SPARK.N.STRIDE with Mach
SPARK.N.STRIDE with MACH
Conversations exploring wellness, mental health, resiliency, and personal development with Mach a retired US Air Force veteran.
SPARK.N.STRIDE with Mach
Into the music: with Mikey Strawz of The Break Plans - Ep16
Step into the world of The Break Plans:
NJ alt-rockers emerged in 2019 with a modern-day formula of 80’s-influenced, poptimistic tunes that showcase a variety of styles. From polished pop to anthemic choruses to tender ballads ... singer Colton Braun, drummer Dan Carr & guitarist Mikey Strawz
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, witness how personal routines intersected with global events. Reflect on the challenges of military service and conveying the pandemic's severity to family. The discussion widens to highlighting music and creativity as sources of comfort during isolation.
Experience the band's journey navigating the creative process and group dynamics in a pandemic-challenged world. Discover how they managed pauses, refined their sound, and embraced virtual performances. Celebrate the unity within the group, the evolution of their songwriting, and the emotional highs and lows of creating music. From pondering future trends to sharing poignant stories of resilience, this episode showcases the band's creativity, adaptability, and unwavering dedication to their craft. Join us for personal stories, creative insights, and exciting plans for the band's upcoming releases.
What's going on, mike?
Speaker 2:What's up? Mach it's Spark and.
Speaker 1:Stry, season 2. But, mike man, it's good to see you and I got a lot of things I want to ask you. I hope you got some things for me. But yeah, man, what's going on? How you feeling today?
Speaker 2:I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. Today is Saturday.
Speaker 1:That's a start right there.
Speaker 2:No work going on since band life is not the full-time job. I'm a teacher by day, so yeah, no, saturdays is the chill day. It's day to relax.
Speaker 1:Cool man. So teaching is how we keep the lights on. Yeah, I guess, so I guess. I guess it pays the bills enough.
Speaker 2:I mean teachers don't make, make a lot. But now, yep, I teach and then I coach tennis too. Yeah, so that.
Speaker 1:Oh, you coach tennis, yeah, I coach tennis too Also.
Speaker 2:yeah, for high school.
Speaker 1:So man open in Queens?
Speaker 2:I did go to US Open one year yeah. I didn't, I was lucky enough to where I had a friend who won tickets in his company but couldn't go, so I sat first row at you know opening night watching Roger Federer play, which is like my favorite tennis player. So, yeah, yeah. So that that was. That was pretty sick.
Speaker 1:Dude, he was beast right.
Speaker 2:He's the greatest. He's the greatest, yeah.
Speaker 1:What, what, what got you into tennis?
Speaker 2:I was always like an active kid and just like I was. It's funny I was talking about this with someone else. Like with sports I was kind of like a jack of all trades, master of none, so I wanted to play it all and baseball kind of wasn't my thing and baseball and tennis season kind of coincided.
Speaker 3:So I tried tennis and I picked it up and I got pretty good and it's just fun, Like because you're by yourself.
Speaker 2:out there you're running around hitting a ball and yeah. I mean, it's just a fun sport, full active sport.
Speaker 1:How long did it take you to get conditioned to where you can, because I always get confused on how you keep score. I know it's like love and this and that whole thing.
Speaker 2:Scoring in tennis is like the hardest thing to teach kids, and I have a lot of kids that came on for the first time this year playing tennis, yeah, and like I had to bring them to a classroom to show them like the scoring in tennis. Because just explaining like love and deuce and 15, 30, 40, why 40, why this and that tiebreakers don't even get me started. I can't, I can't teach tiebreaker. But uh, go back to your question. Like conditioning though, like um, so these tennis, like the pros out there, they're playing in like hot conditions out there. Some matches go like five hours.
Speaker 2:They're playing in like 80 90 degree weather you got to be, you got to be in shape, you got to be running and stuff high school tennis. You know you're not playing as long um, you're not out there in the super heat and you're not busting it like the pros. You just need to kind of have some small conditioning. You know, go for runs, do some plyometrics, stuff like that yeah dude, I just started doing hot yoga.
Speaker 1:Hot yoga I started like maybe six weeks ago. Okay, bro, phenomenal man, really like listen, like somebody's probably listening to this, like big deal You're doing hot yoga, like, but for me it's, it is a big deal because I just, uh, I've always wanted to try and I was just like I don't know man, I guess I never carved out the time to to really like try to do it.
Speaker 2:Well, you had a very busy, busy life and career, so hot yoga into that.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, man, I mean I mean don't get me wrong there's, there's yoga in the military and that kind of thing. But I mean for myself, um, yeah, man, like six weeks ago, like, uh, I, I just like, okay, I went and I did like two like like starter classes, kind of a thing I'm no good by I shouldn't say I'm no good but I feel good. Yeah, now the people around me they're doing things and they're bending ways that I'm just like man, like there's absolutely no way that I can do that. Yeah, but you know, you, kind of like, the cool thing is like you're on your mat, you're in your space and it's your I'm gonna use a yoga term that I've learned it's your practice and what I love the most is and I don't know if this is part of like how they train people to be instructors, but there's just like something soothing and calm about the voice of these instructors.
Speaker 1:Now I haven't gone anywhere else, so I I don't have anything to equate it to, but down the street, you know, five minutes from my house, I'm in this box of energy. You know it used to be a bank, okay, so like they converted it, you know, so it has like the old, like drive-through kind of thing, but you could tell it was either yoga. It was either fast food or something you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah fast food, yoga, something you know, yeah fast food yoga or drive through yoga, but, dude, it's just, uh, I don't know, have you ever tried yoga? Like I haven't like gone to um, like a professional class, but again, being a teacher, we have like these workshop days, so they'll have, like you know, one part of the day you go to like a meeting to learn about whatever and then they'll have another part.
Speaker 2:We're gonna go do yoga in the gym for an hour, so I've done a bunch of that, but I've never done a professional class, though, but it looks like a great way to get in shape and to feel good, you know yeah, man, I've been so uh.
Speaker 1:So I go three days a week. I would like to try and squeeze in one more day, but I get three in, so it's uh. Monday night, wednesday night, saturday morning right okay.
Speaker 1:So, so, with just three days, man, I'm telling you I feel amazing. I feel amazing. Uh, you could just feel like your joints too, like your, your. You could feel soreness in places that like for me, that I've never felt before. You know what I mean, especially like in my shoulder, and this morning I did it. This morning, dude, I just felt, I felt like so in control of, like my, my body. You know what I mean. Like it's wild, like because, like they're having you, they're asking you to breathe, and then, like everyone's breathing at the same time with you. Know it's not covid, friendly, but you know everybody breathing at the same time, exhaling and breathing at the same. Can you believe we went through that, by the way?
Speaker 2:you know, yeah, I, I can't believe. I. I look back at like because right now, this time of year, we'd be stuck in at home like four years ago we'd be on lockdown right now yeah, and you being a teacher yeah, that wasn't fun.
Speaker 2:I mean, I can't lie. I was pretty much off the rest of the year and I got to see my little daughter grow up before my eyes every day, which is a blessing yeah, but I think you know it was, that was still just a trip, you know dude, it was so, um, so I was still in the military at the time.
Speaker 1:So a friend of mine works at this like special, like department within the Pentagon. Long story short, they set it up where I could go and basically like shadow these guys, you know, because I had never I had never been to the Pentagon, I had never had an assignment to the Pentagon. But I wanted to see it like I'm like dude, like like I'm gonna retire here in a few years, like I want to at least say that like through in my military career I have been to the pentagon, like that was important for me, right. So they, they hook it up. They're like hey, mach, you're gonna come here, you're gonna gonna be here for a week, yada, yada, here's the hotel where you're gonna stay, you know, and uh, almost like a peek behind the curtain. So there's a whole, there's a whole unit, a whole department is strictly focused on the transportation of pretty much like the vps within the military. So they call them like, uh, like white jets. You know, there's like these, uh, like these lear jets and these guys are in charge of like basically the logistics behind where these planes are going, who they're picking up, where they're picking up where they're dropping off that whole kind of thing.
Speaker 1:So, in any case, man, like being in the pentagon, I get a chance to sit in on a on a briefing. So I'm in this briefing and it's dude. It is like the, the cdc, like these higher ups briefing this room, full of like and dude. It was the information, basically, that we were going to lock down. So I get out of there. I get out of there. Like you know, I'm not putting anything on social media or anything like that, but instinctively I'm thinking to myself okay, that was, that was bugged out. What, what I just overheard in there right me and, like you know, 50 other people, yeah, like. So I started thinking to myself I'm like man, like, so I call my wife.
Speaker 1:I'm like, hey, when you get a chance, just go to the pharmacy and load up on like motrin and so, of course, of course of course she's fighting me on it, right, and I can't, even if I told her, even if I told my wife, babe, I was in a top secret squirrel meeting and this is, she would think I'm crazy, dude like, she's not gonna pay me any mind. You know what I mean. So you could, you could, you could sense the tension on her in her voice over the phone. You want me to do what? Like, like, please.
Speaker 1:And I started telling folks like, hey, like, because we have elderly folks in our family and you know we have a big family, everybody tell some, tell them they can't get together on a saturday. Dude, like, forget about it. So her mom was um in her early 80s at the time. So you know, we're dude, everybody thinks I'm crazy. There was only like a few people in the family that really kind of like took what I said serious. That was, I want to say that was like february 24th and, sure enough, march 16th. Yeah, it was march 16th, right, it was that friday it was that week.
Speaker 2:Yes, you're right, it was that friday it was like dude, like lockdown, wild, wild.
Speaker 1:That whole thing comes back from me telling you that I'm in yoga in a room full of people and we're taking deep breaths and exhaling together and you're still thinking about it, Dude like it's wild. You know what I mean that we experienced that as a nation, as a world right.
Speaker 2:I know it's wild and it's funny because my memories of the beginning of the lockdown were just I was walking in the shop right one morning before school started, because I think I was sort of hearing about the lockdowns, and this woman's walking out with two wagons or shopping carts, like poem two, with just waters and toilet paper and I was like what is going on? And I I didn't even think about water and toilet paper at that moment and I was like maybe I should get some water too, you know, and some toilet paper dude, the whole toilet paper thing was wild.
Speaker 1:It was Like that was like and it's just crazy, man, like I'm not like a whole conspiracy theory kind of like, like, whatever they're like certain shit I want, I like I think to myself and I'm like I hope that shit's real, like, like you know, we're not. Yeah, I'm not gonna go down this rabbit hole. But the minute you in a society man, the minute you take out like law or the, the followership of law, bro, like you just got a snapshot with toilet paper yeah, now take out the. Take out law right, any sort of law abiding. You know you go into shop right, or whatever, I don't know. Maybe there's like a handful of people, let's just say out of all the people in the in shop, right, yeah, everyone's following the law. Now take the law out. What happens? It's just it's nuts, dude, like people, people are like fighting over toilet paper and you know well.
Speaker 2:But isn't it wild that there was plenty of food during covid to get, but there wasn't enough toilet paper? There wasn't enough? Um, like lysol, right, yeah. But you start realizing like what's important, right, and you like clumsiness, you know. So I just found it. I found it fascinating that, like when that all went down, like there was plenty of food, like no one was going to starve, but everything else, like toilet paper, was like sparse. You know, it's weird, it's weird.
Speaker 1:And it's wild what you make a demand, yeah, so all of a sudden, like toilet paper is the demand. Yeah, like that's it, that's the one. Yeah, who would have thought right, oh, okay, okay, man, okay, like absolutely no problems at all, but no man, just.
Speaker 2:But it was scary, though there really was a lack of toilet paper out there, so it was like you started thinking like you're rationing and I mean not to get too silly, but you're like you're really rationing that toilet paper in your house and it's just wild to think like what became like priority?
Speaker 1:during that pandemic. Let me ask you did you write any music over the? I mean that's, I would, I would, I would assume you did but I mean I don't want to assume anything. Yeah, I know it's funny because and if so, what are you writing?
Speaker 2:about, you know. So it's weird because, like that was, that was a very weird time for the band. We had just started playing shows, january 2020. Um, like we had rehearsed our butts off, I guess, 2019, rehearsing, playing, getting ready for shows. We booked our first show January 2020. And we were like we had just released some music. Before that, we were like all amped, we were all floored. And then, as you said, like March, whatever, like like three shows into our yes we're here we're the break plans, boom, lockdown, shut down.
