Conversation with The Stifftones: Rock 'n' Rollin’ in a Hearse E133

A band that lives in a hearse sounds like a gimmick until you hear the reasons it happened and the work it takes to keep it going. We’re joined in the studio by Shaun and Rachel from The Stifftones, a DIY touring duo that turned a full reset into a full-time musical life, complete with two dogs, a rolling home, and a schedule built around small venues, open mics, and the people they meet along the way.

We talk through the origin story, from an open mic to a relationship they describe as “best frenemies,” and how that honesty becomes a creative advantage. They break down the practical side of life on the road: dividing roles, handling tension in tight spaces, and learning how to keep moving when the vehicle that carries your entire world decides to quit on you. If you care about independent music, touring logistics, and the emotional reality behind “chasing the dream,” this conversation gets specific fast.

We also dig into the album Existentialism on Main Street and how The Stifftones captured tracks across multiple locations and collaborators while staying true to their sound. Along the way we hear about mentors like Johnny Hickman of Cracker, connections to Camper Van Beethoven, the story behind their cover of “Father Winter,” and a wild REM thread that includes a Peter Buck jacket.

Listen through to the end for a live performance of “These Times,” then subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a push to go all in, and leave us a review. What part of their road life surprised you most?

Learn Something New or
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Transcript

Welcome And Meet The Stiftones

SPEAKER_07 0:00

This is Sean of the Stiftones, and you're listening to Music and Text Two.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Hey everybody, this is Jim Boge, and you're listening to Music in My Shoes, Podcasting Worldwide. That was Vic Thrill kicking off episode 133. I'm thrilled to be here with you. Let's learn something new or remember something old. So about six weeks ago, Jimmy, six episodes ago, I told you I had gone to uh Woodstock, Georgia, and I went and saw this band, The Stiftones. Yeah. And I said that they were quirky, they were different, a lot of cool things, and I wanted to get them on the show. Well, don't you know they have driven down from Illinois to Atlanta GA, where we are. They're in studio with us today. Sean, Rachel, welcome to Music in My Shoes. Welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having us. Oh, it's great. It's great, really. I I've talked so much about you guys because it you're something different. You know, you're not the corporate rock and roll that you see out there all the time. I'm not trying to give away any of your secrets here, but you're traveling the country in a hearse and you live in this hearse, and everything about you just kind of excites me. The music does too, but your story, why don't you talk a little bit about your story? How did the stiff tones

From Open Mic To Best Frenemies

SPEAKER_00 1:43

start? Where'd you come from? How'd you get here?

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_07 1:47

Yeah, well, thank you. Uh we're uh first off, we're honored to be here. Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Sharing this couch is uh pretty incredible. We know you've you've had some pretty incredible people on your couch. So that's true. Thanks for listening to being here. And uh that that and you asked really great questions, so we're gonna fire on that one. Okay, so where did we come from? Where were we going? Uh I was born in New Hampshire.

SPEAKER_07 2:08

I was born in Greenville, Illinois. Um and uh I met Rachel at an open mic there.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Like March of 2011. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 2:17

Yes. I had been divorced, she was going through a divorce, and uh we were hanging out at the open mic uh, you know, just to uh you know listen to some music and maybe play some music and shoot some pool and just hang out with people and I met met her.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Yeah. Is that your story that you're saying?

SPEAKER_07 2:34

That's as best I got right now. I'm so nervous. You know what?

SPEAKER_00 2:40

And I know the listeners can't see, but right now they're like staring into each other's eyes as they're telling the story. It it's actually very touching. It is.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:52

Well, we clearly don't get sick of each other, I mean.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

168 hours a week now. Um we met, I was I was a registered nurse, and between the two of us, we have five daughters, and like he said, he was he was divorced and I was going through a divorce. My ex-husband and I had been separated for you know a while, but divorces with kids and you know, and all that stuff. We'd been married for like 18 years, and so yeah, it took some navigating to get out. And um anyway, so we became like best frenemies um the next time.

SPEAKER_07 3:20

That's right, frenemies, best friendies instantly.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Yeah, with benefits, and um, yeah, we the first night we met, but well, the first night I remember meeting him because I we met a couple of times. I was going through some stuff and I was trying out, you know, alcohol for the you know, and uh first time in a long time, and I wasn't super good at it. Um I'm not any better at it now, but I'm just you know more aware of that. Yeah, I have less care. But anyway, um so yeah, we became best friends. We hung out, we talked about everything under the sun, and then he kissed me and that was it, and uh I never left. And yeah. And so we've been best friendemies for 15 years, and we've been husband and wife for eight years.

SPEAKER_07 3:57

Yeah, and if you don't believe it's about the friendemies part, just talk to any of these who knows us. Anybody group, they're like, Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

They all call they all said, Oh, you guys are getting married, you guys are getting married, and we're like, uh no, we're not, we're not even dating. You weren't even allowed to say that we were dating. We were not boyfriend and girlfriend, we were friends sometimes. But and we, you know, we didn't talk about what we did in our extracurricular unless you asked, but most people tried not to because we were very, you know, open.

SPEAKER_07 4:21

But anyway, um after we raised our daughters, co kind of co-raised them at the end there, uh we decided, you know, what do you what do you want to do with your life? And we decided to run away with the circus, the proverbial circus. Yeah. So we call it the rock

COVID Reset And Going All In

SPEAKER_07 4:36

and roll divival circus.

SPEAKER_03 4:37

So right right before COVID, um, I was still working as a registered nurse. I was a travel nurse actually. We took our first contract in like 2016 and uh went up to Connecticut. And um then during COVID is when I kind of got I mean, I literally found myself without a job or a home temporarily because you know the whole world stopped and they didn't know what to do. I was in between contracts and I was quarantining in between being in New York working as the Stiftones because that was when we'd had the idea that we were going to try to see being a band was and being the Stiftones, because I'd never been in a band. I didn't know what that meant. And um, I couldn't even play the guitar, let alone sing in front of people and do the two of them together.

