#once the sassiest boy in america / forever the sassiest boy in my heart

[brightstarkid]

Asks for Starkid Shows/Songs

Putting this below because OH MY GOD THIS IS MORE THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE but yeah ask away!!

A Very Potter Musical: How did you discover Starkid?

Gotta Get Back to Hogwarts (AVPM): What’s your Hogwarts house?

Different As Can Be: Sleep on your tummy or your back?

Ginny’s Song: Have you ever been to Canada?

Harry: Do you have a crush right now?

To Dance Again: Have you ever taken dance lessons?

Granger Danger: What have you been too afraid to tell someone?

Pigfarts, Pigfarts Here I Come: What’s your favorite planet?

Missing You: Have you ever lost someone close to you?

Not Alone: Have you ever been abroad?

Voldemort is Goin’ Down: What is something that is really motivating for you?

Me and My Dick: Who is your best friend?

Ready to Go: Where is one place you want to go?

I’ve Seen You Around Here Before: What’s your favorite place to go?

There Ain’t Nothing Like a Dick: What’s the sassiest comment you’ve ever made?

Listen to Your Heart: What is one thing your heart wants?

Land of the Dicks: What’s the most asshole thing anyone has ever said to you?

Even Though: Have you ever cried at school?

Gotta Find His Dick: What was the last thing you lost?

The Council of the Pussies: Are you a part of any secret organizations?

Flight of the Pussies: Have you been on a plane?

Big T’s Temptation: Is there something you’ve been really tempted to do?

Finale (MAMD): What Starkid show did you immediately want to watch again?

A Very Potter Sequel: Do you prefer sequels or prequels?

Not Over Yet: If you could go back in time, when would you go?

Harry Freakin’ Potter: Have you ever met a celebrity?

To Have a Home: Where are you from?

Hermione Can’t Draw: Can you draw?

Lupin Can’t Sing: Can you sing?

The Coolest Girl: What’s one cool fact about you?

Gettin’ Along: Describe your first date

Let the Games Begin: Do you play any sports?

Those Voices: What would you see in the Mirror of Erised?

Guys Like Potter: Do you have an enemy/someone you hate?

Stutter: Can you dance?

No Way: What is one thing you would say “no way” to?

Days of Summer: What’s your favorite summer activity?

Goin’ Back to Hogwarts (AVPS): What is your first reaction when you hear this song?

Starship: Do you believe in aliens?

I Wanna Be: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Get Back Up: What’s one song that always gets you hype?

Life: What is the meaning of life?

Hideous Creatures: What’s the cutest animal you’ve ever seen?

Kick It Up a Notch: Is there something you need to kick up a notch?

Status Quo: Do you say no to the status quo?

The Way I Do: What would your name be on Farm Planet (what you do and what you love)?

Beauty: What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?

Holy Musical B@man: Who is your favorite superhero?

Dark, Sad, Lonely, Knight: Are you allergic to anything?

Rogues Are We: Who is your favorite villain?

 Dynamic Duet: Which Starkid would you want to duet with?

Robin Sucks: What’s one thing that you think sucks?

The American Way: What is one American thing that you just don’t understand?

To Be A Man: What’s your kryptonite?

Superfriends: What’s your squad’s group chat named?

A Very Potter Senior Year: Which of the Potter trilogy is your favorite?

This Is The End: What’s been a long time coming?

Senior Year: What’s your favorite memory from/what you’re looking forward to in your senior year?

Wizard of the Year: Who is your celebrity crush?

Always Dance: Do you like to dance?

When You Have to Go All the Way Home: Do you like going home?

Get In My Mouth: Are you afraid of spiders?

Tonight This School is Mine: What were/are you known for at your school?

I Was: Do you know what you were in a past life?

Sidekick: Are you a leading man/lady or a sidekick?

Everything Ends: Who would you see with the Resurrection Stone?

Goin’ Back to Hogwarts (AVPSY): Do you know how to tie a tie?

Twisted (Musical): What’s your favorite Disney movie?

Dream a Little Harder: What’s a dream of yours?

I Steal Everything: Have you ever stolen something?

Everything and More: Are you a princess?

Sands of Time: What is something you thought you lost but later found?

Golden Rule: Do you follow the golden rule?

A Thousand and One Nights: What’s your favorite story?

If I Believed: Do you believe in magic?

Orphaned at 33: What is something tragic that happened in your past that you’ve overcome?

