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Matty and Christian of Anberlin · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mike.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love it when I get to talk with some of my most favorite bands.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: For nearly 25 years, yes, I said it, 25 years.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've been doing a lot of episodes that have been making me feel old lately.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Anne Berlin has managed to do something remarkably difficult.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Evolve without losing the identity that made people fall in love with the band in the first place.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, with a new album called Currency, they're entering another chapter, one that looks backward, looks forward, and somehow manages to do both at the same time.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: Today, Maddie and Christian join me to talk about currency, the creative process behind it, the legacy of Anne Berlin, and why there may be still a lot of story left to tell.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Gentlemen, welcome to the show.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: What's up, brother?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having us.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, thank you for being here.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: A lovely Wednesday afternoon.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm here in the Midwest and it's like 100 degrees.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: I thought this is supposed to be the kickoff of fall.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: What's going on?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: El Nino, brother.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: El Nino, that's what's going on.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was just saying the same thing today.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: We were looking at the forecast for this week, and it's all it almost in the hundreds, you know, with uh in Tennessee.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's not rare for Christian in Tampa, but for here in Tennessee, that is is psycho for September, and we are just I'm not here for it, man.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud of my jacket collection and I want to I want to get into it.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Word, word.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to the Nebraska Corn Huster kickoff game on Saturday, and I'm like, I'm gonna be sitting in Memorial Stadium just like cooking like a hot dog.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not looking forward to that.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I am I'm pro uh all stadiums having roofs.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's get right into it.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when you guys look at Amber Lynn in 2026, what feels the most different about the band now compared to just a few years ago?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, clearly our singer looks a lot different, so that's that's something probably I'd start with.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: He's gone through uh a lot of changes over the past few years.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: They've been actually quite good to him if you look at him.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: He looks beautiful now.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So some successful plastic surgeries, yeah.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: So reverse aging and uh yeah.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And we did we did some some uh height reduction as well.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Took off took off about 12 inches of my legs.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, be tall is bad for you.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's science.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Do you guys do you guys feel like the band is currently in a period of reinvention, or does it simply feel like another evolution of what Amberlyn always has been?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think in life, not only just in band, but or bands, the only consistent thing is change.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: So you're really adapting to life as you get older and your uh circumstances and your um goals and everything uh around you changes and you're always evolving.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, this band has gone through uh really if you look at the past even decade, you know, ten years ago we weren't even an active band.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: So if you would have told me ten years ago that I'd be on this podcast with Maddie Mullins as the singer of An Bolyn, I'd I'd think I was on an acid trip or something.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: But um You know, we're we're we're thankful for all of it, to be honest, you know, like because even when we ended things in 2014, they were it felt like the right reasons.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think it was a mistake to kind of put a finality on it, but I don't know that anyone could see the future at that point, and I'm really happy with um where we are now, to be honest, and just thankful for the opportunities um that were still being presented on a daily putting on a new record, the record we're about to release with Matty, uh, the caliber of the songs, the caliber of the song and ship and the writing is just um, you know, to me, it's probably the best that I can remember to be honest.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: And like I said, I was grateful that you know, we kept plugging forward in all different areas, you know, and never really kind of conceding to any sort of rule book or notion of like you can't do that or we should do this.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's just kind of been by our feelings and by communicating with each other and meeting Maddie and bringing him involved along and and you know, taking a lot of his opinions and his, you know, his vision and view of things and incorporating that into you know the four other gods that have been into the band together for a long time, and it's just a kind of a beautiful scenario right now, and just grateful for every moment to be honest.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Maddie, you know, what has it been two years, maybe three years now at this point?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, three three years and and change if you include like all of the behind the scenes stuff that went into like how how it all came together, right?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um but definitely at least a couple years of consistent touring.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: What has been the most dramatic change for you personally in that three year span of time?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I mean, just uh honestly, just a a lack of any off time, right?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um just and I'm I'm not e I'm not being funny, like it just you know, for for both bands or both with an L is what I say because I'm from Washington State.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um with both bands wanting to be even remotely active, I am constantly active, right?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um because it's not unheard of for a band to tour six months out of the year, you know, you'd half on, half off.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's a that's a decent, healthy amount.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um Memphis is in no way, shape, or form slowing down.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just been, you know, it's been tough.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean like hats off to the Amberlynn camp too, because they have to work around the Memphis schedule.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like, you know, they want to tour as much as possible.