SPEAKER_09 5:16

True story.

SPEAKER_03 5:16

Um, yeah. And so I took three months off of work and we went and stayed with our friend Tony and his aunt, and we brought Aaron with us and uh stayed up in upstate New York, nowhere near the epicenter of the stuff. But anyway, that was yeah, the we the first time the band ever lived together, and the last time, and I think we grew up. And uh we're all still really good friends, we love each other. Um and Aaron was even actually Aaron and Tony are both even on the album there.

SPEAKER_07 5:40

Yeah, we of course, yeah. And we guess with each other when we see each other, you know, we go together.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

And so but they're they're doing their best lives. Not everybody can live 168 hours a week with me or him, and let alone in a hearse and our two dogs. Yeah, it's not happening.

SPEAKER_04 5:52

And two dogs, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

Yeah. Um, so anyway, long story long, it was during 2020 when uh, you know, we were found ourselves living on our friend's farm in the back of the hearse, and we didn't kill each other. And uh we actually, you know, problem solved a lot better than we thought we did. Because we don't work well together. Like we can get projects done, we can get stuff done, like we work, but not together. Like that's your job, and that's your job, and stay out of each other's way. Divide and conquer. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 6:19

Um, but we do kind of look like we're dancing when we're setting up a stage though, because we both have our jobs now. Oh and so it's just kind of yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:28

And the words of Leon Russell, you know, can you give me a role to play? And so you know, we each have as long as we have our role and we know what what each one of us are stuck, you know, doing, then we've got this. And and and we trust the other one to do it because that's the other thing. We like to micromanage each other.

SPEAKER_04 6:44

I mean, we're a married couple, so it's what we're doing. We're best frenemies, we mean it. Do you guys incorporate the frenemies into any of your songs? Because you probably should. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 6:54

Yes. Um especially on yellow paint, certainly.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Yellow paint for sure. Well, that was kind of like that was the I asked him to rent me a love song. And because, you know, again, when we first met, we were not dating, we were not boyfriend and girlfriend. We even lived together for a while, and but we shared we didn't share the same room. And uh, he had his room downstairs, I had mine upstairs.

SPEAKER_07 7:13

I mean, we didn't want to be living in sin, of course. Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Of course, yeah. You know, one of us always ended up waking up in the other one's room, but you know, but we had our own separate rooms and our own separate spaces, and we were allowed to date other people, but not really, because if you did, then this isn't gonna happen, you know, then we're done. And that's when um I took a contract working for the state of Illinois as a COVID screener, and um, we lived on our friend's living room floor for nine months, and we saved up every penny to pay off everything that we could and gave away anything that we could get rid of and loaded up with a hearse and said, All right, kids, you guys got your own cell phones, your own insurance, and your own, you know, whatever's now. And uh, we took off running because we knew if they caught us, they'd throw us in the nut hut. Oh, yeah. We actually had to get out of there.

SPEAKER_07 7:54

I was starting to be afraid of an intervention.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Oh, yeah.

Choosing Tania The Hearse

SPEAKER_00 7:57

So, how how do you go shopping for a hearse? I'm not really familiar with that.

SPEAKER_07 8:01

I wasn't either, Rachel was just a little bit of a few.

SPEAKER_03 8:02

What a great time to be alive. There's this thing called the internet, and you can find anything on it.

SPEAKER_07 8:07

But so I was like, I wanted a van, I thought maybe a sprinter van or something, you know, would have enough room. But I was like finding them for like $10,000 with 200,000 miles, an old plumber's van that was beat up. I'm like, no, that's just not gonna work. And then I'm like, what if I well I wonder if you could get like an old hearse or something, you know? And so I was like, I found some hearse for sale, and I saw the one we have, and I was like, oh yes, she will be mine.

SPEAKER_03 8:36

Now mind you, this is like on Wednesday, and this is right before we were getting slotted, we were slotted to leave for New York for our three months, and you know, I'd taken time off from work, I'd saved up money, like we, you know, to do this because and um so the budget was there and and it did not include this hearse. And so he comes to me and he's like, We need to get a hearse. I'm like, um You're kidding me, right? No. So I was like, What?

SPEAKER_07 8:59

So finally I talk her into it. I said I've been married before.

SPEAKER_03 9:02

I was like, if it was important if it's important to you, honey, make it happen.

SPEAKER_07 9:06

I had no money for the hearse, so I had I had you know do it anyway, but you know, don't give away secrets. What?

SPEAKER_02 9:11

About how you got the money.

SPEAKER_07 9:12

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Yeah, that's a story for a week.

SPEAKER_07 9:14

Oh boy, that's a story for when you're older, anyways.

SPEAKER_02 9:15

I'm just trying to save you.

SPEAKER_07 9:16

All right, all right. So I get uh I get a I get the money for the hearse. Thanks, Dad. And um uh we drive to Ohio and I look at this thing, and I'll never forget opening the back of it. Rachel's like, oh god, is it always gonna smell like that? And I'm like, no, honey, we're gonna fill it up with rock and roll smells. And we did. But um, so it was I I I got it for super cheap. The guy didn't want to sell it to me for that price. He tried to sell me a bunch of different ones. Um, and I was like, Come on, man, I begged him, you know.

