ATTA BOY: Dashel Thompson, Eden Brolin, Freddy Reish, and Lewis Pullman

Atta Boy joins Caught On The Mike to discuss the making of their new album Silt, a record built through years of friendship, long-distance collaboration, and creative trust.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Eden Brolin, Freddy Reish, Dashel Thompson, and Lewis Pullman to talk about growing up together, forming the band as teenagers, and how they've continued creating music despite being separated by thousands of miles. The conversation dives into the themes behind Silt, the evolution of their songwriting process, the inspiration behind songs like "Full Cloud," and the challenges and advantages of making music remotely.

The band also reflects on revisiting old memories through "Full Cloud" video, experimenting with new sounds and textures on the record, and why their connection as friends remains the foundation of everything they create.

If you're a fan of thoughtful songwriting, indie rock, and hearing the stories behind the music, you're going to enjoy this one.

#AttaBoy #Silt #IndieRock #CaughtOnTheMike #MusicPodcast

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent. Listener describes it is advised. We're talking about Friends test tests of artistic growth, the challenge of remote collaborations, and the journey to find one of the most thoughtfully crafted records of their career. Ladies and gentlemen, this is caught on the mic. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mic. Human connection feels harder to hold on to these days, but for Attaboy, connection is the entire foundation. From middle school friends swapping favorite albums and running for student counsel, I love that, to creating one of Indie Rock's most emotionally textured new records. This band has evolved together through distance time zones and years of creative trust. That's also a rarity. Their new album, Silt, captures that feeling of trying to stay connected while the world pulls you in different directions. Today I am joined by Eden Brolin, Freddie Reesch, Dashiell Thompson, and Lewis Pullman of Attaboy. We're talking friendship, remote collaboration, strange sounds, old memories, and the road to silt. Hi, guys.

SPEAKER_04 2:08

Hi.

SPEAKER_03 2:09

Hi, Mike. Hey Mike. Dude, I'm so pumped that I got all of you guys. I thought I was only going to get a few of you, but I got the whole damn band. This is awesome. Couldn't miss out on a little bit of a.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Didn't see him the rest of the day. And then a few weeks later, we had our first band practice. Uh, wrote some songs, came up with the name Attaboy. And then uh to answer your question, when did it stop feeling just like friends messing around and being an actual band? So 2011 is when we started. 2023 would be when it felt like something we could do as uh more of a career. Um so that's you know, three albums later, and then uh finally starting to tour. Um starting to tour was the first real feeling of being like, it isn't just our family and friends listening to us, um, and you know, meeting fans who've been, some of them who have been there since the beginning. Um I don't know how they've been there since the beginning, but they have been. Uh and it's taken a long time, but it truly feels like we are still feels like we're just friends, but it does feel more like we are a legitimate band nowadays. Yeah. Bands are kind of like families, aren't they?

SPEAKER_03 4:16

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:19

Very much so.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

You have your good days. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, you know, kind of building on the friendship dynamics and such, what were some of the albums? Like, you guys heard me in the intro. I talked about you guys exchanging albums. What were some of the interests that you guys kind of brought into your melting pot that helped build the band's sound?

SPEAKER_01 4:42

I mean, in that in the beginning era. Yeah, there's so many. Like in high school, for me, it was like Dr. Dog and Grizzly Bear. I was like, want to sound like these two drummers. But it's changed, it's evolved over the course of all, you know, all the each record.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

We've been talking lately about early influences and kind of reflecting on the arc that Lewis was talking about. I think for me, the one that stands out is is Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, especially. I came to that late. Um, obviously, it's kind of we would have been pretty little when it came out, um, but hugely influential, I think, on us in general and the first record, especially.

SPEAKER_03 5:20

Yeah, I think everybody has a Wilco era to a certain extent. You know, I used to sing for punk and hardcore and metal bands, and like the very last year I was singing in my last band, I spent the entire year like listening to Jason Iswell, like Wilco and like the alt-country stuff. And I'm like, yeah, this is what why am I doing this shit? Why am I not like doing this other thing?

