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Kenny and Tommy of Water Tower · Caught on the Mike...

• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Caught on the Mic.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mike.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you're anything like me, but as the summer starts to wind down, my music taste kind of evolves a little bit.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: I know whenever I get to fall, there are three artists that tend to take up my playlist.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's usually the Misfits, Gregory Alan Isaacov, and then the Bill Evans trio.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you could not be three more separate directions than those three artists.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: And these guys kind of embrace a similar ethos in a roundabout way.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Punk rock attitude, bluegrass music.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love it.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: I am pleased to welcome Kenny and Tommy from Watertower to the show today.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: How the heck are you guys?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Good, grateful to be here.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having us.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to have you guys.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's awesome.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I love uh I think the Misfits are awesome.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: And uh Gregory Alan Isaacov as well and uh Bill Evans.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I have a Bill Evans tape up here in my tape collection.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a big fan of all the Bill Evans stuff, so those are really cool artists that you mentioned and uh cool emotions for the fall.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: You guys kind of set a similar tone.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like I listen to your music and I'm thinking, like, it's time to get in the hay rack ride, go to the pumpkin patch, pick some pumpkins, and celebrate the fall.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: The only way those of us podunks in the Midwest know how.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: We've we've definitely done some pumpkin patch gigs in our time back in the day.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm sure.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: So Watertower started back in 2005 in Portland.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Can you guys take us back to those early days and what sparked the idea to fuse bluegrass with punk rock energy?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, totally.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh I started the band back in 05 with some friends of mine, and we kind of we were the water tower bucket boys at that point, and we went through a lot of different iterations and lineup, and we toured all around the world, but then sort of I was facing my own uh problems through addiction and stuff like that.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: And and basically what happened was we had a whole history and like a rise and a fall arc and rebuilt in 2020, and that's when I met Tommy and we we started, he helped me rebuild the band and start from scratch really, uh, except um you know there was still the vision of continuing to do bluegrass with the with punk rock, but uh we really kind of I was just at the freeway off ramp for like from like 2014 till 2020, and then I that's when I met Tommy.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, come on out to the off ramp and let's uh let's do this thing.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: And and we kicked the bucket at that point and just called it water tower.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, see, he was he was playing at the freeway off ramp, and and then like he was about to quit playing on the freeway off ramp.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, good point.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: He I saw him, he like posted on Facebook.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: I I had known he was doing that, and I was like doing some other stuff.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_03: I had jammed with him a couple times, and then uh but then you know I I was like, wait, dude, don't stop.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: I want to go out there and and play on the freeway off ramp with you.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: And then uh so I saved him from quitting the the off ramp.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: And then uh but yeah, it was uh that was like that was like the start of like I guess maybe like the new chapter of Watertower in a way.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: It was like the fan and kind of falling apart a little bit and then um and then like you know, we we were going busking a lot for you know a few months out on the off ramps like every day, going out at like six in the morning, you know, trying to get the morning rush hour traffic crowd in in Los Angeles.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: And then um and then the pandemic hit.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: We were roommates too, so then then we started doing a bunch of live streaming and stuff, and then coming out of the pandemic is you know, started things started to like kind of pick up a lot, you know, last five years.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I was gonna ask.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Is retooling this project during the heat of a global pandemic, you know, that's kind of an unconventional time to like really bear down and grit down on a on a musical project such as yours.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: How did that um influence the development of the band doing it at that point in time?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: I would say kind of, yeah, like Tommy was saying, you know, he he really provided that solidarity for me wanting to continue doing the busking.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: And then when the pandemic hit, it was like we had so much momentum going that there was no way we were about to stop, and we couldn't go to the off-ramp, so it was like, all right, let's just busk online.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so we just went full speed, you know, we were releasing a record, our first record as Water Tower, and uh, we just had so much momentum at that point that we just we did 12 and 5 every day on Facebook, and sometimes we do YouTube and Instagram and and really kind of just build this community and rebuilt and reconnected with a lot of the relationships that I had sort of severed through, you know, just kind of before Tommy came along, just like you know, just being kind of a really a terrible band at points there and just like not performing well and you know pissing people off in that sense.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, what do you think, Tommy?