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: We they only have a singer at these points of time, you know.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: This switchfoot tour that we're about to do, I I think originally I was only able to do half of it because Memphis had a European headline tour booked, and then Kellen's wife got pregnant, which is why Amberlynn's able to do the whole thing.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the kind of things that people don't see, you know, like like behind the the curtains.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so um yeah, the most dramatic change has been has been that just just a constant go mode.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um but you know, like my wife is on the road with us all the time with with with both bands.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so she is uh she's very gracious.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we don't have children, and so for the reasons that Steven stepped back, um I was able to kind of r like hit the gas even harder in in the opposite direction, you know.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so yeah, it's it's just been kind of a nonstop thing and uh another it's not just touring, it's like when Memphis now is off uh riding and recording cycle, now Amberlynn is on riding and record recording cycle.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of just a constant go thing, but um anybody that like knows me actually knows me, knows me behind closed doors, knows that I have a really hard time uh sitting still.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so if anybody can, you know, kind of kind of do it and not want to die, I think it's me.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: I uh and I I'm I'm enjoying it, you know, for sure.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's it it's all it also wouldn't be so possible if it wasn't like joining your childhood favorite band.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: If it was just like I'm gonna start another band, uh the the kind of the the the driving force there um would not be the same.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Currency drops November 11th.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about it a little bit.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Where did the title come from?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Nate.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: As far as like the idea of it, you know, can't came from Nate.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: But Nate and I talk all the time about um, and even in the internally in the band, we'll talk about these things, uh, you know, ultimately what's important.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, a lot of times in conversations we will use the phrase that money's not our only currency, right?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: So um, because you've got this one life that you're living, and you know the cost of anything is the amount of life that you're exchanging for that thing.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it can be money, obviously, and um, but the most important thing or time is your most important currency.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that was a big role.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he liked the one-word title a lot.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he is kind of the artistic creative uh visionary of the band.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, everyone is able to give their input, but you know, people will default.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: He's good in that aspect.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: He does that when he's not in the band as well, uh for like other people and other businesses.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: So um, but talking with him for sure, that's definitely something we've we've discussed as a very important kind of uh idea uh or concept.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that played a big role in just that word.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, I love that you made the correlation between time and all things because I brought this up on the show multiple times.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's like time is the greatest gift that you can give somebody because it's something that you can never get back in return, right?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like once you've spent time, it's gone, you know?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: So how you invest your time and how you give time to other people is infinitely valuable, and it's a large part of the reason I've gained so much gratitude from doing this show is because you guys, even right now, giving me your time right now, it's the most valuable gift that you can give a person.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I I really do enjoy the mentality around that for sure.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and like Maddie said, you know, it's like sacrifice reward for him, the sacrifice for him.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: He doesn't need to be in his band, right?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: He took it on because of reasons he had said, like would he start his own band?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: Probably not, you know, like probably absolutely not, but there's fulfilling in in ways that are worth it to to to trade off his time for, you know.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I mean I I think that observing you know, all of the different currencies of life, what what is your currency?
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: For some some people it's time.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think the older you get, and when you're in the second half of your life, time is definitely becomes the the most valuable currency.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um But there's so much about in the album about self-discovery, about um unlearning some negative habits and r relearning how to be fully human again.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: And uh but as far as like time specifically, that's very heavily related to single number two, which is called Gravity.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's it's it that'll be coming out very soon, maybe even you know, when when this podcast comes out.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but as far as everything that Christian was talking about in relation to how valuable time is, um, that's very heavily tied in with the concept of some of single two.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, how did the songwriting process come together for this album?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was uh honestly, we did a a lot of different stuff.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um we uh got together many times on tour and went through folders of instrumental stuff that Joey had, um a lot of which had already been discovered by the other four guys and and to me was all kind of like new stuff.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: So hearing it and and and the excitement that I would have I think was important because maybe these are things that they had dove into in the past and and had maybe so many versions of mentally that they weren't ready to or weren't wanting to use, and then me coming into the picture made it feel like it was, you know, the rifts were brand new and the transitions were brand new and those kind of things.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where it all kind of started with saying, all right, Joey, like in your you know, folder of work here instrumentally, what what what what kind of foundations do we have to work with and what do we want to kind of start on from scratch?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so we found a bunch of stuff that was really awesome, and then we did a uh riding trip out in LA with a few different guys.