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Reactive Elements In Music With FABIAN JOCHUM From THE NARRATOR · HEAVY Music Interviews

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  Speaker 1: I am a fabian. I am the front vocalist for
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  Speaker 1: German metalcore combo called The Narrator. Yeah, we're going to
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  Speaker 1: release a new album called Phosphorum next month, and yeah
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  Speaker 1: we're here to talk a little about it.
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  Speaker 2: I think fantastic. Thanks for joining us from Hell Yeah
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  Speaker 2: I view him.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're welcome.
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  Speaker 4: As you start by the Narrator Unlesh your second albums
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  Speaker 4: on that eighth.
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  Speaker 2: So how you feel about it?
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely exciting, excited, like finally the like it's close to
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  Speaker 1: when the album is going to be released, and yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I couldn't be couldn't be more excited.
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  Speaker 4: Actually, yeah, can you tell us a bit more about
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  Speaker 4: the album from a musical point of view when you're
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  Speaker 4: going forward it?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, like after our first album Lore, we wanted to
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  Speaker 1: change our sound a little bit, and.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, what is cool about that album?
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  Speaker 1: Like we basically Tom and me wroted, but with another
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  Speaker 1: person from from Colonne that like kind of helped us
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  Speaker 1: writing the album and did a lot of like like
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  Speaker 1: not like writing actual songs, but helping us to improve
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  Speaker 1: and evolve or sound with like more. Uh like if
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  Speaker 1: I call it electronic influences, it maybe gets the wrong point.
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  Speaker 1: But there's like a lot of noise stuff happening that
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  Speaker 1: like makes the whole sound of the album feel like
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  Speaker 1: more more based, more huge whatever, And like the whole
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  Speaker 1: recording process was like very fun because we like we
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  Speaker 1: we structured everything different from the album before because we
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  Speaker 1: had like way way.
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  Speaker 3: Less time than before.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we are absolutely happy with the with the result,
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  Speaker 1: Like we definitely pushed the boundaries.
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  Speaker 3: Of the genre. Like of course we we are a
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  Speaker 3: metalcore band. There are a lot of other bands, but.
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  Speaker 1: For us, we really created a sound that we would
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  Speaker 1: like to listen to, like from like tracks that have
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  Speaker 1: like very popish influence, like with big choruses and like
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  Speaker 1: very slow paced to like absolute like hardcore bangers with
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  Speaker 1: like like hip hopish like showered flows, and like definitely
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  Speaker 1: some very hard straight face parts and yeah, we can't
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  Speaker 1: we can't wait to show you.
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  Speaker 3: Also, like we.
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  Speaker 1: It was very hard for us to pick the singles
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  Speaker 1: for the album, and from from my point of view,
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  Speaker 1: I would have chosen some other tracks for for singles,
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  Speaker 1: but they are obviously still on the album. So I'm
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  Speaker 1: very hyped to like show all of the tracks we've
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  Speaker 1: we've written because like the whole album, like I really
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  Speaker 1: have fun to to to listen to it, So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I'm start too.
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  Speaker 4: When it comes to metal core, I generally I find
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  Speaker 4: it a little bit too whitey, like it's too too
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  Speaker 4: sooky in parts, you know, with the contracting vocals. But
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  Speaker 4: listening to your album, you guys made it tough, like
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  Speaker 4: if you've brought a tough enginesce to it, that takes
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  Speaker 4: away that sort of wishy wash the element.
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  Speaker 2: So I don't know, I don't know what you made
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  Speaker 2: metal cores tough? Again?
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  Speaker 3: Well done, Yeah, that's very much.
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  Speaker 4: You mentioned mentioned your previous album More and and moving
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  Speaker 4: on from that musically with this album. But that album,
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  Speaker 4: like it was your debut album and it was a
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  Speaker 4: massive success for the band. So was it tempting just
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  Speaker 4: to rehash that winning formula and do the same sort
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  Speaker 4: of thing again because you knew it worked, or was
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  Speaker 4: it more important for you to move on musically?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was way more importance to to move on
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  Speaker 1: like we as a band and with with our cruel
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  Speaker 1: like management and stuff. After we released More, we were
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  Speaker 1: we all agreed that we did a good metal core
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  Speaker 1: on that one. But as I said before, there are
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  Speaker 1: like tons of good metacre outputs on in the market
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  Speaker 1: that came out over the past few years, So it
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  Speaker 1: definitely was more important for us to like to evolve
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  Speaker 1: and make make the.
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  Speaker 3: Sound a little bit more and more defined and a.
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  Speaker 1: Little bit more special as you can do it and
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  Speaker 1: that that genre, you know.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Thematically, Foster explores the current global crisis to an exchange,
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  Speaker 4: So can you run us through that and how it
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  Speaker 4: relates to the.
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  Speaker 1: Other Yeah, Like, like the only good thing about that
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  Speaker 1: whole crisis thing and all the the society bush that
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  Speaker 1: we are going through is that you have something to
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  Speaker 1: write about. And that's what, yeah, what what the album
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  Speaker 1: is all about. Like the like the title track Phosphor
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  Speaker 1: sums it up very good that the world actually sucks.