Speaker 2:And that was weird because we had all this like momentum built up already. We had, we had fans developing and and we had a like you know, like everyone else shut down. But to answer your question about what we were writing, if we were writing, it was probably one of the better things that happened to the band as far as writing. It gave us time to collect our thoughts, what we want to write about, figure out producers we want to work with, and I would say we're we're still successful as far as where we're at in our own world because of having that time to step back to write better music. We had time and, yeah, I mean I'm I'm in a way, like I don't want to say grateful for it, but it was a really good opportunity for us to figure out like our sound, get producers that we think are really awesome to work with and to really hone in that better songwriting. So it gave us time, you know.
Speaker 1:So was it like the whole year, like when did you guys get back to? I guess?
Speaker 2:performing. All right, right, so performing. It was 21, the summer of 21, we played our first show in freehold, so you know pretty much a year and a half. Wow, yeah, yeah and we had just started seeing like other bands booking tours in early 21, so that was a problem. All these venues were getting saturated with all these bands want to play shows, so they were booking the big, the big names mm-hmm so the small, small bands, how to keep waiting in line for their chance.
Speaker 2:And we played a really awesome outside, like in free. So downtown Freehold. I'm gonna feel they do like a thursday night concert series downtown.
Speaker 1:So we're in the summer in the summer. Yeah, every thursday and then, and then the uh, the car shows too right. Isn't it like part of that, or is that, I think?
Speaker 2:I think, like one one of those thursdays would be a car show day with bands, and then they just do like cover bands but they didn't an original night. So we were there and it was. It was insane because you hadn't played a show in a year and a half and we were still new to playing shows as far as this band and now we're playing in front of, like there must have been about, I want to say, close to a thousand people there, because it's free.
Speaker 2:They walk up with the chairs they probably weren't expecting an original band, because they were probably thinking we were a cover band. So they I don't know, I don't know how how much everyone was happy about that, but either way it was cool. And then, after that, we didn't really play in their show for a little while, because it was still getting. It was tough getting shows, but in that time, though, we were able to really focus on our sounds and get ready for this next, you know, know, or that, that next gear, um, which is where we're at now. I guess past two years, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, um, let me ask you. So when this is happening, right, you, you, you're forced to take a pause. You take, you take this break. So you guys are getting to get well, are you guys? You guys are physically in the same room getting together, trying to, trying to write music.
Speaker 2:It's weird. We may have broke a few rules here and there, but yeah, but um. So I'm trying to remember. Okay, we had just like in February, like when you went to, probably, your meeting at the Pentagon, we had just started, uh, one of our songs in in the studio and then everything got shut down.
Speaker 2:So we had to then finish that song virtually with our producer, which was very weird because that was like again the first times anyone was doing things like virtually through Google, meet or zoom like no one was doing that stuff before the pandemic and now everyone kind of is forgetting about it again, right, but I guess the point is like we were doing a lot of zoom stuff during pandemic. So at first it was weird, right, hopping on a zoom call to do stuff, um, and then, you know, I wasn't going out anywhere, colton wasn't really doing much, uh, dan, our drummer, dan, wasn't doing much, so we were pretty much quarantining ourselves. So we did decide, probably like a month later, to go up to the studio to finish up like a song or two.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, it probably wasn't the smartest move, but we were all being safe, like you couldn't go anywhere right so like we were all pretty much quarantined, so to answer your question and we did go up to the studio to work on a couple more songs. But it wasn't like we're doing it every day. You know, it's probably like we'd pop in like once or twice, and then we did. And then we waited till the summer, till like the restrictions were lessened and then we recorded more there. Yeah.
Speaker 1:During that time. Yeah, so, mike, when you're talking about before, you talk about like hey, we were like reaching out to these producers and we're like you know, like because you're forced, Everyone was forced to pause. But what part of that process was unique to you guys that maybe most people don't know? In terms of creativity, because that's the main thing right To be creative and be inspired, yeah, to put the stuff together.
Speaker 2:I kind of thought about this one as I was driving here today. I was like what? Am I going to? Talk about what like what. So it's funny, we released, like our first song, lipstick number, our second song, sinking down, and then our third song, not my head, and those were like all old batch songs.
Speaker 2:They were like two songs I had laying around and then there was one song colin had laying around and, um, those were like our I would say like our safe songs, because they were like already written, kind of when me and colton met. So then when right like right during lockdown, we had to write new material and we might have kept going in this direction of safe songs or songs that we've had in our little library of catalog on our hard drive. But what happened was I was listening to a lot of music like you know you're home every day, like what are you going to do?
Speaker 2:Watch a movie, listen to music? And I was really trying to like dissect, like all the bands I like, like what are they doing? Cause I will say, like our earlier music sounds different than like anything we released after it, and that's because they were like old songs that we tried tweaking to sound a little bit more like the genres we liked. But they you know, I feel like it was kind of like putting a square peg in a round hole. It didn't really work.
Speaker 2:So it allowed us to really hone in on like all right, what are these bands out there doing? Who are they working with? Because I think I was telling you earlier, you like, if you really like, want to take advantage of your sound or whatever you're doing, you got to go to like the right people and so I started DMing producers. I was talking to other people in other bands, like, what are you doing? I was dissecting songs and then I would come into our. So our producer, shirapa amazing, he's so awesome. He's up in barbershop studio up in lake opac on. He is like this this guy cannot produce a bad song and what I would do is I would go in with like pieces of different songs from bands I like and be like I wanted to sound like this, like that, like this, like that. And that gave him the blueprint to kind of get like the vibe of what we wanted so like like a lot of bands do this.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm not anyone special, but I didn't really like do that. In the beginning of our earlier songs I was kind of like me and Colton were like let's just write some songs and we'll have fun with them and we'll send them to a producer that tries to tweak them into whatever the style is. But now we had a game plan.
Speaker 2:like yo, let's do this we hear the music we want to make you know, and that really kind of helped us out taking that time during the pandemic, wow, to figure it out man, that's dope man you know, I mean it was. It was like a nice way to step back and just really look at, like what, what's going on in the scene, without trying to step on toes or copy.
Speaker 1:People too, you know, still want to be original want to be original, but what are they doing, right? That everyone else is like feeling, you know I think it's also just kind of like similar to like a toolbox. You know you could pull out this tool like you know you. Basically you're using it like the same way. It's supposed to be used this way, but if you allow leverage, it does this if you, you know what I mean, like you can.
Speaker 1:You can just so, just because other folks, you know, and that's the whole part of it, that's the whole part of community is to be able to reach out, network and what's the? I mean, I'm not, I myself am not in the community, I'm not in the community of bands within our area. Yeah, you know, like I would think that you guys kind of like know each other I don't know, and I could be completely wrong, right, like I don't know, maybe you guys don't hang out and that kind of thing. But I guess what I'm getting at is how much cohesiveness is there in this, because it's a really niche, right Like this community of bands here within the Jersey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I guess we'd be talking mostly about Asbury Park, because that's where a lot of the venues are. That's where everyone wants to be.
Speaker 1:Right, like Asbury Park, right, I mean, there's a lot of history there, stone Pony goes back, right, yeah, you got Asbury Le.
Speaker 2:there's a lot of history there, stone pony goes back right, yeah, as we're leans, you got house independence, which is just coming back okay they were uh shut down for a while, not because of like pandemic covid yeah they had a massive flood which destroyed the basement in the first floor, so they had to actually close down. For like what was it like?
Speaker 3:probably 10 months whoa eight months and they're not now they're reopening.
Speaker 2:They got new ownership, which is cool. Um to see that place back, because everyone was. You know venues are dying, so to see another one just kind of close up was really scary. It was really scary, but another reopening, so there's house independence, you got the wonder bar, you have low dive and you have the break, not the break, plans but the break which is part of low dive, and you have the break, not the break plans, but the break, which is part of low dive.
Speaker 2:There's two different stages there. Um, the Saint, which was a staple for a long time. That shut down a couple of years ago, again not because of COVID, but now they're reopening. The owners of the Saint are opening up another venue in Asbury. You have that. Um, I'm probably forgetting a couple, but it's pretty good. I don't know how to explain it. Everything's competitive out there. Everything's competitive.
Speaker 2:You want to make friends with bands and you try, but there's just some bands that you just find I'll just say are jerks, that either don't want to be friends with you. There's jealousy. Our band, colton, and I and Dan. Our thing is we just want to be friends with everybody. We don't care.
Speaker 2:Like listen, like if you play in, whatever style you play or whatever, like let's, let's just all hang, let's all do this together. But you run into that, run into it a lot. Um, we, we do have some, some bands that. But it's a very tough, tough town. Like when I got into it, I thought, like when we started a band, we'll be friends to everybody, let's go out there and play book shows and yeah, no, it's not like that and I don't get it why it has to be like that. But there's a lot of jealousy for sure. But with that said, you meet the right bands, the right people and it can be a community.
Speaker 1:You know it can be I just think there's so much that there's. So I I strongly feel that there's so much more to gain from coming together collectively than not. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Like you can get so much more done, dude absolutely, I know, and and that's what that's why, like and I usually reference colton more than Dan, because me and Colton have been doing this a little bit longer Dan came in a little bit, a little bit after we started the band, so in the very beginning, um, that's what we ran into.
Speaker 2:We were like why is everybody like giving us a hard or or like ghosting us or or like we would have people cause we were like very Instagram heavy Um, especially when Instagram was big four or five years ago, and now it's come back around again. But we were very Instagram heavy and we would have like I'd reach out to people, check our music out, and you know, some people would be like I don't, I'm not listening to your band because the band that I like doesn't like you guys. And I'd be like what?
Speaker 1:Like where'd that? Comes from somebody would write that to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it didn't happen all the time, you know, I will say probably a couple dozen times we got some mean things back. I had one guy telling me that, um, oh yeah, one of his favorite bands was this band called the band camino. They're pretty big in the indie rock world. And I remember being like you know, hey, check our band out. You know we really like the band camino, we they're. They're pretty big in the indie rock world. And I remember being like you know, hey, check our band out. You know we really liked the band Camino. We see you do too. And uh, you know, just give us a listen.
Speaker 2:And I wrote back the band Camino is Mozart compared to you guys and I was like, wow, that's mean, that's so mean. But you know, the the world out there in the music scene is not always friendly, and I learned it. And now me and Colton laugh about it and Dan and I laugh about it because, you know, I feel like we've been doing the band long enough. You know we had this restart in 22, whatever, after the pandemic we've kind of made our way through the Asbury scene and I feel like, you know, we, um, we met the right bands to be friends with and if anyone else is gonna hate on us for whatever, then whatever, whatever.
Speaker 1:Also, man, like you have no clue what people are going through. Yeah, right, that's the other part about it too right, like you have no clue what this. And then, for instance, like, okay, so a band, right, we're talking what? Three to five people? I mean I'm yeah somewhere in that.
Speaker 1:Clearly it could get bigger than that, but I'm just saying, like you guys shout out to the guys by the way, right, what's happening? Boys shout out to the guys dan and colton, wish you guys were here, but we'll get you on the on the next one, next time, next one. But but check this out, though, mike, right? So like you have no clue, what these folks are going through is maybe like a group of like three to five guys, or whatever guys and girls who cares, dude, like you're not gonna get along with all five, you're not gonna get along with all three. Like you know what I mean. Like some people gravitate to different people and but ultimately, if you can collectively come together, man, it does. There's way more to gain, you know. But what are you gonna do?
Speaker 2:man, no, you can't, and and. But that's how it is, like, I mean, that's just how it is in the music scene for probably forever, you know. But what are you gonna do, man? No, you can't, and and but that's how it is, like, I mean, that's just how it is in the music scene for probably forever. You know, there's rivalry, there's territories, there's jealousy and I, you know not to go back to our beginnings, but like me and colton didn't get into making music to really do it we.
Speaker 2:We did it for ourselves, we wanted to make songs for ourselves, so like, if anyone else out there likes it, cool, if you don't like it, I don't care.
Speaker 1:It's not for you. It's not for you, yeah, it's not for you, man.