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: We did a riding trip in Nashville here, um, and continued form the forming and formulating the songs while we were on tour together, and so it was kind of all over the place and and took you know the the better part of a year, year and a half, and then recording it took took time as well between you know me being on the road with both bands, and I actually brought like a mobile recording studio with me and and tracked vocals in 18 different countries is actually uh a true thing.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so, um but yeah, we we I I would say like the writing process was really eclectic and really healthy.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: It felt like any you know, nothing was left unturned.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: We definitely looked at these songs from every possible angle and and were able to come to what the final product is, which really does feel I think the s most special part about it is that it really does feel like an Amberlynn record.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: So just gonna get into that.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Was there a s point specifically when you guys realized that this is actually becoming something really special?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Song one, I think I think yeah, which which might have been or you know, I was gonna say never after.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's two songs on the record.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: You had a couple songs written before that, but I think never after is when it really clicked.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh man, you guys are cooking right now.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think never after finit getting to the end of that that write, that day, and and just having a demo and driving around just here in in Tennessee.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: I had actually my wife and I had had this house built over the course of a year, and the I think the week that we moved in, all the guys in the band came to stay with me and and do a writing session.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we weren't even like fully moved in yet.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um so like a lot of the like the earliest memories just of this house are is was the making of of currency.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, but it was I think it was that.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was after song one.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: We were like, okay, I think we actually understand.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: We conceptually and just I I guess sonically and conceptually, we ha we all kind of had an idea of where we wanted the record to go, but it wasn't until song one was done that we were like, oh wow, like this is it.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: This it this really does kick start everything and make us feel like we have the beginning of of something that's really special here.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I was gonna add to that you guys could have easily tried to distance currency from the band's past, but instead there seems to be a conscious connection to classic and Berlin.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: How do you guys determine what is essential to the band's identity versus what you're ready to leave behind in that writing process?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: I think that was intentional to be honest with you.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: I think, you know, like Maddie was saying for years in so many albums, you know, between Joey and I we'd probably have eighty demos, you know, to which Steven would write to maybe 15, to which you might use 10 or 11 on a record.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not because those other songs weren't decent or really good, or you know, it maybe it was just Steven didn't wasn't struck by it or whatever.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um really between you know, we're talking hundreds and hundreds of songs that you could pull from.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: So and that could be, you know, then Amberlynn, in my opinion, has covered a lot of different genres and grounds throughout our time, you know, always being tied together with an Amberlynn sound.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: But if we'd wanted to write a whole record of, you know, unwinding cable car sounding songs, we would have that in our tool bag, if we will.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it really was intentional.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think Maddie was a big driving force behind that.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think Nate and Maddie were both saying, hey, I think this is it would be probably beneficial to maybe really focus in and hone in on maybe songs that kind of have that more of an Amberlynn, old Amberlynn vibe.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we've gone down some RD roads, we've done some things that not I don't regret, but definitely tried to, you know, grow as an artist and and band, which is what you always want to do.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: You don't want to make the same album, you know, couldn't have made Never Take Friendship Personal eight times.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you would be bored with it.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: We we'd we'd offered ourselves.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: So um, but the I think the vibe of this record was very intentional and uh you know from the from the onset, especially with a new new singer.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think that was the move, right, Maddie?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would I would say starting with High Stakes, because you know, High Stakes does have its its place on this album and I think fits on the album perfectly.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: But originally it was a standalone single, and when it was time to start talking about and really get serious about writing original songs with me, um I you know I am a huge fan of OG Amberlyn, right?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: It is A.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, B, like the marketing side of my brain says a band, a legacy band with a new singer with a different sound is not something that will work.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: So everything pointed towards let's make a record that feels like original Amberlynn that everybody fell in love with, that's something I wanted desperately.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's something that I think, you know, the band having grown and expanded the way that they did and trying all these different sounds and everything to kind of bring it back into, you know, this is the Amberlynn I fell in love with, that's why I'm so excited.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: This is why I'm so excited to be a part of the band.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if I was able to choose, you know, being the fan that I am out of the whole discography to make a record that sounded like something, it would be like, let's go all the way back to blueprints, you know?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um for for me.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that that's that's all genuine, that's all honest, and I think people can tell, right?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's like when you listen to the songs, you're I think you can hear some of my excitement of just being a part of something that feels so genuine to the band that helped shape my career in music and shape my path in music.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um so yeah, very much is that, and it is intentional a hundred percent.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: I love that you're honoring the DNA.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: You've talked pretty openly about wanting songwriting to offer hope without pretending everything is okay.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm assuming those themes are spread throughout this whole album.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Why has hope remained such an important part of your songwriting?
