Stealing Handshakes

Episode 2: Stealing Handshakes – The Story Behind the Music

In Episode 2 of Between Beats and Life, we sit down with the members of Stealing Handshakes for an honest conversation about the journey behind the band.

From how they got their start to the challenges of balancing music with everyday life, this episode dives into the passion, perseverance, and friendships that keep them creating. We talk about songwriting, performing, influences, memorable moments, and what it really means to chase a dream while staying true to yourself.

Whether you're a longtime fan of the band or discovering them for the first time, you'll get to know the people behind the music—not just the musicians.

A huge thank you to Stealing Handshakes for taking the time to share their stories with us.

🎶 Be sure to check out Stealing Handshakes on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, and show them some love by following their music and sharing it with your friends.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who loves discovering new music and hearing authentic conversations.

Conquer the day! You should be asleep for one-third of it anyway, so it's only 16 hours.

#BetweenBeatsAndLife #StealingHandshakes #Podcast #ArtistSpotlight #SupportIndependentMusic

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome back to Between Beats and Life. I'm Angie. And before anyone asks where Noah is, or David Noah, he's currently out swinging chicken at Chick-fil-A. So today you've got just me holding down the fort until he clocks out. Whether you're here for the music, the stories, or just a good conversation, we're glad you're here. Let's jump into today's episode. Before we get into today's episode, we'd like to thank our sponsor, Locker Room Haircuts, located at 3350 Olson Boulevard in Amarillo. Whether you're looking for a fresh fade, a classic cut, or just want to relax with a hot towel and a massaging shampoo, the team at Locker Room Haircuts has you covered. Thank you to Locker Room Haircuts for supporting local creators, local artists, and our podcast. We truly appreciate your support in helping make this episode possible. Now let's get between Beats and Life.

SPEAKER_06 1:03

This is Between Beats and Life. I'm David.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Angie.

SPEAKER_06 1:07

And who are we here with today?

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Stealing Handshakes.

SPEAKER_06 1:10

Alrighty. That's awesome. Okay. So introduce yourselves and tell us who does what in the band.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Uh I'm Nolan. I do uh the vocals and rhythm guitar.

SPEAKER_09 1:24

I'm Jared and I do elite guitar.

SPEAKER_05 1:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_08 1:28

I am Ryan.

SPEAKER_05 1:29

I am the bassist.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:31

I'm Daniel, I'm the drummer, and I do backup vocals.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

Okay. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

And how does stealing handshakes get its name?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

So we're we're we're asked this question quite a bit. Uh just because it's kind of like a nonsensical name. But back in uh probably what, eight years ago, nine years ago, Minor Rhines. Yeah. Minor Rhymes first band. Um every time like we'd finish practice up, we'd go to shake each other's hands, like, oh yeah, good job, good, good, good practice, you know, see you guys next time. And after a while, we started like going in and stealing each other's handshakes because it was just it was childish. We thought it was hilarious. So we got our name from just I don't know, just a stupid joke, basically.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Sometimes that's the best kind of name. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 2:18

Exactly. Something that comes naturally. Yeah. So how did you guys first like get together?

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Um, we were doing a reunion show for that our Mind and Ryan's previous band, um, City Will Shake, and Daniel was in a different band, and we had played the show together. And after after that, um Daniel's then lead player reached out to us and just asked if we wanted to jam. And so we started playing music and became a band. Uh, since then, that lead player has uh parted ways with us, but we've got Jared this last this last year. So yeah. Alright.

SPEAKER_08 2:55

Yeah, I think they both hit us up separately, and uh they asked if me and Nolan wanted to join. I was like, Oh, I'm down to join only if Nolan's down.

SPEAKER_06 3:05

Package deal. Alright.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

What inspired each of you to start making music?

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Oh start with Daniel.

SPEAKER_05 3:18

Uh so with me, it was kind of my my brothers. Well, my family in general. They always had music playing constantly. Uh, but my two older brothers had started like their own projects, and so there was instruments in the house, and I eventually around middle school was like, well, I'm gonna pick up on this just to kind of have something to do. And around high school, I kind of just dove into it, started learning songs, studying songs, and that was kind of it for me.

SPEAKER_08 3:50

Uh, with me, it's been kind of my parents, I guess. Um I remember as a kid, my parents would always have a whole bunch of friends over, and they'd stay up all night, and I'd always be in the living room just watching them hang out, and they would be jamming to Metallica, Molly Crew, all that stuff, all the hair metal bands back in the day. And I don't know, I just fell in love with just everybody just being together and listening to music all night. And ever since then I just wanted to play music, I guess.

SPEAKER_09 4:18

Uh I was in a guitar class in high school, and I was actually terrible at the class. So then um I went home and just practiced guitar, and then I realized I like playing guitar, like electric guitar, and that's what I had at home. Uh, the class was uh a classical guitar, so yeah, I just really enjoyed the electric guitar, but I hated going to the class. So I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

My answer is similar to Ryan's. Just growing up, my family is always big on music, they always always had music playing, had a big stereo in the living room. That anytime after school they had something going on, whether it was a radio or something. I don't know. My dad got me into rock. Um at the at that time it was like grunge. So anything, even though I'm not a big fan of them now, Nirvana, uh, Pearl Jam, shoot anything, Chris Cornell. My mom would go around the house singing all the time. It was country, which didn't didn't rub off on me, but still singing is what where what got me her singing got me into singing and made me convince me that uh that's what I wanted to do. Um yeah, that's that's basically it. I don't blame you. Now 90s country, I can I'm okay with 90s country. I can live with it, but anything new. No, it's it's not for me.

SPEAKER_06 5:43

Um who were your biggest musical influences growing up? I know a lot of you said like your parents and stuff, but is there anybody else that you wanted to mention?

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Uh biggest for me growing up was probably just Chris Cornell. Being able to play and sing. How he sang and what he wrote is just still isn't matched today.

SPEAKER_09 6:06

So uh very cliche, uh just like everyone else, but Kirk Hammett from Metallica, he's definitely my the one that inspired me to get started. So I gotcha.

SPEAKER_08 6:19

I also must say the same thing as Jared. Metallica is one of my favorite bands growing up, and I just jammed them all the time. They were like the big thing back then when I was a kid, so I just wanted to be like them, I guess.

SPEAKER_05 6:34

Uh for me, drum-wise, I guess it was uh the Rev from Avenge Sevenfold, uh Joey Jordison from Slipknot, Dave Grohl, Nirvana, uh, Foo Fighters, uh John Bonham, Led Zeppelin, the guy was a monster. Uh definitely. Yeah, I have a lot of inspiration when it comes to drones.

SPEAKER_06 6:57

Hey, that's good. It's good to be inspired. Everybody needs inspiration.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard Foo before?

SPEAKER_08 7:11

I don't know. Here here recently we've been getting a lot of like rise against like comparisons, and we kind of think about like Foo Fighters, and um we're kind of toying around with some heavier stuff just just because we all like that type of influence, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

And uh I don't know what else. We just recently had a magazine say that we are panhandle rock. So that's that's that's what I like to tell people that we're just we're panhandled rock. So yeah, exactly what Ryan said. Plus panhandle rock.

SPEAKER_06 7:48

So what makes stealing handshakes different from other bands?

SPEAKER_00 7:56

I don't know. I I I think our I mean, I'm sure everyone's gonna say this, but our work ethic that that might sound cheesy, but we we take it very seriously where we have scheduled practices every week. Um and even even if like we're having a rough week, unless something's going on with family or work or something, we we're always there, we're playing music, trying to write. Um yeah, I'd say the biggest thing would probably be our work ethic, but our sound too. Um we we've taken like an old genre and made it modern again, an old sound made modern again. Um, but without sounding like I don't know, uh Greta Van Fleet without making it's not like we're just a carbon copy of something. So we've kind of pulled from the past and made it our own, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_06 8:52

Yeah, I think it's I think it's okay to be able to hear the influence in the music so long as it's not the same thing. Yeah. I like it.

