B.A. Johnston walks a fine line between boy-man and bum. When the 35-year-old Hamiltonian isn't on the road playing nerd-rock songs on second-hand keyboards and an acoustic guitar, he's living in his mother's basement eating instant noodles and playing Sega Genesis. When Uptown called up Johnston - a self-proclaimed "fat, tired chud" - in advance of his Winnipeg date, we found he's also particularly quotable. Here's some of what B.A. had to say:

On his used and abused black keyboard:
"The sound doesn't come out of it anymore, unless it's plugged into an amplifier. It's lost the ability to project its own sound. I poured a lot of Jager into it."

On whether he's too old to rock 'n' roll:
"I did a little tour last weekend with another band and, now that I think about it, they were probably all 23 years old. But, when you're all farting in a van it's basically ageless."

On whether his mom has ever threatened to kick him out:
"There's talk of it during family meetings. What's that relationship where there's the little fish and the killer shark and they need each other? Because it's kind of like that. Actually, it's more like a parasitic relationship."

On his habit of shooting snot mid-song:
"I think I have a sinus problem. I have Kleenex onstage, but there would be a huge gap between songs if I was constantly blowing my nose. It's just easier. Less attractive, but functional."

On what can happen when you shoot snot mid-song:
"I've been banned from a venue in Windsor for doing that, which is odd because Windsor is basically just one giant farmer's blow. I don't litter but, in Windsor, if you're littering, you feel like you're actually helping out and cleaning it up a bit by leaving your garbage there."

On video games:
"I found a Game Boy and got really into Tetris again. It's no good. You can never really win. There's no closure with Tetris. It's like life: you eventually just die. You have varying degrees of success before the end."

On his beloved Hamilton Tiger-Cats:
"Man, the Ti-Cats sucked for awhile, but I think we're out of the woods. I think you guys (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) are back in the old toilet bowl for awhile, but I guess someone's got to stink."

On what he calls what he does:
"I like the word 'entertainer.' It has a certain vagueness to it that I enjoy."

B.A. JOHNSTON
March 13, Royal Albert Arms
w/ The Magnificent 7s, The Disappointers