So in an effort to A) prove that we actually read your e-mails, and B) answer a few similar questions, here we present our version of a "Letters to the Editor" section in a magazine. You may also want to check out our FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) if you still have questions.

We guarantee that we all write the answers. Emails/questions are taken from real emails and letters, and are taken verbatim (i.e. we do not correct spelling, grammar, etc.). (Thanks to Ian Allan for the idea)

Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1998 01:18:46 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: letterman show

i just have one thing to ask, sean - are you really that tall or was it the 3-inch chuck taylor's?!?
christian

Here's how the individual HD members stack up, height-wise: Sean stands tallest at 6'4" (not including his shoes with inch-and-a-half soles). Evan is next tallest at 6', with Aaron a close third at 5'11". Jeff is the shortest at 5'8". (j.)
Sean adds: "In the kitchen of my parents' house in nashville there is a door frame which is cluttered with small horizontal hash marks signifying the various stages of height me and my brothers (and their friends and other people) have attained over the years. long story short, my official height (recorded by my mother and witnessed by several reliable sources) is now six foot five inches. Though an irrelevant piece of trivia for most sane persons, this tidbit may offer hope to those of you who are certain you've stopped growing. My new inch was accrued between the ages of 23 and 25 1/2. That is all. (oh, and the kicks i wore on letterman were doc martens, not c.taylors)."

From: "Elizabeth Renner"
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: funny noise
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1998 22:13:33 PDT

Greetings-
Just a quick question for the band (if this really is them, you never know in an age where my nine year old sister will pretend to be a 19 year old guy online). I noticed a funny noise after the lyrics "You told them all I was crazy" in Flagpole sitta that my brother swears is the guitar pedal, but sounds to me like muffled words. If you could please settle this question before we kill each other arguing, I'd be greatly obliged. We love the music and congratulations on your CD!

The noise heard in the background in that part was radio interference picked up accidentally while we were overdubbing the synthesizer horns (which were run through a wah-wah pedal). It's one of those happy accidents you could never have dreamed up by yourself.

Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 22:32:50 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: hey-

what's with the pic + pic = pic thing on top (house + people = teaparty etc.)??????

Jeremy Kaiser

Once upon a time, Jeff worked at a real job helping design websites that always had to be functional, well-organized, yadda yadda. So when doing the band site, he could do whatever random stuff he wanted, so he did (also note nonsensical-yet-cryptic navigational menu on every page). Plus, as several listeners have testified, it's immensely fascinating when you're completely stoned.

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 15:56:38 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: Harvey Danger where are u?;P

Hi, my name is Leigh Ann and Im super-duper confused, so bare with me please:)
This nifty Harvey Danger site (http://www.blarg.net/~hdanger/) ive been surfing, is it actually made by the band? Cause everything is refered to like "our band" and stuff...and im so lost right now, because i never thought a band could make a web page...not like its impossible or anything...but...hehee:) Or maybe, it isnt made by Harvey Danger and i am writing this letter and soon ill get a reply and feel like a total idiot. I wonder what will happen....
--Leigh Ann:)

Yes, the band (actually Jeff) writes and maintains the site. Actually, quite a few bands we've met also maintain their own site (Creeper Lagoon, for instance). For more details about this site, please see this page.

To: hdanger@blarg.net
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 22:34:39 -0400

hey Aaron, Jeff, Sean, and Evan,

I have a few Q's for you first on your CD is there any thing special about the "hidden" song at the end? I fast forwarded through it and rewinded through it to see if you had some hidden message but I couldn't find one.
thanks your fan jake

The "hidden track" which appears several minutes after the end of "Radio Silence" is the sound track of a video tape of us in the studio working on a song which never made it onto the album. (wait, did that make sense?) Maybe someday that snippet will get posted on the site....

