Latest / LOYAL TO THE CRAFT / Simon Crahan | The Truth About Growing Up Around Slipknot

Transcript

Simon Crahan | The Truth About Growing Up Around Slipknot · LOYAL TO THE CRAFT

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Today we've got Simon Crahan from the band Vended on the Adobe Show.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Simon, thank you so much for hopping in and uh chopping it up with me.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: How you doing, bro?
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, it's been a long time, my friend.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's for anyone who doesn't know, Mike Gray here was the start of my career.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: And thanks to him, he is the reason why drumming has gone so well for me.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: So it's been good.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Life has been good, and it's good to sit here and chop it up with you because it's been so many years.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a long time.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: It has, man.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to the beginning.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: How and when did we meet?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're right, dude.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll never forget meeting you backstage at a slipknot show, designing a kit, making you a kitten, just hearing about you.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like, okay, here's this young drummer that's like clearly obsessed with drumming and with music.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you were born into this world that I feel like most kids could only dream of having access to.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about the early days of like finding out about the drums and you know, when we ended up meeting, where you were at in your career and uh what that felt like.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, man, um I remember how the conversation started because I for the longest time only had electric an electric kit.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: It was so shitty.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: It was like one of those small pads, just bass drum isn't staying propped up very well in my upstairs bedroom, and that's all I had.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember one day my dad was like, We gotta get you a kit.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's been it's been too long now.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: You've been playing on that thing forever.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get you something that you can actually play with.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't know where to go.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: And thanks to him, he got in contact with you.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty sure, or someone with an SJC and was like, Let's give my son a kit.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: And then I met you randomly, and I got woken up on the tour bus, and he was like, Simon, I have a surprise for you.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Well, dude, it's like 8 a.m.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: What do you have for me right now?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: At 8 a.m., I'm trying to sleep, and there you are, man, just like talking to me about this kit that's not even in the world yet, and you're just like so excited to speak with me.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I've never I never had that feeling yet before because it was all my dad, you know.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I never had like companies reaching out to me or anything like that.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you guys were the first people to ever do that, and it was awesome at the time, like being that young, you talking to me about what I want, what do you want?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then there it is.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: There's the I saw the picture of me holding up my first ever certificate, and had I got my snare, and you guys just crushed it.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: It was awesome.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: That was uh it's like weird talking about those days now because I'm 22 years old now, and I think at that time I was like I might have been 12 or something like that.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: 12 years old.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: It was crazy.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing though, dude.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's always been my favorite thing about music and in working with obviously not only musicians like your dad and you know, people that are out there playing arenas and putting out hit records and whatnot, but the coolest thing for me was just really going down the rabbit hole and working with parents and kids and youth musicians that want to be there and want to do it, and being a hopefully a helping guiding light of like, hey, yeah, chase your dreams.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Here I am.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was 12, 13 years old, like building drums in my grandma's basement for fun and made it into this global brand based on hard work and reps.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you were on the road at such a young age seeing that.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: What was that like?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And did you always want to be in music, or was it just something that you were like either forced to do or just felt fun to go do and be on a tour bus with your family?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was always meant to be.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's for that's for sure.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: It was this is all I have.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm not trying to make it sound like that's a bad thing.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: It was more or less like I didn't find any interest in anything when I was little.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like I played sports, I played football, I loved football, and I was really good at it, but something about it just didn't feel like there's something inside of me that was just like, this doesn't feel like my destiny almost, you know, it doesn't have the same click as it feels when I play the drums when I get home from school pissed off.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like every time I came home from school, it's all I wanted to do.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't hang out with friends and they'd want to hang out with me, but all I did was just play the drums from 3 30 till 9 30 until I had to go to bed.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's all I did.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's when it clicked.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: And what what when I started noticing, I got obsessed with I got obsessed with changing things around on my kit, being like, oh, this needs to be higher here because my hand isn't hitting right right here when I end up filling.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I noticed right then and there, I was like, Holy shit, I love it so much that this is real.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like I need to do, I need to do this, but I didn't know how to kind of go about it.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when my dad comes in, and his advice is the best advice anyone can give a person because he knew exactly what to say.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: He had first told me to go to college, and I think that's what parents usually want is to get their kid to go finish school, go to college, you know, think about what they want to do.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: But he wanted to take me to the LA music school and basically get my knowledge from there, but then it I said, fuck that.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then I start started Vended pretty much with the boys.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: And he even was like, I said no at first to the audition of Venda because it was just Cole and Griffin in the band.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: They asked me to be on, and I said no, being a selfish asshole.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: And my dad comes downstairs and goes, Are you kidding me?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: You said no, and he's all mad, and I'm like, What do you mean, dude?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to listen to you.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said for me to wait till I was 25, something like that, go to college, go to school, go to law school, all this stuff to get business down.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, I was joking pretty much like he was like, a part of me wasn't joking, but this is an opportunity for you.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, growing up with him, it's it's been an honor because like I don't I look at I look at him as my dad.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just on the phone with him earlier because they just released that new song.