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: When I think about it, yeah, it's like kind of like what you said was you know, we we were busking um right before the pandemic.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, probably, you know, like December of 2019 or something like that.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's like when I got my first banjo.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, we were going out there like almost every day for like five or six hours a day, and we were just I don't know, we were really inspired at that point, and we were we were on a high, I would say, you know.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um Kenny had just uh you know, he had cleaned up like a couple of years before that, and then I had quit drinking, and so I was in this, I don't know, I was just in a really positive, you know, like headspace, I guess, you know, and then so we were just having just a blast, just being out there playing music for people in the early morning, and you know, I don't think like I hadn't done any sort of like music where I was like making money from it at all.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_03: And so we were street performing, people are tipping us, and so I'm just like ecstatic, you know, like oh my gosh, people are giving giving us money to play music and this is great, you know.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_03: I'm learning a new instrument, you know, and then obviously the pandemic hit, but we were just we were just on such a kind of like a like a high that we um you know that we we just kind of were like we're not gonna stop, we're we're just gonna keep it going.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: And then um I think you know, feeding off of that too, is like it was a time where everybody was isolated and they needed some sort of connection.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: So when we started doing the streaming, it was kind of like I guess it was just this kind of positive energy that that everything was kind of like you know, feeding off of, you know, it was like just the cleaning up, like getting you know, getting rid of like the the stuff in our life that was holding us back, and then and then when you know when the pandemic hit, then everybody kind of like I feel like we we just kept putting that energy out there and it was like a perfect kind of time for that that energy, I guess.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know, people really needed, you know, something to look forward to every day, and you know, we were looking forward to it, and so we kind of built this community online of, you know, just people that were you know just enjoying that positivity, I think.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: One thing that I've noticed about you guys in particular is you know, five years later, you guys haven't shied away from the online performance format, like you've actually utilized that and made it a tool for for your band.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really enjoyable to go through and watch all the little videos that you guys make, whether it be busking or well, actually most of them are busking, but but different types of performances.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: How do you consciously and like effortlessly weave different worlds together and the types of music that you guys are writing?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like we play bluegrass music and stuff, but we we grew up in California, so I think you know, especially like me, like I didn't really even know much about bluegrass until 2019, 2020.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I think when it comes to just the stuff that we write, I think it just kind of naturally comes out.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like if we're trying to be authentic, you know, it's like I can't just start writing a song about like you know, driving a tractor or something like that, you know, I'm gonna feel kind of like weird.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: And so I feel like it's just like we gotta just like write about the stuff that we're experiencing in a way, and then you know, all of our influences are gonna kind of like like come, you know, come through and just like um in what we write, you know.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_03: It's like we we really like a lot of different types of music, you know.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: We obviously love bluegrass, um, but it's just um, you know, I feel like I just spent you know so much of my life just listening to all sorts of different stuff and I still do, so it's kind of hard to stop it from coming coming through in the music, you know.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: That is like the perfect setup because that's how we s started the episode, you know.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: I talked about the three different directions, you know, and and as a as a musician or you know, retired performing musician, I should say, myself.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: I I I think that's a commonality that musicians don't discuss publicly enough is the fact that every really good musician worth their salt exists in different lanes.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: They don't just commit themselves to one lane and stay there, you know, they're constantly influenced, constant students of different things.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: What are your thoughts on that, Kenny?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: Living in the city and playing bluegrass in the city and our experience of playing music on the streets really informed it and what we came through.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: But the main thing is just yeah, being true to the music that we like to create and and and the music that is expressed through us that we get to to celebrate together, because I think music is just a celebration of life, and and we get to kind of contribute to that joy for each other and for ourselves and for the people around us, contribute to lessening of the suffering.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, you kind of mentioned being out on the streets, and and what's so cool was was getting to go out there with Nick Hexham, you know, uh, which is is not a normal like he had never done that before.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we were talking about rehearsing for the tour coming up next month, and uh it just made sense.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, hey, well, why don't you meet me and Tommy at the off ramp?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and he was like, uh okay.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I mean I was like, well, you know, like rather than rent a rehearsal studio, we could get paid to rehearse, and you know, we'll really we'll have to test our music out uh car by car and really get feedback that way.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, blending the worlds together, it's like the way we create content is that Jessica, our content person who's actually here.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, there's Jessica.