Latest / The BlackSheep Podcast: Presented by HM Magazine / Levi Benton on the Legacy of Miss May I and their New Album

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Levi Benton on the Legacy of Miss May I and their New Album · The BlackSheep Podcast: Presented by HM Magazine

• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Today, I've got Levi from Miss may I. So excited
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: to chat with you again. Levi. It's been a few years.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I think the last time we chatted was about the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: last album, and I believe that was twenty twenty two,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Cursive Existence. And here we are now several years later,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: and y'all got a new album coming out. I want
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to talk all about the new album, which is called
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: No Place for Me. Just very very excited about it. Obviously,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: I've listened to a number of the songs that have
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: already come out. It's just so good. They're like, they're
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: just such Miss may I songs. Super stoked about them.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: So we'll talk all about that. But before we dive
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: into all of that, how are you doing today, Levi?
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: I'm good. I'm good. Excited to get these interviews Goo,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: and you're like the first batch of talking about the
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: new album.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: I've sat on it for two years, so I'm happy
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: to know.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Oh, so it's been one of those kind of albums
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: where you've been like kind of sitting on it a
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: little bit longer than you know, typical.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the longest we've ever sat on an album, and
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: it's just because everyone's schedules are absolutely insane.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Right right, Well, I'm excited for it. It's just a
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: great album. So again, I want to talk about the
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: new album, but I've just mentioned a bit ago. I'd
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: love to kind of talk about sort of legacy now
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: of Miss may I, because you all aren't Spring Chickens
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: at this point, right, You've been around for a hot second,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: and so yeah, love to just kind of talk about
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: the sort of legacy that you think of with Miss
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: may I at this point. I think you guys started
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and seven and it was like maybe
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: year or two later you guys had your first album
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: come out, you know, so it's been almost twenty years.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Next year will be twenty years of the band's existence.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: And so yeah, again, you guys haven't you know, you
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: haven't been Spring Chickens, and so would love to just
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: kind of talk about, yeah, just the legacy when you
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: think back to the band, so uh, you know, sort
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: of I'd love to hear just kind of like when
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: you when you all first started. I know, you guys
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: were all really young when you first started. I would
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: love to hear just kind of like what were the
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: hope's dreams, Like what like, what did you think of
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: the band when you first started, Like what were the
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: hopes and dreams and all of the aspirations for the band.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah. No, it's funny you say that because lately, especially
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: if it's the twenty years coming up, I'm trying to
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: think of, like put myself on those shoes because I'm
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: not as competitive.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: As I used to be.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: I used to want to be like We're the craziest, loudest, heavy,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: and now I'm just like, oh, it's so exhausting to
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: try to be the most like top tier at all times.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: But now at the at the time, honestly, it's so funny.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: It was really, which I think is why why we've
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: been a band so long. It was really just based
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: on friendship. It's like it was just based about hanging
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: out and like something to do at night, because like
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: we were kids in high school, so it was like
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: something to do that our parents would approve of, or like, uh,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: something that's after hours, after eight pm, And we honestly
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: didn't even know there was local shows. We like just
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: would play in basements and then we're like I honestly,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: growing up, I just thought it was like you start
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: a band, get signed, you play Rena's I didn't know
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: there was like a whole loading and gear playing floor shows,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: like because we lived in like a suburb, so like
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: taking a drive to like the main city where like
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: these other bands like us. So it was all like
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: such a cool adventure because we like were discovering it
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: together as friends and then yeah, I don't it was
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: cool because there was a moment for metal core too
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: at the time, like there wasn't Danny Wimmer's or serious
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: X like liquid metal, like it was still very underground,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: so it was just an exciting, like cool time to
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: be like have you anything like like I remember my
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: mom's the metal head and just showing her like all
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: shell Paris as Blood's black. I'm like, okay, like you
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: like metal, mom, Like have you heard this stuff? And
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: it's like at the time, I always try to like
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: tell my little brothers and younger the genderation. It was
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: like how people feel about worn Ashore. That was like
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: the whole wave of metal. I'm like, have you heard
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: anything like this? And it was just like yeah, it
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: was just so fun and it was so innocent. There
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: was no paying the play shows. There was no like
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: nobody was getting paid or had merch. It was just
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: like fitting two hundred kids into like a room and
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: playing and like the the unison and group vibe was
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: that we just like the same kind of music. But yeah,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: for the legacy and how it's been now, it's it's
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: weird because it's never felt like it's special. But we've
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: never felt like ego to like we're the it's just
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: crazy where it's taken us. We're just like we just
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: say yes to opportunities and we're like, yeah, we'll totally
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: do do our best. Like that's what we're just always like,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: we'll do our best. Because Ryan and our bands learned
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: a lot of other bands recently and they're like they're
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: so critiqued on business and like, no, you got to
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: fix this part, do that, And we've never been like that.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: We're just like, good job, man, that was fun, Let's
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: play this show tomorrow, and like it's just been dudes
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: hanging out for twenty years. It's honestly, that's how it's felt.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: So right, Yeah, has it felt like one of those
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: things where like have you gotten the pressure from like
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: labels or anyone else, Like obviously it sounds like you
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: within the band are making decisions based on just what
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: you think is fun and creative. But have you experienced,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: you know, obviously now being a band for so long,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: have you experienced maybe the outside pressures to create music