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  Speaker 1: Everybody is should be like selfish as sl at least
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  Speaker 1: selfish people are are seen whatever, and like every every
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  Speaker 1: track of the album kinda tells a different story of
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  Speaker 1: what is going on, like talking for like Aurora for
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  Speaker 1: for examples, like about the whole war bullshit that is
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  Speaker 1: going on in the world right now, like fuck us, like.
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  Speaker 3: Fucked up world leaders.
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  Speaker 1: Can like they can pull off the fucking war, like
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  Speaker 1: talking about Trump, talking about putting like they just they
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  Speaker 1: can't do it, and that's like insane and that's pretty
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  Speaker 1: pretty tough like for for simple guys like us to
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  Speaker 1: to comprehend all that stuff. That's like one of the
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  Speaker 1: one of the bigger topics and songs of the album.
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  Speaker 1: And there's also like like Pills from the Start for example,
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  Speaker 1: which is more like about like toxic toxic friendships and
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  Speaker 1: toxic behavior inside friendships. And so like every every song
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  Speaker 1: tells like a different story of what is going on
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  Speaker 1: in that world. There's like one positive though, two lives,
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  Speaker 1: but like the two two friends you have that kind
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  Speaker 1: of keep your mind sane and like the small safe
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  Speaker 1: space that we have in this very very bucked up world.
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  Speaker 2: So would you say overall it's an album of hyper an.
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  Speaker 4: Album spare spare well, that's why the world is at
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  Speaker 4: the moment in it. So going back to the Holy Days,
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  Speaker 4: the Narrata started Germany back in two thoy seventeen, So
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  Speaker 4: what was the musical climate like in Germany at the
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  Speaker 4: time that gave birth to the band?
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  Speaker 2: Where did you guys in.
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  Speaker 1: All the time times back then where we're very good
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  Speaker 1: If if if I got the question right, you were
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  Speaker 1: asking like how who it was like in the music
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  Speaker 1: scene here when we started the band.
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  Speaker 3: Right, yeah, it was good. But actually we we.
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  Speaker 1: Are kind of blessed with with the area we live in,
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  Speaker 1: Like we're like Western Germany and you're you're alone all
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  Speaker 1: the big cities, and we do have a big music
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  Speaker 1: market here. So we definitely like had our roots in
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  Speaker 1: music and that seemed like you're in our like local
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  Speaker 1: base whatever you want to call it. And yeah, we
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  Speaker 1: had a good time to like actually start a band
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  Speaker 1: testing around or like coming around in our home base
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  Speaker 1: and then like just just grow from there. And yeah,
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  Speaker 1: we were all always like had a good, good like
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  Speaker 1: local music scene, so that was good.
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  Speaker 4: You know a lot of touring and play higgs and
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  Speaker 4: festivals before you release the law was that was that
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  Speaker 4: a deliberately did you plan that just sort of go
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  Speaker 4: out and tour hips you get a bit of a
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  Speaker 4: fan base before you release the album or did it
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  Speaker 4: just work out that way.
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  Speaker 3: That that was that was actually the plan.
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  Speaker 1: Like we obviously wanted to do a album, but we
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  Speaker 1: we wanted some people to actually want an album from us,
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  Speaker 1: like you know what I mean, Like obviously we wanted
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  Speaker 1: to do it as like the best we can do,
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  Speaker 1: and we wanted some some some people to hear it,
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  Speaker 1: so like before we are like we released some some EPs,
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  Speaker 1: some some singles to like keep like keeping the growth of.
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  Speaker 3: Our band up. And Yeah. Then at the time.
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  Speaker 1: We recorded Lore, it really felt like the right time
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  Speaker 1: to do it because we were like experiencing or from
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  Speaker 1: our fan base like to grow and we were like
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  Speaker 1: started to tour for the first time and played some
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  Speaker 1: bigger first, and we were like, Okay, now it's like
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  Speaker 1: it's a good point to finally release and record an
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  Speaker 1: album and like like for the first album we ever released,
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  Speaker 1: it work like like where too good?
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  Speaker 4: Actually, do you remember the first time you heard one
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  Speaker 4: of your songs on radio?
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  Speaker 2: And then where you were what's song?
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  Speaker 4: It was?
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  Speaker 3: Oh? But actually I think I don't.
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  Speaker 1: I don't ever heard a song of us playing playing
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  Speaker 1: on the radio.
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  Speaker 3: Actually, No, like.
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  Speaker 1: We we I know that we recorded like radio edits
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  Speaker 1: before because we were like like swearing too much. I knew,
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  Speaker 1: I knew there are versions that could like play on
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  Speaker 1: the radio, but but unfortunately I've never I never heard it.
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  Speaker 2: No, do you think you react you reckon, you're freak out?
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  Speaker 2: Or do you reckon you love it?
