Joseph D'Agostino of
Cymbals Eat Guitars
What's on your rider?Hummus and vegetables and fruit, and bottled water.
What would be on your fantasy rider?Twin mountains of cocaine, many pairs of nipple pasties, and a Paul Reed Smith guitar to fingertap solos with the pasties on my eyes. Also a motorcycle.
What's your pre-gig ritual/ routine?I drink a lot of water to counteract mucus build up from smoking, do some vocal warm-ups, and change my guitar strings.
What's the best gig you've been to?Wilco on the A Ghost Is Born tour at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. It's, like, a 1,000-capacity club.
Who is the most famous person to have shown up at one of your gigs?Our manager doesn't tell us when famous people show up. He likes to keep us scrounging in the dirt. No ego trips!
Most embarrassing on-stage moment?I don't know. I hate dropping picks. That's pretty embarrassing, I guess.
What's your crowd-pleasing number?Probably And the Hazy Sea. It's also our opener.
Chatting between songs – good or bad?Bad if you're us, so we don't do it.
Groupies. Would you?Let me be unequivocal: Yes. I can deal with the existential emptiness. However, most of our fans seem to be 15- to 25-year-old boys with beards.
How many roadies does it take to change your light bulbs (ie, how big is your entourage)?Entourage? We can't even pay ourselves.
Have you a special stage wardrobe?I'm afraid not. Pretty boring rock stars, we are!
Do you like to meet and greet fans after the gig?Absolutely, I usually run right over to the merchandise table.
Any useful stage tips?Water, not beer.
What's the worst thing ever thrown at you?I've only had one thing thrown at me: a bead necklace in New Orleans, because I took my shirt off. I'll be able to supply more answers after this European tour.
Who's invited to your aftershow party?Vikings riding dinosaurs. And you.
In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea. Cymbals Eat Guitarsplay Crawdaddy, Dublin on Saturday
