Ep 252 The Band Dudes

Mike was co-hosting open mic nights in the Region when he met Karl. While playing some original music at the open mic nights, the guys knew that the music felt elevated and something good was going on. Mike and Karl, along with the Region Buzz 219 team went into the studio in March of 2025. Toward the end of the sessions Mike and Karl talked of forming a band. Being a band felt natural as the studio work brought them together. This brought us The Band Dudes.

Transcript

Ep 252 The Band Dudes
(0:00 - 0:33)
Coming to you from the studios at the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66, it's the Rock
and Roll Chicago Podcast. Hey everybody, it's Ray the Roadie. And this is Hollywood Mike.
I haven't said that in what, six weeks? About six weeks, yeah. Wow. We were on vacation.
(0:33 - 0:37)
Yeah, we were. We took a little- Bora Bora. Little hiotus, little hiotus.
(0:37 - 0:38)
Yeah. Hiotus. Hiotus.
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Hiotus, okay. I tried to say time off and hiatus at the same time. And it came out hiotus.
(0:47 - 0:58)
Nice. Hey, if Fred Durst can make up words, so am I. That's right. That's what we're doing.
It's a hiotus. So you need to get tested for that, right? Yeah, yeah. And what I'm going to do is
I'm going to copyright that because some rap artist is going to- That's right.
(0:58 - 1:03)
Hiotus. Yeah, hanging with my brother Otis on vacation on hiotus. It's been being a rap song.
(1:04 - 1:10)
Is that that stuff that Aaron Rodgers was smoking? Smoking some hiotus. Hiotus. Yeah, it could
have been something like that.
(1:10 - 1:15)
It's something like that. So what's been up with you, man? We haven't seen each other in a long
time. Nothing, just getting older.
(1:15 - 1:18)
Yeah. Just getting older, yeah. That's well, that's better than the alternative.
(1:18 - 1:38)
Getting younger. Getting dead. True that.
You're not going to get younger. True that, true that. Yeah, yeah.
So man, I had some excitement. Did you? My, just about 10 days ago, my son is driving
southbound on Route 52 coming up to I-55. Busy area, right? There's all kinds of stuff over
there.
(1:39 - 1:47)
It's not like he was out in the middle of a cornfield or anything like that. 1130 at night, out of
nowhere, a buck jumps out of a bush. Damn.
(1:48 - 1:52)
And he hits this thing doing like 40 miles an hour. Wow. Totaled his truck.
(1:53 - 1:57)
Yeah. Totaled his truck. Is the buck okay? I mean, the buck got up and ran away.
(1:57 - 2:03)
Yeah. So I didn't even, I didn't even get to make sausage or anything like that. The buck got up
and ran away.
(2:04 - 2:14)
Those are some tough, tough animals, man. I mean, but if you, if you hit, if you hit a 250 pound
human being going 40 miles an hour, you know, human beings dead. Yep.
(2:14 - 2:16)
Yep. Right. I don't know if it's going to total your truck.
(2:16 - 2:22)
No. I'm guessing the difference is 250 pounds of solid muscle versus 250 pounds of partial
mush. Exactly.
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I know, but it's just terrible. His son's okay? Yeah. He's perfectly fine.
(2:27 - 2:31)
Everybody was fine. We picked up a new truck for him today and the whole bit, but it was
exciting. I couldn't believe that shit happened.
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That's crazy. Yeah. It's crazy stuff.
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And he bought, he bought the new truck from the Tyson motor dealership, right? The Chrysler
dealership right there in Shorewood. Oh yeah. Are they going to, are they going to great guys?
Are they going to sponsor us? I'm definitely working on that because we are looking for
sponsors.
(2:46 - 2:52)
Yes, we are. 100 yards away from where he hit the deer. So it all goes full circle.
(2:54 - 2:56)
Wonderful, man. That's crazy. It is a couple of bucks.
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Just jump out of nowhere. That's right. Speaking of a couple of bucks.
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Yeah. We got Carl and Mike, the band dudes here. Yes, we do.
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Which one is it? Oh, it's not working. There it is. You got to crank it louder.
(3:13 - 3:16)
You got to crank it louder. Yeah. That was all the way up there and it's okay.
(3:16 - 3:18)
They messed with that too. They did. We're going to have to readjust it again.
(3:18 - 3:22)
We'll just have to do it also. How are you guys doing, man? Well, I got my rack. I got to adjust
my rack here.
(3:22 - 3:26)
Yeah. This is a family program. Nice rack.
(3:28 - 3:40)
So man, so all the way in from Munster, you said? Exit one. So it's about 25 miles from here.
Coming in from Munster, Indiana.
(3:40 - 3:43)
Yeah. Yeah. It's about 25 miles straight down 80.
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Not too bad. Not too bad. How was that traffic? Luckily, the rush hour was going the other way.
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Oh, okay. So I was going against the grain and it was easy peasy. Yeah.
(3:52 - 4:02)
Oh, really? Because I came down 30 and 80 westbound was stopped and everybody was getting
off there. Yeah. I live about seven miles away and it took me 40 minutes to get here today.
(4:02 - 4:06)
I don't know what the heck's going on. Busy, busy, busy in downtown Joliet. It is.
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Where are you coming from, Mike? Homewood. Homewood. Yeah.
