artists from the time you hold most dear? TD: Zach and I had many different influences leading up to this album.  One we both agreed on is a NY band called Ambulance Ltd., that had basically broken up by the time we got into them.  The first track on ancient mars is largely instrumental, and hopefully captures a bit about what we love about that band. ZG: Tom actually wasn't really into popular music until he was 14 so the '90s thing doesn't offer a lot of nostalgia for him.  When I was a kid my mom used to go into CD stores and say to the clerk: "What's cool with you people these days" and then just buy me that, sight unseen. So as a kid I loved grunge and post-grunge -- Nirvana, Everclear, Tripping Daisy, those kinds of bands.  I've never made music that sounds even remotely like that, but this time it was fun to write songs that at least gave me that feeling. CM: Considering some of his credits, I'd say Chuck Brody was an interesting choice to produce this record. Where would you say his influence is most prominent, and how did the process differ from working with Howard Redekopp the last time around? Taking that a step further, Tom, was there anything about Chuck's approach to the work that you found particularly intriguing as a producer yourself? TD: Zach had heard the Bear Hands record wanted to step outside of producers we knew in