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I was so proud of him, you know, always proud of him, and he's always proud of me.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it it's never been like slip knot for me, but it's always been like he's my father, and we finally him and I got a new real a good good relationship where we can call each other about absolutely anything and talk on the phone for hours, and it doesn't need to be it doesn't need to be about how like what are you doing, you know, like are you okay?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's like him and I just riff now, and I've been waiting for that.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's been good.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's been real been really good with him, and he's helped me out a lot and turned me into my own person and has watched me grow every single day, and he's so proud, so happy.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, that's awesome.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think that really it was the main thing in the back of your head when you said no to the band, or were there other things at play that made you say no?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: What do you take me back to that moment of being asked to be in the band then and and literally turning it down?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why I said no.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I think it was some like big ball shit.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I was trying to be like, you know, they wanted me, and I was just like, ah, yeah, no, like whatever.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like trying to play it off.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know why I thought I was so special back then, but I think I said no mainly because of like what my dad said.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: He he wanted me to go to school, and I really took that seriously, and you know, um I think it really made sense that it like it all plays in together, right?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I said no, like this was 2018, I believe.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, February 2018 was our first ever practice together.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's when I almost said like no again, but that I had to say yes.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I was more thinking about school.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't thinking about the longevity of where the band was gonna go because I was more or less worried if it was gonna work out or not.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because what we were writing at the time was not what I had in mind, you know, it was very hard rock at first, and thank God those songs will never see the light of day because they are god-awful.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And people would be like, what the hell were you guys doing?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, like as you know, when my sister passed and you and you guys made that snare for me, that was a different time in my life where I dropped out of high school, and I don't really usually talk about that.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: That because that's like kind of embarrassing to some people, but it wasn't embarrassing to me because she passed away, I dropped out, and because I didn't want to go to school anymore from that reason.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't want to talk to anybody, no one understood.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then I realized this is all I have now.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, music is what I got now, and music is helping me through this really dark time in my life more than ever.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they were there for me more than anybody in that school ever would be for me.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I realized this isn't just friends anymore, these are my family, and they will forever be my family.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then you became my family by helping me honor her, and I still have it, which I'll grab here in a second, but I I honor, like you helped me honor her in a very special way by having her as my favorite piece of like something in life, which is drumming, and now it's captured.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: So that was mainly it.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like it was a weird turnaround of things, you know.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: I she was alive in that time, and then she passed away in that time, and then it all clicked, it all made sense, and that was the weird part about it.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: It was some weird universe stuff that I always believe in because you know the universe speaks in very it's very harsh and it's tells you the truth about things.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we made we made Simon a drum that had uh a sister, uh, his sister's portrait on it as the badge, and you actually came to the factory, we surprised you with it, and it was a very emotional uh day, that's for sure.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, dude.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And you still you toured the world of that thing too, man.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: You you you you played that thing, like it wasn't just a museum piece, like you played it, you took it on on uh a ton of shows, and I'll I'll never forget that moment, man.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: That was really special for me as well to be a part of that for sure.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, it it's like the biggest, like that was how I knew that people do care about you in the music game, you know, and you were a big part of that.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: And like I have something to go along with this too, but like like after I remember there was one tour, it was the tour we went on before Slipknot, and this that was the the I that was the time I retired, the the snare, and my wife was a big help with that because I was getting emotional and I was like, I don't know if I can ever not play it anymore.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like I feel her energy when I play this stuff, and she's like, you have to give it up in a good way.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: You need to, you gotta move on, you know, the rightful way of saying it.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then yeah, it that's what happened, and I moved on, and life got easier from there.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was holding on to this attachment, but you guys made something that was so special, I couldn't, I couldn't let go of it for the longest time because I was so proud of it.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because something about it, man, it's so fucking loud.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: It is it cracks, it is scary loud.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but yeah, man, it it it all goes with like just how life is in general and what you what you do for people too.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And it goes with like how you support younger people now more than anything, and that's a good thing because I feel like this generation needs help with that, you know.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone is so stuck on the drummers nowadays, and that's fine.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: There are there are amazing drummers that are still alive today that still deserve the spotlight, but there are also some drummers that pop up on my Instagram that I'm like, holy shit, he's better than me.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm he's nine years old.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know what I mean?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's the truth.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and I think it's good that you gave young young drummers a chance to share that spotlight, and now we're here, you and me, today.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's crazy, yeah.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what it's all about, dude.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I got blessed with opportunity as a young kid and took it and ran with it, and just put in the time and never really expected anything.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that plays a big part in your world and in Vendead coming together because I think that people looking at you guys from the outside, it's like, oh, it's like okay, you guys were born into it.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: But I've seen you guys, I've saw you at the Blue Ridge Rock Fest in Virginia.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've seen you guys huffing it in the van, pulling the trailer, loading your own gear.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't handed to you.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, making the drum company as a kid and interacting with young drummers like yourself, yes, a doorway was opened because I knew your dad, and obviously your dad's gonna go, hey, you need to meet my kid, and like let's get him a drum set.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: But that happens on the street too.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be at the Vans Warp Tour and I'll see a dad who's like, Hey, you should check out my kid.