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: She's the one who does all the content magic, but like she just uh documents what we do.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: So like we don't ever really create content like Jessica just or if she's not there, then we pull a phone out and we just document what's going on in our world, and that's the the kind of the color that we like to put out there online.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think the thing about this modern world is everything is content.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: You just gotta get over that hump of being uncomfortable, like, or get comfortable with being uncomfortable and just put yourself out there, and that's kind of what tends to grab audiences more frequently.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: What were some of those drive-by reactions whenever you were out there with Nick?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because I imagine they were pretty crazy.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, the ones I remember were people being like just kind of double taking and then just just sort of being like, Nick, you know, waving and just them knowing who it was.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: And then the great thing too was people freaking out in the comments later, being like, Where is this?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: What how could this happen?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, and I don't know, Tommy, do you remember any reactions?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: Or you know, obviously, like you know, people will drive by and then like they'll be like, Nick, like you know, and then you'll be like, Nick, do you know is that your friend?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_03: And he's like, No, it's just probably somebody that knows me or something.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_03: But I mean, I feel like people are really stoked, but one of the cool things about the interactions that I see out there is is like Nick when he's out there, because you know, like we've been doing it for a while, and you know, just there's like this feeling of like, you know, when somebody pulls up with a car and then they they roll down their window and they you know, you know, they're gonna tip you and they want to hear a little bit of music, and so you run up to them and they like you perform for them, you know, and just seeing Nick really get into that and like you know, somebody rolls down their window and he wants to like give them, you know, that that you know piece of music that's just gonna like give them that experience that they're gonna cherish, you know, and just seeing how thrilled he gets off of that, and it's like just knowing that that's like what we've been doing for a while, and it's like it's just so cool to be able to share that experience with Nick too, you know.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's like because it's such a I don't know, it it's such a fun thing when somebody's you know, just it's in the morning, early morning, somebody's in traffic, and then they're just so excited to see music, you know, and they they get that little interaction in the morning, you just see how happy it makes them.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Before I ask, and before we get into how your collaboration with Nick Hexham came about, you know, I just want to know if you guys have had a similar observation with Nick that I have.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: It feels like he's kind of stepping back into that DIY ethos himself and kind of relearning what it is to kind of start at, you know, I don't want to say ground level, but like at a different level than what he's been for 30 years plus, which I think is really exciting for his fan base to see.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, I mean, I I don't know, like how do you guys how do you how have you guys observed that?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's awesome.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'll I'll start this one off, and I love what what Tommy said too, because yeah, Nick is uh so humble and so kind and and he's just such um an inspiration and a light and uh you know just just such a big heart and the it was so cool to to see like on the first day when we went out there, he was a little bit nervous.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean he was nervous and uh you know I don't think he'd be mad at me.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think he's so sweet, so I know and honest, I know he would tell you the same thing is like you know, he in fact he he was like, Oh dude, let's do it like another day, and I was like, Oh man, like we're water tower's going on tour, bro.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this will be the last chance we can do it.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: And he's like, Okay, I'm coming.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then he came and it was it was like we were just we were getting ready in the parking lot, and just how he's like, I'm nervous.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, dude, it's gonna be great.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna go.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: It was just it, I can't believe that this dude who's rocking arenas is is like, you know, I mean, nervous to go to the freeway off ramp.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: But there's something so raw about it, and uh, and like you said, ground level or street level, you know.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: He he's we're coming back to street level, and I I haven't talked to Nick directly about what you just said, but I have observed the same thing.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: It seems like there's a returning to his roots.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: While 311 is is his main passion and his main love, and like that's always his thing.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's this there's these songs and there's a connection to acoustic instruments and bluegrass music of uh of growing up in Omaha and square dancing and all that kind of thing.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: So, yes, I do see it that kind of cool DIY ethos return, which is so fun, and like we've that's just what we do, like we live that, and we're very um so it's it's a cool pairing in that sense.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like what especially like you know, we just played like a pop-up show at the uh the Redwood bar.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: So we did two.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_03: We did one that was in a lake, um, Echo Park Lake, and then um, and then we did one right after that at the Redwood Bar uh in downtown LA.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_03: And um, I remember at one point when we were, you know, we were playing in the in the bar, it's just like kind of like a smaller stage.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, you know, it's like we had just seen Nick play in front of 80,000 people at the warp tour um over the weekend, you know.