I am singer/ musician Jessica Hernandez here with the Deltas! Ask Us Anything.

Who's your favorite older cousin?

Hi Frank.

That's not an answer...

Ok... my favorite older cousin is Frank lol

Now I can stalk your cousin Frank

Not if I stalk you first...

HAHA

are you guys working on a new album?

We are! After we finish this run of dates we are taking time off over the fall and winter to write some more and record the next full length. Hoping to get it out by late next spring.

Do you guys ever get bummed out when a gig has a tiny turnout (I tried rounding up as many Vermonters as I could, sorry!)? What regions do you get your most crowded shows?? Will you still play small venues in a few years when you're huge and can sell out stadiums??? Where do you all like shopping for clothes the most???? Why is Dead Brains so amazing?????

AH! First off, thank you for bringing people to the show! I used to get bummed and take it personally when there was a bad turnout but then you start realizing that there are so many factors that go into a show being packed so you stop caring after a while. You just give the same level of performance every night no matter what, even if you're just playing to each other. I will ALWAYS want to play small venues. I prefer them and I like hanging with people after the shows. It's my favorite. As for the clothes...I alost exclusively shop at thrift stores on the road. I'm happy you love Dead Brains <3

will we ever see a Deltas/Growlers super group? because really, that'd be rad

Probably not a super group but Kyle and I have a band called The Violetts. Kyle sings and plays guitar and I play drums. We're getting ready to record in August!

Or will we see a tour together?

Nothing is in the works right now but it's happened before so it's pretty likely.

If you had a shrink ray who would you shrink and what would you do with them?

I would shrink Shaq so he can be my size and we can share clothes.

Is that the rapper Paul Wall on the phone recording at the beginning of Don't Take my Man to Idaho?

Haha! I wish! That is actually my boyfriend calling me from jail the first week we started dating.

when is the don't take my man to idaho video coming out?

It should be out shortly after we play Bonnaroo!

Saw you in Columbia SC during St. Paddys Day and going to see you at Bonnaroo next week! Super stoked! My question is what was the inspiration behind the song Demons? It's easily my favorite song by yall. Keep rocking!

I was struggling with some personal demons and living two totally different lives between Detroit and California.

Saw you with St Paul and the Broken Bones and my favorite band J Roddy Walston and the Business here in DC. I'm a huge fan, and think you're on your way to stardom. I've converted many onto your music! 2 Questions- 1) any fun stories touring with either of them? 2) I'm planning a DC Soup here and have a location and artists set up--any recommendations? And any chance you'd stop by if we had one while you were in town? Thanks!

1. First night playing with St. Paul we got into the green room and ate all their food including their special cupcakes. They weren't too stoked on that but we all got over it and became friends. 2. Make sure you get a lot of local businesses involved to help donate food/drinks/etc. and make sure you're inviting and including all different types of propositions...not just artists. I'd love to come by if we're in town!

Thanks for the advice! We're working out of a cafe so I think that's where most of the refreshments will be coming from outside of a local brewery. Do you mind if I ask what kind of propositions? Right now we're focusing on art that is focused and dedicated to the local community.

Some cool different proposals we got were to bring health food into local gas stations, park cleanups, coats for the homeless, science lab for children, to name a few. Awesome to start from anywhere though and grow however it naturally grows! So cool that you guys are doing a SOUP.

Wow, those are fantastic...thanks, we're looking forward to it! We've had an overwhelming amount of support which has been awesome. You're inspiring! Keep up the great work.

Thank you! Same to you! :)

What was the highlight of playing Europe with Social D?

Playing dice with Mike Ness in the green room talking about music and life and eating german candy.

Thank you for doing the AMA. A few questions:

1.) How many Bonnaroo Burgers do you plan to eat at Jiffy Burger next weekend?

2.) Can I join?

1.) What the heck is a Bonnaroo Burger? 4? 2.) Who's treating?

Hey long time fan, first time caller. I was wondering could you explain to me the origins of the term "Bing Bong"?

<3

Hey Sammy. Isn't it a little late for you to be up? You have your last day of 8th grade tomorrow.

Any chance of ever doing a studio recording of Dead Brains more like it is on tour, with the trombone and whatnot? Or maybe a another live EP/album? I just really love that arrangement!

