Broke-Ass Band Interview: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Everyone’s more handsome in b/w

I’ve been obsessed with the greatness that is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., also known as Detroit duo Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott, for a long, long time (or at least since last Easter).  Since then, they’ve put out their “Horse Power” EP, which kicks ass and includes a dreamy cover of The Beach Boys’ already dreamy “God Only Knows,” and toured the U.S. like the rock stars they are!  Catch them in New York in May and San Francisco in June before the release of their first full-length album, “It’s a Corporate World” (hurry, June 7th!).  Until then, Josh answers some of my intense questions:

CJ:  You guys are from Detroit, which has an incredible music scene.  What are your favorite acts coming out of the city nowadays?

JE: Prussia, Phantasmogoria, Deastro, Chris Wills, Danny Brown, Black Milk, and some more too.

CJ: Too many to name; not surprising!  Any other musical influences?

JE: Everything.  Even if something doesn’t agree with your ears, you can learn what not to do.  We are always thinking about music, so everything is an influence.

CJ: So I write for a blog that caters to a broke-ass city kid crowd.  Is music your full-time job or do you hustle on the side?

JE: We have no jobs now, although we had jobs a little while ago.  I delivered flowers.  Daniel delivered mail.

CJ: Is there anything you absolutely refuse to spend your hard-earned money on?

JE: Pretty much everything but good food.  We like expensive meats, produce and wine.  Everything else is frivolous.

CJ: Don’t discount the Two-Buck Chuck!  Just sayin’.  So you’ve been on tour for a while now.  What’s been your favorite dive bar out of all the cities you’ve visited?

JE: Hmm.  The W Hotel in L.A. was kind of sub-standard.  Also, we stripped to our undies and dove into the pool.

CJ: Thats…hot.  Speaking of stripping, do you have any pre-show rituals, you know, like getting trashed and playing flashlight tag?

JE: We jump up and down and say, “No matter what, let’s have fun with each other!”

CJ: Are you ever going to release “Skeletons” on an album?  It was an early demo that didn’t show up on your EP, which made me very sad.

JE: Yes.  It’s on the new record.  Thank you for liking it.  It’s our favorite.

CJ: Mine too!  Rad.  I’m also a sucker for your “Nothing But Our Love” music video.  How did the concept come about?

JE: That video was a riot to make.  We had a few sushi meals with the guys who made it: Cort Johns, Iam Sigmon, Josh Jouppi and Justin Lawes.  Then we made the props for a week and filmed in friends’ houses and parking lots.  The initial “sleepover” concept came from a friend, but we feel that delegation is a talent in its own right.

CJ:  Agreed.  Okay, one last question, and tell the truth:  Do you have tiger blood?  I know that reference will be dated in, like, a month, but I don’t care.

JE: No.  Definitely not.  There can only be one Sheen.

(Thanks to thenjunderground.com for the photo.)