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A Coming Of Age Story With SPIKE SLAWSON From ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:12
  This is Spike Slawson from Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and you're tuning
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  in to Heavy mag Yeah a full Spike, thanks for joining us today,
• 0:22
  brother, not at all, thanks for having me alright, pleasure save me
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  first of the Gimme Gimmes release your new live album Blow It at Madison's Hinsigeta
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  on June the fortance mate, like it's not well done? I did it
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  or I didn't? I well said, yes, she's not your first radio
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  or Bob mister brace So did do you still get nervous at this stage of
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  the career before an album comes out? Absolutely? But it was our first
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  Pinsignta party, and uh, you know, like it's devised. It's intended
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  to be awkward and comic and tragic all at once, and so when if
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  it is a success, then it's likely going to be excruciating in the moment,
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  if that makes any sense. Like it's very nerve wracking. Like so,
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  like we vetted the contestants that won the dubious prize of having us play
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  their Contineta party, and we want to make sure that there were no natural
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  allies in attendance, like nobody that knew who we were or was going to
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  be inclined to liking us or our performance. That was very important to us.
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  But then and it was the right decision. But when I was about
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  to go out and actually face the crowd, it was it was difficult,
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  it was a challenge, but we had a good time the crowd. Eventually
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  they turned around. I think we finally played a song from this millennium and
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  that that made a big difference, I think. And there were light sticks
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  and snacks and refreshments and so and Furthermore, in the in the intermission between
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  our two sets and after our second and last set, the DJ played for
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  hours music that Madison and her friends liked and recognized and could dance too.
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  So they had a great time. But you know, while we were playing
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  that there, it was definitely touch and go. At some certain points,
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  people were leaving in droves. At at one point you could see like there
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  were some people that were giving me kind of nasty looks. There were people
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  writing messages to one another, you know, sort of surreptitiously and looking us
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  up at us and shake. You can see it in some of the some
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  of the video footage. Yeah, we're not for everybody. I guess,
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  but uh, you know, to our credit, I will say, I
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  think we turned it around. Much like any of our live shows, any
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  any successful live show, at least to me, Uh, we're able to
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  troll a crowd to the point of uh vocal expressions of displeasure, maybe even
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  booing before we reel them back in and make friends and uh and you know,
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  funny enough, I was just talking about this. Those those are sometimes
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  your best. Uh. You sell the most T shirts on those nights when
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  you when you really when you get the crowd aggravated, you know, and
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  when you feel when when you make them feel like they're not necessarily in on
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  the joke, like they don't know whether they should be offended or uh you
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  know, you know, uh humored or it's it's uh, you know.
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  I I think that's the secret to our success. Though it may be very
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  fine line too, isn't it between being pissed off, being excited, being
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  tanned on, oh, being repulsed. Yeah, they're not distant cousins,
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  Like I gotta say, they're definitely related. Now I'm guessing kids Yeta is
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  a Spanish for it because of the accent over the aisle. Like I've here
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  in Australia. We've got no idea what that is. Bryce, can you
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  tell us what it actually is. It's a sweet fifteen birthday party, so
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  in and I don't know how widespread it is, but I don't think that
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  that you like, it's it's a common thing in Spain, for example,
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  but certainly in Mexico and Central America. It is a big event not only
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  in a fifteen year old girl's life, but in her family's life, because
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  that is it's a girl's coming of age ceremony. In fact, we learned
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  a song called La lutima muneka, which means the last doll, and that
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  song is about she's wearing lipstick, that she's changing and developing, and he
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  never gives the doll to her, he just keeps it behind his back.
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  And the song is meant to be kind of sad, but also like a
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  celebration of you know, of coming of age. So that's kind of what
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  it is. And you know, some of them people, you know,
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  what fifteen year olds need like five cakes, you know, at their party,
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  but you know, and this one certainly did not have five kegs.
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  There were snacks and refreshments. But so in other words, it's it's a
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  big event for the family as well, for her uncles and cousins and mom
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  and dad, and they definitely have a good time too, right That actually
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  writes a good point, like Matta said, like as if Daniel or they
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  can't afraid that I didn't really give a fuck about much in the world.