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's just me talking to me, you know, like I I want to believe that hope is real.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want to feel hope in every scenario of my life.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: I I want to feel like what I am reaching for.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: I am and have always been a hope enthusiast for, you know, it's not that I just want to be somebody that offers hope, but I also want to be somebody that receives hope.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so hope and writing songs about hope has changed drastically for me over the last, you know, f seven, eight years.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, when I started to realize that offering empty hope doesn't do anything for anybody because when I was at my worst and when I was at my lowest, somebody patting me on the back and somebody saying everything's gonna be okay uh was not helpful at all.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: I needed people in my life that had been through what I was going through to just listen, or people that hadn't experienced what I had, you know, ha was going through at the moment to just be a person, another human going through that with me, not trying to offer some sort of like, you know, phrase or you know, like something they found on Pinterest, it's like, oh, this, you know, or read this book or whatever.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of those things can be helpful and they have their place.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: But for me, the human-to-human connection of we are all experiencing some of the worst and some of the best things on a day-to-day basis, you know, that's what life looks like, the high highs and the low lows.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um and there is a common thread between all humanity with anxiety and depression, love and loss, um, victory and failure.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: We all experience these things.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so to be honest and transparent in writing about those things, I think is why music is so powerful.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's why it's so special.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: So to me, now hope can look like a song that sounds very sad, starts.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: To finish.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because the person who's listening to the song on the other end of that, right?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like for me, it's microphone into recording software from out of software into speakers and into people's heads.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, I am still standing right next to that person when they are listening to that song.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's that's what it's meant to be is saying, hey, this is really painful.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not gonna get to the end of the song and I'm gonna be like, and here's the answer.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think we're gonna get to the end of the song and I'm gonna say, and I also, just like you, still don't know the answer.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where hope starts, I believe.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I wholeheartedly agree.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's a grounded level and it's bringing somebody into the process with you.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: I had somebody advise me one time, and it kind of goes to an anecdote story back whenever I was playing in bands.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: We uh we had practice at this house, and I had a neighbor across the street that would call the cops and complain about noise like daily.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime they'd see the cars out front of the house, they'd call the cops and complain.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: So one night, just to be funny, I had all the guys over.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: We ordered pizza, we didn't turn on any amps, didn't hit a single drum.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: I just had the guys over.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Cops showed up, right?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: Just because the people across the street saw that all the cars were there, the usual suspects were all there.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: I happened to be talking to one of the police officers, and he said to me, He goes, Dude, what I want you to do is I want you to walk around this whole culture sac.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to introduce yourself to every single one of your neighbors because the answer to this problem is if you invest in them, they're gonna invest in you, and I guarantee you that those calls will slow down.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: And sure as hell, he was absolutely correct.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: So it it simple things like that and incremental improvements like that are just like a lot of where you know good songwriting is made, right?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's so true.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about never after.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: Why was that the right song to introduce currency?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's what our handlers had us choose.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry to interrupt Maddie.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: No, you're good.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I think it was probably the emotional connection that we all had to that being like single one.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think because it was single one to us, we wanted it to be single one to everybody else, you know.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like, here's how we discovered the beginning of this album, and this is how we want you to discover the beginning of this album.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: It was difficult, man, because they're all really good.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: Truly, like not do you guys all have a different favorite, Christian?
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that that would be tough for me at this point.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: I think the longer I sit with it, I think I'll have some songs that will absolutely stand out as being my favorite on the record.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: But I think the whole single process to me, I kind of backed out a little bit because I was just like, I don't know, guys.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: You pick, you pick whatever, right?
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_02: You'll I'll I'll get behind it.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: So it was like, well, I don't know.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: What does the label think?
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_02: Jump manager, what do you think?
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like, hey, friends, listen to these songs.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: What do you guys think?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: It was hard for me personally.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: We sat down with the the label and had like a full meeting, and even the label was just like you tell us what the singles are because we we love them all.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh that's really flattering, uh obviously, uh, but also really stressful because when you know how the industry works, you know that there are three songs on this album that are going to have a life beyond any of the other songs on the album.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: No matter what we do with social media, no matter what we do.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like if we're gonna go to radio and we're going to really push any songs from this album, it's gonna be three that get the spotlight.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's the that's the amount of time in in a two-year album cycle.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's the that's how it works.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so to say I'm in love with all 11 of these, and I have to show off just three of them or whatever.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, really hard.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um so so if you're listening to this, please, please go listen to the album front to back.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even care if you buy it.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Just like just listen to it front to back and really and give every song its own life, you know, like like trust trust each song uh as its own entity because it because to us, we really want it to be listened to like that.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I love that because I do ask a lot of artists this question a lot about their feelings on the modern release strategy, like the single wait a couple of months, single, the trickle out process.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: And by the time the album actually comes out, a person's heard three-quarters of the album instead of it in its entirety, and it experienced maybe experienced it maybe the way it was intended to be listened to.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_02: Musicians in the in the music business has been trying to react to um you know society and the way people have cons are consuming things in these days.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: Not trust me, it's not we're trying to do whatever is gonna get people to listen to stuff.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: In a culture where it's really like uh on to the next thing within 30 seconds, you know, and attention spans of just like uh, you know, of a freaking housewire or whatever.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: But so ideally, you know, I don't know that we would go about things in the 10 different ways that artists try and do things.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's never just like this is what works, you know what I mean?