SPEAKER_03 9:48

She was so beautiful when we got her, like the perfect condition. She was in perfect condition. She had 69,000 miles on her. She's I mean, she still smelt like you know, grass and and you know, funeral home.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

And she, because I've seen in the front, I think it says Tanya. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 10:01

That's after the uh Camber Van Beethoven song. Oh nice. You know, Patty Hearst was Robin Bates. Our beloved revolutionary suite. We figured this was a very dignified, um, you know, well-re uh-raised girl here. And once we got a hold of her, she kind of ran away with the circus or you know, maybe the Yeah, she has an energy.

SPEAKER_03 10:19

Like people ask us if she's haunted, and the answer to that is no. She's not haunted. Nobody's ever died in her. Nobody's died in her. Oh, right. And but she's had a lot of energy cross her, you know, through her threshold, and we all know the nature of energy and how that works. And so energy begets energy, and she's now her own.

SPEAKER_07 10:35

Rumor on the street is she's delivered around 15,000. She's buried a small town. Yeah. So, you know, uh a lot of energy in there.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

But yeah, when we first started doing this, like when if we would fight, which because you know, we do best friend at me.

SPEAKER_07 10:50

260 hours a week in a hearse together, you'll fight, I promise.

SPEAKER_03 10:53

Five minutes into hearse together sometimes with us. What?

SPEAKER_07 10:55

Try to park that thing.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

Yeah. And we or and I was the navigator, and I would tell them, you know, turn left. And you know, it would be a Rachel's, right? Rachel's right. Yeah, I did it wrong anyway, but yeah. Anyway, and so if we'd start screaming, she'd turn the headlights off.

SPEAKER_07 11:13

Yeah, if you start screaming, yeah. And she that was it was awful.

SPEAKER_03 11:16

And there was no rhyme or reason, like, and the only way they came back on was when we had our ship back together. Am I allowed to say that on your podcast?

Hearse Life Marriage And Stage Roles

SPEAKER_07 11:24

Oh man, it's like just you just gave me a heart attack. I'm looking for the red button.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

I had to sign a contract in Knoxville. Yeah, they made it a contract once.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

So you didn't know how to play guitar, you didn't sing. How did it come about? How did all of a sudden now you guys have an album and you're going across the country?

SPEAKER_07 11:42

If I may, if I may. Um so when I met Rachel, the first thing that I drew drew me to her, in fairness, was uh she her dance moves. She danced like Joe Cocker. And she used to get upset when I'd say that. But I mean it, I mean it, gentlemen.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Uh then I saw Joe Cocker dance, and it was like that guy who's not rolling.

SPEAKER_07 12:02

That guy's fuel, and he's being moved by the spirit of rock and roll, man. Yeah. And I saw that in Rachel. I'm like, ooh. So kind of like that. And so when we would spend time together, um, you know, sometimes she'd be making dinner or doing something or drawing or doing something, and I'd have my guitar out, and man, this, you know, she'd start singing, or you know, we'd sing along and stuff on the radio at the top of our lungs while we're cruising around the country.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Yeah, and I was raised in um evangelical churches, and so we, you know, sang, you know, danced and spoke in tongues, and and you it so learning to express yourself through song was uh already built into me, and you know, as far as that goes. And so and I loved music and and uh then I wasn't allowed to listen to secular music for a majority of my youth, and so I listened to you know the Christian contemporary music of the time, and it too was very, you know, it's very emoteful. It's it's the whole point of it is to get you to you know have a religious experience, and um so music kind of became a religious experience for me. And when I met so and my father played the guitar, and I was be you know separated from my father at a very young age, and I didn't from I was like five years old and they divorced seven years old, last like last time I saw him until I was in my twenties. Um but anyway, but he played the guitar and he sang and so music, and then my mother also you know sang with the church and whatnot. And so I met Sean, and the first time I saw him perform, he performed this song called Jasmine, and it was at this open mic. And when he was telling the story about the song, he's like, My name's Steffi, and I'm a song about a stripper, and I'm like, Oh, very kid rock of you. I'm going to the bathroom. And so um but then he starts pleasing and it ended up being like this really empathetic, you know, song. Like I didn't expect it. It would like two by four to the back of my head, and also it was so relatable, like it didn't matter that she was a stripper, she was a human being that had both good things and bad things and and and used her powers for a good not evil. And um, and so this song really spoke to me. And I'm reading a lot more into it, but that I mean that's how that's how songs work. I make up stories about songs all the time. I don't care what you wrote it about, this is what it said to me. You know, that's right. Um, and so when he got done, I was like, wow, you know, I owe you an apology because I didn't think he had the best attitude when we were first talking outside. And um I told him, I said, you know, I owe you an apology because anybody who could, you know, write a song like that can't be a total asshole. And uh it's a compliment. And so, and and he is an asshole, but he's my asshole, and I'm an asshole, and I'm his asshole, and sometimes we're assholes, and you know, sometimes you have to be. That's right, Walter. That's his nickname is Walter. He's the big Lebowski.

SPEAKER_07 14:41

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

Yeah, so um eight right, man. But he's actually the he's actually the more gentle and and empathetic than the two of us.

SPEAKER_07 14:53

Like Are you recording this?

SPEAKER_04 14:55

We are, we are. You got an artistic heart, right? You know, you gotta have empathy.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

So yeah, so that was what drew me to him was it literally was his music and his guitar playing, his singing, his songwriting, his delivery, all of it. And then I got to hang out with him and realize that that was that's just who he is. And um, so yeah, it was easy to fall in love with him after that, even though I wouldn't admit it for like a couple years.

SPEAKER_09 15:18

Sometimes that happens. True.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

That can happen for sure.

Finding Their Sound And Influences

SPEAKER_00 15:22

So let's talk a little bit about your album. Came out in September. Title's a takeoff of I'm assuming on the Rolling Stones.

SPEAKER_07 15:29

You betcha.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

So why don't you talk about what's the album title? I don't want to butcher it all.

