The Sniper Twins are quite the creative duo. Barry Flanagan and Dax Martinez-Vargas can throw down a beat with hilarious lyrics that are worth checking out if you have not done so yet. They recently put out a new video called, "Computer Friends" [Stack The Memory], that has become a fast hit on the Internet with over 500,000 plays in just two weeks on YouTube alone. As soon as I watched the video I immediately thought about how quirky they were and asked them if they would answer 20 Questions for Quirkee.com so their fans could learn more about them.
Quirkee: A friend of mine sent me the link to your new
video "Computer Friends" [Stack The Memory] the other day and we
quickly passed it around Quirkee. Needless to say we laughed and have watched
it numerous times now. I noticed on your Facebook page that you guys are from
Austin, Texas, the home of Quirkee.com! How did you end up in New York City and
what do you miss most about Austin?
Barry: We came to New York in pursuit of writing and
directing careers. We've done a lot of work in NYC for MTV Networks and videos
for bands and what not. Dax, feel free to chime in, but what I miss most about
Austin is queso (NYC does not have it anywhere), Barton Springs, and it's so
much easier to shoot stuff in Austin because you can pack up gear in your car
and get from point A to point B so quick.
Dax: Barry and I had done a lot of video stuff in college,
check out old Nothing Liquid stuff on YouTube or www.nothingliquid.com, and
once I made the move up to New York, I really wanted to focus on recording a
lot of music while also doing the writing and directing. In college I had
started writing songs on guitar and making weird beats and what not, but didn't
really land on any sound that I was satisfied with. It's come a long way
since moving up to New York.
I miss family, friends, and having dogs. Luckily, a lot of our Austin
friends moved up to New York. Not all, but some close friends. I
also missed driving at first and listening to music real loud in my car, a lot
different to filing into a steel train and minding your own business and maybe
listening to headphones that slowly destroy your hearing. Now I'm glad to
not be dealing with cars, the maintenance, the risk of head on collision, the
being careful about drinking, exhaust, fumes, gas, pollution and so on. Driving is still awesome though.
Q: Humor is obviously a huge part of the Sniper Twins
and the former Nothing Liquid. What inspires you creatively? Who are your
influences?
Barry: Very tough question. I suppose the below 3 are
just some of the bigger career inspirations. Personal life and all that
is different list.
Radiohead (I know it is cliche) - because innovation in the music industry,
especially digitally Banksy - because the versatility and originality of his art. And of course
being mischievous is pretty cool too if it pokes fun/questions authority.
David Fincher - because the amazing organization, realism, and detail he brings to
his projects.
Dax: People, food/drink, arts. I know. I
know. It's a very unsatisfying answer.
Q: What is
the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
Barry: Go online and check comments on the Sniper Twins
video.
Dax: Generally take a shower
Q:What
peculiar habits do you have?
Barry: One
man's peculiar habit is another man's everyday. Yesterday I ate Parmesan
cheese out of the little delivery packet but I bet some people do it all the
time.
Dax:If I'm watching
sports, I can't help but obsess about how the athletes are making major loot,
and everyone watching is contributing to that, so I tune out and think about
all the stuff I should be working on. But hell, maybe everybody does
that.
Q: If you were a superhero, who would you be and why?
Barry: I already am one.
Dax: Superman, because he can pretty much do anything you'd
want to ever do.
Q: Best cure for a hangover?
Barry: Burnt toast
Dax: Water, base foods, oatmeal, toast. Note: If you
eat and throw it up, you just need to keep eating until you don't throw up
anymore.
Q: Do you have a philosophy to live by?
Barry: If you really work at something... It will
happen.
Dax: Do what makes you happy. Be yourself. Honesty is a great policy. Do you're own thing. Anything in
moderation is all right. Always follow up. Don't take no for answer
(this doesn't apply to sex, because then that would be rape, which is
wrong. However if "no" is part of the role playing of it all,
then that's different, in which case you need a code word that really means No
or Stop).
Q: If you could play a professional sport, which would it
be?
Barry: Nascar
Dax: Snowboarding? Does that count?
Q: It does count. If your life were turned into a movie, which actor would
play you?
Barry: Probably Gollum from Lord of the Rings. He kind of
looks like me.
Dax: Lefler
Sagegrove. He sort of looks like me. He's more of a musician,
but I'm sure he could act.
Q: You are trapped on a deserted island. What 3 things would
you need to survive?