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: So we've done the slow here, hey, here's some singles, and now this is an EP, and now there's another EP, and now we put these together and it's an album.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you're trying to just keep people's attention, you know.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: Maddie's done dropping songs every couple months until you know the record's basically out.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're every artist is trying to figure out how to do it when it was very clear for a long time in in some ways, you know.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: You guys collaborated with a lot of writers uh on this.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Did collaborating with people, including Switchfoot, reveal anything about Anne Berlin that you hadn't recognized in yourselves quite yet?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that we should have been collaborating the whole time.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: No, honestly, we we had done that maybe we'd done it once before Steven had gone and written with some um other writers on when we did New Surrender.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I would say, I would argue that the results of that were pretty neglected negligible in my opinion, um, compared to what I feel like were was accomplished on this record.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think I was pretty highly impressed.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it's just a cool it's smart when you've got, you know, we're all very tenured songwriters at this point in our careers, you know, 20 some years for all everyone in that room.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: And when you add someone else, you know, just another brain look looking at it, thinking of it from a different angle.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's just uh, you know, it only improves the situation.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I I really enjoyed it a a ton.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I've been on the other end of that a bunch as well.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I just I think it's just a fun, I like the creative process, and I'm not very precious about who did what or who wrote what.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's uh the collaborative aspect of art is something that why I'm in a band and not, you know, obviously a thriving solo artist.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: So do you think that's uh a byproduct of age and maturity, though, too?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm sure a lot of people in their younger, more formative years when they first start bands, they're a little bit more controlling of their creative environment as opposed to being collaborative to outside sources that maybe you're more willing to collaborate now than maybe 20 years ago.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh to me, it was more about intention back then.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like the intention to me here was not like obviously you want to write a great song, but the intention back then was like, let's write a radio song.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm like, no one knows what that is because it's constantly changing, right?
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: Some artists, you know, by the time our record comes out that we've just wrote and what written what we thought was a radio song, by the time this radio, this song, this uh record comes out, radio might have changed to what's being played.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: We were we did a record, Dark is the way, where the label had us like beef up our single on that uh on that record.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: And by the time that single came out, the number one song on alternative radio was Mumford and Sons.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: So it was kind of like, why did we beef it up for alternative if alternative is beefing down?
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: So the intention there, the intention there is odd when it was like, let's write for radio.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: This did not feel like that.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: This was felt like these are homies, these are uh, you know, when you're younger, I think when you're working with a bigger artist, whoever it might be, you're just like, oh my god, it's so and so from whatever.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: And in this situation, it was more like, oh, these are homies, or actually, if anything, we we've been more accomplished than some of these dudes, but they're young and they're hungry and they're talented.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: So the end goal was just like, let's write some friggin' hooks and make these songs the best they can be.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: There was no like, what's happening at radio right now?
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: Let's write that, you know.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, one of the things we talked about before we pressed record is if anybody goes to Spotify or one of the streaming platforms right now and pre-saves the record, you can see the track listing.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: There's a collaboration with Switchfoot called Trenches on there, and you guys are doing a tour with Switchfoot.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to take this new chapter of Anne Berlyn on the road alongside a band that has had a similarly long journey?
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: And what was it like collaborating with friends?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um we've known them for a long time, and I've known them my my my band I was in before I was in uh An Berlin.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: Acceptance played shows are done early 2000s, you know, we did a little run with them down the west coast.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: So they've always been um the most genuine and and honestly like kind to almost not uncomfortability, but like you're you're like, are you serious?
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: Are you really that nice?
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know what I'm saying?
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like yeah, just the most genuine, sweetest dudes.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: I lived in San Diego for a long time, which is where they live.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: They lived in North County, but I you know, I would see them on on occasion, but we had talked for years about we'd as a band trying to collaborate or get people to sing on on songs, and you know, we really liked.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: I thought for a long time the idea of collaborating with someone that you were touring with was a cool idea, even whether it would be on a record or not.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: I thought just as a tool is like a fun thing to like release and promote or a record.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: But I think as this record was taking shape and we were debating, like we were talking about let's do that.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: We pick every record, we would we just couldn't either agree on who we wanted to sing on it, but I think this just kind of started making sense, and the song really kind of made sense.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um so the whole vision kind of happened very organically, and um those dudes are so talented and just were so down to just because the concept was basically like not like hey John, can you just sing on the song that we wrote and here's the part?