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  But how did a parent like a parent isn't a big deal for them,
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  Like how did they go over it? Like would they did they get angry
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  or did they started to sit back and enjoy the experience. They sat back
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  and enjoyed it. Some of her uncles got a little mad at some of
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  the off color jokes that that that we told nothing inappropriate, but uh,
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  you know, like I said, it was touch and go at points.
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  But mom and Dad really dug it. And I talked to Madison afterwards and
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  she had a great time. And as I said, the DJ played a
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  lot of music that they could actually dig in. To our credit, we
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  did play an Olivia Rodrigo song, so you know, we can get contemporary
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  with the best of cover bands now listening throw it by like I've been with
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  changes from Black Sabbath, which sounded like it went down like a lead balloon,
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  like hindsight what you're like, Yes, absolutely, no, it wasn't
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  hindsight hindsight. I was happy that I did it. It was the present
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  tense that I had a hard time with, Like, man, am I
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  really about to go out and play a black Sabbath song? And we did,
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  and like I said, it was an inside joke. So it is
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  a very fine line between like because we did not want to mock the family
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  at all, especially not on a special day. But at the same time,
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  we were trying to make something humorous for hopefully for them, for ourselves,
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  for the people that will hopefully listen to the record and find it humorous,
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  like for example, like I'm proud of the music on the record,
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  but I think a lot of what we'll really put the listener in the moment
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  is in between the songs is and you can sort of hear how excruciating certain
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  moments were, as in people leaving and just people sort of staying seated in
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  their chairs, like it wasn't you know, hey, move up? Like
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  how many times can you say that, you know before it starts to sound
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  like begging, you know, but go ahead, It's no no on that
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  matter, Like you've kept in like in the between song comments and and all
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  the bands. I like, is that all fa income from the night?
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  Or did you go back later on and something there? No, that was
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  all? That was all from the night. You know, some of it
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  is some of it's premeditated, but a lot of it is. You know,
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  it's I never know how to troll the crowd until I'm in front of
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  a crowd, if that makes any sense. As far as like the timing
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  and as far as you know, like writing those fine lines that you spoke
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  about, like it's it's uh, it's like it's a chemistry. You can
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  write things down that you'd like to say, but you know, maybe a
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  third of them or less actually work. And it's all about chemistry. And
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  that's what's to me, is so hard to capture about any kind of recording,
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  and to me, like a great record, the mark of a great
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  record would be that it is an event that sort of resonates and snowballs through
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  time and people interpret and misinterpret and make up stories in their head about You
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  do it subconsciously every time you listen to a record, like I wonder what
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  it was like in the recording studio, like Exile on Main Street, Like
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  you know, things like that are actually famous or there's like documented history about
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  how it went down. But I'm sure a lot is fabulated. And I'm
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  sure a lot of the stuff like you listen to it, and then the
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  more people that do that, you make a record kind of like a mythical
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  kind of thing. And so my cheat code to uh to having a record
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  like that was to actually make it an actual event and uh and have that
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  sort of resonate through time. And there is video footage so you can actually
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  see that we weren't you know, that's not prefabricated or anything like that,
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  and uh, you can see what a horrible time her friends and family are
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  having, at least for the first forty five minutes or so. But but
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  there's a lot that I hope, you know, just it's exemplary of what
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  our live show is. Like there's at one point that you actually seeing happy
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  Birthday to medicine, right, like did she bush? Did she? Did
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  she? Did you? How did you manus your freaker out? No?
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  I think she was like you know, I think she was embarrassed by us
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  or something like that, like well, you know what I mean, Like
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  we were an overweening parent or something like that. You know what I mean,
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  like out of here, gimmes, you know what I mean? Like
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  it, you know, no, uh no, she she kept her composure.
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  She was dressed beautifully, she had a huge Kinsignetta dress. And no,
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  she did not betray any you know, she didn't blush or uh.
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  And she was a good sport throughout the entire thing. And uh. And
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  that that was important to me. To see that she had actually had a
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  good time was the most important thing, because had she had a bad time,
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  had we just been purely trolls, I would have felt terrible. Bless
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  her cotton socks. Yeah, yes, I faceured a horn section for the
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  first time. Made like, how was that? That guy down? Pretty
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  good? I mean it, you know they uh A lot of the times
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  they well, I would say they they they wrote a good line, uh,
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  sort of in the middle of honoring the original arrangements and sort of creating
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  their own based on different time signatures and velocity and all that kind of stuff.