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: in a certain way.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we've definitely had. That's funny because we look back,
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: those are the parts that I don't miss or don't
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: like to look back on, because that's when it felt
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: like a job or felt like you were just doing
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: something that wasn't why we started it, like the radio campaigns,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: or like working with certain producers writing songs a certain way.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: I actually had this talk yesterday with a friend. We
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: were doing a video for the new album, and he
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: was asking me what my least fairit videos were, and
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: it was all like stuff on that cycle, and you
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: don't know when you're in it. It's just when you
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: look back, because like you want the opportunity to just
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: in your mind, you want to play in front of
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: more people, but you have to people tell you you
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: have to do certain things. And that's that's the other
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: thing I look back on that I wish we could
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: have changed, was like I wish our success was later
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: in life and not so when we were young, because
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: we did so many things just being kids that I
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: would have done different, but we didn't have any responsibility,
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: so we were like ripe for the picking. We were
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: just like yeah, of course, and I think we definitely
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: got a lot of advantage taken on us.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, it's it's so fun to watch, like,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: you know, maybe even like similar bands or bands kind
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: of in the same scene as you, guys that have
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: made creative decisions that on paper you would say you
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: would think, like this is like not going to like
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: create more fans or a larger audience, and yet they
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: still make these creative decisions of no, this is like
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: what we want to do, and this is what we
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: love to do, and it actually turns out to be
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: actually successful for them. Like I think of a band
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: like knock Loose, Like knock Loose could have easily just
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: gone into this more like whatever kind of direction that
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: sounds maybe a little bit more toned down, a little
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: bit more radio friendly, and here they are just like
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: still making decisions that are like, uh, creatively that just
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: like this is like some of the darkest, heaviest stuff
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: that you've ever heard, and it actually has catapulted them
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: to a certain level. And you know, like I know.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you guys were huge Under Oath fans back
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: in the day, and like for under Oath to kind
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: of go from this like emo pop album to a
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: straight up hardcore album with to find the Great Line
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: and that to become as successful as it did. It's
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: just like it's really cool when you see bands kind
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: of make this decision that maybe on paper doesn't make sense,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: but then it ends up turning out to be really
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: really great. And again, I don't know if you guys
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: maybe have experienced it that way or not, but I
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: do really appreciate when bands are just like, you know what,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: we're going to stick to our guns. We're going to
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: stick to what we love, and especially when it turns
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: out to be successful, that's really cool.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And those are the things I look back on
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: that I miss so like all the opportunities or albums
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: or songs or big opportunities.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: For us that we chose.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: To just do what our team and everyone was telling
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: us to do, which, like I feel like in our
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: legacy or career as a band is like we're like
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: we were like the very commercial like metalcore band, like
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: with the hot topics and Spencers and all that. But
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: all that came was just saying, like I said, like
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: just not in our heads, having a good time, not
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: really paying attention. And yeah, I look back and I wish,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: like how you said, like to just put our foot
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: down a little bit more on some creative things. I
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: bring this up a lot, but when we did Crisp Existence,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: it was the first time, which we're not with that
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: team anymore.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: We've changed teams so many times because.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: I think people are used to us being s men
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: and because we start we've been the yes men for
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: eight for twenty years. So when we started working these
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: teams and we started pushing back, I think it's because
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: we're just getting older and we're like, dude, we've already
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: done this, Like because there is like a there is
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: such a capitalist, huge thing going on, Like everyone's looking
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: at these magazines like in radio, but there's such a
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: huge factory that's working these things, and like you could
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: play that game or you could do your own thing.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: And I feel like we've done We've played that game
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: here and there, and I think we're to the age
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: until we want to be just our own thing. Because
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: all what I was gonna say was on Curs of Existence.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: That was the first time they sent us back to
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: the studio to redo the songs because they just it
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: was just too abstract and too like just different. But
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: it's like what we felt, uh, and that just sucked.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: That was like the wind taken out of your sales
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: because you're like, man, I really wanted to show people.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: People don't know unless they hear it, you know. Like
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: that's like when we're your first few albums, it's like
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: no one's even heard the stuff you're throwing out there
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: because like you just came out of nowhere, and then
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: people start like dissecting you. And then I feel like
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: from the third album on it it's really hard because
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: everyone's trying to carry you apart. But after that, it's
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: like this album's so nice because.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: I don't care.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Like I don't care. I'm like, like we talked about
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: now because like we're getting some flax on, like we'll
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: get some bad comments here in there, but I'm like, dude,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: I think it rips. We've sat, we've worked on it
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: for so long. I'm like, there's not one part I
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: would change. I was like, now we just see if
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: it works. And I could used to not be like
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: that used to be, Like there's payrolls and salaries and
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: we have these merch deals and we have these tours
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: and these live nation deals. Like there was all these corporate,
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: like just business things and.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: You're just like, we got get the album out. Who
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: cares what it sounds like?