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_03: And and then like and then we're playing in this small little bar, and you know, and there's a good turnout at the bar, but and and we're just playing these songs, and um at one point in the show, he's just like, This is so fun.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_03: And it was just like cool to see it was just like that intimate setting that was like and this is this new kind of music, and he was just you know, like he was just enjoying it, and then just being there, like you know, like on a smaller stage where you're like you could see the people like right in front of you, you know, they're so close.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, so I think yeah, he he's really enjoying that that part, and I think the fan, the fans are so stoked too, for sure.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they get to be right up there and then you know, um, experience Nick's music in a different way, you know.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, going to what I was leading on earlier, how did that collaboration come about?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: You have some other collaborations that you've done, but this specific one with Nick, how did that come about with you guys?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, it started because basically just um a mutual friend introduced us and was like, hey, I think y'all would get along, you know.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: And we start, you know, one time we were talking online actually, and I had a Dobro, which actually fell behind the chair.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Or not a Dobro, sorry, a Dulcimer, like an Appalachian Mountain, it's just literally behind the chair.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: But he was like, Oh, uh a dulcimer, and I was like, Yeah, you know what that is, that's cool.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: And he was like, Yeah, my my family, like I think his stepfather played it or something back home, and that's like old time, it's an old-timey traditional, like, you know, uh um instrument from here, so you know, influenced from more archaic style instrument, but it is part of our tradition here in America.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so we got to talking about traditional music, and he said he likes bluegrass and old time and country, and you know, I've grown up being a 311 fan my whole life, so it was just it was cool.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: And we started talking about the music, and then one day he kind of told us about hey, I'm thinking about or I'm I'm writing these songs, and I think it needs some fiddle and some banjo.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: And like, you know, I play fiddle, Tommy plays banjo, so I was like, hey, me and Tommy could come over, and we we start we just started jamming and we like wrote five songs, just boom, like that.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: And it was just like, oh, there's some cool chemistry between us here that just doesn't happen every day because we we play with people, collaborate with people all the time.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's what we do in music, right?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: But with Nick, it was like there was this fire lit for all of us where it was like we were just inspired, so that's kind of how it's how it started happening.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: You guys have also worked with uh Ron Reyes from uh Black Fra Flag as well, haven't you?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, Ron's super cool.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he sang the last track on our first record that Tommy and I put out in the pandemic.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, he sang the anthem anthem it's called, and uh which is actually animated music video, uh crazy.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_02: And one little cool thing about that video is that at the end of it, the punks are square dancing with the like country people, and and that's all at the Santa Monica Pier.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: And this was what the animator did.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: This wasn't our vision at all, this was his vision.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: And at Warp Tour a couple weeks ago in Long Beach, we had the punks and the country people square dancing and then doing a mosh pit, and like it was such a cool dream come true five-year plan thing.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, Ron Reyes, Don Bowles from the Germs, uh uh produced a little bit with uh with Tim from Rancid and you know got to work with a lot of our heroes in punk rock through doing this.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um my career from MXPX is singing on our new record, and you know, it's just we love bringing punk rock and bluegrass together because that's the music that we came up on, and and you know, also a lot of hip hop.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: I you know, I know Tommy came up on a lot of that too.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: Same, same.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think we're I think we're all on that same boat, right?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: So have you guys had any specific fan moment where you guys have kind of totally gone fanboy with somebody that you've collaborated with?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, Tommy.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_03: We were in Nashville, and then we we played with Sierra Farrell, and just like meeting her for a second, I was just like, oh my god, it's like Sierra Farrell.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I don't know, it's like I was like talking like, but it's like I feel like I couldn't even like get any words out.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: So stupid.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's cool.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: I felt like that was CR2.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, uh really cool, I think, fanboy moment for me was is when we're playing with Nick on stage, or when when we were standing with Nick on the off-ramp, and we're doing like we we've done some 3-11 songs with him just to kind of like practice and stuff, and just doing songs that I've known for my whole life basically since I was a kid, with the dude standing next to me and with Tommy and the rest of the band, my homies and Nick, and we're literally cars are going by, and I've been doing the freeway off-ramp busking thing for a long time.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: So super fanboy moment then, just like, is this really happening?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I cannot believe it, you know.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: I can kind of I can lend some kinship to that with you know doing this podcast for five years.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: This was this was my pandemic project too, right?
