By Matt Elias
A few years back at Austin's South by Southwest festival, the MTV News team conjured up five hard-hitting questions to ask the various bands hanging around Austin. Since everything old is new again, we decided to do a little re-gifting at this past weekend's KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles.
The radio station's iconic holiday show — better known to regulars as "ACX" and less known as a show where any actual acoustic music is played — boasted a stellar line-up on its second night: Phoenix, Vampire Weekend (who are seasoned pros at this five questions thing), Brandon Flowers, the Black Keys, Florence & the Machine, Neon Trees, Temper Trap, Broken Bells, and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.
Some of those bands were gracious enough to subject themselves to our questionnaire. Of course, this was after we asked them harder questions, like how Phoenix was approached the soundtrack to Sophia Coppola's new film "Somewhere" and what's inspiring Vampire Weekend's next album.
But once that was out of the way, we could move onto the juicy stuff. So if you're dying to know who uses baby wipes in between sets or know what it's like backstage in 140 characters or less, then you have come to the right place.
Here they are, our five questions at KROQ's ACX 2010. It's our extra-special Christmas gift to you. Don't say the MTV Newsroom Blog never gave you anything.
By Matt Elias