DUMB QUESTIONS/SMART ANSWERS: BRIGHT MEN OF LEARNING

Every now and then, we subject someone in a band that reps the real to some pretty dumb questions and post their responses. This week, we sent off our set of music journalism 101 prompts to Marshall Preddy, vocals and guitars for Bright Men of Learning.

What's your favorite record lately?
Brian McManus left a comment on my year-end Top 10 list recommending Ghostface Killah's Fishscale. I'm embarrassingly ignorant about rap/hop music, and I don't own a single Wu-Tang record, but I bought Fishscale, and I can't stop listening to it. Not being a rap music aficionado, I can't reliably tell you why it surpasses the limited number of other rap musics I've heard. But along with the new ones from Clipse and Lupe Fiasco, it's among my best purchases this year.

Is there a Houston band who you've been digging lately?
I love Something Fierce. LOVE THAT BAND. Love their record. They're really nice kids, and their songs -- this will sound dorky -- are really well constructed. All the tracks on their new one have these swell choruses that avoid leaning on the typical LOUDsoftLOUD dynamic. They're just loud. But like the Dimes, you can hear a clear Pixies influence in the changes. Yeah, it's still formulaic punk, but it's easy to forget they're using a formula. And it's nice to hear a modern pop-punk band get their guitar tone right. I'm not sure why all these emo bands take their stacks into the castrati zone, but it needs to stop.

Also, I saw Inoculist recently (probably for the last time, unfortunately since I think John Hunter and/or Heath Flagtvedt are moving). The entire show was pretty great, but I love listening to Heath play guitar. He's been a pal of mine for ever, but that Inoculist show surprised me. He's vastly improved from his days with Matty and Mossy, and he was really good then. He's just one of those gifted players who can get away with these sweetly languorous guitar solos. He's no technical virtuoso, but his brand of slowhand is full of purpose and grace. I could listen to him play all day long.

What is your day job?
I need to get one pretty soon. Right now I'm a law student at the University of Houston. I am also good at the Internet. And lately I've been playing a lot of Zelda on the Wii.

REAL TALK: CRUCIAL WEBSITES?
I don't read a lot of Music sites anymore. The music sites I do read are local blogs, namely Nonalignment Pact and Houston Calling. Ramon Medina and company have been doing a really nice job with NAP. And Skyline Network, of course. Mostly though, I read a mix of Web/tech blogs ( e.g., Techcrunch, Ars Technica) and legal blogs (The Volokh Conspiracy, Concurring Opinions). Lately I've been doing a ton of reading on Insurance Law. I know that sounds fascinating.

Sites I use on a regular basis:
News: Slate, NYTimes
News reader: Google Reader
Music: Last.fm, Emusic, ReverbNation
Social networking: Facebook (so much better than Myspace)
Blogging: I use Vox for my personal blog.

What's your secret Houston place?
I'm not sure I have a secret Houston place. I've lived here continuously for more than 30 years, so there's definitely some nooks and crannies I prolly know about. Recently, though, I ate at the District 7 Grill for the first time. They've been around since 2003, but I have yet to talk to any pals who know the place. Part of the problem is they're located on Hutchins, to the east of Downtown. But they have a new location in Midtown at 501 Pierce. Holy crap, it's seriously the best all-American food I've had in this city. It's the only place I know of that comes correct with their gumbo. It's working class gumbo. Not as good as that what my cajun folk make, but it's close.

Who is skipping Houston on an upcoming tour that kinda has you bummed?
I just got my tickets to Yo La Tengo. First time they're coming in six years, and they've been my favorite band since '93. Nothing else matters. I am a happy man.

What is never far from your side?
My girlfriend, Jordan.

What does BMOL have in the works right now?
We're about to go into the studio to start our second record. We start tracking March 24. We're using Chris Ryan (aka Dead City Sound) again, since he did a great job with our last one. He's got a new place now, with isolation rooms and all that. We recorded the last record at Clark's (a nightclub), which, uh, was less than ideal. This is also the first time that we're recording with Ben Murphy as our glorious fifth wheel/cowbell specialist. Since he can play several instruments and knows a crapload about recording, I think adding him is going to have a pretty big effect on how this record sounds. It's probably going to be a bit more polished and pretty. There will definitely be some keyboards, some harmonies, and a few other nice touches. And there's going to be a lot more variety in the songwriting. Yeah, I'm still writing and singing lead nearly every song, but there's a bit more range among our new tracks. There are some nice slow jams, some guitar freakout stuff, and a few other curveballs. So yeah, there will be differences. We're still trying to rip of the Replacements, though.

But before that record comes out, you can check out Bright Men of Learning Friday (March 2nd) 2pm live on KTRU, or at about the same time on Saturday where they will be playing the Rise Benefit at the Last Concert Cafe.

MP3: Bright Men of Learning - Cross