Now that Summer Fest is over, it’s time to ease back into the real world, nurse our sunburns and reminisce about the way life was a day or two ago, when Barack Obama was president and a metric fuckload of music fans filled Eleanor Tinsley Park for some neat stuff.

I took my Dictaphone to Day One and played journalist with some musicians and local music scene movers-and-shakers. Here, in transcribed alphanumeric form, are some of the results. I'll lead off with Cody Swann and Zahira Gutierrez of Wild Moccasins, in what could politely be called a "dry run" for subsequent interviews.

Cody and Zahira (Wild Moccasins): The worst picture anyone has ever taken of them

JM: So, uh, what bands are you looking forward to seeing?

CODY: Definitely Of Montreal ... We’re about to see Young Mammals ...

ZAHIRA: I’m excited to see Buxton. I’m sad I missed the Tontons, I woke up really late.

JM: What’s been, uh, your favorite of all the booths set up here?

CODY: Huh?

ZAHIRA: The VIP tent’s nice, because there’s air conditioning. I almost just want to stay there forever.

CODY: There’s Tacos a Go Go in there, that’s really good.

JM: Really?

CODY: Yeah.

JM: Is it free?

CODY: Yeah.

ZAHIRA: It’s so free.

JM: I think we’re done here.

OK, that sucked. I never tried this sort of thing before and beginner’s luck didn’t pan out so well for me. After I got some Very Important Person tacos inside me, I ran into Kirk Suddreath, drummer for I Am Mesmer (among sundry others). He was telling me about Come See My Dead Person when I remembered I was supposed to be doing a thing, and out came the tape recorder.

Kirk Suddreath (I Am Mesmer): Not just another bearded guy with a monkey pendant

KIRK: … They’re like crazy, spinny music. Sort of like Mesmer, but even wilder.

JM: Someone told me they were like a bluegrass band that plays sword metal.

KIRK: It’s fucked up. It’s good party music.

JM: How’d you feel about your set today?

KIRK: It was a little short, but it was fun. I think we got to show people what we do.

JM: A lot of people come to these things who’ve never seen most of the bands playing and end up getting exposed to a lot of really cool stuff.

KIRK: That’s the hope.

JM: You mentioned you saw (I Am Mesmer frontman) Geoffrey (Mueller) playing on the second stage during the Young Mammals set, but you didn’t know what band.

KIRK: No idea. (As far as I can tell it turned out to be Ryan Scroggins)

JM: How many bands do you think he’s currently in?

KIRK: Jeez, I don’t know. I think he and I are in competition to see who can play in more bands.

JM: Who else do you play with right now?

KIRK: I play with I Am Mesmer; I play with Two Star Symphony; I play with The Misfires; I play with the Julian Jaynes; and I play in the Catastrophic Orchestra.

JM: So you’re pretty focused.

KIRK: Right.

Starting to get the swing of things. I next caught up with Ian Wells, debonair DJ of KTRU’s Local Show and no stranger to the Houston music scene.

Ian Wells: Totally doing something with his hair

JM: What’ve you seen so far that’s been, y’know, neat?

IAN: I enjoyed seeing B L A C K I E with a good sound system ... That was a lot of fun. I guess there were a lot of people from out of town, it wasn’t as crazy as it usually is.

JM: Well, it’s also a million degrees ... It’s a little harder to jump around out here.

IAN: I still don’t think this is the sweatiest B L A C K I E show I’ve been to.

JM: Point. Who are you looking forward to seeing later on?

IAN: I’m really looking forward to Roky Moon and Bolt; I understand they’re going to debut a rock opera they’ve composed especially for this event.

JM: The entirety of it or just excerpts? That’d be a short rock opera.

IAN: It’s, y’know ... It’s a quick one.

(For the record, this may be the best, most stunningly appropriate Who joke anyone’s ever snuck up on me. It took me a moment to get my composure back)

JM: It looks like this is going to be a really big success. Any national acts you’d like to see for next year’s Summer Fest?

IAN: I think the Flaming Lips ...Let’s just jump ahead ten years.

JM: You think it’ll be ten years? I’ve actually heard rumors they’d love to get them for next year.

IAN: Well, I think they can do it. We’ve got to catch up to Austin, right? So, Flaming Lips, Bob Dylan ... and reunited Led Zeppelin. Next year.

JM: You heard it here first.

I’m not willing to put money on all of Ian’s predictions just yet, but who needs Led Zeppelin when you’ve got the Young Mammals? My answer is "not me." I bumped into eternally grinning YM frontman Carlos Sanchez backstage and asked him a few questions.

Carlos Sanchez (Young Mammals, on left): with Giant Princess drummer Jaime Nava and Summer Fest staffer Sylvia Theriot, repping hard for GP

JM: How’d you feel about your set today?

CARLOS: I thought it sounded good. I had a blast. The crowd seemed like they were pretty into it considering how freaking hot it is, so… Pretty good.

JM: I would have to agree. Who’ve you seen today?

CARLOS: B L A C K I E and Cop Warmth were pretty awesome. Tontons played a great set, the main stage was a good fit for them. Saw some of Fat Tony’s set, good stuff. Who else… Saw some of Octopus Project’s set, they sounded good.

JM: Before you ditched them to come get interviewed by me in the air conditioning?

CARLOS: Right. (Even over the mediocre reggae spinning in the VIP tent, we could still hear Octopus Project’s beeps and beats from the main stage during our conversation. Shit I love that band but, y’know, air conditioning.)

JM: I saw that your family was here to watch you today. Have they seen y’all a lot?

CARLOS: That’s the first time they’ve seen us since we were in high school, it was cool. They said they really liked it.

JM: You and your brother Jose are both Young Mammals. Are the rest of the Sanchez kids going to join the band eventually?

CARLOS: My sister’s actually going to start her own band. An all-girl indie-rock band.

JM: They have a name yet?

CARLOS: Not yet.

JM: We’ll talk later, I’ve got some ideas.

CARLOS: Sweet.

JM: Alright. Well, is there anything else you’d like to say to the internet?

CARLOS: (fart noise)

Take that, the internet! Stay tuned for more dispatches from the front lines, including a long, freewheeling interview with Fat Tony and possibly bunch of shitty cell phone pictures I took of Of Montreal (hey, I tried).