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Matt Noveskey of Blue October · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:28
  SPEAKER_04: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mic for nearly three decades.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_04: Blue October has been a band that I have watched from a very unique perspective.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_04: I saw them in Omaha for the first time in 2000, opened up for them multiple times months later, spent a day hanging out with them at the funplex, and even pondered an opportunity to tour with them years later with my own band.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_04: Further on down the line, I got to work security for one of their shows.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_04: I didn't get to interact with the guys, but I got to be their personal security guard, which is just crazy.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_04: I maintained my professional composure.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_04: Now, years after that first meeting, I'm sitting down with Matt Noveski as Blue October celebrates 20 years of FOILed.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: Brother, thanks for doing the show.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, man.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate it.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: What that's so crazy.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: We've had all these interactions over the years, man.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's just 30 years of you know moments.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_04: You gotta be careful whenever you say 30 years because we don't want to feel older than we actually are.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: You said it first.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_04: So when you think about the version of Blue October that was grinding it out in the late 90s and early 2000s, before FOILed, before the massive audience, um, before the millions of streams, what do you remember most about who that band was and what you guys were chasing?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we were just kids, you know.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think that um it's actually a great question because this is something I think about a lot, you know, is like I because I have so many great memories over the years with with the guys, but I think like when you when you've spent that much time and the core group is still together after all these years, you have to think that some things have been done right, and you have to think that, you know, like something is obviously working and something's clicking and that and for for that chemistry to remain and for it to be what it is.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I think a lot about like all the ups and downs, and I think about all the growth, but I think a lot about when I first joined the band, which was 98, 99, for like end of 98 going into 99, and then like those first few years.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the big thing for us then was that like even though we we knew that we had this bond and we knew we had this really cool chemistry of at the time four, you know, then became five, but four dudes making art together and writing together, and you know, like spending every waking minute together, just being creative and and and building this thing up.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: We uh we knew that we had something special, and we knew that like Justin obviously is a very prolific songwriter, and that's been since day one.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he always he's always had something to say, and we've always been there for it, and we've always been there to really help, you know, shape that into songs.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: But I think early on, there was a lot of like we were trying to find our identity, you know, because just to be totally straight with you, our influences at that time weren't necessarily like the coolest influences to be talking about.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's like in the days of of you know, new metal and like emerging and and all these other things happening, which is great, and that all has a place, but we were kind of grew up more and and shaped our identity a little bit more after some of the bands, like some of the British bands like the Stone Roses and the Cocteau Twins and Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel, The Cure.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: And now, of course, it's cool to say all these bands, you know.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's like, oh, I've listened to the cure forever.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: But we, you know, but but back then it wasn't really, you know, that wasn't really like the most popular thing.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it was like we were, I feel like we were just really kind of a band like that that knew what we wanted to say and knew that we needed to say it, but we were kind of figuring out how to say it, you know.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: So we were trying a lot of different things, and I think that we kind of dipped our toes into some different genres and we got put on some bills that we had no business being on, and you know, wound up doing all these festivals where it was like we really were kind of the odd ducts of the festivals and all that.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing is that we started sort of making fans with those other people that could relate to what we were saying, even just a couple people at a time.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: So even if we did a festival in front of a ton of people that were there to see somebody else, we were getting those people that were like, whoa, I identify with what these guys are talking about.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And all the other bands might be partying and rocking, but these guys are talking to me about something I feel, you know.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think that um eventually that all sort of caught up to us.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then when we really sort of grew into our own to like these last few albums, to this is just like really what our sound sort of truly is.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that we're just a way more mature version of ourselves, you know.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So that's like something I remember is just all that innocence and all that sort of discovery from early on.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I have some some of my fondest memories ever those times, you know.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: But um, but man, I I'm I'm I'm also very like in retrospect, I'm very happy for the downs as well.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because if I hadn't hit some of those bottoms, I don't know that we would still be here today.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know we'd still be doing what we're doing.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we needed to know.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_04: You know, give yourself a little bit more credit there because I think one of the things that you guys did really well, especially in those early years, and those early years of exposure to the Omaha market and the Midwest market in particular, is you guys almost established yourselves as your own genre.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_04: Like, yeah, I mean, you can say in one hand, well, maybe we stuck out like a sore thumb, but maybe that sore thumb was not a bad thing.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: I totally agree with that.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And where we would see that uh kind of um come to fruition was when we would then we would come back and play the music box.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean, or play, you know, the Ranch Bowl or um Knickerbockers and Lincoln or whatever it was.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was like Nebraska for some reason really embraced us and really gave us kind of a launch pad, but we would come back and play those shows, and then it was like, whoa, there's a bunch of people, 200, 300 people at the time coming to see us, you know.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think you're right.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was resonating.