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 02:07:41 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: hey harvey danger

Wassup band,
you guys are sooo great! and your web page is pretty cool, it look like u guys actually made it! haha! anyways, u guys record any b-sides? i love the "Where have all the merrymakers gone" album soo much and i wanna hear more shit by u guys, just send me email back cause i want to hear some b-sides or covers! thanx yall and keep up the awesome-ass work!

-John

Yes, there's a few recordings that aren't on the album. You can find the complete list of what/where/who in our Discography page.

Date: Sat, 8 Aug 1998 20:30:05 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: hey

Hi. This is Lori and Lauren and we were wondering if you were planning on making any new videos. We luv your music and really want to see new videos on mtv. Please write us back w/ the info. Thanx

sincerely
lori and lauren

It's hard to say. Videos are essentially a marketing tool which record companies decide whether to produce or not. Since they're so expensive to make (upwards of $150,000 each), there's a lot of factors that go into it -- whether or not the song is a "single," whether they think radio is going to play it, etc. Getting play on MTV is an entirely different game -- because MTV plays only 20-25 videos at any one time, it's extremely difficult to get added (competition is fierce).

Right now we have two videos: One for "Flagpole Sitta" and one for "Private Helicopter." The "Private Helicopter" one hasn't seen as much airplay as "Flagpole Sitta," but hopefully that'll change sometime....

Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 09:46:16 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: TABS?
To: hdanger@blarg.net

hi i e-mailed you guys just a second ago but my damn comp got screwd up so i wasnt sure if it was sent. i wanted to know if there is any bass and guitar tabs for flagpole sitta and the rest of the songs. i really injoy your music and hope for other albums to come out to so
thanks, A FAN
--Aaron--

We get quite a few requests for tabs for songs. Unfortunately, I (Jeff) don't really know how to do tabulature very well (I can read, but writing is a time-consuming pain in the !@##?$). However, I would be willing to go over tabs and correct/verify accuracy if someone wanted to put up an archive for others. If you're interested, e-mail me at info@harveydanger.com.

Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 17:12:17 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net

I was just wondering...do you guys send out lyrics over the internet? Just thought it would be more convenient. Either way, please write me back. Thanx.

~Kristy~

P.S.- Just wanna say: great cd.

Right now we don't have e-mail lyric service up (yet, though it's on a list of things to do). BUT we do have the lyrics available (and in a printable page) on our website right here.

To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: MP3's, WAV's or MIDI's
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 22:32:07 -0400

Hey, I was wondering if you knew of any sites that have MP3's, WAV's or MIDI's of "Flagpole Sitta."

Thanks

Hmmmmmm. Even if I did know, I don't think that officially I can say anything -- see, the problem is that MP3, WAV, and MIDI files (especially MP3s) are "new" technology, and therefore, the record industry doesn't understand it. And what they don't understand, they fear -- all of which is to say if either our publisher or label found sites distributing stuff of ours like that they'd probably try to get them shut down. I had enough problem trying to keep the RealAudio files up on our site (and honestly, I think the only reason they're still up is 'coz nobody from either organization has looked at the site). So hush, child -- if I wanted to find something like that I'd try newsgroups or search engines....And you do intend to buy the album, right? :)

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 17:11:31 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: gotta know

Please tell me how the name Sitta came to be used. It is a great song and a great album, and the first time ever someone had used a name as rare as Sitta. Please let me know,
Jay Sitta

Sorry to disappoint, but essentially it's just "Sitter" but with that thing where you take any suffix and replace it with an -a (e.g. "thrower" becomes "throwa"; "the" becomes "tha"; "killer" becomes "killa"; etc.). As Sean says, it was originally "Flagpole Sitter," but he saw a Pavement song was named "Fame Throwa," thought it was funny, and renamed (or rather, re-spelled) the song.

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 19:08:31 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: hey guys

Harvey Danger,
Whats up? I like your music and style. I think your a cool band, but your web page never has any stuff on it about you. i look all the time and its never updated. I doubt your even going to get this. I only want to know the answer to one question:

HOW OLD ARE YOU GUYS????