Speaker 1:So whatever you know, I think the cool thing, though, is like what we're witnessing like right now, just with the ability to like start a podcast and and and just there's all these other like ways to get media and get information out. You know, clearly, with the social media, even when, like the podcast kind of thing, you know, like, I, I, uh, I went to like a podcast conference last summer in denver and it was all these folks, dude, there were people there from the uk, there were people there were executives there from like our radio, all these, all these big corporations you know like and, and everyone there was cool, dude, there was not one person that was like what do you know, dude, we're all doing it. No, egos, we're all. No, clearly, there's ego, there's always ego, right, but, but I mean but in terms of like, what people wanted to like put out there first, their their, uh, their opportunity to like make an impression at face value, everything was all cool. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I think also because there's everyone's an amateur for the most part, unless unless you're making, I didn't meet anyone there that was extremely huge with like any big contracts or anything like that. For the most part, you know, it's like hey, like um, um, I met this one guy from man I'm going to mess this up this guy and um, so he's from, he lives in Canada. Okay, works for the airport in canada, so he's able to fly to vegas like regularly. Like this guy goes to vegas, let's just say like once a month. So he goes once a month and his podcast is all about vegas. Wow, okay, it's all about vegas. Dude, like all he does, like the history he does, all kind of, but it's all vegas.
Speaker 2:This guy lives in canada well, I will will say this is probably like too much on the side, but Canadians love Nevada like Las Vegas and Phoenix Arizona Cause. I have family from. Phoenix and whenever I go there, first of all, like if you go golf in Arizona like Phoenix, you're going to get paired up with someone from Canada like Edmonton all the time, Really so, like they call them, like snowbirds. Okay.
Speaker 2:And they come on down to. So it's probably like I don't know if this is worth it for your, for your podcast. But it's just funny because, like like so my parents moved out to phoenix and my aunt and uncle live out there. My sister lived there with her husband for a while.
Speaker 2:It's like canadian crazy during during like our winter, you know, because it's it's so cold up there right right so I always heard like las vegas and phoenix is like it's like um they, they just come on down like tons and tons and tons the great migration. Yeah, it's a great migration, the great invasion yeah but it's funny, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean, I don't know if that had anything to do with it but yeah, I have heard that area is always like a lot of canadians was really wild man to just be around all these folks that are podcasting and all these different, just a wide range of topics. Yeah, man, that was cool man. I always wish that I was in a band, though. Dude, there's just something. I think that shit's cool. Dude, there's just something. Uh, I think I think that shit's cool as hell. It's work.
Speaker 2:It's so much more work than anybody ever will know unless you do it and like but you're doing your podcast, so you know how much work goes into it.
Speaker 1:Oh, for sure.
Speaker 2:So it's very similar and like people, people, your songs, right, but like these days, you got to do everything besides the songs. You got to do the social media. You got to do the posts you got to. You got to you got to come up with content. You got to be constantly on your toes. You have to think about, like, what am I going to do this week, next week? Right, it was. It wasn't like this.
Speaker 2:like five years ago, even five years ago, it wasn't because, when Instagram you could just post a photo you know back in the day and that would be enough, but now it's like you gotta be a basically like a reality star you know so. So it's tough and like and like you, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:You got to plan out everything and the whole like songwriting and just being in a band is is is like it's, it's a full-time job and then some but, I, mean mean with that said, like I always, just like I, I love making music, I love writing music, so I'd be doing this, whether I was trying to post it on social media or if I'm doing it for myself, you know right so. So that's cool, you know. And then there's there are a lot of fun luxuries and fun things that come with being in a band, and, um, I think we're now on like our third person is getting a tattoo of our lyrics, so that's pretty cool yeah. Yeah, it's fun.
Speaker 1:Somebody reached out to you and was like, look at this.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I mean, I'm sure at some point I'm sure other bands have a lot more people that get tattoos of their lyrics. But we'll get hit up in our DMs and they'll ask us to like handwrite lyrics and then it's cool seeing like your handwriting on. So the perks that come with being in a band, like that's like fun, like that means you like you hit somebody in in the feels right you know, and uh, they, they want to have their lyrics or your lyrics tattooed on them forever and your handwriting.
Speaker 2:It's wild. So those are the cool moments. Um, you know there's a lot more obviously like hearing your song on the radios. Always cool, um, getting flown out to play like a private birthday in california is cool. You know, like who would have thought that would happen? You know, wow, but not like trying to brag just like.
Speaker 1:These are like some of the cool things that happen, but the hard work that goes into it, like the reward is always kind of small sometimes, you know so so no, man, but I mean, it's what resonates with you, right, like, like for you, that's like you you feel that right, like, but but but, dude, you're absolutely 100 the the work that goes into. Yeah, you know, I have a bunch of um, so I have like just a bunch of like raw footage in this studio, like putting it together and just raw footage going like I would just like down to like painting the walls, setting up lights, setting, hanging up curtains and that kind of thing. So I would just run like two cameras just they were just running and uh, dude, I'd be in here like borderline, like breakdown, like almost crying like into the camera, like because I'm trying to figure out the lighting and the this and the that and um, you know I I see it.
Speaker 2:I mean this is a lot, a lot of hard work went into this.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you, man, like seriously, I know what you mean yeah, yeah, dude, so, um, so I could, I could totally relate to that man and uh, you know, like, like my, my inspirations man, like that, like it's like nori and dj efn from drink champs, you know, joe rogan, you know, uh, hot boxing with mike tyson, these all these different ones that I would, that I would listen to and watch and, um, I would talk into the camera as if I was talking to mike tyson gotcha I'm like mike champ, like dude, like this shit is knowing damn well, like Mike Tyson isn't putting dude, like there's people you know he's, he's at the level where there's people putting things together and you know like, and he's earned that.
Speaker 1:he's put in the work, you know. I'm just trying to figure it out. You know what I mean? Um, I don't think Joe Rogan is uh messing around with the ISOs on his on his camera. I just don't think Joe Rogan is messing around with the ISOs on his camera. I just don't think, joe, I don't think you're doing that dude, like I don't, you know, I don't know, you know but how cool will it be, though, when you get to that level.
Speaker 2:Now, you have everybody there for you. You know how to do it, though. Yes, and that's the great thing is like, even on our point, hopefully, when it gets to that, we'll know how to do their job.
Speaker 1:For sure.
Speaker 2:And it's like one of those things where you could be in control of the whole operation and you know what looks wrong. Someone's not just going to tell you. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:You're going to be able to know every little piece of equipment how it works, and that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Mike how it works and that's awesome.
Speaker 2:You know, mike, who would you like to meet in your, in, in your world of music, of just music.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean. Obviously we're here for music, right?
Speaker 2:no, we could do whatever like I don't know uh, so, musically, who would I like to meet? Hmm, um all right, I I guess I would go like brandon flowers from the killers. Um, all right, I I guess I would go with like Brandon flowers from the killers.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:All right Um why is? That he he's one of, like, my biggest influences. Uh, you know, when I was starting to do music, seriously I, you know, I mean, who doesn't love the killers, and like Mr Brightside and all that kind of stuff, and it's one of the most iconic songs of all time, but just kind of like getting into his head of like I mean it's funny because, like everyone always asks, like how do you write a song? Like how do you do this?
Speaker 2:like you know, I I don't really want to know like how he does it, I just want to hang around him, hang around him like in the studio, see like what, like how, how it all works you know, because, like writing a song, like it could happen a million different ways, but I just want to kind of like see, like how he catches the magic of what they do, um, and just kind of be like a fly on the wall. So just having like a day to hang out and just talk and just kind of see like what his process is, that'd be a lot of fun. That'd be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, man, dude, I want to meet jelly roll jelly roll, all right.
Speaker 2:All right, I want to kick it with jelly roll. I want to dude, I want to kick it with that dude.
Speaker 1:Right, I want to kick it with Jelly Roll. Jelly Roll, I want to dude, I want to kick it with that dude. Yeah, bro, I want to kick it with that dude Him and Snoop Him and Snoop. Those are my like. But it's funny, right, because my daughter, she's like hey dad, like when are you going to get Jelly Roll to be on the podcast? And I'm mean we're working on.
Speaker 2:He's a big supporter of the military big time. Yeah, bro, I see one of those commercials all the time.
Speaker 1:Dude like I listen, man, I've listened to a bunch of his like you know, like I follow him and that kind of thing. I just I just think that story is. So there's a there's a lot that I can unpack and I can relate to there. But, um, but yeah, man, like one day, dude, one day I just like bro, I just want to kick it. Dude, I just want to hang out, I just want to bullshit around, dude, like I don't, I don't care what if you hang out with snoop, though, call me up.
Speaker 2:I want to hang out with snoop bro because I mean, I think I was telling you off off here I was a big.
Speaker 1:Uh, I was big in the hip-hop and rap and snoop and tupac and dre and all that yeah yeah, you said you were djing right like yeah, I was like a little scratching battle dj yeah so, so, um, do you have any like footage or video from like when you used to do that kind of stuff? It's funny.
Speaker 2:I was thinking about that too recently. I have probably some pictures I don't think I have any video. Yeah, I don't think I have any video, but I probably have some pictures of me dj my old college fraternity parties, okay, okay, back when I was scratching at parties and stuff, yeah it was funny I wish I had. I wish I had. I just like a show somebody.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man.
Speaker 2:But what are you going to do?
Speaker 1:Dude's, like I've always um so uh, I have a love for music. I have a love for all kinds of music, right, like joining the military was great for me, man, because you know, a lot of my stuff was what I learned from my mom, my family, which was like all Spanish, right, like a lot of like salsa, merengue, that kind of thing. In the house Sundays was like always R&B, you know, like hot water, clorox and R&B dude, like Sunday was the cleaning day dude. So we just, you know, mom is like mopping music's blasting.
Speaker 1:But after I joined the military it got me out of my comfort zone, it got me out of my box, it got me out of Brooklyn. So it wasn't like strictly like Spanish influenced and hip hop, because that was my main influence. It was like all this other stuff. You know what I mean. So I'm just extremely like grateful that I got a chance to experience that part of it. You know, because, like, even sometimes, like with some of my buddies that, uh, that I grew up with, if we're hanging out, I just noticed that, like when I'm like, hey, do you know about this? And they're like, no, like I don't know about that. So you're kind of like introducing them to, to like the stuff that you've, you know, learned or or anything like that you know, like, like when I lived in Italy I just listened to like a lot of Italian, like love songs, Nice.
Speaker 3:Dude, it was like oh man, that was such a good time man.
Speaker 1:Dude. I was like I was single. I was like 27 years old, living in Italy. I had my own apartment. We have an Air Force base over there. So, northern Italy, aviano Air Force Base. That's right. Shout out to italy. I have my own apartment. Uh, we have an air force base, yeah, over there. So northern italy, aviano air force base. That's right. Shout out to all my people that were there with me uh, aviano air force base.
Speaker 2:2007 to 2009 two years gorgeous spot right bro, I've heard, I heard it's like one of the most like picturesque places you can it's just crazy that so I'm watching this.
Speaker 1:Um, I don't mean to like switch gears on you not at all, so I'm watching this, uh, this show on netflix right now. It's called ripley.
Speaker 2:It's like I heard all that. It hurts great phenomenal, dude.
Speaker 1:Phenomenal. It's in black and white, it's just. It's just phenomenal, right, well, well done, well put together. So, um, I'm watching, I'm just like man, like I remember, just doing exactly what he's kind of like doing in the. I wasn't killing anybody, but I was just like hanging out like at the cafes trying to read the paper, because that's what I would try to do, I would try to read the Italian newspaper. But, yeah, man, I was listening to like these Italian like love songs. That's awesome, dude. It was solid man, you know. Yeah, dude, yeah into like these italian like like love songs. Awesome, dude, it was. It was solid man, you know, yeah, dude yeah, because you're getting into the culture.
Speaker 2:You know you're just yeah and you're just there and you're just trying to just feed off all of it all the energy there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is awesome, so cool so when I first got there, so when I first got to italy. This is like dude, there's no well the iphone had just come out. Okay, like the iphone came out in.
Speaker 2:It was like 08, was it? Yeah, it was like like 07 08.