SPEAKER_07 15:34

It's okay. The album title is uh Existentialism on Main Street, Volley Adoo. Um, and it is kind of a play on the Rolling Stones thing. We really like the Stones. Mostly what I liked most about it was their that album in particular was kind of their approach to recording the album. Um I'd read about it years ago and it I was like, wow. So what was their approach? I think I know they're gonna be able to do it. Yes, they did. Uh they were, I think, maybe going through some tax trouble in England, you know, with the record label stuff and the kind of the exile to France, uh to maybe Keith's place, Del Court or Del Corte or something like this in the summer and it's hot and they're in the basement, and I believe and they you know, all their amps down there and all that, and then he had like a recording van stationed outside, and they would just record just countless, countless, you know, takes of you know, songs and whatever. And so we kind of took that concept with us when recording the album in the world.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

And did they record like different floors of the house, like excuse me?

SPEAKER_07 16:36

Yeah, and so that's what we kind of did. We recorded all over over the place.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

So we took that play on it, but then also the existentialism twist is that you know, um, like even Jesus said you can't be a prophet in your own hometown. And um when Sean and I decided that we were gonna become the stiff tones, everybody was like, you know, at first our friends and you know, like, oh, you guys are so good together and so cute together, you should do this. And then you're like, okay, we're gonna do it. And they're like, Are you nuts? You know, and uh you're like you did what? You bought a hearse, and you're you're gonna what? And then they start thinking that maybe you're you know not as good as they thought you were, and uh, maybe you should just stay home. And so if you listen to that and you believe that, you know, it and and it you're gonna you're going to believe it. And so we didn't want to believe it, and we wanted to go and check out Sesame Street and see what it was like to run away and join the circus. We're out here just living our lives, and I I could have waited to retire to try this, but then I would have been too old. So here I am at 50. And uh so having our existentialism on Main Street in front of everybody. Yeah, literally on Main Street all across the country. We've done over 200,000 miles, and we've had we've had many existential crises in many living rooms and driveways and the backs of venues, you know, because we're nuts and we are, and and what we're doing, it's you know, it's not for the faint of heart, but neither is paying a mortgage or raising children or you know, suffering 50 years of marriage with somebody. So it's all that's all about perspective.

SPEAKER_04 18:03

That's so well said, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:05

But you still wonder if you're you know, like what are you doing? Ah, and I'm supposed to be this ideal of person, you know, I'm supposed to be at home and cooking cookies for my children who aren't gonna come over and the grandchildren that I don't have, and you know, going to work as a nurse for you know forty, fifty hours a week, and you know, for what? I loved being a nurse, I did. I loved being a nurse, I loved taking care of people, and uh I loved making people feel better. But I get to do that in a different capacity now without bureaucratic red tape too much.

SPEAKER_04 18:36

So how long have you guys been on the road?

SPEAKER_03 18:39

Straight hardcore since January 2021. I mean, well, we've taken some time off. Like we we spent our first winter in my brother's front yard in New Hampshire in the tents with a wood stove, because we were like, if we can survive that, we can survive anything.

SPEAKER_07 18:54

And also it was a nice honeymoon.

SPEAKER_03 18:56

But we yeah, and it was what it that's the truth is that we lied to ourselves and that's the follow-up. Because if we thought that was the hardest part of this adventure, we were in for everyone awakening.

SPEAKER_07 19:07

You know, um giving up kind of creature comforts for the you know, big Jagger style yurt.

SPEAKER_03 19:13

Yeah, and we had the yurt all decorated, we had the wood stove, it was gorgeous. I mean, and then we my brother is like the coolest brother that you can have, and he let us go in there and hang out and jam with him. Hang out and jam with him. He loves music, and we'd sing and and and you know, get drunk and whatever till all hours of the night. And if we were in the in the tent, he would leave us alone and you know, we got to shower, we got to you know, do the laundry, go in there and cook. His wife loves to cook. I mean, it was we were so blessed. And uh spoiled. Spoiled.

SPEAKER_04 19:39

So you say that that you thought that was gonna be the hardest. Like, what what's actually been some

Hardest Road Moments And Breakdowns

SPEAKER_04 19:43

of the hardest things? Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

Birmingham.

SPEAKER_07 19:47

Which time?

SPEAKER_03 19:48

Exactly. Second one.

SPEAKER_07 19:50

Ironically, we keep breaking down in Birmingham. Every time we're in Birmingham, we break down.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

The first time we didn't actually break down, but we we broke down because we broke down. But we were going through a through a puddle area, and somebody cut us off and slashed us, and we're on a one-lane bridge getting onto the main thoroughfare down there in their financial district, which is like everybody knows that we don't belong there. Yeah. And um they splash us out, and she dies on this bridge in the rain. And um there's nothing we could do but go backwards because we're on a slight incline anyway, and you're certainly not pushing the hearse out of the thoroughfare. So I had to jump out and then push, and I pushed and pushed, and I slipped, and I biffed my face. It was awful, yeah. Whacked myself up, and then we had to push her off the road, and everybody's honking, and so and we sat there crying and crying and crying, and we were like, Well, we have to get this and that and the other, and uh, and then I put a post out on Facebook, like, uh, you know, wow, my life is ruined. And all of our friends chimed in and be like, you know, you guys got this, and we love you, and you know, and here's here's 20 bucks for lunch, and you know, just take a deep breath and what you're doing. And so, well, we sat there long enough, and and then and we gave it a few minutes and and she started up and then and then we got to go and sit and have lunch and decompress.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

And you know, I gotta say, no matter what, I don't think I'm honking at a hearse at any point in time.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

Well, the people way behind us didn't know what because we were literally on a one-way bridge, nobody could have seen us, you know, and we were blind, we blocked traffic, like because it this is where everybody's going to get on the inner on the interstate, you know, like they're going and strangely though.

