Better To... Podcast with D. M. Needom
The Better To Podcast is a place where we'll discuss what was the inspiration for their perspective projects and how it all came about. Sometimes, we’ll take a deeper dive into that moment that placed them on the creative path. On the podcast, we honor achievements, discuss new projects, and reflect on life lessons and the beginnings of the creative journey.
Better To... Podcast with D. M. Needom
(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang - Candy Whips - Wendy Stonehenge
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Wendy Stonehenge of the Candy Whips returns to the show to discuss his cover of the classic Heaven 17 song, "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang', Tour Life, Fatherhood and much more.
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"After the doo-wop covers EP Moonlight that I released last year, I wasn't planning on doing more covers for a while. But I was listening to Heaven 17, the pertinence of the lyrics really jumped out at me,” says Wendy Stonehenge, mastermind behind the electro/New Wave-inspired project CANDY WHIPS, about their new single “(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang.” "This song was originally released 45 years ago, and it's more relevant than ever. I decided it needed to be given a new life."
Candy Whips interpretation of the classic percolating ‘80s hit slows down the tempo slightly but amplifies the dance groove, allowing the very timely lyrics to breathe. "I knew I had to really reinvent this song in order to pull it off,” explains Stonehenge. “I mean, I couldn't do a faithful cover even if I wanted to. The basslines of Heaven 17’s John Wilson are insane. My version is much more stripped down but also even more danceable..this is the first time I've made a straight up dance track. It was a fun challenge to work outside of my usual comfort zone."
“(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” follows Candy Whip’s cover EP Moonlight, which features doo wop versions of The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You,” Marvin and Johnny's “Cherry Pie,” and the Chordettes/Pat Ballard's girl group classic "Mr. Sandman." Moonlight was my way of connecting with those roots of yore,” Stonehenge explains. “Modernizing these songs helped me to be a stronger writer.” Ripe with vocal effects, drum machines, and synths, he breathed new life into the songs by dusting them off and polishing them with modern flourishes. "If I could turn young people on to this older music, that would be amazing," he adds.
Known as an established member of the well-known Northern California glam rock band Glitter Wizard, Stonehenge formed Candy Whips as a side project during the pandemic. Using this project as an outlet for music that didn’t fit his other band’s glamrock mold, he explored synthpop in a more focused way, fusing punk and electronic.
Candy Whips is the solo project of Wendy Stonehenge. The new single "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" is out now and is available via Kitten Robot.
Website: https://kittenrobot.com/artist/candy-whips/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glitterwizardwagon/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candy.whips/?hl=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPgCq_P0e-xj84tFAiTXI3A
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©2026 Better To...Podcast with D. M.Needom
Welcome to the Better Two Podcast. I'm your host, Donna. Today's guest is Wendy from the Candy Whips. We discussed Candy Whips' new song called We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing. It's a cover of Heaven 17, and he's turned it into a dance record. We talk about that, we talk about tour life, we talk about fatherhood, and so much more. So tune in. Hi Wendy, how are you doing today?
SPEAKER_01Good. How about yourself?
SPEAKER_00I'm doing good. Uh welcome back to the show. This time, while you still have a cover and then it's a dance track, it's a little bit different. What made you decide to revisit Heaven 17?
SPEAKER_01Uh, you know, after I did the Do-Op Covers EP, I wasn't planning on doing another cover for a while. Uh, but I was listening to that first Heaven 17 album, and this song came on, and I was like, damn, this is what four decades later, and the lyrics to this song are even more prescient than they were when that song first came out. So I thought, why not? Seems like a good time to bring it back.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I think it's funny, but it's not funny, but you know, we don't need this fascist group thing. Um, but at the time, and I I mean I grew up watching the young ones as a teenage or late teenager. We my roommates and I would all hang around the TV, when MTV every Sunday night would show the young ones, and you know, we were talking about fascist bully boys and everything. And it's like back then, really, comparatively speaking, I understand we had the whole punk movement and everything, but were we as was fascism as much in our face as it is currently?
SPEAKER_01No, it wasn't. People at least tried to hide it.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, the other Sunday, somebody posted a picture from Michigan. I'm I don't live in Michigan, but the small town of Michigan, there were four guys walking around in tan print pants, tan shirts with a swasticker, uh armband.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's where we're at.
SPEAKER_00I'm like, how do we get here? You want and and and to be fair, besides Heaven 17, you want to listen to some lyrics that uh still are very fitting? Go check out the the.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00They have some lyrics that are are seriously fitting for the time, and I thought that a few years ago. And I mean, I've loved them since the late 80s, but it's it's weird that some of those lyrics from those decades still are so poignant.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00So why did you decide, hey, okay, this is I mean, dare I say uh Morrissey did this, you know, have something upbeat and make it upbeat with such hardcore lyrics.
SPEAKER_01I mean, who was it that said the line, it's not my revolution if I can't dance to it?
SPEAKER_00True. I don't know who said it, but I I do know the line.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, there's just because you're going up against dark stuff doesn't mean you can't have a good time while you're doing it. And I think that's gonna bring more people into the fold if everything's not just complete and total doom and gloom all the time.
SPEAKER_00True. True. Um, and you did change some of the lyrics I noticed.
SPEAKER_01I did. I updated a few things.
SPEAKER_00Well, and rightfully so.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we don't need to sing about Reagan anymore. His damage is already done.