(4:09 - 4:12)
I'm a little bit shorter. So you're a little bit more of a local guy then. Yeah.
(4:12 - 4:15)
So, and together you guys make up The Band Dudes. Yep. So welcome, man.
(4:15 - 4:27)
Tell me a little bit about how this all came about. You start. Well, for the last few years, I had
been co-hosting an open mic night in Cherville, Indiana.
(4:28 - 4:41)
And Carl was coming in and playing his original music. We seemed to gel right away. So at
some point, Carl decided he wanted to record him, record his songs.
(4:41 - 4:53)
And so he asked if I would be on the record with him. We made the recording. And then after
that, he asked if I would go with him to actually support the album.
(4:54 - 5:01)
Okay. Yeah. So yeah, I was going to the jam night and the other co-host has a studio.
(5:01 - 5:09)
His name's Nick Kazonas. And yeah, the original music just sounded so elevated. It was just like,
holy shit.
(5:09 - 5:14)
It was just the experience. It was just, you know, magic. They took it to it pretty much right
away.
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And it might have been the second night. Nick says to me, you know, I got a studio. But my first
intention was to get a band first and learn the songs and then go into the studio.
(5:29 - 5:37)
But, you know, the lead time on that would have been forever. And I already had the songs
written and arranged. And of course, it was just me and the acoustic guitar.
(5:37 - 5:50)
But I decided to go in the studio and get some musicians. And these guys do the music right
away, you know, him and Nick. And so, yeah, there's six people that appear in the studio, you
know, on the album.
(5:51 - 5:57)
One of them is I take voice lessons. So my voice teacher, her name's Leanne. Leanne appears
on a couple of the tracks.
(5:57 - 6:07)
And so, yeah, it was a great, great experience. So we went in the studio in March and March
and April. And we had a regular cadence, you know, to get her done, get her done.
(6:08 - 6:20)
And we didn't let up. And the engineer, Ben, did a great, great, great job. And yeah, so I did
send you guys a couple of tracks, right? So I don't know if we're going to be playing one of
those later, maybe.
(6:22 - 6:23)
Of course you will. Yeah. Okay.
(6:23 - 6:30)
So, of course, we want to play live as well. Yeah, right. So but yeah, so, you know, Mike's joined
me on the mission to get it out there.
(6:30 - 6:41)
Have you been writing for a long time or? Yeah, the short answer is yeah. So this is actually my
third effort, my third album. I did have a freshman release and that was okay.
(6:42 - 6:54)
I was pretty much myself and, you know, I hired a drummer in my home studio. My sophomore
release, I did go into a studio in Sterling, Illinois, out west of here. I was working out there and
that turned out pretty well.
(6:55 - 7:02)
You know, I'm happy with it. But this is just an elevated way beyond that. Right.
(7:03 - 7:10)
Beyond those efforts. When did it all start for you? Like, what point in your life do you decide, I
love music, I'm going to do this and. Oh, gosh.
(7:11 - 7:18)
Well, okay. So the real story is I did have a crisis. I was about 18, 19 years old or so.
(7:18 - 7:24)
I played organ when I was a kid, took organ lessons. So did I. Four or five years. So did I. And all
the polkas and waltzes.
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And he saw that he finally got to see the organ that I talk about all the time. Hammond? Was it
Hammond? It's not a Hammond. It's an old, it's an old 69 Wurlitzer.
(7:35 - 7:49)
Wurlitzer. And of course, baseball came along and all that. But so I had a crisis when I was 18,
19 years old, dropped out of school and got myself a guitar.
(7:50 - 7:56)
And, you know, took a handful. Of course, I knew music already. Took a handful of lessons just
to get acquainted with it.
(7:56 - 8:05)
And then I started, you know, teaching myself after that. And, you know, started writing pretty
much right away because I was in the crisis mode. Yeah.
(8:07 - 8:13)
So was that, that was like after high school? Yeah, yeah. Okay. I was like a freshman,
sophomore in college.
(8:13 - 8:21)
Okay. All right. Did you, did you, did you grow up, in other words, playing in any bands or
anything like that? During that time, yeah.
(8:21 - 8:33)
So when I was like 20 or so, started, you know, getting in bands and playing Jethro Tull and. You
played with Jethro Tull? No, I wish I could start playing his music anyway. Gotcha, gotcha,
gotcha.
(8:33 - 8:39)
And then the 80s and 90s, I played R.E.M. Smithereens in excess. Right, right. Replacements and
stuff.
(8:40 - 8:46)
So it was a cover band type. Yeah, cover band situation. And maybe we're sneaking in one or
two originals back then.
(8:46 - 8:55)
Sure, sure. But now we want to be able to sneak in a whole lot more originals and less covers.
Was that like the college scene? Because it seems like.
(8:55 - 8:59)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we were around the Chicago, Chicago area. Right.
(8:59 - 9:07)
So we played Phyllis' and The Loft and Thirsty Whale. Yeah. Oh gosh, every, every, I think
everybody from that generation or so.
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I was, I was on the tail end of it because I was, I was in high school in the early to mid 80s. And
that was, that's just as it was, as it was starting to fall apart. It was a little different at the, a little
different in 88 and 89 than it was in like 78 and 79.
(9:21 - 9:27)
But yeah, but I get it for sure. Yeah. What about you, Mike? Oh yeah.
