It’s been four and a half years since Los Angeles-based noise-rock duo No Age released An Object, their most recent full-length record. At that point, drummer and vocalist Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall had been going hard as No Age for six years or so—beginning in 2008, they’d released three acclaimed full-length records on indie giant Sub Pop, and they’d toured unstintingly, including a handful of international trips. Onstage they burn a whole lot of calories, fueling outbreaks of sweaty, euphoric moshing, and for the LP release of An Object they took a similarly effort-intensive approach, making everything but the actual vinyl themselves by hand.
Snares Like A Haircut by No AgeHow’d you decide on the name Snares Like a Haircut? Seems oddly specific . . . .
What about Asia?
What’s it like being in a band that’s putting out a new record, touring, and also having kids? It’s awesome, actually. We used to tour like six months out of the year or longer with short breaks in between, but now we’re figuring out how to go out for less than two weeks at a time so we can be with our children. We’re not sure how it’ll work, but we’ve done some of these short runs, and it’s been fun. Granted, we haven’t had a record to support. We’re hoping we can get everywhere over a longer period of time. Hopefully people are patient enough for us to get there a bit after the release.
I guess you can’t really help but measure someone up to their past experiences, but it seems more venomous in the film realm, maybe? Especially when it’s a film that connects with you. In music, the sound or voice of something means something specific, but you’d be bummed if the next song were a doppelgänger. It’s part of the musical mandate to sound different. You don’t want to hear the same song over and over again, but an actor can be the same character in almost every movie. That’s why these big sequels exist. You literally have the same actor and character in a new movie. Maybe the bad guy changes, but this guy is doing the same thing the same way, almost with the same words! You want to hear them say their catchphrase and wear the same clothes. But you get bummed when time sets in. “Why is Indiana Jones older? He’s not supposed to age!” What’s it like having a repeating name? [Laughter.] It wasn’t anything until I got into high school. I don’t know—it was my dad’s name as well. His name was Randy Lee Randall, and my name is Randy Steven Randall. I just thought everybody’s name was like that. People usually ask me, “Hey, is it really Randall Randall?” Nope, just Randy Randall. That’s my real name. When I was a teenager or in my early 20s going up for a job, nervous, people would see it as an icebreaker: “Hey, it’s Randy Randall!”