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: It was kind of like here's our song, you guys do switch foot to it.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_02: So, John, here's kind of what Maddie's saying on the second verse, but you can you can take it and make it your own, you can keep singing it the way it is, verbatim, or you know, and you guys can track instrumentally the whole as a whole band add stuff.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: So they did, you know, they they they have their own studio in San Diego, and like they sent back you know Kellen from Memphis, Maddie's other band, is is who mixed our record.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_02: So he ended up getting a whole folder of files from them and was just like, oh god, like he got a whole nother set a whole nother session, a whole nother song, basically, a whole nother session full of like tracks.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, Oh my god, I already mixed one session full of your guys' tracks.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: Now I gotta, and then you gotta, it was fun.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, to go through with that with switchwood as well.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: We're like, hey, we want to be super respectful here, and you know, we're gonna do want to honor you guys, but also kind of keep the vision we had for the song.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: So he was finding like, okay, let's turn this up here, turn this down here, or this is this on our tracks is kind of unnecessary here.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: No, now that they added this.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: So it was a really cool, unique process.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very, very special tune.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um absolutely it it started with Nick Long out in LA, which from the jump is what was like a legendary writing experience.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just he's such a good dude and has so many hits under his belt, but really like the concept of that song is exactly what I said to you earlier, which is hope is not a pat on the back or an inspirational quote.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hope is being in the trenches with someone or having somebody in the trenches with you.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when that came out of my mouth, Nick ran with it, and we, you know, we went down this path.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: The song was done.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: And after recording it, it was so serendipitous because after recording it, just the one thing about it that didn't feel like it was top, top, top tier was verse two.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I don't I don't think that there's enough progression in verse two.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like it feels like there's a lull there.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I did not ask John Foreman to rewrite verse two, but John Foreman rewrote verse two.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: And he it was like he knew he kept the parts that I loved and changed and added things that made it so much more special.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's so like his tone, his delivery, his voice, it's so sick.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: But by the time it all came back together, we were like, oh my god, this is it, this is it.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this is so it.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not like loud enough or fast enough or heavy enough for us to lead with, even as like single number two, it wouldn't work.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's very ballady.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um but as like a song that you want switchfoot on, there's no better song.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like it's like if anybody was to be like, who should be on this?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's like switchfoot should be on this.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um because they are also hope dealers, you know, they're hope enthusiasts.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so like the whole thing is just um, I cannot believe that I'm living inside of the body of the person that's experiencing this right now.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like being in Amberlynn was enough.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then being in Amberlynn featuring Switchfoot is the most psycho.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: You could not talk to 15-year-old me about that.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: It would have been, my heart would have stopped, dude.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's it's very cool.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: The tour happening.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Christian is so accurate about how genuine those guys are, it is the craziest.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like we just spent some time with them shooting some content to announce the tour or whatever.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, like everything that you want the guys in Switchfoot to be is how they are.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like don't meet your idols, except Switchfoot.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they really truly are special people.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: So dude, you guys are getting me super excited about this record.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: I listened to Never After, I've listened to High Stakes, and then listening to you guys talk about all these other tunes.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_01: When you look at the band's history, how do you view the relationship between what Amberlynn was, what it became, and what it's becoming now?
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's just points on a journey, you know.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh never a destination, you know.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think we ever knew exactly where we wanted to go or where this would go.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: I think you're lying to yourself if you think you're in control over a lot of that.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, if you when I joined the band, they were on their third record.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and if you would have asked them then, I think they were surprised that they got to make a second record after Blueprints.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, most artists start as young kids just with you know the most small aspirations of like, oh my gosh, like let's say you go to all ages shows and you're just like, I just want to play whatever, the old firehouse in Redmond, like because you go to shows there, you're like, that's that's the biggest stage, you know.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: But you would never even think that you would play an arena or whatever.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: So all these goals keep you keep meeting these goals as your career progresses, and some of it feels so out of control, because it really is, you know.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I think yeah, it's just we're at a different point in our journey here, and like I said earlier, just very grateful and thankful for every moment that we've had, um, and kind of shocked.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think most artists, if they were being honest with you, would be shocked to say, I've been doing this for whatever, 25 years, or you know, I started playing shows in the mid-90s, so and I'm only 30, so I don't know how that works.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: But um I'm right there with you, bro.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we've joked because what it's true is like growing up in the 80s, bands from the 60s, you those were classic rock bands, right?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: But if our band started in 2000 and it's tw mid 2020, we're what are we, classic emo?
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't know, I don't know.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, the the band's been around for a long time now at this point.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really cool.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's like it's just a fun career to still be doing things you love with guys you love and making art that you like is just uh such a blessing, you know.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: Walking into this band as a fan, as you've mentioned multiple times, Maddie, what do you think people misunderstand about Anne Berlin at this point in the band's career?
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a it's a lot.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like there's so many of those things that it's hard to just pinpoint one.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think that walking into it, I came in with two different things.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_00: I came in as a fan, and I also came in as somebody who is a part of another fully operating band business, and so like it like experiencing all the different ways that things happen um was a lot, but just specifically from a fan perspective, um I can answer this if you I got one, Matty, if you want.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, d hit 'em.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_02: What I've noticed a lot, at least recently, a lot of comments I see is like uh that this was all some sort of planned out, like we had everything figured out.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, people I've seen comments be like, I wish you guys would have communicated that, you know, Steven, you know, we first announced it was, hey, Steven's still a part of the band, and Maddie's doing this and this, that, and the other thing.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know, wish you would communicate that things have changed.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like we literally have been writing the script as we go.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think when Steven called Natty, he I said, Maddie, do you want to do a tour with with Amberlynn?