Speaker 1:I didn't have an iphone so I didn't have anything with like I don't even know if they had anything in there with like translation of language, like now you could just now, yeah, now it's completely different. So I went to my computer at work in Microsoft word I typed out like hello, my name is my name, you know, and I'm, I'm new here. Yada, yada I. I would like to volunteer at your vineyard. I had a vineyard like not too far from my house, so Saturday mornings I would, I would be at the vineyard like 8am that's awesome. 8am like an the vineyard like 8 am, that's awesome 8 am An Italian vineyard.
Speaker 2:That's great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dude, because I was young, you know what I mean and part of my job. Like, I knew how to drive a forklift.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So I'm like moving pallets around, you know, and no one is speaking to me in English, that's straight Italian, you know. And then it also gave me something to do Saturday mornings. So Friday night I wasn't you know what I mean, I wasn't just like tying one on Friday night because I knew, dude, like you're going to pay for that shit in the morning, you got to get up, you got to be there at eight and you know you want to be on time and that kind of thing. But just being able to do that, I did that one whole summer.
Speaker 2:That's a cool experience altogether.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's working at an Italian winery. You know, and and you're also learning the language because they're talking to you in Italian. I mean, do you like, do you know Italian right now? Pretty well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I could, I, could, I, could I. When I lived there, you know I spoke it all the all the time. That's so cool. All the time. Yeah, man, didn't you? Didn't you try to join the air force, or do you want it to join the air force at one time?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. When I was in college, yeah, I wanted to be a pilot.
Speaker 2:I mean, I always wanted to be a pilot from when I was young, like Top Gun caught my asthma. I think I told you that was heartbreaking. Them catching my asthma because I ran cross-country. I was an athlete, I did everything like everyone else did. I could run faster. But when they asked you what jobs you wanted to have in the Air Force, I was like no brainer, I would love to be a pilot or a navigator. And whenever you want to be a pilot or navigator they make you go for some hardcore testing. And I forget that summer I went to so many doctors for like every test you could imagine. I mean, it's wild, I didn't know these doctors even existed to go to them you know.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I went to a lung specialist for breathing and on the breathing test they caught my asthma, like right away. And that's when the captain and the colonel brought me in and said, yeah, there's no chance you would be, or very small chance you'd be able to be a pilot or navigator.
Speaker 2:Even if I was again, being a pilot and navigator still is like you know, like that's like trying to be like a major league baseball player it's still a tough job to get tough, but when it was like totally canceled out, like that wasn't even a possibility, I was like this is probably not going to then be for me and I ended up uh yeah, I hate, I hate dropping out of anything, but you know, I mean the military is. You know it's a very serious commitment. If I'm not going to make that commitment or not be willing to do something else besides my passion, I dropped out. I still stayed in college.
Speaker 2:I just didn't do the ROTC. It was a bummer, it was fun. A lot of things in the ROTC Air Force was fun. A lot of the training was cool. Everyone says training is tough and it probably is. There were some cool moments to get the know, the camaraderie friendships you make but um, yeah, man yeah, so like just all that was just. It was a fun experience, but what made you join?
Speaker 1:I joined by accident, dude. I promise you, I tell people that all the time and they think I'm bullshit and I'm not bullshit, it was all an accident or or or, to like even spin it differently. It just it wasn't my, it was all God's plan dude.
Speaker 1:I wholeheartedly tell you that. So I'm working. This is like 1999. I'm working as a. So my high school girlfriend is off to school, upstate New York, at SUNY Binghamton. Okay, so I'm struggling with like man, man, like she's off to school, like she's basically, you know, like she's out of school dude, like dorms, the whole thing, like she's at yeah, she's, she's away, yeah, she's doing her thing right and she's super smart.
Speaker 1:she's a phenomenal writer. Like she's studying journalism, um, in new york, York city, kind of like it's it's overcast of you know, uh, of what I was doing in high school, Like I'm just working, I'm working like two or three different jobs and but, but, but I'm also feeling like I'm also feeling like a loser in a way, Like I'm. I'm feeling like I just don't know what to do next well, you see like people going on doing things yes, you're like I'm still here I'm still here, I'm working.
Speaker 1:It's not like I wasn't working, but you know, um, I just felt like, you know, I was uh, stagnant, let's just say that. So I'm working, as I'm working, at a building at a high-rise in Midtown, right on Times Square, one of these tall high-rises so I'm doing maintenance. I got a job doing maintenance work. So I'm stripping and waxing floors, I'm vacuuming, I'm dusting that kind of thing. So I'm doing that from 11 o'clock at night to 7 in the morning. So I'm there by myself. Wow. So it's cool, dude, because like you would get a chance to kind of you're alone. You're alone, so like I'm alone in, basically in my thoughts, really, and I'm thinking, you know, like it was good in that sense. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:The other thing is that you're going through these offices and there's like these big old offices, overlooking time square, the big mahogany desk and right, just real plush, I, I want to, you know, just executive level type stuff, and and I'm like man, like I'm like I'm nowhere, I am nowhere near this, you know, and I just remember looking out onto time square and I would say to myself, man, like how do I become a part of that? Like whatever's going on like, because I didn't feel like I was a part of anything. Sure, yeah, so in that same building there's a, there's a gym, there's like a sub level. It goes down like three floors and in that sub level is like a gym part of the building. So I was a lifeguard, so I was a maintenance worker and a lifeguard, so I would do 11 to 7 and then I go downstairs and then do like seven to whatever man, that's a lot of work though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, bro, tough days, yeah, I'm living on my own.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. I've been. I've been living on my own since I was 14, um, homeless, slept on trains, shelter system, new york city, all this craziness. So I go down and, uh, there a there's a girl who's like working the front desk, and she's basically like you're not on the schedule, like whatever happened, you're not on it. I'm like okay. So I'm thinking to myself like hey, I'll just, I'll just head back to my apartment, you know. So I go down, I leave the building, I go get a coffee and some stuff, I go down to the, I'm waiting for the train and while waiting for the train, I run into this girl that I used to go to night school with and we start chatting. She's telling me that she's living in Japan, she's in the air force.
Speaker 1:Dude, all of that sounded French to me. I had no clue what she was talking about. The only thing that stood out from to me from that was like wow, like she's doing something right, sounds exciting. But what I to me from that was like wow, like she's doing something right, sounds exciting. But what I really took from it was that she wasn't paying for school, because the Air Force has a community college, right. So I'm like, oh man, like you're going to school for free. That was dude, that was the main thing that stuck out. And so she reached into her purse and she pulled out like a tethered business card. I used to be a messenger in the city, so like I could look at an address in the city and tell you exactly like where it is.
Speaker 2:So that's talent right there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's a talent right there, for sure.
Speaker 1:People listening or watching. This is like, way before any sort of like anything, on your there was no smartphones, so I'll just say that. So I ended up going to the recruiting office sort of like anything on your there was no smartphones, so I'll just say that. So, so I end up going to the recruiting office and you know there's a whole lot that happened between those you know, between her giving me the card and me leaving to basic training. There was like a host, a lot of stuff that went on, but ultimately, man is just um. This entire journey started on december 8th of 99. Wow, and it just amazing.
Speaker 2:You dude, I, I, every every opportunity that was afforded to me, like I I, I took, you know any yeah, like if you didn't run into her that day, you know dude it's that's and that's what I say, like I owe it to, like, like my lord and savior, man, like there was god put that in motion, you know.
Speaker 1:So that, so, then, I always felt, I always felt that, on all these deployments that I went on, you know, um, afghanistan, iraq, bahrain, qatar, all these deployments that I went on, you know um, uh, afghanistan, iraq, bahrain, qatar, all these different, you know, all these different places that I've been deployed to, uh, I always felt like I would never die there. Um, I like, I just like, I felt like that, no matter how dangerous it was. I mean, like you know, iraq 03 kirkook air base yeah, like iraq 03, that's dangerous dude, that's wild.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, so, like, I worked night shift. We were, we had at the time the base was. So the base was dude, like they're, they're, we're living there and they're building it. You know what I mean. So we're like in a tent, like we're living in. I'm living in a tent. There's no bunkers, there's nothing, there's no like hardened shelter. So, uh, I worked nights, so I slept during the day.
Speaker 1:Around noon, we would get like all these mortar attacks would come in, like these, like a barrage of, like mortar attacks. What they started like figuring out was that these insurgents were, uh, putting these mortars in like dry ice, and they were like setting them up. You know what I mean. So, basically, like throughout the day, the ice is melting and then eventually it lobs itself in and you know, there's, dude, it's hit or miss, like it could. It could miss you or it could like literally land in your, in your lap. Wow, you know what I mean. That that's how, like, you just didn't know. So what I would do is, because there were, because there were no bunkers to run to, right, like, like, where are you going to go? You're in a tent, it's going to go right through the tent, so I would sleep with a flag vest, a helmet, and then I was able to get my hands on a second flag vest and I inverted it, so basically like just put it upside down and slide it up, so it covered, like you know, the important parts.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean yeah, yeah, and then I just slept on my on my stomach, so I was just like dude, like imagine that man like, like, so, like what you've been through, though, like from, like your story, like you said, from being homeless, 14 from 14, on your own military dedicated, like 24 years you said 24 years four years like, yeah, you have, you have some life story, man, you have some life story.
Speaker 1:That's amazing yeah, man, dude, and, and you know, uh, I don't know what my life would have been had I not run into her, you know, you know, I just don't know, because it definitely just that one conversation has helped me you know, just, it changed your whole entire life, my whole entire life, man.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. So, but yeah, man, but it's also cool because, like, I never in a million years thought that I would have a podcast, I never thought in a million years that I could pull something like this off. You know what I mean. But, um, part of like what I did in the air force, too, was like I was a recruiter. For close to 10 years I was a recruiter and that was like the best job I had in the air force. You know, um, just being able to show folks, younger folks, like hey, this is an opportunity If you qualify, if you can get the ball rolling. And it's not for everyone, I know it's not for everyone. Maybe it's only a four-year thing you want to do, maybe it's only six For me.
Speaker 1:What helped me was to continuously be ready to move, and I feel like a lot of that had to do with, like, my upbringing, because we were so unstable, right, we were so transient. You know what I mean. Like I, we were just all over the place. You know, I was with my mom. My mom had my. I have a little a younger sister who's 10 years younger than me, but for a large majority it was just like me and my mom and it was just kind of like wherever she went I would go. You know what I mean. And so there was never any I went. I went to over 15 public schools. Wow yeah, over over three different high schools, three different publics.
Speaker 2:It's so rough. It must have been so rough for you.
Speaker 1:Dude.
Speaker 2:It's like new kid, like so many times.
Speaker 1:We're both dads. Yeah Right, how old are your kids?
Speaker 2:Six and two.
Speaker 1:Six and two yeah, my daughter's six going to be seven, right? Could you imagine not sending either of your kids to school for all of kindergarten?
Speaker 2:could you imagine not sending either of your kids to school for all of kindergarten? No, I can't, I can't imagine. Yeah, Mike, bro, mind blown right, like that.
Speaker 1:That shit's crazy, you know, like you know, but that's, that's what happened. Like dudes, you know, but. But but it's, it's good, because my whole thing has always been like I'm just one of I'm, I consider myself to be extremely positive all the time. You know, um, you have to, you have to be able to pull the good out of the bad, because if not, dude, you're just, I mean, I, I don't know where you go from there no, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 2:I mean like sometimes it's the journey, right like you learn from the journey and then you come out better for it, you know, and then you could use your experiences to empower other people that that have gone, that are going through what you went through, and you could lead them to show them that, listen, there's light at the end of this right, and just hearing your story like, yeah, I mean that that's something, that's something right there. Man, I and I'm dude I'm so proud that you were able to like, turn it or not.
Speaker 1:I hate you, don't turn around right, but you know what I mean you're able to turn something negative into such a positive yeah, and now you got this podcast to speak about it and you know and and this is what's so, so awesome about what, like when I say, right now, man, like this, is the, what a time to be alive. Right now, dude, like we're, we're just experiencing things, dude, that have never been experienced before. There's things are, you know, like um, for instance, like you and I, like we're, we're living in a time to where we're seeing, like, all this technology, but we also remember living in a time where we didn't have this technology. You know what I mean? Oh, oh, it's all, yeah, so it's, it's cool because we're seeing it on both sides, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's crazy how much things have changed when our kids.
