Ask a Straight Guy: The Antlers' Peter Silberman

Peter Silberman is cute. That's all. (Photo from MySpace.)

Here at TNG, we are all about options. So tonight we are giving you two good ways to end your Columbus Day weekend with quality live music.

If you don't feel like getting le rocked by Yelle tonight you can check out the ambient Brooklyn band The Antlers at the Velvet Lounge. Beside coming on at a much more reasonable hour, they are worlds away from the Frenchwoman's pop. They don't have a presence on Mixwit but you can check out their MySpace profile and this "video" to get a good idea of their sound. Their songs are actually quite pretty and would translate well to the intimacy of the Velvet Lounge.

The Antler's founder Peter Silberman was nice enough to answer some of our questions about being straight. Full interview below the fold.

The Antlers play at The Velvet Lounge tonight. Doors at 9. $8.

The New Gay: When did you first realize you were straight?

Peter Silberman: At the exact moment you asked me this question. Thank you for opening my eyes.

TNG: What is your least favorite stereotype about straight people?

PS: I tend to get personally offended when someone assumes that I watch Fear Factor. I don't.

TNG: What obligations, if any, do you feel that you have to the gay community?

PS: I'm obligated to pay my rent to my gay landlord, though lately I've been feeling much less obligated to do that. He's been flakey and refuses to put bars on my windows.

TNG: What are the biggest challenges faced by a straight guy in today's culture??

PS: Obstacle courses.

TNG: If you had to "go gay" for one member of the same sex, who would it be?

PS: [Abe] Lincoln. I recently drove past Mt. Rushmore, and realized that even the most bizarre looking person looks like a god in granite.

TNG: Given the seemingly endless number of "indie" bands in existence today, how do you think you set yourself apart from the crowd?

PS: Well, I think one of the strangest things about the band is that we've gone through a bunch of different incarnations in a fairly short amount of time. It began as my solo project, then became a 5 person band, then slimmed down to 4, and now 3. We're really happy with Antlers version 4.0 now. The live show is sounding more different than ever and surprisingly giant sounding for three people without a bass player. Each of us are filling a bigger sonic space so it feels like a bigger feat to pull off.

TNG: Finally, why should Washington, DC come out and see you play tonight??

PS: If we CAN'T pull it off, then you'll have a perfectly good excuse to throw tomatoes on a Monday night. Also, we're super friendly.