SPEAKER_09 9:01

I like that you said work out there, because that's like 85% of it. I think it is.

SPEAKER_06 9:05

It's a lot of hard work.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

What's your songwriting process like?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Depends on the song, honestly. Sometimes Daniel will just start playing something on drums, and then Ryan will write a bass line to it. Then I'll figure a guitar part out, or Jared will bring a riff to the band, and we'll go off of that. It really just depends on on the day, honestly. So it's uh I will say the last thing that's written are the melodies, then the lyrics. But we typically just whoever comes up with something cool, we kind of feed off of each other on that.

SPEAKER_08 9:42

I think uh majority of it's been us just messing around or practice, like in a little free time that we get.

SPEAKER_07 9:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 9:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 9:50

I mean, that's good. I said it earlier. When stuff comes naturally, that's it's always the best. Yeah. And then oh, y'all just answered this one. It was did the lyrics or the music usually come first?

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Yeah, defin definitely the music. Definitely the music.

SPEAKER_06 10:07

That's that's what I figured it was gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Yeah. And then I'll figure the melody out and decide what fits there emotionally and write the words last. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_06 10:18

That makes sense. And then which song that y'all have made together are you most proud of and why?

SPEAKER_00 10:29

This is a hard question. It it it's tough. Um we have a brand new one that right now, I mean it it might just be recency bias, but we have a brand new one that I'd like to say I speak for everybody that's our favorite one to play, and it's a little bit heavier, um, called Cold Heart Canyon. But I think it out of what we have released, for me personally, it's probably chloroform, because it's just all the all the parts come together and all the motion that's that's in the song.

SPEAKER_09 11:01

Yeah, I think uh Cold Heart Canyon was like the first one that I actually got to write something on their songs, and uh everything else was you know basically the previous guitarist that I just kind of learned. But yeah, Cold Heart Canyon definitely I think is my favorite to play. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_08 11:17

Uh I think for me I do love ellipse just because I feel like it has a lot of catchy guitar parts and the lyrics are super catchy. But I would say for me, I think ellipse just also the first time I heard that song for me is just super catchy. The guitar part just kind of sticks with you like throughout the whole song. You hear that and you automatically know it's ellipse's. It's like one of those songs that it's very catchy in that way, I guess. And I don't know, just we usually play at the very end of our sets most of our time. Most of the times we play, and it's usually we see fans out there singing it, and that's always a great time.

SPEAKER_05 11:53

Uh I would say cold heart canning as well. Uh I actually get to do decent amount of screams on it. But uh aside from that one, I think for me it's it'd be maybe it's alright. It has a very granted um you know, drum bias, but it has a you know, it opens with drums, like a kind of a drum solo-ish. So it's also just very catchy as well. Uh especially the chorus.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Yeah. I put some songs on my Spotify for me guys, and I just reach out the red and it comes like, oh my god. And then I'm like, what is that? And then I'll have to look at it. I'm like, oh, that's good. Oh, it's my turn.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

My bad. What's the funniest thing that's happened during a rehearsal or show?

SPEAKER_08 12:48

For me, I I mean, or not for me, but we were writing a song. It was like early, early in the band, and it was with our first lead guitarist. Uh we were writing a song, it's brand new, and like at the very beginning of it, our old league guitarist is like, uh, just kind of poop my pants. Well, he left or whatever. By the time he got back, we pretty much had the song laid out and written or whatever. He just needed out his parts, and we end up calling the song The Accident. Which is completely about something different, but wow.

SPEAKER_04 13:28

You ever told that story? We usually don't tell that story. That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Uh wow. How I can't probably tell mine. I probably's window gather too. Window Gather. Window Gather, yeah, that's just a weird one. We have we have some that are that's not like terrible, but it's just that are crass, I guess, but still some funny, funny moments. Um, I can't think of any that would be appropriate for uh for an all ages podcast. No, I can't think of any that would be appropriate. Window guy? Yeah, so we we have a tendency to name our songs after something that's happening at that moment, and they're usually placeholder names that end up sticking with it. Like for some songs, we just never change the change the name of it. We were writing a kind of I guess classic rock sounding song, and we used to practice uh on a house on the main street in Pampa, and it had no ACs, we would just run fans all the time and uh have the window open, uh which I was why one of our song's name is Fans On. Yeah, it's just a dumb name. But uh we were writing a song, I think we just finished it, and we're all playing mid-song, and we look over and we see this just homeless man poking his head in the window and bobbing to it, yeah, and like giving us thumbs up, and he walks off. So we then go over there and after the song close the window, so that song became Window Guy.

SPEAKER_07 15:03

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

It's your turn, but I'll go again. Have you ever had a performance that went completely off the rails?

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Oh I don't know about off the rails. We've had our fair share of performances that for one thing or another, one of us is not happy about. Just like our performance or issues on on stage, just something, but I mean for the most part, we're all pretty happy go lucky, and whatever happens, happens. We we've had a set that we drove 11 hours, 10 hours for, and got to play seven minutes. So and and it was just a circumstance that was unavoidable. Um, we're not upset about we're upset about the situation, or at that point we were, but not with anybody in particular. It just kind of sucked to drive that far to only play two, three, three songs, I think is what we did. Yeah, that was in Austin. Yeah, we lost it. But it but it was alright. It ended up being a good trip and and made new friends there. And I think that's where we met. Was it after we met Post Profit? Is it after we recorded Ellipsies? Uh before. That may have been where we met the guys that recorded us. So it was serendipitous that we were supposed to go there, regardless of what we played. That's who recorded our whole EP. We met him there.

SPEAKER_06 16:27

So that's awesome. And then what's the biggest challenge that you've faced as a band?

SPEAKER_00 16:39

I want to say lead guitar players. That sounds awful. We have the best one right now. Like, although we we we do all of our lead players are previously players. Um, you know, they're they're a special place in our hearts, of course. Um, but they just went off and did other things. But that's been, in my opinion, our biggest struggle is keeping a a lead guitar player.

SPEAKER_07 17:00

This is our fourth, basically. We had one that was left and then came back.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

On again, off again, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 17:08

One joined the army, which is a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Yeah, very, very commendable he joined the army for his family and stuff. But yeah, I think just keeping a consistent lead player, yeah. For for all of last year, we had a until what September, I think is when when we uh yeah, September or maybe October. Okay. Um we had uh a local guy here in town fill in for the whole year, and the whole time we're like, hey man, you gotta spawn the band if you want it. And it ended up we're we're happy that he played with us, but we're happy that he didn't accept it because we ended up getting Jared, basically.

SPEAKER_06 17:44

So gotcha. That's awesome. I mean, like, not the struggle of it, but that the fact that that is y'all's biggest issue. Yeah, I mean, that's something to be proud of. It could be a lot worse.

SPEAKER_07 17:55

Yeah, yeah, for sure. We could hate each other.

SPEAKER_08 17:58

We toyed around quite a bit with being a three-piece, and we actually wrote Chlorform, I believe it was. Started out as a three-piece, and then we wrote two of our songs on our EP as a three-piece starting out, and we just always have that lead. Like the lead's a real big part of a band, I think. And you can definitely hear it in a lot of the like the songs. It's like super catchy, and we like a very lead-driven song, I guess. I don't know. Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

What's the best advice you've received from another musician?