SPEAKER_05 5:44

Yeah, absolutely. There was also, I think, uh for me, there was a I think all of us too. There was a lot of like neutral milk hotel um kind of coming back up at that point. Uh, like tallest man on earth, Sufion Stevens. I grew up listening to a lot of like Amy Mann and Pearl Jam. Those are my little like list offs.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

Yeah. And Freddie, you were about to chime in with something.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Yeah, I feel like I have never been the best at discovering music, but I'm surrounded by three of the best people who have amazing tastes in music. And like Lewis, you know, showed me like Grizzly Bear and got me into like Led Zeppelin. Dashell was like, hey man, there's this band named Phoenix, and this album of theirs is insane. And it was one of the still one of my favorite albums I've ever heard. Eden, when you know, we were like in middle school, and she's like talking about Wilco and Elliot Smith. And I'm like, who is like, how do you have this taste in music? It's so cool. Um, and I was just really lucky to be introduced by so many to so many cool bands by these three, because I, when I first got into music, was listening to like classic rock. Like I was listening to like ACDC, Guns N' Roses, um, and um The Beatles primarily. Like, and the Beatles have a huge enough catalog to get you through probably five years of your life um that um that I I've just been so lucky. They're still like the being in the van with them on tour, they're playing me some of the coolest stuff I've ever heard that I would not have heard otherwise, like MJ Lenderman Wednesday, Big Thief. Um I still listen to Dr. Dog. I love them so much. Uh but yeah, I'm just really lucky to have awesome friends with great music taste.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

I love that. You know, a huge theme surrounding SILT is long distance collaboration and maintaining connection despite being spread across different places. How has distance changed the way you guys communicate creatively and emotionally as a band? I can't remember who recommended this.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Um something we did this, we haven't kept up with it recently, but we did this thing during the recording process where like every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, we send each other like a one-minute video, and it kind of helped create this closeness that didn't exist in previous albums, where we kind of heard what each person was up to in the last week. Um, and we tried to keep it to like as close to one minute or two minutes as possible to like really not ramble on, uh, and uh just kind of stay close and like because we probably hadn't spent as much time together as we had on tour since high school. Like we that close together all of the time and to kind of keep that ball rolling, we kept the communication a lot better than we had in the past. Um, but it is hard to work on creative ideas and very in-depth emotional ideas um via um you know phone calls and FaceTime. So yeah, it was tough.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

That was Eden's idea, I think, right? Those videos? Where why did we stop doing those? Because we just have to think. Yeah. Thursday think. Yeah. Yeah. No, but I mean, we kind of like, yes, like Freddie said, since high school, um like it's this has become the new norm now as for how we kind of like collaborate is is is this way. It's it almost would be weirder if we were all in the same city at this point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

So is there like a difference in how dynamics change whenever you know you're you're collaborating almost digitally, almost like the the platform that we're on right now, but taking that into a live setting where you guys all get together and you're playing these songs together live, is there an emotional difference for you personally?

SPEAKER_05 9:53

I think that finding the songs has to happen live. Um, I think that there's sort of a baseline that needs to be found, and that's what we did when we did our like weeklong um demos during the fire, the fires in LA uh last year. We were originally creating demos that then became the basis for these recordings that we uh then sort of completed um uh remotely on our on our own, or you know, uh a couple times Dashell and Lewis went back into studio. Um but I think because we're so used to being together for just a certain amount of time, there's not a whole lot of time to waste. There's not a whole lot of time to throw stuff at the wall. Um, and also there's something that happens when you're in the room together where like there's sort of an extent of how much you're willing to uh embarrass yourself with an idea, I guess. At least that's sort of my like that was always sort of my concern. I had a little bit of a hard time um kind of percolating and like evolving certain ideas uh that I got to a point where I felt comfortable being like, this is what I want. And I think obviously because we've gotten to do this for so long, we sort of have practice around that. But also the time I think really allowed us to like go back and forth on a lot of these ideas that were still trying to find their footing that we wouldn't have necessarily gotten to do in our ideal situation, which had been uh formerly like going and doing a destination record somewhere for a week. And I think we would have hoped that we could like flesh out those ideas as we had to this point, but I don't necessarily think that they would they would look they would sound the same at all, you know. But so yeah, time time has really helped, but I think the foundation had to be there from um really trying to find like the root and the core of these songs all together, and that's always been the case.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

Is there a specific song that you surprised yourself with whenever you took it from that remote arrangement to the live arrangement?

SPEAKER_05 12:22

Um so they they were they had all started out live. They had originally started out live without drums. Um, it was me and Freddie and Dash sort of getting the getting structures and and writing in place. Um, and then eventually Lewis put put drums on that to just sort of have an idea of these songs, and then eventually we got in studio together to do the demos at Freddy's. Um the uh surprising ourselves. Um I mean, I think all of those songs were so so different in their initial iterations, which I know that you could say about any song across any genre, you know. Um but I think the one, what would you guys say would be the one that sort of can ended up becoming the farthest from like where it started sonically? Probably like a full class. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

I was gonna say First Street Bridge.

SPEAKER_05 13:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

It's just that when we first did it, just me, Eden Dashell, you know, it it was just like acoustic guitar and um like a whirlitzer and um an electric guitar, um, to go from that to this like heavy, like halftime like chorus that's really like spacey, and then Lewis does these like crazy double drums in the verses um that are kind of floating around in different spaces. Um it I think I'm really happy with where we got it.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

It's just a huge gulf of where it started to where it is. The album title itself feels symbolic. Like dirt, build-up, memory, movement, confusion. When did you realize that silt was the perfect word to represent this chapter of the band?

