The Guidance, aka Stefan Pruett, is on tour right now with Crystal Castles. I was able to catch up with Stefan via email while he's on the road to talk about tour life, what inspires his music, how he linked up with Crystal Castles, and what he's got coming next.
GH: Thanks for taking the time to talk! So let's get to it... what's life like on the road while you're on these tours?
SP: I knew I should've stayed in country music. I was poised to be the next Katy Perry. I was coming up right underneath her in the country music game but she said more negative things about the studio interns than me so she got a little further along than I did. Truly a missed opportunity. But gotta respect those studio interns...
Where do you draw inspiration for your music?
Misery
Gin
Hot sauce
Staring at a computer screen for hours saying, "What sound can I make that will make people think I'm cool/good looking or contribute to their substance abuse/nights partying and flailing about uncontrollably/ability to hook up/the American dream, or am I just living a lie contributing to the divorce rate and taking away from real, genuine human connection? Can/should I be a better person? What can I make to improve human connection rather than destroy it? Are my efforts ultimately futile?" So I guess basically anything to mitigate futility.
How would you describe your personal visual aesthetic?
FUTURE GRUNGE
MOD GRUNGE
AWESOME SWEATERSA bottle of hot sauce pouring onto a plate works too.
How did you and Ethan [Kath of Crystal Castles] originally link up?
At a beautiful dive bar in West Hollywood over jokes about metal bands through an equally beautiful mutual friend who brought us all together ❤️
Do you have any new projects that you're working on and/or releasing soon?
The human heart when born congenitally defected and thusly invasively rebuilt/reconfigured can in some cases no longer stand to beat on its own. Invented in 1889 by John Alexander MacWilliam, the pacemaker was reported to deliver electrical impulses to a heart incapable of maintaining a heartbeat fast enough or its own natural pacemaking rhythm. In 1958 Arne Larsson became the first human to receive an implantable pacemaker.
At some point I will have to get the batteries (aka, a generator) changed to the pacemaking device that lives in my body. This is a constant ongoing project I will be working on for the rest of my life when it comes to electronics, beats, music or otherwise
Anything else you'd like to share with our readers?
I hope humankind can adjust accordingly towards respecting its surrounding environment and coexisting habitat so as to prolong our own existence. When the world starts spitting us out, all we'll have left are the remnants of the demolished. If we don't sustain a means of using or repurposing them for survival or creativity we will cease to exist and no legacy will be lived.
This is guidance,
This is now.
Catch The Guidance on SoundCloud, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. And if you're able to catch Stefan on the road, make sure to prepare yourself for a great show from an amazing performer with a great personality to boot. You bet your ass I will be trying to meet up with him to chill next time he's in DC.