Thanks! We probably won't rerecord but a live album is probably in the near future.

Hi Jessica, i wanna see you in SD i'm just not sure if ill be able to travel those days, but yeah... the question is, if I go, will I be have the chance to meet u? and, do you speak spanish? i'd love to see you, have a pic and have so chat in spanish and see your accent♥

Hey there, you will definitely get a chance to meet me. I always pop over to the merch after shows to say hello. I do speak spanish but it's horrible. I would love to speak bad spanish with you though! <3

well, my bad ensglish with your bad spanish, sounds like fun!!♥ hopefully I'll be there with something to remember me, like a sign with #badspanish + #badenglish

haha that sounds perfect. With a lot of my friends from Mexico they speak to me in Spanish and I speak back in English. It works out pretty good.

Who won your "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" cover contest and why wasn't it me?

All jokes aside, any shows in Los Angeles anytime soon?

Ha I don't even remember who won to be honest! We will be in LA at The Echo on July 9th.

Hi Jessica! Is there a Detroit band that you are listening to right now or would like to play a show with?

El Dee. She's one of my closest girl friends and her music is beautiful!

Hey everyone! Had such a good time answering all your questions. Now off to rest for our show in Pittsburgh tomorrow. See you on the road! <3

On top or on the bottom?

I like my ranch on the side.

How is Detroit these days? I mean, we all know the stereotypes...

To be honest...we spend most of our time away from home living in a van but when we are home it's cool to see how things are evolving. Lots of new businesses and lots of people moving into the city that want to see good things for it. Come to the city and see!

Jessica huge fan , really enjoyed the album and the deltas even the guitar player with the super deep V.

My question is what is your favorite movie and why is it Jurassic Park?

Hey Pat. Mike said to tell you he switched to classic V's and he loves dinosaurs.

Hahaha fantastic. You guys be safe on the road now!! Might see you in Chicago

Awesome! Hope we see you then.

Just wanted to say I stumbled across your music one day and really enjoyed it! Keep it up!

What are some of your favorite musicians?

What inspired you to start making music?

Is there any new music that you think people have to listen to (besides your own)?

I listen to EVERYTHING. Some of my faves are Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Wanda Jackson, The Clash, Talking Heads, Tammy Wynette, B52's, Screamin Jay Hawkins, Os Mutantes, The Monks...I could go on.

I've always wanted to play music. I have really never wanted to do anything else. It just took me until 19 to finally go for it.

Listen to...

The Growlers Courtney Barnet Mac Demarco

Do you enjoy oatmeal? With or without raisins?

LOVE oatmeal. Not a huge fan of raisins in it though.

Thank you

Oatmeal.

Hey I'll be honest I never heard of you guys but you're playing the camel next Wednesday. That's 2 blocks from my house. See you there.

Awesome! See you then!

<3 have you been musically or vocally trained?

I have not. I did sing in a lot of choirs growing up which helped with learning proper breathing and warmups. I also took maybe 2 guitar and keyboard lessons when I was 17 and I got frustrated so I never went again then taught myself when I was 19.

Is music your passion and supposing that it is, how did you know that it was?

I mean what particular moment.

It's definitely my passion. I don't really remember the first moment exactly but I recently found a report I did in 1st grade where we had to write what we wanted to be when we grew up and I did my whole report on becoming a singer. I can't remember not wanting to do it.

Vampires or zombies?? Who would win in a cook off? Saw your album release show while I was still in the mitten and you guys always put on an incredible show! I look forward to hearing your future endeavors! any chance you'll be heading back to the land of The Mouse in the future?

First off, thank you! Twilight ruined Vampires, so Zombies for sure. I would win in a cook off. Is the the land of The Mouse Orlando? If so...probably in the fall.

Indeed Orlando! Looking forward to maybe seeing y'all again in the fall! And congratulations on your future inevitable cook off victory in the zombie-vampire apocalypse.

Thanks! See you in the fall :)

What is your (and the Deltas) all time favorite TV Show? I would be happy to hear from all of you. Cheers.

Here they are between the 6 of us....

Twin Peaks, Louie, Game of Thrones, Triple D, Chopped, Finding Bigfoot, Bob's Burgers, Alway's Sunny, Tim & Eric

All of those are correct

I'm pretty sure I'm your biggest fan, for several reasons.

