Talking to Apples in stereo frontman Robert Schneider is something like sitting around the kitchen table with a few friends and a six-pack while knocking out the screenplay for a new episode of Seinfeld. With Schneider at the controls of this magic-bus ride, he pulls the topics he likes out of thin air like some deranged conjurer, instantly discards and modifies them, apologizes for going off the tracks, backs the engine up to the starting point, begins talking about something entirely different, then excuses himself to take brief notes on some future project while humming a melody that’s just popped into his head. He’s also one of a handful of great songwriters to emerge over the past 20 years, a psych/pop genius whose knack for addictive melodies and memorable lyrics is perfectly obvious on Travellers In Space And Time (Simian/Yep Roc). Schneider will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with him.
Schneider: Eating candy gives me an instant feeling of happiness and is an essential tool in the studio. It really elevates my mind and opens the gates for numerous ideas to rush in. I used to keep a bag of Tootsie Roll Pops by my mixing console, at my old Denver Pet Sounds Studio; my studio and I live in Kentucky now. Coffee is also essential, probably more so, but I don’t romanticize it as much. Favorite candies: milk chocolate, peppermints, licorice, Nestlé Milkybar, Sour Patch Kids, Mars Bar, fruit-flavored Mentos. Favorite soda: RC Cola.
Video after the jump.