(9:27 - 9:36)
I've been playing for a very long time. And it came about because of a crisis too. But mine was a
midlife crisis.
(9:36 - 9:46)
Actually, I've only been playing for about 10 years. But it was that sort of thing as one starts to
see one's mortality. And you know, what are you going to do about it? You know? Right.
(9:46 - 9:55)
Right. So I decided that I was going to learn an instrument. And I picked up the bass and I
found me a teacher and learned how to play.
(9:56 - 10:04)
Well, that's, you know, people don't realize what a fantastic story that actually is. Because if you
think about it, you're going through a midlife crisis. I mean, you could have done stupid things
like bought a hundred thousand dollar Corvette.
(10:05 - 10:09)
Exactly. You know, you could have done something like that. Right.
(10:09 - 10:14)
But no, I'm just going to pick up an instrument and learn how to play and keep my sanity out.
So that's pretty cool. And you got it.
(10:14 - 10:19)
So you guys just kind of met at an open jam then. Yeah. Well, those open jams are magic.
(10:19 - 10:27)
So the people that participate in those and sponsor those. Yeah. Man, they're magic and they're
great.
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We don't get paid enough. We don't get paid enough. Those things are magic in a lot of
different ways.
(10:33 - 10:42)
I mean, like I say, we've only been playing 10 years and it's not like, you know, when you're a
kid, you've got recitals at the music school and what. You don't have that when you're an adult.
Right.
(10:42 - 10:51)
That's what these open jams and open mics are for. You get out there and you play with as
many different people and as many different styles as you can. And that's how you learn.
(10:51 - 10:59)
And that's how you grow. You know, and it's even hard somewhat to find an instructor that
wants to bring on an adult. Yes.
(10:59 - 11:16)
You know, and so where do you find somebody like that? So, okay, if you get lucky enough to
find someone, they're not going to be with you very long because they're making all their
money off their younger students and the afterschool program and things like that. So where
do you learn? You're exactly right. You go to these open jams and there's people that there's
people that love to play music.
(11:16 - 11:31)
They love they love playing an instrument, but they're only comfortable in front of people that
they know. You know, so they go and they hang out and listen to the music at an open jam for
two, three, four months until finally they drink enough tequila and they do it one day. Right.
(11:31 - 11:37)
And that's the only time they're going to play live. Right. You know, they have no intention of
being in a band or whatever.
(11:37 - 11:44)
But, you know, every Wednesday night or every Thursday night or whatever it is, they do their
their three song set. Say that ten times. Three-thong.
(11:44 - 11:49)
Their three-thong, three-thong. Interesting open mic night. Yes, the three-thong bet.
(11:49 - 11:53)
Yeah. And that's the that's the way they do it. So that's pretty good.
(11:54 - 11:58)
Yeah. So you had a question? Yeah. You said you took lessons.
(11:58 - 12:02)
You take them in Holmwood? Yeah. I took them at Melody Mart. Melody Mart.
(12:03 - 12:05)
John Falstrom. Yep. Yep.
(12:05 - 12:09)
We did John. We did a podcast with him a while ago. Small world.
(12:09 - 12:18)
That's what I figured when you said you took lessons. That's what I figured it was. So what are
your influences then? Actually, I'm really interested to find out what your influences are,
because you've only been playing for 10 years.
(12:19 - 12:34)
I'll just I mean, you start off with the Mary had a little lamb or, you know, it sounds funny, but
that's a serious question. I mean, that's where everybody starts, right? No. One of the things he
wanted to do is he wanted to get me to start playing music I liked as soon as possible.
(12:34 - 12:40)
Right, right. The very first lesson he did, he showed me the baseline to the Peter Gunn theme.
Oh, wow.
(12:40 - 12:45)
OK. Yeah. And then after that, it was just I made a list of songs I wanted to learn.
(12:45 - 13:01)
And we just started learning them. Yeah. And what's and I guess and what's what's the type of
music that you always go back to? What are you listening to all the time when you're in the car?
Actually, what I'm listening to in the car is a playlist of local music.
(13:01 - 13:05)
So it's a little bit of whatever's out there. Oh, that's good. Yeah.
(13:05 - 13:10)
I mean, everything from jazz to country to alternative. And all local music. Yeah.
(13:11 - 13:18)
Local cover bands or local original artists? No, mostly local original. Wow. Excellent.
(13:18 - 13:20)
Yeah. That's pretty good. We talk about that all the time.
(13:20 - 13:31)
That's somebody that actually listens to local original music on the radio when they're driving
around. Yeah, we I will never forget this. In fact, I had I didn't tell you this, but I had a dream
like two weeks ago.
(13:32 - 13:48)
And all I remember about the dream was the day that we were here and you said this for the
very first time where it it takes an active listener to go out and appreciate, you know, original
music. Yeah. And and the people that get up and walk out because it's original music, they're
kind of lazy.
(13:49 - 14:03)
They're lazy spectators because you actually have to put forth an effort and work at it. And I
appreciate people who go out and listen to live original music because you know that they're
not there just because they're drinking or they're meeting a friend or they're there for a
purpose. You also get the people out there to go.
(14:03 - 14:10)
Oh, yeah, I know that song. No, you don't. But you have to but you have to appreciate that.