SPEAKER_00Well, and and to be fair, because of Reagan, this is why we are where we are.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. He was he was the first wrong in this terrible ladder that we're climbing right now.
SPEAKER_00It was interesting when I my husband and I, my late husband and I bought a house back in 2012. And when we went for the home tour, you know, to go inspect the house, in the basement, there was a picture of Ronald Reagan. And I just looked at my husband, just kind of like, uh Yeah. And I mean, they were two, one one was a corrections officer and one was a police officer. And I'm just thinking, you guys miss the you don't understand what's really going on.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that checks out.
SPEAKER_00And and I think that's I think that's a bigger problem, is we we idolize, or not all of us, but some people idolize a figurehead that maybe doesn't have the power at all. I mean, Cheney was operate running Reagan, and we know somebody else is also operating the fearless one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, quite a few people.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So where do you see, I mean, you live in California, correct?
SPEAKER_03I do.
SPEAKER_00I live in Illinois, so we both live in pretty liberal places. Has your attitude about where you live changed any with this whole thing going on?
SPEAKER_01Uh in what way?
SPEAKER_00Do you wake up every day with sunshine and roses, or do you just go, okay, well, what's gonna happen now?
SPEAKER_01I let me just say that with everything that's going on, California is a pretty good place to be, comparatively.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I'm not gonna disagree where I live, I don't live in Chicago proper, and I was kind of I was kind of miffed because the town I moved to, I left a I left a small town, and that was not surprising that they had a lot of um uh racial issues there. Sure. Um, but so I moved to a town outside of Rockford, and apparently they were having some kind of meat sale at at one of the big box stores, and there was uh an African-American lady out on the street holding a sign, and somebody actually called the cops on her.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00And I'm just like, what the I don't get it. What what is your problem?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's really in your face now.
SPEAKER_00And I mean, when he ran the first time, I would sit there. Anytime I saw one of his signs, I'm like, your racism is showing. And here we are. But here's an interesting fact that I I heard, and whether it's sh I shouldn't say fact, but is a bit of information that seems logical. So apparently China is now building factories in Mexico.
SPEAKER_01Why?
SPEAKER_00Well, because if you want to cut off China and say you can't be our trading partner, we can build a factory in Mexico, and we can create everything we need to create, and Mexico becomes a trading partner with us, but then we can ship it to the US. Got it. Because of that lovely agreement a long time ago that President Clinton signed, uh-huh. Called the Free Trade Agreement.
SPEAKER_01Interesting.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00So really it's both of both sides. Anyway, we didn't only come here to talk politics. So how did the how did the covers record do?
SPEAKER_01Uh I think it went pretty well. People seem to really enjoy it. Um it was a digital-only release, so I can't really like track sales or anything, but people seem to really like it.
SPEAKER_00And that being said, um, digital releases are great, but when you have Spotify not paying you that much, it's it's hard for you.
SPEAKER_01That doesn't even count.
SPEAKER_00No. So how big of a how big a production do you want to make this song? I mean, is this something that you want to maybe people to use it for campaign rallies?
SPEAKER_01I mean, I would be okay with that. I'm not I'm not pushing it too hard right now. Um I just had a baby four weeks ago. So I'm in I'm in uh dadland right now. So uh, you know, marketing is not my number one priority at the moment, but I'm I would be happy for the song to take itself wherever it goes.
SPEAKER_00How hard is it being a nude parent in this environment?
SPEAKER_01It's weird. It's it's weird bringing a new person into this world and not being confident that there is gonna be a world left in the next couple decades. But at the same time, if we if we do survive, we're gonna need good people to help carry things on. So you just kind of have to hope for the best and and do what you can.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I mean it's gotta be scary on many levels because everything is fluctuating as far as cost and and scarcity, and you have to keep positive and because the interesting study that came out recently was that we pass on our trauma, family trauma, through our DNA, through our lineage, not just you know, your dad and mom and your grandparents. No, it apparently goes way back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. They've they've done studies where they found, you know, there's like a whole generation of people that are starving for many years, and they go to like their great grandkids and find that that had an effect on their digestive system.
SPEAKER_00Makes sense, yeah. But we we don't think about those things, we're just like, oh, we're just living in the moment, it's okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00But I mean, recently when I was going, I was talking to my half aunt, and she was explaining certain things about her my grandmother. And of course, I have one version of my grandmother, and she has a completely different one, yeah, and that actually opened up doors for me because it was like, okay, it gave me better understanding of family. And I don't think we actually most of the times when I, especially if we're in a toxic family situation, we just kind of go, I'm done. Yeah. And then we don't heal the trauma.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00So what do you hope to? I mean, I know you're in dad mode. But after dad mode, which you know, dad mode's gonna be the next 21 years or more of your life, but what do you hope as far as new music coming out and any play plans of playing live?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I'm taking a few months off from live music, uh, just because I don't have the time or energy to even have band practice. Um, but uh back uh by by the end of fall, I hope to be back in the swing of that. Um in the meantime, I have another single that is currently being mixed, and I have a collaborative album with uh my friends in a band called Murthquake. Um, and we are putting the final touches on that, and that should hopefully be out in the next few months as well.
SPEAKER_00So, what's the next single?
SPEAKER_01Um you'll just have to wait and see. I don't know if it's gonna be the single that I did myself or if it'll be a single from the Mirthquake collaboration. We're still still figuring it out.
