Proust Questionnaire: The Blakes

THE BLAKES ROCK, sure, but they also crunch, stomp and howl on their self-titled debut, released in October on Light in the Attic.

The brothers Keim — Garnet (guitar, voice) and Snow (bass, voice) — write and sing the songs; Bob Husak (drums) makes them thump. Together, The Blakes conjure the best of 1960s-era Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks, as well as Ryan Adams when he has his A-game and The Hives without the natty suits or irony.

If all that sounds terribly familiar, it is. But just because an old sweatshirt has holes in the elbows and gravy stains on the collar, that's no reason to ditch your favorite bit of comfort wear.

Plus, the ease with which The Blakes' songs slip into your ears, the melodies wedge into your subconscious and the beats wiggle into your booty shouldn't discount the band's ample, if obvious, charms.

The Seattle-based Keims traveled around a long time road-testing these rock 'n' roll gut punches before recording them. And the passionate way these tight bros inhabit their songs — from the maraca-pumped "Two Times" (which supposedly stopped Iggy Pop in his tracks when he overheard it at the SXSW festival) and Byrds-ian pop of "Lint Walk" to The Strokes-like "Don't Bother Me" and "Commit" — is palpable and undeniable.

You'll hear and see the passion of The Blakes at The Red & The Black on Monday night.

Since The Blakes are cooped up in a van, traveling from venue to venue and knocking out tour press like assembly-line workers, Express decided to give the group a respite from boring old questions by offering the band even older boring questions — if you consider "What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?" to be boring, that is.

The questions we asked were pulled from the questionnaires that French writer Marcel Proust answered during two social engagements — at the ages of 13 and 20. While he didn't write the questions, Proust's thoughtful, sometimes melodramatic answers — plus that long-ass book he penned — helped propel the combined questionnaire to the semi-legendary status it holds today: Vanity Fair uses it in every issue, and "Inside the Actor's Studio" host James Lipton busts out a Bernard Pivot-penned variation on the inquiries so the likes of Kiefer Sutherland can groan "gravitas" when asked to name his favorite word.

» EXPRESS: What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
» BOB: Starting a family.
» SNOW: Right now, answering this question.
» GARNET: Celebrity.

» EXPRESS: Where would you like to live?
» BOB: I haven't seen enough of the world to know yet.
» SNOW: I'm living where I like although I wouldn't be surprised if I found someplace better.
» GARNET: In a place where no one ever knows me.

» EXPRESS: What is your idea of earthly happiness?
» BOB: Being free to indulge myself in any way I see fit.
» SNOW: Laughing or silence.
» GARNET: The South Pacific.

» EXPRESS: To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
» BOB: Self-criticism.
» SNOW: Procrastination.
» GARNET: Lunacy.

» EXPRESS: Who are your favorite prose writers?
» BOB: Nick Tosches, Charles Schulz, Hemingway.
» SNOW: Kurt Vonnegut.
» GARNET: Hemingway, Steinbeck.

» EXPRESS: Who are your favorite poets?
» BOB: T.S. Eliot, I guess
» SNOW: Arlo Guthrie, Shel Silverstein.
» GARNET: I don't indulge but if I did it would have music behind it.

[Garnet may not, ahem, partake, but he did have a dream that he met the 18th century English poet William Blake, from whence the band's name sprang.]

» EXPRESS: Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
» BOB: Columbo, Junior Bonner.
» SNOW: Cowboys, Indians and Vikings.
» GARNET: Animals.

» EXPRESS: Who are your favorite characters in history?
» BOB: Mock Duck, Jack Dempsey, Rasputin.
» SNOW: Cowboys, Indians and Vikings.
» GARNET: Jack the Ripper.

» EXPRESS: Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
» BOB: Margo Guryan.
» SNOW: Martha Stewart.
» GARNET: Mother.

» EXPRESS: Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
» BOB: Lucy Van Pelt.
» SNOW: Bonnie of Bonnie and Clyde.
» GARNET: Beatrix Potter.

