5 Questions for … Bayside’s Anthony Raneri

Queens quartet Bayside are celebrating their 14th anniversary this year, and the band -- fronted by Anthony Raneri -- has been a staple in the punk rock community for more than decade now. Their latest album, 'Cult,' is their sixth, and it's dedicated to the fans, especially the local ones, who've stayed with them through all the ups and downs. "I've lived in Queens my whole life," Raneri tell us. "I love it as much as anyone has ever loved their hometown. There isn't a more livable place than Queens. It's the perfect mixture of city and suburbs." Bayside are now on the road with the Warped Tour, but Raneri took some time out to answer a few questions for us.

Your recorded a demo for your debut solo EP, ‘New Cathedrals,’ at Chris Kirkpatrick's home studio. How did you get hooked up with a guy in NSYNC?
I was on tour with Andy Jackson from Hot Rod Circuit, and he's friends with Chris. He called him up and asked if it was cool for us to come by and use the studio. We recorded it in one afternoon, before our show that night.

What’s your favorite cult movie?
I think 'The Big Lebowski' qualifies as a cult movie. That’s a pretty great one. Although 'Troll 2' is probably the ultimate cult movie.

You have a song called 'Don't Call Me Peanut.' Why don't you like being called "Peanut"?

My favorite TV show is 'Dead Like Me.' "Don't call me peanut" was a line from the show. The pet name "Peanut" in the song is kind of arbitrary. It could be whatever pet name your ex-lover called you. I think we've all been in a place where you're being left, and the person is trying to spare your feelings, and you would rather they just tell you to f--- off, because that would be easier to wrap your head around.

What's on top of your perfect cheeseburger?
A burger needs to have bacon on it. Preferably, some kind of thick-cut smokehouse bacon. I've been big on having a fried egg on there lately too. Maybe some kind of sweet sauce, as well, and definitely cheese, maybe Swiss.

You once told your fans that you were losing your signature bird logo to a Mexican phone company as an April Fools joke. How'd that go?
Hundreds of thousands of people watched the fake video of us saying that we lost the logo, and only thousands of people saw the post about it being a joke, so we're still explaining to people that it is still our logo. You'd think the joke was really on us.