SPEAKER_00Okay. The only reason I'm asking is because it'll be a little bit before this air, so that's why I'm asking because we can also hype up a little bit. But yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's probably gonna be a couple months before anything comes out. Okay.
SPEAKER_00So I know we talked a little bit about AI and music last time. Have has your opinion changed any since we have all the data centers coming in?
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, it's even worse than I thought.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Though I saw a st a st uh statition to our stat, I can't talk. Um that's not good for a person that's in the podcast. Um, but I saw some uh a poll today that was talking about things that the American people are more aware of and that they're going more against. And the number one thing was AI.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, nobody likes it. Nobody that isn't making it or making money off of it wants anything to do with it.
SPEAKER_00No, there was an author who allegedly put out 50 books since March.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00Uh-huh. You're a prompter, you're not an author. Let me rephrase that. There was a prompter who put out 50 books, and they're upset because they're not selling.
SPEAKER_03Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's not a cash grab, and you know that about music too. It's not a cash grab.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, even real music doesn't sell that well.
SPEAKER_00No, no. The second thing most people were upset was Trump.
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00And then the last thing on the list was Iran.
SPEAKER_01Interesting.
SPEAKER_00Well, I don't think people really we haven't had the effects yet. And growing up with, you know, I I grew up at the tail end of Vietnam.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00So when we weren't in war in the 80s, which we've always been, but we weren't in war in the 80s, my mom would be like, we need a war, it'll it'll boost the economy.
SPEAKER_01That's a gross attitude.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it is. It is. I there's a lot of things about that she believed that I do not believe. Um, and if she were alive today, I don't think we would talk, but that's beside the point. It's it's one of those things where I think that generation saw the growth though after the war. Yeah. And most of us realize what war is. Yeah, for sure. And the only people making money are the people that have contracts. So um how are gas prices affecting you?
SPEAKER_01I don't drive that much these days, so I haven't seen too much of a direct impact, but you know, gas is six or seven dollars out here in California.
SPEAKER_00Wow. It okay, so I filled up when all this when the war and I don't drive that much. When the war first started, I filled up at $2.99 a gallon. Uh last month before I parked my car, I haven't driven in a month, I topped off at like $349 a gallon. I have no idea. I don't think I think we're hitting five here.
SPEAKER_02That sounds about right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But I'm like, what are you supposed to do? And I have a friend who's like, and I'm going on a road trip to Michigan, and I just was like, really? I actually saw a gas station the other day that was out of gas because I went somewhere with one of my friends and it said out. I was just like, oh, that's not good. I remember that from the 70s. Um so in your free time, when you had free time before the baby, what what did you like to do as far as listening to music? What style of music did you like to listen to?
SPEAKER_01Uh, like genre-wise? Yeah. Um, I mean, lately I've been into a lot of Italo Disco. Okay. Uh I listen to a lot of uh old country music. Um obviously I'm into like new waves, synthpop, that sort of thing. I think I think the core of my listening though is like 70s punk and glam.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Fair enough. And and what calls to you about 70s punk and grant uh glam? Is it the the going against the norms?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well you know, they say that most people's music listening stops at high school. Um and that hasn't been true for for me, but I was mostly listening to like 70s punk in high school. So even though I've like branched out and listened to all other stuff, like that's still what I that's my comfort zone. That's what I come back to. So I think it when I was that age, of course, it was like the rebelliousness that really drew me to it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I mean that's I think that's a bigger picture thing because you're you're very correct in that statement. Other than a few songs that are modern, my music tends to go back to the 80s and the 90s, somewhere in there where I grew up listening to that. Sure, I can hear the 70s and some of the 60s, but my parents subject they subjugated me to definitely different types of music. My mom was the was Barry Manilo, Neil Diamond, the Carpenters, Barbara Streisand. And then my dad went from the Beatles to Fleetwood Mac to Whelan Jennings and Willie Nelson. Then one time I came because I had moved away, I came back home and we get in the car and he's listening to Oingo Boingo. I'm like, okay. But I think if you have a musical background, which he played the organ, I think your your music taste grows still. I don't think you get so stuck in it. Yeah, for sure. So what was your favorite group as far as punk?
SPEAKER_01Uh as a teenager?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um you know, I was really into Sex Pistols, really into the Clash. Um you know, I was super into Pixies, although they're not like really a punk band. They're punk adjacent. Um yeah, I was really into the classics. New York Dolls is a big one for me in high school.
SPEAKER_00And now when you listen, are you still on them or have you discovered other artists in that genre?
SPEAKER_01I will say that I don't listen to those artists as often. You know, it's it's one of those things where like I've listened to those albums so many times that it's not it's not the one I usually think to put on, but then it comes on, I'm like, oh yeah, I've really missed this.
SPEAKER_00I get that. I mean, it's it's like a song on the radio, like, oh wow, I forgot about that song. Then suddenly, yeah, you have to hear it. Um what would you want to do? Yes, I'm just I'm just I have no I have no notes today. I am just um what would you want to do as far as who if you could play with anybody alive or dead, who would you want to collaborate with?
SPEAKER_01Ooh, that's a good one. Um probably Brian Eno. Uh I just you look at the way that he uh approaches music as a producer, um, and it's it's less even about the outcome of what he's done, which a lot of it is really incredible, some of my favorite stuff. But I don't know if you've ever read uh David Burns book, uh How Music Works. Uh he talks about the Talking Heads album albums that he and Eno collaborated on, and just breaking old patterns and approaching music from a different way, I think is really fascinating. And and I've I've even taken some of those techniques they talk about in that book and tried to work them into the way I write music sometimes.
