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EVARIDE - Sean Michael Murray and Hayden Maringer · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mic.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: What happens when a Broadway performer, a guitar player who's played some of the biggest stages in the world, and years of experience in music, television, and live performance collide?
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: You get Everride.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Sean Michael Murray and Hayden Maringer are back with Can't Take It From Me, an anthem about refusing to let doubt, adversity, or anyone else decide who you're going to become.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're going behind the music, the journey, and the comeback with Everride.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Gentlemen, welcome to the show.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having us on.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, I am so pumped.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: I was just telling Hayden before we started recording that I was taking a deep dive through your catalog, and the evolution is pretty impressive.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: I want to get into it in a moment, but let's lead off talking about the new single, Can't Take It From Me.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's ultimately about refusing to surrender your identity, ambition, or belief in yourself.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Was there a specific moment that either of you in your lives that made that message particularly personal when writing this song?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I think for Hayden and I, you know, as you said, it's kind of been there's been an evolution to the band, which has, you know, we started this band in 20, what was it, 2017, Hayden?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: 2017.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: And it's obviously evolved uh through changes.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we don't have the drummer that used to be in the original formation of the band.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: And then with COVID, I think everybody, you know, just life changed and things changed.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: And we had had a lot of momentum going into COVID, and then kind of everything shut down.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: So we really kind of had to rethink, you know, how we were going to be a band and what we were going to do and how we were going to present ourselves.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so this song for us is it is a comeback song.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's a song of resilience.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's a song of like, no matter what happens in our lives, you know, this is this is our plan A.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: There's no plan B still to this day.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, even though, you know, we wear a ton of hats and we do other things to to to get by, but um, this this is our passion and this is our our life, and uh and we wanted to share kind of where we're at in our lives with you know, you you can take all these other things away from me, but you can't take away, you know, my pride, my resilience, my my fight, my grit.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's how the song came about.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Hayden, I asked you right before we started recording if there was kind of a slight sonic shift in the band.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I I picked that up on some of your more recent singles.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: What can you tell me musically, kind of being paired with this message of the lyrics from your perspective?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, Sean summed it up pretty much perfectly.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when we started the project, we originally started it with one of my buddies who's the drummer in One Direction and who we're still great friends to this day.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how it originally started, and finding our identity was like the main point of the project in the beginning stages.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: So trying to find our voice and like our sound as a band, which if anyone has started a band knows it's the most, you know, it's the hardest thing to do is finding your own sound.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: So we had gone through an evolution from all sorts of stuff.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like when we first started the project, we were doing like, I don't know, paramore sounding stuff, right, Sean?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: It was like Yeah, yeah, like heavier, heavier rock, yeah stuff.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh the more we fine-tuned it, we started writing more, and the more producers and different people we started working with, kind of honing it in and making it sound more commercial.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of our earlier stuff was actually collaborations with a bunch of different people that we worked with who are uh we're all talented and amazing, but they helped kind of shape that initial sound.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then the further we kind of went on, and then the more it was just Sean and I, we kind of aligned on the sonic identity of the band and like what we were trying to do.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, we were playing it, started playing live out a lot, just him and I, and then COVID hit, and uh, we had just played the Troubadour sold out, and that was the time when we were like, okay, we really gotta reassess what we're gonna do.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: And we kind of lucked out, we had all this music out already, and in the fall of or yeah, fall of uh 2020, we got an opportunity for one of our songs called Warrior to be synced for the Olympics.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so all of a sudden, all these syncs started coming in, and we kind of initially were like, wow, these this song is like the only one that we had.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: It was a couple song called Warrior.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: That was that lane.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a lot of our other songs, we had like some pop punk songs, we had some, you know, a diverse catalog, but all the same sound.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: So that kind of made us think more like, oh, we should kind of prioritize going more into this like sync anthemic, because both of us, that's kind of is our message.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's like all of our songs are about positivity and about being the underdog and about being resilient and not, you know, taking no for an answer.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: And if you do, you just on to the next.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of how we both have continued this project is like through that, through being resilient, and then throughout COVID, kind of like pivoting towards more of the sync side and then also pivoting more towards Sean and I writing and producing the things ourselves.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of the newer stuff has just been him and I.