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Each week ZIO asks a different musician the same 11 questions via email. Visit Zoom In Music weekly for a new installment or subscribe to the RSS feed.

The Philadelphia-via-D.C. trio Jukebox the Ghost does something you would never expect of a 21st century indie pop band: they write upbeat songs.

Isn't that WILD? Who writes upbeat, fun music anymore? Aren't we in the middle of a recession or something? But there's more to this band than their collective courage; their infectious live shows and sticky hooks have earned them a tremendously faithful following, and the enthusiasm they bring to everything they do is hard to resist. They were so enthusiastic, in fact, that both Ben, the band's singer, and Tommy, the guitarist, contributed answers in this most recent installment of These Questions Go To Eleven.

1. What music was played in your home while you were growing up?
(Ben) I grew up playing classical piano and my dad was a classical guitarist who also wrote songs in the vein of Cat Stevens or James Taylor. So I heard a lot of classical, a fair amount of '60s and '70s rock: Zeppelin, Beatles et cetera. 

(Tommy) For whatever reason, my favorite artist when I was very young was John Philip Sousa. Apparently I liked marching. I didn't discover that I liked rock music until I reached double digits. 

2. Who is the best artist we have probably never heard of?
(Ben) Harry Nilsson. People either love him or they've never heard of him at all.  

(Tommy) The Natural Dreamers.  Two-guitar and drums experimental rock/noise/jazz nonsense from San Francisco. I can't stop listening to their only album (self-titled). 

3.  What is your favorite song lyric?
(Both)"起來！不願做奴隸的人們！", the first line of the Chinese National Anthem.  For obvious reasons.

4.  What song do you want played at your funeral?
The Chinese National Anthem. For obvious reasons.

5.  What is your favorite b-side?
(Tommy) I'm not sure if it counts as a b-side since it was still officially released, but since it was the b-side to the single "Get Back," I think I'd have to go with "Don't Let Me Down."  Probably the most heartfelt song John Lennon ever wrote. Can't believe it wasn't on the original LP of Let it Be.    

6.  Which medium do you prefer: vinyl, cd, or download?
(Tommy) I think the vinyl/mp3-download combination that most artists are starting to sell is the ultimate win-win. At this point, CDs are pretty much useless. Not as portable as mp3s, not as awesome as vinyl. All of us in the band are record player owners. If you put a gun to my head, I'd have to say downloaded music just because of the ease of downloading and sharing. There's a lot of music I would have never heard without downloading.

7.  Which artist would your fans be surprised to find out you like?
(Tommy) Deerhoof is pretty much my favorite band currently making music. R. Kelly is also a tour van staple, specifically the masterful album Double Up.  
 
8.  What musician would you choose to cover one of your songs?
(Tommy) After hearing what they did with their Black Flag cover album (see below. -Ed.), I'd have to say the Dirty Projectors.

9.  Who is the most overrated artist?
(Ben) Pukebox The Joke - his fame brought him to his doom. 

10. What musician or band do you wish you’d seen play live in their prime?
(Ben) I would have loved seeing the Talking Heads perform.  

(Tommy) I would give a few fingers to go back in time to see a Zappa show, especially during his Grand Wazoo/big-band era. 

11. What non-musical influences do you have?
(Ben) Books, books, books.  We are all big readers, from Tom Robbins to Salinger to Vladimir Nabokov to (shamefacedly) the Twilight series.

Check out Jukebox the Ghost's Myspace page.

Be blown away by Rise Above, the Dirty Projectors' re-imagining of the seminal Black Flag album, Damaged.

And be sure to enjoy the distinguished, dignified Chinese national anthem in glorious MIDI form. For obvious reasons.

Check out more installments of THESE QUESTIONS GO TO ELEVEN:

Adam Green
Art Brut
Camera Obscura
Chin Chin
The Cribs
Darlings
Dead River Company
Fool's Gold
Fujiya & Miyagi
Golem
Talib Kweli
Ben Kweller
Jeffrey Lewis
The Low Miffs
Lights
M83
Man Like Me
Marina & The Diamonds
Meg & Dia
A.C. Newman
Cale Parks
Silvery
Tapes 'n Tapes
Tiny Animals
The Von Bondies
White Rabbits
Wild Light
Yo Majesty!

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