1 - Did you play any instruments as a child? If so which one(s)?
I started playing keys when I was in 7th grade or so. I tried taking guitar lessons when I was in about 2nd grade, but I was a bit too young to have the discipline to have the lessons do me much good.

2 - Do you come from a musical family?
Not at all. Both of my parents had artistic abilities, but not musical.

3 - Were you formerly trained as a musician or was it more of a trial and error?
No, I taught myself. I did try taking piano lessons when I was in high school, but they spent more time trying to get me to unlearn doing things the way I did than teaching me new stuff, so I quit after a year.

4 - How were you introduced to this scene?
I went to see Depeche Mode on their Music for the Masses Tour, and in between bands, they had a DJ spinning industrial stuff and it was kind of a revelation for me. I had previously been into punk and electronic stuff, and I had no idea there was stuff out there that was kind of a hybrid of both of those aesthetics.

5 - Do you listen to other types of music? If so what kind?
Yeah, I listen to pretty much everything. I don’t really listen to industrial stuff anymore just because I don’t think there’s been much interesting stuff coming out in recent years, but lately I’ve been very into electrohouse, dubstep, IDM, rock, hip-hop… you name it.

6 - What are some of your favorite bands and/or musical projects?
Depeche will probably always be the band closest to my heart, but these days I really enjoy the Presets, the Editors, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lady Sovereign, Vex’d...

7 - How did you come up with the name Assemblage 23?
It was more or less at random. I just wanted something that was comprised of both letters and numbers because I thought it would lend itself well to logo design. Only years after I had picked the name, did I start hearing about the supposed ‘significance’ of the number 23. But by that point it was too late to change it.

8 - Do you keep a regular job or are you all musician?
I’ve just been living off the music for the past 9 years or so. The economy may change that soon, though.

9 - How does your family react to your music?
They’ve always been supportive even if they don’t totally understand it. I think they were a bit nervous when I decided to try to make my living off it, but when they saw I could make it work; I think they relaxed a bit.

10 - Are you involved in other types of art?
I used to draw a lot when I was a kid, but I don’t do that so much anymore. I like to cook a lot, which I suppose is an art… kind of.

11 - What is your favorite city to play in? Why?
Obviously big cities like LA, New York, and London are fun places to play with big crowds, but sometimes playing in some small city that doesn’t get a lot of shows for 50 people can be even more fun. The larger cities are a bit spoiled in that every band that tours ends up playing there, but when you play some place that doesn’t get a lot of shows, like Raleigh, NC or Tulsa, OK, the fans are SO much more enthusiastic and energetic. Those are really fun shows for us.

12- Of all the cities you have played in which has the best food?
Believe it or not, probably Belgrade, Serbia. Every meal we had there was amazing. I don’t recommend it for vegetarians, though! haha

13 - What is the best part about being a musician?
I think when you hear from a fan that something you created really made a difference in their life. That’s a pretty overwhelming feeling.

14 - Do you keep a schedule for making new albums or is it more on the fly?
Well, you have to release stuff with some sort of regularity if you hope to make a living from it. Also, the way the business works sort of necessitates some sort of schedule, because, for example, an album has to be finished about 6 months before it gets released so it can be properly promoted and distributed.

15 - Are there musicians you would like to work with, but have not done so yet?
I’m not very into collaboration, to tell you the truth. I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to music, and that isn’t very conducive to working with others.

16 - Which song that you have remixed has been the most fun?
They’re all fun in their own ways, but the ones I tend to enjoy the most are when I get to remix a band in a very different style from my own, such as the one I did for the rock band Godhead recently.

17 - Tell us a bit about 23db records. What is it? Why does it exist?
Originally, I had intended to use it only as a vehicle for things like my side project Nerve Filter, or for releasing the really old, pre-signing A23 stuff. But I do a lot of production work for other bands, and there was a lot of stuff that wasn’t signed that I thought was really good stuff. So I figured if no one else was going to do it, I would. So it wasn’t formed with the idea of signing what was trendy and would sell thousands of copies, it was formed to put out stuff I thought was just good music.

18 - What does the future hold for Assemblage 23?
I am in the process of finishing up a second volume of A23 rarities, which I hope to put out at the beginning of the year. Then there will be a new A23 single and album this fall if everything goes according to plans.

19 - What advice would you give to fledgling musicians?
Stick with it and don’t get discouraged. Too many bands are impatient and throw in the towel because things didn’t turn out the way they expected them to right away. Do it because you love it, and not because you expect to become a huge star and make lots of money, because this isn’t the scene to do that in. Oh, and be sure to check out Waveformless, my music tech blog. I post quite a few tutorials on there that people might find useful. (http://waveformless.blogspot.com)

20 - Any final thoughts?
Thanks for the interview!

Assemblage 23 links:
(Web) (MySpace)

23db links:
(MySpace)

Tom's Music Tech Blog links:
(BlogSpot)