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, when I get the opportunities to pick somebody's brain apart, like Nick, or maybe um, maybe uh DJ abilities from Idea and Abilities or Ant from Atmosphere, since we made the pop or the hip-hop reference, and you can kind of figure out that that guy's mind works in a very similar way that your own does.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's not only a star-struck and awestruck moment, but it's also one of those things where you're like, okay, we're all on the same rock here together, you know, and we have more in common than we do different in a world that's constantly trying to divide us.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: That's beautiful.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm so excited to check out some of the back uh uh back end of backstock of your podcast because I yeah, I love your vibe and your questions and uh who are some of your favorite hip-hop artists?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, I am a I'm a huge rhymesayer's head.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like I love Brother Ali, I love Atmosphere.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, of course, of course, you know, growing up when I did, like at the height of 90s West Coast hip hop, you know, all the classics.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, you know, it's funny, um, my last year, the last time I was in a band, I spent the entire year like immersed in Jay-Z's the black album, you know, his retirement album.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: I spent the whole year, like I'm I'm doing like this um post-hardcore band, like screaming vocals, and I'm spending the entire year either listening to Jason Isbel or Jay-Z's black album.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I I just I don't think I can write this style of music anymore.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh that's cool.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: I look forward to digging to summer music.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: And Tommy and I got to um play before Jason Isbel at Telluride this last summer.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: It was quite quite an honor.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, really cool.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, that is amazing.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you guys have had videos that have hit over a million views.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: What's the story behind one of those viral moments?
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: And did it change the trajectory of the band in the course of the last five years?
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, no, for sure.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think the first one we did was like um we had this video of us like playing on this freeway off ramp in LA, and then um we posted it with the headline, like, is this even okay?
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: And then like the pandemic hit, and then people were like, Oh, wait, is it okay that they're out there like playing?
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: But we were thinking it's like sometimes people are like, No, you shouldn't play in traffic, man.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like, that's not cool, right?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_03: And then like, you know, and so it was just kind of like this whole like a little bit of a controversy thing, but I think that's the thing, is like it it it like pushed it out, and it was like I don't know, there's so many people are like happy to see music, especially it's like bluegrass on freeway offer in LA, right?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's kind of like an uncommon thing, so people are you know, they they they see that and they're just like you know, it's either like you know, somebody's like, no, I don't do that, or it's like, oh my gosh, this is so cool.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's like something you don't see very often.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_03: And um, yeah, I don't know, it's like getting videos like that out there.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, it's like usually when you read through the comments, is like or or even on like some of our other ones, like most like recent videos where we've like put out just like jamming at like telluride and it's like hit people.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's just like that music and especially like the bluegrass music, it's like has that kind of like organic feel.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: It makes people feel very like um I don't know, just just I guess they kind of like catch that vibe of just like you know the acoustic energy, the live music, yeah just the whole organic nature of it, you know, just people getting together and enjoying and jamming together and and they can do it outside too, you know.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's like I think people really connect to that.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_03: They get like a little moment of like happiness injected into their into their life, you know.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's because of our upbringing or like the times that we grew up in, but it does feel like bluegrass music and bluegrass adjacent music makes you feel a little bit closer to the earth, you know, as cheesy as that sounds, but I mean, but honest to God, like you you hit it, you mentioned like listening to that music outdoors, and it it is like the perfect setting for the style of music that you guys do.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's so true.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: I love that, and thanks for mentioning that.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I'll just quickly say before I pull Jessica over here is that it the getting those over a million views and stuff and getting like consistent viral videos has been so integral to us, our career, and like kind of getting to do a lot of the opportunities that we have because then like then there's brand recognition and stuff, and it's been really cool like to go places and for people to be like, wait, you're the dudes who do fiddle and banjo on the side of the road, you know.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's like that's a lot a lot of people know us for.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but Jessica, what do you think about all that?
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: Jessica Mike.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Jessica.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Hi.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, I mean, I would say it has absolutely changed the whole trajectory of the band because um, you know, they've only started being a presence online in 2020.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: And in today's world, it's just so important to like be online and get your music out that way.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: And um even just in the past couple years, since I really started like taking more of a prominent role and just like filming everything we do and like really deliberately trying to, you know, get the music out there and get the videos out there, it's just yeah, it's made such a huge difference.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like now we have all these collaborations and like uh famous actors like following us, and yeah, like Kenny goes places and they're like, Oh, you're that guy with the punk t-shirts that plays fiddle.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um But yeah, we've had to learn so much about marketing.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like before I met them, I pretty much like was working at a law firm.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then um just through falling in love with the band and like the guys and stuff, um me and Kenny taught ourselves marketing and Tommy too.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um and now we don't just do marketing for their band, but we do marketing for like other bands like Nick and stuff.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, while I have your ear, Jessica, let me ask you this.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, in regard to all of this, um, you know, if you were to offer some advice to somebody that's just getting into the online presence and trying to jar that algorithm, um, you know, right now there's a a viral video making its way around where Gary V is talking about how social media is dead.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: Now it's turning into interest media.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: So somebody just establishing an online presence, what's your advice for them?