SPEAKER_00I had an interesting interview that with somebody who recently collaborated with him. Nice. Um, she actually is a writer and an artist, and he was doing music behind her stories, and he was producing the vocal part of her book. And he was basically telling her, No, you need to slow down even slower. So he was he was making sure that how she read it, it was almost very calm and very peaceful. And she talked about the collaboration. They actually have an organization that together they work with other artists to help people. So I mean, he's seeing, you know, I've listened to Roxy Music and a lot of other records that he's produced, and he's very talented, but he's also very private. Yes. Which I mean, after being in the game for so long, I think you do become very private.
SPEAKER_01And he he always had a problem being in the public eye, which is why he hasn't toured since what his first solo album. He was having nervous breakdowns on the road from touring because he just didn't like being in front of people, so I get that.
SPEAKER_00Well, it it takes a lot to get up in front of people and and remain remain in a headspace that you're not gonna screw up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I played bass in a talent show once and I stated the same arpeggio. Nobody, my band member mates did not know I screwed up. I knew I screwed up. I took myself to task for quite a while about that. But it's one of those things where you when you're in that performance, you're not thinking about it, you're just doing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_00So Brian Eno, what was your favorite music that he's ever created? Uh I know you said the talking heads about that, but what was your favorite song or album that he's ever done?
SPEAKER_01Probably Here Come the Warm Jets. Okay. That album is flawless, start to finish.
SPEAKER_00And what about it is flawless to you?
SPEAKER_01It just it's so it's so weird. Like there's there are moments on that album, and it's kind of hard to describe, but you know, from the very beginning of the track, there's just like this whisper of a sound, and you don't even notice it. And it gets through like two or three verses and choruses, and then all of a sudden that sound gets brought to the forefront, and that's the solo. And it's like, oh, I've been listening to this instrument the entire time, and I didn't even realize what realize it was there until now when it has its moment to shine. Just like interesting little tidbits like that. really really do it for me.
SPEAKER_00So it takes you on a journey.
SPEAKER_01It does.
SPEAKER_00And and that's that's really, you know, when I listened to yes, I hijacked my dad's Walkman. Somebody gave my dad his Walkman and Pink Floyd's The Wall back in 1981. And as a as a teenager, I was in eighth grade, so 13 years old, listening to that for the first time and the separation and just the mechanics of music, that is something you have when you can listen to something on headphones, you can really, really appreciate it. Yeah. It's not the same as coming through your computer or you know your phone. It just it lacks.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I've never done this like this, so bad made. As far as where would you like to play, what would be a gig you would like to play? If you could go back in time or if you could just anywhere you want to play now. Two part question.
SPEAKER_01I mean I I feel like most of my musical interest lives in the past. So let's let's say if I could go back in time and play anywhere. I think playing like the grandy ballroom in Detroit would be amazing. Or you know playing the film back in the 60s.
SPEAKER_00And who would be on that dream bill with you?
SPEAKER_01You know I saw a flyer once for a show that had both the Stooges and Funkadelic. If I could be added onto that bill that would be that would be a dream come true.
SPEAKER_00Be a night to remember for you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah right if I could remember it.
SPEAKER_00This is true. You may not remember it. It would be I'm I'm sure there would be some other uh substance substances and other things going on that you may not get to remember it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah I'm I'm sure members of one of those bands corrupted m members of the other band that night yeah no doubt no doubt um as far as pop music goes do you do you prefer more modern pop music or do you care for the older stuff the new wave and I know you said the new wave but just the older 80s not even new wave type pop music as far as mainstream music I don't think there's been much good mainstream music since the 80s I think there were you know a handful of good songs and artists since then but you look you look at the the charts in the 80s and like at least half of it is good. And since then it's just been like a song here or there.
SPEAKER_00I will and this is gonna be totally random but Huey Lewis is for I was never a huge fan of Huey Lewis however have you seen American Psycho of course okay the the narration about that record in that movie is hysterical because for I mean you talk about diehard you would never imagine anybody Huey Lewis the news and I mean it's just everything and then of course what does he do? He gives you this whole commentary and then bludgeons somebody I mean it's a bad movie it really is but but um and speaking of movies if you want to go back to the 80s did you see Wall Street? I did not you need to see Wall Street. If you would like to know how we've gotten partially where we are the original Wall Street Oliver Stone says in it you know he has Michael Douglas saying there greed is good. And basically what happens in this movie is Charlie Sheen is this traitor he ends up giving Michael Douglas a tip about this airline struggling thinking he's gonna save his father's job. And it's basically Oliver Stone has come out and said I didn't make that movie as a playbook. Yeah but here we are yeah so if you haven't seen it I would say definitely check it out. Alright and I know this interview's going all over the place.
SPEAKER_01So um what is your favorite instrument to play I mean singing is my favorite instrument okay fair enough it's it's it's the only one I truly feel confident in I I am varying degrees of competent in many instruments but that's the one I feel most comfortable in.