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then this newest single, we had the pleasure of working with uh David Spencer, who's amazing.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not we're still collaborating, but a lot of the Sonic identity and the the message of our band is Sean and I.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the further we've gone along, the more we've been able to like showcase our identities.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Do you guys feel that that COVID era kind of poured gasoline on the uh streaming services?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe I'm off base here, but I feel that made venturing into other lanes of music a little bit more forgiving because audiences look at music as just being music, not so genre specific.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Do you guys feel that way?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: I I feel like people love a good song at the end of the day.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, they're gonna relate to the emotion and the feeling that a song gives them, whether it's, you know, it's the feeling they get from the instrumental or the vocalist or the you know, the vocal cap the capture of the vocal or whatever the emotion is, I think is what reels people in.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think a lot of people these days have such a wide spectrum of what they like.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's not so much like, oh, I'm just loving hard rock these days.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: You know, people, I feel like across the board, at least most people I know, there's not like one specific lane they like.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, oh yeah, I'll listen to some some classic rock and then I'll go listen to some pop and then I'll go listen to some jazz.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like I feel it's so across the board, and and it really does come down to just like the way a song uh song can make you feel.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I agree.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's a good kind of takeoff point for my next question.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's our line running through Everride's music about overcoming adversity, but this newest song feels less like I'll prove you wrong, and more like I don't need your permission.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Was that distinction intentional?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: You wanna you wanna elaborate on it, Hayden?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it was definitely intentional, and that's you know, I feel like the uh evolution, if yeah, if you listen to our songs, it's like a lot of the like Warrior and some of the other ones rise up, it's more about like that journey to whereas this song is more kind of like it doesn't mat I don't care what you say, I don't care about people who are gonna, you know, and you can't.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's honestly, I think one of the hardest things to learn is knowing that like sometimes not everyone's gonna like you, not everyone's gonna, you know, appreciate what you're doing, not everyone's gonna see your vision.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, you got to keep going and not let anybody take that, you know, that energy from you.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the moment you're feeling somebody take that from you is the moment you need to like rise above that and not take not take it to heart and not take whatever it is, you know, disrupting your journey.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think one of the things that has been lost that I'm seeing come back, and maybe this is kind of something that you guys are noticing and kind of intentionally injecting into your music too, is that theme of like brotherhood and sisterhood in music where you're kind of like singing almost from a point of view of like modern day West Side story, like you're a gang, and and like you know what I mean, and like you're protecting those around you and you're you're creating those anthems for the people that you love and people that you care about.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that seems something that you guys are genuinely trying to do with your music.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely, definitely.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it's a we when we write a song, it's it's not just about us or what we're going through because we know a lot of people can relate to what we're going through, whether it's like, you know, everyone's got their days that suck, you know, you got hard days, you know, it happens.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: And we want to be, you know, that outlet, whether it, you know, as us as human beings, but but more so through our music, just that you can turn our one of our songs on and hopefully turn your day around and get inspired and be like, you know what, other people are facing the same stuff that I am, but I can turn this around, and I have the option and the choice to do so, you know.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: So we just like to give people a little bit of inspiration to to make the best out of their their days, and hopefully our music can inspire them to do that.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you guys have gone through a pretty significant evolution, as you had already talked about, from the original lineup to becoming the Sean and Hayden duo from volume one to volume two, and now this new chapter.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at Everride Today, what feels fundamentally different from the band that you guys started?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: Hmm.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good question.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: I would say that we're both, you know, at places in our lives where we've matured a lot in uh, I think, ways, not just as like individuals, but together in like how we carry the project and the business and the band.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: And like we are brothers at the end of the day, like, you know, we're family and we have been for a long time.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's I think more before it was like, you know, we had so many people in our ear and like so many of people involved that wanted to like, you know, all were like wanted it to be successful, but at the end of the day, it's like the moment people start doubting or whatever, they're like, Oh, I don't want to do this, or oh, I don't, you know, whatever, whoever it may be.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, I think like Sean and I, that's also part of our message is because we're still doing it and we're still gonna recreate music together for the rest of our lives.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: So for us, it's not just about like, you know, a momentary thing in time, it's about just making good music and continuing to make good music.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: We both live and breathe music, and we're gonna continue to do that.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: So no matter what, that's kind of like the evolution of us is like, who knows?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe in 20 years we'll be doing some totally out-of-pocket random style of music.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: I have no idea, but I know we will be making music.