Thanks

Actually, I finally got around to finishing those areas, so you can see the hand-written bio here, and the answer to your question lies in the FAQ.

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 21:46:58 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: hey!

I have your cd and i love flagpole sitta.
Who came up with the name Harvey Danger?
Please answer me.
Galaxy627@AOL.com
Thanx! BYE!!
- Danielle, Duchess of World and fan of Harvey Danger

Hey, see the answer to the previous e-mail.

From: "Nick Stayner"
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: guitar
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 16:39:56 PDT

How's it goin'? Could you send me the guitar tabs to you song flagpole sitta? I think I have it (d5, b5, b5, c5, a5: chorus, d5, e5, c5, d5). I really don't know, and i've only heard your song once about a month ago, so I don't have a lot to go on (up here they don't have your cd yet.). Also, I noticed you play a strat. what pickup did you use on "flagpole sitta?"?

Nick

Actually, i think it's more like D-C9-C-D the whole way through (bridge is A-G-F-G-A-G-F-G-D or so). And the answer is: bridge pick-up, "humbucking" mode (dual lace sensors). Okay, enough gear talk. Onto the next one...

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 05:01:11 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: hello

Hey guys!! I've been hearing a lot about you a lot more lately, i dont know if you remember me, but i emailed you awhile ago saying how much i liked Flagpole Sitta and you, Jeff, wrote back saying thanks and all...I just wanted to congratulate you on all your success and wish you a lot more..I see your video on mtv all the time, its great....Is it hard, getting all this attention? I was also wondering what kind of advice you could give to songwriters. My brother is a superb songwriter, but he lacks a lot of motivation. I guess that partially makes it difficult for him to succeed, but i know he's a great writer, and is there anything you could suggest i do to make him get off his butt and start working at getting his music out there? As if that made sense...well, thanks for taking the time to listen, and please write back.

Smiles,
Ami

A tough question with no real answers. We don't pretend to be experts in the subject (although the story of how we got where we are should be pretty enlightening; it's here). The only thing I could suggest is to make sure that the music-making portion of things comes first and always has priority. A lot of times it's easy to get caught up in all the peripheral junk that happens (certainly when you reach a certain level of success) that it's easy to forget what got you there in the first place.

Also, if you're starting out, work on the music first, before you start the self-promotion. And as far as the songwriting goes, it's no different than any other art or craft: it's just a lot of work. There's a saying among my photographer friends that you have to run a mile of film through your camera before you really get your first good frame; I'm sure there's a similar saying for songwriting.

From: "Liz C."
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: You guys kick some serious ass
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 08:39:38 PDT

Aaron, Jeff, Sean, and Evan-
This is what I have to say: You guys kick ass! You rock! You are the bomb! You are numero uno!

[snip]

i do have a few questions, though:
1. How did you come up with the name Harvey Danger?
2. What will be your next single?
3. Are you actually gonna read this like it said on your webpage?
4. Who did the cover design? I luv it!
5. Did I mention that you guys kick ass?
6. Do you have any advice for me, a girl at the age of 15 who has a band? Anything at all? How do we get started?
Could you answer the questions? Could you write back at all?
Thanks.
WRITE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

please?

Thanks again.
{~}{~}{~}~LiZ~{~}{~}{~}

First, thanks. Next, in order:
1. See our FAQ.
2. It depends when you ask. Currently it's "Private Helicoter."
3. Yes.
4. Aaron designed the cover and the insides of all the different versions.
5. Yes.
6. Find some friends, find some instruments, and start playing. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't sound so good at first. I guarantee if you keep at it regularly you will be better in six months.

Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 01:09:48 EDT
To: hdanger@blarg.net
Subject: tour

dear brethren

whenst whilt thou playest phoenix, az?

just wondering

sincerely

mr. dave

Probably not for a while. For all tour dates in the future, though, you'll be able to find them here.

That's all for now, folks -- there'll be more up next month or so. E-mail questions, letters, etc. to: info@harveydanger.com.
-- jeff