SPEAKER_05 14:16

I sort of forget the um the album names that were I think we had like First Street Bridge floating around. I think we had a couple more floating around. Um I don't know. That's one of those things where it's like, I don't know how we came to that. I think like I had originally named that. That's that that word is not in that song at all. It really like has no place in the record at all. I just think it ends up being sort of interesting that it does sort of encapsulate everything appropriately in a sort of surprising way. I think uh it if you l if you were to listen to the record uh like narratively, there's this sort of like kicking up of silt, of like dirt or dust or something that clouds your vision and then and then like uh a clarity that kind of comes about. It just sort of is like that to me is is the like arc of of the record. And and then also um Dash, I think, made a good uh point a little while ago about um the fact that with this record, like the songs having to sort of find their layers and find their feet, um, sort of felt like these like sedimentary layers on top of each other. And it is sort of funny that as we're in this like throw stuff at the wall and make mistakes era, I guess, of attaboy, um like too much silt in an environment is not good for the environment, and too little is not good for the environment either. And so it's sort of like I don't know, it's got in all these sort of interesting little meanings, but um, but I don't know. I don't know how how we got made our way to that, but it I think it I think it pulls everything together somewhat well. I'm glad to hear you think so too.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Absolutely yeah. Um the the the kiss meant, I guess, of just Eden having come in with a song with this name that again, like like she said, it's not actually like one of the lyrics in the song. Um a lot on the album and in the process of making this album felt like there's really happy accidents of things settling into place to kind of extend this metaphor. Um Eden kind of alluded to it, I think, that we were recording during the fires in LA, the big wildfires that were happening last year, um, which is really scary, you know, of our kind of our hometown, um, seeing it like literally physically burning. Like LA is a very um cinematic place in my mind, anyway, just with the way that the mountains often are like a backdrop. Um, but for those to be like on fire as we're like driving around and doing stuff and going to the studio, really alarming and kind of a surreal way of like life is going on. But as stuff's happening over here, anyways, I'll just say um the fact that we were still able to do this recording while this stuff was happening um was very lucky ultimately. Um, and I think we got a lot out of being there together at this time that was very trying for all of us and for the city, really. Um and so again, for that to happen on top of then this kind of long distance um slow intentional process of recording things falling into place, things getting kicked up, things falling back down, and um, you know, to kind of the things sticking to the wall in Seamus 6 is the same kind of idea, I think. Uh same idea, I think, of we got lucky that like just the things that floated to the top or stuck out or stuck on the wall, whatever, were these really great nuggets. And having the time to record an album in this way when we did not have that in the past has been so fortunate and so cool. And I'm really, like Freddie said, I'm just really happy with the way the whole thing turned out.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

I love that, and I love the way that you guys are talking about this process because I think a lot of artists create these works and it's kind of the unintentional result, is everything has a connective through line, every song on a really good album, whether it's a concept album or not, once the idea is fully fleshed out. Do you guys feel unanimously that maybe Silt has a thematic resonance throughout the whole album?

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Definitely. I feel like also visually, because I was working on the album art. We worked on the album art on different ideas and uh before we came up with the album title. And Silt, once Silt came up as a possibility, I could I couldn't let go of it because it felt like it it had some strong symbiosis with all the visual kind of stuff that had been coming up. And I was like, this is I couldn't think of it any other title. And also just visually, it looks I love the way the word looks in all caps. It's just it's nice and clean and boxy.

SPEAKER_03 19:37

I was I'm glad you brought that up because I was gonna bring up the fact that you did the album, Mart, and I thought the same thing. I was like, this is awesome. Like it definitely makes a statement for sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Yeah, yeah. And I think it was Eden, because originally we tried putting the silt like all the way in the fully fully visible, but Eden was like, what if it's bleeding out the edges, which I thought was cool and kind of cinematic and like you're like it's pulling you in?

SPEAKER_03 20:00

Yes. So you guys mentioned that some of these songs sat unfinished for a long time before finally clicking. What did patience unlock creatively that rushing a song never could?