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: I do know that.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: So this is gonna kind of sound like a totally from left field question, but I've seen it a lot in interviews lately with a lot of legacy bands.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say legacy bands, I'm not talking about 60s and 70s acts.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually talking about 90s, early 2000s, 2010s acts, where they're getting almost like a second breath of life right now.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I again, I'm kind of gonna kind of theorize and spitball that maybe this is another silver lining of the COVID era of people having to take a step back and look at their projects a little bit more objectively and then coming back to it a little bit more with a greater sense of appreciation that even audiences are starting to notice.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Is that something that you guys are experiencing?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we're both kids of the 90s and 2000s, you know, so that era and to see songs like you know, Mr.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: Bright Side is still in the top charts, you know, and and it's killing it, you know, and then like uh Goo Goods, the Iris, you know, that song's made a huge comeback too.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it never kind of went away, but it it's had a massive resurgence, and there's a lot of those 90s, 2000s bands, and it's not just the nostalgia that I think is making bringing people back to that kind of music now.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's it's again going back to the feeling of a song, it's the way that song makes you feel.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: Or now, yeah, there is the nostalgic aspect where it's like, oh, I remember when I heard that song for the first time, Mr.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Bright Side, and I was at my summer camp on the lake, and like, who was I with?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: And it makes you just think of all those memories.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like the combination of the feeling and the emotion along with the nostalgia.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's why it's so relevant today, um, and why a lot of those songs are are like resurging.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I agree, and I think you're actually able to see it more in the live setting than anywhere else right now.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like I am seeing people get excited about concerts again and festivals and tours again, despite the economics of it.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: The economics of it suck right now, if we're gonna be frank.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: But but everything else, like I have not seen people this excited for live music for a long time.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I've gone to more shows this summer than I had any other time.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think it is a result of exactly what you're saying for sure.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: I I would agree with that too.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and obviously it's kind of, you know, without saying, but just AI, the way that it's you know, take it's the way that it's taken over, it's like the human element of things are what it's like the commodity, you know, it's like what people really want now.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's not uh it's scarcity, you know.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: The human element is now scarce because there's so much AI and so much like as they call it slop that's on the internet where you're just doom scrolling and just like you see all this fake stuff.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then it can be really discouraging when you see some of these AI artists who literally have millions of monthly listeners, and yet, you know, there's real true artists who are working their butts off and have done it for a while and worked really hard, and they're still struggling to get, you know, like us 10,000 to 100,000 monthly listeners, but we put out, you know, music that we really we really believe in, we work really hard on.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: So it can be discouraging, but then as you said, you go out to a live show and you're like, I this is this is why we do what we do.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know who it was that I recently had on the show, but it was actually somebody pretty significant.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: It was either Carl Bell from Fuel, Jacob Noel of Sublime, or John Feldman from Goldfinger.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of those three.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I just did the Johnny Name Dropper thing, but yeah, they were talking about how 3,000 engaged people is worth more than 300,000 people that are just passively liking your stuff.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: 100% and so I mean, in an algorithm-driven world, I think that's something that musicians, podcasters, content creators, we're all kind of fighting it right now because social media dictates so much of what art we consume anymore.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's insane.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's all being people who do it, who post the most.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like obviously somebody's creating thousands of AI tracks, they're gonna be rewarded because they're releasing music every day.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, how do you stop that from happening?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: I it's I feel like there will be a big shift, and there already is like people going to live shows, and it's just a matter of time until they all catch up.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I think there's our I mean, meta's getting sued.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: There's all this stuff where they're literally are enforcing it now because there's so much of that, you know.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I want to kind of get into both of your origin story a little bit deeper for people that are kind of new to you guys.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you both have some very unique life paths.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sean, your road to Everride includes American Idiot on Broadway, sharing the stage with Billy Joe Armstrong, Rent, winning VH1's make a band famous, and a record deal with Fancy Reagan.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: How much of that journey prepared you for being the frontman of Everride, and how much did you have to completely unlearn to do this?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I think the the the Broadway aspect of everything taught me how to hold an audience every night.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: You know, that's the one thing that that live performance on a Broadway stage will do because even though you're you're you're saying the same lines, you're singing the same songs every night, much like an artist on tour would be, it's it's you have to make it fresh every night.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: Because when you're doing eight shows a week, it can get boring real fast when you're in a show for you know six months to a year.