For those readers out there that are unfamiliar with Darwin Smith, he is the lead singer and founder of the New York-based band, Darwin Deez. They have only released one EP thus far, but show a TON of potential. You can listen to some of their tracks by checking out their MySpace. The following is an interview I conducted with Darwin.

the WILD honey pie: If you could be one instrument, what would it be?
Darwin Deez: I’d be a harmonica. Alicia Silverstone’s harmonica if possible. She came into the restaurant where I work the other day. She is so beautiful in Clueless that it’s unbearable! She’s also hot in those old Aerosmith videos.

the WILD honey pie: What song in your music library would people least expect you to have?
Darwin Deez: Probably Your Body Is a Wonderland by John Mayer. I know it’s gross, but it’s also awesome. I find it so loathsome and yet irresistible. I have to say, he’s super talented, and I like his music!

the WILD honey pie: What animal do you think epitomizes the sound of your music?
Darwin Deez: Probably a small dog. Because it’s cute and hyper and immediately likable, if you’re into dogs. And it likes you.

the WILD honey pie: Better music decade, the 50s or 60s? Why?
Darwin Deez: Well, the 60s. The Beatles, Hendrix, Beach Boys, et al. Too many of those 50s songs are exactly the same. Speaking of Hendrix, I just watched Wayne’s World (classic!) for the third time this week. The part where Dana Carvey lip-synchs Foxy Lady is great, and that song is excellent! Such a strong, simple riff coupled with a strong, simple topic, and adding to the gestalt is Jimi’s seductive, hippie persona and passionate, loose playing. He was so popular in the 90s! Was that some kind of reaction to the 80s? It’s a myth that he’s the greatest guitar player ever, though. Who started that one anyway?? However, Are You Experienced? is one of my top 10 best albums of all time. Maybe even top 5! Also, the excellent song Wild Honey Pie was written in the 60s.

the WILD honey pie: What do you think of the autotune, and its effect on the music industry?
Darwin Deez: I have a thing for T-Pain. Chopped and Screwed is my jam. Everyone is copping it from him, in my book. It’s his sound, though, and it works for him. He’d be weird without it. The thing I really dislike is when Rock/Acoustic singers use AutoTune audibly. Not the robo-style, just the pitch correction tool, the way it was meant to be used. Long notes, especially.

the WILD honey pie: Describe your ideal audience.
Darwin Deez: A room packed full of pretty, well-lit, single girls, all singing loudly, dancing hard, and with an average blood alcohol level below 0.04%. A supportive audience feels great. And it’s personally satisfying to me when I can tell, from the stage, that people are having a memorable night. But in reality, some people just don’t show it as much, even though they are having fun. And some people are male.

the WILD honey pie: Which is more important, catchy melodies or clever lyrics?
Darwin Deez: There is no denying the magic of either! Both run extremely deep in the psyche. Evidence of that can be found in people with different kinds of brain damage who have extremely low-level functioning, except when it comes to music. So I guess that’s one for melody.

the WILD honey pie: What’s your guilty pleasure?
Darwin Deez: Besides porn, the universal guilty pleasure? Right now, I’d have to say Zelda for Super Nintendo. I just beat the game using an emulator program on my laptop.

the WILD honey pie: If you could have been in one Michael Jackson video, which one would it have been?
Darwin Deez: I like this question. My answer is Remember the Time. Yup! I could have been a cute little egyptian kid in that sucker. Because I was in 2nd or 3rd grade when it came out. I remember because, in art class, I made a clay finger puppet of MJ from that video. I molded it into a specific pose that I remembered from the dance sequence, and I painted his torso gold (and his bottom half hot pink for some reason), and I painted his face very brown! Much more brown than it was in the 90s. But skin tones are pretty hard colors to come by in grade school. I think the only reason I had ever seen that video was because, one day, in the 90s, my babysitter said, “I bet you if we turn on MTV, a Michael Jackson video will come on within the hour.” And I was like, “no way, get real!” And she was like, “I am real!” So we did, and the video we saw might have been Remember the Time.

the WILD honey pie: If you were making the ultimate sandwich, what ingredients would you put in it?
Darwin Deez: The ultimate sandwich is already available at all Wendy’s restaurants; it’s #2 on their combo menu. I also used to like this sandwich from a place in NYC called, Dojo. It was called the ATC — avocado, tomato, and cheddar (and sprouts on a pita). Shouts to Mash Deez on that one because I know she likes it and she introduced me to it, and to New York City.

the WILD honey pie: What’s your favorite hobby? Anything unusual?
Darwin Deez: Eh, I don’t think I really have any “hobbies.” I like to play basketball, I guess. It feels unfair though, because I’m so much taller than most people.

the WILD honey pie: What recent news gossip have you found the most interesting?
Darwin Deez: 90% of these stories are really interesting to me, for sure. I thoroughly enjoy poring over a US Weekly. It stimulates my imagination to try to glean from these clues what celebrities are really like as people. That said, the Chris Brown assault was a BIG surprise to me. Personally, I was very charmed by his humble manner, despite his heaps of talent. And I like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character, but this year I learned a life lesson: when charm is off the scale, it’s a bad sign. An incredibly charming guy stiffed me $600 on a tour sublet this February. The Chris Brown story just echoes that lesson for me.

the WILD honey pie: If you could make a duet with one of the following artists, who would it be? Lady GaGa, Miley Cyrus, or The Jonas Brothers?
Darwin Deez: It’s between GaGa and Miley, I think. The [Jonas Brothers] are on some fake shit right now (wait til they grow up), so that would be less fun, but could still be pretty awesome, as an experience. I think the GaGa song would have the most potential (you know, relatively speaking). The guys from Toto — that’s who I really want to do a song with.

the WILD honey pie: Now real quick, when can we expect a full-length album from you? Any possible names?
Darwin Deez: It’ll be self-titled and available in the spring of 2010. I love to make up album titles, though. I planned on calling it Songs for Imaginative People for a while. My next album would be called Compliant Personality if I had to name it today.

the WILD honey pie: Thanks for your time, and good luck with everything! I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about you in the near future.
Darwin Deez: Thanks, I hope so.