SPEAKER_05 20:14

That's such a good question. And I feel like only a like that's such a uh musician's question, Mike. Um I feel like um like everything and also we'll never know. You know what I mean? It's like we'll never know what these songs would have looked like had we had we recorded them immediately. I think that uh there were iterations of this every time there was a new iteration of the song. I don't know if you've experienced this, but I know that all of us did. When a song would shift, there was this like super unsettled feeling that would happen in me, at least, where I was suddenly like, oh my god, is it getting away from us? Is it was it I think there's this like, you know, just walking through the scary door that you don't know what's on the other side of. Obviously, like we're living in a digital age where you can delete, you can re- undo, you know, and go back. But I think I think that having the exercise of like doing the scary thing, doing something different, feeling unsettled about it, and still being willing to move forward. Um, like not only is that kind of like uh a life exercise that I think at least I have sort of had to like experience a lot in the last couple of years, but I think musically there's so much that can be like found out in that patience when you're willing to like sit with the discomfort of like, is something wrong with the sound? Is does something need to be fixed here? Does something need to be added? And how to sort of be patient with like when that idea is going to come in or where that idea might come from, because it could literally come from anywhere. Or if you're having to sit with this discomfort because it's just a change, it's just change. And like change is a little scary when you when for the last three records you're the you're just sitting on what existed in the moment, which I think is great. But like I think there's a lot to sort of learn from both things. But that that would be my answer to that.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

I don't know if you saw me light up like a Christmas tree when you were explaining that, but I I tell you, um I just from from one like songwriter, singer to another, nobody understands the um the stance of self-criticism that you have whenever you're trying to write lyrics or write a melody to a song that might already be fully fleshed out and then taking on a life of its own at the same time. You know, I I I know when I walked away from it, uh my band members, they couldn't stand me because I couldn't write lyrics or melodies or anything to a whole album that just kind of sat unfinished for that same exact reason. It's just like, okay, is this getting far away from this us? Is this represent me as an artist? Yeah, am I going to be able to flesh this out to where I can take ownership of it after it's all said and done? Does that sound familiar?

SPEAKER_05 23:40

Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 23:44

I love it.

SPEAKER_05 23:45

No, it's it's it's hard because it is like you've got the you've got the inner critic and then you've got the editor. And I feel like finding the distinction between the two is like a whole lot of patience. And some people are better at it at it than others, but it sure is really nice to do it with a group of people that you've known for so long and who you have a certain level of trust with because you've been willing to be patient, because you've been willing to walk through those scary doors and take chances and and stick around for for the tough moments, you know. But yeah, it's pretty interesting.

SPEAKER_03 24:24

Well, building on those tough moments, you guys released an amazing song just today, a song called Full Cloud. And um you know, Eden, you described it as being suffocated by your own codependence. Was that song difficult to write because of how personal it was or freeing because it finally gave shape to those things?

SPEAKER_05 24:47

Um, no, well, it was every s I think every song is freeing and it like frees a little something every time, I feel like. Um but I wrote that song. Uh I was kind of on this like a several years ago. I don't know, it was maybe 22 or 23, 20, 22. I wasn't 22. I I wanted to sort of do an exercise where I like was finishing songs. I was choosing a day of the week or a couple days of the week where I was just sitting in a room and I was just writing a song and I was finishing it and trying to sort of exercise the like, you just need to finish it, you can shelve it and fix it later. It doesn't need to be perfect. And um, and I had a bunch of books with me, and I was looking at words and I was trying to figure it out, and and uh I don't know, I happened to just be in like a really it's about so many people at the same time. And I thought it was funny because I was thinking about that today of like the fact that I had written that it's about being suffocated by your own codependence. It's also about being it's both about being the person and also supporting the person that is only leaning on one person. Like I find myself often uh kind of trusting or wanting to unload on a single individual. And I think at the time that was happening to me, and I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't know what to do with anything, I didn't know what to do with myself. And um and and I think it's just a funny reminder because like I can tend to self-isolate so badly, and like picking up the phone is my absolute like best friend, and it's one of the hardest things for me to do. Like being on the phone with a band because we have to talk about something is like my greatest joy in the day because otherwise I maybe wouldn't be talking to anybody. And so I just think it's so funny that it like winds up being this reminder to me of like not only codependence and needing to um to take care of myself and and and love myself well, but it's a reminder of like pick up the goddamn phone, like just call somebody, have a brief conversation. You're not a burden, it's gonna be okay. Um and make sure that that's mold that you're spreading that out between people and it's not a single person who's like taking on all your stuff. Um, so that that was the that was the full cloud story.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

I love that. I love that. And for the rest of you, like instrumentally, whenever that light bulb goes off for her and she has those revelations as far as that songwriting process goes, and kind of discovering that voice in that song, what is like it like for you guys instrumentally? Like because you have your own emotional connection to your own parts as well.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

Yeah, it's interesting. I feel like every song is a little different, but it's like it's interesting to do this process just talking about it here with you, Mike, because we don't, you know, like I didn't I didn't know a lot of that about Full Cloud, because it's we kind of like hear the the bones of the song from Eden, and then we all kind of like yeah, ex express our reaction to it through our instrument before we, you know, and oftentimes don't know really the seed of where it came from for Eden. Because sometimes for me, I like I love hearing about it, but I also love living in the magic of it, of my own interpretation. Um and so like you know, uh it's it's like it's um it's a fun challenge to be like because I don't listen to the lyrics the first bunch of times ever. I'm like not a lyric forward listener. I'm like the feeling and the and the dance of it and like where should it live in your body? And and then and and I'm probably through like uh symbiosis or whatever it's called, like absorbing the themes of it without really consciously hearing the words. Um but yeah, how do you Freddie and Dash, how do you guys differ?

