Wild Moccasins, Buxton, and Giant Princess
(photos by Paul Cisneros, Byan Schutmaat, and Indie Houston)

Houston's H-pop scene seems to have been quiet lately with all the heavy hitters hibernating in the studio lately. But fans of indie-rock can celebrate Friday as three of the most celebrated bands in the city -- Wild Moccasins, Buxton, and Giant Princess -- throw a graffiti party at Walter's. There will be giveaways (from Movies! The Store), yummy food (from Ray's Franks), and it has been rumored that Dead City Sound's Chris Ryan will be giving autographs if you ask him. We hit up Chris Wise (Buxton) and Cody Swan (Wild Moccasins) for the scoop and to see what they've been up to recently.

29-95: What's with all the giveaways and stuff. Ray's Franks, Movies! The Store, Chris Ryan autographs.

Chris: Well, we love Ray's Franks and Sergio bought a VHS player just for Movies! The Store. These are both businesses that we really support and want to stay around so why not advertise them at a show? Plus, we have to give stuff away for people to like us. It's like the kid nobody liked but ALWAYS had the awesome birthday parties. That kid actually works at NASA now. As for Chris Ryan, he was in O Pioneers and they're doing a run of dates with Against Me. Dude has to be crying in his sleep.

Cody: We want to throw shows that aren’t just your typical shows. Ray's Franks is a great restaurant, Movies! The Store has good movies, and Chris Ryan is at least the most famous ginger in all of Houston. What more could you ask for?

29-95: What's with the graffiti theme and the white T-shirts?

Chris: Well, we were seeking something to do for the show, just to make it interesting. So I kinda thought "What would Chris Ryan do, like wayyyy back when he was in a college frat house?" The answer was clearly to have a graffiti party, where everyone writes and paints on each others' t-shirts. I feel bad for those who don’t partake. I'd imagine there will be many penises drawn, maybe some numbers. Maybe someone will find love. But I really doubt it.

Cody: [The shirts] actually don’t have to be white; they can be any light color. We are giving people different colored markers (not paint because we don’t want Walters destroyed) so they can write on themselves all night. It sounded like a fun idea and I’m not sure if it will work, but it would be cool to see the audience in nothing but white.

29-95: What's been going on with y'all and the indie bands? The first half of the year was all abuzz with releases and now it seems almost moribund.

Chris: Well, we're all working on upcoming full lengths. I think it’s a bit much for us to have a full length every year, which is why, for Buxton, we put out the 7". We always want to stay active, but we also believe in quality over quantity. It's looking like the same next year as well, Wild Moccasins should have their next album out early next year, and quite possibly the same for us. We just demo-ed about 20 songs, so we kinda need to figure some things out.

Cody: After the EP and the tour we took some time to write some new songs, save up money to buy a van, and start recording an album. We will be releasing it March/April and touring extensively.

29-95: As you may know, Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer.  We all, of course, wish the best to him and his family and hope he "slays that dragon" so he can get back to rockin'. But this brings up an obvious question: let's say the Styx prophecy came true and an evil reign of Dr. Righteous sends a hoarde of Mr. Robotos to destroy all rock and roll records. If you, knowing that only rock and roll could save humanity, could save one Dio album, which album would that be and why?

Chris: I think you missed the extra D in Dido. Am I mistaken? Whatever has the song sampled in the Eminem song. I'm not sure; I'm backlogged with TRL on my DVR. Sorry.

Cody: "Holy Diver" for obvious reasons.

29-95: Whose fans have the best dancers?

Cody: Giant Princess because Diego Arcienega is a dance god and inspires people to dance.

Chris: I'd say Giant Princess, generally because they're better than both of us. i think Diego being bent over to play the organ just makes me dance in general....so, yeah.

29-95: Complete the following sentence: If I could take Chris Ryan anywhere on a date, I'd take him ________ because ___________.

Chris: If I could take Chris Ryan anywhere on a date, I'd take him bowling (!!!) because he's such a sweet guy. I would pay for everything. I'd lie to him and tell him I owned a loft, that way he'll come over. And THEN, when he realizes I live in a dingy apartment I can just hope that he can see me for me. Do you know what i am saying?

Cody: If i could take Chris Ryan anywhere on a date, I'd take him camping in the Norwegian mountains because there is just something about pitching tents in his home country that really relaxes him.

29-95: What is your D& D alignment?

Chris: I know my DVDA alignment.

Cody: Lawful, implying honor and respect for society's rules.

29-95: If you answered that last question, how ashamed are you?

Chris: Not an ounce of shame.

Cody: Wikipedia is a beautiful thing.

Wild Moccasins, Buxton, and Giant Princess. 8 p.m. Friday at Walter's on Washington. All ages. $8.