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_02: So this has slowly kind of organically grown into what it has.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we had full Steven is still, I've talked to Steven today, you know, like there's no animosity here.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: These things were put in motion by Steven.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: Steven stepped back, he called Matty, you know.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_02: So people but people will look at the band or look at Maddie and be like, so angry.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'd be like, yo, like, yeah, like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what did I do?
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I'm all I'm we just try to keep this band going, like because we love it and we think you love it, but obviously you're offended because Steven stepped away from the band, or then we didn't communicate our full plans to you.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, I don't know what I'm doing, man.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm literally like it's changing month to month, year to year, you know what I'm saying?
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this has just been a growing thing.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's something people have misunderstood as an you know, at least what I've seen, a misunderstanding is man, like we're trying to do our best.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_02: If I had to try like explain every decision that I need to make for my business and my friends and my family to every stranger on the street, I'd rather throw put my head under a bus.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, we're doing our best.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's like we've just been trying to figure things out as they go.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_02: It made the most sense.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Steven still doesn't want to tour.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: What's the point in having Steven sing a bunch of songs and still have Maddie sing karaoke?
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like initially we were gonna, hey, it's hey, but maybe both guys, you know, Maddie, you sing this one, and we'll put Steven on the acoustic one.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_02: We we never we didn't know.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: We're just still kind of figuring that out.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_02: This was just like, oh, this was clear to us what needed to happen here.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_02: So that's what that's all I gotta say about that.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_01: As somebody that's a longtime fan, I I think the people that truly love you guys and count me uh in that bunch, we understand.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: People that live in comment sections live in comment sections for a reason.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it's because it's low-hanging fruit.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_01: Negativity for some reason gets the most engagement.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: And as a hope dealer myself, you know, I it's a very conscientious thing that I have to do to not engage with it or not feed the trolls, right?
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: Evolution's gonna happen naturally, and it things are gonna go the course that they're intended to go.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_00: No doubt.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, dude, I was at a golf course eating dinner with my wife a couple weeks ago, and a guy at least 10 years older than me just walked up to our Table and was like, hey man, I just want to say thanks for keeping Amberlynn alive.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh whoa, you know, like so unexpected.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like that is the people that we made a record for.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: And they have jobs and kids and responsibilities, and they do not have the time to live in comment sections.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like you really can't trust just what you're reading as like the the to you know tell all result of anything.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: You have to go and and meet people in real life and and play shows and see it there.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um but you're so right that it's like anybody that loved and supported Amberlynn knew that there was five members of Amberlynn, right?
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the people that especially with how this whole thing played out with Steven like specifically asking me to come in and do this, for anybody to be upset or to express frustration and Steven not being there or ask why Steven isn't there, is honestly just an ongoing, like laughable thing in our band group chat now.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's like, dude, what more can we do for you to help you understand that like we're just keeping this alive for you?
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're somebody that doesn't want it to still be alive without Steven's voice on the record, um, then you know, like we we'll gladly walk you to the door.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we're we're so happy with this album.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: And Steven texts me all the time, hey man, just want to remind you, I'm so grateful for you.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for for keeping this thing going.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for making sure those other guys could stay on the road and blah, blah.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm doing my thing with my family and my church, and I'm so glad that I get to do this guilt-free.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, I don't want to have to take screenshots of that and post it in Reddit threads so that kids can can make a different opinion.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like, dude, we're here because this is how everything from you know, from the original singer of this band to all the other original members of this band, like this is what they wanted.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is how it's working, and we wrote something really special.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: Take it or leave it, you know, like and uh and the people that are that are taking it seem to be really stoked.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I think all in all, it's a good thing.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_02: I wasn't trying to I wasn't trying to highlight negative comments.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_02: I was trying to just say, I've seen confusion when people are like, hey, you said this three years ago when you first were formulating this idea and now it's different.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, yeah, man.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_02: Five years ago, we said we were broke we were broken up, you know what I mean?
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_02: So like things change, like you know, I'm like, things change and we're doing our best.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like, and we we we're writing the script as we go, so it's like to have to broadcast that every time we make a decision, it's just like counterproductive to me.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, you you know what we're doing because we just announced the record with Maddie.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: I don't need to like foreshadow that or give you like a you know preempt that in any way, or I'm just clarifying when you asked what what people would be confused about is hey man, we don't know what we're doing either.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_02: We're just we're putting the pieces together, we're building the road as we're driving down it, literally laying the bricks, you know what I'm saying?
