A Chat with Mark Gloster (Plus Reverse Quiz at no extra charge)

1. how would you describe yourself?

I am the Pablo Picasso of Printed Circuit Design. I am the Supreme Jester of a very odd musical kingdom. I am somewhere between brilliant and stupid and both at once. I can perform amazing feats that noone else would even think of attempting.   I have trouble keeping my shoes tied.

2. how would you describe your music?

Noisy, irritating, humorous, lacking in finesse, doesn't go away. Fun, clever, relentless, intelligent, goofy. My music is a reflection of me. It seems perhaps darker than I am, but that may merely be a strong part of me that I don't express well otherwise. To me, it doesn't seem dark, really, anyway. Most of it seems humorous. My music makes people laugh, think, and at its best it makes them feel.

3. how has robyn hitchcock influenced your music?

In Monday's Lunch, my debut CD, there is not a whole lot of obvious influence. There is some wordplay in the title track and in a few of the songs that may seem a bit influenced. My Robyn Hitchcock influences seem to be just showing up now, conciously, as I am writing songs with more extended melodies. My musical outlook has shifted more to acoustic guitar of late, so there will probably seem to be more influence in my newer music, even if it isn't, in fact, there.

4. what are your goals/ambitions/dreams?

Goals: write more music, record more, make more CD releases, support myself with my music, get more music into movies, put together a real band, write a book, a screenplay...

Ambitions: be a better musician, songwriter, writer, person. I would like to positively affect those with whom I am lucky to share time. I want to be a good recreational ski racer.

Dreams: to master time. To not let one day fall off the end of the world after another. To taste the flavor of each moment. To live in a cat ranch close to the ocean, with fifty cats, my sweety, and a select bunch of fun people. To spend part of each winter in a ski town. To host a big feg appreciation concert and have Robyn there and a bunch of his fans open up for him.

5. what do you do for work?

I design printed circuit boards.

5b. what do you do for play?

Music- writing, playing, thinking, singing. Skiing. TV is a guilty pleasure: I like some animated shows and I also like the X-Files. I have caught a few minutes of Teletubbies and I find it frighteningly hypnotic- I wonder what subliminal messages are going by. I walk around my neighborhood and talk to all of the cats I know. My sweety and I give them names that are descriptive of their personalities. People think we're weird.

6. if your could be any sort of a fish, what sort of fish would you be?

That would be a big rubber shark, so I could still be in my band. I fear that I will come back as a hagfish, though.

What pets do you have?
A: Dusty and Livingston. They are both female felines. Dusty is the original Tigermonkey. She is wild, fearsome, sweet, and smart. Livingston is somewhat ferile, but she is quite loving to only two people. I've had something like 6 cats, and 6 rats in my "adult" life. They have all been wonderful.

What is the population of Watsonville?
A: It doesn't matter. They do have the best cheese enchiladas in the world there, though.

What is the proper garnish for quail soup?
A: Most people use turnips, but I prefer large boulders.

What is the stupidest name you've ever heard for a band?
A: Celine Dione

Who is your favourite teletubby?
A: Benny Hill used to be.

Complete the following list:
- hmuh, groak, gastrointestinal, julip, puffin
A: Bayard

If a train departs from Sacramento on a cloudy afternoon and travels 9735 miles due west at an average of 8 miles per hour, because Jeme Brelin is on the train and he just has to come back with a story, will everyone on board lose the whole point of this question by the time they miraculously reach Asia's eastern shores?
A: Ummmm. What was the question again?

Are you sure you are not James Dignan?
A: Almost positive. I don't think anybody has seen us together, because I don't think we have been together. James is much smarter than I am, but I make up for it in my amazing powers of confusion. Also, LJ, a famous fan of Robyn Hitchcock stated that "James is hot!" after seeing his picture. To my knowledge, she has not made the same claim about me (I'm okay with it. Only a little hurt.)

The ubiquitous anti-quiz...

1. flags!
Q: If one is making a political and/or artistic statement, in what do you wrap the effigy of Jessie Helms before stapling it to a cross, lighting it ablaze and extinguishing the flames with urine?

2. the 'glory hole'
Q: What was the nickname of my seventh grade teacher in Reno, who was thought to have a second (more lucrative) profession?

3. chris atkinson
Q: What is the name of Chris Atkinson, if you don't use capital letters?

4. under the brow
Q: Where is very low brow humor located?

5. roguelike
Q: What kind of good looks is it said that James Dignan posesses?

6. the ship trapped in the ice
Q: In what place would I prefer to be rather than to be forced to watch the movie Titanic?

7. a hundred
Q: What is the exact number of blood transfusions which Keith Richards had previous to the Steel Wheelchair tour?

8. bilge
Q: what is the original first name given to Newt?

is that a rubber shark in your pocket, or...?
sharkboy

rubrshrk@tigermonkey.com
www.tigermonkey.com