By Rya Backer

There’s only thing I like more than talking to people whose bodies of work I respect: pizza. However, finding out that said people are fans of something else that I’m a fan of is pretty exciting too.

Which is why when I spoke with San Francisco’s Dodos at last weekend’s Siren Music Festival in Brooklyn, after wading through about seven minutes of relevant sound bytes, I asked the kind of hard-hitting question that made journalism school pay for itself: “So, what do you guys think of ‘Project Runway’?”

Hey, I thought it’d be a welcome break from the same questions they’d been asked all day. And guess what? Frontman Meric Long divulged that “Project Runway” is of his “favorite shows of all time.” He was introduced to it by an old girlfriend and turned watching it into a sort of religious experience.

Percussionist Logan Kroeber had more constructive praise to offer the show. He liked the first two seasons and longs for a “return to form.” He didn’t take to last season’s bunch; there were too many “scrappers.” Meric quickly chimed in, “No, there were definitely some scrappers.”

All the while, new drummer Joe Haener looked scared, wondering just what kind of guys he’d gotten himself involved with.

Logan and Meric admitted they have yet to catch the season premiere, with good reason; They’ve been touring all over the place promoting their latest release, Visiter. If you love to hear percussion, you’ll probably love this album. Even if you’re meh about drums, you’ll probably like it. Here they are playing one of the album’s standouts, “Jodi.”

But here’s the burning question: Who were these “scrappers” Meric was referring to? And who do you think are this season’s scrappers? And no, Stella Zotis is not one of them.