Speaker 1:you know which I love their generation, the name of their generation, yeah.
Speaker 2:What are they?
Speaker 1:The gen uh goes back to a right that's dope as hell, dude like generation alpha.
Speaker 2:I cannot wait to see alpha kids.
Speaker 1:Dude, I can't wait to see what they're gonna do. Like they're growing up. Like they're growing up ordering shit on amazon. You know what I?
Speaker 2:mean it's, it's creepy because, like I try, like as a teacher, I try telling like my students. You know, I'm like when the iphone came out in 2008 or whatever, like poof, like my mind was like wait, I can have like TV on my phone, I could like text people or send like video. I mean you know you could do all this stuff. And the kids in my class are like, yeah, like so what? And I'm like because I remember a time when you couldn't do that. You know, like we had just one phone in our house, you know, and these it's hard for these kids to really be grateful for what they have and because they don't know what it was like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man.
Speaker 2:But I mean I remember, like my, my now wife, like I got the first iPhone and I went over to her house and her parents were like quizzing me on, like why do you need that thing? Like why do you have that'm like I don't know like it's really cool, like I could have like gps on here. It's like all in one, it's all. And they were like I don't know why you'd want one.
Speaker 2:And then, like you know, like two years later, everyone has one, of course, of course, yeah, yeah and uh uh, you know, but yeah, I mean, like our kids are now living in in the time, where it's just there yeah it's just, it's part of their life when they came into it and they don't understand, like, how we suffered but also right, like taking the good and the bad.
Speaker 1:There was some good too, right like there was, you know, I guess, maybe not being able to be tracked, oh yeah, right, I think that's a good.
Speaker 2:I love that at the time period we were able to grow up in, because, like you, were like able to like just go out and play, unplug, like you were not plugged into anything right you could go out and play. You could get lost. You could you know like there wasn't all these apps and games to play with, like if you didn't have like a playstation or an nintendo or whatever it was that was.
Speaker 2:That was the only way you could play video games right. So now you have like a phone that has apps on it, whether it's like watching tv streaming, watching youtube. You're downloading. You know there's just too much, and I love that we were able to go out and play ball you know, or or whatever it was. And uh, did you guys play manhunt? Oh yeah, manhunt, oh yeah, oh yeah, manhunt was huge.
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally, totally, man, and I'm sure you probably played all around brooklyn right, oh, dude, like if you want to think of manhunt as being like a board, like we should tell what people what manhunt is for folks that maybe don't know it's a big game of hiding secret teams, right? Exactly, yeah, exactly yeah out on the street though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like you're hiding underneath cars, you're hiding on rooftops, you're hiding oh, man like yeah, wherever that wasn't wild playing in brooklyn manhunt because you could go anywhere dude, you could go anywhere, but where?
Speaker 1:so we lived um. So we lived in a shelter on 116th street and in rockaway queens okay, right, and so, like it's all these families, like the, the room that we lived in for roughly three and a half years was smaller than this room that we're in today. Wow, yeah, so it was wild, but, like you know, you got to think about it, right. Like it's all these kids dude, yeah, and where are they? They're not in the room, right? No one wants to be cooped up in a room.
Speaker 1:You want to get out, get out. Yeah, so it's all of us playing manhunt like we had the boardwalk, we had the beach. It was just like one whole big thing. You know what I mean that's.
Speaker 2:That's fun though. Yeah, man, yeah, that's probably really good memories. Even though it wasn't always best situation, a lot of good memories you got you, you know what's crazy.
Speaker 1:You don't realize how bad it is. You know, know it's bad, yeah, yeah, you know it's bad, yeah, but everyone around me is experiencing bad. Right Like it's not like one of the kids. Yeah, I'm trying to think at that time what was like big? You know, it's not. It's not like well, like they.
Speaker 2:They didn't have.
Speaker 1:Exactly so you're not seeing it. Yeah, they're not seeing it.
Speaker 2:And there's no social media, there's no YouTube pitching a commercial every 15 seconds showing you what you don't have. What you don't have right, so you're not really paying attention to it.
Speaker 1:What is it?
Speaker 2:like. I forget the saying I'm looking for, but yeah, whatever.
Speaker 1:Out of sight, out of mind. Yeah, right, right, yeah, man, so you just don't you know. Uh, yeah, you just don't know what you, what you don't know, right, you just don't know what you don't know.
Speaker 2:But, but, um, now you have all this technology and you have all these things and you have ai now, which is now that's like the next level, like I yeah, I mean, I can't believe there's there's ai now, like I feel like I was watching movies with will smith years ago going yeah, there's never gonna be ai no, oh, there is you, there is, you know, wild.
Speaker 1:So do you know about Neuralink Like?
Speaker 2:uh, I. So I heard of, I heard of Neuralink. I don't know much about it, but I heard that, that word, that freeze, what, what is it?
Speaker 1:So it's Elon Musk, that it's one of his companies, and, uh, I'm going to mess this up, but just just, you know, follow. Try to follow what the hell I'm talking about. So it's basically like a chip dude that's put into your head. It's probably like no bigger than the size of an Apple Watch. Oh, isn't?
Speaker 2:the guy that had the surgery that he can now move his body. Yes, that's what I heard about.
Speaker 1:So this guy is so think about this, so he's able to move the cursor with his mind. That's it, man. Incredible, that is it man Like if we're, you know that's 2024. Where are we at in 2030 with that?
Speaker 2:It's all just it's going so fast you know, things are just just multiplying in speed with what we can do. I mean you think about 100 years ago, 1924, we had what a few cars on the road. We had cars on the road. We had electricity in most houses but now, 100 years later, it's.
Speaker 2:It's amazing, right bro, you know I was I was telling, like my parents, and like I was like you guys really, or my, I guess, my grandparents, but my parents, like you, live through, like you watch, like the space race, you know, like you watched man on the moon, then building a space shuttle. World war ii just ended a little bit after you were born in the fifties and like you now went from like having a radio in your house to a TV, to, I mean, imagine like that life, you know, you know, just seeing all all the change that's gone through, it's just wow.
Speaker 1:So, with that being said, right, like what do you think, what do you think we'll we'll see next in terms of like technology? Like, what do you think we'll see next in terms of like technology? Like, what do you think is the? Do you think that whatever piece of technology comes next, that's revolutionary, revolutionizes?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I was Do you think we'll see it?
Speaker 2:I was kind of I feel like I was talking to my students about this and it's like like George Washington couldn't imagine what a cell phone could do, because there wasn't even a phone invented right to even have the possibility then to have like stuff on it. So I don't even think we know what the kit billies are, because that thing isn't even hasn't even been invented yet to open the box, to create that you know what I'm saying like it's wild that that you know.
Speaker 2:We don't even know what, what the next big thing could be, because that bridge, that bridge invention hasn't been invented yet. You know weird weird. It's weird to think like that, but like I know being being like a tiktok swiper that I am, you know, I always see like all this stuff with like the universe and everything and it blows your mind because of that.
Speaker 2:what's that telescope, that the james webb telescope or something? I think it's the webb telescope, whatever shit, I don't know. It's out in space but they're able to now see like universes or, or uh, solar systems or planets and stars that are no longer even alive because of the time it takes for the light to travel, takes like billions of years to reach the cat. It's like I mean, I think people know what I'm talking about. They hear this, yeah, yeah, but like just hearing that. Like that means, on the return, if there's life somewhere else out in the universe, they see our little planet, but by the time they get the the picture of us, we're already gone.
Speaker 2:You know that's weird Dude, weird right. So I guess I don't know. I didn't really answer your question, but like I just think, we just don't know. Yeah, but something will be invented eventually that will then lead to, like that next crazy, crazy invention. Yeah, next crazy, crazy invention. Yeah, I think I don't know. I feel like I think we've kind of reached certain, certain like peaks in our lifetime, that we'll see stuff, but then again, what do I know?
Speaker 1:I saw something. I saw something where, um where, jeff bezos man, the gist of what he wants to do is to set, or or establish the foundation that's needed for whatever the next thing's going to be. Yeah, you know what I mean. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think, like, from where we're going, especially with, like Bezos and all those billionaires. I think they really are trying to get to more planets, right, but we know that the speed of light is almost impossible to recreate, so we're never going to obviously see that. I don't know when the heck anyone will see that, but they're going to have to figure something out if humans want to exist. Right, we're talking millions of years, right, maybe think, but if, if, if we're gonna try to move out of this planet and find you know so, so that's probably gonna be like.
Speaker 2:I know that we're probably talking a little bit weird here, but I think, like I think the whole thing is like like, if it happens a random conversation, though like they, they gotta start figuring something out and it's gonna take lots of years, right, yeah? So someone's gotta have the, uh, the, the go-ahead here and start doing it, and it sounds like the bezos's and the elon musk's are the guys that want to do it. So yeah, anyhow, what do I know?
Speaker 1:I only play in a band, yeah no okay, so, um so, with, with with the band, right? Yeah, talk to me about, like, the group dynamics of the band all right, yeah, group dynamics.
Speaker 2:I mean basically just you know not to get too long winded here, but like I play guitar in the band, um, I write a lot of the songs in the band we have Dan. He's our drummer, he is our tech guy. He's the guy that plans our live show. He is by far the best musician in our band. He's just like Dan, our drummer is like he is a professional. He's like just live. He's made for the stage. Right right, he's like a ham. He hams it up all the time up there on stage.
Speaker 3:And any photos he's always looking up with his tongue out.
Speaker 1:He has a cool look too. I like his, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:He carries himself just like he's born to be a rock star live. On the flip side, I never wanted to be a performer live Like I, like. I told you, I think, a few times I like writing music. So me on stage, that's not my comfort zone. Um, my, my comfort zone is writing songs and all that. And then we have Colton, our, our singer, in the band and I would say co-founder, uh, me and him, Um, he, he, he writes some songs. He has an amazing voice. That's the reason why I think I told you off camera I was willing to give a band one more shot, because when I heard his voice and I saw all the music he liked, I was like, yeah, I got to try one more time to do a band and he's also like a great performer. I mean, the guy some people have like that ability where they can just like hop up on stage like karaoke night or you know, people that just go up there on a dance floor start dancing.
Speaker 2:They don't give a crap. It is like it's amazing, like I don't have that. But he could just walk up, start singing, like does not care about anything, anybody there. He could sing in front of a million people, five people, it doesn't matter. Dan's probably the same way. Uh, me again, I'm not a big lover of performing, but I do it.
Speaker 2:It's part of the job. But yeah, I guess the dynamics is yeah, Like Colton writes a bunch of songs, I I'm probably the main songwriter Um Dan backbone for like, like you need the tech guy, you need the guy that is the locked in musician you know, so we all played our strengths and our band and it works out, you know you know, I, you know, every once in a while, too many cooks in the kitchen, we butt heads.
Speaker 2:But, um, you know, I think the past, like year, we've really, uh, we had some kinks, but we, we have been able to figure out like all right, what's your role? What's your role? What's your role? Are you happy? Um? Yeah yeah, so that's the dynamics, yeah good man?
Speaker 1:yeah, man, because, because you know, um, the. The reason why I asked is because, like, uh, in the military, right, that's one of the first things that we like learn about in the earlier parts of like management is like group dynamics, right, and how people come together and how there's all these like different stages. It's like you know, um store, I think it's like I forget now um storming, norming, performing. There's one other one that's missing, and it's all these different stages that are a group who's coming together will go through. It's just, it's normal, sure, and and it and it and it can reintroduce itself with any new situation, right, just because you handle it one way with this situation, this situation, now you're storming, maybe it's a new album, maybe it's a new sound or whatever it is. But the reason why I was asking you that is when you're coming together to be creative, right, yeah, kind of like knowing how, almost like knowing how the other gear works. You know what? I mean.
Speaker 1:Because we're all pulling different levers.
Speaker 2:That's why I was just wondering how yeah, I mean it's funny because, like I think I was telling you too earlier, like it used to be just like playing music and writing songs, but now there's a content or anything. But like in our band, um, it started out so like, if you want to rewind, when me and Colton met. We have like I feel like three stages in our band of what, of what happened, what transpired to where we're at. Uh, you know, I met Coltonton. I wasn't friends with him. I met him off craigslist. I had no idea who this guy was. He was a good looking dude that could sing really well. That's what I remember.
