Hey Marvin! How ya doing? It's been awhile since I last saw you and the band. I just saw your press release biography, quite a story! Of course, my readers would like to know more about you. Would you mind if I toss a few questions out to you?

A. Not at all Joe!  It's always a pleasure to have you back on the tour bus.

TOG.  What made you first pick up the guitar and how did you ever find
one in the Antarctic?

A.  I always knew I wanted to be a rock musician, but I never had access to
any instruments until one day I stumbled across this container hidden among
some rocks.  I had no idea what it was at the time. That was my first
Geocache find, and someone had left a guitar inside as SWAG.  I was
instantly hooked on finding caches and learning the guitar. I guess you
could say I owe my musical career to Geocaching.

TOG. What did your parents think of your wanting to be a musician?
Were they supportive? What did they say when you told them you were
headed for warmer latitudes?

A.  They were not happy to say the least.  They just didn't understand.
Don't get me wrong, anyone can see the appeal of standing shoulder-shoulder
with hundreds of other penguins in a 60 MPH sub-zero blizzard for days on
end, but I really wanted to see more of the world.  Everyone in my hometown
kept saying, "Do you know how hot it is up there?!?", and telling me how
impossible it was to find a decent fish latte anywhere above latitude 70°
South.  I didn't care though.  I knew I had a destiny in the Great Green
North.

TOG. So old Lead-Bottom Joe started you down this fork in the road,
how does it feel to get guidance from a Blues Legend?

A.  Yeah!  I was kicking around the New York music scene, and one night
after a gig, this dude starts chatting me up.  It turned out to be none
other than Lead-Bottom Joe!  I was star-struck. Joe handed me this old
harmonica that looked like it'd been retrieved from the Titanic wreckage and
told me to give it a try. The instant I blew a few notes on that crusty old
harp, two things happened: I contracted a horrible case of smallpox, and I
realized the harmonica was the instrument I was meant to play. It was so
much better for me than the guitar. Do you know how hard it is to play a C
minor seventh chord on guitar when you have no fingers!

TOG. When you formed Cold and Smelly, were you confident you would do
well with this new Venture?

A.  I can't believe that you remember that band!  Wow, that's a blast from
the past!  Once I decided to front my own band, I formed Cold and Smelly.
That was a great time for me.  We actually had some success and even managed
to crack the top 40 with our song "Man, Is It Hot In Minnesota!". When I see
pictures of us, I can't believe how dorky we look with the eye-liner and
spiked-up hair.  What were we thinking?!?

TOG.  How does it feel to have The Travel Bugs tagged as the premier
group of geo-musicians?

A.  It's awesome.  Even though C&S was going great, I felt something was
missing.  That something was Geocaching.  I had always been an avid cacher
ever since that first find back in the Antarctic, but it was like a separate
life from my music.  Now, with the Travel Bugs, my music and my passion for
Geocaching are together.  It feels great.

TOG. Which phrase best fits your career philosophy, “sing us a song,
you’re the nano man” or “It’s a long, long way to Tupperware eh?”

A.  Nice!  Nano Man... Nano Man... hey you might be on to something there!
That could work!  We'll credit you if we use that on our next CD.

TOG. What advice would you give any nuvi’s who want to break into the
geomusic business?

A. Go for it!  Just make sure you're having fun and you leave yourself some
time for finding caches, not just singing about them.

TOG. Marvin, I know you’ve got a gig to run to, thanks for taking the
time to talk with us today. Best of luck with The Travel Bugs, you
guys are great!! Let the rest of the band know we’d love to talk with
them too!

A. No problem Joe.  Rock on! ... hey, are you gonna finish those salmon
bones?

By catsnfish

A couple of empty-nesters who caught the caching bug not realizing it was incurable. So if we’re found in the woods waltzing with Garmins, lifting lampskirts while tying our shoe or looking for “gum” underneath benches, be sure to stay away... it’s contagious and the only temporary relief can be found in finding bison’s, ammo’s, nano’s, or passing coins and spreading travel bugs!

Publisher's Note: Catsnfish write the periodic column The Adventures of Catsnfish. Subscribe (free) to The Online Geocacher to get an email alert when a new article is published.