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: It was just like um we would go do these big festivals to sort of be able to speak to those sort of sub-genres or sub-groups of people, and then they would start bringing their friends, and then I I absolutely agree, and honestly, that's a huge compliment.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate that.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, my pleasure.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_04: I I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, and kind of telling a little inside baseball, you know, of somebody that was actively playing in the market at the time, is I also know that you guys were utilized a lot of times to bring ARs to the area because if there was a band that they wanted to showcase, they'd have them open up on a blue October show, and you'd have reps from Universal and other labels at the time, and it was a good place to be at that time for sure.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's funny that you say that.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: I just had this conversation.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even remember the band Pomeroy.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_04: Good friends of mine.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_04: I just had Dave uh on not too long ago.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's crazy.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Great band.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: I love that band so much, but I remember at one point in time we were, I think we were either with Universal or we were like kind of talking to them or something, and then they had started talking to them, and we were doing the show, and they were picking our brains, like, what do you think?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And all this, and yeah, it takes me back, man.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's really cool.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, I remember one show in particular.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_04: It was like a last-minute show at the Ranch Bowl, and everybody in the scene knew that I I'm not gonna say who the AR's name is, we'll we'll say it off recording.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_04: That this specific AR from Universal was going to be there, and Pomeroy got put on that show, and everybody played the best show I had ever seen them play at that point in time.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: That was an awesome, I remember that show clear as day, and it was a that was a great show.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's so funny you say that, man.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_04: You know, kind of going and jogging the memory a little bit for the sake of nostalgia.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_04: The first time I saw you guys, that lineup was ridiculous, just to kind of give the viewer and the listener uh kind of the onset drone view of what was going on.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, uh Rockfest 2000, 311, Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus, Papa Roach, Nickelback, bunch of bands that were just exploded or on the verge of exploding.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_04: And just so people have a purview of this, like Incubus played really early in the day.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_04: That's how like early in all of this was.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_04: And that was the first time a lot of us got um introduced to you.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_04: From your perspective, what did you guys feel was happening around you at that point?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_04: Did you sense that something bigger was coming for you?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yeah.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's a show, you know, that's a show that we still talk about a lot to this day.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, and now in 2026, we've probably played over a thousand festival shows now.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: But but that one stands out so much for so many reasons.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: One, because that lineup was just even today, that lineup would be absolutely unreal, you know.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: But at the time, it was like that was like our first real exposure to like, whoa, we're not playing the third stage in the parking lot.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're playing the main stage.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Granted, we're the first band on the main stage, but hey, I remember seeing Rage Against Machine at 11 a.m.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: on Lollapalooza 93 on the main stage, and I know what that did to me, you know, so maybe we can be that band.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was um, it was that was a really, really special day.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think it really stuck with us for a long time.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like Ryan and I were just reminiscing about it recently, actually talking about that show.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I have all these photos of us backstage doing the hand thing before we went out and everything.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: But it was like hanging backstage, you grow up wanting to do that as a musician.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, all I want to do is, you know, hang out with my idols and play a show with them.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden, it's like I'm not just playing with, you know, 311, who I used to obsess over, right?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And Stone Temple Pilots, you know, but also like I'm getting exposed to Nickelback and Incubus and um Papa Roach and like all these other bands that are, like you said, they're playing earlier in the day.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, but it was also, I remember the show felt like it was over as soon as it started for us because you it's you're like nerves, nerves, nerves.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my God, there's so many people out there.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: You play, and then all of a sudden it's like, well, oh, it's done.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: We got to get off stage.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm I was so in another place mentally, you know, that like it's over with.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like, um, but I think it was also one of those things where like looking back, I'm sure we were probably terrible compared to how we are now, you know, but you got to start somewhere.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you get you get those building blocks, but it was like, what a great way to sort of get baptized into the rock and roll scene, you know?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, hey, go out and play with the biggest and best bands in the world and see if you can hang.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, absolutely.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_04: Consent to treatment, I remember just blowing up locally and regionally around that time.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_04: And so was there a specific moment following that where you realized, okay, this might be becoming something bigger than we thought it was.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there were a few.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um I remember hearing James on on um Yeah, it would have been the river.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, that's another thing you always dream of is hearing your song on the radio.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And and that was actually a song that Justin and I had co-wrote.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I was really proud of that.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, but the the truth is that the record didn't really, you know, outside of Texas and Omaha, it just didn't really do anything.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, there were a few years there was like, okay, we gotta we gotta figure this out, we gotta figure this out, we gotta make it work.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that humbled us big time, you know, which kind of goes back to what I was saying earlier, but it really did.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of brought us back to reality, you know, and it was like, whoa, you we're gonna have to kind of shift gears and really figure out how to make this work.