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, my advice would be to not worry so much about like, you know, getting viral and um and like planning out your content and stuff.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Really the most important thing is to just do it and film everything as much as you can and post as much as you can, and you kind of learn with time, like you start figuring out like where your niche is and like where your people are.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like, on one hand, there's so much good content out there that it is hard to compete, but I think that if you just keep you know putting out really authentic content and trying to make it high quality and trying to just make it look good and look like something you would want to watch, I think that it'll find the people that it's supposed to.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I love that, and I I needed to hear that today.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you very much.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: So shifting gears back to the music part.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Tommy, specifically for you, have you ever noticed or run into any resistance from Purist on either the bluegrass side or the punk side?
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: And how have you responded to it?
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: You it's funny because you hear about resistance, nobody will ever say stuff to your face.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like sometimes sometimes you'll hear stuff like on the back end, or you know, sometimes or you know, it's funny.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_03: There there are some people we were at the IBM A's International Bluegrass Music Association.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and it's um, you know, they give out like awards and stuff, it's a big convention, and um you know, I think honestly, like I think us being different really helps us in general, because we we'll go to these places and they'll you know, a lot of times they'll be like, okay, because you know it's like at the IBM A, it's there's gonna be like a bunch of amazing traditional bluegrass bands, just they're just all over the place.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: You know, there's just hundreds of them, it seems like, and they're just so talented and so good, and then and then like we kind of show up there with our crappy punk rock bluegrass, which is like you know, that's in our Instagram bio.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_03: And then like I think people just kind of it's just like a like a little different, right?
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_03: So you kind of just set yourself apart in an in different way, but um, you know, there's always gonna be people with the you know the like the traditionalists that you know like they're just gonna want traditional music, and it's it's interesting because for us when I was saying like nobody'll ever say that to you, but now I'm remembering when we were at the IBM A's, like there was a couple of these like older dudes that were just hilarious.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_03: They were like, you know, I don't like your music, guys, but I like you and um keep doing what you're doing.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like all right, thank you.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Can any of you ever run into any resistance?
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, a ton of it over the years.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, and and also what what Tommy was saying is like, you know, crappy punk rock bluegrass, that's what we do.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: And what Taylor, our bass player, says is like we undersell and we underdeliver, and like that works for us, you know.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: So special especially at the IBM A is the International Bluegrass Music Association, which is like the yearly conference for bluegrass worldwide.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: And we're really stoked because on our tour, we're bringing Nick there this time.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: And this is like a bluegrass world, like bro.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm telling you, like Tommy said, they are traditional.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh and so to bring Nick is just a special, like it he's like a a comet crashing into the world from you know the music industry at large, you know what I mean?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's like 311 is probably bigger than bluegrass as a genre.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I mean, I don't know, bluegrass is a lot bigger now with think people like Billy Strings and Arena Grass is now a thing.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_02: But prior to that, like you know what I mean, um it I really do see Nick as we're bringing a comet into the bluegrass world to just you know, so it's exciting.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: But yes, people do like like Tommy was saying, we we met with some talent buyers of a festival, and he goes, Listen, we're we're like oil and water, we don't mix.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_02: But he heard us later at a presentation, and he was like, he he was really cool and he came up and he's like, You guys are awesome.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: I I think it was just more that he had read about us and that kind of thing.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, a lot of traditionalists, we piss them off at first, and then we get to know them as people, um, and they're like, Well, they're not so bad, man.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's kind of weird because I've had conversations with friends uh about this very thing about like you get to a certain age in life and you realize how much genre gatekeeping you might have done when you were younger and how stupid it was.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's like when I started like you know, when I when I had kids and like my daughter's like listening to pop mu or pop music on a regular basis, I'm like, man, this is catchy as shit.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Why why did I turn my nose up at it?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: And why was I so snobbish about that as a punk rock or metal kid way back in the day, you know?