SPEAKER_07 21:24

Do you know what little kids will do sometimes when they see me?

SPEAKER_03 21:27

Every kid looks at me as like a real.

SPEAKER_07 21:29

Give me the trucker honk. Yeah, or they or they just wave, they just wave and and they smile and they point to their parents like that. She's like, whoa.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

And the kid, the parents are like grabbing them, like, ah, don't look at that. Then we're like, it's okay, you could look.

SPEAKER_07 21:42

It's a circus hearse.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yeah. I don't know. It is a circus hearse because of the fact you have the stiff tones, you know, on the the tail of you know, both sides of the hearse, and then you have where you're playing in the window so people can see what's dates and and what dates. That's not a normal thing that you see on cars or even on vans that people get. I mean you guys really try and market yourself so people can see.

SPEAKER_07 22:11

Yeah, I find a lot of uh a lot of artists and I'm not not giving anybody you know hard way to go for anonymity purposes or whatever, obviously, or you know, a lot of folks will fly into a place and have you know rent a van or whatever so they don't get the opportunity like we do to be able to be like this is our this is our millennial falcon right here boys, you know, like we deck this thing out. She's like, we're looking for our tribe, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:32

Well people are willing to get in their weird car and come follow behind, you know, whatever car it may be.

SPEAKER_07 22:37

You know? So yeah, we're we're blasting it out on Main Street, you know. Hey, we're here. It works.

SPEAKER_03 22:44

I mean if you're gonna drive around under hearse, you have to make it, you know, make it cool. And the inside's in even like I have the in the inside's really decorated and um we have trinkets and beebly boblies from everywhere. I've got wind chimes in there so she she makes noise and there's um what are those called the the belly skirt things in the back. So I mean she really sounds like a caravan when you're driving down there. If you've listened to the song Tanya by Camper Van Beethoven that is what Tanya sounds like when she's moving it's wonderful. That's awesome. And so and we have people get in there and they're like oh my goodness this is a little magical and we have stickers all over from everywhere we go so if you guys have stickers we'll put one in Tanya. We're thinking about maybe we need stickers.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

We need stickers now. Absolutely yeah that I just learned that we need stickers.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

I think they're a labor of love though they're not very cost effective but they're a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Yeah I but a lot of things are labor of love. I think you know you guys talking about not wanting to fly in and you know get a van but having an actual hearse that's your labor of love and it it breaks down you have to fix it you don't have a choice but I think that's what makes you you know kind of genuine in the whole process of really loving what you do loving it so much that you're willing to take this path and that that draws me to you. That makes me want to listen to you more that makes me really interested in your story and I truly believe that the listeners are going to be talking about the story also like people really do that and they're hearing it live now from from you about what it's like to do some because I think many of us want to do something different than what we're doing today.

DIY Touring Without Being Video Famous

SPEAKER_00 24:29

And we're not willing to take the risk that the two of you have taken and I'm sure when some people listen they're gonna be like oh they stole my hearse idea.

SPEAKER_03 24:39

I wanted to do that but come join us but there but there are people out there and that's I mean YouTube shows that that that the world is full of people that are out there you know doing what we do in in different ways and so thank you for thinking that we're the anomaly and and yes our struggle is real because I mean we we do do it in a little bit different way because we are not YouTube famous we don't do the we don't do any of the kind of thing we we try to keep up with people on the Facebook because you know that's how we connect with our friends from you know far and wide and you know we have the bands in town we have a website but mostly we're one-on-one you know we're we're Gen X and I I do not have the face for video and I don't have the patience for daily editing. And so um you know kudos to those people that are out there doing it. But uh and so that is one of the things that separates us because there that is a stream of revenue that we don't have access.

SPEAKER_07 25:29

We unfortunately actually agreed early on that we didn't want to do that. Yeah we want to be able to just concentrate on what we do musically and you know enjoy our lives with our friends every you know and have the homecomings all over the country.

SPEAKER_03 25:41

And people ask us all the time you know like what are what's our goal and you know what are we looking for and you know how long are you going to let yourself be you know so broke. And um and yeah I mean we pursue this with the br the dream of you know one day somehow being able to do some kind of greatness with whatever it is you know I but that's because if you don't have that dream and that goal and that something to be able to get lost in sometimes reality can be you know like what am I doing this for um but then it's those moments when you're like I'm doing this for because I get to go and drive and see my friends in Georgia. I get to go and drive and see my friends in North Carolina. I we get to house sit for my dad so he gets to go visit my sisters and my nieces and my nephews that he hasn't seen because they don't get to go up and see him. I do. So we're gonna go house sit for them.

SPEAKER_07 26:24

So he gets cool bonus things that we get to do.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Yeah my you know we we get to house it for people and let them do things or just go and visit people and you know help lift them up we've gone and started open mics in different areas and and built little music communities and found friends highly recommend our friends are our national friends are starting to interconnect because some of them are starting to travel to our shows and and they're starting to meet each other and then also the beauty of the Facebook they're all getting to know each other on the Facebook and so that's why that's why we do this and um it's it's the Alexis's and the Lexis and you know the Karen's and the the roses and all those beautiful people that that we carry in our heart.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Yep and I love it. I mean I do I I I really do I think that many people will listen and say they wish that they had that spirit to be able to do something that they love and go all in not knowing if they're gonna be successful or not. Yeah you know it's I think it's a a tough thing to do. I mean for me just doing the podcasting which is nothing like that I mean I I come to a studio I get to work with Jimmy who runs everything and edits and makes everything sound good and that was a difficult thing for me not even imagining what it must be like to be able to be on the road and and to have some sort of freedom that that comes with it not having to answer to everybody.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

No alarm clock is wonderful. After 18 years being a nurse yeah I worked midnight shift for a long time and then I worked the day shift and my day started at like 3 a.m because I was dialysis nurse.