SPEAKER_00 18:33

What's the best advice you've received from us? Uh that is a tough one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 18:47

Uh yeah. Uh well, so me and Nolan were in another band that I was telling you about. That old band was called City Will Shake, and uh he was Nolan Nolan and him kind of split the singing duties, and he would play rhythm, and Nolan would play lead. Well, uh, he had been part of a lot of bands in like the Dallas area, and he had a pretty big name in the Dallas area, and he kind of moved to our area in Pampa, and he knew nobody, and he just randomly found me and Nolan luckily. And so he'd been around a lot of people, and I think the biggest thing we learned from him is being professional, and uh it's definitely helped out. Like every time we have a show, we show up early. Um, we're never late or anything like that. So we try to be as professional as possible. And kind of rubs off. We all we always get people that come up to us and it's like, hey, we loved working with y'all, we want to work with y'all again. And uh they're probably one of the most professional bands we work with, and that's what we strive to be, and we want people to like us like outside of playing on the stage as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Yeah, have a good one. Be nice and respectful to your sound guy. That a lot of bands are uh I like I've seen firsthand them be just really lack of a better word, shitty to sound people. Um or just don't like don't treat them with the respect that they should. Uh and not every sound guy is the same, and they're not the skill set's not always the same, but they could mess your sound up and make you sound awful for people that have never heard you before. Um, so I don't know, just always be respectful to your sound guy. They're they they're working hard and it's not easy for them. So I don't know. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Like, oh yeah, this is your favorite song, vocals.

SPEAKER_06 20:36

Yeah. Alright. And then what's something that fans would be surprised to learn about y'all?

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Hmm. I started off on bass. Not not in the in in this band or anything, but that was the first instrument I picked up. The first song I learned on guitar. That'd be something surprising for some people. Uh Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie. Was the first song I learned how to play on guitar. That song is good. So that's something tough question.

SPEAKER_07 21:12

Um I'm gonna have to come back to you.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

I don't say anything on that.

SPEAKER_08 21:20

Uh no, I don't know. Uh the first band as well. I actually started out a guitar and no one was bass, and turned out no one was a way better guitarist than I was. So we ended up making the switch. I'd never played bass, and Nolan let me borrow his bass for a while, and I ended up loving the bass, and now I'm glad I'm a bassist. So something that some people don't know.

SPEAKER_05 21:45

I don't know if I have anything. I kinda kinda try to keep everything like towards the front. I try not to keep anything to myself. So I don't know if I have anything for this answer. That's okay. That's okay.

SPEAKER_09 21:57

I think my answer is probably just the thing the Same thing about the um the classical guitar class that I had to do in high school. That was my first experience and I hated it. Now now I love guitar. That's sometimes that's how it happens.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

How has your local music scene helped shape your journey?

SPEAKER_00 22:24

So I will definitely I'm not gonna alienate any area. I'm just gonna say the panhandle in general, like Pampa, um uh Borger recently, and an Amarillo. I I I'll consider all of that together. Um it's it it's been really welcoming, uh, especially when we were first starting out. I know in our our previous band, me and Ryan um we struggled to get into the Amarillo scene. People didn't show the Pampa band any Pampa bands any respect, and we I think we kind of broke that barrier down after probably a year or so of trying. They finally started giving us respect and had us out to Amarillo. This is a whole different scene eight, ten years ago. Um and I that may have attributed to us being able to get into the Amarillo scene so easily this time because of all the contacts and stuff that we had, but I don't know, it it's it's definitely helped us grow. Uh helped us make contacts and make friends and and other bands and at venues, things like that. Um I don't know. I don't know if that's a good answer or not, but I think just the area's been very supportive and very open to local music.

SPEAKER_06 23:33

That's a great answer. Um what advice would y'all give to new artists trying to get into the scene right now?

SPEAKER_08 23:46

Kind of goes back to the last question or answer that Nolan gave is just going out and checking out other bands and supporting those other bands. And I know all of us have done that. We'd go we'd drive to Amarillo on the weekends and we're from Pampa or whatever, and we'd make it a make it a trip to go to Amarello and catch these other local bands and shake hands with them and just try to show support for everybody. And that's like one of the biggest things you can do is go to support them, they're gonna remember you and like hey, you saw you at our last couple shows, you'll want to play a show with us, and just being supportive of everybody, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

I've got something this might this might be taken negatively, it could be taken negatively. Um I'd say don't release a song that you're not proud of. Don't if it's if you feel like it's not ready, whether it be the recording quality or the writing or something, don't release it. Wait until you're done with it, wait until you're happy with it to put it out. Because that one person that says, Oh, yeah, I mean, that it's alright, you're gonna then be beating yourself up, like, oh man, I could have I could have done this differently, could have done that better. I really should have waited. Like, just wait until you feel like it's ready. Um or even if you don't know if if it's ready, get someone else's opinion and just just don't put anything out too early. Um wait until it's your heart tells you it's complete. I don't know if that makes any sense.

SPEAKER_06 25:09

No, I got it too. It should be like like you're what you're releasing should always be what you're most proud of. It should you should be one up in yourself over and over again.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_06 25:20

If you take a step back, you're just gonna feel bad about it. Yeah, and it's it's just not worth the trouble. I get that.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

Yeah, one percent better.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Um are there any local artists or bands people should be paying attention to? Besides you guys.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

Um Clemens Bridge, they're they're a band that we just recently kind of started rubbing elbows with. They got their name out of Borger, but they're from Canyon. They're like an indie, indie rock band, they're really cool. Uh Bar Down. Oh, we love Bar Down's so freaking cool. They're like uh they're gonna hate me for saying this. They don't like this this comp. But from an outside perspective, they're very it's like shoe gaze meets nirvana, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_07 26:10

Very grungy. Yeah, they're like super young kids, they're like 22, maybe 23 now.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_07 26:17

Somewhere on there.

unknown 26:18

Oh, they're really good.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Um Stray Sons. Stray Sons, yeah, yeah. Brad Sanders, he's out of near Borger, uh, Fritch, I think. They're like uh they self-proclaimed Shred dirt. And and that's a great name for them. It's like it's our genre for them. Country, but with with good heavy solos. Um shoot 11 out of Dallas. There's there's a lot we could say, a lot of unknown artists.

SPEAKER_06 26:44

I think that's good that y'all are y'all are really in it. I think you know all these all these people. And that's good. That's it just means that y'all are really like out there. Yeah. Talking to people, meeting all kinds of different people. And that's that's good. You know. So what do y'all do when you're not like recording or practicing or playing shows? Like, what do you do in your daily life?

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Well, the three of us work uh long exchange shops. I don't know your hours, so I I can't speak for the hours that you work. But uh, same problem. Okay, well, all four of us work work long hours, I'd say. Um I'll I'll hand it down, of course, but uh besides playing music and working, um I like to play video games as lame as that is. I play a lot of Halo. Halo's my my go-to, um, but just a little bit of everything, honestly.

SPEAKER_09 27:40

Uh for me, other than working, um probably just recording bands. I like to record and produce bands. So that's not just bands, you know, just all types of music.

SPEAKER_04 27:49

So yeah. I got you.

SPEAKER_08 27:52

Uh kind of with Nolan too. Like I wake up at like 3 in the morning for work and I get home at like 5.30. And uh the time I get home, they're kind of like waiting on me for band practice a lot of the times. Uh but doing that, and then on my side stuff, I like to play golf a lot. I just recently got into golf last year, and I'm that's literally the worst thing I've ever been at in anything. Like, I'm usually decent at a lot of stuff, but golf is crazy. And then, like I said, playing video games, play a lot of Halo and Madden and stuff like that in my free time. And that's about it. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 28:26

I don't really do a lot in my free time other than practice. I I do a lot of practice, like drum-wise or even guitar bass. Uh I don't really work on my vocals because I just I'm not that good at it to begin with. Uh but that's that's all I do. I just constantly practice, constantly trying to get better. That's okay. I game here and there sometimes. But yeah, that's about it. Just practice.