Happy Ending: Do you believe in happy endings?

No One Remembers Achmed: Do you remember Achmed?

Take Off Your Clothes: Favorite reference in this song?

Twisted (Song): Which villain’s story is the most forgivable?

The Power in Me: Who is your biggest mentor?

The Trail to Oregon: What’s your favorite video game?

Gone to Oregon: What’s your favorite word to rhyme Oregon with?

Independence: Where are you right now?

The Grind: Have you been on a road trip before?

Pays To Be An Animal: What’s the weirdest story a grandparent has ever told you?

When the World’s At Stake: How do you express your love?

Dysentery World: What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?

Wagon on Fire: Have you ever accidentally caught anything on fire?

Lost Without You: What’s your favorite song to sing along to in the car?

Speedrun: How do you focus?

Caulk Your Wagon: Do you know how to float on your back?

You Gotta Go: When was the last time you pooped?

Naked In A Lake: Have you ever been skinny dipping? 

Ani: Have you ever watched Star Wars?

Long Ago and Far Away: What’s your favorite memory?

Strike Back: Have you ever fought for something you believed in?

With My Own Eyes: What is something you’ve only believed once you’ve seen it?

The Force (You Got It): Have you ever pretended to have The Force?

Haunted By The Kiss: What’s your favorite Star Wars reference in the show?

One in a Million: What makes you unique?

Back On Top: Have you ever won anything?

Firebringer: Have you ever built a fire?

Fire: Does fire scare you?

We Are People Now: What is one thing you couldn’t live without?

We Got Work To Do: What’s your favorite vine?

What If?: Have you ever done something just to shove it in someone’s face?

Welcome to the Stone Age: Favorite era in human history?

Just a Taste: What’s your favorite food?

Duck is Lord: Are you religious?

The Night Belongs to Snarl: Are you afraid of the dark?

Into the Night: What is one thing you’ve done outside of your comfort zone?

The Night Belongs to Us: Do you have a victory dance?

Climate Change: What’s one thing about climate change that makes you really sad?

Jemilla’s Lament: If you had a Lament song, what would you sing about?

Paint Me: Has anyone ever drawn you?

Ouch My Butt: What’s the biggest pain in the butt you’ve ever had?

Backfire: What’s something you’ve done that has backfired?

Together: How long can you go without taking a new breath?

Chorn: What’s your favorite obscure fact?

Finale (Make the Most of It): How do you make the most of it?

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: Do you like musicals?

La Dee Dah Dah Day: Have you ever been in a flash mob?

What Do You Want, Paul?: What is something you want that you’ve never told anyone about?

Cup of Roasted Coffee: What’s your coffee order?

Cup of Poisoned Coffee: Have you ever found something that��s not supposed to be there in your food/drink?

Show Me Your Hands: What are your thoughts on jazz hands?

You Tied Up My Heart: What is the most romantic thing someone has done for you?

Join Us (And Die): Can you belt?

Not Your Seed: Have you ever been stuck in a school?

Show Stoppin’ Number: Who is your favorite Workin’ Boy?

America is Great Again: Where are answers to be found?

Let Him Come: Paul or Steve?

Let It Out: Have you ever let it out?

Inevitable: What is something that is inevitable?

BONUS (as if this wasn’t long enough)

Spies Are Forever: Have you ever spied on someone?

The Coldest Goodbye: What’s the worst thing you’ve done by accident?

Spy Again: How many times can you say “spy” before it loses it’s meaning?

Somebody’s Gotta Do It: What’s your dream job?

Eyes on the Prize: What do you consider the ultimate prize?

Pay Attention: Which of Barb’s inventions do you wish you had?

Barb’s Lament: If you had another Lament song, what would you sing about?

Not So Bad: What is something that people say is not so bad but is actually really bad?

Torture Tango: What’s your damage, man??

We Love the Prince!: What’s the most insincere thing you’ve ever said?

Prisoner of my Past: What is one thing from your past that you still carry with you?

Doing This: What’s your most awkward “are we doing this?” story?

One More Shot: What’s your favorite alcohol (assuming you’re of age)?

One Step Ahead: What’s one plot twist you didn’t see coming?

Spy Dance: What’s your favorite dance move?

