We talked to bassist Steven Hathaway of local band Cape Suzette at the Battle of the Bands on the UA Mall yesterday.

Wildcat: OK, you’re on the spot. In a world where climate change is both real and threatening, how do you justify the air pollution you create by playing music?

Hathaway: I don’t even know we make air pollution. Do we pollute the air by playing music?

W: Yeah.

H: As in, from our sound waves…

W: You know, I’m not really sure. I’m not a scientist.

H: I didn’t know that. That’s weird. I feel bad now. If we play inside, is it better?

W: No, because the sound waves go through the windows and spread out even more. I think it might be worse.

H: Is it just our bad music that’s the pollution?

W: Well, it’s any music.

H: Just sound, period?

W: Even us talking right now. We’re probably killing a child in Asia. Roundabout.

H: I feel bad. I’m not going to talk anymore, I’m just going to off myself or something. You guys are joking, you’re kidding.

W: That’s what I read.

H: Where’d you read that?

W: (Pauses.)

H: You didn’t read that.

W: ReverendShankar.com.

H: I just feel bad. I have no comment besides the fact that I feel bad about it.

W: That’s OK. Do you have eco-friendly lyrics in your songs?

H: To be honest with you, I don’t think so. We wrote a song that’s about this guy who’s being mean, I guess.

W: The sky is being mean?

H: No, not the sky. This guy.

W: Oh. Because I would get really upset if you had a song about the sky being mean. First you’re ruining the sky, and then you try to demonize it. Is your clothing recyclable?

H: Yes? Is cotton recyclable?

W: Probably not. Well maybe if you take it to a thrift store.

H: After my shoes are ripped up and I go to get a new pair, and there’s an unfortunate individual without shoes that wears my size, I could give them my shoes. And if my feet are too big for him, he can stuff it. He can put recycled paper or a T-shirt that I gave him -a recycled T-shirt – in his shoes to make them fit.

W: How do you feel disrupting the natural habitat of the grass by covering it with that stage?

H: If it makes you feel better, I didn’t want to play. Then again, I ride the bus. What about those people that are running on the grass, playing frisby or rugby while I’m riding it? There’s a military group that starts with an “”A,”” ends with “”R-M-Y…””

W: I think lately they’ve been trying to march on concrete. That’s why they’re building concrete all over Iraq. Because then, they don’t have to destroy the grass.

H: But now the grass isn’t going to be able to see the sunlight.

W: Oh, so now you’re an air fan.

– interview by Andi Berlin