SPEAKER_06 28:52

Yeah, always practicing. Nothing wrong with practice. Nothing at all.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

What's a hobby or interest that has nothing to do with music?

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Golf for me. Good old disc golf. Or frolf if you're uh into Seinfeld.

SPEAKER_09 29:14

It's a tough one. Um, I think I I like just a lot of different things, but uh, I guess recently uh working on my car is just fun sometimes, you know. Plus, you know, it it's also stressful, but it can't be.

SPEAKER_05 29:30

So is uh what was the question again?

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Um what's a hobby or interest that has nothing to do with music?

SPEAKER_05 29:38

Uh dude, I like to cook. Like grilling, all that stuff, dude. I I'm about it. I'm about it. I need to buy a smoker so I can just start dedicating to that, but that's all I do. It's just you're better than me. Cooking's sick.

SPEAKER_06 29:57

I'd watch that sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_05 30:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 30:03

Alright, and then if y'all could have dinner with any musician living or dead, who would it be?

SPEAKER_00 30:12

If you could have dinner with any musician, living or dead, who would it be? Um probably the band Emory. They they've been like my favorite band since I heard them in high school. Uh they're not a but not necessarily a huge band, but they're like emo. They consider themselves elder emos now, but they're still touring, still writing great music. Uh met him a few times. But yeah, probably just sit down with with Emory, I guess.

SPEAKER_09 30:39

Once again, Metallica. I don't care what everyone says, but I love Metallica.

SPEAKER_07 30:44

Which iteration of Metallica.

SPEAKER_09 30:46

Oh, that's yeah, I guess the very first first Metallica.

SPEAKER_08 30:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 30:51

But they're all cool.

SPEAKER_08 30:54

Say right now, my favorite band's been this kind of indie band called City and Color. I just jam them non-stop. I would love to get a sit down and meet with him and see him one-on-one just singing to me or something. His his voice is so amazing. I just want to see them so bad.

SPEAKER_07 31:11

Making eye contact.

SPEAKER_05 31:14

Uh for me to be Foo Fighters. I think I'd like to sit down and have a couple beers with Dave Grohl. He just seems like a you know great drinking buddy. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Um so it's gonna be similar to my last answer. Back in 2012, I think. Um it's when I started making real money, got a a pretty good job and that started um uh the previous band City Will Shake with Ryan. And I saw that Emery was on tour, and I looked through all the dates and like, oh, this is all all East Coast. Ah crap, whatever. I'll just I have family in New York. I'm just gonna buy a ticket to the show and I'm gonna buy a plane ticket, and I'll stay with family. So um I was talking to our other singer at the time, and he's like, When is this? I'm like, Oh, it's in like three weeks. How much are tickets? Uh so he ended up buying a ticket as well. So we didn't really know each other all that well. We had just started the band. We went to New York, stayed with some family of mine that I had never met, went and saw Emery and a bunch of other bands that were great. This Wild Life was there, yeah. Peace Mercutio. Um uh Classic Crime was there. It was like really heavy hitters from that genre. Um then that was probably the best concert. And on my way out, I grabbed the poster for the concert on, ripped it off the wall, and brought it to the keyboard player for Emery, and he had everyone in the band sign it. So I've got it like stuffed away in a closet right now, waiting for it to get framed. But yeah, that's probably my favorite favorite concert I've been to.

SPEAKER_09 32:57

Alice Cooper. He's he definitely puts on a show for uh especially how old he is. He's that was awesome. I love his show.

SPEAKER_08 33:05

Uh so I have two. One would be Metallica. I finally got to see them in like I think it's 2018 or 17. Dad came to Lubbock, and they were literally the only band on the bill. They had a comedian open up for him, which is weird, which is kind of crazy. But it was awesome. I was like up front by the stage like the whole time, so that was freaking cool. My second one was actually with mine and Nolan's old band was City Will Shake. We gotta open up for this band called Texas Hippie Coalition and Shaman's Harvest. And at the time, my dad's favorite band was Texas Hippie Coalition. And like anytime I ever go to his truck, that's literally all he had played for like three years straight was them. Like he had them in their CD player the whole time. And usually, like right after we get done playing, we go straight to the merch booth and handle all that and sign stuff or whatever, sell some merch and everything. Like that show, I just was hanging out with my dad the whole time, and me and him got pretty drunk that day. Just watching Texas Hippie like right after we just got done playing, so that was like really, really cool for me.

SPEAKER_05 34:07

Uh so mine's gonna be similar to Nolan's. I actually got to see uh Emery last year, and they put on such a great show, such a great show. It was them, classic crime, uh who's the other band? You saw the same show the next week, good terms, and uh can't remember the other band. Clearly it didn't impress me because I don't remember the name. No, uh, but yeah, no, they put on a sick show, especially with the drummer. Oh dude, the drummer's insane, insane. But yeah, I think that's probably my my favorite show so far.

SPEAKER_00 34:45

I got a question. How was how was the comedian?

SPEAKER_08 34:48

Oh, he was really good. Uh what was that movie? It's Half Fake. You ever watched Half Fake with Dave Chappelle? It was one of the guys that uh the real goofy guy, I can't remember his name, but he was a comedian. He was he was so good. Like it was all kind of like music-based comedy and stuff. He talked a lot about Ozzy and all he was pretty hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

Okay, I I was hoping you'd say it was Carrot Top. Oh, yeah. That would have been great.

SPEAKER_06 35:12

Oh wow. Alright. And then y'all all kind of answered this, but favorite band of all time. Favorite band, yeah, for me, it'd be Emery for sure.

SPEAKER_09 35:22

Uh Metallica or Vengeance Sevenfold.

SPEAKER_04 35:25

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_08 35:27

Yeah, let's go uh Metallica or Arnalic City and Color. I just love them.

SPEAKER_05 35:35

Uh yeah, right now probably Emery. Emery's up there for me for sure.

SPEAKER_06 35:40

It's good. And then do y'all prefer coffee or energy drinks? Or something else.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

Situational. Situational. If it's I'm getting up in the morning and I'm gonna go sit on my porch, coffee. Um if we're getting up and we're it's like six in the morning and we're having a drive to Dallas, we have a long drive and then a show that night, probably an energy drink. So coffee is more of a comfort thing. Energy drinks are more convenience.

SPEAKER_09 36:09

Definitely. Mine's coffee uh all the time.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

So okay.

SPEAKER_08 36:15

Yeah, it's like in the mornings, like I say, I wake up at three in the morning for work every day, and uh, I just slay my energy drink on the way to work every time every day, pretty much, which is kind of probably a bad thing. But uh I do love coffee kind of like 7 or 8 p.m. for whatever reason. That's like the best coffee for me. House dinner? Yeah, coffee.

SPEAKER_07 36:35

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 36:36

Uh mine's definitely kind of the same as Nolan's, just kind of depends on the situation. Uh although I don't really drink coffee that much. I will say kind of lean more towards the energy drinks. Again, for convenience, but yeah, I'd say that's situational as well.

SPEAKER_06 36:52

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Early morning or late night.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

Early morning or late night.

SPEAKER_09 37:00

I guess it depends on the day, but uh I think normally early morning.

unknown 37:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 37:08

Uh I love being up late. Like I wake up at 3 every day and it's a struggle because I stay up till like 11 o'clock every day. And I don't know, like I know I'm gonna feel terrible the next day. I just like being up late for some reason. Definitely late night. I I hate waking up early in the morning.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

I'm the same way. Uh late night for sure. Um, we have to get up early early for work, me and Daniel. We work at the same place. Uh and I always stay up later than I should because I feel like I'm taking back some of my freedom. And I always regret it the next day. So, you know.