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like, how do you make it fresh every night and captivate an audience and and make sure they're they're sticking with you through the whole show while you know doing the same show again?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's like how do you make nuances that you can really connect to to make it fresh every night?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's part of like how I would say I'd have to unlearn things nowadays.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like how Hayden said when we we played the Troubadour right before the pandemic hit, and I remember that to this day, like that was one of the best shows we've ever had because obviously we'd sold it out, but on top of it, it just we kind of had let ourselves go of like everything we've done in our minds, and we've just lived in the moment.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: And that can be hard to do when there's like a lot of hype around you in the moment, and you have agents coming out and labels coming out to scope you out.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: But we're like, let's just like let it lay it all out there and just just live in the moment.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, so that was part of like I think that just prepared us for for something like that moment in particular that I can relate to right now.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: And then the the record deal part of things, like you make a lot of mistakes along the way, you know.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: I can definitely say that I've made a lot of mistakes with previous bands, but you live and you learn and you grow from it, and and that just has helped propel us to where we are now as Everride as far as like how we make our business decisions and you know what we choose to put out and what we don't put out.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, and then shifting gears over to you, Hayden.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: You've kind of been a musical Swiss Army knife, if you will.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: You've played with artists such as Jennifer Lopez and Demi Lovato, you worked as a music director and a producer, you've appeared on television, scored projects.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: We were talking about some sync work that you've done, and you've built a career around this Swiss Army knife aspect.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: At what point did you realize that you didn't just want to be the guy playing guitar for somebody else's vision and you wanted to create your own?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I guess, yeah, music Swiss Army Knife is the nice way I say music hoe, but yeah, it's almost what kind of thing.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: But uh yeah, I don't know.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: I've always had the mindset of like I just love music and anything I could do in music, I'm always trying to to do.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't I don't like to uh have any element of like, like, for instance, our projects, it's like when we first started this, I didn't know how to mix, I didn't know how to do a lot of things, but I learned those out of necessity for the project.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, like my mindset of like wearing different hats is I just always am trying to improve my skill sets and be the best musician I could possibly be.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I kind of I don't know, it's just been a natural progression, you know.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: I had been touring since I was like 17.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: And in what 2018, when we started the band, I had been talking to uh my buddy who we toured together on the One Direction tour for like a year, and he was kind of feeling One Direction just stopped, and he was kind of feeling the same thing, and I was just like kind of tired of just not only the politics of everything, but just not doing my own music, you know, and and not being part of that process, not writing, not, you know, doing anything like that.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that was how it initially started was we were like, why don't we start a band and start our own project and make our own music and do this now for ourselves?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that's how it kind of came together.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I it's been just an evolution since that in prioritizing that and prioritizing this project and our own music.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, it was kind of out of necessity from just being burnt out on so many tours and like working for artists, and then it's like those that know the touring game know how it goes.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like you work with an artist and they could do a tour and then they don't work for seven months, and you're like, oh, now what do I do?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like that's part of the game.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: And and I had been very blessed and fortunate that I was busy a lot during those years, you know, leading up to starting my own project, that it gave me the ability to prioritize my own project because a lot of people don't get that opportunity.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm so thankful for that opportunity and for meeting Sean and being able to kind of transition into that.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then from there, it's just kind of transitioned into me building skills to literally make this project to where we can just do it ourselves and we're not relying on other people that you know don't see our vision or that want to change our sound or that you know, different things like that we can probably actually now freely create, which is amazing.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: So would you say both of you, would you say kind of the politics behind the scenes is your least favorite aspect of the music business?
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Million percent.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Just a lot of you know, definitely a lot of egos and a lot of people, you know, to do that.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: I get it.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's like to do to be, you know, in different positions, it's like it comes at a cost.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but for me, maybe it's just the older I've gotten, the less I've put.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Up with now, but uh I think that's the biggest factor of why I didn't like looking back.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: I I loved the opportunities that I did and met so many people amazing people, but the politics of it do get daunting on your on just your mindset.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I I wholeheartedly agree with you.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I walked away from it in 2011, and it wasn't because I didn't enjoy making music anymore.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's I just didn't enjoy playing the social game anymore and playing the social game on other people's terms.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you're kind of looking over to your best friend and you're like, Can I trust you?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Can I not trust you?