Speaker 1:Um, so hold on a second. So craigslist, so like, is this something like they? Like I know what craigslist is, obviously, but I'm just saying like, are you on your phone, are you on your computer?
Speaker 2:I'm on my computer scrolling. I'm scrolling through my computer computer.
Speaker 1:To do what Like? What are you scrolling for?
Speaker 2:So yeah, I had done a bunch of bands in the past and none of them worked out Like. I always loved playing music, I always loved writing songs, but, like every band, just the dichotomy the guys weren't dedicated, maybe one or two were one, wasn't it? Just, it was like I'm gonna curse.
Speaker 2:It was a fucking cluster fuck it really was like yeah, it was just you could never get it going and I was just like to say deflated would be like saying it nicely, but I was like I was depressed, I was pissed, like I. You know, I wanted to do music for so long and my wife I just got married like during like one one of my other bands and she saw like how much I was putting into it and the other guys would cancel practice. It just wasn't. No one was taking it seriously. So I kind of give up music for a couple of years and my wife is probably very happy about that we had just had our first child and I was like now back to craigslist.
Speaker 2:I was like casually looking on craigslist every once in a while and usually on craigslist for musicians if anyone's a musician out there, usually it's like there's a heavy metal guy, there's a guy that wants to like do a jam band. You know, you never find people that are like in at your age group, that like your music, and it just so happened I'm scrolling on my computer and I see like colton's big face. He put a headshot up of himself because he was like a model actor. He's a good looking dude and you know so I guess he wanted to use that exploit his looks.
Speaker 2:And it said like on there, like likes, coldplay, the Killers, whatever. And I was just like no way Like this. No, like you don't see this on Craigslist. So I shot him an email real quick. I like you don't see this on craigslist. So I shot him an email real quick. I remember being like I was downstairs in my man cave and I was like my wife's upstairs. I'm like, babe, I'm gonna think I'm gonna try doing a band like one more time, you know. And she's like what do you mean, you know? And I'm like I found somebody that likes the music I like, and that's what kind of happened. And I hit him up, but again, I didn't know who he was. You know he just it was a random dude. So we had a. We met um, his parents basement became like our place. You know he was still living at home.
Speaker 2:He had his little studio down there, his, his, basement was a mess, though like he, like his parents like I felt bad for his parents, like he, probably he was down there. Oh god, it's the smells from that base, you know. But anyway, we were, we were you gotta start somewhere.
Speaker 2:Man, we were feeling each other out, it was it was a feeling out process, like you know, like I got some songs, you got some songs, colton will tell you. Now he was kind of like faking it till he made it kind of thing. Like he was kind of acting like he knew more about stuff than he did, and I think I mentioned it earlier. But yeah, we had, uh, about three songs lipstick number, sinking Number, sinking Down and Not In my Head were our first releases. Those were like our safe songs that we had in the batch. And then I started realizing that my strengths was a songwriter.
Speaker 2:He's a really good singer. He does write some songs and the songs he does write, or he'll write a lot of ideas for songs, and sometimes they're like really awful, and then every once in a while he has a really good one. I'll be like let's do that one. Um. So like we kind of found out that like when he writes stuff he'll write a lot of crap, but he'll have a good one in there and then we'll work on that one together. That that's his batch, his song, my songs. When I write is weird, I don't write a lot of songs, I'll write one and that's one we're gonna go with because like I just hear it in my head. Um, so I, I guess I became like the main songwriter and like the main go-to. But with that said, like colton, he'll write his songs, he'll come to me, I'll help out, finesse those to get him where they got gotta be. And then we go to the producers or the producer, and that's where the song's crafted so like.
Speaker 2:I'm not a producer, I can't sit on like logic or whatever like doll you want to use to to. I just I don't have that ability. I have the ability I could write melody, structure a song out pretty good, you know. Then I bring the producers. That's where the magic really happens, and that's kind of been like our, our thing, um, not to like. You know, dan dan, our drummer, like love him, um, but he knows, like he he's, he's not a, he's not a songwriter, that's not, that's not his strengths his strengths are to be the live player, to run our sound, to run our tech, to run like, and that's what we learned.
Speaker 2:It's going back to what we said, like we learned our rules, um, and it works. And now, like so the first stage, I told you we had like kind of three stages of the band. The first stage was us releasing those first three songs that were. Then we learned that, like you know, uh, basically, like lean on me more for songwriting. And now this last stage, colin has improved a lot with his songwriting, where he now has some songs where he pretty much just wrote himself and I write the songs I want to write.
Speaker 2:And it's great, cause now we can like kind of pump out hey man, like you write your stuff, I'm here for you. If you need it, I'll write what I want to write. And it's the best of both worlds, best of all worlds, and there never was really weirdness. It's just like you do you, I'll do me, we'll record them, we'll put them out. And it's awesome because we have the freedom in our band to write whatever we want to write. There's no, there's no yelling, there's no fighting, it's just let's just do it, you know so it's cool dude.
Speaker 1:So like have you ever heard of, like the power of three like ever?
Speaker 1:not, really no so like they have like these extreme like um, uh, like extreme marathon runners or whatever, like these people like do over like 100 miles in a day, like this kind of thing is really wild, but they do them in threes. Okay, the reason why they do them in threes is because when one person because you, because you got to remember you're all three running together, yeah, right now there's like a caravan ahead of you and behind you. Right, the one ahead of you is like setting up camp, that kind of thing. There's a guy behind, there's people behind you for, like, first aid care.
Speaker 1:It's really wild. There's a documentary around it. Yeah, I can't think of the name, but what I take from week, the other two you know like pitching, step up bring that person up. Yeah, and it's all mental, dude. Yeah, it's all mental.
Speaker 1:Like you could be running, you could be like feeling like you can't do anymore and then just those two folks supporting you yeah you can get through it and then also like, when it comes time to like vote on something, you know it, it's when you have two to one you got to just kind of like, fall in line kind of a thing you know. So I was just wondering, like, if you experienced that kind of uh, I'm not exactly sure what the what the term would be, but do you guys, do you experience that within the group?
Speaker 2:It's funny you mentioned that with the voting, because I'll I I'll be the first to tell you a band is not a democracy. So that's, that's the one thing. Or at least, like most bands are not a democracy because someone's got to take the lead. Um, if there's too much voting going on or too much deciding, that's when things get. You take forever or things don't happen. High like high, opinions run wild. So that's where, like we, we, we did hit.
Speaker 2:There was a point where we were starting to like have internal battles because, like we just didn't have the conversation about, like what our roles were. But then, when we had the conversation, we were all kind of thinking the same thing, but we weren't talking about it. So we were kind of almost like having mini grudges. If we had just talked about like listen, like I started the band because I wanted to write songs. You know, that's why I did it, um, you know, and if you want to write songs, or and this didn't really happen, but I had thought, like I could just say, like I thought like maybe Dan was getting mad at me because I was like a songwriter. It wasn't mad at me at all.
Speaker 2:I just assumed that maybe he's getting mad at me because he won the right songs and um, so I in my head I was like oh, like am I gonna have to? Are we gonna have like a fight, or is dan gonna leave or whatever? And dan was like no, I'm cool with it, you know. So part of part of being in a band is communicating, just communicating your thoughts. And um, when me and colton first started the band, because Dan came in like a little bit later and, yeah, actually to finish the story, we didn't have a drummer. So about a year and a half after me and Colton met Dan and I just started talking through DMs and he fell right into our lap as a drummer, so he came in a little later but he's been in so long now that I always feel bad, like in interviews saying me and Colton, me and Colton.
Speaker 2:but that I always, I always feel bad Like in interviews saying me and Colton, me and Colton. But that's just like for the very beginning. So it's me, colton and Dan, like he's. He's been like right there on the journey with us and I'm only using that story about Dan because it happened like about a year ago. It was just I was like getting like nervous, like we're new songs we're going to start working on. Is he going to want to start writing music? I was like he can, but like this is like this is my baby for writing music, you know you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It's weird, it's weird.
Speaker 2:So. So we had the conversation. He's like nah man, listen I, I love being in the band, like I love the songs you write, um, you know, listen I. I love my role doing what I'm doing. As far as being the live show guy, setting up the live show which basically you told me setting up the studio was blood, sweat, tears that's like stuff I don't really want to do, and Dan Dan loves doing the tech stuff setting things up, wiring you know, and, like you, you need guys in your band that are willing to do that.
Speaker 2:I don't know how some bands can succeed if you don't have someone that wants to do the tech.
Speaker 1:You know it's cool writing music and playing, but if you're not going to do all the other stuff, then like I think also too right when where you know like I'm new, you know this is like I'm going into my second, I'm calling it a season. Yeah, Cause there was no in my mind instinctively I want, I'm like dude, I'm gonna, was, that was my thing and I was just like then I figured out how much work it takes to do one. Yeah, if you want to do it right, like you know you could, you could do bullshit if you want, you know whatever. But for me I was like man, like so long story short, like I figured out how much work is it takes to get one done yeah, so I'm like okay, but with that being said, back to the, the band part of it.
Speaker 1:When you know what is expected of you, almost then you kind of like know what your role is and then back back to, like, the communication part and that's where.
Speaker 2:So, using the dan example, I just find that's.
Speaker 2:That's an easier one to to use than anything else I could think of. But it was just like once you know, yeah, what was expected of you, then you could thrive, because now it's like I'm going to go ball to the wall to do my job the best I can and since we've had that talk, yeah, like he's been loving even more playing in the band because now he knows everything that he's expected to do in the band and we're thankful that he's wanting to do that, because that's something that I don't want any part of. I want no part of that.
Speaker 2:You know, I want to be able to focus on what I got to focus on, and we've always said it in our band and most bands it's a business and it's a factory and it's all that like it. Just because one thing happens doesn't mean other things are going to happen. You need everything in motion to make it happen.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, yeah, man, you know, mike, mike, how about, like your creative process? Because you're doing a lot of writing, right, so create like what would be your ideal creative, like, like, if I said that, mike, one, 10 days, 10 days, you can go wherever you want. What do you need? What do you need, what would you like? And I don't know. Let's just say, um, you know, you're gonna write a handful of matter of fact, no limitations, you can write one song, you could write 30, I I don't know, but ideally, what would you want? What would you to be creative? I?
Speaker 2:mean to be creative. I would have to not be in my house writing. I would need to go somewhere. Okay. You know trips are always good, probably somewhere like exciting. So, like I know, we went to Nashville last year.
Speaker 1:Dope town, by the way. Yeah, dope town.
Speaker 2:And that's actually where one of our producers lives, so we recorded in Nashville.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Um.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So those experience, those experience right there drive and feed the creativity, uh, like a billion percent. Um but like I I you know it's funny like so Colton can can write like so, so Colton can either not write or he'll write a lot of like little ideas or songs right. Like I told you, and not to be mean, Colton, but sometimes some of the ideas he'll even say are like what the hell was I thinking? Too many F words or what the hell is this?
Speaker 2:But then there's like a diamond in the rough. So me asking me, though I can't write a batch of songs quickly. It takes me like I sleeve over one song. I sit there and obsess over one song for months, months and months, so like I would need to go. So if I had to write fast in 10 days, I have to go somewhere and have an experience and do stuff, and then probably I get something that's decent.
Speaker 2:But I'm not like some songwriters that can go into a room in a couple hours to come out with a song. Yeah that's impossible, yeah, impossible, yeah so, like I don't know fashionably late, want to buy our biggest song I like that one, thanks, no, thanks like I like that one, that song no thanks.
Speaker 2:Like I like that one, that song took forever, for real Forever. I mean I had an idea for a chorus but then, like you know, writing verses that are catchy and stuff, like I mean I gotta, like I listened to a lot of music. I I, it's like I told Diane, our manager like they're really good. I'm like I was like you don't want to know. It's like yeah, it's like I don't want to say blood, sweat, tears. That's like kind of being corny and silly, but like it's an obsession. It's an obsession like I sit there all day, every day, thinking and thinking and like when I'm not thinking about it, I, it's just I'm still thinking about it.
