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Dec 14, 2010 By Under the Radar Staff Artist Surveys 2010

For Under the Radar’s 8th annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to 2010. However our printed pages weren’t enough to hold all the great responses we got. Pick up a copy of Under the Radar’s Year End issue for interviews with: The Antlers, Bon Iver, Caribou, Club 8, Delphic, Rose Elinor Dougall, Gayngs, Hot Chip, Lost in the Trees, Love is All, The Love Language, Mogwai, of Montreal, Okkervil River, Yoko Ono, Owen Pallett, Plants and Animals, Mark Ronson, Superchunk, Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend, Sharon Van Etten, and Vivian Girls. Then check here for bonus responses not found in the magazine. Here are additional answers from Peter Silberman of The Antlers.

What was the low point of 2010 for you?

I don’t have much to complain about. Only minor things, and they’re not so bad.

With the Internet making every artist’s music potentially available to a wide audience, is it now easier to find listeners or more difficult because you have to compete with so many other musicians?

It suddenly seems like musicians are fiercely competing for attention with strategies that just barely transcend gimmickry. I think that means everyone’s grasping at straws now that the secret’s out about “The Internet.”

What are your thoughts on the Tea Party movement?

I don’t think much of it.

Who would you rather listen to—a totally original musician whose compositions are groundbreaking but difficult to listen to or a musician whose songs are immediately enjoyable but derivative? Why?

I tend to skew toward the former, but I also know that it’s insane to think you can listen to that kind of music all of the time. I try to balance.

If you could relive one day of your life, which would it be?

I don’t think it matters which day I’d choose. I bet that reliving even the most insignificant, uninteresting day would be pretty cool.

If you had a bucket list, what would be the Top 4 things on that list?

1. Go to the moon or space.

2. Go to the moon or space.

3. Go to the moon or space.

4. Go to the moon or space.

Who was your first love and do you still keep in touch with them?

I won’t name names, but she’s fucking insane and I don’t talk to her.

Have you ever been starstruck when meeting another musician? If so, by who?

I saw Tom Jones eating lunch backstage at a festival in England. It was unusual.

Lady Gaga: Avant-garde genius or overexposed attention whore? Discuss.

She’s a pop star, but she seems to understand that sex sells differently than it used to.

What is one notable band whose appeal you’ve never understood?

Deion Sanders.

(www.antlersmusic.com)