(14:10 - 14:12)
Yeah, because it reminds them. It reminds them of something. Right.
(14:12 - 14:14)
Yeah, right. Absolutely. Right.
(14:14 - 14:30)
So what are your influences, Carl? Well, early on, I studied a lot of Led Zeppelin. Then I got hit a
Neil Young phase. And then I started arranging, making jazz arrangements of like a Neil Young
song or bread or, you know, somebody.
(14:30 - 14:52)
You know, I started doing jazz arrangements and then, you know, started playing the 80s, 90s,
you know, rock and roll stuff. And I was writing, you know, pretty much, you know, on and off
the whole time. And now the band dudes now would have to say that I had somebody describe
our music as kind of sassy and funky.
(14:53 - 14:56)
And then I embraced it. I said, yeah, that's it. Okay.
(14:57 - 15:00)
Yeah. But you said, yeah, I like that. Sassy, funky.
(15:00 - 15:08)
Yeah. But it's kind of a little Americana. So I would say it's like a David Byrne meets Tom Petty
thing.
(15:09 - 15:11)
Okay. That sounds interesting. Yeah.
(15:11 - 15:17)
So that's just what it sounds like. You know, the voice sounds like, you know, the way it gets
portrayed. Right.
(15:17 - 15:27)
But yeah. Are you guys playing a lot of gigs or are you pretty much just working in the studio?
We're just building up right now. I mean, we've only been in existence really since spring.
(15:28 - 15:35)
So we've got a few gigs that we've done, but not a whole lot at this point. We're kind of building
our schedule. Gotcha.
(15:35 - 15:44)
And everything's kind of taken up already for at least through the end of the year. Right. So
we're just kind of building, scheduling for like next year, that kind of stuff.
(15:44 - 15:50)
Okay. So we do have a release party. You know, we did a recording, you know, eight songs in
the album.
(15:50 - 15:56)
And so that release party is October 10th. It's a Friday in the Crete. That's all that.
(15:56 - 16:01)
Evil Horse, Evil Horse Alehouse. Oh, yeah. And then we have a gig in November.
(16:01 - 16:08)
It's a private party. The good news is that it's at a bowling alley so we can be loud. So we
recruited a drummer.
(16:08 - 16:15)
Okay. Of course, I'll be playing my electric and going crazy there. And then we do have another
gig in December.
(16:16 - 16:22)
It's a fundraiser, you know, for the public. It's a fundraiser. It's going to be at the Whiting
Theater.
(16:23 - 16:29)
Oh, okay. The Whiting Theater is a 100-year-old theater on 119th Street. I think it was owned by
Warner Brothers one time.
(16:29 - 16:39)
The claim to fame, you know, Three Stooges were on the stage there. But it's a 100-year-old
seat, 600 people. And we're going to be the opening act for a group called Mr. Funny Man.
(16:40 - 16:48)
Oh, yeah. I know them, Mr. Funny Man. So the fraternal organization that's putting it on, they're
called AHEPA.
(16:49 - 16:55)
American Hellenic Education Professional Association. There you go. Let's go with that.
(16:57 - 17:03)
But yeah, they're putting on this fundraiser and they asked us to play. Yeah, well, that's nice.
Yeah, it's a great stage.
(17:03 - 17:07)
It's going to be a good time. Yeah, I've heard about that place. It's kind of a fun place to play.
(17:07 - 17:11)
It's kind of like the Roxy, but it's actually bigger than the Roxy. Oh, yeah. Roxy's small.
(17:12 - 17:16)
Yeah, small. Yeah. Whiting's got one and then Hobart's got a theater.
(17:16 - 17:23)
It's a cool place too. It is. And I didn't even realize this because I'm starting to learn this, but the
Roxy theaters were part of a chain.
(17:24 - 17:31)
There's a Roxy in Ottawa. I mean, there's Roxy's several places. I literally was just at the Roxy
Theater in Ottawa a couple of weeks ago.
(17:31 - 17:37)
It's pretty interesting. And they're trying to turn them all into these little venues, which would
be pretty cool. I mean, they're sitting there empty.
(17:37 - 17:39)
Yeah, they are. They are. Yeah, there's old theaters.
(17:40 - 17:50)
And the one that's redone in Lockport over here, the Roxy, it's beautiful. It looks like a 1920s,
like not a speakeasy because it's classy. Like a 1920s ballroom, which is really nice.
(17:51 - 17:52)
Yeah. A lot of ornate work inside. Right.
(17:52 - 17:57)
Oh, yeah. Right, right. They've even got an old time movie camera.
(17:57 - 17:58)
Yeah. Projector. Cool.
(17:58 - 18:04)
It's really cool. So tell us about the album. I went onto your website and it says it's forthcoming.
(18:04 - 18:08)
Right. Tell us about the album. So yeah, there's eight songs.
(18:09 - 18:23)
You know, some of them are kind of serious and heavy. And I didn't realize it until after we
recorded it and started listening to them. And hey, Carly, what do you want to do with this?
What do you want to do with that? And some of them are lighthearted and kind of fun.
(18:24 - 18:34)
And I remember recording one of the songs and I just kind of broke down in tears. Wow. You
know, just collaborating with people is just so much rewarding.