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: Say yes to this. It was just so different and
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: now that the tables have turned, I don't know what
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: put us in this position. I think it is being
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: banned for so long, people just trusting us, and like
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: I said, we've changed teams so much to where we're now.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: We get to do what we want to do, and
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I think we'll see how this album does because I've yeah,
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: I feel like I'm sixteen. I know I say this
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: all the time we do stuff, but I feel like
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: a kid again, Like I just want that feeling because
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: I miss that because we rode that way for a
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: very long time.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Of just like right, Yeah, you made mention of throughout
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: your guys' career having occasionally had to make some changes
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: to some songs that you maybe look back and kind
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: of regret a little bit. I'm curious, like how you
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: relate to those songs now, Like I like, I think back,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: you know, like obviously you can't change the studio recording
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: of it, and what's you know what was released on
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: the album. But like even like when you guys maybe
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: play those songs live, like do you change it up
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: to like how you guys actually wanted it to be?
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Like I'm just curious, like how do you relate to
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: those songs that got changed in a way that you
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: didn't want to be changed?
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: So yeah, we change them live or I feel bad.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: This is like me coming clean to just our fans
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: and it's like I feel bad, like a lot of
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: songs people really like we just cut live because it's
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: like they have that sour taste to us because we
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: don't not love this song. But it's like we did
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: it because people told us to do some things. Then this,
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: like I said, it all goes to the age stuff
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: Like I wish I could have been like in my
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: late twenties and had like real life experiences instead of
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: being like sixteen with that you know what I mean?
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: And like right just figuring it out.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: But yeah, like we have songs I don't know, there's
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: like course of Britains and ice like it ends and
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: notes that we wouldn't have done, or like they took
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: out this part added apart the producer because it was
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: like that would be a great pick call, which like
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: they'll work.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: But I'm like, I'm like.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: That doesn't have anything to do with the song, or
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: like we're just saying it just because or like we
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: didn't we don't like ending on that that or that note.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Singing in the studio sounds good, but live never sounds good.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: And it's like they don't care though, because they're just like, yeah,
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: but this this would be one Like it is like
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: we all know we're in the studio what people want,
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: and it's like you just have to sort of try
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: to not think about that.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: And obviously everyone else around us is not.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Is on the other side of that conversation say like
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: this is what people want and you're like, oh, I know.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: But let me be creative.
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: So yeah, And like I said, we had a burn
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Bridges and pissed a lot of people off to get
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: where we are now. But we are here now, and
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: and I'm saying I don't care, as in like I
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: don't care what those people think. I care a lot
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: about the band. I'm trying to put it in good context,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: but I just don't care about the outside sounds anymore.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: So, right, it is interesting.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: Wants to talk smack. I'm like, please please talk all
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: this back. I'm like, we've done everything I don't wanted
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: to do.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just like bounces off of you at this point.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: I'm sure mm hmm. I'm curious for you guys, uh,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: like how you think about this, But like it seems
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: as if a lot of bands have a similar trajectory
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: as what you're describing here. Where in the very early
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: days when you know, when you all were really young
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and starting out the band, you're you're sort of forced
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: in a DIY kind of situation. You're for the project
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: is just inherently going to be DIY because you're so
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: young and and all of that. And then then when
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: like success early on starts to come, that's when the
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: corporate overlords sort of start making decisions or want to
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: make decisions, and you get kind of sucked into that
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: for a little bit. And it sounds like maybe for
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: some time that was the case, but then it's like
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: if you stick around long enough, then you kind of
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: go back. You sort of have this like return to
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: the Garden of Eden kind of thing where you go
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: back to now voluntarily being more DIY, And I just
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: hear so many other bands have that kind of similar
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: trajectory where you start out DIY, you kind of go
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: into this corporate mess, you realize how kind of creddy
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: that is, and then you go back to this DIY
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: kind of state. So I'm just curious, like if you
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: have thoughts on that. But it does seem to be
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: like a common trajectory for a lot of bands.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it's it's so common that it's like
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: a scary cliche. Like there were so many older bands
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: tell us not to do all the decisions be exactly
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: said yeah, yes too, and then there's like all these
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: older bands that this is like a decade back, but
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: I remember them coming out of the corporate and going
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: back to DIY, and I'm like, I'm reminiscing because I'm like, oh, yeah,
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: that's sort of what we're doing. It's just it's crazy
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: how common the cycles repeat. And I don't know why it
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: is like that. It's like people don't why that. But
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: there are the bands, like you said, like the Knock Looses,
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: the like I can put them in there, like the
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Turnstiles and even the bad Omens to where they like
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: really just put their feet down to be like, no,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: this is what we want to do. The plot news
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: like just do what you want to do for so long,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: I honestly think Kane Hill's about to have a moment
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: and they've done their own thing for the longest time,
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: and now I just one five six silence, Like all
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: these bands have been watching from the sidelines. I'm like,
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: it's really cool to do a little thing, and then
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: you see it like soa cup because they.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: Don't they don't follow along.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: Which is like that is the goal. It's just yeah,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: it just it goes to teams and your decisions and
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: then like placement because like you can only do so much.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: I will say not to like I'm not trying to
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: like give us been for the doubt or like things
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: would be different.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: But.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: Being like being the age we were and when things
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: were coming up, it was so hard not to say
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: yes too to things because it was like the first
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: time like a scream O band has been on like
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: a radio fest and the first time on XM. So
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: it's like everyone was saying yes because you're like, we're
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: not even supposed to be here.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: We're like if you say no, like they.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: You know, like they'm never not because now like they
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: knock loose, isn't And like the Lorna's those fat dresses.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: It's like there's us whole two stages up those radio
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: fests dedicated for this type of music now but yeah,
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: they like and there's like a station on the XM
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: or there's like now there's like dedicated stuff. But like
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: we were on like the Walking I always just look
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: back and like we were on the Walking of Glass
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: of like we were with the Rubin Shoulders with friends
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: that were like getting accepted to that for the first time.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: I remember playing the first song with Pimple, the first
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: Lauder of Lights, the first Aftershock, and there was no
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: heavy bands, and it was just like, right, they're gonna
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: dry us out and put us on at like four
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: o'clock over here with like suicide silence. We'll see what happens.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: And then it's like yeah, so a lot of decisions
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: come from that. It was just like the time of
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: where we were. But then also the cool thing is
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: sorry I'm like ranting, but the cool thing is now
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: with the legacy and like stuff is we were commercial
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: and like to us, like to other people like Cheeseball
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: went not because we're commercial, but like the respect and
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: stuff now all these years later has been so nice
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: because like I think people understood like what all the
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: bands in that era had.
