Ever since I picked my favorite 2007 album, some questions about The Good Life have been bothering me. That's why I'm so happy that the amazing Ryan Fox found the time to answer those questions and allowed me to get my peace of mind back.

You've joined Tim Kasher and The Good Life in 2001. I personally think your presence made the transition of the good life from a side project into an established band. In which point of time do you think it happened if you see a difference at all?

"About the time I joined was indeed the transition from solo project to band effort. Tim had recruited some people to tour with him for the first album, but 'Black Out', which we recorded in 2001, was a kind of turning point where it became a band. We still get tagged as a side project sometimes, which usually doesn't bother us. But it can be a bummer to see it in print because it comes off as a disparaging thing, like we're this lesser entity. The Good Life definitely feels like a band in the way we collaborate and work together, but it is different in that we have long stretches when we aren't playing together. But that's kind of nice, too, that the band operates on its own slow schedule and everybody has time to pursue other things, musical or otherwise, in the interim".

I'm sure that by slow schedule you mean slow when off tour, because your recent tour was pretty intensive. How was it? Which show was the best?

"We hadn't been on tour for a couple years, and it was great to get back out on the road and play for people every night. We played some places I hadn't been before and revisited some favorite spots. There were lots of shows I really liked for various reasons. In Philadelphia we played - for the 4th or 5th time - in the basement social hall of this church that has shows all the time. It was about 100 degrees in the room and probably 115 on stage. My hands slipped off the keyboard it was so humid. After the show, the floor was wet, like a layer of condensed sweat. It was kind of gross but I thought we played well and it felt healthy to sweat out some poison".

Sweating in Philadelphia, It's probably because it's always sunny there. How come, in your opinion, so many good and talented musicians came out of Omaha, Nebraska? Do parents there feed their children differently?

"I don't know what exactly to attribute it to. Lots of people here have been dedicated to their music for many years, and it's great that the world started to take notice a few years ago. I'm sure there are plenty of other cities with equal talent but perhaps Omaha is different in that there's not a particular sound or style, but it's still a spirit of collaboration. If there were some supermusic diet force-fed to Omaha toddlers, it's been brainwashed out of us".

Someone should make a movie about this place. Tell us a bit about Tim Kasher's screenplay, which your last album 'Help Wanted Nights' was originally written as its soundtrack.

"A guy's car breaks down in a small town and while he's stuck there he gets enmeshed in the lives and loves of the townsfolk. It's mostly set in a bar and involves just a handful of characters. Tim is working to get the movie made and has met with various people who could make it happen, though nothing is set in stone yet. To make an album can be quite the undertaking, but it seems that making a film is another beast entirely, with the costs and amount of people involved".

Well, sounds like it's worth the effort. If you could collaborate with one artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

"Hmm... Leonard Cohen? Maybe he could've used a different collaborator in the '80s when he put out some of those saxophone and synthesizer inflected - or: infected? - records. Tom Waits would be a fun one. How about John Lennon"?

What do you think about the way music and internet integrates? How does the internet affect you?

"I think it's a positive thing that the internet allows so many people to access so much information, music, etc. I still prefer word of mouth, my friends' recommendations and the random exposure of being somewhere a song is playing and thinking 'yes!' and having to ask who the band is. Sometimes the internet makes me feel flooded in music and like I can't really check anything out but can only stream a few crummy-sounding mp3s. But I've discovered things online that have prompted a trip to the record store: Stars of the Lid's 'And Their Refinement of the Decline', Papercuts' 'Can't Go Back' and Grizzly Bear's 'Yellow House' are a few that I've really gotten into".

Speaking of the web, I gotta ask, you know... being from 8hands and all... Are you a member in any online communities or social networks?

"The band has a Myspace account but I don't have one myself, though I've had them for a couple temporary bands I've been in. I think I still have a Friendster account that's been long inactive. I should get in there and make sure I'm not unknowingly sending out 'OMG! Macy's gift card' comments to people. The band also has a Virb account".

And Finally, What would you do if you had eight hands?

"We made a t-shirt last year that has an octopus riding a unicycle with two tentacles and drinking a six-pack with the other six tentacles. I guess if I had eight hands I'd wish for six more arms to put them on".

Download: The Good Life - Heart Broke

Download: The Good Life - You Don't Feel Like Home to Me

Download: The Good Life - A New Friend

Morgan Caris is a complicated man, or, to be accurate, he likes you all to be confused. When he started to record music, he decided that "Morgan" is a boring name, a bit too catchy and not at all dramatic. So, he called himself Flowers from the Man Who Shot Your Cousin. Actually, it's a perfect title for his music: morbid, very direct "in your face" spirit, honest and with a hunch of comedy.