(18:35 - 18:46)
And then I remember Mike played on one of the songs and it instantly became my new favorite
song because the bass line brought it alive. I was like, holy cow, is this cool or what? Yeah. So
yeah.
(18:46 - 18:53)
So my teacher, my voice teacher appears on it. She backs me up on a couple of songs. Her
name is Leanne.
(18:54 - 19:07)
And yeah, of course, you know, she's great. And the producer, the producer says, OK, you
know, play the tonic, play the third, you know, sing the fifth. I'm like, and she's just like, yeah,
layering it.
(19:07 - 19:13)
And it's like, holy cow. And it's just really amazing. So yeah, so she sings in a couple of songs.
(19:14 - 19:20)
And the engineer, Ben, yeah, a great guy. He plays he's a metalhead. OK.
(19:21 - 19:29)
Like 27 or so years old, you know, hair down there. But he plays. So we play back and forth of
some leads.
(19:29 - 19:39)
They'll train like a Dinky Betts, Dwayne Ullman kind of thing. Right, right. And it just was like,
holy cow, did we just do that? So I did something I wanted to do live and we did it.
(19:39 - 19:43)
And it turned out great. Yeah. So yeah, it was a great experience.
(19:43 - 19:57)
And yeah. So yeah, we want to play a couple songs, you know, for you live here and then maybe
do one later, one of the recorded ones. But yeah, so there's six people that contributed to the
recording of it.
(19:57 - 20:04)
Right. And yeah, there's some harmonica, there's keyboards and lots of songs. And will all six
be performing together? Yes.
(20:05 - 20:08)
The gigs you have. Oh, for the opening opening. Yeah.
(20:08 - 20:15)
Yeah. For that release party. What's the album titled? It's called Find My Way.
(20:15 - 20:20)
Find My Way. OK. So one of the songs I'm singing, it's a blues tune.
(20:20 - 20:37)
I say, I can't find my way is a refrain, but I wanted to make it more positive and find my way.
And as it turned out, you know, we walked into the studio, you know, just as individual
musicians and we came out a band. Nice.
(20:37 - 20:42)
So I think it's kind of poetic. You know, we found I found my way. Yeah.
(20:42 - 20:44)
I found Mike. Yeah. Very cool.
(20:45 - 20:51)
Well, it's poetic than just band dudes. That's true. That's true.
(20:52 - 20:57)
I got to ask, we have to make fun of you for just a second because the band is called the Band
Dudes. The Band Dudes. Yeah.
(20:57 - 21:15)
The Band Dudes. Why? So again, yeah. Once upon a time when I was in this 80s, 90s band, you
know, dude was the hey, dude, that was the word that got, you know, like cool or groovy or I
don't know, that was the word you call each other, dude.
(21:15 - 21:24)
Yeah. So we're brainstorming names and I just say, hey, how about the Band Dudes? And they
latched on to it, but they spelled it all one word, you know, kind of like Band-Aid. Yeah, right.
(21:24 - 21:32)
It was like all one word, Band Dude. And, you know, I kind of bit my lip and said, yeah, okay,
let's do it. Okay.
(21:32 - 21:37)
And so, but now I always wanted it two words. So now it's two words. It's two words.
(21:37 - 21:43)
It's the Band Dudes. But it's D-U-D-Z. Or D-O-O-D-E-S.
(21:43 - 21:48)
Yeah, the Duds. Not the Duds, we're the Dudes. Yeah, that's right.
(21:48 - 21:52)
I'll tell you what, I think now is the perfect time for us to take a quick break. Sure thing. Right.
(21:52 - 21:59)
See if we can get anybody to sponsor us. All right. And then we'll come on back and you guys
will perform something for us.
(21:59 - 22:07)
All righty, we'll be right back. You're listening to the Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast. Hey,
everybody, it's Ray the Roadie.
(22:07 - 22:20)
And this is Hollywood Mike of the Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast. If you've been joining our
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(22:20 - 22:41)
Then again, on Thursdays at 7 p.m., you can hear our most current episode brought to you by
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on Radio Station. That'll bring you to the Road to Rock Radio, a station committed entirely to the
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(22:42 - 22:57)
24-7, all music with its roots in Illinois. Your Sunday nights just got a whole lot bluesier. Get
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(22:58 - 23:14)
Hosted by blues man Kevin Purcell and me, the one and only Road Bill. The Bus Stop Blues is
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thebusstopblues.com, where you can listen on Spotify, iHeart, Apple Podcasts, or any other
major podcast platform.
(23:14 - 23:28)
Up on board The Bus Stop Blues, where the blues never stops rolling. All right, we're back. And
for the first time tonight, we've got Carl and Mike, the band dudes.
(23:29 - 23:33)
Take it away, fellas. If you want to tell us a little bit about them. Yeah, a little song, a little intro.
(23:34 - 23:46)
So this is a song called Million Moments Ago. It's about a New Year's Eve party, and I wanted to
kiss somebody at midnight. The kiss never happened, but I wrote a song like it did happen.
(23:46 - 23:54)
So it's just pretend, right? It's a fantasy. Yeah, so we can do that because we're songwriters. It
goes like this.
(23:54 - 26:30)
One, two, three. Oh, there we go. We adjust everything for the lovers.
(26:31 - 26:34)
We've got that giant ass bass over there. That's right. Bring it down.