I'm glad we all share a similar love of TV. <3

What do you have that's your favorite thing to do? What was the most fun you ever did?

Hi Ellen. Your skirt looks way sweeter as a dress.

On the first Europe tour, you played in Amsterdam Paradiso. At the end of the the show you want to try an experiment with us crowd. I don't understand that time what you want, maybe because i'm Dutch and a litle tired of dancing :) I hope you do remember what you like to try?

Hah I do remember! Getting the crowd down on the floor :)

Do you know why some poop floats and some poop sinks?

Because some people eat White Castle and some people don't.

True story, now i want a crave case and a sack of fries. My treat next time you're in Detroit.

YUMM! Okay White Castle party in less than two weeks.

Will there be another european tour next year ? Or should I come over to Detroit to see you life again ?

We will definitely be out to Europe next year but a trip to Detroit is always fun too!

Hi Jessica a few years ago I had this band from Detroit play in my backyard and you guys were amazing.... how much is changed in your view of the music industry since you began?..... And when you guys coming back we miss you

Hey! I think I know who this is ;) As for my view of the industry..I actually think it's gotten more positive. I always thought the industry was corrupt and backwards and full of dishonest people but I didn't care. I knew who I wanted to be and what I wanted to create and it didn't matter what the industry said or projected. I think we will be back in July! We miss you and your awesome family!

We miss you all! Proud to see how far you've gone!.......Beth says she's ready to make more Cookies!

YUMM Cookies and moonshine gummy's. We can't wait!

Hi Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas! I was so heartbroken when we showed up at your show in Boston only to see it was canceled :( I hope whatever the illness was is better now. Do you guys have plans to come back to New England anytime soon? I would love to see you live!

It broke my heart to have to cancel that show! You have no idea how sad I was. I got really sick and lost my voice and couldn't talk but I wanted to wait it out to see if I got better. That's why we canceled so last minute. Hope we see you next time through. Should be in the next few months I hope.

Hi!! I was just introduced to your music back in March when you opened for J. Roddy Walston and the Business in DC. You guys were amazing!!! We bought your album right on the spot. Mine and my husband's current favorite. If you had to pick a city other than your hometown to play in, which would it be and why? Thanks!!

It might have to be Bend, OR. We have some old friends up there that have introduced us to a lot good people. Every time we go there is feels like a mini vacation with moonshine, good food, good people and a lot of dancing.

I'm not sure if you remember, but we were on the bill with you in Boise at a coffee shop last summer. Even though the football game made the crowd pretty thin, you guys put on a hell of a show for the few souls there. We wanted to say thank you for that and ask if there's a venue or festival out there that's on your bucket list?

Thanks for playing with us...football does that sometimes. There's not a particular venue but I really want to get to South America and play Rock In Rio in Brazil!

Hey guys, thanks for the AMA. Love Secret Evil!

2 questions:

1) What, in each of your opinions, is the best album of all time?

2) What happened to the Toronto show you guys had lined up? I was so stoked to jam to No Place Left To Hide, and was gonna bring some people to jam on that dirty groove with!

Hey thank you! No one in the band has ONE favorite album so everyone skipped out on the question. As for the Toronto show...we had some immigration issues unfortunately but we're planning to reschedule soon ;/

Rephrase, then?

How about the album you're digging the most at the moment?

Cool cool, we'll have to postpone the party until the next time, then!

Hm we all have gotten turned on to a couple new artists that we are diggin'. Courtney Barnet, Mac Demarco and Sturgill Simpson. See you next time!

Hi Jessica…when are you going to play in the Detroit area again? I saw your show at St. Andrews and you were terrific.

We are! We will be back in Detroit for MoPop festival July 25th.

hi jessica! do you write all of the songs by yourself or is it a collaboration between all members? what is the process like? do you notice any writing habits?

I write all of our music and a few songs were co-writes with close friends of mine from Detroit. The process is always different. I try and write on a lot of different instruments to change it up and keep myself out of a rut. I usually demo a song with basic drum, bass, guitar, key and vocals then send it to the guys to learn and then we grow it from there. The process is different with the next album though. For the second full length the Deltas are actually doing a lot of co-writing with me so it's going to be fun to see the difference in albums.

Best advice ever received?

No one can make you happy but yourself.