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then it wasn't until honestly, well, there's a couple things.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: One, there was a one particular show at the music box that we played that was sold out.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember that we went up there and on the way there, we played like three or four shows in maybe like Clinton, Iowa, or Springfield, Missouri, or something.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: We played like three other kind of small markets that literally nobody came out to.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was like a bartender and like two of his friends or his girlfriend or whatever.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that was like, oh man, this is let's just go home.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is a rough weekend.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: But then Saturday night, we go to Omaha and there's a line outside and the and it's sold out.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that was like, man, that right there is the proof we need.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like if this, if we can just figure this out, this works, you know.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: But then we go through this phase of getting dropped and the album doesn't do anything.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then I feel like for us, when it really started to resonate was when FOILed came out, you know, in 2006.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden our manager is like, hey guys, the songs like we're doing this radio promo tour.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't even a real tour.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's like we're just playing for, you know, conference rooms and radio stations.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, guys, it's climbing.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's climbing, it's number two.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, it's you know, and we were like, what does that mean?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: But then all of a sudden he sits us down.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, guys, you're gonna you're gonna be playing Jay Leno.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember we were sitting in um the Driscoll Hotel to do a promotional thing for South by Southwest here in Austin.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's when it really sunk in, you know, because I was like, I'm gonna call my mom and I'm gonna give her some good news for once.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm not, hey mom, can I borrow a hundred bucks?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, it's gonna be, hey mom, guess what?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna play the tonight show, you know.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I think honestly, for me, I think that was the moment where it was like, it's paying off.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, you know, you know, and kind of going through that roller coaster ride from 2000 to 2006, I'm sure the ups and downs being signed to Universal, getting drops, having calling you break and be on the American Wedding soundtrack, which was the biggest thing at the time.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: Um, uh, I'm sure that built a lot of camaraderie within the band.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_04: And how much of that camaraderie has Blue October been able to preserve as the band has grown over the last 26 years?
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: I would honestly say that those those six years and then the the any man in America phase, right?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right of two couple years in there, those are two very, very crucial moments or two crucial, I guess, periods of time for us as a band.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason that we are still doing this and have such great communication and our in our family to this day is because we did go through all that together.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if everything was just roses and rainbows all the time, who knows?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, eventually somebody gets bored or somebody wants to do this or somebody wants to do that, or people argue over nonsense, but we don't do that and we don't take anything for granted.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: And as corny as it sounds, it's absolutely true.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think a big part of it is like I think back to that phase a lot.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, did we have fun?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, we had a lot of fun.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I was there for some of it.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, but I really look back fondly, but I also look back with just a like a ton of gratitude because like you have to, you gotta like you need tough love, and you gotta be taught the hard way sometimes for it to last.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I really like I'm at the time I couldn't see it, but now I'm really grateful for those years.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_04: You know, marking the 20th anniversary of FOILed and not to drift too much more or too much longer on the earlier material, but what changed internally for Blue October between the early records and making FOILed?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_04: And what did you guys understand about yourselves as musicians by then that you didn't understand six years earlier?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, so to be honest with you, I can I can only speak for myself with this, and I I definitely don't want to, you know, put words in any of the other guys' mouths, but but for me and for my perspective, I think that I may have been a little too wrapped up in um on the first couple albums, a little bit too wrapped up in what are people gonna think?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, well, does this fit on these radio stations?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is this, you know, at the time, you know, and radio station formats change and everything, but of course, like, well, is this alternative rock?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Is it hot I see?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is it this?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is it pop?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so it's like you go through that, and then I think you you just you worry, you worry, and then you start making decisions because of that.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that like there's just a lot of anxiety involved in that.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think when we got to FOILed, and Justin was like, guys, I'm gonna go to LA, I'm gonna kind of get some peace and quiet, I'm gonna isolate myself and work on some demos, and then come back.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: By the time I got a phone call from him, and he said, Hey, haven't talked in a while, you make me smile.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: We wrote this song a long time ago.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like this has a place on the record.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: He and I instantly reconnected, you know, just right back on it.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so to me, it was like that was definitely sort of a kind of a turning point, but it was also like, okay, let's go make a record for us.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, you know, we're we're on a big label and they want results and all this, but you know what?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's just shut out the noise.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go make the record that we want to make.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's be creative.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let's not care how long the songs are, let's not care if it fits a format or whatever.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes you got to do something for yourself for other people to see the value in it, you know, and I think that I think that's what we did.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: We just made an album that we wanted to make, and then it was right place, right time, finally.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think it just it caught on and it kind of caught us by surprise.