(26:34 - 26:46)
Yeah, you know, very. That was that was a little 60s psychedelic kind of actually. It had that it
had that that Bo Brummel's sound, you know? I don't know who's Bo Brummel's.
(26:46 - 26:52)
They weren't around in the 60s. They were around later. Yeah, was it really? 70s, maybe 80s.
(26:52 - 27:02)
I don't know. Every time I hear that name, though, I just think of the Fred Flintstones episode
where he's the Bo Brummel Stones. Listen to him rock, listen to him roll.
(27:02 - 27:08)
Yeah, but it definitely has that sound. It's really good. Yeah.
(27:08 - 27:14)
So you were trying to kiss a girl on New Year's Eve. I think six weeks was too long for you to be
away from there. Yeah, I think so.
(27:17 - 27:21)
You don't know. You don't know. I have a job.
(27:21 - 27:26)
OK. I can buy salmon or something. I have no idea what that has to do with what we're talking
about.
(27:29 - 27:35)
Sometimes that's what happens. Yeah. When did you write that? Was that a recent song? Has
that been around a while? It's been around a while.
(27:36 - 27:43)
It's never been recorded. But I finally got the arrangement down and had it. You know, we
started.
(27:43 - 27:45)
I started. That was one of the songs we started, you know, jamming to. OK.
(27:46 - 27:52)
And so I just, hey, wow, that sounds pretty good. So I fine tuned it and got it studio ready. OK.
(27:52 - 27:57)
And so, yeah, the arrangement. But yeah, it's been a while. Been around a while.
(27:57 - 28:05)
Yeah. What's the first song that you've what's the first song you've ever written? That's a
challenge. It's called Ain't the Same Without You.
(28:06 - 28:12)
And we could do it if you're feeling up for it. Just my punky sassy. This is like a song that you
wrote when you were like 18 years old.
(28:12 - 28:13)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
(28:13 - 28:16)
This is from one of his previous albums. Wow. Yeah.
(28:17 - 28:25)
And you guys play it live. We started to. And it's one of the reasons why somebody started
calling me punky and sassy.
(28:25 - 28:28)
OK. And that's why I embraced it. But I love it.
(28:28 - 28:31)
It's close to my heart. OK. So we're going to do something here.
(28:31 - 28:38)
Because these guys have been doing this for a long time. All right. So let's let's let's take it
through the generation.
(28:39 - 28:42)
Let's take it through the generation. So this is the first song you've ever written. All right.
(28:43 - 28:46)
Let's do that one. Yeah. I want to I want to hear how that sounds.
(28:46 - 28:49)
Let's hear it. And then we're going to find something somewhere in the middle of the road. OK.
(28:49 - 28:57)
And then we're going to find the last thing you wrote. All righty. They didn't expect this.
(28:58 - 29:09)
No, neither did I. We're going to play and we're going to play everything that we we're going to
play the things that we play the best. And I'm like, no, you're not. You're going to play the thing
that you have to go all the way back to when you were 18 years old.
(29:09 - 29:12)
That's right. Yeah. I mean, if you got to step out and get a hit of weed or something like that, I
understand.
(29:13 - 29:15)
No, we're good. OK, here we go. I'm going to hear.
(29:16 - 29:19)
All right. I think I got this. I can I can I can eyeball where this all was before.
(29:20 - 29:22)
Yeah. All right. We're not even going to take a break for this.
(29:22 - 29:30)
We're just going to we're just going we're raw. This is called Ain't the Same Without You. And
again, yeah, somebody told me this was kind of punky and sassy and I embraced it.
(29:31 - 30:35)
I can't wait to hear the punky sassy thing. Ain't the same without you. I got me a two flat.
(30:35 - 30:42)
I got me a hall. It's a great life to live. Who could ask for more? Party with me.
(30:42 - 30:51)
I'm AIDS free. I live one block south, 142nd Street. Mr. Alligator, he surely left me.
(30:51 - 31:02)
He called my life a comedy. Oops, the ringing of the telephone. I'm going to my mom's to have
supper at home.
(31:03 - 31:13)
Ain't the same without you. It ain't the same without you. Ain't the same without you.
(31:14 - 31:25)
It ain't the same without you. Feeling kind of funky, kind of punky and queer. Cursing all the
things I hold dear.
(31:25 - 31:32)
I don't have a full deck. I got a half stack. My two favorite colors are black and black.
(31:33 - 31:39)
It's kind of crazy, two can chew. Love, it's a circle. It's me and you.
(31:40 - 32:01)
Like a circle that never ends. If it breaks, we got to make amends. It ain't the same without you.
(32:03 - 32:10)
Ain't the same without you. It ain't the same without you. Here we go.
(32:11 - 32:24)
Ain't the same without you. It ain't the same without you. Yes, that's what I was hoping that was
going to be.
(32:26 - 32:30)
That's exactly what I was hoping that was going to be. That's right. I don't know.
(32:30 - 32:38)
You might not be the same without her, but it sounds like you're having a whole lot more fun.
We're going to get a whore. We're going to go over to mom's house, eat dinner.
(32:39 - 32:44)
I don't have AIDS. And it sounds to me like that was a real boss you were singing about. Yes,
yes, yes, yes.
(32:44 - 32:51)
That's what's true. That's like autobiographical. Was that? Autobiographical.