» EXPRESS: Your favorite painters?
» BOB: Dali, not a painting enthusiast though.
» SNOW: Georgia O'Keefe.
» GARNET: Basquiat.

» EXPRESS: Your favorite musicians?
» BOB: Ray Davies, Martin Denny, Buck Owens.
» SNOW: Blues.
» GARNET: My band members, Johnny Cash.

» EXPRESS: The quality you most admire in a man?
» BOB: Quietude.
» SNOW: Sincerity.
» GARNET: Strength.

» EXPRESS: The quality you most admire in a woman?
» BOB: Originality.
» SNOW: Sense of humor.
» GARNET: Leadership.

» EXPRESS: Your favorite virtue?
» BOB: Optimism.
» SNOW: Unbiased opinions.
» GARNET: Hope.

» EXPRESS: Your favorite occupation?
» BOB: Traveling musician.
» SNOW: Ha!
» GARNET: Field biology.

» EXPRESS: Your most marked characteristic?
» BOB: Incessant pacing.
» SNOW: Instigator.
» GARNET: Optimism/negativity.

» EXPRESS: What do you most value in your friends?
» BOB: Forgiveness.
» SNOW: Intuition.
» GARNET: Skills.

» EXPRESS: What is your principle defect?
» BOB: Where do I start? That's a cop-out answer.
» SNOW: Depends who you ask? Hmmm. I can be a bit scaly like a dragon!
» GARNET: Whiskey.

» EXPRESS: What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
» BOB: Loss of all limbs.
» SNOW: The final countdown.
» GARNET: Losing my hearing.

» EXPRESS: What would you like to be?
» BOB: Independently wealthy.
» SNOW: Ssshhhhhh, a writer.
» GARNET: A spelunker.

» EXPRESS: What is your favorite color?
» BOB: Teal.
» SNOW: Depends on the day.
» GARNET: Purple.

» EXPRESS: What is your favorite flower?
» BOB: Rhodies.
» SNOW: the ones people give me, water lilies.
» GARNET: Birds of paradise.

» EXPRESS: What is your favorite bird?
» BOB: Falcon.
» SNOW: Trogan.
» GARNET: Tit mouse.

» EXPRESS: What are your favorite names?
» BOB: Anything classic American: Luella, Wade, June, etc.
» SNOW: Mabel, Marge, Big Mama.
» GARNET: Loretta, Truman and Bimbo.

» EXPRESS: What is it you most dislike?
» BOB: Not knowing the answer.
» SNOW: Cheap sweets.
» GARNET: Mud and wet shorts.

» EXPRESS: What historical figures do you most despise?
» BOB: That Italian general from WWI who executed his own retreating troops.
» SNOW: Meanies and nasties.
» GARNET: We all have our own problems.

» EXPRESS: What event in military history do you most admire?
» BOB: The Battle of Tannenberg.
» SNOW: Losing gracefully.
» GARNET: Armistice.

» EXPRESS: What reform do you most admire?
» BOB: Prohibition.
» SNOW: AA.
» GARNET: I am not politically minded.

» EXPRESS: What natural gift would you most like to possess?
» BOB: A way with words.
» SNOW: A larger nose.
» GARNET: Perfect pitch.

» EXPRESS: How would you like to die?
» BOB: Old and out of it.
» SNOW: In a fruit truck.
» GARNET: Killer whale bite to the head.

» EXPRESS: What is your present state of mind?
» BOB: Feeling pretty content right now.
» SNOW: Amused.
» GARNET: Very attractive.

» EXPRESS: What is your motto?
» BOB: Keep pressing on.
» SNOW: Don't take it personal!
» GARNET: Let's see if I can do this.

» The Red & The Black, 1212 H St. NE; with Red Collar, Mon., 9 p.m., $8; 202-399-3201.

Photos by David Belisle