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, totally.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_02: I think we learn it, you know, from the people that bring us up, you know, like this is cool, this isn't, and so we want to uphold these, you know, traditions.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: But I know exactly what you mean.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like now I'm I'm super open, but when I was in high school, I was like, oh, you know, I was embarrassed for a period there, it wasn't cool to like Blink 182, like who my favorite band, you know, rancid, blink, uh, Dree Eleven, no FX, and there was like a backlash, I feel like a little bit, and so it was like, if you don't, you know, but but I fully come back to embrace all of that as I got as I got older, you know.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, when I was like 17, I remember people were like clowning on me for like still liking Blink because I'd loved him since I was 10, but you know, I I never shied away from from that.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: So since you guys brought it up, from the Vans Warp Tour to the Tell Your Ride Blues Grass Flight Festival, you're hitting radically different stages.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: How do you adapt your set and energy to those different crowds?
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good question.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm gonna just start by saying the Warp Tour DC was one of the toughest gigs in like my career of music.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like at first, we won them over, like one song in, but going into it, I was like, I was I don't know if we can do this.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like we we do it every night, and you know, but like there was something about all these punks staring at us in the heat, being like looking at us, be like, what there's two banjos on stage.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but we were able to win them over.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and you know, like as far as changing our set, like I'll let you touch on that, Tommy, and see what you think about that.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_02: But like I think we kind of just were ourselves authentic, like Jessica was saying.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we we do a lot of punk covers and stuff, so doing some blink and some rancid and some some 311 and then throwing our originals in there and showing them our attitude and making them square dance and then making them mosh, you know.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_03: You gotta like meet the crowds, like where they're at, especially if they don't know you, you know.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um and then like from there, I think the most important things are like the the moments in the set where where you get people to like get out of their head and like just be a part of the the crowd.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_03: And like for instance, like there's different moments in our set where like we're we'll play a song about like busking on a freeway off ramp, and then we'll have a couple fans and they'll start like throwing money at us, and then like people will start throwing money, and then you know, one you know, there's another moment where we kind of get like a little bit of a like a square dance thing going on, everybody like holding hands in a circle and like moving around, you know, at the van's warp tour, then we like kind of turn that into like a mosh pit.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_03: But a lot of those moments where the crowd can kind of like participate in something, I think that that kind of like makes people I don't know, like it it this is like what my mom said when she saw one of our sets that went really well.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: She was like, you know, when you do stuff like that, like everybody forgets where they're where they're at, like they forget like the things that they're thinking about, you know, and then they just become part of the moment.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that that's like a very you know, I think that'll win over any crowd, you know, if people can kind of just become part of something.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: To add a point to that, I remember way back when I was playing in bands, I had a neighbor across the street.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: They and this is kind of a fun little story.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: Every time we'd have band practice, they'd call the cops for a noise, noise complaint.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: Cops would show up, so they'd be like, all right, just turn it down.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: We couldn't hear it from where we were, but your neighbors are complaining across the street.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, so there's kind of a funny postscript to this, but um so one night we decide that we're everybody's gonna come over for band practice, but instead of practicing, what we're gonna do is we're gonna order pizza and we're gonna, you know, have a couple of drinks, and we are just gonna not turn on our instruments at all and see if the cops show up.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: Sure shit, the cops showed up for a noise complaint.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_01: So the neighbors were just getting to know the cars that were there, and so if the cars showed up, they were automatically calling.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I called another another friend of mine who was in law enforcement at the time.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what do I what do I need to do to keep this from happening?
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: So his advice to me was is go to every single neighbor that's in your cul-de-sac, introduce yourself, tell them what nights you have rehearsals, and um, you know, ask them if they have any issues with it.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I did that.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: And his whole point of that was is exactly what you said.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: If you meet people with where they are and you invest in other people, that gives them a reason to make a little bit more of an investment in you as well.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, I guess.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: So what's next for Watertower?
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: What new music, dream collaborations, a direction fans might not see coming?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_01: What's next?
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, that's exciting.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, we we just recorded a record yesterday, actually, uh, which we got some of our uh covers on it because a lot of our fans love our cover spins.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_02: We spin them like we do a cover of Amber, we do a cover of I Miss You by Blink, and uh we're really excited about that.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_02: It was at this place called Tube Tone Recording, all vintage mics, and uh so that's pretty exciting.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_02: We also got uh like live from Telluride coming out, but but we also have a documentary of it.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um so we I have a DVD in the other room, and then it's coming out on vinyl too, and I'm trying to get it on cassette, but we're the the thing is we're not gonna release it on streaming except for this platform called the Flow, which I don't even I I can't say much about, but it's the Flow Co-op, and it's it's it's owned by musicians, and there's some really big names behind it.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and when I can say more about it, I'm gonna send you some stuff because we're really doing a big push and a big release to support what this platform is about, and we are not gonna have our music on any other streaming.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so anyway, that's really exciting for us.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: And other than that, we you know we we do have a record that will be coming out on streaming um too, but yeah.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then what what's the big thing that's coming next month, Tommy?
