10 QUESTIONS WITH CRAYON FIELDS

Geoff O'Connor is the frontman in two excellent bands: Crayon Fields and Sly Hats. In almost every article written about him he is described as a "myopic boy genius", which is an unbelievably retardedly annoying description. Anyway, Geoff rules. We asked him 10 questions:

1. What's your thing?
Music.

2. Where do you see your thing in five years?
Hopefully in films.

3. When you're feeling playfully sophisticated yet nonchalant, do you put on a Crayon Fields album?
Definitely. You’d be a playfully sophisticated yet nonchalant fool not to.

4. Where were you specifically and what were you doing when Princess Diana died?
Never happened.

5. You're in two bands and you write all the songs for both of them. Do you ever feel like telling the other guys/girl to pull their weight?
Not really. I write the songs and then expect the others to come over and make them sound beautiful… and then they have drive me around to shows. I’m the slacker, really.

6. You're a really nice dude. When was the last time you lost it at someone, and why?
I spit and swear at my computer every day. My computer politely deals with so much human rage that it deserves to be declared legally alive, if that’s a good thing.

7. What don't you know?
I don’t know how to operate Paint Shop Pro.

8. What do you think about mainstream pop music these days? A lot of people think there's no one writing songs as good as Belinda Carlisle's "Leave a Light On" or Kim Wilde's "Kids In America", for example. Do you agree?
Yep! Though I only hear contemporary hits in taxis really, so it is hard to judge. That’s the thing with taxis, I guess, you get kicked out just as you're starting to get into it. I love “Leave A Light On” so much.

9. What's your favourite Australian album so far this year?
I love Guy Blackman’s Adult Baby even though I’ve heard it enough to be completely sick of it.

10. Give us 100 words of creative writing.
Without so much as glancing at her, Geoff finally whispered “Sure, you have 2 drinks to seduce me. You can fetch them.” Ingrid fumbled with her wallet, still unable to explain to herself why she was so drawn to the stranger. She could not even find enough to afford a drink for herself. How could the Queen of Sweden be left with only 3 gold coins? By tomorrow she could have the bar, even the whole street papered with Kroner. Frozen with desire, she tried desperately to imagine all the tennis players, actors and ballet dancers she’d made so jealous over the years but none could distract her. “Call the chauffeur…” she urged herself. “Leave while you can…"

[Crayon Fields MySpace]

[Mirror Ball 7” available Dec. ’08 on Chapter Records]