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_04: See, I was gonna ask that because when Hate Me and Into the Ocean started taking off, did it feel like a dream come true, or did the speed and scale of everything happening around you make it feel difficult to process?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: It made it feel very difficult to process.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: For me, it was not like instant, like, oh, all my dreams came true.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, no, I've already been through that.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've already had all my my dreams dashed, you know.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like I thought I was gonna be a rock star when I was 22 years old.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it was like I definitely had a more mature point of view, but I also had a very skeptical point of view.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: So when when it was when it was happening and when the album was doing well, and all of a sudden we're making videos and we're making big budget video for into the ocean and we're playing all these big shows and we're opening for the stones and we're doing all this other stuff.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, again, like the word that I keep going back to is gratitude.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't like, ooh, I've made it, you know, or like, you know, oh yeah, this is it.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: Boom, we crossed the finish line.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: It was more just like like a big, like a relief, you know.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, man, I knew that we had something.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that we had something to say and that people would care.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: It just took a minute, you know?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so when when that happened, I think it was more important for us that we stay true to ourselves so that we could preserve that and not be one of those bands that has one record and then you never hear about them again.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because as we know, there's way too many of those already.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_04: For sure, for sure.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_04: Without turning this into a conversation we've all heard before, how did the pressure of touring, addiction, mental health struggles, and internal turmoil affect the relationships within Blue October?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_04: And what did the band have to learn about communication and survival to make it through?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great question.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: And and again, like I like that I I do appreciate that you said a conversation we've all heard before, but there's a reason that we've heard it before is because it's important.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it really is.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's important and it and it and it honestly, like it's it's something that I think that we have to, if we didn't want to talk about that, like what are we doing?
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so to me, it it's it it matters to us and it matters that people know that about us.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because I do think it, I I think it's important.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think it means a lot, like it's really in the fabric of who we are as a band, right?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Our mission now is to be able to break down walls and to talk about the things you're not supposed to talk about, you know, and and to so that you can have healthy relationships and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was hard.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was really hard.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: There was a period of time there where it was like I didn't know what was gonna happen.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that the tour was gonna end and I knew it was coming up, and I it was in Columbus, Ohio, at uh not the Newport, it was a different venue, but it was a venue where I even remember the dressing room.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's like winding, winding staircase that went up to this upstairs dressing room.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember having a conversation with Jeremy, and I remember in that moment, Jeremy and I have always been real close, you know, like we we bonded as soon as I joined the band.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a rhythm section thing.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I remember uh I remember having a conversation with him, and it really hit me that I was like, man, I don't know what's gonna like he's sharing a lot of the same fears that I have.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: And he even though we don't want to acknowledge some of these things, like there's a it's very fractured right now, and there's a lot of uh, I don't know what it is.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it's resentment or anger or what it is, and I'm trying to wrap my head around why we're having such a hard time getting along and communicating and and all these other things.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: And and then when it dawned on us what was going on and what the core of the problem was, it was just like this light bulb went off.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, oh, that makes perfect sense.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we've been at each other's throats and you know, and don't know if haven't known what was going to happen at the end of the day.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so So again, and then that allowed us to come together and become more bonded than ever, you know, and send Justin off to get some help, get his head straight, get clean, you know, and come back and hopefully start over.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if not, we still love you, you know.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: But it it all worked out.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he came back and everything from that point moving forward was just it's, you know, it's like you're you're you're watering the plant every day from that, from that moment.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: And what, you know, and then like I I can't even explain how beautiful it's been, you know, but um it's like I said, it's a big part of our message.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's not every song, it's not, it's not everything that we're saying, but like we definitely walk on stage every night, every show, knowing that we have kind of have an obligation to share our story with other people because addiction is very common.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's very real, and it tears people apart, tears families apart, it tears bands apart, it tears co-workers apart, you know.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I feel like it's given us kind of a sense of duty to be able to go out there and talk about it and to communicate with other people about it so they don't feel alone.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_04: I really appreciate that you weren't dismissive about that because one of my favorite things about Blue October on a personal level is your vulnerability and your encouragement for people to be transparent about mental struggles that they're having.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_04: Um, men in particular, you know.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_04: I think Blue October is very central to the movement of men being transparent to their mental health and about their mental health.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_04: I know that's not something you guys shoulder lightly, but is it something you consider whenever you're creating new music?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that it's something that we consider because I feel like it happened very organically.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it happened really naturally.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I remember um when I it's funny, I was just having a conversation today with a friend of mine who's also in a band that really touches, he's he's in a band called Missio, and they touch on mental health a lot.