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_03: That's when uh we're gonna be on tour with Nick Hexham.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so we're gonna go all over the East Coast, and then you know, we're gonna be uh you know, his backing band, and we're gonna also be playing sets of ourselves.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um and uh yeah, it's gonna be great, dude.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_03: I'm excited in New York, Florida, Carolinas.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_02: I wish we were coming to see you, man, but next time we'll have to come out and we've never been to Omaha, so yeah.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I was just gonna say, man.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_01: We're we will make it a point to run into each other in the real world, even if it kills us all.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we'll make it happen.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, my closing question, I ask this to absolutely everybody because I love the different answer everybody gives.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can answer it one at a time.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_01: But given everything that you guys have experienced, what's your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today?
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: So, my thing is to contribute to the lessening of suffering.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_02: I talked about it earlier, but if we can do that with our music, if we can just bring a little joy and make someone's day our uh uh you know, yours, mine, our own, and their day collectively together two percent better, then that's a big win.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_02: Just to bring a smile through some joy and some music and creativity.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: And and for me, it's those those simple wins like that.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um one of one of my favorite moments on the off ramp was uh Bill Burr drove up and he'd been giving us 20s, him and his wife, Nia, had given us 20s like days in a row, and uh and he said Tommy said, You're my favorite comedian, and Bill said, You're my favorite banjo player.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, that's a quote we use now, which has gotten us into different gigs and stuff, like, oh Bill Burr likes you, you know.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_02: So, like just moments like that bring so much joy, and and it it's not just I just use Bill Byrne as an example, but there's so many people that we don't know who they are that just say these things that we have these beautiful interactions one person at a time on the off-ramp, and it's it's a really uh wonderful thing.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_02: So that that's what I love to do.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_02: Love that.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_03: How about you, Tommy?
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_03: You know, being a part of um, you know, a community uh that's like you know, be like or some like I guess the whole bluegrass thing where or punk rock or anything like that, like just going out and like being with people that are trying to just kind of enjoy life in a way and then you know I think playing music is obviously for for us is one thing but there's so many other areas you know and different art forms and different you know different things you can do to like just get together with other people and just like enjoy the moment.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_03: I think you know it it's important to get out there.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_03: I think you know for me personally like my darkest times are when I'm like isolating myself and I'm not going out and doing stuff and if I can be around other people and and share moments um I think that really goes a long way.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes that's that is such a great point.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_01: I I I mean kind of in I in a similar boat like I made it a personal resolution this spring to get myself out to see more live music again and more diverse live music again because this post-pandemic society that we live in it makes it so easy to just shelter in place and shut yourself off from the rest of the world and the internet kind of only accelerates that from time to time because you already you've already spent your social battery by scrolling.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: So like I I I feel the same way I think it's a a good movement for the world to have would be to r reconnect in the real world again for sure.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for that that's beautiful and the last thing oh that's recharging the social battery I l I love that it does do that to be together community.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_02: And that reminds me the last thing I want to say is that the owls our fans and our friends and our family the owls they are the heroes of our band and the lifeblood and the the reason that we can continue to do it is because they're there perched on top of the water tower to make sure that no adultants get added into the clean water supply.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: Love that dope that is amazing guys tell everybody where they can find you online as I just cursed being online watertowerband.com all of our socials are watertower band one word we we'd love to meet you out there.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: Love it love it Kenny Tommy thank you so much for doing the podcast the world is a much better place with you guys in it.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having us thank you so nice to meet you once again a big thanks to Kenny Tommy and Jessica of Watertower for making an appearance on the pod today make sure you give them a follow on Instagram at WatertowerBand and if you get the opportunity check them out on tour this fall with Nick Hexham as both the backing band and the opening act for the tour.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_01: Check it out as soon as you possibly can they've got new music coming soon make sure you pay attention to their socials to find out when it is released.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_01: And while you're being generous with the follows make sure you're following at Caught on the mic on all social media platforms and give me a subscription on my YouTube channel.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_01: It makes all the difference in the world you can find out more about me at www.caughtonthe.com This has been Caught on the mic with Michael Clark.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Michael Clark until next time thank you