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: To do to like get this recognition.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: And it's just like, oh, you guys like did that
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: and like ate shit to do this, Like yeah, we
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: ate a lot of shit to now we have beat
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: box stage or world tour. It's like, yeah, we like
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: got our asses beat for a long time to get
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: this war.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: So totally totally yeah, yeah, I mean, like I think
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: even a band like you know, Double War's product, you know,
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: I think I'm pretty sure they're from Ohio as well,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: like they they you know, it's like so weird to
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: like think about like what they sounded like back in
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: like two thousand and seven, eight, two thousand and nine,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: and like some of the things that they were doing,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: and I think the way that they've matured as a
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: band as a sound just even like their decisions as
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: a band all of that, it feels very similar to
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: what you guys have done as well, where yeah, like
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: I think there was this like you know, you could
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: maybe sort of stereotype, the music, the scene at that
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: time where yeah, we kind of look back and it's like, Okay,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: that was a little silly or maybe a little dated
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: or or whatnot. But but the way that all of
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: you as as band members as musicians have matured, it's
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: just like it's like astounding, Like it's just really cool
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: to watch. And so yeah, I just love kind of
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: seeing that that maturation over all of these years.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think one of my favorite things to watch
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: on the outside is like you've see the bands disappear
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: here and there, But I think it's cool the bands
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: through the era of like everyone had their everyone has
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: their moments, Like every band, every no matter when it is,
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: has their moments, but like to still have fun and
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: like play after the moment, I think is like shows
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: the real bands of like oh they're just love. They
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: just love being musicians, writing music and like playing And
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: like that's how I feel when I see like Silverstein
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: or like Produm, Like these guys there could be two
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: hundred people or two thousand people and they just they're
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: the same guys that were sixteen starting the band and
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: just want a jam and it's like that's that's why
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: we started our band. And it's just like we still
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: play those random shit shows and you're like, how after
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: all these twenty years, but we just still get on stage.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: And it's just like, and I've seen Proud Of play
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: those shit shows now like in twenty twenty six after
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: being this like legacy, and it just doesn't matter because
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: they just really want to play. And I think that
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: and that though that's not every band, Like I think
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: people can really see through that, and I those are
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: the bands I do appreciate though, that just want to
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: play because they love playing.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Right, sort of along those lines, like you know, obviously,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: when you guys Forgot first started in the mid two thousands,
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: there was this surgence of you know, the quote unquote
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: kind of metal core bands. You know, obviously Warped Tour
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: was in its heyday, uh and and there were so
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: many bands that were kind of popping off that were
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: kind of in that scene. And I would say, I mean,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: I'm curious, like maybe your thoughts on this, but it
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: seemed like starting in like the two thousand, maybe mid
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: twenty tens, especially once streaming became more and more popular,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: it seemed like that scene really was starting to die down,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: like bands were starting to go on hiatus or to
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: quit or whatever might happen to some of those bands.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: But then now it seems like there's this resurgence, especially
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: especially in like hardcore metal kind of music. You know.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Obviously again we've already mentioned like knocked Loose. You could, yeah,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: like you mentioned like you could throw in like Turnstile
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: on that, and there's Learna Shore and you know, motion
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Motionless and White and there there's all of these massive
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: metal bands, and then you know there's like these legacy
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: bands like Miss may I that have you know, have
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: kind of like weather that storm. And I'm just curious
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: like your thoughts on all of that of this sort
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: of like what you maybe could describe as a research
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: and like do you do you experience it as that
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: as you know somebody who's in that music world. Yeah,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: I'm just curious like your your general thoughts on this
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: kind of like maybe quote unquote resurgence of metal.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah. It's it's funny you say the streaming thing, because
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: I used to I was the one getting like our
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: royalty checks like in my bedroom at my mom's house,
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: like back in the day.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: And I remember like the.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: First check after Spotify and it was like a fortieth
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: of what we used to make, Like it was it
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: just com like overnight plummeted. I was like I remember
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: calling label like this is right, like yeah, it's is streaming,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: like it's not sales is like where it's going. I
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: just remember being like like what are we?
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: Like what are we?