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: And like, there's no like secret passageway to certain things.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: You still have to earn it, you still have to put in the reps, and you still gotta, you still gotta kind of have to like eat dirt for a while to like earn your place in doing it.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: And as a creative and as a musician, how do you feel about that and the timing that it takes and the patience that it takes to actually go through the trials and tribulations of life?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: On one hand, you know, talking about your sister passing and just certain things that are hard to deal with, leaving school and saying no to the band and then coming back and joining the band.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And now you guys are on a trajectory of pretty consistent dropping music, playing bigger and bigger shows, and actually earning it and getting to that point.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about that whole thing as a as like the culmination of you being a young teenager to where you're at now in that mindset of a teenager looking at you.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: What is what does it take to get there?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: It takes a lot, man.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: It takes a lot of being punched in the face, I feel.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Cause I in my opinion, I still think we're eating dirt and we're still crawling while everyone's walking, you know, and that's good.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'd rather have it that way than be on a private jet, like at the beginning, you know what I mean?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, like you said, when you saw us at Blue Ridge the first time, we pulled up in a sprinter van, fucking unloading our own shit, getting our makeup on in the trailer.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: There's no green room, there's no bathroom, nothing.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and all these other bands are sitting high and mighty in their AC unit trailer, gotta go on stage with a beer in their hand at 9 30, and we're pulling up after a 15-hour drive that we did ourselves.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it I don't understand why I can understand why people have this image of us, but it's not gonna stop me from doing what I love.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it's annoying.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: It for sure is annoying.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: I've gotten used to it now, but like when you are a good example of everybody else who knows us personally, they see us taking these punches and just eating shit all day from stupid stuff.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: We've made mistakes so far as a band, you know, we've done some stuff where every other every band should, you know.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're doing it, we're earning our stripes how we should.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's good because I don't want to be at the top in a split second.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: I wanna, I wanna look back at these moments when we are in a tour bus and be like, do you guys remember that 24-hour drive and the tire blew out and we had a cancel, you know what I mean?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: That shit.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I love talking about those moments because I hated it then, but now I love it now.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's it's so weird growing up into that, hearing my dad talk about that, hearing the stories of Slipknot.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing, you know, they're all sharing the same bus and their clothes stink, they don't have laundry, they don't have hotel rooms, they're playing, they're slamming hard.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're doing the same thing.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like it, it, they're they're good.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's it reminds me of their manager who also helps us a little bit.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: His name is Corey Brennan.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: He he he one time came to see us at a show and he's like, You guys smell worse than slipknot in 99.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I was like, Hey, that's good.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good thing.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'd rather smell like shit and do the shit than get pampered, you know what I mean?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: And when we're on the slipknot tours, we don't get shit anyways.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we get a green room, but we don't get everything.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: We still get treated like we're an opening band, and that's how it should be.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: And they're really good at doing that, you know.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: They obviously we're their kids, but they don't treat us any differently than how an opening band would be, you know.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like sometimes I see my dad on days and sometimes I don't.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's how it works.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he's like, he's trying to show me what the real world is of music, and it works, it definitely works.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Props to them for doing that too, because it could be just as easy for them to go, no, you know what, guys, like here on this tour, let's get you a bus, let's get you this, this, and that, so you're a little bit more comfortable.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And like the fact that that's not happening, like you said, that's awesome.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's that's the way that it should be.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you guys are learning every step of the way, just like everybody else, and like earning that that that place.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: And um, it shows in your work ethic is just being the foundation has already been built, and now you're just building on that together individually.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, I love to see it, man.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's been an awesome journey watching you guys for the past many years um chasing the dream for sure.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, like you said, we didn't get a tour bus.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: We were in a fucking shitty ass sprinter van that broke down that tour, and every other band is showing up in tour buses.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Knox loots, slipknot, you know, like uh us, we we showed up in a sprinter van that day, and everyone's got semis and everyone's got texts and everyone's got you know hospitality.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, no, we're we've been a band for almost 10 years now, and we're still we're still rocking the old like I mean, we kind of we went through it, we went to a cruise America for God's sakes.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know what more proof people need to know that like we're not even at that level yet, not even close.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're getting there, we're working our way there, we will get there for sure.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: But we still have you still have to work hard.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter if your dad is Gene fucking Simmons or any famous person from Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, anybody like that, you still have to work for it because people can hate you or they can love you.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you have to grow that fan base.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now there are subknop fans that do love us, but they turned into our fans.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: The subknop fans that hate us are the old heads that just don't get it.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's something about worth ethic, and they think we don't work for it, and it's just crazy because they're just they just sit on their little phones and type away, and it's just like, what are you doing?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, bro, like you're you're hating on me, and I'm touring right now.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I'm also sacrificing life here, you know.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like I have dogs, I have a wife, I have friends, I have family.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's not like I it's all beauty and rainbows on tour, it's it's a lot of pain and it's a lot of sadness, and it's hoping you don't miss something important, like a funeral, you know what I mean?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's the stuff you gotta worry about.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but either way, like one day I will be sitting with you again, and hopefully I'll be in a tour bus by it.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Why do you why do you do it?