SPEAKER_02 29:01

I in it, it's like you said, it's song to song. Like um some songs, you know, we'll get a voice memo from Eden. I remember getting this voice memo for full cloud, listening to it in my car, and being like, I know what I want to do on this. I hope everyone else does. Um, and I'm like, I want to be like, I want it to feel like I'm gonna explode, like either because something's being dumped on me or I'm dumping stuff on other people, and I'm like, I want this to be. And Eden on this song, like, did the rhythm like, don't no no no no, like very on the on the voice memo, like as soon as I heard the rhythm guitar, I was like, I know how this is gonna sound. I didn't know it sounded exactly the way it turned out because we uh um Eden found an awesome person to mix this album. Um Brad um Why am I thinking? Brad Bradford Krieger. Yeah, okay, yeah, sorry about that. Uh um and he you know took it to another level with like some of the crunchiness and the reverbs and everything. And um, you know, other songs completely confuse me, like where it's gonna go. Like Silt. I heard it for the first time, and I'm like, oh, this should just be Eden in an acoustic guitar. And that's mostly because like I didn't understand the rhythm of the rhythm guitar, and like Dashwand and Eden were there when I was trying to figure it out, and it was maybe the most frustrating experience of my life. Um, but then and then it was also frustrating when Lewis finally came in to play drums on it, and he understood it like that. And I was like, what? This all makes sense to everyone but me. Um and I was like, Oh yeah, it's tough to figure out where the one is, and then he starts with a fill and lands on the one, and I'm like, okay, that's cool. Um but then you know, I think everyone here is really good at expressing the ideas that they have in their head, like the whole bowed guitar part at the beginning of Silt, Eden had that idea, and like it can explain it, everyone can explain their ideas so well that like we're all able to kind of like figure out how to do the thing that everyone's hearing or try the thing that we're hearing ourselves. Um and um each song is totally different, but I enjoy every way each song goes.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Amy is such an evocative uh songwriter and lyricist, especially that like I don't know, it's such a joy to be able to like hold up what she has brought in. Um, because I think oftentimes that is our job is to like kind of build upon, again, back to the silt metaphor, like build up uh with to support kind of what she has already brought in to like make even better this like beautiful thing that she's gifted us. Um and so yes, it is is definitely different with with every song, but um I don't know, just having the opportunity to like to absorb, like Lewis was saying for ourselves what the song is, even if it's not actually Eden's like intended um kind of interpretation or the meaning of it, which as an aside is kind of a beautiful thing about music and art in general, right? We all uh uh receive art and music kind of in our own way, and it feels whatever however it's gonna feel to each of us separately. But um, that gives us all this opportunity to express ourselves like these guys were saying, and um, being able to try new stuff in this environment where we trust each other so much is so cool. Like with Full Cloud, I came in and was like, okay, I want to do a sense part that sounds like um the synths from just what I needed, the the car song, or uh kind of like uh 1251, the strokes song, kind of have that same um sounding sense. And the band was like, okay, yeah, go for it, figure it out. And that's kind of what ended up being on the record. Um, and so having this platform where it is these people I've known for so, so long and trust so deeply at this point, um, where we can just explore and do fun stuff together all in an environment where like we're starting with this amazing base of someone that even has again has gifted us, um, it's pretty incredible. And I again I just feel so lucky constantly that we get to do this.

SPEAKER_03 33:19

This is amazing because the way you guys are describing your individual contributions to this, the record feels even bigger and more textured sonically. Was there a conscious moment where you collectively decided that we're gonna stop playing it safe? You know, let's let's just throw everything but the kitchen sink at it.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah, I think so. I think it was really early on, honestly. Um, we kind of set out like as we were like writing the songs several years ago at this point, that we wanted to do something different. No, that's actually not. It was a little later than that. It was born out of the end of the tour. It was the end of our tour, uh, where we were playing headline shows, we were opening for Shaky Graves, and then for Richie Mitch and the coal miners. We were in Cleveland, we were in a Denny's, an IHA.