Speaker 1:You know it takes it, took it, takes a long time say that like how'd you learn how to like put songs together, would you learn how to write songs? How'd you learn how to write songs?
Speaker 2:it's just, um, I I would say it's just a slow development of just writing really crappy stuff, trying to write songs, writing decent stuff early on, or the process. And then I think I, I think like honestly, honestly, like when I, when I hit my strongest stride was that pandemic time, like I had like lipstick number and not my head and those songs and I had my other bands had songs, but I don't know what happened. Like I, and again, like everyone will listen to this and be like, believe me, I know I'm not Mozart. Okay Well, I'm not creating Mozart, I'm not, I'm just one of many that write decent songs. And but yeah, I don't know it. Just Ryan Tedder from One Republic will say sometimes, like you have like these, like moments where the universe hits you with like a melody or something that happened more of the past couple of years and I don't know, I don't know man, like they, just so so like it, just kind of you're driving to work and you hear a melody yeah, like I'll hear a melody or like usually it starts with a chord progression I didn't hear a chord progression, something out like you know, four chords, so I could start like humming a melody you
Speaker 2:know, and then I'll think about like what style of songs I want. I mean, we're not like our, our genre, the stuff we write. It's pretty, pretty straightforward in the indie rock, indie pop world. So it's not like we're like going from hip hop to R&B to dance, but it starts with a progression and then I'll just try to like hum some like stuff over it. And I've noticed like it's gotten easier for me. Not everything's always great, but I'll like usually start with something I'd be like, oh, that's not bad. That's not bad.
Speaker 2:And then I'll kind of like then I'll start obsessing over it and I'll lay down voice memos I'll usually play into my phone like the progression whatever like synth.
Speaker 1:Usually synth progressions to me are the easiest to sing over to write.
Speaker 2:No synth would be like since, like piano, piano, yeah, like symphony, like synthesizer, synthesizer, okay, yeah, like that's amazing, you play the piano. I don't really. I learned on piano when I was little. I had some piano lessons okay, um, but like writing to guitar, for me just doesn't, doesn't work I I need like a synthesizer, like a, you know, like an organ or like a piano. You kind of sound with a progression for some reason. That that's what does it for me. I don't, I don't know, it's whatever like.
Speaker 1:I wish you could like, like understand, like, how I'm doing all this.
Speaker 2:I am extremely intrigued of all this well, thanks, because it's weird, because, like, if I had never had a synthesizer or piano or learned like, oh, that's easier to sing over that than a guitar, because to me, like guitars like one speed, I hear like guitar chords and I hear like all the same shit, like all this stuff it's like so I need like something with like a different, different vibe, different sounds.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and then all this either download the download, the, the sample, or I'll record my phone and then I'll be in my car. Instead of listening to music on Spotify, I'll listen to that same loop, and I'm just looping.
Speaker 1:It's funny you say that, because that was my next thing. I wanted to ask you when you're going anywhere. Let's just say you're driving into work, because you're in a field or profession that requires you to like you're not remote, so you're going into a yeah, I'm going to work, you're driving.
Speaker 2:Oh, you have no idea how many times like I'll have like my prep, like my time off as a teacher if no one knows what that is and I'll like put some time in to like listen to a loop of a song and the bell rings for class to start. I'm like, oh no, I have an idea. I got to lay down that vocal, like that vocal note, and I'm like no, and the kids are walking in and I'm like, oh man, Like I, oh. So then I got to try to remember it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, throughout class, yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:But yeah, and then there's times when I'm in my car and like second phone that has a voice memos on it, so like the one phone is playing the Bluetooth loop and I have my other phone that I could then sing into, so the, so the loops on the speakers, okay.
Speaker 1:So you know what I'm saying yeah, yeah, for sure, track that idea, yeah for sure it's so stupid.
Speaker 2:The stuff, the stuff like like songwriters, go through you no that's.
Speaker 1:But it's funny, right? No, for sure, but that's all it is.
Speaker 2:And then, like you have a, and then you start having, like you listen back, you're like not that shit, Not that shit. Oh, that one's not bad, you know.
Speaker 2:And then like so that's what I say is an obsession, because it's not like I'm just sitting there going and writing a song for like an hour or two days, or it's like I keep working on that melody to kind of get what I want and um, not to like again, I'm not, I know I'm not one Republic out there, so, but when I quit it Ryan Tedder, it's like sometimes, like you're hit with a melody, you're like yo, that's different, like that, that's, that's the one, and it just comes out of like you don't know where it comes from, but it's like wow, and like fashion, be late, that song is like super catchy.
Speaker 2:I was hit with some some. Some melodies came in and came in where I don't know where it came from and I was like, yeah, like the song, the song is, you know, it sounds good and, um, it happens, you know it happens. So, you know, I'm thankful when that, when it happens, but it's an obsession, like it's, it's a monthly, it's weekly, it's monthly. And then when you're done with that song, those ideas, I always credit the producers. I credit them almost more sometimes than the songs I write, because they're the ones that turn my little vibe. Sorry, I know I'm not talking, no no, you're good, I was just making.
Speaker 2:No they turn whatever I have into what it is. So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about the EP. Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's talk about the the ep. Yeah, let's talk about the ep. Like if, uh, you know there's what would you like your, your fan base, to know about this ep?
Speaker 2:yeah, so this is gonna be. It's a long time coming, uh, or the last song we released was like 2022, late summer, early fall, and then we took a lot of time to write and I say this probably too much sometimes with people, but, like, we're not signed to a record label and recording songs, getting them produced, getting them mixed, getting them mastered, is very expensive, and when you're funding yourself, you can't just be pumping out all these songs all the time. In fact, I don't know how some people do it. Either they're maxing out credit cards or they got some debt. So, um, this EP it's been a long time coming, but it's gotta be some of the most honest music we've ever. We've ever written Um, and I'm passionate about some of the songs on there.
Speaker 2:I mean, in fact, all the songs on there. I mean, in fact, all the songs because we have two different producers on there. We've had friends help co-write some of these. We went to Nashville, our Nashville producer. We've gone to Rob Schropper, our other producer, in like a pack on. We have Noah Altoff on there helping us write songs and help, and so so it's. It's been like. It's just been like, um, a lot, we put a lot into this and we're kind of feeding off of colton, our singer, on this one. He went through a I mean all breakups suck right, but he went through a really rough breakup, um, and I and it's it's his story to tell about all that, but he went through such a breakup that, like I was like not even a bystander, like I was.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm pretty much best friends at this point, we're pretty much best friends. You know, I have a have a few best friends. I don't. I don't have a problem having best friend one a, one B, one C, but yeah, and like he went through a rough breakup and it led him down to some, some, some tough times, um, and just being there watching him and living vicariously through him. Yeah, we, we, we crafted songs about what he's been through and, um, yeah, you know, and and our listeners, our fans, are going to hear some real heavy stuff in them. They're going to hear some fun in it too.
Speaker 2:Um, I mean, the break plan is the band. We've always been a band where we don't want to write like sad, sappy, sappy songs, um, even if we're going through tough times. Um, there is one ballad on there which is going to hit hard, um, but other than that, the other songs on there are uplifting but heavy in the same same sense and I'm stoked for everybody to hear it, because you're gonna you're really gonna go on a little journey of what colton went through, from his breakup to just battling some, some, some dark days and uh, you're gonna see like how, how like just the experience of coming out at the end on top, you know so. So, yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited we have a bunch of songs, yeah man, that's great man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, I think, um, like heartbreak man, I feel strongly about what I'm gonna tell you heartbreak, everyone needs to experience heartbreak without a doubt you have to.
Speaker 1:It pains me when I hear these young, these young folks, you know, who hurt themselves or just, you know, choose to like self-medicate, whatever the case is, you know what I mean. But to take your life or something over a heartbreak, right, I mean, because I feel like it's almost part of like growing up. Yeah, right, it's, it's part of it. You know what I mean. You have to experience heart heartbreak. You need to know what that is, you know, because if you don't like, how, especially for a young person, right, you know. Um, and again, you know we have, we have children, we know, you know I have, I have a, a daughter.
Speaker 1:I would have to predict that she's, she, will either break someone's heart or her heart will be broken at some point, you know, and it's just being able to show that person that you love and care for the, the, the support that they need, right, to kind of like, be resilient in these, in these times, because, dude, like things happen, you move on, you lick your wounds.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. So, absolutely so, yeah, man, I mean, uh, yeah, like, uh, you know, I've experienced, I I've experienced heartbreak to like to the point where, you know, I lost like 40 pounds and just, you know, you're just going through all these different things and and um and it's. It's different now because man like things around social media, all of this stuff plays into it, man. But I'm I'm glad to hear that that, uh, that see, again, I'm being positive about his experience, although I haven't met him. But right, you guys got these songs, you guys put this stuff together and you know, even even in your own way, collectively, like putting the songs together and recording them. That's, in my opinion, showing him support totally for what he's like like like going through, you know, yeah, yeah, I mean it's it's like not to like be funny or anything, but like he he would.
Speaker 2:He was writing some real like heavy, heavy songs and I was like I gotta write some like kind of like funnier like songs, without being comical, but like lighthearted songs using experience right.
Speaker 2:So we have a couple of songs on there that are a little bit more like fun, playful with the, with the whole thing, because like the, it's gonna be, it's an ep we're putting out and we're slowly dropping singles as it goes, but like it's, the whole ep is just step-by-step process about. Like the first song is really about like I got my friends.
Speaker 2:Like the first stage of a breakup is everyone is in denial but they go out with their boys or their girls to go get over it right then, like second phase is probably like oh shit, like this is real, like I'm broken up and I miss her, and like our second song is kind of like that ballady about that. And then our third one is kind of like you realize all right, like it's over, now I got to move on Right and it's it's. It's all the stages of breakup and and again, like I said, like it's not just a breakup too, but like Colton's kind of hit some tough times during during that stretch and, like you said, like we wanted to support him, so we wanted to put this album out, supporting him and writing songs about what he's, what he's been through. And you know, luckily for me, like I'm married, I have a wife I love we're we're real good and I'm living vicariously through him.
Speaker 2:I'm just seeing what I'm seeing and uh, luckily I'm able to still write some songs, I guess feed off what he's going and uh, yeah, yeah, and, and I'm happy because it's also therapy for him. You know he's gonna put these songs out it's been a long time coming and he'll finally be able to get that release. Maybe his ex will hear them, you know she will, I'm sure. Um, but it's not, it's not about her, it's, it's about this. You know it really, it's just about moving on and I'm thrilled for him. I'm happy that he's going to be able to get the release he needs, because just watching him, you know, through the whole situation, it wasn't fun, it wasn't easy.
Speaker 1:You know what too, mike, but like the fact that you were able to, like you said, be there, write some lighthearted songs to kind of like balance it out a little bit, it shows, in my opinion, it shows your level of empathy towards him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know what I mean, yeah.
Speaker 1:Because you could, kind of like you're allowing yourself to be in his shoes.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, no, totally. And like the first song, like everyone's going to hear, it is literally about like colton was like again, it's his story. But we could kind of we could have a little fun with what was going on or talk about it, and he was like a like about to propose to his his girlfriend. Like they were serious and and like you know, like it was just, it was crazy and they broke up and like I was friends with her, my wife was friends with her, and you know, like it was just, it was crazy and they broke up and like I was friends with her, my wife was friends with her, and you know, like I have, no, no issues.
Speaker 2:If I saw his girlfriend. Of course we chat and stuff. I mean listen like it's, it's their business and whatever. But yeah, like I just I felt so bad, like he was about to move on, like he was talking to having kids and um, you know, and then that just led to like other things and he'll talk about it when he's ready, um, especially with our fans and stuff.
Speaker 1:but I would love for him to come on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean honestly he should come on, yeah, when he's ready to come on and talk about his experience, because it's not just a breakup like that's like a major part of it. And I don't because I know everyone's been through a breakup and I'm sure everyone could be like cringe or I break up. I get it, but there's other things that that went, that went on with him, that that we had, that we were there in support of him and and and and um, we're just so happy that he's he's doing better.
