Thirsty: Which musician/band would you love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with?

Dustin Drase: Brian Eno, but only if he wore one of his fabulously awesome yet hideous outfits, particularly one with lots of feathers.

Dustin Drase (photo: Tone Stockenstrom)

Thirsty: What's your desert-island album?

Dustin: This is a tough one, but I'd probably go with the now sadly out of print Salvidor Kali by Sir Richard Bishop.

Thirsty: How do you discover new music?

Dustin: A variety of different ways. I'm a big fan of collecting things based on what label they are on. There are a lot of labels that I can pretty much guarantee i'll love, so I buy everything. Sublime Frequencies, Locust, Revenant, B-Music/Finders Keepers, Creel Pone and Numero Group all fit that bill quite readily. I spend a lot of time talking to fellow music critics, and I try to check out their suggestions. I also spend time in the new release section of stores like Turntable Lab or Aquarius to see what's coming out. Aside from that, for old stuff, I'll read about it on blogs, or find some obscure reference buried in the liner notes of another album.

Thirsty: What do you love, besides music?

Dustin: Comic Books. It's really not fair to my bank account that, as an obsessive collector, I have two all consuming collecting outlets. I surely hope my floorboards don't give out one day.

Thirsty: What was the last great book you read?

Dustin: It's been a while since I last read a real "book", but I just finished an amazing biography on Moondog called the Viking of 6th Avenue.

Thirsty: What band/musician do you think is about to break out?

Dustin: The Cool Kids.

Thirsty: What charity or social cause (non-political) are you passionate about?

Dustin: I'm really involved with a group called the Chicago Indie Radio Project that is trying to bring low power FM to Chicago. I also am fighting to restore the DJ portion in the term "wedding DJ" by working for my friend Mary's company Toast & Jam. For far too long people have tolerated gross injustices perpetrated by these so called DJs. There is absolutely no reason why you can't play Beirut during cocktails or jam out to LCD Soundsystem on your wedding night dance floor. It's not like either of these bands is even that obscure any more.

TOP FIVE SONGS YOU ARE LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW

1. Vitamin C by Can

2. Gold and a Pager by Cool Kids

3. Dungeon Master by Quintron

4. Sentimental Heart by She & Him

5. Fire Lances of the Ancient by The Sword