Hoops Go Coast to Coast on Showtunes, Donald Fagen, Unintentional Ash Ingestion

Sometimes, we prefer to get to know a band via seemingly random, probing numerical associations. Today we Count Off with Keagan Beresford and Kevin Krauter, who play guitar and bass, respectively, for Indiana synth-pop trio Hoops. The band's debut album, Routines, is out May 5 via Fat Possum.

1: Describe your band in one word or phrase.
Kevin Krauter: Your dad's audio files from the '80s.

2: What music did you hear around the house growing up?
KK: Christian music.
Keagan Beresford: Both of us grew up in very Christian households, so it was almost exclusively singer-songwriter worship music. My dad's into Earth, Wind and Fire, so we got some of that growing up, and the Beatles, of course. And a lot of showtunes — Christian music and showtunes.

6: As a guitarist, what is your favorite pedal, gear or other piece of guitar-related ephemera?
KB: The Roland Jazz Chorus is kind of the latchkey to our guitar sound. It's an old guitar amp from the 1980s that Slowdive made really popular. We came across one a while ago, and it was like, "Holy shit, this is awesome." When we discovered it, it was a game-changer. It's between that and our vintage FM synthesizers ... that's not guitar-related, though.

7: If you won the lottery and could spend your earnings on any music-related item you wanted, what would you get?
KB: I think we would spend it on a new house: a base of operations where we don't have to pay rent. With that much money, we could throw a pool or something in there. We've talked about hypothetical locations. I really love the desert. We went out west on a tour not that long ago. It was the first time I'd ever been out there. The desert's insane. It's quiet, beautiful ... nothing like the Midwest.

9: If you could resurrect any musician and recruit them to the band, who would you pick?
KB: Prince would be a good one, but he's too good for us. Bowie ... there are lots of people that I would want to collaborate with who are still alive. [Laughs] Gotta kill someone first. When he dies, Michael McDonald, or [Steely Dan]'s Donald Fagen, I guess. Oh, I know: Jeff Porcaro, the drummer from Toto.

13: Do you follow any superstitions when you're on the road?
KB: It's more just like a paranoia. If we happened to have drugs, and all of us got pulled over and got in trouble with the law ... half of us don't even smoke pot or anything like that, so in my personal situation, I'd just be kicking myself aimlessly, especially if I got in trouble for something I wasn't even doing. As far as pre-show rituals go, I don't know ... I tend to read a lot because that's pretty mind-clearing and gets me distracted from whatever's going on.

21: Say you're at a bar with a jukebox. What song do you put on?
KB: It's almost always Prince. "I Wanna Be Your Lover," "I Would Die 4 U." Anything Prince.

50: What's your favorite state you've played in?
KB: Arizona. It was gorgeous, and there's great hiking. On the day of the show, we hiked down the hill and saw a bunch of cacti.
KK: Someone was spreading their ashes.
KB: Oh yeah! [Laughs] Someone was spreading their ashes on this hill in Arizona, and he got it on our guitar player. A little bit got in his mouth.

80: What is your favorite album from the 1980s?
KK: Tango in the Night by Fleetwood Mac.
KB: Mine is probably The Nightfly by Donald Fagen. I always come back to that one.

420: What album sounds the best when you're stoned?
KK: Dude, Legend by Bob Marley. Dude, I fucking LOVE that album.
KB: I haven't smoked pot in a while, but when I did, the best albums while high were always, like ... back when I smoked pot, I just discovered the '60s, so I listened to the Doors, the Beatles, shit like that. I guess I'll go with Paranoid by Black Sabbath.