(32:55 - 33:01)
Autobiographical, something like that. Yeah. So, OK, so who's the chick? I ain't telling.
(33:04 - 33:09)
There's a there's a restraining order that says I can't talk about it. That's right. No, maybe not,
but there would be.
(33:12 - 33:16)
And who says there is just one, right? Yeah, that's right. That's right. OK, you're gone.
(33:16 - 33:21)
You're out of here. But, you know, hey, I don't have AIDS. Yeah, I'm going to get a hooker.
(33:21 - 33:28)
Yeah, that's right. My mom's making dinner for me. You can stay gone.
(33:28 - 33:33)
But I got to ask my boss for a raise. Yeah, every few months, every few months. That's good.
(33:33 - 33:37)
I like that. See, it's that's that's from the mind of an 18 year old. See, I kind of like it.
(33:37 - 33:41)
Very cool. I kind of like this little trip down memory lane that we're doing right now. Yeah, yeah,
yeah.
(33:43 - 33:50)
What do you want to go? I wish I could tell us a little bit about the girl, but that's OK. We don't
have to. Well, you got if you mute me.
(33:52 - 33:58)
Go ahead. Yeah, OK. All right.
(33:58 - 34:03)
So that was circa what year would that have been? It was in the 80s. OK. Yeah.
(34:04 - 34:11)
Yeah. OK, because they definitely had that feel. Because when you first started up, I started
hearing like art, like an R.E.M. vibe or something like that.
(34:11 - 34:15)
Early R.E.M. And I like the replacements. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Crazy.
(34:15 - 34:16)
OK. All right. So then.
(34:17 - 34:28)
So let's let's jump up to like mid 90s. I've heard that song. Yeah.
(34:30 - 34:34)
I think let's do King's Party. Let's do King's Party. OK.
(34:35 - 34:38)
Let's do King's Party. OK, OK. Kind of more of a heavy song.
(34:38 - 34:43)
It could be three songs, separate songs. OK. Could be about three different topics.
(34:43 - 34:52)
But it's about friends and life and being double crossed. I think this is the first one we did at the
open mic. Yeah.
(34:52 - 34:56)
No, at the open mic. OK. Yeah, I bet you it is.
(34:56 - 36:40)
Here we go. Yeah. Yeah.
(37:05 - 37:39)
Damn right. Damn right. You know the beauty should kill the beast.
(37:41 - 37:56)
And the dancers, they be dancing. You know the music, it's playing loud. I sit where no one can
see me.
(37:57 - 38:14)
I'm obscured by the crowd. Driving in such a state, stopping every no-go gate. Got to hurry,
can't be late, cause I got too much, too much at stake.
(38:19 - 38:26)
There we go. See, I was expecting that. So he went from a two flat to living in a motel.
(38:26 - 38:32)
So you weren't doing that well in that decade. Right, yeah, I was traveling a lot for it. Yeah, yeah.
(38:32 - 38:36)
Traveling a lot for work. So of course, I still had a boss. Yeah, yeah.
(38:36 - 38:47)
Every day I was living. But I guess what I was getting at is, you can see a different maturity level
in the song. And even in style, because that was very Bob Dylan to me.
(38:48 - 38:55)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it had a little Bob Dylan. And there was a part of the song where I found
myself singing, you can't always get what you want in my head.
(38:55 - 39:02)
OK. Thinking that would be a really cool mashup to throw in there. I tell people, think Allman
Brothers, maybe Melissa.
(39:03 - 39:05)
Yeah, yeah. OK, yeah. Yeah, that too, that too.
(39:05 - 39:09)
I can hear that as well. Definitely that climb part. Yeah, that's why I ask this often.
(39:10 - 39:19)
What comes first for you, lyrics or melody? Or both? Sometimes it's the lyrics. Sometimes it's the
chords. Sometimes it's both.
(39:20 - 39:31)
Yeah, I don't have a formula per se. The last couple of things I wrote, I just wrote the lyrics. So I
have some things in a folder.
(39:33 - 39:46)
But I also have three or four songs written and arranged and kind of ready to go when we're
ready. Sometimes I make it up, like the fantasy thing. And sometimes it's real.
(39:46 - 39:51)
It's autobiographical, autobiographical. Autobiographical, thank you. That's what we're going
with it.
(39:51 - 40:00)
Autobiographical, that word too. And yeah, sometimes it just channels. It just happens.
(40:01 - 40:11)
Yeah, no kidding. Wow. So I'll tell you what, before we get to the final song, like the newest
song and all that stuff, tell us a little bit about where people can find you.
(40:12 - 40:23)
Tell us about your website. Tell us about your presence and your social media and stuff so
people know how to get a hold of you. Well, right now, I did want to say that we do have two
singles from the album that have been released.
(40:23 - 40:32)
OK. Just last Monday was our second one. You can find them basically anywhere you can get
music.
(40:32 - 40:35)
You can find them on Spotify. You can find them on YouTube. You can find them on iTunes.
(40:36 - 40:42)
Right. And then there's our website. Yeah, it's thebanddudes, all one word, dot com.
(40:42 - 40:51)
And you can order. We've got shirts that we're having made up. We've got the CDs, pre-orders
for the CDs.
(40:51 - 40:55)
Right. And we've got the order form for the party, too. OK.