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: And they they've been really championing, discussing mental health for a long time, like long before it became sort of, you know, commonplace, which it sort it kind of is now.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: But years ago, you know, when it wasn't cool to be a guy and be crying at a concert, you know, that was happening at our shows.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember when I first joined, that was a big deal to me because that was not something that I expected to be a part of or I had witnessed.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was in bands that, you know, were playing like feel-good, you know, hip-hop, alternative rock, and you know, get in the mosh pit and jump off the stage.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And don't get me wrong, I love that stuff, and you know, there's a place for it.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I wasn't used to seeing a grown man, a football player, you know, grown man in the crowd, like just letting loose because he needed to, you know.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: And when I first joined Justin and Jeremy's dad, Danny, who was managing the band at the time, actually, you know, he told me about that.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: He was like, hey, you know, this is gonna happen.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how do you how do you feel about that?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because you don't see that every day.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: And this is back in like, you know, 99.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I'm here for it, man.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I love this.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm, you know, it is new to me.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of foreign to me, but I think it's amazing.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd love to, I'm honored to be a part of something like that.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm really proud of the fact that we never like, we never strayed away from that.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: We always embraced that.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: We've always encouraged people to not be afraid to show how they feel, you know, and and to be able to connect with the music for what it is at, you know, at its core.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and so now we're almost kind of like the we're sort of like the grandfathers of that whole scene in a way.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's like I work with these emo bands, these young emo bands, and they're like, Blue October, yeah, man.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was like 10, and you know, and I would like was wearing, you know, eyeliner and I wanted to be like, you know, and I'm like, oh man, that's funny.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: We're the old guys now.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_04: I love it.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_04: Well, one of the remarkable things about Blue October is that the story obviously didn't end with foiled.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_04: You now have 12 studio albums, three live records, and a catalog that surpassed 1.5 billion.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_04: That's B billion, billion streams.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_04: What do you think has allowed the band continue to evolve instead of just simply becoming a nostalgia act?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, without naming any names, um I have witnessed a lot of bands that have a successful record, and then what do they do?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: They spend the rest of their career trying to chase the dragon.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like, oh, we gotta make another record like that, we gotta beat that, we gotta get back to that.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: We've never been concerned with that, you know, and like and if and if I ever showed up to a rehearsal or a writing session and was like, hey Justin, we gotta write Hate Me Part Two, he'd be like, Go home, take a shower, clear your head, come back tomorrow, and don't ever say that again.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we that's not what we do, you know.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it's just being experimental, man, like staying relevant, being creative, like listening to what's happening out there, not getting stagnant.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: I see a ton of bands that make a great record, and then like, and then they make 10, if you know, 15, 20 records that are like, huh, you know, and like I hopefully that's not us.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't and it doesn't necessarily mean that it has to sell a million albums, because who really does anymore, you know?
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: It just needs to feel good to us, and then in turn it'll feel good to other people, but like you we challenge ourselves every time we make a new record, every single time we try to break habits.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: I have habits as a bass player, I get called out, you know, and I I appreciate it because it makes me a better musician, but it also makes me a better bandmate.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, there there are some habits that are not a bad thing, though.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_04: Sure.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, you you look at Blue October's catalog, and it's funny.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_04: Just a couple weeks ago, my wife and I were on a two-hour drive, and you know, she doesn't mess with my shit unless I like pour it down her throat, and now and she's all in on you guys.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_04: I just recently exposed her to you guys, but your catalog is so deep and it is so diverse.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_04: But one of the things you guys have done really well that I don't think every musician accomplishes, is that marriage between the sound that matches the lyricism in such a way that it creates an inflection point in the moment that you hear it, and that's when you know good songwriting is occurring.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_04: So I say that as a compliment, but thank you.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's something that's very signature to the blue October sound for sure.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, another thing that I think is really important, and this is something that really drew me to the band uh when I first joined, is Ryan, you know, and and not to take anything away from the guitar players that we've had, you know, and Jeremy or myself, because you know, we all obviously contribute and we all have our own human element that we bring to it, but Ryan is just such a unique musician, you know, and I I often have thought um if you take Ryan out of Blue October, it just simply is not Blue October.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's not, you know, and and Justin plays solo acoustic shows and they are beautiful, and I love it.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's such a cool, different perspective, and you know, he does tours and like it's it's very cool.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: But when we talk about like the band and sort of the the signature sound that does that is kind of a common thread from from album to album, it's it's really Ryan.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like his violin, his strings, the way that he kind of puts, we've always said puts the bow on the present, is just such a it's a thing, and it's not a thing that you hear in a lot of other bands or hardly any other rock bands for that matter.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so I think it makes us really unique.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think it makes it makes us stand out.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm really grateful to have him in the band for for a lot of reasons, but that's a big one.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_04: So when you are putting together a new album and you're writing for a new album, how do you guys individually challenge yourselves to like up the ante from album to album?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: Another good question.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is so the first thing I do, so we have all these folders, right?
