Joe MacAskill shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Joe, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
wake up early, check limbs, send out apologies from last night’s shenanigans, eat wheat toast with powdered peanut butter and mix it with a splash of almond milk, pour a giant-ass coffee, sometimes hike, rinse lather repeat.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m the singer/rhythm guitar player for The Strangulators!, a project I started while in Burlington, Vermont. I’m a native San Diegan who spent four years on the east coast, now back home on the west coast. The Strangulators! were born from pulp fiction noir paperback books from the 1940s-1960s. Song lyrics are taken directly, with mild ad-libing, from said books. The weirder the title the better. The lyrical content/text and story lines in the books are nuts, which makes for some fun songwriting. The music comes from my head or lifted without shame from other bands I like. The music is punk rock, which is a good vehicle for the storylines. I recorded the record in Vermont with the band Rough Francis, some of the members are sons and nephews of the band Death, hailing from Detroit. Death is one of the first african-american punk bands to ever exist.
I moved back to San Diego after recording the album and put together the west coast version of the band.
People say my house is clean. I’m a Swiffer fan.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
lack of self awareness and a lack of dedication breaks the bonds between people. Vulnerability and strong boundaries restores them. Not everything is made to last- know when to let that bond go if needed.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
sad AND scared! knowing one day things will change helps. Knowing eventually you will live your own life and you will find a good therapist!
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
connection, honesty, vulnerability, emotional fitness, major amounts of humor and sarcasm, a love of music and wine.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I used to sing along to Elton John into the vacuum cleaner- I think this was my calling. Or perhaps I was meant to be a vacuum salesperson.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thestrangulators.bandcamp.com/album/you-cant-unmurder-someone
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_strangulators/