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's like that's kind of a sign to take a step away.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Million percent.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the reality of it, is like I've had so many experiences like that, and I'm no Sean has too, where it's like, you know, I try to be objective and be like, okay, like put yourself in their position, but at the end of the day, some people just, you know, when it comes to certain decisions, they're gonna focus on themselves, which is fine.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I know as far as like how I and Sean operate, that is not how we operate.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's kind of uh more refreshing, you know, doing your own thing with maybe less, you know, facade and less ego-driven things.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, as far as like the music business, it actually rewards that far more.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: I had a social media tirade the other day talking about that.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really nice finding commonality with people that kind of like have gone through the trenches and like are doing something that fulfills them personally and putting that at the forefront of of what you're what you guys are doing.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: You guys have mentioned Everride music found its way into the Olympics, but it's also found its way into the World Series, Stanley Cup, March Madness, NFL broadcasts, and other massive television moments.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: Do you write differently when you know the song has the potential to soundtrack somebody's biggest moment, or do you just write the best song and let the moment find it?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good question.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: We definitely don't write well, sometimes you know, we will get briefs and whatnot to write specific.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: What's that?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: I was just saying, rarely are we doing that.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, rarely, yeah, rarely.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's usually it comes from a place of we want to write this song and we want to make this song no matter what, whether it gets placed or not, just because of it.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's our why, you know, it's it's what we stand for, it's our message and it's our universal message.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: And ultimately, because of us sticking to our guns that way and that foundation we have, it naturally slots in with a lot of you know sports broadcasting programs and whatnot, just due to the message and the anthemic nature of of how we write our songs.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we never we never were like, we're gonna write this song for the Olympics today.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, ever once.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: Nah, that that doesn't happen.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: We've gotten briefs and things like that where they'll be like, we want a song like this, and we'll write that, but those aren't honestly, we haven't released one of those songs.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: And they also never, yeah, as Hayden said, they never pan out.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: When you write to the briefs, they rarely ever pan out.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's usually just like you gotta release what you believe in and what you've what you trust, you know, as far as what you've written, and then hopefully hope for the best.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I do want to, you know, offer this huge compliment because you guys do anthemic songs really well.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I took a deep dive into your music, and there's something fascinating about songs like Warrior Underdogs and Now Can't Take It From Me, that they're built to actually make somebody stand a little taller.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I know you guys don't want to completely repeat yourselves, but what do you think makes an anthem actually connect emotionally rather than just sound big?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: You want to take this one, Hayden?
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, for instance, like underdogs, um, the message is always important, obviously, you know, and writing anthemic songs, I think naturally for us is like we talked about writing from our prior experiences, and also things like I think we both are objective in that we think like what would I want to listen to to really put me in the mindset of like I'm gonna tackle this or project or the day or bring me out of this funk I'm in or whatever it is.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like that storyline is, you know, crucial, obviously, but also sonically creating the feeling of that same sort of power, you know, and not doing it into like an aggressive way, but like doing it a way that still serves the song.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: So for like uh for underdogs, for instance, that had gone through like numerous different versions with different chords, different arrangements, demos.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: And where it ended up was addressing those things and making it, you know, when I was building the track, making it feel match the message, you know, matching the storyline with the overall music, I think is one of the most important parts, you know, to serve a song.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because a song doesn't need to be humongous with like million guitars and like all these vocals and stuff to be anthemic.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: It really comes down to the songwriting and the way it's produced around the songwriting.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, both of you guys having experience in multiple facets of the entertainment business.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe again, this is just an observation from my vantage point.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like there is a quiet movement in all facets of entertainment, whether it be TV, music, everywhere, where people are really intentionally trying to create positive messages.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sure there's a lot of negativity out there, you know, we don't need to get into socio-political divide or anything along those lines.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: I avoid that like the plague.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I think about shows like Ted Lasso Shrinking and like things that when you consume them, you feel better after they're all said and done.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's music like yours that accomplishes the same thing.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Do you guys feel that maybe you're a part of a greater movement that just hasn't revealed itself yet?