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: Because that used to be our like fuel mersh backdrops,
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: like we would just spend that and then that was
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: taken away. See I remember, and I feel like you
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: could everyone could see that blow. But I think right
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: now it's I do think a lot of it's like
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: the post the post pandemic excitement for live shows. But
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: I also think there's just a really cool thing, which
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: is weird to say this because like we're all similar
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: ages and like nobody wants to feel old, but like
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: it's really cool with like this younger it's like classic.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: There's these new newer bands coming out, which is great,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: but it's like the ones that did stick through are
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: like the legendary, like legacy ones, and it's cool to
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: see those tickets because like even twenty years ago, everyone
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: knew like these festival headliners at some point are going
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: to have to pass the torch, like who knows when,
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: but like at some point disturbs gonna have to pass
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: the torch to bad omens or to falling verse emotionals
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: to headline like it can't because it just it's nothing,
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: it's disturbed. It just it can't. You can't do it forever,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: but who knows when? And then now that's like happening,
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: and it's crazy because it's all these bands that our
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: twenty years fifteen years, and to me it reminds me
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: of like the kill Switches and like the all that remains.
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: When I was a kid and I was like, that's
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: what I.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: Want to and like wanted those opening spots, but then
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: we were the young bloods, like messing with the formula
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: of metal core.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: And now I think it's so cool because you see.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: The Motionless have done the twenty years, but you see
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: the static dresses.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: That's like a.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: Messing with the formulas of under Oath and you're like,
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: it's it really is so cool to see the cycle again.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: But I think the best thing out of all that
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: and all the cycle taken away, which was the outlier,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: is just live music coming back, like because the economy
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: does completely blow and merches out of control expensive like
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: and it's all out of everyone's control. But somehow there's
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: more people buying tickets now more than ever. And I
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: think that's great. And I'm hoping like this whole AI
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: and like I work in AI, so I like I
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: I'm not it's not the biggest enemy. But I do
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: think real organic stuff is going to be more appreciated,
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: and I think it is already, but I think that
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: helps with just live music in general. I think people
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: are appreciating like organic live music more. I don't know
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: if that's exactly why the ticket sales went through the
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: roof post pandemic, but whatever. The younger generation they're better
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: at saving money maybe that's why. But people are going
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: to shows more than ever.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: It's insane.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Yes, it is cool. I mean I just was a
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago. I was at Loathe here in Minneapolis,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: and my best friend Colin, who was the other host
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: of the podcast, we both were at this and we
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: were like two of like ten people that were over thirty.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Like it was just like it's literally everybody else was
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: under thirty, like you know, college age, maybe just post
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: college age. It was crazy how like young the audience was,
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: and so it's just like so to me, like gave
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: me like this inspiration of like, oh yeah, this music's
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: not done, Like as soon as you thought maybe this
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: music was like done, and we're kind of past that
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: point in our you know, sort of journey in music. Nope,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: Like there's going to be another batch of bands that
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: are gonna be just as talented. They're gonna be just
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: amazing and it's going to bring in a whole new
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: generation of fans.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I love that they mix it up, Like dude,
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: I remember I have to find the Flyer. But there
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: was like two shows that we played with Loaths when
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: they were like children and the like coffee shops in
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: the UK. There's like probably thirty people there, but like
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: and they were just doing the same same thing they're
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: doing now, and it's just so cool because like just
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: to see like sticking with it and just soaking in
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: and like believing what you're doing. Like they selled the
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: Barra zone to guitar still look the same, and we're
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: playing a coffee shop and everyone's like what is this
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: sad like noise these guys are doing and you're just
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: like just they're on the something.
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: It's just so cool.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely so. Well, speaking of onto Something, let's
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: talk about the new album. So, yeah, new album coming
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: out soon. You'd love to hear like maybe you know
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: because you guys, I think the eighth album, right, you know,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: eighth album. Yeah, nineteen years of doing this, what were
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: like maybe some like sounds or something that you we
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: were just trying maybe to do a little bit different
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: or unique in this album that maybe haven't explored before
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: in previous albums.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: So going into it, I feel like the more albums
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: you get under your belt, the more you're like, I.
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: Don't know how many of these I have left in me.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: So that's always exciting because you're like, I'm gonna freaking
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: full send it because like who knows if we're gonna
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: come back and do it again or if we're gonna
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: be tapped out. So that's always exciting.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: But this one was fun.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: So first time we ever had a new lineup, which
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: was just weird because like it wasn't like our biggest
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: thing was to keep the five guys, and we sort
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: of had a thing of like if if everyone left,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: like we wouldn't want to do this, but they were
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: sort of tapped out and Elijah the new guy we
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: like sort of he was sort of like our mistress
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: because he was filling in for Justin a BJ and
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: we were like, this is really nice, Like we know
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: they're not into it and this guy's into it, so
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: it's nice to have like everybody in their head in
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: the game. But going to the studio, the fun thing
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: with him was now we're a four piece, it's completely
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: new writing, so like, uh.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.
• 27:01
  Speaker 2: We got into the studio and it was funny because
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Justin and Jared and I are sorry, Ryan and Jared
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: and I have been there since like demo days, like
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: when we were kids. We're like, shit, songs start with
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: Justin and PJ. We're like, we don't have anything. Uh
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: So that was like the first big curve ball because
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: we're like they're gone now. So like Ryan started writing more,
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: Elijah was writing, which was like just fresh and different
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: and like he was like, what do you guys do usually?
