Her Campus interviewed John Micensky, the lead singer of the band “Punting Baxer”, about his musical influences, band life, and much more!
Who came up with the idea for the band and how did you get your band name?
John: I came up with the idea for the band name and the band. So, my friends in (another band) “George Zipp” got their name from the movie Airplane, and I thought that was really funny. So, I kind of stuck with the idea of using a movie and chose the scene in “Anchorman” where Jack Black’s character punts Will Ferrell’s dog. His dog’s name is Baxter.
What are your musical influences?
John: I would saw the low singing definitely has to do with me being an Elvis fan, especially since I was really little. I’m also a big “Cage the Elephant” fan; I don’t know if it really shows in my songs, but I do think that that band affects my song-writing. Overall, though, I don’t write with the idea of other bands in my head; I think about different moods or feels I’ve seen at live concerts. I try to think of how to mimic that mood or feel in my own unique way.
How would you compare your sound to other bands or musicians out there?
John: I think one thing that stands out about our band is that we have short chunks of parts of songs that will completely abandon the mood of the song. I kind of life that because it creates this contrast of the mood of the music, for example in our song “George”, it has a really slow section that drastically contrasts the fast paced majority of the song.
Do you have any important pre-show rituals or habits that get you into the performance zone?
John: I minimize my caffeine intake that day because I’ve noticed that if I have too much caffeine that day I become super jittery, especially while playing guitar. I also drink tea before: lots of tea hahaha.
If you could listen to one band for the rest of your life, which would it be?
John: I think I would say the Beatles because there’s like so many different feels with all their albums. I feel like if I had to listen to one band my whole life I would rotate their albums based on my mood. Like if I’m in one mood I’d listen to “Revolver”, but if I’m in another mood I would listen to “Sgt. Pepper’s”.
Recently, David Bowie and Prince have both passed away. What impact will they leave on the next generation of artists?
John: I think Bowie definitely encourages artists to strive to be abstract, because like, all through his career, you couldn’t necessarily predict what he was going to do next. Not that I was alive for his whole career; I was only there for the last half or whatever, but still!
Favorite movie?
John: I think I’m gonna say Back to the Future II; I just like how corny it is haha. Although I’m kinda bummed that the Cubs win didn’t happen…that would’ve been sweet!
If you could be in any iconic band, past or present, which would you be in and why?
John: It’s tough. part of me wishes I could be in the beginning part of the funk movement, like James Brown or “Funkadelic”. I think they represented a really positive outlook amidst a culture that wasn’t very accepting of funk bands at first.
Finally, describe how you like to celebrate after a really good show?
John: The past few shows, we’ve all gone back to my apartment and we get a few beers. We talk about what songs went well and were received well and what we could change about the songs that could make them more appealing. That’s not really a celebration, but yeah.
Check out the band’s latest two singles; “George” and “Moving Moment” on Bandcamp. http://puntingbaxter.bandcamp.com/releases