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: I I think I think it's it's revealing itself.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: I I think it is revealing itself now.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: I do.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think after COVID and what everybody went through with that, and just as you said, leaving politics out of it.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: But there is a lot of darkness in the world, you know, between wars going on and you know, people starving in other countries and whatnot, like that's reality.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we may we're we're blessed to live in where we live and to, you know, just be blessed.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: You know, our country is blessed, but but we don't have to deal with a lot of stuff that other people deal with, but we do deal with stuff, you know.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's just maybe perspective is a little different.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: So there is darkness, and if and we just want to be that speck of shining light that people can, you know, cling on to and hopefully pull them into a better mind, a better mood set, whatever that may be.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: And there, I there's definitely other bands that are doing it too, but that that is and and and hopefully, you know, we can be we can be seen more, I guess I should say.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: We could be heard more and seen more.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: Because it is hard to it cut through it all, you know.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's that's where I was going with it, is because I do think there is, I agree, I think it is starting to reveal itself.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's slow, it is slow because most of the negativity lives on the internet.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: But sure, but the thing is, is going back to the 3,000 engaged fans versus 300 people that are just passively liking things, I think the people that are finding bands like yours and content like the Ted Lasso's of the world, like they become beholden to it, they covet it, and they enjoy it so much more, and they become the most fanatical people about that thing once they do discover it.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I as a podcaster myself, I said this to a friend the other day, and I said, When somebody watches my show, I want them to have a an experience that is a lot closer to watching an episode of Ted Lasso than you know watching watching some bro podcaster that's like saying something just for the sake of the likes and clicks.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's true.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I yeah, way better to have one person that you could actually reach and resonates with what you're doing and supports it than 2,000 people going like, oh yeah, cool, like next, yeah.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, cool, next, whatever.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Which is most people, I mean, I know I do that.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh yeah, okay, whatever.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: But the to actually re like there's so much stuff now, like there's so much music, there's like thousands and thousands of songs being released every day.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much same with t television and TV.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many shows and competition, and it's like when you actually, you know, have those people who are genuine fans, it's like to me, that's even if there's five of them, would be way more than 50,000 people that are like passively cool, you know.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I think tagging off what Hayden said, that might be like, you know, everybody struggles in certain ways, but that might be one of our struggles as a band is that we focus so much on quality over quantity, and we're we're we're all about making sure everything is perfect, you know, and we we dig into the mix and we'll go through like 18 mix revisions and we'll replay guitar parts and I'll resing parts until it it the emotions captured in a better way.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like we really spend the time once the song's written on making the record the best it can to emotionally connect.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: And some and sometimes that could be our downfall because we're not putting out you know content all the time where it's like this quant, you know, quantity over quality.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: We're all about quality over quantity.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: And if it takes us longer, you know, some uh there was an expression one of our old managers said, but um, he said, the longer it takes, the longer it lasts.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like we're we're still here and we're still going.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like if it takes this long, that's fine because we're we're just we just care about putting out great stuff and great quality stuff.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna quote John Feldman again.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: He told me this like two weeks ago, and I've quoted it on a few sessions that I've recorded since.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it's that fan experience, too.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think that quality goes to the fan experience because one like will last a few seconds, but one t-shirt lasts a lifetime, or one song lasts a lifetime.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think you know, even in those moments where it feels kind of defeating because you are spending time with that quality control, it's gonna pay off in the long run.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: Dude.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: We we hope so too.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's why we keep going.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: No, but on that point, it already has.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: We've already been shown that so many times with like being, you know, overzealous on a mix or whatever, trying to, you know, prioritize things that like really is the listener gonna notice this?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe not.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: But to us, it's like prioritizing those things.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: We've seen that to where it's like, okay, years later, is like the song gets a big sink, and then all of a sudden it's our like number one song when we hadn't prioritized anything about it.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: But that's why for us it's about releasing quality music to where it's like if that's what we can continue to do, then to us that's most important than releasing a song every two weeks of just random whatever it is.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, can't take it from me kind of marks the beginning of a new visual and creative era with imagery around crowns, broken chains, and reclaiming your power.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: How far does this new chapter go beyond this single?
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: And what can people expect from Ever Ride Next?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we we we we're working on a bunch of different songs kind of down this this lane, I should say, that fit right along with just that kind of uplifting, you know, take it or leave it, make make your move type of thing vibe, you know.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: So we're we're on this path and we're we're not planning on leaving it anytime soon.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Ever Ride has always had this underlying idea that music can give somebody hope and help them get through something that they're facing.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: If someone hears can't take it from me at the this exact moment, and at the moment where they're thinking about giving up on themselves, what do you hope they take away from that?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I would hope that they would basically change their entire, well, I guess their entire day just by listening to the song and pulling them out of a dark moment.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I feel like I've had experiences like that where a song or energy, like if I'm having a bad day or I can't relax, I'll like put on a song that makes me instantly release all that, you know, tension.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I would hope that this song would do that for people looking for hope, people looking for a song that brings them energy and a positive feeling and a feeling of, you know, we're all at the end of the day, we're all human, we're all in this life together, we all have bad days, and it just can pull you out of that mindset, even if it's for a brief moment.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: But that's what I think a good song does is pull you out of whatever it is into a completely different realm.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: You guys played a sh sold-out show right before the pandemic, say six years ago.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: The world has changed in an infinite number of ways in the last six years.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: Where you guys are at right now and where you're sitting right now, where do you see this project six months or six years from now?