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: So that was cool to like sort of put our
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: playbook out. And then the really fun thing was since
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: we're down a guy on rhythm, we've always wanted to
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: lean into soundscapes, but we've also Jared and Ryan are
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: very purest, which I give them credit because they're musicians.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: I'm like the when we get to our guilty pleasures,
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: I'm like the pop commercial guy. Like I'm like, dude,
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: let's do fucking an imax like crazy sounds and they're
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: just like, no, we have to really play it, which
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: I get. But now that we're down four guys, we're like, oh,
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: rhythm guitar, let's like, since we don't have that guy,
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: instead of back like tracking it or playing like doing
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: an ad ghost store, let's just like slam on some
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: rhythm soundscape.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: So like, there's a lot of just sounds.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: In this album, which I really loved because it was
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: just refreshing after writing so many songs and be in
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: a band for so long, to be able to like
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: add an instrument was like, oh, this is so nice,
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: and it was It's something we've held back on for
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: so long, so to finally be like cause Nick, the
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: guy who produced this album has actually been with us
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: since our first album. He was like Joey Sturgis's young
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: padle on for a couple outs, so he was like
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: engineering like he's always been around. He's like the only
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: he's like the constant through all albums, and this is
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: the first album he got to fully produce, so he's way.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: It was fun to be like remember that one time
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: we were talking about like crazy chords, like let's do
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: it now. Like remember that time eight years ago we
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: almost did this thing.
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: Let's do it now.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: So we got to bring all these things that got
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: xnaid back in the day. And I was just so
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: refreshing and just like I said, bringing Elijah in his
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: excitement of like being a part of this man for
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: the first time, and we did it all ourselves at
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: Elijah's studio with and like everyone flew out in camp.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: There was just yeah, that was like the excitement and
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: what was really different with this album as opposed to
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: other ones?
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Right right? The other thing I noticed right away. I
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: wouldn't say this is like, uh makes the album unique
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: in compared to your guys's other albums, But the thing
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: that I noticed right away is it doesn't sound overly produced,
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: like it sounds like it was produced and like I
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: would say, I don't know, like two tens or something,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: which I like appreciate, Like I really think, especially when
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: it comes to like metalcore production, I really think that
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: like that like Matt Goldman two thousand, like mid two
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: thousands to twenty ten's like and not even just Matt Goldman,
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: but like all of the production that was kind of
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: coming out at that time just sounds like it's like
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: this perfect balance of sounding really good and polished but
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: also still sounding like real instruments and all of that.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: And and so I think you guys just like nailed
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: that balance really perfectly. And so yeah, like when I
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: first heard the first number of songs, like to me,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: the production just stood out to me as like, oh,
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: this is this is what I remember it sounding like
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: that I feel like was kind of the like kind
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: of perfect moment of production when it came to metalcore.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: Oh thanks, So yeah, that's that's the I can't take
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: all like the credit for that because that's the purest
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: guys in the band and like then like being super
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: nerdy about that. But the other thing is like, and
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you get this, but like and
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: this isn't any shade to any of our peers, but
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: a lot of our peers and a lot of just
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: like the wave of our music, Like if you go
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: to all new metal tracks, I'd listen to that playlist.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: I'd try to skim it all the time just so
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: I can see what's going on. The production is so
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: which people can do it live now, which like there's
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: no reason to hold back on production. But that's just
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: not the kind of band, like, that's not why we
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: started our band, like or what we like, what we
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: want to sound like.
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: So it's like it always has been.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: Really hard because you go to that playlist that's got
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: like two million subscriber and it's like, this is just what
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: metal sounds like today, and you listen to like the
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: first thirty tracks and you're just like, oh, like not
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: that it's all great, but like you said, it's just
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: so like and when you want to do the opposite,
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: it's terrifying. But it goes back to how we started
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: the interview. We're just like, this is what we want
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: to release. So like it's it's been the least stressful.
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: There's like some guys like in our group chat will
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: send like look at this shitty review or the shitty comment,
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: and like some guys will start doom saying and be
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: like we messed up. And then it's at the end
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: of the day, it's so nice to be like dude, Like,
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: we love this. We didn't rush anything, like let it simmer,
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: let it simp right, right.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: And honestly, I think it's like and like the rawness
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: of that kind of production quality, Like, yeah, there are
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: going to be kind of these imperfections that come through
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: because of it, and I think that only adds to
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: the art of it. Like I think, I think it
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: actually adds rather than detracts from the art of it.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think it'll find our listeners because like
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: I think, like you said, there's all those younger kids,
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: like I think there are there are are younger like
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: generation kids that appreciate that, like and which hope, like
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: I hope they find this album and it sounds a
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: little different than everything else coming out, because right, that's
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: the stuff we like. Like I can tell when I'm
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: not a music guy that I could tell when someone
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: retubes and I like appreciate that they like put the
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: guitar in actual amb I'm like, oh, it's like a
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: little bit warmer on this album.
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: This is nice.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, I just think the balance of what you
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: were describing with those soundscapes with that kind of production
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: quality just like really creates a little bit more of
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: a uniqueness of this album, certainly in comparison to the
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: rescue of your discography, but even among the just the
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: general metal landscape right now, it just adds this like
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: it's that perfect balance of like the beautiful, like luscious soundscapes,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: but then also just like that that that like great
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: balance of production but like still rottenness in the in
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: the production quality. It's just like it's just it just
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: strikes the right chord for me.