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if there's anything that we know that the fans don't know, it's first of all, it's very minimal.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: And second, it's specifically being withheld for the element of surprise that is coming, which is a very exciting part about following a band and discovering new music and all this stuff.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, dude, do you want the login to my email address or or what?
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like what like you you need there needs to be some certain elements of surprise here, and um, and truly there was never any deception from the from the band.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was like what the fans were being told is what I was being told is what I was telling my wife when I was going on these tours.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's what everybody thought.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then as things progressed, we're like, oh man, like there is real steam happening.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um it would be very unwise for us to like for the band to go do a record with Steven, which I don't even think Steven had time to do a record.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we know he can't tour, but I don't the dude has a lot going on, right?
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: And um and so it the whole thing kind of like snowballed into this let's write some songs into this, let's write a record, and to we're meeting people on a day-to-day basis that love this band who are really excited about these new songs and and what we have released, and it's like let's keep that going and let's keep growing and keep taking tours, and then all of a sudden we're out with switchfoot and there's a brand new record, and then we're we're here just like you are, being like, What?
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like it's uh it's a ride.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, what excites you guys uh the most about the band's future right in this moment?
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_01: Currency, yeah.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, we this is this is the culmination truly of of three years of work and discussions, and you know, we've been working towards whether we knew it or not, uh what it feels like is this goal here was you know I don't know that that was the intention or we ever thought, hey, we're gonna do a full record with Matty, but this feels like the like I'm saying, the culmination of three years of work of like, oh my god, we have a killer record.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_02: We have a really like the biggest tour we've had since really kind of reforming, you know, truly, like the biggest support tour we've had since reforming in 2019.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh great vehicle to put the root like we're really set up here and everything's just feels great.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like very dialed and just excited for the future.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_02: And once again, very grateful for even this opportunity, the fact that we're having this conversation and the fact that we have this record, this tour, this singer, you know, just a lot of gratitude all around.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_00: I am so excited just for people to hear all of these songs.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we're doing a CD listening, we're not C I say C D because I'm we're all old school.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_00: We got I wish I I wish we were doing a CD listening party, but we're not.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um we're doing an album listening party in St.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: Pete, Tampa area where where the band lives, most of the go the guys live.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um and like nobody does that this far you know this long before an album comes out.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_00: We're all genuinely so excited about these songs that when it came down to being like, what when are we gonna like do this thing?
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_00: Where it's like, let's just do it like ASAP, you know.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we're taking people's phones at the door, you know, and and and and like showing them whoever whoever shows up, you know, because it's straight up like the flyers out there, and people can literally just come to this thing and and hear the record, they're gonna hear the entire record and we're gonna get their feedback on it.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we're so excited uh just about these songs, about the message in them, about you know, the legacy of Amberlynn and that living on um that yeah, it's just right now all things point to currency.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_00: Very excited, couldn't be more proud of it, and I just want to like sit back now and and and give it to the world and let the world have it and say what they want and enjoy it the way that we have for the last year.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: So yes, yes.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, guys, we've talked a lot about hope and optimism and all things good in the world, and that's what my show is all about.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_01: My closing question that I ask every single guest that does the show, because I myself am a hope dealer as well, is what's your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today through your eyes and your experience?
• 51:38
  SPEAKER_00: Start in your own neighborhood, man.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like stop trying to uh solve all of the world's problems from your social media page, you know, like go and take care of the people that are close to you.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um give everything you have to your immediate family and friends and just make the difference that you can make right here, you know, inside of yourself.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: Constantly be looking for opportunities to grow and get better, and then give that to the people that are right in front of your eyes, you know?
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that if everybody did that, we would see such a significant change in the world as a whole.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_00: But it's like in a in a time where people have a really hard time getting along and a really hard time agreeing on most things, I would say what kind of impact and difference can you make in on your street?
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: What are you so worried about over here that you really honest to God are not gonna have any impact on when something right here could really use your attention?
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_00: Your own kids, your own family, your own issues, you know, like what can be done there, and um and try to do it well.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm trying to do.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_03: Christian, you have anything to add to that?
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the world would be a better place if we just assumed that everyone was trying to do their best and uh give people the benefit of the death.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure there's not bad or evil in the world, but I think the majority of us are uh trying to live good lives, and I think by being empathetic, you'll just learn to be good to other people in the same way that you'd like to be uh treated well as well.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_01: Guys, I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with the two of you.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad to now call you friends.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm longtime fan of all of your projects.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um you guys know that anytime you want to come back in the show and hang out, the door is open for you guys.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_01: Christian, Maddie, and Berlin.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys so much for doing the show.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_01: The world is a much better place with you guys in it.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having us, brother.