SPEAKER_07 28:02

And so there's just no way to wake up nice at the end I would just like to say this though one of the most bizarre things about what we do is literally waking up in the back of Tanya sometimes. Yeah when you don't know where you're at I'll just tell you right now it's a strange experience you wake up in the back of a hearse first off second off it's dark and you're like where am I at? Which direction am I facing? You know like what time is it?

SPEAKER_03 28:28

I mean Am I in a driveway? Am I in a venue?

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Yeah so one day one day far in the future Sean's gonna wake up and be I think I've been here before and he he's gonna be realizing he's really he's really in the hearse.

SPEAKER_04 28:41

Yeah I know right whoa we all end up there. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

So you know some of the songs off of the album Looking Glass I I I like that song. I like Kiss My Girls Starting Over it's just some good songs that I think come from your heart as you're writing them and singing them and when you listen to the album the album doesn't sound like people that are traveling around the country in a hearse. It sounds like a well produced a great album that anybody that is a famous musician could have released.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

In a cave in South Dakota Antonya live at the Berkeley Cafe in Raleigh North Carolina. Just about anywhere you can imagine Jonathan Sagel from Camper Van Beethoven did his his part in uh Sweden in Stockholm yeah and then Victor record Victor Krumnachter he recorded his part in Portland Oregon oh and also then in Kyle's garage in Yucca Valley that's where um These Times was recorded most of it. Yep. So and but Sean and I so most of the songs Sean had written before I even existed. Well not existed I existed just not in his sphere I've been here for longer than he has. Then uh when he and I met again it was his songs like Jasmine in particular um that caught my attention and then hearing his songs is you know he we would hang out. So then I got to put my stink on them and add you know some of my harmonies some of the you know um arrangement.

SPEAKER_04 30:23

Yeah we really matured them together fairness.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

Yellow paint that's my love song um the La La song we wrote that's backwards down a hill is another song but it's uh it's on a different album or it's a single so backwards down a hill I'm driving here and I just put my phone on shuffle and as I'm driving here it comes on and all I could think of is how much it reminded me of John Doe That's okay you say that scene of X yes that is so exciting we love that so much too I think it's the first time I've listened to the song where I wasn't putting it on to listen to it that I it just came on and you listen to a song totally different like that. I'm driving and I'm like oh wow they're gonna be on the show and I never noticed it until today.

SPEAKER_07 31:14

So funny story about that song in particular is that when we were in California recording it we weren't really familiar with the Bandex. Not for I had never heard of them. I had heard of them I'd never heard them right but I was familiar with John Doe. I was not because I heard this song called Twin Brother that he did and that's the exact kind of song that'll just haunt me and make me cry you know instantly.

SPEAKER_03 31:39

Yeah and so that's where I knew that he'd do the song but I didn't know who who did it. Yeah so then I'm like oh and so it was very cool for me to be like whoa so on our pilgrimage we went out to Redlands California to record our album where Johnny Hickman recorded his first album because Johnny Hickman of the band Cracker is the reason why Sean even started playing guitar. And uh yeah and so we went on and uh that was what took ourselves on our first um cross country kind trip well actually all of them because we've been chasing Johnny like I met him on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve. I'm like one of these days we're gonna open for you and he was like eh and um and then we became we developed a friendship and he's actually um been like a huge mentor and an uncle to us. But anyway long story long we went out to Redlands California to record in the studio where he recorded Lo Fi Studios and we did backwards down a hill and guy Chris Leroy who was in the dangers which was one of Johnny Hickman's first bands came in and he was like what you guys working on and so we played it for him and he was like oh my gosh he's like you know that you guys really captured the uh essence of the 1970s inland empire punk scene yeah and then he specifically mentioned the band X and we were like who and then we looked it up we went we went out there and we were like look it up and I'm like oh my gosh we were just you know we were we were blown away we're like holy crap they're gonna be like there's no way they're even gonna believe we're gonna be able to never thought anybody would think that I you know that's we'd never actually listened to them but no just completely coincidence in that regard.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

Yeah but I was familiar with their energy everything yeah John Doe's twin brother oh my gosh yeah it was kind of a validation it really is yeah so you mentioned Johnny Hickman yeah you know so Rachel reached out to me multiple times and I never responded to her via email okay I I'm gonna lay it out there and her persistence and I told you this when we spoke in March her persistence and her dedication to making me realize who the band the stiff tones were is what leads us up to today.

Covers Mentors And Earning Respect

SPEAKER_00 33:39

She mentions oh you know we have these songs we did a cover of Johnny Hickman and that immediately caught my attention so immediately I get my phone out I text Johnny Hickman and I said hey who are the stiff tones oh boy and what's uh with them doing a cover of one of your songs and he's like they're good people and you know all these really good things to say about you I think you do a great great version of the song thank you it it's really really good and the song's uh Father Winter and it is just fantastic. Thank you so when you have someone that makes you want to play the guitar if you decided that you wanted to do justice to them and honoring them that's it for sure. Thank you it's really really good man.

SPEAKER_07 34:32

Go ahead tell them I'll tell you uh we we told Johnny hey man we want to cover the song we love it it was kind of a um a bat signal for us you know like as we this was in the early days of Facebook when we when he and I were frenemies and we would break up and then show each other like you know this isn't a yeah and so eventually I'd maybe post Father Winter and she'd know I was thinking I knew I was the treacherous woman he was thinking of you know and so I was like oh I'm gonna go ahead and call him up he's thinking about me and I'd I'd be I'd be week for just then I could smell the blood in the water. So so yeah so that's funny.