Speaker 2:And he's um yeah, man like he's like a brother to me and he's like a brother to Dan and like we're here for him and that's what our band is like. We're not just a band where we go play shows, like we're a family you know, so, so we're here to support each other and uh, yeah, man, I'm just excited because, like, if there's ever been music that we've put out that's real, like this is the real stuff, this is real. This is just living through his story and our stories.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, oh, man, that's so. When's, when's, uh, when are you gonna release your next single, our?
Speaker 2:yeah, so our, uh, our first single for this, for this um release, can be may 10th. May 10th, it's called better off, okay, and uh, yeah, I'm excited because, like the song is literally, it's a story about like everything he went through in that first initial breakup.
Speaker 1:It's, it's great oh, cool, okay, I can't wait to um, yeah, yeah, to see any, any, uh, any shows this summer that you guys are we don't have anything like as far as um individual shows.
Speaker 2:I like venues. No, not yet. Um, it's in the works, but we're playing like music fest, which is a festival August 3rd. Oh, and we're playing North to shore, which is a festival in Atlantic city city june 21st, 22nd. I can look at my phone, um, so, yes, yes, their shows, but they're more like festival shows.
Speaker 1:Um, as far as like just venue shows, nothing yet, no no cool man, hey, but uh, I'm sure with with your following, you know you guys are gonna, you guys are gonna be busy this summer, guaranteed, and in my opinion I think you're releasing and and again. This is just much. Doesn't know shit about any of this, but I'm I do listen to music and I'm just thinking to myself. In the area where we live, yeah, you know, everyone is waiting for this weather to break because, you know, gosh you know, without a doubt, yeah for those listening.
Speaker 1:You know we're located central jersey and it's just, it's a really good time down here. You know, from memorial day weekend all the way through, I tell people the end of september yeah, oh yeah, without you know, yeah, the end is. You know, I love being down here september, dude it's beautiful yeah, everyone's back in school. You know the weather's still good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know so no, it's gorgeous, yeah, but yeah, I mean we should have some shows lined up. Uh, it's just, it's just been. It's been one of those things where the band needed to take a step back for a few, for for a minute and now we're and now we're back, so.
Speaker 1:So we're gonna get all our priorities straight with all that, yeah and there's nothing wrong with that man, there's nothing wrong with you know, taking a step back, and you know, clearly you had to take a step back for the pandemic and look at how you guys came. You know, you, you wrote, you wrote more and you kind of like strategize I I would assume there was strategy in there and how do we do this and how do we move it forward? But but, yeah, man, I I just want to thank you, mike, and, and the guys and and you know, uh, even though the guys are not here, obviously, obviously they're here in spirit.
Speaker 2:Someday, someday, yeah, yeah, no, no, we're going to.
Speaker 1:I'm getting you guys in here, so we're going to do that, but no, man, I just want to thank you, man, and allowing this to you know, to volley back and forth this conversation, and best of luck to you guys. You know what I mean. So, and I'm here to support in any way I can. I'll be at whatever show I get invited to or I get advanced notice on, of course. But yeah, man, is there anything else you want to share about the album or the EP and how it came together?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think just to know is that we're going to be releasing a bunch of songs just throughout, uh, the spring and summer, um, and then it's going to tie into an EP, um, and yeah, I'm excited, I I'm so excited. And then, with that said, that's going to be then we're going to have another EP out, probably next year, uh, so we'll have like a lot of songs coming, um, just really excited about it, because it's been a minute since we released music and yeah. The last thing I will say is that, instead of just releasing songs to release songs, we wanted to really make sure we put the right stuff out there that we feel good about. So I think people are going to like it, yeah.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you something before. This just came to me, so I know we're winding down a little bit. So when you were saying before about how much it costs to put it together, master it. So for me I'm not really… Ballpark figure kind of thing, what's the process? So, in a sense, you guys record, you record the song and you feel good about it. It's already written. Yeah, you guys now.
Speaker 2:Now we're going to a producer yeah, so what happens? Yeah, so I mean we go to the big, so we have our producers, um and so so lucky to have these guys too. But yeah, we'll go to them and uh shout them out, shout them out oh yeah, well, so yeah, Rob Sharapa he's up in Lake Hopatcon.
Speaker 2:He was in a band called the Stolen. They're a huge band in this area. He's just so talented, this guy. He started producing, so he's from Old Bridge but his studio is in Lake Hopatcon. Then we have Corey Mauck. He's in Nashville. He actually just produced a song by this guy Knox. He's probably like the biggest indie pop singer right now. The song came out yesterday. We had no idea Corey was producing that song and co-wrote it, so that song just was actually the music video was in Times Square. They were playing it. Wow.
Speaker 2:Knox is huge Knox is. I had no idea. So our producer, yeah, is with, with, nox which is, which is like sick, uh yeah, oh, it's great, it's great, it's great hey and just knowing that, like cory put his hands on our music and produced it like just makes us feel that much better. Because if nox is going to yeah, for sure cory and we're working with him.
Speaker 2:So very exciting. But, but, with that said, like rob too, like we love rob, rob Rob has worked with so many huge bands too bands called Great, this band called Grayscale. He's worked with a band called Mom Jeans Funny name but really good band, I don't know. So they're all all these producers are just they're amazing. So the process is, yeah, then we go to them and they kind of now know like our vibe.
Speaker 2:But I think I told you like I'll kind of now know like our vibe, um, but I think I told you like I'll, I'll kind of like we'll listen to music in our genre, stuff that I really like what's going on, and then I'll kind of tell them, like what I'm feeling like you know like I'm feeling like it should be more like this style. So we'll listen to like bands. We've narrowed down more with bands in that style and you just really want to get like a grasp on like what you going for, because it's really easy just to hop and play instruments. But like, what are you like? Do you want more synth? Synth sounds. Do you want more?
Speaker 2:guitar, you know. Do you want to have like a digital drum beat? Do you want like more like live acoustic drum beats or drum sounds, like vocals, like are you looking to have, like you know, the vocals in this style, that style? So you really want to just like nail down like the styles, and that's where I can't produce that stuff. Like you need to have someone that is is like an, an engineer really that could.
Speaker 2:That knows how to get those sounds, how to do that, and that's why you go to producers, and that's why all bands go to producers, you know, because anyone could go plug in and play a song, but it's not like a garage band you want to go and get it get it like you know the full, the full makeover you know, so, and that process isn't cheap, but that's why that's their job too.
Speaker 2:These producers, like I'm not looking for handouts, no, no bands look for handouts. You want that's their, that's their livelihood, so so that. So that's why you pay for that, because they're that's that's their, that's their livelihood, so so that. So that's why you pay for that, because they're that's that's their job. And you have your working friendships and we're our friends with these producers. But again, like they're devoting a lot of time to these songs, I mean, you know, it's not just one day.
Speaker 3:Sometimes a song could take like two, three days you know, I mean, we're not talking 24 hours, we're talking like a session can be from like 11 am to like 8 pm or however long it takes that day.
Speaker 2:Then you come back the next day, do? More just for a song, wow. That's why it amazes me when I hear some bands like going to a studio and can record like an album in three days. I'm like how, how are you doing that? You know so a lot of our songs like it, you know. And then we'll lay down this. We'll lay down all the instruments, we'll hear what it sounds like. We're like all right, cool, we like it.
Speaker 2:Then we send it to a mixing engineer where they take all those instruments, all those tracks have to blend it right, make it mix, it makes us make it sound good, and that's not cheap either, you know, because, like you want to hire people that are professionals, that are working in the industry, that know what you're looking for, too, for sure you know so.
Speaker 1:So that's the part where they master it. That's the and and mastering is last oh, oh, that's not even oh so mixing gets it down to like I.
Speaker 2:So basically mixing will then get the song where, where everything's blended how you, how you envision it sounding mastering is pretty much um, leveling everything.
Speaker 2:So like if you put it on tv, on radio, ever hear a commercial? It's like real loud, like real much louder than like a tv show. You want to make sure like everything is at it. Uh, I mean, mastering is and that's why I'm not a master engineer but the frequency levels are at a point where it's not going to sound weird if it's on spotify or streaming. We've had a couple of our songs on Spotify sound lower and that's just because possibly our mastering engineer didn't didn't get get it right. So you want to make sure everything's leveled properly for for, like radio, tv. That's what a master engineer does Also. It also it kicks it up for radio. So like again, to like mastering can also play with some of the stuff, some of the uh parts of songs, so like the chorus hits a little louder here, you know.
Speaker 1:So if that makes sense, no, totally man. So but but what I'm also thinking is that at each level you're cutting a check to somebody. Yeah, yeah, oh, I'm sorry. By the way, a mastering engineer is probably gonna hear me talk and go. What the fuck is this guy talking?
Speaker 2:level you're cutting a check to somebody. Yeah, yeah, oh, I'm sorry to cut you off. By the way, a mastering engineer is probably going to hear me talk and go. What the fuck is this guy? Talking about.
Speaker 1:That's not what we do, and you're probably right Cause.
Speaker 2:I mastering and you know mastering engineers out there. It's probably the hardest thing to explain what mastering is, it really is, but anyway, yeah, but you're right, you got to cut a check, and that's what I'm talking about is is that we want to make sure we're using the best producers we can and the best mixing engineers we can and the best mastering engineers we can, so it sounds good. Because, like I said in the beginning, I'm not making. I don't do this, for I mean, yes, we put music out for people, but I want to hear what I envision in my head and, selfish as it is, like I want it for me. I want it to sound good For sure. And then, when someone is like I want it for me, I want it to sound good For sure, you know. And then when someone else hears it, I want it to sound good for them too. But so that's the thing.
Speaker 1:So how about the part where, like, so like, when these edits or this mastering is happening right, like, are you getting? Like before the final decision is made? Like, yup, that's, it Sounds right.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, how final decisions made. Like yup, that's, it sounds right. Oh yeah, how many times like I gotta imagine it goes back and forth. Right, yeah, yeah, so like, all right. So when you're produced, when you're in in the studio for production just recording your parts building the song, um, usually you then take that, you bounce that, whatever you did in the studio that day, that day down, you listen to it for a couple of days drive around, call up your producer or shoot voice.
Speaker 2:voice memos is where you're at these days, Like we just do voice memos. So much easier, so texting and then it's hard to get in touch with me by phone call. So his voice, you just let him know like, oh, listen, like I'm thinking, you know, maybe in the verse we should add a little bit more more um, I don't know more more drums, or maybe we should add a uh, an extra background vocal. Or maybe you want to add a little more candy which is like the cool like sound effects and songs have.
Speaker 2:Now, Candy is the term Okay, and candy is usually the one where we usually bounce around the most. We're like yo, I need a little more candy. I need a little bit more like a riser going into the chorus Like a.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay.
Speaker 2:But there's like, lots of like. I mean, this is where producers get paid. This is where they get paid the money. They know how to like, find those cool little cookies, little cookies, little sounds candy. Make a song sound cool. Um, so that's candy. Yeah, it's called candy, which is funny because I had no idea so when I first started working on music and I'd be like I, I could use more effects I could use more and more and then finally, like someone's like you mean candy I was like, oh, is that what it's called?
Speaker 2:it's called candy, yeah, yeah so.
Speaker 1:So no more cowbell now. It's no, no, it needs more candy.
Speaker 2:So there's like a little splash of something yeah, yeah, but yeah, so, yeah, so like, and then you just kind of kick back voice memos. Sometimes it could be like a lot, or sometimes you could be like you leave the studio. You're like, holy shit, like this sounds fire like yo like and there's not much more to do. Yeah, you know, um, yeah, so yeah, but I will say like man bro, thanks for sharing that. Yeah, no, no man. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I will say like I've like a couple of these songs. Oh, they're all good, but a couple of them, like you know, people are gonna hear it and I think they're gonna be like Damn.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:But that's just me also Loving my own songs, so you know.
Speaker 1:Nah man, that's Phenomenal dude, absolutely phenomenal man.
Speaker 2:Thanks, yeah, yeah, I'm stoked, yeah.
Speaker 1:Dude, I'm excited for you guys, man.
Speaker 2:Thanks, it's gonna be like this is gonna be a good summer. Yeah, this is going to be a good summer. It should be.
Speaker 3:It should be right. Yeah, yeah, thanks man. Hey, mike, thank you, man, Much appreciated. All right, cheers, it's much, it's much.