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, Maybe maybe I would cringe for a second.
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  Speaker 3: Actually this is pretty cool. There are songs playing.
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  Speaker 1: On the radio, but I I think most of the
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  Speaker 1: time I would enjoy it because actually that's that's just
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  Speaker 1: pretty cool.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you guys have toured extensively throughout Europe, right, but
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  Speaker 4: you haven't made it over to Australi yet.
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  Speaker 2: So you're gonna write those wrongs and all in the future.
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  Speaker 3: Hopefully, hopefully, man I.
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  Speaker 1: Australia is like had had had a big influence of
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  Speaker 1: us as as musicians because of your great music scene,
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  Speaker 1: like like back in the days, we were like all
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: listening to like like Parkway Drive, in Hart's Wake, the Amity,
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  Speaker 1: a Fliction, whatever, and coming coming to Australia would be
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  Speaker 1: like one of like the bigger bucket list things we have.
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  Speaker 1: We would love to to come to Australia, but unfortunately
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  Speaker 1: there aren't any plans yet. But maybe I don't know
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  Speaker 1: if next year, like maybe twenty seven, maybe twenty.
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  Speaker 3: Eight, but we we sure sure want to want to
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  Speaker 3: come to Australia definitely.
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  Speaker 4: Right before, I might have started a new segment called
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: fighter Bombs, so I'll basically throw through your social media
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: before we got a chat, my fan fighter.
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  Speaker 2: Is I want you to explain a little bit more
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: birth of all.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, first of all, I got like this looks like
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  Speaker 4: a beautiful moment that's been forever immortalized on film, but
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  Speaker 4: I don't want to talk about that.
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  Speaker 2: Like I'm interested in the space.
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  Speaker 4: You got behind you there and how big that bandary means.
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  Speaker 4: But in Australia we have nothing that size.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I can remember that place. This is in Osna Brook.
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  Speaker 1: It's like more middle northern Germany. This was in I
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  Speaker 1: think January twenty twenty five where we supported like German
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  Speaker 1: metal powerhouse, powerhouse any given day. And this is a
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  Speaker 1: very good friend of us. This is this is Yannis.
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  Speaker 1: He's one of our crew members and one of the
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  Speaker 1: loveliest guys that I know. And yeah, that that backstage
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  Speaker 1: it was it was huge. Actually I don't really think
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  Speaker 1: it is if it was meant to be an actual
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: backstage room, but this was like it was a wat
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  Speaker 1: way too big and we've hardly experienced bigger backstages than
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: this one.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't look after you all over there.
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  Speaker 4: And I got chalked through Amsterdam with a tribute band
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  Speaker 4: called Akadaka, And I remember one we got one of
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  Speaker 4: the best we got to Like, we dropped it here
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  Speaker 4: off in the afternoon because we got there late, then
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: went back to the hotel for the shower. Well, the
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  Speaker 4: time we got back, they set the whole stage up
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  Speaker 4: for us, and then as soon as we finished, they
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  Speaker 4: jumped on stage and they unpacked it for us. They
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  Speaker 4: packed everything and down. I'm like, they were just so
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: so gracious. It's so nice there, and then the rooms
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  Speaker 4: are all that size. It was, it was great over there.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not sure it is that you know.
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  Speaker 4: The second photo I've got for you, mate, like, this
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  Speaker 4: is obviously been photo shop, but I cannot figure out
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  Speaker 4: how you've done it. Here are those two guys on
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  Speaker 4: the roof, the two guys up the top there. Can
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: you see the two guys.
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  Speaker 3: This is a mirror.
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  Speaker 2: It's a mirror.
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  Speaker 3: A mirror it is It is a mirror.
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  Speaker 1: I've never never looked at this from from that perspective,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: but I haven't seen that before.
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  Speaker 3: I was like, what's going on on that photom.
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  Speaker 4: And look like they're lying on the top day Then
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  Speaker 4: I thought, now they can't because they're hanging upside down.
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  Speaker 2: If they are, but I'll tried to figure out what it.
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  Speaker 3: Was, but that is just a mirror.
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  Speaker 1: But because because because of the flash of the camera,
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  Speaker 1: they they look different. But this, like the people are
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  Speaker 1: Tom and Fritz just mirrored upside down.
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  Speaker 2: It looks awesome.
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  Speaker 3: Dude, I've never seen that before.
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  Speaker 1: Actually, I was like, yeah, that's a cool crew pick
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: in the nightliner and haven't haven't seen that the mirror
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  Speaker 1: thing up there?
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  Speaker 2: Tell everyone about it.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks for showing me, Thanks for showing me.
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  Speaker 4: No, thanks for you trying the album poss B. The
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  Speaker 4: album made the eighth and I had a good listener
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  Speaker 4: before we chat. A man like I say, it's one
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  Speaker 4: of the toughest metal core albums I've heard. Right, so
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  Speaker 4: well done and hopefully you do make it out.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you very much, my friend.
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  Speaker 2: You take care.