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because everybody now you can send music back and forth and demos and ideas, and and I have a recording studio, I'm actually in it right now.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um I have a studio, a commercial studio here in Austin.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: Justin has a really nice recording studio, Ryan has an awesome setup at his place, Jeremy's got a spot.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we can all demo and write and do stuff on our own and then send ideas back and forth.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: So when we start preparing for a new album, the first thing I do is I go into our master folder and I open up Justin's folder and I cry because I see hundreds of ideas.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, man, I I don't understand because I don't have enough time in the day, like with you know, with the kids and the work and the and the production and all the other stuff.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I here, I got like two ideas, I got three, you know, and I I'm just like, how on earth does this guy have this many different concepts for songs, like let alone actually like fleshed out demos, you know?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: So so once I stop crying and get over it and start feeling sorry for myself, I just, you know, really try to like really dig deep.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then if I I go through like my thousands of voice memos on my phone, I see the melodies that I've recorded that I like, and then I just carve out time to work on them and bring them to the table.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I also I've also learned that for me as a songwriter, writing bass lines is easy for me.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: I I really I love it, I really enjoy it.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: But it really that becomes part of the process when we're all together because I really I love to hear what the drums are doing, right?
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: But writing songs is is a different thing for me, and it's taken me a long time to realize this, but I feel like I'm the most I'm at the top of my game and I'm at the like I'm the most efficient as a songwriter when I'm helping somebody with an existing idea.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've written a bunch of songs that I started or I finished or I did, you know, all of it myself.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: And those are not the songs that I'm the most proud of.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: The songs that I'm the most proud of are the songs that I was in a room with another human being and we did it together.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just like that, just works for me, you know?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a slower process for me, but I do feel like the songs that I've been a part of, I'm really proud of.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_04: So if you were to take your composer hat off and put your consumer hat on, what types of things or types of music inspire you now that is different from when you started 30 years ago?
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: I really am a big fan of music that I know was made by human beings in a room together.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think we're kind of getting like, and again, I don't want to sit here and in dog on uh AI or you know, trash, like songwriting tools or anything like that, because I think if things are done right and used tastefully, that's fine, and everybody has their own process.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm I'm really getting back to this place of appreciating like music of the 80s and the 70s and the 90s for that reason, because you really had to learn how to be in a room with other people and feed off each other.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so nothing against singer songwriters.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: I I produce a lot of singer songwriters, and and it's and I love it, it's great.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, but as a music fan, I'm really like I'm rediscovering my love of bands.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, four or five people that all bring something to the table and make it what it is, and I'm seeing that become a thing again, and I'm I'm I'm here for it, man.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I really am.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_04: I've talked to a lot of artists about this recently, about how there's kind of this nostalgic trend where I I this is the second time I brought this up in a podcast this week.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_04: I saw an interview with Wes Borland, and he was talking about Limp Biscuit now, and how he feels that Limp Biscuit might be more popular now than they were at their peak.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_04: And you can go and watch footage from their concerts in Brazil, and it totally 110% supports that.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm seeing that across multiple bands.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_04: And do you think that is a consumer reaction to social media and algorithms and people feeling like they have been forced inorganic stuff in favor of like going back to the real and the natural, like you were talking about?
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_04: 100%.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like I without a doubt, 100%.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think that it's a big reason that a lot of bands, and some are legacy bands, and some are bands that have stayed, you know, have been relevant forever.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, but I think that there has been a massive resurgence in not just interest in those kind of bands, but also the live aspect of it.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: Going to see a band and knowing that the singer is actually singing into the microphone and that the drums are real, and you know, and again, like nothing against you know, any like any type of music.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like I respect all types of music, but I do think that there is a massive resurgence, and I think that a lot of that is reactiony, is reactionary.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't think that that's a bad thing.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a good thing because I think that a lot of kids, like I have three children, and my kids are really, really like they're seeking out music like that, you know.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: They don't they don't necessarily want to hear just a you know a beat, you know, with somebody, you know, taking a sample from a song that just came out five years ago so they could rewrite over the, you know, it's like I've heard that before.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need to hear Gautier's song Reimagined three times, you know?