SPEAKER_00And after that probably drums which was my first instrument um even though I don't play drums that much anymore but I'm sure if you sat down you could play them without a problem yeah I could that's the only that's the only instrument I could sit down and like jam with other people on so when you decided to get into this be part of this other band what precipitated that uh candy whips not candy whips the one you're collaborating on the other right oh Mirthquake.
SPEAKER_01Yes Mirthquake apologize so uh my friend Jack who is kind of the the head honcho of Mirthquake he and I have collaborated for many years um he has done most of the mixes on all the candy whips releases uh he and I recorded a an album of Halloween novelty music a few years ago um and last year I was working on trying to get some music uh like put in commercials and TV placement and stuff and so I recorded a cover I'm not gonna say which one it is because it will eventually be on the collab album I recorded a cover to submit to the the placement company and I was like hey this needs a little guitar solo would you put a guitar solo on this and mix it for me and the solo he put on there just it doubled the length of the song and it just takes it into a whole new space than it was before and we're like okay this is really interesting maybe I'll come down to LA and let's do a whole album together so we had I think like four and a half days and recorded seven songs. Wow and then we have a couple more that we're kind of doing remotely together so yeah just kind of evolved that way.
SPEAKER_00So what's it like to try to pitch to get your music in placement for TV movies and ads well the company I was doing with specifically wanted cover songs.
SPEAKER_01Okay because apparently that's an easier sell but the people who are buying these songs don't want to pay the big bucks for the originals so it's all about the covers if you notice like every TV show every movie has some usually really sappy cover version of a song you know in it. And so I recorded a song I sent it to them they gave me notes back basically just didn't like it at all. They didn't want they didn't want anything weird or unique they wanted sappy like emo full covers of whatever yeah so that was uh a failed experiment in in that arena but we're getting this new album out of it so it was not a total loss.
SPEAKER_00And that's the thing sometimes you try something it may not work so you end up going a different path and that like you said you have a whole album. Tracy Bonham today pro she had uh she did mother mother back in the day and it's around the anniversary of it but a TV show called Fem picked it up and somebody singing it and it's kind of a more depressing thrasher um it's a good version but it's just it's totally different vision of what it is.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And would you would you be willing to make music again for that placement?
SPEAKER_01If somebody wanted the style of music that I make absolutely but I'm not gonna go and cater my style to what they're looking for. That's just not the kind of music I make.
SPEAKER_00You mean you're not playing for the suits?
SPEAKER_01I'm not playing for the suits.
SPEAKER_00And do the suits really even exist anymore? Uh apparently because they didn't like my song or here's the scary thing or are they trying to do go with the AI route?
SPEAKER_01Maybe I don't know I haven't as far as I know I haven't heard any AI covers of songs in good programs yet but you know it's buried in the mix.
SPEAKER_00Well this is true we just don't even notice I mean there was somebody saying that she had recorded a song and sent it to somebody um to work on it and they uploaded in AI and recreated a different version of the song with her voice.
SPEAKER_01I would be so pissed if somebody did that to me.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah and I mean it was AI total AI and it then it started climbing the charts. That's what really got her pissed off. Yuck so but that's the thing how do you tell it's a human voice or not? How do you know? Because deep takes are bad now. Yeah so what do you do now?
SPEAKER_01I mean I know you're you're dad what do you do in your free time well I do a lot of art um I was actually working on a concert poster right before this okay um so I that's kind of my main my main art focus is concert posters but I do album art I do you know merchandise for bands and stuff I have done logos for small companies um yeah all sorts of stuff um so I do a lot of that I just are I just got a new job this week to being the maintenance guy for a preschool so that's pretty exciting um I watch a lot of movies listen to a lot of records any good good movies lately uh let's no movies that I've seen I really enjoyed the new naked gun movie that came out a few months ago I haven't seen it have not it's great did you see Sinners I did see Sinners that one was good that was very good I I finally saw that recently Naked Gun I I may see it I may not I haven't decided yet but it is it's it's so rare that Hollywood puts out a big mainstream comedy these days they're so scared to put out comedies because people's sense of humor is varying and because it's not a given they don't make those movies much so I feel like it's really to me it's really important when a good mainstream comedy comes out to like go see it in theater and like let Hollywood know yes like people do still want to see these movies.
SPEAKER_00Instead of I mean I like the bear the TV show the bear but it wasn't a dramedy I didn't find humor in that show at all. No that movie's that that show's just stressful yes the the the episode where Jamie Lee Curtis is fixing Thanksgiving was one of the most stressful things I have ever watched on TV but they're like it's a dramedy no it's not there's no comedy in there. No and I think that's like you were saying because our sense of humor is so askewed now how do how do you find joy in in things you know I mean I have a friend who shares me shares a lot of videos with me of people falling down and getting hurt and you know the the reels that are on Instagram or whatever and she's laughing about it. I'm just like no I'm mortified because I know I worked an insurance so I know what the body can and cannot do and I just think of it from oh that person's gonna be hurting really really bad. Yeah but I I that's the thing everybody's sense of humor is different. So if you could if you could travel anywhere in the world right now where would you go?
SPEAKER_01I really want to go to Japan.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01That is the number one spot that I have not visited that I would like to go. And why I feel like most of my traveling out of the country has been either in Europe or uh like Central America and I really love visiting those places but it doesn't feel like a huge cultural shock. Like it's all pretty familiar and I feel like Japan would be way more different but also easier to navigate than a lot of other places that might have that same just kind of different feel.
SPEAKER_00Out of all the places you have traveled what was your favorite trip?