SPEAKER_09 37:43

I always struggle with the shows too because I go really late and I like to get up early. So like this is my bedtime. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 37:50

7 a.m., right?

SPEAKER_06 37:53

I get that. Alright. Vinyl CD or streaming?

SPEAKER_00 37:58

It's tough. That's tough. Streaming's super convenient. Everyone can get it immediately. The second something's out, they have it. At midnight, you release a song, all of your friends, family, fans, everyone can hear it right then. I still like physical. Vinyl's really cool. I feel, in my opinion, I think vinyl's super fragile. CDs are as well, don't get me wrong there, but vinyl's super fragile. It's warm, but I I I I guess CDs for me. CDs would be number one, but it's hard to beat the convenience of streaming.

SPEAKER_09 38:30

I think uh vinyls for me. My my wife has a really cool record collection, so I really like vinyls.

SPEAKER_08 38:37

Yeah, I'm kind of with Nolan. Like I was all about CDs. It's kind of crazy. I was training this one guy not too long, or it's been a little bit ago, but I had like a little case full of CDs in there. This kid was like 18 years old or whatever, and he's like, I've never seen freaking CDs. I was like, what do you mean? It would just that made me feel old, I guess.

SPEAKER_05 39:00

Uh yeah, I'd have to say CDs as well. Although streaming, you know, it's it's the best at the moment. Yeah. Because it's just like you said, it's just it's very convenient. You gotta just write at the palm of your hands. Uh I don't have enough vinyl to say that I really dig on vinyl too much, but uh I do have a lot of eight-tracks and stuff like that. So 8-track's pretty nice.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

I have uh in addition to my answer, uh so CDs, obviously. Ryan, you're saying that you had like a book that you had on CDs in. So when I was probably 19, 20 years old, I didn't like those. I liked having like the actual like plastic, like the whole CD with you at all times. So I unlawfully acquired a handbasket from Albertson's that housed all of my CDs. And if someone wasn't in the car, that handbasket full of CDs was in the passenger seat. Otherwise, it was the back seat. But yeah, I had one of those handbaskets from Albertson's full of CDs.

SPEAKER_06 40:02

That's so I like I have a couple CDs and I like them in the case. I wouldn't, yeah, I wouldn't put them in a book. Because they put the art on the front. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:12

I have the book, but I put the paper inside the that makes sense, okay.

unknown 40:17

Because I would get to do the words.

SPEAKER_00 40:18

Yeah. I like to guess on the words. Remember those old commercials where they're like guess the words wrong? That was me. Still me. I guess my own words wrong.

SPEAKER_01 40:29

Favorite road trip snack.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

Start with Danny.

SPEAKER_05 40:34

Why me? Do you not have an answer? Uh pizza Pringles, man. Cannot get any better than that, dude. Better uh uh the gummy clusters, the nerds. Slab in dude. Slabing.

SPEAKER_08 40:51

I think if I'm like driving, it'd probably be like Jolly Ranchers. I don't know why. I just like Jolly Ranchers for some reason, and then if I'm not, I think Kringles, sour cream, and onion.

SPEAKER_09 41:05

I want to say the uh the ranch drink that we bought that last time. That was awful. Yeah, we just there was some gas station had like a I don't know, a some like soda that tasted like ranch, and I just bought it to try it, and I took one sip and I was done, but we'll send you guys a picture.

SPEAKER_08 41:21

Yeah, he literally opened it and I felt like throwing up. Yeah, it was terrible.

SPEAKER_09 41:24

But uh probably beef jerky, actually.

SPEAKER_00 41:29

For me, it'd be uh combos. Love me some combos. Definitely. Which flavor? Any flavor? My favorite, I don't think they make anymore. It was like the the corn tortilla nacho cheese, and they don't I've I haven't seen them in forever.

SPEAKER_06 41:43

I haven't either. Those are so good. Oh, yeah. Oh my gosh. And about the the ranch soda, I think they make a bacon one too. Uh round two.

SPEAKER_00 41:52

Wait, what were some of the other ones that we saw? There was some like a sardine soda, there was mustard, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:00

Yeah, disgusting. I can't imagine the smell. It was almost terrible.

SPEAKER_00 42:06

It one thing that I will say that probably tastes worse, and I didn't taste it. This is just me guessing. Malort. Oh, yeah. I don't know what that is. Can we tell a story real quick?

SPEAKER_03 42:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

Uh we went to Launch Music Festival in Dallas uh two years ago. It's our first year there. It's our first year, their first year putting it on in Dallas. And we they hold it at a bar and we show up early because we show up early than everything, and they had a um spin the wheel for shots. You go and you pay five dollars, I think, something like that. Pay five bucks, they spin the wheel, and it chooses what shot that you get.

SPEAKER_07 42:43

I got not getting anything. There's a blank spot for nothing.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Yeah, there is a blank spot for nothing, which he just donated to the cause. Uh I ended up getting tequila, which is just fine. That's my favorite drink. Ryan, however, landed on a drink we had never heard of before called Malort. Apparently, it's a local drink from Chicago, I think. And the person who made it must have smoked like 30 packs a day and completely ruined his taste buds because it is awful. A few maybe a year later, we went back to the same area and I told Ryan, I'm like, all right, I'm gonna try Malort. I doubt it's as bad as you say it is. Like, it's it can't be that bad. So I go to the bar and I order it, and the waitress like looks at me and she's like, All right, you said Melore. Yeah, yeah, that's what I want. I don't think that's what you want. Like, no, I just pour me Malort, that's what I want. She's like, all right, you okay, whatever. Paid first, obviously. She's like, you're not gonna want to pay after you drink it. Well, it is as bad as he said. Melore is terrible. Yeah, that's so bad. Terrible. It's like carbonated motor oil with horseradish. Something I can think of. It's awful.

SPEAKER_06 43:53

You should try it. Maybe. Maybe. And then what would you say is y'all's.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

Dream venue to play at Dream venue would be to justifiably headline a house of blues, like in Dallas or something like that.

SPEAKER_09 44:32

Um probably well it's called uh Sonic Temple now. It's in Columbus, Ohio. I went whenever it was called Rock on the Range, and yeah, it's a huge festival and everything. And uh yeah, I I loved it whenever I went, and that was always a dreamline to play it.

SPEAKER_08 44:47

Um I can't remember the exact name of it. I think it's like it's in Colorado. It's like an amphitheater, but it's like sitting in between like a whole bunch of like mountains or something like that, and it's in between, it has the spleaches all the way across. I want to say it's like the Red Rock amphitheater or something like that, but that place looks amazing. I would love to play there.

SPEAKER_05 45:09

I'd have to go with Nolan on this one, just the House of Blues or uh if CBG's was still around.

SPEAKER_08 45:16

Uh yeah, we started out and and we were just getting a lot of. Are we sitting the bottom low? Maybe. Are we?

SPEAKER_00 45:22

House of Blues is pretty big. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:29

We're not saying like Madison Square Garden.

SPEAKER_09 45:32

I was about to say, I'm surprised no one's at the sphere.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

But I'm sure we'd have to pay to play with the sphere. That's probably where that would go.

unknown 45:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:47

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:48

Big, big one so far this year, though, is gonna be uh July 18th. We get to play with uh CKY um at the rail in Dallas. We actually had gone to a battle of the bands last month and won. Played and competed, one, and that was a prize is getting to open for them this next month.

SPEAKER_07 46:09

Then Rival Suns?