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Why do you guys keep going?
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Why does any musician keep going?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: What's in it what's in it for you that drives you at the end of the day knowing how stressful it is leaving home for such long periods of a time of time and not really knowing economically if it's gonna make sense or not by the time you get home?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's the obsession.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's something about playing on stage will never match with anything.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like something about going on stage at 11 a.m.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: on a Tuesday, and there's 50,000 people there is mind blowing.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we just got home from Europe, and that's what a lot of the days were, but there were so many people there chanting our name, and it was just like like you can't even fathom it.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like you don't even understand why that's happening and why there's so many people are in unison listening to your music, jamming out to your music, something you created from nothing.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that feeling you get, it's like just in your soul.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: It just feels warm and feel good, and you get obsessed, you get even more obsessed, like you want to do it again.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: You want to do it again, you want to do it again.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like those 30 minutes of my life are the best.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it's I love that it's such a minuscule point, too, right?
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, tell me about the shitty things that that 30 minutes trumps every single time.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Single time because, like you talked about, tires blowing out, loading in your own gear, not having a bathroom, not having a dream room, no hospitality.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, getting into a Cruise America, that's cool.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: But hey, I don't know if anybody's been in a Cruise America RV, but like probably cool for like a four-person family, but like, dude, that is limited space, and the shocks on those things are terrible.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: You guys probably travel with what, like seven, eight people.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: What are what are some of the crazy stories on the road that you've just been like, bro, like this is this is absolutely insane, but that 30 minutes just makes it all worth it?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, I mean, I'll say this my dad has a saying that I go by, and it's it's 23 hours of hell, one hour of God.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that one hour of God is that show, and the rest of it is just bullshit being thrown at you, and it's every tour, too.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like, no matter how much you can plan or what you can change differently, something's gonna fucking happen every single time.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it's crazy because, like you said, the stories we have, like, I mean, there's there's been times where like literally we're leaving the on the Mud Vane tour we just did, which was badass.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: It was awesome to be playing with those absolute legends coming back.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we got done with the show and we are leaving, and we had a I think an 18-hour drive that night, no day off.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: It was a bus drive for sure.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's a bus driver drive.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: We are pulling out of the ramp, and we hit something where our trailer axle broke as we're leaving.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's and you're like, oh shit, like what did we do?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we had to drive 18 hours, and we just drove not even a hundred feet.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, you know, like we had moments like that where we're stuck in we were in Wyoming and we were stuck in a snow blizzard for 24 hours.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: My guitar player Cole, which you have met, he was stuck in that driver's seat for 20 hours, just sitting there.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: We're just sitting there while it's snowing over us, and we're on the interstate with chains, and everyone's just sitting there.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it's crazy.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Those moments, but then you get to that show and it all makes sense, and you feel good and you forget about everything that you just had to do.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: And there are some days, there are some days I don't want to play a show, and that's just because everyone has a limit, you know?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone, you can have a limit for working.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody has a limit no matter what job you do.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: And there's some times that I wake up and I'm like, holy shit, I don't want to warm up, I don't want to stretch, and I don't want to play a show.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: But after the show's done, I'm like, that was awesome, that was badass, I don't know what I was talking about.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, it's it's all a mindset, but that's why the road isn't for everybody.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's not, it's such a dark place, but it's also a loving place in the same time.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because think about it, you're in a like you said, a cruise America with six other dudes, and you're right, we all share beds and that thing.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's not it's not fun, it's not glamorous, it's hot and it's gross.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: And it, you know, sometimes guys fight, sometimes guys yell at each other, some guys can't agree with each other.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's just how it is.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: We're dudes, we're dudes in a tiny little bus for four weeks straight.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: We all have opinions.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's what happens, you know?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can handle that, you can handle all the other shit being thrown at you, and you can still handle being a having a shitty show, dude.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: And the tour is really meant for you because if you can handle all punches at once just like that in a span of four weeks, I think you'll be fine.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like I tell my family all the time, they're just like, How was it?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: How was it?
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Do you really want to know?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because I can name about 10 things right now that pissed me off on that whole tour.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like, but yeah, I don't know.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's just a lot.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: How do you talk to me about like the brotherhood?