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what was going through my head.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I said it.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, you know, but like, and again, like whatever.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was massive, that's cool, more power to you.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think that it is it has been very, very good for the bands that have stuck it out and do what we do.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I know exactly the interview you're talking about with Wes, and I loved, I loved what he said.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, man, I love the fact that like love or hate limp biscuit, you gotta respect the fact that they are crushing right now.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I've got friends, I got friends in other bands that are like, they're killing it right now for that same reason.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you know, so yes.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_04: My wife and I just came back from Denver.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_04: We did we went to a show at Fiddler's Green and uh we were hanging out backstage with all the bands, and it was Real Big Fish's second show back after they played their warp tour show, and and it was the lineup was fantastic.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_04: It was co-defendants, uh spike in the gimme gimmies, real big fish, 311, slightly stupid and sublime.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_04: And that place was just packed.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't I think you guys have played fiddlers before.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: We did a couple years ago.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_04: It was the venue is enormous, and it was packed front to back.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_04: And that was that interview kept running through my head while I was standing there, and I'm like, I don't know if like pre-pandemic this would have been as packed as it is right now, that people's relationship with you know the past and merging the past with the future is yeah, you know, very real right now.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: It is a hundred percent.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that's and and also that's really been good for me um personally as well, because I have a studio, you know, and a recording studio is like, hey, if I'm just gonna news flash kids out there, if you want to make money, don't open a recording studio.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: But that said, it has definitely been like I'm very proud of what we've done.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really proud of, you know, since we opened the clients that we've had, but like I'm seeing now, like is where over the you know, the last couple years, it's been kind of hit or miss.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's been dry spells.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm seeing a lot of people starting to, man, I gotta like not only do I need to go record with a real drummer and and a real guitar player, I need to actually get content.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: I want to video it, I want to show the world that I can actually play my songs and it's resonating with people.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been good on many different levels.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, with as much as we as old guys want to crap on how things are done these days, there are elements where if you embrace the evolution, like it could be a fantastic tool.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, you even kind of passively mentioned that about AI, like AI as a replacement, yeah, that's crap, but AI as a tool used tastefully and not as a replacement, you know that it's not the worst thing in the world.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_04: But I'm seeing the same thing.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_04: I've got a daughter that sings in bands now, and watching her and watching how she consumes music, because she'll listen to everything from typo negative to the Smiths to Blue October to Sublime, and it's like, you've got some diverse tastes, girl.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: She's got good taste.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_04: So swinging back to the nostalgia piece, you know, obviously 2026, 20th anniversary of FOILed.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_04: You guys are going to be touring on the album.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_04: Are you guys playing it front to back?
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_04: Is that what you guys are doing?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we are.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, whole thing in order, you know, all the bells and whistles.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then what we do, um, so we've actually already done the Europe portion of the tour.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: Which was kind of scary, you know, because it was like we haven't been to Europe in three years, and we're gonna go play an album front to back.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: We've never played front to back.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: Fingers crossed, you know, see how it goes.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, like by the second show, it was like just riding a bike.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was like, this is great, it feels phenomenal, and people are raving about it.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it like it honestly, I could not be more proud of the way the record sounds, how we're interpreting it.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we did it in Europe, and then you know, we get a few months off, and then we're gonna hit it real hard this fall, and it's basically it's the whole album, and then we take a uh a very short little interlude, and then we come back out and we do, you know, kind of a condensed set of the mu you know, the rest of our music, a little selections from the rest of our catalog.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I love that.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_04: It's a really good show.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, there's gonna be a stop in Omaha on December 5th.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_04: For someone like me who saw you guys before Foiled even existed, there's a it's a pretty full circle, surreal moment.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_04: When you look at Blue October's entire journey, from those early clubs to this anniversary tour, 1.5 billion streams, as I said, what are you the most proud of?
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_04: And what does the next chapter look like for you?