SPEAKER_01I really like Mexico I really like Germany and driving through the Swiss Alps on tour is probably the most beautiful landscape I've ever witnessed I can imagine it's beautiful was it scary no I didn't know if it was going to be so narrow and you know those those those horror stories of traveling yeah we didn't we didn't drive through any sketchy roads that I remember. Good good what and that was for the music correct that was for touring so what's it like to tour over there I can't say what it's like now I'm sure things have changed a bit in the past few years um post COVID but the three times that I went I would say touring Europe is so much better than touring in the States you tour in the States if you get enough money to fill up your gas tank you've done well for the night you're not gonna get fed you're on your own for a place to stay you know I can't tell you how many times I've just had to announce from the stage like hey we're homeless for the night if anyone has a floor like we'd love to stay on your floor tonight. Wow but you go to Europe you're gonna get paid you're you know you're gonna get a couple hundred bucks at least no matter what I've I've played shows to five people and you still get paid you still get a meal usually home cooked and you still get an actual bed to sleep in bare minimum.
SPEAKER_00So they appreciate you they appreciate you as a human. Yeah I mean I read Dave Grohl's book and and he talked about living in the van and how it was not comfortable and and I I think that's a lot that people don't think about when they think about being a musician they they go from I was in the garage till I was on on MTV or in you know or traveling the country in a bus or or a plane I don't think people really think about the time that takes between yeah for sure you spend you spend 23 hours for an hour or less on stage and and then you get the you know if you have a good audience then you get the adrenaline rush and then you're trying to figure out what you're gonna do with yourself after the show.
SPEAKER_02Sure.
SPEAKER_00And that's where some people get into trouble.
SPEAKER_01Not all but some people so out of all the places that you have played what was what was the actual favorite gig that you did favorite gig yeah it's hard to pinpoint a one favorite gig but my old man glitter wizard played a festival in Sweden called Muskelrock which was definitely definitely a top show for me it was this big metal festival in the countryside in the middle of Sweden in these old medieval fairgrounds and so they've got you know they have like old fair games like the hammer where you try and like hit the bell and stuff like that and they've got this huge wooden circus tent with big murals painted on the ceiling of like you know dudes in leaderhos and drinking beer and stuff like that. And I don't know the bands were really cool and uh the bar instead of serving everything in disposable containers they had reusable cups that had the the venue's logo on them and beer was like two euros and they had a deal where if you collect 20 cups and bring them back to the bar you get a free beer so they don't have to pay people to clean up nice everyone was just doing all their own busing which was awesome there was a they brought in a wrestling ring and they had a wrestling match that performed as part of the festival which collapsed at the end of the match that was fun it collapsed it collapsed towards the end of the match and the wrestlers were just like oh shit what do we do and the ref was just like wrap it up and some of the guys like okay opinion right and but that was a really fun gig I really enjoyed that well and what you're describing it sounds like you stepped into a different world almost oh yeah totally it was our first gig on tour we'd been traveling for like 16 hours to get there and it was it was the during the time of year where it just like doesn't get dark at night. So we partied until like three in the morning before the sun finally went down and then and then the sun went down and we're like all right we gotta like get back in the van and like drive to our next gig and and the sun was back up within an hour. It was really surreal that sounds crazy and it sounds very sleep deprived yeah yeah that that leg of tour was gnarly we we flew all the way to Copenhagen picked up a van picked up a driver drove to Sweden played this festival hung out for a few hours got back in the van drove back to Copenhagen dropped off that van got on a plane flew to Italy picked up a new van new driver new gear drew drove a few hours to our first gig played the first gig it was it was like 24 hours or more before we were able to like actually get horizontal sleep and then are you playing Pass out you know your body's just like I'm done yeah no I take that back it was 48 hours 48 hours of travel before we got to sleep and at that point we're all delirious and like some of the guys in the band were like partying to try and cope and they were just like out of their minds. It was it was nuts.
SPEAKER_00Yeah I I've stayed up uh when I won live eight I had to stay up from 3 p.m Friday night till midnight Sunday night and I also worked I had to work that day and I had to babysit the next day and by I think it was five o'clock Sunday morning they started playing religious programming so I called the radio station I'm like how long is this gonna last she's like I shouldn't tell you and I'm like I'm trying to win she goes it'll be on until 10 okay but even though I had a few hours of sleep I stayed up and then by the time the c end of the I fell asleep before it ended my friend actually caught it but your body you when you're younger you don't think about those things yeah for sure you just do it and I mean being on tour you like I said you have that adrenaline so that helps you but in the long run it just it takes down yeah once it wears off it it really catches up. How long was that tour?
SPEAKER_01Uh I think that one was about three weeks most most of our tours were around three or four weeks.
SPEAKER_00And you kind of went all over the Europe at that point.
SPEAKER_01Mostly Central and Eastern Europe so what did you like about Germany? It's kind of hard to put a finger on what exactly I like about Germany. I mean the Germans are weird they're very strange people they're very they're very to the point to the to the point that it seems rude to our sensibilities um which I kind of find funny uh their sense of humor is really strange um but but I don't know something about Germany just like feels very comforting and familiar to me. I like the food I like I like the architecture um I they're they're very efficient in a way that is comforting to my mild OCD um they're very progressive um but yeah Germany's just cool Berlin is Berlin and Mexico City are probably the two hippest cities I've ever been to now here's an off the wall question um because of what's going on here have you thought about like leaving the states not seriously you know everyone's like thought about it whether they've actually considered doing it or not um and I think if I had to leave the states I would probably either go to Mexico or I've heard really good things about Ireland and it might be possible for for my wife to get dual citizenship with Ireland if we needed to so that might be a possibility if we had to it's just it's a weird thing to even I know pose that question but it's something that m I've seen many people talk about if I if I had didn't have so many like connections and my life wasn't so grounded in the States I would have left already.