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: How do you create that?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're right, the road's not for everybody, and it's a testament to a band that's able to stay together and get through those challenging times in high five at the end of that half hour set.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: How do you build that brotherhood together where you have that trust and confidence in each other, but also the ability to go, yo, let's just let that slide and move on and have a great show.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully we can forget about it.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: And if not, let's check ourselves later and have that adult conversation.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: What's that look like for Vended?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot of it's a lot of talking, you know.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: There's uh there's a lot of that, yeah, people don't like talking.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm one of those people.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: I hate talking about my feelings, I hate opening up to people because I'm I feel like I am always the one to say I'm sorry at the end of it, you know?
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of it's like now it's a lot like what's your fucking problem?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, ah, and you're boom, you're right there, you're two right there, face to face, and then you say your problem, and then they're like, all right, I'll fix it.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like for us, we've been friends for so fucking long that we know we aren't no one's bullshitting.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: We know when someone's stressed out, we know when someone's having a bad time.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we're pretty good at not starting fights because well, we know someone else is going through the same shit.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: And friendship's hard, man.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Not all friends are, you know, brotherhood's not all like perfect.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I've lost a lot of friends just due to some stupid shit, and it's because we just weren't meant to be friends, but we're still together, we're still stuck to each other, and I think we're doing just fine.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like it we have our moments for sure, and everybody has their moments, but we work them out pretty well, and we can be very vocal with each other of what's wrong and what's going on, and you know, some people at the time don't understand, and then they later get it and they're like, I'm sorry for not understanding.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: I you know what I mean.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's where we're at.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we're very good at coming back and saying we're you're sorry, and you know, I didn't mean it.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if we do get in fights, which never ever happens ever, it's rare.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's usually when when when we get in arguments, it's just because we're all tired and we want to go home.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's when that's when things get a little rough, is because we're all in the same thought process of fuck, I'm done, I'm so over this.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's when it gets real.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean, I've known Cole for pretty much 10 years of my life now, and I've known Griff obviously my whole life.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: So Griff and I never really had a good relationship growing up.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, he'll say he'll talk about it a lot where he's like, I thought you hated me.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Well, I thought you hated me.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because we just both had this weird thing with each other where he was super ADHD and autistic, and just like he just didn't like talking to me when other people were around.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, who was super in the know and super here, I'm like, what's your problem?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know what I mean?
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I was creating a problem that wasn't existing because he's just everywhere.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, him and I like didn't have a good relationship because I thought he hated my guts and I thought he was just a I've I've I'll be honest, I thought he was a cheesy little kid at first, and then and then now we're best buds that you know we just have the greatest moments together.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: And some of sometimes him and I have a little moment of our fathers where we're like fuck you, fuck you, but then and then sometimes we'll just give each other a good pretty big hug.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: And there was one show on the European tour where he said something that made me honestly think for a solid week and a half where I felt bad as a friend, where he was like, I said, good show, Griff, you sounded awesome.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, That's the first time you've ever said that to me.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I sat there, I was like, What the f what is it?
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: There's no way.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel like I've always said that to you every show.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and then after that, I gave him more props every show because I've like I was like, maybe he needs that, you know, maybe he needs that little pick me up at the end of the show because that seemed to make him really happy.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I felt bad for a second.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's the level I guess with our friendship.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you'll say one thing and then you'll be like, uh Well, that's what it's like.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's what it's like, man, being in a creative uh flow like that with people, you you do.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like there's a level of being vulnerable where it's like, I don't want to say it, but yeah, I need a pat on the back right now, or whatever that may be, you know, being vulnerable.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: What's something else that, you know, being on the road has taught you that you just personally had to learn the hard way?
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Your dad didn't teach you, you didn't learn from any other peers, you just had to look in the mirror and understand, like, okay, I have to self-reflect and do this differently if I want to be in this band.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I'd say mental health, no one's out here for you.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you have your like the conversation we had about our friends, you have them.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: But a lot of the time there's that depression and that anxiety.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I see all these flyers on venues now of like, you need help while touring.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I see that at every venue now, and I feel like that's important because it's a big topic to talk about because like there are moments in like music where you're like, I don't know what to do.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you have no help at all.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: You have help, but you don't at the same time.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's something you're battling inside of your head, and you don't know what it is or why it's doing that.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the things I realized is like none of these music industry people give a shit about you.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: They don't care, and as much as they say they do, they don't care, they just want to make their money, they just want to make their money.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's all they want.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously, you'll have your good people, like our management, they are not like that.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: They're family, and they've been they've known me since I was in diapers, so it's different.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: But there are a lot of record labels, there's a lot of people, there's a lot of just scummy people that are just not here to help you.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the one thing I had to realize, you know, and that's why I was so grateful for you being in your position and helping me out, because I I was like, okay, there are good people in this world, in this music community, because some people will just tell you, ah, whatever, you know, we got a big brand name and we got so much money, and you're 10 years old.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: What are you gonna do for us?
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, why are you thinking about it like that?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Are you insane?
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's one thing I had to realize, and I don't think a lot of people realize yet.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, oh, why aren't we getting big and famous?