SPEAKER_05 34:08

Uh Denny's.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

It was the Denny's. And we kind of sat down to reflect on everything we had just kind of been through, all these shows we had played. Our first real tour, um, we played what, 25, 30 shows or something like that. Um, after playing zero, basically. We'd played four the year before, but they were kind of warm-ups for being on tour, how to be a touring band. Um, and so it's an opportunity for all of us to say, like, how was that for you? What do you want to do next? And we all had this shared kind of understanding in that moment, even before, Alex, as we were speaking it aloud, kind of we all agreed that we wanted the next thing we want to do will be different. We were gonna break kind of the mold that we had set for ourselves and try something different and try not to um do exactly the same thing that we'd done three times previously, granted, over the course of about a decade. Um, but we had done things a certain way and we didn't want to do it that way anymore. Um, so yeah, actually, like that was really ingrained into the whole process of this record was doing it differently, like not playing it safe.

SPEAKER_03 35:16

Those moments at a Denny's or Perkins or a happy shift, those band therapy moments when you're on the road are so important. And I imagine after being together this long, there's probably this unspoken trust between all of you now. So when disagreements happen creatively, how do you guys navigate those without damaging the chemistry?

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Um, I think it's partially like an inner thing that we also had to learn individually of like leaving the ego at the door and being like, I think everyone's very good at being like, that's not working, what if we tried this? Instead of just saying, that's not working, you're stupid, why'd we do that? Um and so um I I think there's just so much respect between the four of us that we know that these disagreements aren't personal, they're not attacks on each other's creativity or creative decisions. Um, they're really just someone trying to express their opinion on trying to make the song as good as possible. Um and I I feel like that's like work I've had to do personally because I was I could very could be very sensitive back in the day. Um and so like I why would like you know, after therapy, why would anyone in this band want to ruin a song that we're making? They genuinely just want to make this as good as possible and express their ideas. So like that is something that like I've had to do is just not take it personally.

unknown 36:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:56

Anybody want to build on that?

SPEAKER_05 36:59

I think that like learning how to serve the song, like Freddie was saying, and sort of figuring out like because sometimes I don't know, sometimes there are convictions that like don't quite sound right in the moment or in a certain like iteration of a song that you know you're ready to kill or everybody else is ready to kill, that then find it find its like find their way to the to the to the end, but it just sort of needed a different a different variation or it needed a different placement or it needed a different mix or like whatever it was. Um but I do think that like you know, yeah, like Freddie said, setting setting your ego aside. And also I think we just like I I think we genuinely just have gotten to a place where we know each we know we know our buttons we know each other's buttons so well at this point that we know when a frustration is is um tough enough to kind of be pushed through and when a frustration is soft enough to go we gotta we gotta step away from this, we gotta take a break, we gotta put we gotta we gotta put a focus on on something else or or whatever it is. Um I think a lot of that gets learned on tour too. I think like you see a lot of really ugly sides of everybody on tour. Um, and like we all have our moments and we all have those days where you need somebody else to like pick up the slack that you can't. Um, and you have to have so much understanding around that. Um and you know that the people with you have so much understanding for you, and so I think there's this give and take. And I think part of that honestly built our resilience around um like criticism when it came to or I guess feedback when it came when it came to uh adjusting things like sonically and musically.

SPEAKER_03 39:06

So yes, uh I gotta just kind of interject here. Um, it is incredibly refreshing to hear this emotional intelligence out of all of you guys, because I mean this from a great place because you know, the monoculture era where everybody can focus on that one thing and share in that one experience together has kind of gone by the wayside, you know, with things like streaming services and everything along those lines. And I'm not sitting here shaming that by any means, but if you were to apply it to the music world and the band space here, you don't hear a lot of bands maintain that sense of longevity with the same four members and be able to navigate troubling waters maturely, like you guys are describing. Like, I'll tell you what, back back in my day, like when I was doing the rock band thing, like there were damn near fist fights that would happen over everybody's creative egos tripping over each other. But to hear you guys have such a genuine understanding creatively is very refreshing to hear. And I really enjoy that.

SPEAKER_05 40:18

I appreciate that. I feel like we pre I mean, I don't know if we pride ourselves on it, but it certainly has like taken a lot of work. But I do think I have to say, I feel like we kind of got we kind of got lucky because like it makes sense to me that most bands that start and then tour and then keep going and then tour again and then maybe take a year off and then make another record and tour again. Like I can totally understand why that why that goes to shit so quickly. Um or or or so, you know, in such a widespread way. Um, I think we sort of had the luxury of like this being sort of a fun side project as kids that we were doing that we were like, uh, and and then there being so much space and time between everything and us not necessarily touring when we're 21 years old, that would have been, I don't know how that would have gone. Um, but I think like there have been a lot of like make it or break it moments, just I think with the distance and like what everybody's sort of been doing. And do we want to do this? Do we want to not do this? I don't know, or our own individual investments in it. Um, and so it's nice that like finally we're all in places in our lives where we're like, this is so fun, like this is such a cool thing that we get to do together, having known each other for as much time as we have in this like very strange landscape of working together, um, that is unlike different bands. And uh, and I think that we want to like hold on to that as much as we can, even though like it gets tough. But I think we've all tried to set ourselves up in a way where like we're prioritizing the dynamic being like as healthy as it possibly can for as much longevity as there can possibly be.