SPEAKER_03 35:07

So we get down to California and so Johnny says yeah yeah yeah Shawnee boy you can do that he says uh just one rule no we remember we went to New Hampshire and we played at the open mic and we got a live video of it and we sent it to him and we're like you know may we cover this and he was like oh I'm really honored guys thanks and then when we're putting the album together we were like he's just like you know I got one rule.

SPEAKER_07 35:28

Just one rule kids don't suck and I gotta tell you it's awful as it is we drove all the way out to California and we attempted to record that song. With Maria Baglian who is the original engineer on and she's such a wizard his album and uh she recorded that song for him and that you know and like it was a whole thing and uh guess what we did we broke the one and only rule. Oh no and so we drove all we broke we drove all the way back cross country doing our our bit oops and then we finally get to New Hampshire again and we get stranded up there. Tanya breaks down and now we're in the tent for real.

SPEAKER_03 36:05

But we ended up getting a house band gig house elf I guess we can call it gig at Harley Jackson. A place called Harley Jackson Ospy New Hampshire and it came with a space above a garage that had heat and a full size refrigerator and a hot plate and a microwave. Well we were at the hot plate but it had a microwave.

SPEAKER_07 36:20

So we uh in a tub for washing just we survived we survived it but uh so that's when that's about that's when we decided to go ahead and re-record that song um we changed the kind of the the arrangement slightly the composition we changed the tuning changed the tuning on it I it's a double drop D song now so it gets that I play in double drop D.

SPEAKER_00 36:39

Rachel plays in you know more of a standard yeah I play in in E flat well we play in E flat so this is the part where Jimmy loves when everybody is talking about that stuff and I'm like I have absolutely no idea what what it is.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

So we we you know we did uh finally uh record it with a friend of ours named Chuck Melchin uh fantastic songwriter from he's in blue sky now but he's all he's um from the bean pick bean pickers union yeah he helped us he helped us on that we was like hey chuck we got to redeem ourselves man so when we were the house band at Harley Jackson we also got to be um the talent buyers and so because we played every Thursday Friday Saturday and then we hosted all day open mic and sunday and so on Fridays and Saturdays we on during the week I would scope out area and regional musicians to invite them to come and and we'd check them out if I you know if I couldn't see them live then I'd try to find videos and then if they you know if I was interested in them I would invite them and come and and share the stage with us and so we'd open for them and have them you know or vice versa you know on on different Fridays and Saturday nights throughout the summer and uh because Harley Jackson's a real hopping place in the summertime it's right off Route 16. And um anyway so that's how I ended up finding Chuck Melchin I was found his stuff and I was like oh my gosh Sean you have to listen to this and then he ended up working with us and uh recording on it. He played the Mando Call of the Winter. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

So when I saw you in March you know I walked in I I wasn't there right at the beginning of the show but I walked in you guys were doing a cover of Cracker uh been around the world you know Johnny Hickman you know the guitarist in Cracker and you guys did such a great version of it I was really impressed I'm really impressed that the covers that you do they sound really good they're not cheesy. Thank you man and the originals that you do are really good songs. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 38:24

If we're gonna do a cover it's because we love the song just know that first off.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

Because like we said earlier music to us is a religious experience.

SPEAKER_07 38:31

So if this song has not moved one of us it's not gonna be between cracker and camper Van Beethoven those that's my favorite my favorite bands from you know being a you know a 13 year old kid buying CDs down at the record store that's what I was well cassettes at that time actually if you want to be right down to it. That's what that's where my interest was at and uh so you know there are plenty of other things too but um well I'll tell you uh it's been a really wild ride for me and I'm really honored and thankful to have to be part of it you know to be able to have members of Camper Van Beethoven on your album did you ever imagine that no I'll be honest you know I I wouldn't I was talking to um I had a friend stop by and see me the other day I haven't seen him in probably 30 years. I graduated high school with him and it's because I was driving through my little my little town.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

Everybody in our little town knows that he's like a total cracker camper like fanatic and that I am an REM I went from Christian music to R E M.

SPEAKER_00 39:31

Yeah and so and we even got made fun of whenever we were talking about being a band we were like what are you guys gonna do be a cracker cover band cracker REM cover band well you know what maybe we will maybe we will maybe we will maybe and then we're like no when I saw you guys in March we were talking and you mentioned about REM and different things and you talked about a a jacket.

The Peter Buck Jacket Story

SPEAKER_03 39:53

So our rock and roll godparents are from Brunswick Georgia and um we call him the magician and he grew up in uh the Athens area running around down there going to college and and whatnot and so he um was friends with Peter Buck's brother and Peter Buck was friends with his brother and so when REM was coming up in Athens down there Richard was there you know like there's a house like Richard knows more about REM than I do because he was there and so um but I'm still the expert but he got to meet at the house and all of that stuff and so the first REM tour that they went on to um Peter huh they were in Europe. In Europe yes they went to a uh thrift store in Amsterdam and Peter Buck saw saw this jacket and this is before the wall came down and it's cool and it's leather and it's got white and it's got all these zippers and so Peter bought it and then he brought it home and and then he kind of came into his man body and it has all the zippers and it just wasn't fitting so he was like yeah Richard I think the methods would fit you and so he put it on Richard and and uh gave it to Richard and Richard kept kept it and had it for 30 years and then when he met us um well he'd known Sean already but then he met me and found out that I how into REM I was he was like oh and tells me about this jacket and then I was like oh that is so cool and then a couple years into it he gave it to Sean and he was like you know I want you to have this while you guys are out there running around the country in your hearse, you crazy kids and uh here's your turtle shell wore that jacket for a hundred thousand miles. Yeah we had to put it up just because it was we need somebody who knows about leather to you know kind of give it some more love because we don't want it to get any more ruined but I do have the zipper pole that fell off and it's on a necklace I usually wear and I get to tell people I have Peter Buck's zipper pole but it's actually Sean's but it's both which is cool.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Yeah I think it's a great story.

