I recently had the pleasure of corresponding with Brian Mazzaferri, I Fight Dragons’ lead singer/songwriter/guitarist, and he was kind enough to answer some questions for our site. If you want to know more about what goes on in Brian’s head, then kick back and relax for a while. We’ve got you covered.
What are your favorite NES, SNES, and/or Game Boy games? Do you have an all-time favorite video game from any system?
My favorite genre is SNES RPGs – my all time faves are Earthbound and Final Fantasy 2(4) and 3(6).
What are the geekiest interests of I Fight Dragons? Any obsessions worth noting?
Hmmm, I’d say probably my love of epic fantasy. I’ve been obsessed with reading it since I was a kid, when I found out that 1000-page books weren’t long enough for me; I needed to have them strung together in the largest conceivable story arcs known to man. Plus dragons and wizards. I cried at the ending to the Wheel of Time this January (I had been reading it for over 15 years, after all). Plus, I think it’s funny that I technically preordered George R.R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons in 2002 – and a decade later they made the series into Game of Thrones [on HBO] and he finally had to finish it.
What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to IFD on the road, and how did you guys handle it?
On our way to play at Dragon*Con in 2009, we had just bought a used RV and we were driving it down from Chicago to Atlanta. It turns out that was a horrible decision, and we broke down in the middle of the night outside of Nashville as the coolant lines burst and the RV stopped running. It was insanity! Thankfully I was able to find a local mechanic and we rented a van in Nashville to drive to Atlanta while the mechanic worked on the RV. We barely made it, but we still got to Dragon*Con!
Do any of you go to comic/anime/sci-fi conventions? If so, would you consider playing a show at one of them?
Definitely! In addition to Dragon*Con we also played at the New York Comic Con last year for the Pokemon Black and White Version 2 launch party.
Besides songs you’ve already covered, like “Power of Love” by Huey Lewis and The News, which songs would IFD like to cover on a future album?
We generally cover whatever strikes our fancy at the moment – 80’s stuff is always a blast and works well with chiptune, but modern stuff is fun too.
Bill plays a Rock Band guitar live on stage; are you guys big fans of the game? Are there any other music games you like (or dislike)?
You know, for a band that plays a lot of video game controllers on stage, we’re not particularly good at Rock Band or Guitar Hero! We spend too much time playing music and not enough time learning the ins and outs of that specific skill set. xP
Which superpower would you want the most?
Flight.
Do you religiously read any comics or graphic novels? And do you prefer Marvel or DC?
Not religiously, but I generally buy at least one per week. Recently I’ve actually been going through Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and loving every minute. I just finished The Boys, too, which was great, and I’m in the middle of Irredeemable. I actually tend to prefer the indie stuff over Marvel or DC, but I like the characters more in the DC realm.
If you could have any superhero (or supervillain) cook you breakfast, who would you choose and why?
Hah! Great question. I’m going to say Beast from X-Men. I feel like we’d have an incredibly stimulating intellectual discussion over breakfast and it would blow my mind. Might be some blue fur in the eggs, though.
A few of us at Capes and Cartridges are big fans of recording artist/producer Matt Mahaffey of Self, who engineered and produced KABOOM!. What was it like working with him? Is he as cool as he seems?
Matt is a complete baller – it was a joy to work with him and I actually wrote several of the songs on KABOOM! with him too. [He’s] really a wonderful and amazingly talented human.
Are there any dream goals or projects for I Fight Dragons that fans should look forward to?
We actually just launched our first Kickstarter and it’s basically our dream project! We’ve been completely blown away at how well it’s gone so far.
Well, that concludes Brian’s answers. If you liked what you read, then be sure to give I Fight Dragons some support by either backing their Kickstarter (only a couple weeks left) or buying their music. These guys care about their fans, they enjoy making music together, and they’re entertaining as all hell onstage. Trust me on this one!
An EPIC THANK YOU to Brian Mazzaferri and I Fight Dragons, once again, for not only giving me an interview opportunity but also for letting us use a song snippet of “Don’t You?” in our podcasts.
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Wow! It’s awesome that you were able to do this! Great interview!