((Sounder)).

MY FRIEND MIKE AHO plays music. When he plays music he calls it ((Sounder)). Sometimes Steve Stratton (Remy's little brother) plays drums with him. Sometimes he doesn't. Why should you give a crap? I don't know. But what I do know is that I have lots of friends who are in bands, and all of them give me CDs to listen to. And I graciously accept their CDs and tell them how much I like them. But truth be told, ((Sounder)) is the only one of my "friend's bands" that I actually listen to. I'd listen to it even if I didn't know Mike. Which is like, kind of a big deal because I basically hate any artistic endeavor that isn't mine. Anyway, Mike used to live in Austin and every day after work we'd meet up and drink a six pack at the local ditch. But now Mike lives in California so I drink beer at the ditch by myself. Thanks Mike.

Has moving to Costa Mesa from Austin affected your songwriting at all?

Moving from Austin to Orange County affected me in every way imaginable. At first I only saw the negative side to it. I missed the community feeling of Austin and being surrounded by such a great music scene. Since I moved to Costa Mesa, I've been pretty reclusive. I don't play out very often. It's hard to say exactly what it's changed though. I know that a lot of the daily images that I see riding my bike to work leak into my lyrics. I see more of America's gluttony and materialism living here, it's impossible not to.

Do you think the term "skateboard musician" sounds as silly as "skateboard artist?"

Man, it's even worse, because it implies that your music somehow goes well with the act of skateboarding. Like if you're a skateboard musician your music would sound good in a soda Commercial with guys jumping off launch ramps and high-riving in the air. In reality, I think that actual skateboarders are generally very educated in music and listen to a diverse mix of stuff. So yeah, it's embarrassing to be called a skateboard musician, but I think that the mainstream, watered-down version of what skateboarding is embarrasses all of us from time to time, or most of the time.

Now that you made a baby with your weiner, do you feel any pressure to "make it" as a singer/songwriter?

I think I've always put pressure on myself to "make something" of playing music; I've been writing since I was like 11. Having a baby actually made me realize how little all of that stuff matters. The way I look at it now is that I've written hundreds of songs in my life, most of them bad, and if the well dries up tomorrow and I never write another one, it's okay. Writing music helps me to deal with how fucked up and out of balance this world is, so maybe that's all that it's meant to be and if other people can relate to it here and there, I'm totally happy with that. Sounds kind of cliche, but it's true.

Your last album came packaged with a hand-made little 'zine/ book that featured all of the song lyrics illustrated by the very talented Mel Kadel. How did that whole thing come about?

The first time I ever talked to Travis Millard he told me to check out his lady friends' art, I went to her website and was totally blown away, as I'm sure most people are when they see her work, but mostly I was struck by how her images seemed to be so kindred to the lyrics I write. I think they both kind of function the same way.

What's the story behind Celebrate Magic Hands?

Celebrate Magic Hands is a group of artists that all crossed paths in Austin about four years ago. We were all songwriters with no accompaniment so we began to learn each other's songs and sit in with percussion and vocals. We had big intentions at the time, but everyone has moved on to new projects. Dave Bryant is working on Wondershowzen, John King does Hello Lovers, and Sam De La Rosa is dj-ing and doing a lot of nature art and stuff in Brooklyn. We still have a little website running.

You know how when people review bands and they say shit like, "Take two cups Lenny Kravitz, sprinkle in some Julian Lennon, and top it off with a dash of Ziggy Marley ..." Man, I hate it when people do that. But anyway, how would you describe your music to somebody who has never heard it?

It's always hard to tell people what your music sounds like without sounding like a pompous asshole. Everyone out there thinks that their music is indescribable. So I guess I can only go on what people have told me it sounds like, and my influences. That would mostly be Will Oldham, Lou Barlow, Thurston Moore, and Tristeza.

What's going on with Steve Stratton? Is he still playing shows with you or are you getting your drum machine on these days?

Yeah, we try and play as much as possible when he's around, But since he's the team manager for Volcom he's usually skateboarding in Dubai when I want to play a show. I usually play different songs when I play without drums. I like it either way. It's two different moods, but I think that they have a lot of overlapping qualities.

How important do you think it is to have a really kick ass concert t-shirt when you're playing an arena?

It's of the utmost importance. I also like to throw one of those Axel Rose tantrums when I'm playing arena concerts. I just pick something to fixate on, like my kilt and catcher's pads not fitting just right, and then I throw my microphone at someone's face. It helps break up the concert, like a 7th inning stretch or something.

In addition to being a musician, you're also a graphic designer, fine artist, and have pretty awesome motion graphics capabilities. Do you feel like that's pretty awesome to be able to do all that rad stuff? I do.

Well, I don't know how much of what I do is that rad, but the breadth of work that I do helps keep my ADD monster's stomach full. Right now I'm working on some music video projects that I'm pretty excited about. One is a film project for The Cold War Kids and the other is an animation piece for RTX. I'm also writing and recording for the new ((Sounder)) record.

How excited does your wife get when I come into town and we get all drunk and start romanticizing the old ditch we used to skate together?

Yeah, she really likes it when I finish the night by puking in the kitchen sink. And I tell her, "Honey, it's not my fault, some strange overweight guy was buying me and Sieben fruity shots all night in hopes that one of us might be a little bi-curious." That's when I can really see the sense of pride in her husband wash over her face.

Do you ever go to sports bars when I'm not in town?

Only to get free shots.