SPEAKER_00 46:10

Yeah, then Rival Sons, yeah. Um you guys, anything I'm forgetting?

SPEAKER_07 46:14

Uh 11th.

SPEAKER_00 46:15

Oh yeah. June 11th. Check check our bands in town. For everything else, our bands in town will have everything listed that we're doing. But those are our most recent three coming up.

SPEAKER_06 46:26

And then is there any upcoming releases or projects y'all want to mention?

SPEAKER_00 46:32

I think legally we can't mention anything technically. I get that. But uh yes, there's there's yes.

SPEAKER_05 46:40

Short answer. There's more code. Yes, absolutely. Okay, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 46:44

And then where can listeners find and follow y'all? Um, as for hearing us, Spotify, Apple Music, uh, Pandora, anywhere you listen to anything. Um, we are there may or may not be CDs coming that we'll be able to distribute um at shows, things like that. Um besides that, we have a website, um, stealinghandshakes.com. We have every social media.

SPEAKER_07 47:14

Um radio stations.

SPEAKER_00 47:17

Oh, yeah. I don't remember what stations are six different stations right now.

SPEAKER_08 47:22

We just got put on Cleveland, Ohio, somewhere in California, somewhere in Iowa. Yeah. Um Rock on the way.

SPEAKER_00 47:32

Yeah, Tampa. We're on the radio station there. So a bunch of radio stations, um, website, any social media you can think of, just look up Stealing Handshakes. If you just Google Stealing Handshakes, you'll find us somewhere somehow. So gotcha. All right.

SPEAKER_02 47:46

What message would you like to leave with your fans?

SPEAKER_00 47:52

Thank you. Um this last year has been our best year, has been crazy. Uh and I know Jared's just like new into the band, but you get to like step in at a middle phase. Like it's you see, yeah, you can step in at a really cool, really cool time. Um, but I guess for everyone, just thank you. Um, we'll see you guys at the next show.

SPEAKER_09 48:18

I mean, basically what you said, but you know, it's been amazing just jumping in and playing these awesome shows. So I've been enjoying it with you guys, and everyone that's a fan, so yeah, it's it's awesome.

SPEAKER_08 48:31

Yeah, this year's just been pretty crazy. Like last year we had a lot of really big shows. Like we opened up for Kansas at the lumberyard, and it's like 3,000 plus people there, and then a Skylight Drive Head PE different times. Uh we had a lot of big shows. Bar Crow. Uh, this year we haven't had a whole lot of really big shows, but they're starting to come up. And well, all of our local shows, we've been noticing more and more people just at Golden Light or at Pampa the weekends or hideaway in Pampa or just anywhere we've been playing, is everybody's just been showing out, and it's just been crazy. Like we've been having a lot of pack shows here recently.

SPEAKER_05 49:08

You guys said it all.

SPEAKER_00 49:12

It ain't over till it's over.

SPEAKER_06 49:16

And our podcast is called Between Beats and Life. Um, what's one life lesson that music has taught each of you?

SPEAKER_03 49:26

Go ahead, Greg.

SPEAKER_08 49:28

Uh, just patience, I guess. Uh yeah, we started out and we were just getting a lot of local shows. And I remember before last year, one of our resolutions, I guess, we kind of every year we kind of look back at the year previous or whatever and see what we did. And before going into last year, one of our things was play with at least one national act. And we played with like five or six go that one year, and like we we just made it a goal, and we just tried as hard as we could. We stayed consistent and like we talked to a lot of bands, and they're like, Oh, y'all practice two or three times a week. Like, we maybe beat once every other every other week, and yeah, we stay consistent, and it's definitely been paying off for us.

SPEAKER_00 50:14

Yeah. Yeah, we that's right.

SPEAKER_09 50:17

Uh yeah, go ahead, go ahead and I spent the longest time like trying to just be you know the best guitarist in the world, but uh yeah, I think just realizing there's always gonna be someone better than you, you're never gonna be the best, and just enjoying the journey is like you know, the best thing, and not just you know, hung get hung up on the small stuff.

SPEAKER_00 50:37

Definitely. Um so as soon as I handed off, I was thinking patience, but I couldn't think of how to elaborate on it. Ryan did a great job. So my answer actually, which I'm glad I paused, uh I heard this from the owner of a venue he posted online, and he was saying that being in the band is not just about the music and playing the shows and all that. Like it's the the the times you're gonna look back on the most are gonna be the time in between the shows. Driving in the van, worn out, excited about the show we just played, excited about the next show we're about to play. So um, a lesson that I'm I've learned I'm trying to implement really is just cherish more of the times in between, like this last time when we went to Dallas. We went to uh a barcade and wasted time, and that was the fun, like the most fun we've had before a show, just hanging out, uh playing Mario Kart and beer pong and stuff, like just so just I guess just uh just just cherishing the time in between the shows as well. Definitely.

SPEAKER_06 51:39

I'm sorry, what was the question again?

SPEAKER_05 51:41

What's one life lesson that music has taught you? Uh just being true to yourself, not having to you know change who you are for other people, like just kind of sticking to sticking to your guns, basically. Definitely that's what I've learned. It's a lot of good advice.

SPEAKER_06 51:58

A lot of that.

SPEAKER_02 52:00

If someone listens to only one stealing handshake song after the interview, which song should it be on that?

SPEAKER_08 52:08

Uh my favorite lately has been maybe a Torah. It's just very catchy to me. I don't know. It has a some great lyrics. The lyrics are super good on that song, and then you get to the middle of the song, there's a really cool breakdown, and it's very catchy, and then it has a cool solo in it. And I think it's just overall a great song. It's a little pause.

SPEAKER_09 52:31

Yeah, emotional breakdown. Yeah, I'd I'd say the same thing, just exactly what you said.

SPEAKER_03 52:39

Yeah, yeah, except for that.

SPEAKER_00 52:42

Um song to listen to, I don't know. I I guess I'd probably say chloroform. Um we we tend to write really happy sounding music, really positive major keys. Until you listen to the words and you realize that a lot of our stuff, most of our stuff's not it's not like a negative bad thing, but it's just not written about a happy um subject, really. But yeah, I guess chlorform, because that one's just just a really a song that hits hits close to home, basically. So gotcha. Song.

SPEAKER_05 53:28

Uh for me to like it'd probably be either uh maybe it's all right or the fallout. Those two for me have always kind of been really, really great. So I think between those two, I'd probably lean more towards maybe it's all right, but the fallout's another one that's really good.

SPEAKER_00 53:45

Gotcha. Sooner or later, we do have a music video for it that's brand new. So that one is a good one to introduce people to what we look like as well. Um YouTube. How we play, yeah, on YouTube. So I'm gonna change my answer to sooner or later. Sorry. Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_06 54:01

All right, well, this has been a lot of fun. That is all the questions. Thank y'all so much for coming out. Appreciate it. Thank you for having us. Of course, of course. It was a lot of fun. And then yeah. So that is all.

SPEAKER_01 54:28

Thank you for your incredible hospitality and for supporting local and local creators. In the Between Beats and Life podcast, be sure to stop in, grab a coffee, and tell them we sent you. We'd like to take a moment to thank Stealing Handshakes for joining us on Between Beats and Life. Thank you for sharing your music, your journey, and the stories that have shaped who you are as artists. It was an honor to sit down with you and hear what it inspires you to keep creating. We appreciate your authenticity, your passion, and your willingness to let our listeners get to know the people behind the music. If you enjoyed hearing from Stealing Handshakes, be sure to check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, and other platforms as well. Give them a follow, stream their music, and help support independent artists. From all of us at Between Beats and Life, thank you, Stealing Handshakes. We can't wait to see where your journey takes you.

