Why does your page look like this?

Q & A: Jon Stewart Totally Plays Minesweeper (and Loves Buffalo Tom)

Stewart performs stand-up this Friday night at The Ryman, and for this week's paper, Jack Silverman conducted an interview with the reluctant anchorman, which includes questions like this:

Scene: Does having Colbert come on after you, since he is obvious parody, allow you to be a little more serious? Or is he more of the Dr. Phil to your Oprah?

Stewart: I guess he's more of a Judge Joe Brown to my [Marilyn] Milian. I don't know...our shows are of the same genetic material. I think they both exist on their own, but hopefully together they complete a nice picture [laughs]. You know what's sad? You're clearly far more thoughtful about this than I am. I'm like, “Geez, you know, I never thought of that.” I've been sitting up here playing Minesweeper.

Five Finger Discount: Be Your Own Pet

They're Nashville's most recognizable underage rock band—or at least they were before Paramore came along. Either way, they've got a new record coming out today that packs way more of a groin punch than Paramore's G-rated mall punk ever will. I interviewed the band last week for an upcoming feature in next week's Scene, and wouldn't let them leave without giving me the Five Finger Discount first.

Where Are They Now?: The Turf

It was the summer of 2007—mistakenly dubbed the "Summer of Dreamz." Dance parties were in a lull, Local Honey reigned as king (or queens, rather) of outdoor evening festivities, and a scrappy little surfy dance rock band called The Turf was all anyone seemed to talk about for a hot minute. The Turf had generated a good chunk of buzz in a very short amount of time, made the rounds around town, put in an appearance at the Exit/In and then *poof*... they vanished just as quickly as they appeared.

So what the hell ever happened to those guys? It's the exact same question your curious correspondent was contemplating just days ago when I sent a friendly MySpace message to the band in hopes of deducing an answer for anyone else who'd wondered the same. This is what I found out...

5 Finger Discount: The Spinto Band

You may perhaps remember Delaware's The Spinto Band best from their catchy 2005 single "Oh, Mandy" which found its way into a few films, advertisements, and many an evening during Left Can Dance's salad days at Ombi Bar. They'll be kicking off their latest tour this Saturday at Mercy Lounge with The Whigs and Umbrella Tree, and were kind enough to answer a certain 5 questions for the Cream this week

Six Organs of Admittance Q and A

California's Six Organs of Admittance is the brainchild of guitarist Ben Chasny. Through what has primarily been a vehicle for Chasny's droney and psychedelic folk music, Six Organs has released nine full length records, the most recent being last year's Shelter from the Ash. Chasny also plays in the psych-rock band Comets on Fire. Six Organs of Admittance will play The End on Saturday, Feb. 2nd. I recently sent some questions to Chasny, and he even more recently responded with answers. Read both after the jump.

Les Is More

For over 20 years, Les Claypool has entertained music fans with his frenetic bass playing and his eccentric personality. But Claypool's artistic talent refuses to be bound by one medium. Last year, he published his first novel, South of the Pumphouse, and this year brings the theatrical release of his first feature-length film, Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo.

It's a mockumentary following the journey of the fictitious jam band Electric Apricot, best known for their anthem that asks an important hippie question: "Hey, are you going to Burning Man?" It opens Friday for a three-day run at the Bellevue 8, the Thoroughbred 20 in Franklin, and the Wynnsong 16 in Murfreesboro. Claypool not only directed, but acted as well, playing Apricot's drummer Lapland "Lapdog" Miclovich.

I recently spoke with Claypool by phone from the recording studio of his California home.

In Case You Wanted It: More Menomena

Didn't get enough of Menomena member Brent Knopf's witty banter in this week's print edition of the Scene? Well, check out the extended version online. Learn about Knopf's supercool software invention Deeler, the bubble that is the indie-rock universe and what he thinks my headline should have been.

Here's a quick taste:

Knopf: [The indie rock world] totally creates a bubble—some people have never, ever heard of you and other people think you're much more successful than you are. Like we went to Mexico, and they were like "After the overnight success of Friend and Foe, how does it feel to be famous?" And its just like, "Well, it feels great to go back home and wait tables." So, I don't know, its kind of strange.

Scene: I'm sure people also assume that you got "Best New Music" on Pitchfork and now you have convertibles full of money or something.

Knopf: I have a 14-year-old, two-door sedan that's in bad shape, that's what I have.

Scene: Full of money?

Knopf: (Laughs.) Yeah. I sell drugs on the road. That's how I really make money. God knows you can't make it selling music.

Not Beyond Repair

Nashville filmmaker Seth Pomeroy, along with producer Shawn Girvan, is currently at work on a feature-length documentary entitled Couldn't You Wait: The Story of Silkworm. The film is in production and in need of additional funding. Donations are being accepted here. Pomeroy and Girvan answer a few questions about their project, after the jump.

An example of how criminally underappreciated the Silkworm were, even in their heyday: back in 1999, the band played the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle—their hometown at the time—and were told that only "national touring acts" were entitled to comp meals, even though they were on Matador Records at the time and had toured extensively for years. Also, a note for those who may not be familiar with the Silkworm story: drummer Michael Dahlquist was killed outside Chicago in 2005, along with two friends, by a woman attempting to commit suicide by crashing her car into theirs. Steve Albini's remembrance is worth reading.

Hot Fluids: Seth Timbs on Singles, Ounces

The Hot New Singles play the Basement tonight, and we thought it might be a good idea to run a few questions by veteran local player Seth Timbs. Timbs is a Murfreesboro native who is best known for his band of the never-ending Ben Folds comparisons, Fl. Oz., though they were playing their particular brand of literate piano-rock before the "Brick" thudded into the mainstream. (See the fantastic album Big Notebook for Easy Piano.) Over the years, he not only survived Spongebath Records, but also once wrote a song called "11:11." It went something like: "It is now / 11:11." He ditched the Boro for L.A. for a few years, then came back, and now he's ditching the Ounces for the Singles. Read Timbs' take on his new project after the jump.

Summer of Sam: Local drummer Sam Smith on touring with Ben Folds, paying his dues and playing arenas

Back in January, local rock drummer Sam Smith, who kept the beat for Lifeboy and The Comfies, scored a lucrative gig touring Europe with Nashville's own piano-pop wonder Ben Folds. A two-week European tour turned into an eight-week summer stint opening for John Mayer, and tonight, Smith is back on Nashville turf playing the tour's conclusion at Sommet Center. Baby's come a long way from bashing the kit at The End, and he took a few minutes to answer some questions about touring with Folds for the Cream via e-mail.

Scene: First, tell me about your musical background here in Nashville—how long you've been playing and who you've played with.

Sam Smith: I got my first kit on my 11th birthday. Around 16, I started playing in a band that became Soul Surgeon and then Lifeboy. We played through high school and a bit after, until I went to college in 2001. On breaks from school I would sit in with Character on a second drum set. After graduating, I toured colleges with my friend Syd, and eventually settled back in Nashville in 2005 where I was recruited for Harper, which became The Comfies, who I played with until this past January. Throughout I did various other projects, including Hail to the Keith.

Scene: Nashville musicians typically have a tougher time finding rock gigs than, say, country session work. How did you manage to score the Folds' gig?