SPEAKER_00Understand.
SPEAKER_01Yeah
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I have a friend, a longtime friend, who she has friends in Ireland that are like, come on over. And she's like, But my life is here. You know, it's hard. And it's hard to up. I mean, I've uprooted myself from one place in the States to another, but moving across the world is completely different.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_00So what would you like to write as far as music goes? What what would be your stellar most impressive piece of music style that you could write?
SPEAKER_01Um I don't know. I feel like I'm I feel like I'm doing that every time I write. I don't think so. I think I'm always following where the muse takes me. And you know, whatever I'm working on at the moment feels like the coolest thing I've ever done. And you know, sometimes as I finish it, I'm like, oh well, yeah, the muse, the muse failed me at this at this time. But you know, the the next time I write something else and it's it's amazing. So but have you ever had go ahead. No, go ahead. No, go ahead. Um, yeah, I'm just like I don't I don't feel like I have some goal that I have yet to achieve as far as songwriting goes. I feel like I'm always achieving the next goal as I come to it.
SPEAKER_00My question was that my other question, what I I almost interrupted you, was uh have you ever the things that you think aren't good, have you other let others listen to it and then them turn around and say, no, this is really good.
SPEAKER_01Um I don't remember ever doing that because usually if I don't think something's good, I'm not gonna show it to people. So you're are you're your own worst critic then? Yeah, everyone is, yeah, of course. But also everyone makes bad art. Nobody nobody hits a hundred every single time. You just don't usually see the failures because you know, at least good artists know when it's a hit and when it's not. Um I think it was Chuck Jones said that every artist has a thousand bad drawings inside of him. And the sooner you get those done and out of the way, the sooner you can get to the good ones. So, you know, for me it's all I always need to follow the muse where it takes me, even if it's not success successful, I usually tend to learn something that I can bring into my next project.
SPEAKER_00Fair. What's your favorite medium to work with as an artist?
SPEAKER_01As a visual artist? Yes. These days I do a lot of digital drawing. Um, you know, I was a pen and ink guy for for decades, and I would really wasn't interested in doing anything digital, but I started getting to the point where because most of the stuff that I'm doing is primarily being used online, it's all ending up on the computer anyway, by the time I finish it. And I was wanting to experiment with a lot of layering and things that doing it all by hand, analog, would take just far too long. So something that could take me an entire day to do analog, I can do in an hour on a drawing pad. And the digital brushes these days have gotten so good that even I can't tell the difference between my digital stuff and my analog stuff if if I'm going for that same look.
SPEAKER_00That's impressive. Yeah. So when did you decide that you were gonna do music and then art? Do they both kind of happen at the same time, your decision to do this, or was it something that one led to the other?
SPEAKER_01I have always done both.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01Since I was a little kid. Um, you know, I was I was winning drawing contests when I was in kindergarten. And I, you know, I did choir all through school. Uh, you know, I sang in church. I was taking piano lessons when I was a little kid, you know, so music has always been in my blood. And even I remember in fifth grade we had an assignment where we we had to choose our dream job, and then the teacher would pair us up with someone who wanted who actually did that job, and we'd follow them for a day. And even then, like there's I was just like, oh, I want to like be in a rock band. Like, and it wasn't even that I was like actively considering like pursuing that. I just knew in the back of my mind that's what I was gonna end up doing when I got older.
SPEAKER_00And who did they pair you with?
SPEAKER_01So the teacher couldn't find anyone who is in a band, so she's like, Okay, well, what's your second choice? And I said, Okay, well, I want to be a cartoonist. And she couldn't find a cartoonist, and I was like, Okay, just pair me with a doctor. That's what everyone else is doing. I'm done trying. And so I paired with a doctor, and it was boring, and I hadn't failed that assignment because I was not interested in it.
SPEAKER_00Fair. I mean, if you you you don't want to be a doctor, following a doctor isn't gonna be like, okay, what am I, you know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, at least nowadays, if somebody did that, I'm sure they could find somebody to pair you up with.
SPEAKER_01I would hope so.
SPEAKER_00Wow. And I'm sure if your child shows, I mean, granted they're a baby, but if they showed interest in music and everything, I'm sure they're going to be supportive.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. I've I've already have my my kids for synthesizer picked out for him.
SPEAKER_00And are you gonna do the painted baby handprints or some plaster handprints of them?
SPEAKER_01Uh I mean he got his footprints done when we were in the hospital, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00I remember uh I went to New Orleans when I moved back to New Orleans, I had my birth certificate from the hospital, and my other one I didn't bring. And I had to get my license. And the lady's like, we don't take the feet print one. I'm like, okay. I thought you know, this one I was it's it's documented, everything's there, but you had okay. So so the footprints are important though, because you look at that and go, Wow, how much he's gonna grow quick too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's wild. When he was born, his whole feet were not much bigger than my big toes. Wow.