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: It's a bunch of uh. That was the cool thing
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: with bringing Elijah Nick. Nick's always been like I said that, Elijah,
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: it's like it's a bunch of Midwest just we're all
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: cut from the same cloth in the same age, just
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: in different areas in the Midwest. So it's like that's
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: our gin. We all grew up sort of loving the
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: same stuff. So so it's just so cool because all
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: the local scenes are the exact same, just one hundred
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: miles in a different direction, you know what I mean,
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Like they all lived the same exact parallel life, but
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: just over here.
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: So it's cool to break all together.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: One of the other things that I wanted to talk
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: about is this album, you really are exploring a lot
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: of like mental health things and just kind of very
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: like more personal things. And not to say that you
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: haven't explored that in your previous lyrics, but yeah, I'm
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: just curious like around you know, what were maybe like
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: like you know, share what you want, but like what
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: were some of the things that were inspiring some of
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: this more kind of introspective kind of lyric approach to
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: this album.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was. It's funny, I was. I was at
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: the darkest. I was having a freaking meltdown. But every
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: like during this album, which is great in a sense
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: because like it was so easy to write the songs,
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: which like we've wrote songs where I've been on the
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: opposite and just having the time of my life and
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: I'm like, this is so hard to write like a
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: pissed song right now. I was having the worst time
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: in my life just and I think it was midlife crisis.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: I think like I was going through some stuff at home.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: But it's the cliches of like just self awareness. And
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: the weird thing was with h the other guys when
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: I'm in vent about it, they were going to do
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: the same thing too, just in their perspective, So that
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: was like a nice relatable thing. But yeah, I was just, uh,
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: it's it's funny. Sorry, I have to put this out
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: there because I've thought about this since the song came out.
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: It's our album is totally opposite of that Knock Loose
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: Hive Mind song because it's such a self loathing album
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: and then then the breakdown. I don't give if. I'm like,
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: that's what our whole album. Our whole album is about
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: hating yourself. So I was like, like, knock Loose, this
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: is like straight called me out like on that breakdown. Yeah,
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: so funny, like right when that came out. But yeah,
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: it's like it's a lot of self loathing and just
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: like real life, because I think that's something. Ryan and
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: I are really close. We we're all close, but him
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: and I do all the lyrics and we're very vocal
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: and talk a lot, and we're like the like Nemo
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: ones in the band. And yeah, I think, uh, I
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: was going through like just losing big relationships at home
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: and like possibly losing a bunch of stuff. But like
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: the self reflection of why it was happening was really
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: hard because I had to go to the studio, so
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: like studios on the books, like hey, you're you're going
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: this time, and like I think three days before the
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: first studio session, shit like started hit the fans at home,
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: and I just I lost a big friend, long story short.
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: I was just losing like like a family friend from
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: like betrayal, but it like bled into like my relationship
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: with my wife, my relationship with friends.
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: Like it was just destroying a bunch of stuff.
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: And then I had to go. Then I had to leave,
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: which is already hard because I have kids and like
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: a family at home, so it's like that was all happening.
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: And then we went in the studio, so like the
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: first song was Buried Me Down that we wrote, which
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: was like easy to puke out, and then we just
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: did one song and went back six months later, did
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: like five more songs, went back six months later to
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: finished the rest of the album, and like you, I
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: could sort of feel the progress of like me going
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: through it through the album, but all of it was just, yeah,
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: that's a feeling Ryan and I can't shake. And I
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: don't know if it's because of the band or what,
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: but like our self loathing, which internal hey is depression,
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: So it's like who, like that's really what it is.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: I think it's a lot of it comes with like
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: we just feel a lot of weight on our shoulders,
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: Like it's crazy about this interview talking about legacy. It's
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: just like we don't want to let people down. So
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: it's like when the band doesn't do good or like
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: stuff doesn't do good, it's like so many people love
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: this band, have this band's tattoo.
• 36:41
  Speaker 3: Like it's like they're everything.
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: It's like there's people that we employ, Like there's just
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: so much weight around the band, and we just like
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: when stuff dids' to go our way, we personally feel
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: we're letting it down. So that was like a lot
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: of stuff to reflect on during the album, which I
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: think we wrote about a lot because that's not really
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: our way to bear, and it's just us being impaths
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: and sort of soaking it like taking it on because
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: we don't want to let anyone down. And I think
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: realizing a lot of this album is realizing where a
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: lot of that stems from, like childhood wise or why,
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: because like there was this album was like four hours
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: in the studio, six hours upstairs, like crying and talking
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: like being like, oh I'm going through this at home,
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: or you should like you wrote this and a song,
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: what's that mean? You're like you want to know what
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: it means, Like this is why I feel this way?