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like, because no one is here cares about you or wants to help you.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: How do you gotta do yourself for a young aspiring musician to do that themselves and look out for themselves and their own mental health?
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think are some of the tips that you've learned of like, okay, I gotta stop and spot check myself for a moment.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: And whether it's seek help, talk to somebody, journal, like what would you say to a young kid that is in your position feeling that way?
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because unfortunately, you're right, you know, there are a lot of great people out there in life and in the music industry, but there's also in life and in the music industry a lot of people that aren't, that are in it for themselves and that don't even care about you.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: How do you develop that kind of spidey sense of of knowing how to decipher which people are which?
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how do how do young kids get themselves in a position where they can build a support system around them in a good way?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Once you get fucked over once, you'll never get fucked over again.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's the truth.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, in music, I realized we got fucked over by a guy and we realized what those people look like.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to go through it.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta, you gotta, you gotta just learn by doing it.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: You do, unfortunately.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like saying it that way, and I wish there was a different answer for me to give, but you have you have to go through that agony for a little bit.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: You have to go through that panic attack, you have to go through that crying moment by yourself wherever you are on tour, and have this hyper freak out that it's the end of the world and it you're done, and like you don't want to be here anymore, but then you just for some reason just take a deep breath and you're like, no, I'm here.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like you have to go through that.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I've gone through it many times.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, uh, a lot of the tours, I just I hate touring.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: I really do.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: I hate touring so much.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's lonely, it's not fun for me, but the shows make up for it, you know what I mean?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, like that's what tour is all about.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm a homebody.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: I like being home, I like my area, I like my world, and I like I like learning new things.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: And on tour, I'm so restricted because I have to, I have to practice, I have to warm up and I have to eat right, and I have to wake up at a certain time and play the show at a certain time, make friends with new people I've never made before, and that already for me is tough.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like, you know, the younger kids gotta learn.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm still a kid, so I'm not gonna say younger kids.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: I feel weird saying that.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still a kid, but it's just they gotta go through it.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: They gotta go through that pain a little bit, you know.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: It makes you stronger, and it's such a cliche adult thing to say, but it really is.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, I don't think I'm the same person I was five years ago after we were touring.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot has changed mentally and personally for me.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely got a little stoned because of like what comes with touring.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I don't I don't want anyone to feel depressed.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're constantly feeling that way, then maybe music isn't the right thing for you because you don't want to be doing something that hurts you.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's the hard pill to swallow.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: And you have to find some satisfaction and joy out of it.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you're not at all, then you should not be doing it.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's just the choice.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, and it's like you said it a minute ago, a few minutes ago now.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: The the fact that there are times that you're on the road, and if it's a four-week tour or an eight-week tour, even a week tour, by the close to the end of it, however long the tour is, usually what I've seen at like the third quarter of it, right?
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're on a four-week tour, week three, you're starting to get the itch to go home.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: People are getting on your nerves a little bit, you're more exhausted than ever.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then you get home, and there's a little bit of this kind of psycho psychotic obsession.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Cause when you get home, most musicians that I know within 48 hours are going a little stir crazy to get back on the road and sign yourself up for that 18-hour drive when you're in the van and all the things you just said, you gotta sleep well and you gotta wake up at a certain time to be able to warm up and eat well, which are already two really difficult things when you're in a van or even an RV.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: Food is difficult to get because if your hospitality is not like an arena ban, you're probably literally getting chips and PB and J legit if you're lucky.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: So everything is against you, but by the time you get home, which is the only thing you were dreaming about, by the time you get home, there's this like white noise of I gotta get back on the road.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do you experience that?
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: And like, why are musicians like that?
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, I thought it was a joke.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: And like a lot of the time my dad would call me it like a week before the tour, and he's like, hey, make sure whoever's at the house is, you know, the laundry's done, the dishes are done, you get home and it's peace and quiet, things are clean, you have a fresh pair of clothes, and I'm like, why?
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, You're gonna go fucking crazy.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what do you mean?
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I get home and you get this, I I call it post-tour depression.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I know why.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because you have a routine, like I said earlier, you have a set dedicated routine.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like drummers like Eloy and I, we have routines.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_01: He has a routine.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: He has to wake up, he has to work four hours, he he has to practice for two hours.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_01: He before the show, he has to drink a coffee.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like he has a set routine in his life for drumming.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I have the same thing for me.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: I have to walk this many steps, I have to do this, I have to eat two hours.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: But if you have such a strict routine that when you get home, you realize there's no routine.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: Not there's nothing.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: You get home and you wake up and you realize the guys that you were on tour with, your band or the other band, you won't see again for a while.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna say that you're not gonna see Bob from across the room be like, Good morning, brother.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: You want a coffee?