Cars's debut LP, "Hapless" is simply beautiful. If you're looking for optimism or happiness, don't bother. His lyrics are honest & disturbing, and his clear voice tops an acoustic guitar & a few other humble instruments.

It's something between Smog to Nick Drake. Its music I definitely heard before, though it was completely different. If you enjoy low-fi singer/songwriters you would probably love Flowers from the Man Who Shot Your Cousin.

Because Caris's lyrics are simply brilliant, I thought it be a good idea to ask him a few questions – you know how it is - his words are his weapon.

What have you been working on since "Hapless"?

"My website. It's just about ready to go online. I've also tried out various live formations, with bass and/or cello and trying to add drums to some of the newer songs that felt like they needed some. I did so with Laurent Vaissière from Paloma and Milo from Thousand and Bramier. Both those projects are well worth checking out by the way. I also toured some in the Pacific North West with Erwan from Waterhouse Records playing bass. We met people we'll be working/touring with again like June Madrona from Olympia WA who are now releasing an album on Waterhouse and with whom I'll be touring in France this September. Also "Hapless" is now available in the US through their record label, Bicycle Records".

Your music is super-melancholic. What should happen to make you a happy person, and even more – an artist that creates happy music?

"I like to think I'm pretty good at being happy. I try anyway, to appreciate the good times when they do show up. Having someone helps. But as for making happy music... it's true that I don't write as many songs when things are sweet and groovy. I don't think happiness helps that much in that creative process. I tend to think of songs as a way to make darker things more uplifting using beauty as a tool. I don't think happiness calls for much commentary, at least not in the form of songs. Maybe I would switch to some other art form if too much happiness came my way. I should be so lucky".

What's your use in social networks?

"We use MySpace a lot to help set up tours: find gigs, bands to play with, places to stay, people to meet... We also promote shows on Last.fm and other sites. But a lot of my friends aren't on these networks so I don't use them so much on a personal level. Then again some of the people I meet through there become my friends so it evens out... It also helps keep in touch with more people in different places which when you move back and forth between countries is useful".

Do you think that networks like myspace/imeem/last.fm helped you to achieve recognition?

"Last.fm especially because I think the people there are real music fanatics and some really use the site to discover new bands with. I see MySpace as more of a person to person connecting tool between musicians or what not, rather than person to music as Last.fm would be. It is after all a Radio. But then all the Last.fm people have MySpace profiles as well... so again it evens out. More recently I signed up to Virb and they were nice enough to put my page up in the staff selection column for a week. That brought a little attention too".

Does it bother you that a lot of fans will listen to your music online instead of buying the album?

"Drives me crazy. But I find out who they are and I travel to their homes and smother them in their sleep. Then again, it's not like I'm the only person whose music gets passed around for free. It's great to think people in Brazil and Finland and Sri Lanka and Israel get to hear the songs as well. They never could have if it hadn't been for the internet. So if the price to pay is that we sell less records proportionally, so be it. I like to think the ones who really like the music will end up buying Hapless. And maybe in the long run we'll come out on top".

Do you find new music online?

"I'm pretty lazy when it comes to finding new music. I rely on my friends a lot. Laurent Orseau from Hinah label often has something new up his sleeve. Usually something both great and unheard of. Sibylle Baier comes to mind... Another one of my prospecting friends I owe many discoveries to over the years: Scott Walker, Tindersticks, Moondog, Brokeback, Ennio Morricone (the non western stuff). The list goes on... And then there's the music my friends make and people I play gigs with or see on stage that I sometimes swap records with: Christina Antipa from Portland Jenna Conrad from Seattle who also plays with Damien Jurado, Kevin House from Vancouver who just released a truely beautiful second album... But that's all in the real world. As far as the web is concerned, I remember hearing Richard Buckner's song "A Chance Counsil" on Merge Records' front page a few years back and being instantly addicted. Then I checked out KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic show and found him there too. It's a great show. It was there I first discovered M. Ward and Alexi Murdoch and Iron and Wine... WNYC's Spinning On Air with David Garland is also a goldmine. I was in seventh heaven when he did an episode about "Hapless" last year in June. Recently I can't think of something I discovered online. I was too busy going to shows and discovering acts in the flesh. Like Cheese on Bread from
New York only last week and Sorry Gilberto from Berlin a few weeks before that..."

What would you do if you had eight hands?

"I would cheat at poker."