SPEAKER_03 41:35

I mean and then you want to know it's even better we were out in Southern California at the um campo out for Crackers event and this was the year REM well Peter Buck and and um Mike Mills and all of them were out there and Peter came walking through the audience and he touched Sean on his jacket and I was like oh Peter Buck just touched you touching his jacket that that is so and he didn't even know like he didn't even know. And so I couldn't talk to him because you know I didn't want the first time I ever talked to Peter Buck to me to be like oh and so I met him in Athens and the first time I ever met him I got to so I broke my own rule anyway.

SPEAKER_07 42:09

Because we're weird you know I mean what are you gonna do? Shit.

SPEAKER_03 42:13

Oh man he played the guitar like all over my heart and if he hadn't made the space for and I don't mean like heart romantically I mean heart as in like it's that was my religious experience you know spoke to me and uh and he paved the way for the way Sean plays the guitar Peter Buck and then the cracker REM connection and Johnny and Peter it's like it was just weird. It's weird how you know kind of like our our lives were intertwined before we even met. It's just so it works. And he got to get touched by Peter Buck.

SPEAKER_07 42:41

So what could be better than I wouldn't mind circling back around to one thing. So to answer your question earlier did I ever believe that could happen? So no man I graduated high school with like 13, 14 people. You know I came from a town of I graduated a town called Mulberry Grove, Illinois population maybe six or seven hundred people now very tiny place. So do I ever think that I would get to uh you know meet some of my heroes and work with them or you know play with them or anything of that nature whatsoever?

SPEAKER_03 43:12

Absolutely not man not in my wildest dreams but I mean not in my wildest dreams because I obviously I'm out here so I'm out here wild and as well because you know he and he inspired me the way that Johnny Hickman inspired him you know if it wasn't for Sean I wouldn't have picked up a couple of years make it happen man I've been out here trying to make it happen every day since I'm gonna Sean you know told me that what he wanted and I was like okay well let's do it let's do it and so that's where you know I bought tickets and we went and saw Cracker and he's like you can meet him he's like Johnny's a great person I'm like I'm gonna meet him I'm gonna tell him I'm speaking that into existence. And so on New Year's Eve in St. Louis they were playing and I met I was like I need to shake the man happy you know responsible for my happiness and um one of these days I'm we're gonna open for you because he wants to and so and we have we've got to guest with him and more importantly than just opening for him. I mean that's the fun goal and and whatever, but we actually I mean he's such a um genuine yeah yeah he he gave us you know space into his space and you know let us let us be weird with him for long enough to actually get to be friends and um and uh taught us a lot. But he's the one who told me he was like we'll make it happen. And um and then yeah yeah he's a great guy. And then there's Victor and Jonathan who are equally humble and amazing and then just Jonathan is just like he's the Mike Mills of the stiff tones and he doesn't even know it. But man he's like to work with those guys really I didn't think they'd say yes. I mean who are we? Why why but they were so gracious and so fun to work with they're like yeah yeah and they're like hey these are really great songs guys I will I won't I won't lie to you gentlemen the first few times we got to listen to those tracks even just as roughs laid on top of each other do you want to talk about just like just jump in.

SPEAKER_07 45:05

Psycho freak out just like two too nut two two crazies in the uh you know I can believe just just oh my god just run around screaming wow yeah we've danced and laughing like home alone stuff or something I think I don't know something like

Live Performance These Times And Goodbye

SPEAKER_07 45:21

that.

SPEAKER_00 45:22

I definitely can understand that hey we're getting close to the to the time where unfortunately we're gonna end but I wanted to see if you two would play a song for us. For sure absolutely yeah we could play a song for you can I request absolutely I want to hear these times it was nominated for Song of the year um 2024 by the Josh Ritre voice we released it on uh Leap Your Day about the song usually when I play this and it's gonna be fun I like to squirm a little bit when I'm playing there that I think these times at all I don't understand there's times at all I don't understand these times at all I don't understand there's times at all everyone's offended but everyone wants to watch I don't understand there's times at all Everyone's offended but everyone wants to watch I don't understand there's times at all look over there they're coming here I just don't understand I don't understand I just don't understand I don't understand these times at all I don't understand there's times at all Well I don't understand these times at all I don't understand there's times at all people needing forgiveness people want to judge I don't understand there's times at all Yeah people needin' forgiveness people want to judge I don't understand there's times at all look over there let's need your fear they're over there they're almost dead I don't understand I just don't understand I don't understand I just don't understand I don't understand I don't understand these times at all I don't understand these times at all I don't understand these times at all I don't understand there's times at all don't they got something got something you want I don't understand there's times at all Don't you got something that everyone wants I don't understand there's times at all look in the middle those things you feel They're always there in the middle I don't understand I just don't understand I don't understand I just don't understand with these dance dance these times at all I don't understand these times a dog these times at all I don't understand these times at all that was excellent thank you that was excellent I loved it I loved it and I wish that we could listen to you all day but unfortunately that's it for this episode of Music in my shoes yeah thank you so much for having me oh you're welcome I mean you know Rachel Sean I appreciate so much your persistence I think that things will happen for you just because you're good and because you have a great story to tell and people like that. They really really do thank you so thank you so much for being on the show. I'd also like to thank Jimmy Guthrie show producer and owner of Arcade 160 Studios located right here in Atlanta GA and Vic Thrill for our podcast music. You can reach us at musicinmy shoes at gmail.com please like and follow the Facebook and Instagram pages and I'm Jim Boj I hope you learned something new or remembered something old we'll meet again on our next episode until then live life and keep the music playing