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna see that.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it's gonna be a weird world because you're gonna be home in your own bed and you get this weird, weird, just dark feeling.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I hated that, but I want to go back because I'm depressed because there's nothing to do right now.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so used to waking up and I'm having to do this.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it's weird, it's a weird feeling.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I talk to my therapist about it all the time.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's a it's a real problem where it's something in our brains, it's something in the musicians' brains where they can hate it so much, and as soon as they get home, that routine is broken.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a rope snapping, and it's just you want to go back.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: My takeaway is as cheesy as it is, and it sounds, it's like just cherish every moment because it is that super double-edged sword, like cliche thing of like, I want to be home.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because, like you said, you've got your world, you've got your dogs, you've got your wife, you've got your family, you've got a routine that when you're home for a few days, a week, you then break into that cycle.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's this weird world of constant movement and constant change, where by the time you get into that routine of like, okay, yes, I missed tour and I missed that thing, but like I really love being home.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: I love this world, I love being clean, having a bed, having laundry, and all the routine things of like being a homebody because I'm the same way.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: But then you get back on the road and you love it, and it's just this super wicked, weird, symbiotic relationship, but also not symbiotic at the same time.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: And you almost you need both, and both of them fill the bucket in different ways, and uh obsession, like you said earlier a few times, is really the only way that that I can describe it.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so, uh again, as a young musician, aspiring musician listening to this, you know, wanting to do the things that you guys have done, what words of wisdom would you give them to help prepare for that, to help combat that, and just at least, I guess, prepare for the mental load that it's gonna take to live it and actually be in it?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I go by a quote from one of my favorite drummers, but like Buddy Rich always said, practice makes you better, and it's fucking true.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's the shortest quote that has so many levels to it.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, of course, practice makes you better, but like Of course it does.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like for anyone young, practice how we practice.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't just rehearse our songs and chill.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: We rehearsed our songs 80 times a day.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: We played four sets, and after each set, we would tear down our equipment and run up my basement stairs and put it in cases and take it outside like we were at a venue.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_01: And you can ask anyone in the band, you can ask my father, you can ask my mom because it made her insane.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: My mom would get nuts because we did it for real.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: We would practice like my my basement at my old house was really big.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: And fun fact, that's where Slipknot actually wrote Iowa.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_01: There was like a two-sided part of the practice space where Slipknot was on this side and we were on this side.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, we kind of like carried a torch in a weird way.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: We're like, they did it on this side, let's do it on this side.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we would pull my drums, would be in the middle like a venue, and then everyone would have their gear facing out, and they would practice like we were playing in front of thousands, but there's no one fucking there.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we would do that.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: We would I would buy shitty guitar center stage lights and put them in my basement, turn the lights off.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: We'd wear our makeup and stage outfits with no one there.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_01: We we would wear the stuff before we even announced we were a band.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_01: We would play the stuff hard as like we're slamming so hard for no reason.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: But that's because now I don't care how hot it is outside on a venue at a festival or whatever, I'm good.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're and you're you're smashing in like uh Dickie's you know work suit.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: You're you're hitting hard, bro.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like it if someone says there's three flights of stairs, I'd be like, every single day I tore down this eight-piece drum kit for no reason.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: I can do it.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: I can carry eight things at once because I we did it.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: We would do it because that's what made it so fun.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's what made it so good.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because now we don't complain about that shit anymore.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_01: Some bands will arrive to a venue and they're like, oh shit, there's eight, there's three stairs, and oh my god, how are we gonna do it?
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm already done.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm already halfway up the stairs, running, breaking a sweat, getting a workout in while doing it.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I might be a little annoyed, but dude, why not?
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_01: Just don't do it.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you want to be a musician, right?
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this is what comes with it.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: This is what comes with it.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_01: You get a shitty venue.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you get an awesome venue where they remodeled the whole thing and they put in a new green room with a nice shower, and it's great.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes you get a venue that smells like dog piss, and then you there's no green room and there's no showers, and the bathroom you gotta share with the fans.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's great.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: Why not?
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: We love it, it doesn't matter.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, for the younger kids, like, just do it, do it like we did it.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: Do it how my dad said we should do it.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, hey, I think you guys should uh, you know, like let's go drive two hours away to uh a studio and record music just for the hell of it.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: All right, I'm not helping you.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: Load all your shit in, you guys drive yourselves.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love it, dude.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's insane.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, shout who who introduced you to Buddy Rich?
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: You don't hear a lot of young drummers talking about Buddy Rich.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, obviously one of the one of the greats, but do you remember who introduced you to him?
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was it was my father.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_01: He helped me a lot about drummers.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was a little stubborn, you know.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like he's over here like talking about Buddy Rich, Alex Van Halen, like, you know, John Bottom, all the greats.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: All the greats in one room, you know, and I'm over here like Travis Parker.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, like this guy's cool, and he's like, whatever, listen to Buddy Rich, and you'll know what's cool.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm older and now I cherish him more.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: I specifically love Buddy Rich more than every single one of them, is because he was left-handed, and I'm left-handed, and he was a self-taught drummer, and I'm a self-taught drummer, and he had balls, and he just was so just he just was so crazy and so cool.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: And he had this whole band, but it didn't matter about the whole band.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_01: He was at the front of the stage and people came to see him, and I was like, a fucking drummer.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: People came to go watch a drummer play.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: What are we talking about?