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  I think they did great and I think it really added to the It
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  made it feel like a party, like an extravaganza event sort of. You
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  know. I think by the time we got the horn players out, people
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  are like, okay, all right, like these guys aren't just taking the
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  piss, you know what I mean, Maybe we'll move up and dance a
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  little bit. So yeah, I was very happy we were able to include
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  that. I think, like I'm not crazy about like nineties SKA by any
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  means, but like, like, for example, I was just talking about
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  the Saints the first track on Eternally Yours, which I'm sure you're familiar with,
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  and that's like, that's got a whole win section and it's one of
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  the toughest punk songs ever or rock songs for that matter, ever played.
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  And uh no, man Alice Cooper. There's a lot of great examples of
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  wind sections in rock music and that and we we only did it in the
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  in the in the Mexican songs, so uh that was another thing in songs
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  where that that already had that either had wind cards or like the string parts
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  that that could be imitated with horns. So yeah, and both the guys
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  both as players, they're both inimitable. Yeah, professionals just like yourselves.
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  Brother, Oh you're sweet to say that. Just say somebody's stumbled across this
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  interview made and they've got no idea what the funk we're talking about, Like,
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  what's the best way to introduce him to me? First in the gimme
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  gimmes and then what you do well. I'm hoping that this record will be
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  you know, like we've we've been playing and recording since ninety six or so,
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  but this record is is like a culmination of what we've been doing the
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  whole time and how we've been developing our live set. I say developing,
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  but it's just really just a trolling instinct, like I can't you know,
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  like praise and unconditional, unfettered applause. It's like it kind of turns my
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  stomach a little bit. Like that might sound condescending, an elitist or something,
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  but I would much rather you know, have it pepper with some booze
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  and some and like I said, man, you sell more T shirts on
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  those nights. I don't know why. It's something about the human animal,
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  like we love to be trolled. And then you know, as long as
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  you close the circle and you're laughing and you pretend to be friends at the
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  end and everything, I think that's the key. But like, you know,
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  the further you take to the point where they're not sure if they're supposed
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  to be offended or like disapproving. Uh, the better, the better,
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  merch night you're gonna have Why, I don't know. That's just the way
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  it is human nature, right, Spie. Well, thanks very much for
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  you, Tom Brod. It's been a pleasure speaking with you. Blow it
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  at Medicine's Kin. Signetta is out June the fourteenth, and it's another slab
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  of excellent from me, person to give me, give me So think yoursel
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  as a favorite, said well, said Kig, you said it, he
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  said, exactly right. You know what. We're a band of all ages,
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  all genres, and this song is proof. I know you're gonna dig
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  it. It's very contemporary, right guys, So let's take it away if
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  you like, as you only reasonly found a new girl little until it goes
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  up movies and theaber. When you said that you wanted to give me the
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  world and then get you gets you do a thing on yourself. I guess
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  I tell her, I guess I'm time for your truly help that you can
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  dear better menth with girl, good body here you're the county and hell and
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  not you're doing a count and nize good. You know you're doing later without
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  the bay got on? Can I get out on the time by start back
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  around that out that good part well got through you. I guess you carrying
• 16:53
  everything you won't everybody new car and your current and they take that offense that
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  you never even have a and you walking up the fucking this art without you
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  was like you never read that when you saw that got over the only person
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  ever got you. It's truth happen to you. You're gonna happen awaken,
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  Do I do good? Ting you your cap being hell and not? You
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  have a had a half good God of you. You're doing that up then
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  without big baby got over. Then I gig get out by mine, I
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  stacked the night, drive back though, start back in a ready out.
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  I good for you. Damn meim to mootional. Your opcy is like a
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  wood dissel. Let me him to emotional. Maybe you never carried out of
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  love. Maybe I'm too mulctal your rap things like oh this, Maybe I'm
• 18:06
  too mootional. Maybe you now okay, goot for you your capy and help
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  not you. You have a had a house cood for you, and do
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  it. Bet I may without me baby, look at that somebody about I
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  love my mind. I spent the night, fire out of my home,
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  start affecting around and gogad I got got my thank you, thank you so
• 18:44
  much, all right,