SPEAKER_03 42:13

Hell yes. Anybody else want to build on that? Well said. It was so well said. Thanks, guys. You know, uh I I think I would be remiss not to mention you all have other endeavors outside of this project and kind of building on all of that, being able to kind of step away from this and then come back to it. Do you find some of your other creative worlds feed into this or do they feel completely separate from this when you're inside of it?

SPEAKER_02 42:47

Guess for me, it feels similar because my other endeavors are also music related. Um, so um, but uh I mean, like I produce music for other people. If I come up with a guitar part and that person's like, nah, that's not it, I'm gonna be like, well, I still have it. I can use it for Outer Boy. Um, and I can be uh I can be really happy with that. Uh that I I feel I'm very lucky to feel like all of the creative ideas I have can find their own little separate homes um and and exist in different places. And that's very freaking cool, and I'm very grateful I get to do that.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

For me, I don't know. I guess they feed in they feed into each other for me. Um like I I feel so lucky to be able to have multiple modalities with which to express myself that are so different, but also, you know, um they're both it's both it's storytelling, you know. Um it's all storytelling, everything is storytelling. Um and it's and it's tempo and it's timber, and it's all it's all kind of the same to me in in a lot of Ways, but it's like um you know, to be able to like yeah, switch gears and give the other brain a rest in both realms is like something that I think I'm always glad that my parents were never like, you just have to stick to one thing, Mister. You know, and so like that that always like freed me up to be able to experience the creative act in in many different ways and to be able to do it with your best buds from high school. I mean, like, I think I I'm not about to try and compound upon what you said, Eden, because it was so brilliant. But like it is, it's so it feels so good, you know. Like, because it's not like we need to get the next record out and needs to make this much money. The pressure is just on the the the only pressure, if there is any pressure, is like is like we do we I feel like we push each other in a gentle good way, like because that's the goal gold comes from those moments, you know, when it's like, well, I have an idea, ah never mind, I don't know how to say it. And then it's like we're all like, well, give it a shot, and we're all patient listening to each other's like you know, trying in the most sometimes wild, roundabout ways. Um, and like I think just that history, it's so it's just like there's nothing like it, you know. The the this this band for me is like is such an important part of my life.

SPEAKER_05 45:16

Yeah, I'm I'm trying to think about like the different mediums thing, and I think like there's something about it that does feel really separate for me because I think that mentally I I I feel like I like resisted music for a long time for some reason. Um and uh and and I really wanted to like deep dive into into acting, being the other medium. And uh I think what I love so much about acting, if I'm being totally honest, is going to explore different places with different people and learn different skills. I just literally like I was always the kid growing up that like I just wanted to know how to do everything. Um and uh and I think there's you know elements of acting if you're lucky enough that that let you do that. Um it's also you know, let me pay the bills, which has been like really amazing. But um as sort of there's like as work fluctuates, uh I feel so lucky to like have this thing that I've sort of like had um not necessarily on the back burner, but on the side for sure, that has been this like fun, it's been a it it's ended up being a really like vital way for me to like find myself and like find my friends and find my confidence and um and and I and I don't know if like if that other medium wasn't there if I would necessarily have been pushed to be like, oh I need this, I need this thing. I need these people. Um and so I think it's it's it is a funny thing, but like Lewis said, it's true, it's all storytelling, it's all all those different mediums are all storytelling, and I think being able to, you know, uh it's all the same thing at the end of the day. And I think like if you're lucky enough to like hop across different mediums, like that's the coolest thing ever. Um, but I feel really lucky that we're in this like strange time in our lives where we happen to be like leaning very, very hard into this thing that like shouldn't exist. Like it just flat out like we should not still be here, we should not still be doing this, we should not still be talking to each other. Like it is a miracle that this project is still happening and that like we've managed to like find um growth in it and like find a really like great sense of like joy in it and and and experience and so yeah, that that's my end of it.

SPEAKER_03 48:16

You know, I love the fact that you all view this as coming home, coming back to Attaboy is kind of like coming home, and that is such a an amazing thing to to have in your life. After three albums, years of friendship, distance, growth, and change, what does Attaboy represent to each of you today that maybe it didn't years ago?