SPEAKER_00And they grow up so fast.
SPEAKER_01They sure do. He's he's only a month old and he looks wildly different than he did when he was born.
SPEAKER_00So are you are you excited about what the future holds as far as him, even though we are living in the dark times that we are?
SPEAKER_01Of course. I mean that's that's the thing I'm looking forward to most in my life these days, is just watching him grow and getting to know who he is and and just being able to like share all the things I love with him.
SPEAKER_00Well, and then granted, hopefully this will all be done with by that time, but you know, hopefully he won't get into the looks maxing crowd and all that other weird stuff.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm I'm gonna make it my goal to make sure he's not a part of the manosphere.
SPEAKER_00I don't even understand how we got here. I really don't.
SPEAKER_01It's very dumb.
SPEAKER_00But as I've told talked to somebody, one of my friends about this, it's a great way to divide us once again. Now we divided the sexes, and nobody sees that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So is there anything you'd like to add on this wild ride of a uh QA show?
SPEAKER_01Um, just keep an eye out. Got plenty more stuff coming. Uh, you know, I'm making sure to keep the the music flowing even while I'm not playing live shows. And I should be back to live music in the fall. So if you're in the Bay Area, keep an eye out for those. All right. Thank you for coming on. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00So if you're a regular listener to the podcast, you know I kind of I don't have questions prepared. I never have questions prepared. They always come off the cuff. But I usually have a sheet of notes to refer to. And today, because timing schedule was kind of off, I thought the podcast was later, my guests thought the podcast was earlier, and we had to come to a compromise, which meant me getting ready and doing this. And I'm yes, I'm letting you know the nuts and bolts of the podcast here. Usually I get ready, I leave myself an hour and a half. I've done the pre pod prep and everything else. And this time, because scheduling was a little different, didn't happen. So I hope you enjoyed the show as wild as it was. Not that it was totally outlandish, but there were questions I normally would not ask. But we had a show to take, and I had to do what I had to do. So I think you know, us discussing the fact of the matter that 40 years ago fascism seemed, you know, a big deal. And as I was saying about the the, there are some songs by the the in the late 80s that fit in with our world today. And also even um even when you think about two tribes go to war, that song still fits, it still works. And this is 40 years ago, and what we thought was the worst thing in the world, well, we've had we've had it much darker since then. And you know, I've talked about this before on the show. And I think that if we take and listen to those old tracks, those old songs, you know, even war, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. That's the truth. But we don't, you know, we would sing that and now it has even more of a meaning because now we're sitting here. It's not just what's going on between us and Iran, it's a bigger conflict brewing in the whole world. And there's fear, and collectively, with fear, everybody buys in. And there's gotta be a way for us to pull back. And I appreciate the fact that he turned that song We Don't Need the Fascist Groove thing into a dance song because we need to raise the vibration of us, of our planet into a better place. We know what we don't want as a collective, and while we're going through this, while we're having all these growing pains, we need to kind of get to a point where we say, No, enough is enough. The grift is done. We are people, we have rights, and we need to make sure that we're paying attention to what people are doing. I mean, I didn't even think about this on the podcast, before, you know, a congressman to come out. The they had congressmen to come out and say, I need $174,000 to live, I need more than $174,000 to live. We should allow insider trading. Most Americans don't make that. I certainly don't make that, not even close to that. Plus, they get free health care, which I still have to pay for mine, and they get $79 a day for meals. I have to find my groceries for about $200 for the month, if that, if that. So, and I'm not whining. All I'm saying is we have people that are in power that are very out of touch with their constituents, and it's unfortunate. And I would hope that we can look around and not keep aspiring to be, well, what if I win the lottery? Then they're gonna take half of everything. And then what about doing what's good for the collective? What about doing what's right for people? What about taking care of everybody? You know, kind of like he was saying about touring Europe, you know, and granted may not be the same now, but when he toured Europe, you know, you got you got fed, you had a place to sleep, you got paid. And here you're lucky if you got paid, because if you didn't meet meet the door, then you got nothing. You gotta sleep in a van, if that. So I think we need to really re-examine how we treat people. And there was no reason, like I mentioned about the woman that was doing her job. There was no reason for the police to be called, but somebody just didn't like it. Why? Because she's African American? Get over yourself. And that's the thing. We have to get rid of racism. Somebody said we should have let the Confederacy die. I wish we would have. And granted, yes, I'm from New Orleans, but I don't subscribe to that, never have. And I think that we need to get past that because we are all the same. We are all human beings. And we need to prioritize what is important. Data centers are not important. Data centers that are most likely for surveillance, data centers that will eat power, data centers that will destroy our water and take up land that could be used for other things. But hey, let's do this. And what other atrocities? We have cyanide being dropped on wildlife. You know, when I wake up and I look around the world, when I look at what's going on, it's like every day. It just you just go, Well, what's next? And it would be nice for one day not to wake up and go, what's next? To actually have a normalcy. The new norm is not nice. But anyway, I would advise you to go check out the song. It's a great song, it's definitely danceable, and you know, the lyrics are poignant. And he, like I said, he did update them. So, on that note, I'd like to thank Fast Susie for the music, the intro and outro music. I'd like to thank Wendy from the Candy Whips for coming on again. And I'd like to thank you guys for tuning in. Whether it be morning, noon, or night, I really do appreciate you listening. And I'll catch you next time, guys. Bye.
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