(left to right) Jeff Baron, Gary Olson, Ben Crum, Kyle Forester and Julia Rydholm

Interview by Michael D. Ayers

I wanted to address the elephant in the room right away, though I'm talking with Ladybug Transistor founder Gary Olson in more of a basement, really, situated in a 100-year-old house on a sleepy street in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn--the recording studio for all six of the Transistor's delicate, baroque-pop-heavy records. In April, longtime drummer San Fadyl passed away after a severe asthma attack; obviously, it hit the band hard, and I wondered if they'd thought about shutting off the Transistor for good.

Fishwrap only has so much space, so here's the rest of Ayers's conversation with Gary Olson that didn't make it into the most recent Voice. Highlights from the transcript as follow.

Did you guys think about calling it quits when San passed?