SPEAKER_05 48:42

I don't know. I I just can't help but feel like you know, there's a there's things that I understand have like a natural end, but I also think that there's something that's really and I've noticed this in like different relationships through my life and in my marriage that like you know I I'm a little bit of a quitter, I'm a little bit of a bailer, you know. I'm a I'm a I'm a bit of a like when it gets a little wonky, I'm gone. And you know, I think um I think that Attaboy is a great representation of like there's some really cool stuff that can come with sticking sticking it out and that like it will find its end. That conversation will happen when it happens, if it needs to happen. But while things, while the train is still moving, uh it's really worth sticking it out. I mean, there's a lot of things that like I've said, like I've learned about myself and like I've learned about these this band and and my friends, and like uh that I wouldn't have had I decided to bail, which I could have like easily done in like my fear and like self-centeredness, and um and I and I think there's something to be said about like sticking things out when it's hard. I know that ends up sounding like such a cliche, but that's that's what Ataboy is for me right now, to be honest. Because it's such it's such a it's such a gift and it's such a like rewarding thing to go, wow, that's that was worth sticking. That's it. This has been worth sticking out. This has been worth doing the scary thing.

SPEAKER_01 50:27

Again, what are we supposed to say now?

SPEAKER_05 50:30

Sorry this part out.

SPEAKER_03 50:35

That was such a that that was such a well thought out answer. Honestly, this has been nothing short of a pleasure. I have really enjoyed getting to know all of you and getting to know more about the project. You guys are going on tour in July, right? Um what can we look forward to on tour?

SPEAKER_05 50:56

Just I think hoping that these songs can translate on stage sonically somehow. Um I feel like these release shows are kind of gonna be our like uh our testing ground for like how these songs play live. Um the sort of luxury that we had in the past was like we had all this time to ruminate and know these songs. Granted, we hadn't played them together, but they were really, really easy arrangements to play live. And these are a little bit more complicated. Um, so I just hope, you know, I hope that everybody can sort of stick with us, stick it out with us, have some patience with us while we figure it out. But I I hope that these these shows can be like a celebration with people who have been there for us and who have listened for a long time and newer listeners that are interested. And I just really hope to God that they that they can be some good trial trials for hopefully uh more more shows later.

SPEAKER_02 52:02

There's some people who have been to like all three of our New York shows and who have said like every time like it we can tell you guys are getting more and more comfortable on stage. Um, and I just appreciate um interacting with the people who are kind of coming along with us on this experience and and seeing us grow as a band, too. Uh, because as much as you know the four of us can reflect on us as a band, there is this outside perspective of us that is enjoying watching our journey. And um, we haven't played in LA in a long time, and it's kind of a hometown show, and um, I'm really looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_03 52:42

Silt drops on June 26th. Are you guys going to do physical copies? You're gonna release it on vinyl because I'd love to get a vinyl copy of this.

SPEAKER_04 52:52

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_03 52:52

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 52:53

We can get you a vinyl, Mike.

SPEAKER_03 52:55

Yes, awesome, awesome, awesome. I absolutely love it. Guys, why don't you tell everybody where they can find you online and listen to your music?

SPEAKER_02 53:06

Um, on Instagram, our handle is we are attaboy, YouTube, we are attaboy, our Shopify, I believe, is we areattaboymyshopify.com, which we're trying to change that just to weareattaboy.com. We'll let you know if that changes in the future. That's where our shop, our tour tickets, uh, and uh links to all of the streaming services with our our music on it. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 53:30

Guys, I like I said before, I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, getting to know all of you. Um, you know, let me be a conduit. I would love to have you on again in the future. Uh Eden Dash, Freddie, Lewis. Thank you guys for the art. It's amazing. The world is a much better place with all of you guys in it.

SPEAKER_05 53:51

Oh, thank you so much, Mike. This this has been so awesome. And yeah, this this is great. We'd love to come back on.

SPEAKER_03 53:59

Once again, I'd like to thank Eden Dash. Freddie and Lewis for joining me on the show today. Make sure you give them a follow at WeAreAdABoy on Instagram. Check out still, it comes out very soon. They've got tons of music on all the streaming platforms. Check that out as well. While you're being generous with followers, make sure you're following at CaughtOntheMike on all social media platforms. Go to my YouTube channel and give me a subscribe. Share your favorite episodes with some of your friends. You can also find me www.cotonthemic.com. Find out a little bit more about me. My full episode catalog is also listed there. You can shoot me an email, caught on the mic at gmail.com. This has been CaughtOntheMic with Michael Clark. I'm Michael Clark. Until next time. Thank you.