SPEAKER_06 55:33

Okay, so this is Between Beats and Life. I'm David.

SPEAKER_02 55:40

I'm Angie.

SPEAKER_06 55:42

This is Mr. Wiggles.

SPEAKER_02 55:44

As you can see, he's a sis still.

SPEAKER_06 55:47

Yeah, he's not a permanent member. Because he's bad. He's a bad guy.

SPEAKER_02 55:52

He's not bad.

SPEAKER_06 55:53

He's evil. But let's talk about you this time.

SPEAKER_02 55:59

Me? Why me?

SPEAKER_06 56:02

Because you're an important part. So who are you?

SPEAKER_02 56:06

Who am I?

SPEAKER_06 56:07

Who are you?

SPEAKER_02 56:08

I'm Angie.

SPEAKER_06 56:09

Angie?

SPEAKER_02 56:10

I know his mom.

SPEAKER_06 56:12

Yes, she is. That's true. Where are you from?

SPEAKER_02 56:15

Alabama.

SPEAKER_06 56:16

Alabama. What was it like growing up in Alabama?

SPEAKER_02 56:24

It was nice. Everybody knew everybody. Kind of a small, tight-knit little community we had going on there. My aunt and uncle live right behind us, so I would always go to their house and eat the good food and snacks and watch their satellite.

SPEAKER_06 56:49

Yeah. Okay. How did that how did growing up there in that small community change how you viewed relationships? How did that affect the way you make friends today?

SPEAKER_02 57:10

I think it's because it's hard for me to let go of the stranger danger, you know, mindset that I have.

SPEAKER_06 57:23

Because out there there was no stranger.

SPEAKER_02 57:24

Yeah. Cause we knew everybody mostly.

SPEAKER_06 57:29

Now living here. Granted, some people might say this is a small town. But compared to there, it's really not.

SPEAKER_02 57:37

No.

SPEAKER_06 57:38

It's very different. You know, you see somebody on the street, you don't know a thing about them. Out there, you see somebody on the street, you know their name, what they do for work, who their parents are, who their kids are, their cousins, their grandparents, their everything. Yeah. Like you know, everything.

SPEAKER_02 57:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 57:53

What made you want to get into hairdressing?

SPEAKER_02 57:57

Well, growing up in that small knit or small tight knit community, my aunt always did my hair. And I had a lot of it. It was curly. My mom was kind of plain Jane lady. She didn't really know that much about hair. And so they would always give me a shoulder leaf cut. And they would cut my bangs, like half of my head. It would cut into bangs. And then they would give me a pern, even though my hair was already curling. And then they would just brush it out. And it would be big and fuzzy. And that's how it looked every day. So when I got older, I was trying to figure out how exactly the right way to do my own hair.

SPEAKER_03 58:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:51

That was my main motivator for when I was 19 and went the first time. But I was too shy, I couldn't even ask my classmates to help me get my services done because we had to practice on each other. So I quit.

SPEAKER_06 59:11

What made you go back?

SPEAKER_02 59:13

Um, you were two years old, and I was having trouble finding proper daycare for the hours I had to work. And I really wanted to know how to do hair because I always liked messing with my own hair and like doing other people's hair. And I wanted something that was more flexible so that when you actually went to school, then I could be home when you got out of school and hang out with you.

SPEAKER_06 59:51

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 59:54

That's pretty chill.

SPEAKER_02 59:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 59:58

Do you love it?

SPEAKER_02 59:59

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:01

Would you trade it for anything else?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:03

Of course.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:05

Well, I guess that is kind of how it goes.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:09

What was your what was your original? Like what did you want to do before?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:14

When I was growing up, I either wanted to be a teacher.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:20

A hairstylist.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:22

Or Barbie.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:23

Barbie. Like Barbie. Like the Barbie. Barbie.

unknown 1:00:27

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:28

So big dreams.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:30

Yeah. So I realized when I got older that my stuffed animals listened much better than children to me.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:40

So teaching was not gonna be a good idea.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:45

And you know, it couldn't be Barbie, obviously.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:48

Well I'm pretty close.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:53

No.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:55

So what's left?

SPEAKER_06 1:00:57

Hairdressing.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:59

Look at that. Top three. Yep. You're still you're still doing hair to this day, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:12

Every day. Yes. You got the you got the shirt on right now. Where where do you want to be?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:23

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_06 1:01:24

Like where do you want to be with your haircutting? Is this your end goal? What's your where how do you where do you want to end up?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:33

Um, for now, that's where I want to end up. Maybe in the future I would like to open up, you know. Like a high-end salon, I have it all planned out and drawn out and everything.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:48

Okay. Are you excited?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:52

To do that?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:53

Yeah. Yeah. It's a good it's good to have a plan, right? It's very important. Why'd you become a mother? What?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:14

Because when I realized that I was growing a baby in my belly. I had never planned on getting in my brain because I was scared that I wouldn't be a good I was scared I wouldn't be a good mom because I thought that I might forget my baby in my car or forget it and leave it at home or you know, something like something like that, yeah. So I don't know. I just knew there wasn't anything else I wanted to be when I knew that you were here already.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:51

Okay. How do you think you've done so far?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:55

I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I messed up a lot.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:06

Kind of rude.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:07

What?

SPEAKER_06 1:03:08

Sitting right here.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:09

No, no, I mean mess up Edma.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:11

No, I know. Do you want to know how I think you did?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:14

I think you did amazing.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

Are you gonna make me cry?

SPEAKER_06 1:03:16

Maybe.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:17

I'm making cry.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:18

I think you did a great job.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:20

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:20

I feel like I'm pretty pretty stand-up guy.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:23

You are. I'm proud of you.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:25

I do what I'm supposed to do most of the time.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:28

Most of the time.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:29

I don't typically do what I'm not supposed to do just by choice.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:35

Sometimes I sleep in, but like other than that, I'm pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:41

You know?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:41

I think that goes back to the ABHD issues though.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:45

Yeah. Definitely does. But that's not really something that I can pin on you.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:52

Do you think I did okay?

SPEAKER_06 1:03:54

I do. I think you did very well. Okay. Alright. How does being a mother affecting you?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:05

How does it affect me?

SPEAKER_06 1:04:07

Like how does it change your your m your mindset?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:14

I don't know, like I I have a hard time watching people not put their kids first.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:23

Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:24

You know, because well you should do. Yeah. Like you were given this beautiful, precious gift and you're wasting it.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:35

Yeah. You're not doing anything with it.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:37

Yeah. You know, they tell you when you have kids not to blink. And I tried my very hardest not to blink. I tried to always be there. No matter what. For you and leave me any.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:00

Yeah, to you were providing for all three of us.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:04

Practically on your own.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:08

But I couldn't imagine my world without or not being a mom.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:18

I'm always telling you to be careful when you leave.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:21

I know. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:28

Do you think I was always there for you?

SPEAKER_06 1:05:30

Oh, definitely. Anytime I was in trouble or I needed help with something, I don't know who else I was gonna ask. It was always you.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:40

Hmm.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:41

Even when I knew you couldn't help me. Like when I got to a certain level in like math.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:47

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:48

You weren't really much of a help. No. I'm just saying you weren't they didn't teach that back in your day. Or they this isn't how they taught it when you were in school. So you couldn't help me. But I still ask you for help.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:03

Back in my day.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:04

Back in your day. Kitty, get out of my milkshake.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:07

No boy. You can't help it.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:09

But even when I knew like you weren't gonna be much help. Like if I was cleaning my room or something, right? That's a good example. Even if I knew you weren't going to help me. Just I would have you in there because it was helpful to me. Just to have you around. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:29

And that used to bother you, uh, used to annoy you.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:33

It's because I always have things to do.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:36

I know.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:37

Yeah. Or you would always ask me when I actually got to relax for a minute.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:45

But it's part of it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:46

What? Yeah. I know. Trust me.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:51

I mean, I don't know. I'm not a mom personally, but I'm a kitty. Yeah, I don't know. I think it was it was always you. I have a I have a father. But it was always you. You know.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:11

If I need advice I just if I just can't do it I talk to you.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:18

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:19

Right? Every time. That's just how it goes. For me.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:25

You think my advice is good?

