I figure you guys have had a bit too much Bond for the time being so I’m going to call it a halftime (okay not so much of a half but 3 quarters of the way complete) on In Conclusion: The James Bond Series to introduce you to a local band from my area trying to make it in the music industry. They’re a couple of friends of mine that I met back in grade school who have a bit of their own style of music. I sat down with them a few months ago and conducted this interview with them. From Boonsboro, MD, this is “Dinosaur Spumoni”.
y2joey:So tell us about yourselves?
Dinosaur Spumoni:Well, we are Timtron and Nic (no “K”). We play music together, and I believe we’ve been playing for a few months. We play Electronica, in that we use a lot of electrionic equipment but it isn’t purely digital. So for instance, use a variety of synthesizers, sequencers, and loops to play our music, but also a lot of guitar. However, we could play a wide variety of genres. Anything, really. We take any challenge that comes along our way musically. In fact, we’ll take just about any challenge you can throw at us: physical challenges, mental challenges, emotional challenges. Just email us a challenge or something, and we’ll do it. Like us on Facebook.
Pictured Left to Right: Timtron Harnaschmacher and Nic Sanderson
y2joey:So why the name, “Dinosaur Spumoni”?
Dinosaur Spumoni:The show “Hey Arnold”. There was a character named “Dino Spumoni”. He was like Frank Sinatra but was a recurring character. We really liked him so we went with it. He’s symbolic of our childhood because he… tried to fake his death and… he had a partner he wrote music with…kinda like us.
y2joey:Any previous names?
Dinosaur Spumoni:Well we went through a lot. We went through a period where we called ourselves “Alfredo Alfredo and The Stimulus Packages”. We really weren’t sure about any other name but when we came to this one, we stuck with it.
y2joey:Where did you two meet?
Dinosaur Spumoni:1st grade; It was on Facebook that I (Timtron) got on Craigslist and I found a keytar. I said, “Hey wouldn’t it be cool if I got a keytar. Nic said, “If you get a keytar, I’m starting a band”.
And a few weeks later, we were at a party and we started talking about it again. Timtron had just bought a keytar and I had a just bought a synthesizer and I said, “We should play together”. So a week later we brought them to another party and played as loud as we could. Everybody fucking hated it. Wait, did I say “hated”? Because I mean “loved” it. We had finished a song we made up on the spot and everybody clapped in a symbol of acceptance so we slapped them with our cocks…our fat musical cocks.
y2joey:What are your musical influences?
Nic: Well, I think my strongest influences would probably be Sonic Youth, Radiohead, The Cure, Pink Floyd, and Gary Numan.
Timtron: Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Deadmau5, The Bloody Beetroots, and Henry Homesweet, Ein Astronaut, Jack Conte, Nic Sanderson, Wren, and The Intro to Cowboy Bebop.
y2joey:Have you released any albums?
Nic: We’re recording the first in my garage right now.
Timtron: I personally released an 8-bit album months ago under another name. Its only available by us so if you’re interested contact me.
y2joey:Where can we contact Dinosaur Spumoni?
Dinosaur Spumoni:We have a Facebook page or you could e-mail either of us. Like us on Facebook.
y2joey:What instruments do you use?
Timtron: I like to use gameboys and wren machines
Nic: I play guitar, synthesizer with the keys, sometimes the bass and sometimes the drums.
Timtron: We tend to cycle around a good bit.
Nic: I like my instruments like I like my ladies: plentiful and diverse
Timtron: I like my instruments like I like my ladies: making beeping sounds and plastic.
y2joey:Where do you do shows?
Dinosaur Spumoni:Anywhere, any time, just contact us. We’ve been playing at parties lately because I have a lot of friends (Nic). Yeah, I have friends. We’re hopefully playing a club in Boonsboro, Maryland soon and last week we climbed a mountain and we found the caretakers and improvised a show for them with Tim’s gameboy and some beat poetry.
y2joey:Are you instrumental or use vocals at times?
Dinosaur Spumoni:We use vocals at times. Some are instrumental. It’s probably about half and half. However, sometimes I (Nic) will talk over the instrumental ones. I generally tell a story to the beat of the song or interact with the audience.
y2joey:Any other upcoming shows?
Dinosaur Spumoni:Nothing definite at the moment except some parties we may be popping up at. However, after we’ve finished recording we’re going out to visit various places and try to get more shows.
Nic’s email – mhd0406@msn.com
Timtron’s email – harnaschmacher@yahoo.com
There you have it an introduction to “Dinosaur Spumoni”. Above you can check out a few song demos from there album “Demosaur Spumoni” along with some of Timtron’s solo work. Next week, we don’t quite return back to Bond yet, instead I review something we all know very well with a twist. It’s “The Room…Live”. Until then be sure to message me at jbasfo01@shepherd.edu for more questions, comments, and such.