Dax: An extremely resourceful, smart and attractive woman,
that knows how to survive in the wilderness better than I do and is just crazy
about me. A fully functional boat. A GPS unit.
Barry: I second Dax's answer.
Q: With a fully functional boat and a GPS unit you wouldn't be
trapped for long! What words of wisdom did your father share with you?
Was
it good advice?
Barry: Use your network; everything you need is a contact
away.
Dax: It was great advice. But I'm not shelling that
stuff out for free. That's privileged information.
Q: If you could be reincarnated, what would you like to come
back as?
Barry: A blue whale... They're so impressive
Dax: An extremely talented piano player related to Osama Bin
Laden. At a family gathering, I would capture him, and then turn him over
to the authorities.
Q: What one word would you use to describe each other?
Dax: Real-go-getters!
Q: When you are not writing or directing, what do you enjoy
doing with your free time?
Dax: Strategically planning how to save the world. It's more than a days work, but I think I'm on to something.
Barry: Dax has a good answer, but I don't know if I have
figured out the solution yet.
Q: It's been stated that everyone in the world should have
his or her own theme song. What would be the theme song for your life?
Q: Who would win in a fistfight, Eminem or Vanilla Ice?
Barry: Eminem... Seems like he's got some connections that
could do some thugging for him.
Dax: I'd need to see what state they're in before I wager
any big money.
Q: What do you consider to be a perfect day?
Barry: Wake up; discover a new energy source that rids
massive world problems. Then shoot a cool video.
Dax: I wake up in the most comfortable bed of the most
stunningly sexy woman you've ever seen. After we've had our fill of one another,
we cook up a fantastic breakfast and dine. I then get a call from Barry
telling me he's picking me up in a chopper and we're heading to undisclosed
location to catch a flight that will take us to Osama Bin Laden's exact
location. He picks me up in the chopper. We head to the
plane. Once in the plane, in the air, we record an awesome song. We
then arrive to where Osama is, in a heavily guarded temple. We roll up in
our gold plane and play the song over our sound system so everyone can hear
it. They all surrender because we have made the most perfect song and they
realize this is all they had ever wanted. They hand over Osama. We
then fly over to Darfur and play a new song we made along the way and play it
so loud the janjaweed stop the genocide and ignite fire to themselves and the
Sudan government that funded them. We are followed by other planes that
land in Darfur and help everyone out that is still suffering. We fly by an
area in Iraq where a bunch of American troops are and we put on the craziest
performance you ever seen. Osama comes out playing an electric guitar and
plays a riff so magical, the clock turns back and Sept 11th never happened and
American troops were never deployed in Iraq. Thousands of lives are
spared. We then head back in our plane with Osama and meet with Iran and
N. Korean leaders and we agree to make them a hot new song every year if
they'll stop with the nuclear weapon development. They stop. We then
hit some other places, like Haiti and Jamaica and Columbia and rescue all these
places. We end in America where we fix the credit crisis and everyone who
was laid off gets to go back to work the next day. We hand over Osama to
Obama who in return let's Sniper Twins address the nation/world via
satellite. We tell everyone to give everyone a hug. This causes
world peace. We then head over to Austin and have great party with family
and friends eating animal friendly foods. We all go over to a haunted
house that has crazy mirrors. While in the haunted house, I lock eyes with
the most foxy femme who gives me that look... wait a minute...I think I'm just
referencing La Dolce Vita.
Q: Wow, that's quite a day, Dax! What is the biggest
misconception people have about you?
Barry: That I party every night.
Dax: There's not one that sticks out, just a bunch of little
ones.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would
you go?
Barry: Round Rock, maybe San Marcos. (Texas)
Dax: Everywhere.
Q: You guys have done your own projects and videos for MTV
Networks. Was "Computer Friends" [Stack The Memory] a project done for Seagate
Storage Solutions? They must love all of the great response it is getting. What
other projects are you currently working on and what can we look forward to
seeing from the Sniper Twins?
Dax: Computer Friends
was not done for Seagate. We did it for ourselves. After we did it,
we partnered with them because we spoke with them and thought they were cool
and figured a partnership would be cool. They are happy with the way
their name is getting out there, yes. We are working on our next
song/music video, and looking for the right partner to help us blow out the
video and make something really fantastic. We're also developing our
series idea and working on other bands' music videos.
Q: Thanks again for the Quirkee interview. Good luck to you guys!
Interviews 
The 