SPEAKER_06 1:07:27

Usually.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:28

Usually.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:28

Yeah, sometimes I don't really like it, but you're always looking out for me.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:33

Even when I don't like what you're telling me.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:37

But I am teenager.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:41

I know.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:42

Part of part of my job is not to listen to you, but I feel like I do pretty pretty pretty often. Most of the time I do. Every now and again.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:52

At least when I tell you what you don't want to hear, it's still nice.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:00

That's just the truth. Meanly. Nothing more.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:04

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I think you're pretty good.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:13

Pretty good, mom.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:14

I'm pretty good.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:15

Probably like like top 50 moms. No, I'm just kidding. You remember one. I'm just playing. There ain't no top 50. Any mom compared is not cutting it. They're not cutting it. None of them.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:37

Like, I always wondered, like, like whenever you would come out here and visit your dad, and I have to, like, I would have my little intrusive thoughts, and I would have to call you and talk to you. You know? Yeah. And I would always wonder, like, how does that not happen to other parents? Because everybody else thought I was crazy. But I was just like, I don't know. And then knowing that some parents don't even call and check on their kids, like how do they do that? Yeah, how do we do that? I don't know how we do that.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:15

I don't know. I think you set a pretty good example for me. I think I'm ready to be a father.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:20

Oh no, you're not.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:22

Not financially.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:25

No.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:26

But I mean like my mindset. I think I could be a father.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:29

You could, yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:31

But I'm not planning on it anytime soon. But I could do it, is my point.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:38

I think so too. I think you'd do pretty good.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:42

Because you played both roles the whole time, pretty much.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:46

Well.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:46

Like you would help me with my projects for school, and you'd go to my games.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:52

And cheer me off.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:55

And you take me to school and drop me off. And then you pick me up. And you name me food. You know. And you watch CD to hang out with me. I feel like you played both both both roles pretty well.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:15

Thanks. Thanks.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:18

Of course. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:27

How do you how would you how would you rate being a mom out of ten?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:34

Oh, it's definitely definitely a ten out of ten.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:38

Okay. That's too. Do you think other people would agree?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:42

I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:44

That's fair. Who's your favorite kid? No, I'm just playing. I know it's me.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:53

Have a favorite son, a favorite niece, and a favorite nephew.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:57

That don't count. But where are we? How do you feel about where you're at now compared to when we first moved out here?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:12

I think I'm doing good.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:14

Doing good?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:14

Yeah. Managing that's a lot. I'm working for Jimmy.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:28

Yeah. I've been there almost four years.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:31

And going to school.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:34

Yeah. You're doing a lot.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:36

I think you're doing much, much, much better than you were before.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:41

I think so.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:42

I do. Because before, you know, it was just it was just too much. Too much. Everybody you had nothing really. We moved out here to nothing. You know. And then you got really sick. You had to deal with me. I was a little a little jerk off. It's not family friendly.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:01

No, it's not family friendly.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:02

I was a little dirtbag. Little a little beast. Not a good kind either, like a bad, evil kind of beast. You had to deal with my father, who's also a beast in the sim in a similar way. Bad kind of way. And you had no you had no support system out here.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:24

But I mean, look at you now.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:26

Look at me.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:27

You're winning. We still have we're still solving a lot of issues, you know, from before. But it's not bringing you down like it did.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:38

No.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:39

You know. And that's that's really that's really awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:44

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:44

You're doing incredibly, I think.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:48

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:48

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:49

Yeah, I told you. Can't remember if it's on the one we recorded before, but when you get depressed, you stay down for a minute. So you get back up.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:01

Yeah, always.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:02

Always get back up.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:03

You always got back up.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:05

Always get back up.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:07

That's that's really admirable. And I learned that I've learned a lot from you.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:12

You're my hero. I said that before. It was a little it was a little more real before.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:16

Yeah. You made me cry.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:18

I did. We recorded for like 15 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:22

15-ish minutes before I realized that it wasn't recording anymore. But my mom is my hero. I love her very much.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:31

I love you.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:32

She does everything for me. And that's very sweet. And I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:39

Yes, but let's also point out that I do everything for you, but I also tell you to do things for yourself. Cause I ain't raising no baby man.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:47

No, she's not. My mom's very, very strict about me not being a bum all the time. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:58

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:59

It's so easy to be a bum. But she doesn't let me be a bum. So it's very awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:10

You're gonna be a man, man.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:12

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:13

Not not a b what are they called? Not a um man child.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:20

What are you thinking of? What was the word you were thinking of? Um man lit?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:29

What is that?

SPEAKER_06 1:14:30

It's the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:33

No, like a sissy man. Trying to raise no sissy man.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:38

Yeah, no. I think I won't I I think I'm well on the way to not being a sissy man. I think I'll be good.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:48

Be a good provider and decent person.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:54

Good to your family.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:56

That is the goal.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:57

That's the goal.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:58

That's what I'm working for. You know? You know. I work hard to be a good person and take care of business. You know? I'm not playing games. I'm taking care of business.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:14

He's taking care of business.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:17

Taking care of business. Okay. Alright. I think that's I think that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:23

Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:24

I think we covered most of what we lost.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:27

I think so too.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:28

Alright, this was we just did our interview with Stealing Handshakes. Yes. Right? The band. Yes. They are really, really cool. Really nice guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:37

Super fun to talk to them.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:39

Yeah. I love their stories.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:41

Oh, definitely. They were very, very um, what's the word? What's the word?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:49

Open to talking with us?

SPEAKER_06 1:15:51

Well, yeah, that too, but like um, golly. They're very big personalities.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:03

That's what I was looking for. Very big personalities. They had a lot to say, and they said it pretty well, I think. I think they got I think that interview went really, really well.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:12

It did, I did so too.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:14

And we're gonna go to a show on the 27th, right, for another potential guest. We will see. And then that should be fun. Yes. And I'm excited to keep doing this with you, boy.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:28

Are you?

SPEAKER_06 1:16:29

Yes. This is very fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:31

Good.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:32

I enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:33

And I keep finding cool spots, don't I?

SPEAKER_06 1:16:35

Definitely. We recorded our first episode at 806 coffee on 6th Street in Amberla. And then we recorded that episode with Stealing Headshakes at what was that place called?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:52

107 Roasters.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:54

107 Roasters on 47th Avenue, Amarla. It's a little smaller place, but they were really cool. And the coffee's really, really good. Yeah. It was really nice. And they were very hospitable. Both places have been really hospitable.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:10

It's a lot, it's a lot more friendliness in Amarilla than I thought that we were gonna find.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:15

Yeah, we gotta get out there, boy.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:17

You do gotta get out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:19

Talk to people.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:20

Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:21

Definitely.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:22

And then obviously we're recording these episodes at our at our at our home.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:27

Okay, I think that's where we gotta cut it off. He's being really loud.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:30

He's being rude.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:31

He is being rude. Okay. This is between beats and life, I'm David.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:35

Angie.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:37

Conquer the day.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:38

Conquer the day.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:39

There we go. Love you, Mo.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:42

Love you. I have a lot to cut out of the world.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:24

Okay. You should be asleep for one third of it anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:28

So it's only 16 hours.