F.A.Q. (or Frikken Annoying Questionz):

With a little time on my hands, I decided to write some information about myself, Chasing Coolness, and some other miscellaneous things before you shoot me a message or just shoot me.

Q: What is "Chasing Coolness" exactly? Were you too stupid to come up with an original name? Why did you blatantly rip-off "Chasing Amy?"

A: Astute as some people are, the origin of the name came from the defunct show "Parker Lewis Can't Lose," where the title charcter was always saying "coolness." Originally, the site was made with a cjb.net account and Microsoft Front Page. It was ugly and it was basically me talking shit about "webzines" that praised every hip thing under the sun. Eventually, I wanted to get back to doing a Halftime-styled site, but I lacked the time and design talent, so taking on a "blog" format seemed to work best.

Q: What the hell is Halftime?

A: Halftime Magazine is a zine I started in 2002 with my friends Demitrio and Danny. The idea was to do a good looking site, with a print counterpart, both of which would contain different content. Over time, some of my other friends got involved and we interviewed bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Brand New, the Revolutionary Hydra, John Vanderslice, Finch, My Chemical Romance, Rilo Kiley, Coheed and Cambria, and Everytime I Die before they became known on a mainstream level.

In the end, I was doing Halftime with my old roommate, Jiles, as I was finishing up my senior year at Seattle Pacific University and playing in a band. It proved to be too difficult to balance all those projects at once and Halftime gave out.

Q: Is "Jiles" the same "Jiles" from "The Cootees?"

A: Yes. Not that many people spell that name with a "J." But he does.

Q: Shut up! You didn't really play in a band with him, did you?

A: Yeah, I did. Download our music here and here. And while you're at it, download his solo stuff here.

Q: How long have you been writing and how did you get started?

A: I've been writing since I was two. I got started when I put crayon to paper and magical things happened. As far as taking on a journalism persona, my interest began in middle school when I wanted to write about hip-hop and comic books and it became what it is now when I was 15 and started writing for the Seattle Times' offshoot, Mirror.

Q: Why don't you put your e-mail address on the site or allow anonymous comments?

A: People who need to get ahold of me either a) already know my information or b) if they wanted to get in touch with me bad enough, they'll spare the five minutes it takes to create a Blogger user ID.

With anonymous comments, I should go by the old adage, "Don't dish it if you can't take it," but I just don't want to deal with a bunch of stupid ass kids who want to give me shit because I rag on Aiden and Victory Records so badly. If you don't like what I'm writing, then go to another site.

Q: Will you ever allow anonymous comments?

A: I consider it fairly often. Vivan Hua from Redefine thinks I should, and she's got a pretty good sense of perspective, so maybe someday when I don't feel like I'm going to get mauled by 14 year old faux goth kids, I'll allow comments.

Q: And why do you lampoon Aiden and Victory Records so much?

A: Aiden is a joke. There's absolutely no way that a band that is so closely related to an image aesthetic should be that big (re: signed). And Victory Records, Aiden's label, is proof that eventually punk rock ethics give way to making money. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if Tony Brummel didn't criticize major labels the way he does, yet refuses to recognize that his label is a part of that machine.

Q: How should I get started in writing?

A: I don't know. My experience was different from others, I'm sure, so it's up to you.

Q: Why don't you write for The Stranger?

A: I probably make fun of hipsters way too much for their taste. I don't care about "cool" or drugs or anything like that. I like what I like and that's that. One could assume that I have an old school ideal when it comes to editorials and such.

Q: You same to hate a lot of things, do you like anything?

A: I enjoy Aaron McGruder's "The Boondocks" (both comic and show), I love my daughter and my fiancee, and I'm currently taken with finding vegetarian recipes for Filipino and Chinese food.

Q: How can I get my link/CD reviewed/interviewed/lampooned on Chasing Coolness?

A: Message me.

Q: Are you part of the "blogger" world that seems to link up a bunch of famed music writers within the same universe?

A: Only in a roundabout way. The only person that I regularly reference and know personally is Joel, who is the mastermind behind "The Unscene." He's a better writer than I am.

Q: Don't you hate Pitchfork?

A: Not really. I guess I can say I disagree with some of the albums they give high ratings to, but isn't that the nature of the critic?

Q: What's your pet peeve as a writer?

A: I have several. Obvious grammatical errors, for one. And I hate it when MS Word won't recognize that I write in fragmented sentences. That's just who I am! I'm nobody's robot. I also dislike it when up-and-coming publications ask for "writers" and not "critics." When you get someone who is passionate about music, they're gonna be slightly opinionated.

Q: Since you are so opinionated, what is the greatest album of all time?

A: "Control" by Janet Jackson, though, I'm open to suggestions.