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That makes 16 For those new to tranjka we are an mainly interview specific zine with some occasional opinion pieces and rants. We originally offered tranjka as a forum for musicians and indie label people to voice their opinions and as a platform to introduce their corner of the music world. We found that bands would rather be interviewed about the issues effecting them, ultimately leading to the same results in the end. We had a feature a few issues back where we asked the same 14 questions of different musicians and indie label people. The results were fantastic, seeing the range of opinions in a format where you could compare and contrast the ideas; it was a display of the pulse of the indie label world at that certain moment. We decided to go in that direction, and focus on asking bands, musicians, and label folk, similar questions and put them within the same format for the reader to investigate and learn what's going on within the minds of the bands and people making the music they hear. We do ask some questions on the bands history and stuff, but the real meat is how they feel about trends, happenings, lure of the local scene, the importance of a hit, what it takes to make it in this biz, what it means to make it, and the life of being an underground musician. To navigate through this site either click on the RED highlighted names of the contributors at the top of this page or within the following descriptions. OR if you feel like browsing click on the long RED bar at the right of every page to take you to the next interview/piece. The order is arbitrary as we try to be fairly equal in our attention to all the interviewees. Most of these bands are in the spotlight since they have new or recent albums released. If you're a band and want to be involved, want to contribute, be interviewed, or want to send us pictures just send us an email. We want to thank everybody for contributing to this issue and to thank you for reading. Jason editor, tranjka.net mail us at editor@tranjka.net We've got 14 new tranjka.net interviews, a freelance interview of the band MONTY LOVE from our editor at large Ester Park, and one opinion piece on the influence of Napster, appropriately titled Napster of Puppets from Lance of OJET records. We first tipped off our friends at us|against|them about the breakup up of WESTON back in February. We interviewed the band on the night of their final New York gig. These guys break into the big leagues and call it quits nearly simultaneously and have no regrets at all. J O H N of us|against|them repays us the favor by granting us an interview about his feelings on punk rock and being part of an indie weblog/zine. When we first heard this record we had thoughts of Shiner and when we read the liner notes we were excited to see Bob Weston had his engineering hand in the making of the latest record from the WHITE OCTAVE (they have a new album in the works). We interview Linc and Finn of the intensive-core WHITE OCTAVE. Think fun-punk is dead? Fun-punks not dead! What a blast this interview turned into, BETTY ALREADY imbibe their rock n' punk wit from their latest album "Amerimaniacs" in this interview, it's a total scream. Feeling a little mellow, feeling like you need a stretch on a breezy porch swing. A.C. COTTON frontman ALAN CHARING reminds us of the influence of Dylan and the comforting acclimation found in finding the best pace to live a musical life by. ENGINE DOWN can walk the walk. They tell us to make honest music and the success you expect will come. We interviewed the HELIO SEQUENCE a little ways back. We found their forward looking manner refreshing and a little unexpected. A last minute addition to this issue the HELGAS remind us that Atlanta has a great rock music scene and that you don't have to practice to be a great band. When we first heard this band we thought, "they gotta be from D.C.," but they ain't. RED ANIMAL WAR harbors the same intensity and feel for the smartish groove that we don't typify with the South-West. Then again maybe we're just a bunch of uptight Yankees. Our friends 16 VISIONS RECORDS have been involved with tranjka since our first issue almost a year ago. As we moved slowly away from independent labels and towards indie music in general we're glad that these guys still want to be part of our forum. And in their inclusion we can all remember that there is more to independent music than just being an indie. Rounding out our North-West contingent are SILVERHAWK and SPIV. Both uniquely edgy in sound while remaining poised. We're beginning to think it's better up there then over here. The power-pop never stops. the BENJAMINS bass player, named Ben no less, talks to us just before he went out on the WARPED tour. Last, but not least, is our good friend KEN RICH most recently, and currently of the band the Miami Relatives. Ken's joy of making music brightens our usually shoe gazing attitude here at tranjka. He's also looking for projects, so if you're a band in need of a producer, you never know. JM |