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_02: Six years from now.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, our goal is to hopefully start playing shows again, because as Hayden said, it's been it's been a minute since we played a show.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: And we're we're trying to build this this catalog now, and we're sitting on a ton of brand new music, but we love to, you know, our passion is playing in front of people and performing in front of people.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_02: But it there's also a difficulty that comes with that.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_02: As you as you mentioned earlier, it's hard to play live, but when you do, it's so it's so rewarding.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_02: So our goal is to hopefully get back out there soon and um and start playing some shows in front of people.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_02: Hayden?
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, that's definitely I I feel like you know, when COVID hit, we we still were playing shows.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: We did like the drive-in-class.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the drive-in movie theater concert, listening to the radio, watching us from it was bizarre.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: But we did that, we did the live stream thing, and then after COVID, you know, we did some acoustic shows, we did stuff like that, and we've had some tour offers that haven't panned out for like opening slot, but I feel like for us, that's really what would be the most beneficial.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: So we're looking to for something like that to where we can go and play a tour opening for an artist that also shares a similar vision.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that would be the most beneficial for like our project and what we're doing, you know.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, I've really enjoyed this conversation with you guys and getting to know you guys.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: My closing question that I ask every single person that does this show, and you guys can go one at a time, is given your experiences both within Everride or you know, outside of Everride individually, what's your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today?
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I love I'm looking forward to your response knowing that you guys lean into the positive.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I can answer that first.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think the biggest thing is just be kind.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's sometimes the hardest thing for some people to do, but being kind, I think, is such like a golden rule, you know, just just treat treating people with respect and and being kind to your neighbor, even your enemies at times when it's that hard, it's hard to uh maybe swallow your pride, but but just being kind goes such a long way.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's it's it's kind of easy to be an asshole, and it's kind of easy to be like a dick to somebody if if you're just not in the mood or like you don't want to deal with somebody.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_02: But making an effort to be kind and maybe putting somebody else first over your own needs, like if somebody needs help, whether it's at the grocery store or wherever it is in your everyday life, just doing something that's maybe a little out of your way to help somebody else out, it makes you feel better about yourself too, you know, because you're you're doing something that's not for yourself.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: So just just honoring being kind to everybody, I think that's where I stand with it.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, this is why we're brothers, because I was gonna say pretty much the same thing, but just like you know, being humble and being thankful and sharing that with it could be the person on the street, saying hello to people, nobody says hello to anybody anymore.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's like just having conversations with people that may, like Sean said, your enemies or whoever, it's like we're all at the end of the day, human, we're all here, and there shouldn't be any reason why you shouldn't be lifting somebody else up, you know, even if you don't feel like you you're in a position to do so.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like if everyone led that that way and led with kindness and led with being humble and led with being uh, you know, able to forgive and move past, I feel like we'd all be in a better place.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: And hopefully that's what continues to grow.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we had this whole past few years of like everyone's so separate and now with internet and everything like that.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I hope real human connection gets prioritized again.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like it's so easy to do.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: When you're walking down the street, just say hi to somebody and be like, I hope you're having an amazing day and see what they do.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: I guarantee you they're gonna freak out because I do it all the time and they freak out, like, oh, nobody says this to me.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what I would say.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty much the same thing.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you guys tell everybody where they can find you guys and your music online?
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you can find us on Apple, Spotify.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's all at Everride E-V-A-R-I-D-E.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then our Instagram is also at Ever Ride.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: We started a TikTok, although we don't post much on it, but it's also ever, I think it's just at Everride as well.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_02: So we got to be better about that.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: But love it.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, I have, like I said, I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for doing the show.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: Sean Hayden, the world is a much better place with you guys in it.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for doing it.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Mike.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, man.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_02: Appreciate you.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having us, I think.