(40:55 - 41:02)
All right. And if anybody's looking to book you, what's the easiest way to do it? Who should they
get a hold of? I would say the website. OK.
(41:02 - 41:16)
The website has that information on there. Our names and phone numbers and stuff like that.
Is there an email address associated with the website? The email address is thebanddudes, all
one word, 219.
(41:18 - 41:24)
thebanddudes219 at gmail.com. OK. Excellent. 219, that's the area code where you live, I'm
assuming.
(41:25 - 41:28)
Yeah, that's Indiana. Indiana, Indiana. Yeah.
(41:28 - 41:35)
Somebody already had the band dudes. I don't know who could have the band dudes. It's
probably somebody in Australia or something.
(41:35 - 41:39)
There we go. Something like that. Or somebody just bought it thinking somebody's going to
want to buy this.
(41:40 - 41:49)
Yeah, that happens. 219, yeah, it's the region. So I'm from the south side of Chicago and the
region is northwest Indiana.
(41:49 - 41:58)
And so if we do a encore that night, I'm going to mention I love the south side. I love the
region. Right.
(41:59 - 42:03)
So anyway, yeah, I love the region. It's great. Yeah, excellent.
(42:03 - 42:11)
Excellent. So now we're going from that last song, which was probably from like the 90s or
something like that, you said? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
(42:11 - 42:21)
Any, any, any secret tragedies we didn't need to throw them out before you go to the next one?
He's going to give it a surprise. It's all a surprise. This next one, we're going to, let's do Beat
Cafe.
(42:22 - 42:30)
Okay. Beat Cafe is kind of a light, lighthearted tune in the studio. Mike, you know, for
vegetarians as well.
(42:30 - 42:38)
Vegetarians. It has a, it's a great baseline to Beat Cafe. And I actually played in a band for a
while called Beat Cafe.
(42:39 - 42:46)
It was kind of a side project from a church band. But so we had three girls singers and they
were hot. They're really good.
(42:46 - 42:49)
They were some great singers. That always works. Yeah.
(42:50 - 42:57)
But now we do some name dropping in this song, but it's a fun one. This, they're only like on
their third or fourth date. Okay.
(42:57 - 43:01)
In the song. And so it's kind of lighthearted. All right.
(43:01 - 43:04)
But it's called Beat Cafe. Beat Cafe. And it goes like this.
(43:33 - 44:11)
I know, I know, you know, you know, you want me. There's just some guy to see. Where that
sequined dress.
(44:20 - 45:10)
That restaurant by the lake. And what do you say? The band needs to play at the Beat Cafe. Real
tight.
(45:12 - 45:21)
Way out of sight. And we come down from the cloud. We walk away from the crowd.
(45:22 - 46:02)
Come on, baby, what do you say? Two for one at the Beat Cafe. I know, I know, you know, you
know, you want me. That's the secret.
(46:04 - 46:32)
Tell me now. I can't believe it. That's the band dudes, everybody.
(46:32 - 46:36)
That's the band dudes. I like that. I like that one.
(46:36 - 46:38)
Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you.
(46:38 - 46:40)
Yeah. Pretty cool. Pretty cool.
(46:40 - 46:48)
So when is this? When is this engagement that you have at the Whiting Theater? That's
December 6th. December 6th. It's the Saturday.
(46:48 - 46:54)
Okay. And nothing between now and then? Oh, we have the release party. The release party is
October 10th.
(46:54 - 47:01)
Okay. Where's that taking place? It's in Crete at the Evil Horse Ale House. Evil Horse Ale House.
(47:01 - 47:02)
That's a pretty cool place. Yeah. Yeah.
(47:03 - 47:08)
Since they have this back room that used to be the brew room, but they don't brew anymore.
Yeah. So.
(47:09 - 47:11)
Oh, really? Yeah, they have. So it's the not brew room. Yeah.
(47:11 - 47:15)
So with the gym, it's the gym room. Somebody else brew for them? Yes. Oh, okay.
(47:15 - 47:18)
They outsource the formulas. They still have the formulas. Oh, so they're lazy now.
(47:20 - 47:24)
I can't say that live on the radio. Yeah, yeah. It's not, it's recorded.
(47:24 - 47:26)
Yeah. No, they're great people. They're great people.
(47:27 - 47:37)
And yeah, it's at 630 and you can get tickets on the website. Okay. And we're going to have
pizza and we're going to have beer, a beer ticket.
(47:37 - 47:38)
Just one beer ticket. Right. Right.
(47:38 - 47:43)
But we're going to serve pizza as well. Is it on your website or their website? It's on our website.
It's on your website.
(47:44 - 47:45)
Okay. The band dude's website. Okay.
(47:45 - 47:47)
Excellent. The band dude's website. Very cool.
(47:47 - 47:49)
It's going to be a great time. Yeah. Yeah.
(47:49 - 47:53)
So all you people out that way, go get a ticket. Yes. Go check them out.
(47:53 - 47:55)
Alrighty guys. Thanks for coming in. This was a lot of fun.
(47:56 - 47:57)
Cool. Yeah. Appreciate it.
(47:57 - 48:02)
Mike, thank you. Thank you guys. The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin.
(48:02 - 48:11)
Theme song courtesy of MNR Rush. The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast does not own the rights
to any of the music heard on the show. The music is used to promote the guests that are
featured.