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that was awesome.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I get so excited talking about him because he's amazing, he's a legend, and I love watching his videos from 1960, and he's like tapping his hi-hat with his fingers and playing these crazy like rudiments that are out of time.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what is going on?
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's drumming, that's passion, that's heart, that's love, that's something he cares about.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's tapes of him yelling at his own band for being dog shit, but it's because he is so uh worried about failing.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he wants to be the top, uh top man, and he was at that time.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, and I have another one, but like I have a picture right here, back here in my room of Keith Moon.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's my other favorite.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's John Bonham, Keith Moon, or Buddy Rich for me.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: Those are my top three.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um of course Eloy and Mario, but that's my newer generation, like the old ones that actually I think had a divot in drumming, the ones that made it.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_01: Keith Moon, I love him because he's fucking he bro, the picture I have of him, he's throwing his drum kit off the stage.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_01: I aspire to be like that.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: I hit hard because of that guy.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: He was blowing up bass drums, and that's sweet.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like John Bonham playing triplets in the 70s.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_01: What are we talking about?
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, he's like doing double bass with one foot, and people didn't even know what the hell he was doing.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, he's a witch.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's like that's what I love about drumming, is these dudes just create something, they create something that makes no sense, and other drummers look at that and they're like, There's no hate, there's no hate in the drumming community.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_01: There might be a little bit between people, but I think that's more personal than they're playing.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_01: And but every time I see a drummer, we're all making the same face at each other when we're playing.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: Just like we're like stank faced the whole time, like, oh my god, that was nasty.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it could be just a country band, but he's just playing these chops, like, what?
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I love about it.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's crazy.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: Community, man.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: Community.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, dude, Simon, thank you so much for taking the time, man.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_00: And shout out your parents, shout out all the parents that are supporting their kids in music and introducing them to the greats, like Buddy Rich, like your dad did for you, giving tips and tricks where necessary, but also just being there to support and letting your kids go and do, go and create, fail, learn, try again.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's such an important part of music and creativity and growing up.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been awesome knowing you you guys and working with you at the capacity of building you drums back in the day, seeing you at the shows, and just watching you do the thing, man.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm stoked for you guys and can't wait to see what's next, man.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you coming on the Adobe show, and I'm I'm sure this isn't the last time we're gonna do it, man.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: I like what you said, like fail.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_01: Fail's the biggest one right there.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_01: Fail and learn how to get back up.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's that's how it is.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I hope people listening to this can get that second wind that I got when I was younger.
• 48:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I appreciate you guys because I mean, I mean, I when I was on the phone with you after I left SJC and moved on, like I was crying on the phone because like you're my bro, you're my bro, and you helped me in the beginning.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it was really sad to close that chapter.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_01: But now talking with you today was just a good feeling again of just family.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_01: And it was awesome.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what it's all about, man.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll never forget that, dude.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: It was like I everybody in my life that has supported me in whatever way, and you were a huge ambassador for the brand.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I was at the warp tour in Long Beach last year, and I was on my way out of departing that company as well, you know, and it was kind of like this bittersweet conversation of you departing and me departing, and you hadn't known that yet, and the conversation could have gone a different way if we were two different people, but we were on such a level the whole time, and that's a testament to, again, up the upbringing that both of our parents you know instilled in us and what we've learned out on the road.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of people like us, and it's all about finding your people and supporting, regardless of whatever affiliation from a brand perspective or whatever.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta find your people and you gotta find what's right for you.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if there's a if there's a breakup of sorts, like how you handle that breakup and where you go from there, dude, there's totally room to stay friends and like be homies and have conversations like this one that reconnect the two of us, but also hopefully inspire and motivate the youth to follow in your footsteps or learn some things from my journey in the drum world.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's all possible to chase your dreams and make it happen.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: So it was good to read.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: No one listening will understand how I felt when I had the text here.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_01: No one will understand.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_01: That was the most anxiety-induced conversation of my life.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, he's gonna be so pissed off, but I ran because you know, warp tour is loud.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't get to see you.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I got to see you in person the day before because we could have had the conversation face to face.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't able to see you because warp tour is what it is.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: There's millions of people.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's I was setting up a booth, I was kind of doing it myself.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_00: We had a small team.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_00: I wished I got to see you before, but you texted me and I was like, this gotta be something like serious.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I ran, got in a corner of a building so I could hear you and had the combo, man.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: And like, yeah, we've stayed in touch ever since then.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_00: You reached out to to chop it up, and I'm glad you did, man.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm always in your corner, bro, for real.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, bro.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's likewise for you.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm always here, and I know you're always here, but it's been like that for 10 years of my life now.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's all the same.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_00: Heck yeah, dude.