[rustbeltjessie]

Some screen caps from Chop Suey. Truth be told, though I knew about Ian Svenonius’ involvement back when I got the game, I’d forgotten about it over the years. (I mean, I hadn’t played the game or seen anything about it since, probably, ‘99?) But as I was playing it yesterday, two things stood out to me. Dooner--pictured in the third screen cap from the top--and the beatnik fireflies, pictured fifth from the top. Yesterday, I looked at Dooner and thought: “Oh wow, look at that retro sorta-mod hipster boy, he looks like he should be listening to The Make*Up or something.” (Side note: I totally had a vague sort-of crush on Dooner when I played the game at age 13-15, I remember thinking, god, I wanna meet a boy like that. Reader, I met many boys like that, and most of them were disappointing.) And then, as I clicked on the beatnik fireflies, I recognized the voice of the one who said crazy. I thought: “I am 99% certain that is none other than Ian F. Svenonius.” I remembered that Brendan Canty had done the music, and that Theresa Duncan had been part of the DC punk scene, so I thought it was certainly probable. And then, while watching the credits at the end of the game, I saw that Ian was the fucking illustrator! Like I said, I’d forgotten, and I laughed when I saw his name there. It’s kind of funny and awesome when I think about the fact that Ian S. and stuff he’s made or been part of making has been an important part of my life for well over two decades, now.

[rustbeltjessie]

Save Yourself

When I worked at WIPZ, part of my job was to call record labels and ask them to send albums to the station. One of the labels I talked to was K Records, which had been a favorite label of mine since 1995, so I was super stoked when they sent me several of their newest releases. (They also sent a button with the K logo on it, which I pinned to my hoodie.) I got more stoked when I saw that one of the albums was the newest Make-Up album, Save Yourself. I loved all of Ian Svenonius’ music - he’d once been the Sassiest Boy in America, and was forever the Sassiest Boy in My Heart, and I dug the sounds of Nation of Ulysses, Cupid Car Club, and The Make-Up. But no Ian Svenonius album came into my life at just the right time the way Save Yourself did.

It’s hard not to project what I’m going through at the time I first hear an album onto that album, and I first heard Save Yourself, during the onset of one of the roughest, most self-destructive periods of my life. But I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that it is an album about depression, and about recovery from depression. It is an album about clawing your way up from rock-bottom. It is a godless gospel album that says you don’t need to rely on religion to save you, you can save yourself with wild music, with dancing, with love. The title track is all low-end bass and breathy whispers, then: “I was frozen, baby, cold to the touch.” That’s depression, that numbness. Nothing can get through, except when it does. “You’re my Dr. Frankenstein.” I took it to mean that Dr. Frankenstein could be anything that helped warm my frigid limbs - it could be another person, but it could be writing, could be music, could be drugs. Oh yeah. “White Belts” is a funky jam, wah-chicka-wah-wah - “I’ve got my belt on tight. It’s white!” “The Bells:” “For whom does the bell toll? It tolls for thee. Baby, baby, baby, the bell tolls for me.” The bell tolls for all of us - the bell of death, the bell of addiction, the bell of sorrow. “I Am Pentagon” is a mellow retro swing that’s sexy as hell: “Hey there, you’re no square. A love rectangle with sides that flare.” Dig it. In “Call Me Mommy,” Ian sings: “Everybody’s got a lover inside,” and it made me feel like maybe I could love myself, flaws and fuckedupness and all. “(Make Me A) Feelin’ Man” is a mad rush of psychedelic garage soul, and relates back to “Save Yourself.” “Baby, I’m feelin’ numb. Baby, if you’ve got feelings, then give me some.” Gimme some. “C’mon, Let’s Spawn” is a lusty rave-up. Hear those hot horns, hear Ian sing: “I don’t need a pasture to roam, I just want a tight space to call my own.” It’s pure sex, and sex is one thing I never lost interest in. The album ends with a cover of “Hey Joe,” and it’s perfect. It’s about a man who’s at the end of his rope, who goes off the deep end - but he wants to come home to his love, wants to come home and make it right. He wants to recover.

I never added Save Yourself to the station library. I took it home to make a cassette copy, and ‘forgot’ to return it to WIPZ. But I played it on my show all the time, and I loved it and needed it so much that I don’t feel guilty. It took me years to begin to recover, to begin to save myself. In the meantime, I had Ian Svenonius as my manic-depressive preacher. He told me I had a lover inside, shouted “and now I walk the earth, sprung from your doctor’s knife.” He told me that one day I might be a feelin’ (wo)man again.

[originally appeared in Reckless Chants #22, summer 2015]