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I I think the thing that I'm the most proud of is just like when people bring their kids.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you know, like when they come back and they've got their families, and there's people my age or or right around my age, maybe a little older or younger, but they're like raising their kids on good music, and you know, and it's just I just think it's beautiful, man.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: I love that so much, and that never, ever, ever gets old to me.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's so, it's just like I just feel so grateful every time I experience that when we're on the road, and or I'll see somebody I haven't seen in 10 years, and they're like, Oh, my daughter's old enough to come to the show with me, and I'm like, man, this is so cool, you know?
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I love that.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: I really do.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's like one of my absolute favorite things just about doing any of this, to be honest.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you, I'm sorry, there was a second part to your question.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: I got so wrapped up in that I forgot what it was.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_04: No, I think you answered it perfectly.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_04: I said, What are you the most proud of?
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_04: And what's the next chapter look like for you?
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, next chapter, yeah.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: So it's definitely okay.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a big tour that you know, and we haven't like we've kind of um, I wouldn't say like reined it in, but we definitely aren't like hitting it as hard the last couple of years as we were for a while because I think like COVID happened, and then it was like when it was time to go back out, we were like, oh, get us out of our houses, you know.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: So it was like it felt like we were on the road for like a year straight or something.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: But we we hit it really hard for a while, and then we kind of reined it in and we went, man, we've been releasing a ton of music.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't want to overdo it.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, let's let's enjoy the moment.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go sell, let's celebrate.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's celebrate 20 years of this album.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's come home after that, and then let's not rush.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's put the time and attention that this next record really deserves.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna take some time off after that next year.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then so when we go back out and we're ready to put that album out and go tour on it, like our goal is to make that like you know, again, everybody thinks that their next album is gonna be the biggest album or they're gonna change the world.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: But like our goal is to make that the album that is just it's just undeniable.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: Love that, you know.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_04: I love the fact that you mentioned bringing kids to show because I'll throw another anecdote out at you.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_04: Is last summer you guys played the 897 the river 30th anniversary show, and that had Sublime and 311 on it.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_04: And I brought my daughter, and I my daughter brought her boyfriend for the specific purpose of me showing him Blue October.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_04: He is a classical violinist and he doesn't listen to rock music at all.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, Yeah, give these guys a chance.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_04: So I was standing there, and another couple familiar names to you, possibly, is I was standing there next to Blake and Russ Kempt, and like about five feet away.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_04: My daughter and her boyfriend, and he they were just all in awe.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_04: It was such a fantastic show, and it was a great experience sharing that with them.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that's cool, man.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's beautiful.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: And Blake and Russ, man.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: I go so far back with those guys.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: Blacklight Sunshine.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, man.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: Good stuff.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_04: Dude, I I love those guys.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_04: Shoot, man.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_04: We could we could talk offline about all the stories we probably both have in regard to those guys.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_04: Too cool.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_04: All right.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_04: Well, my closing question.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_04: It is my most favorite question to ask every single guest that does the show.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_04: And I want from your perspective, everything that you've experienced, Blue October and beyond.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_04: Whether it be in production, whatever.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_04: What's your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than it is today through your eyes?
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_00: Find some common ground.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like stop being at each other's throats.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like stop for whatever, whatever your your philosophy is, or what whatever your viewpoint is on something.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: Stop spewing hate and stop spewing anger and getting defensive and having knee-jerk reactions and feeling like you have to get on a computer and argue with people all the time, you know?
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_00: Get outside, get some sunlight, go hang out with your friends at the park, go meet people, listen to their point of view, you know.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that we're just in a really weird place, and we have been for a while, where instead of just listening to each other, we're just yelling at each other, you know, and in in in so many different ways.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's popped its head into the arts and you know, and it's just it's all over the place.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's a good start.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I think also, if it's okay, um, I think that for musicians in particular, um, and I have said this a lot, but it's something I do really believe, like in my soul, I think that it's really important, and maybe now more than ever, that musicians and artists and creatives really, really like focus on what it is that makes them unique and what it what sets them apart because it's been a copycat game for a long time.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that now it's kind of the Wild West now with you know, with streaming and music and everything else, and there's so much noise.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think people are really looking for something they've never heard before.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you're an artist, I think it's really important that you stop trying to be somebody else and you really figure it out what it is about you that makes you special, and that's what you focus on all the way.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_04: Love it, man.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_04: Ladies and gentlemen, catch Blue October when they come to your town.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_04: The 20th anniversary album of Foiled, that there's a vinyl that comes out and it it looks fantastic.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_04: I've seen it.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_04: It does look good.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I've seen it in the merch store, and I'm like, I gotta get myself one of those.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_04: But uh, Matt, thank you so much for doing the show, my friend.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_04: The world's a much better place with you in it.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it, man.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right back at you, brother.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me here.