I got slammed by someone and broke my rib in Baltimore. I also had to get stitches in my face after Danny hit me with his guitar at practice.
EVANS: Damn, I forgot about that.
What’s the worst excuse to skip band practice?
VIOLANTE: Europe.
EVANS: Wedding.
HOYT: There is no excuse!
KENNEDY: Anything Ben says.
FINKELSTEIN: Tattooing.
Name any band, living or dead, that you’d want to play a show with?
EVANS: The Mos Eisley cantina band from A New Hope.
VIOLANTE: Any band near Disney.
KENNEDY: System of a Down.
FINKELSTEIN: Slipknot.