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: And then the next morning waking up and being like
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: maybe I said too much and like taking it back
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: a little bit, and then you're like, so like a
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: lot of but because we said it and it like
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: puked it out, it brought us closer as a band.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: But also in discussing it and making it a song
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: sort of was like a lot of the realizations of like, oh,
• 37:46
  Speaker 2: I do this because of like this happened to me
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: as a kid, or because this I was raised, or
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to compensate for this. Like that was the
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: big the big thing I think learning was like just
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: over compensating. I think we want to not let people
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: down so much. How we overcompensate and it just makes
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: us sort of like internally and plot And that's like
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: We're getting a lot of flak on the cover and
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: I don't give a crap because it's like the biggest
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: cover that we've had, like a story tool, and I'm like,
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: I just love the cover and but I don't really
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: care about the hey, because it's probably my favorite cover
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: we ever had.
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: As a band.
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: But yeah, so a lot of it is just self
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: loathing and that's why they're no place for me.
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: It just felt like.
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: The title is just Yeah. I think if you listen
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: to this song and you feel any way on any
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: of the ten tracks, you also feel like there's every
• 38:35
  Speaker 2: song's common denominators. You feel like there's you're just trying
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: to find a safe place, which I don't know if
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: that's even a thing to find.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: So right right, Well, the way you described like how
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: you kind of brought these lyrical themes to writing and recording,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: it sounds very similar to like journaling for like a
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: therapy session or something, And so I'm just curious, like,
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: what's the like is that process that you went through.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: Did it Did it feel therapeutic in the sense of
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: like this is actually creating meaningful healing in your life.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: I'm yeah, I'm just I'm curious about that.
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: No, for sure, So we don't. I don't write lyrics
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: ahead of time, so I don't have like a thing
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: of lyrics I like vibe out on this song. If
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: you were my producer, Nick, you would yell at me
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: and say I came unprepared, because that's like what he
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: does all the time. You're just unprepared. I'm like, I
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: just I want to like I want to feel it,
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: and yeah, it is. It's funny you say that it
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: is like a therapy session. And my wife actually said
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: this a couple of days ago because she has been
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: with me since the first album and a lot of stuff.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: A lot of our relationship are on our albums and
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: a lot of our ups and downs, but they're there forever,
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: which you have to think about too.
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: Like so, but she.
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: Actually was poking fun at one of the new songs
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: because it's something we went through. But I standing the
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: album because like it was just that's just how it works.
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: And she was like, and I asked, I was like,
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: it's this weird that it's on there, and it's she
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: it was really nice because she's like, you don't talk
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: about your feelings and if like you want to write
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: about them and that's how you get it out that
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: they're like, then that's that's how you do it. And
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: I think that's and I don't talk about it because
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: I don't want it's the happy guy thing. I don't
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: let people down and think that there is something negative
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: going around. So it's like I sort of wait every
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: two years to do an album and be like, you
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: know what, you know what grinds my gears?
• 40:22
  Speaker 3: Like this is so good?
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and uh so yeah, because there's a lot of
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: transparent stuff that I should tell my wife, and I
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: don't tell her until she hears this song. And it's
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: like the only way I could really I feel safe
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: saying it in those parts. Like even even in therapy,
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: I talk about stuff, but I even with the therapists,
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: I don't want to come off yeah, too negative, Like
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: I don't. I don't. I always want to like walk
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: on glass and make everyone feel in a good mood
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: and not give like bear them with my problems until
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: we write a song and then I'm like, oh I
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: got that out. So I don't know why that is
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: for me, but every single album has like really deep
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: things I went through with my life.
• 41:02
  Speaker 3: That that's like it was like a bookmark of my life.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, And you know, obviously none of us
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: are like fully healed humans, but I would imagine like
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: the process by which you're creating or you know, writing
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: lyrics and creating this album, I would imagine to some
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: degree it feels healing, even though you're probably still probably
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: going through the ringer.
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: Well, especially when I'm like realizing it or like because
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: how it starts as movies, play a song on LUP,
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: I'll start writing a lyric and then the guys are like,
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: let me see what we got. Then we talk about like, oh,
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: this is what's going on. And then when you hear
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: somebody else sort of connect the dots on a lyrical
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: part that you're like, that's how I should say this feeling.
• 41:42
  Speaker 2: That that's a therapeutic part because you're trying to like
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: find these words for how you're feeling and you don't
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: even know how you're feeling. And then once you can
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: put them in the words, like you see, it's like
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: the fog of stress. And then like when I write
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: it on a song, I'm like, oh, this is what
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: I'm dealing with. I need to figure this out. And
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: it's like that's sort of how the songs have helped me.
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: And I think my favorite part is when somebody else
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: hears it and like it makes them feel that way
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: or makes them say something they couldn't say, And that's
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: like this whole album was like that of just being like, hey, guys,
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna say this, and then we'd be done with
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: a recording session and then we'd go off and I'd
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: like one person from the staff or from the band
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: would come over and be like, man, it's crazy you
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: said that.
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: Like I've been going through this at home, and I'm like, dude,
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: that's why we need to talk about it.
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: It's just like stuff that people don't talk about is
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: like what a lot of the songs about, or what
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: a lot of this album's about.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: That's beautiful. That's beautiful sort of the switch Gears kind
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: of last question about the new album. One thing that
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: makes this album unique is it is a new record label.
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: It is a Solid State Records, which is super exciting.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: I remember a couple of years ago when it was
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: announced that you guys had signed, and then here now
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: we've got the new album coming out with Solid State.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: I would imagine you grew up with all the Solid
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: State bands as well. Yeah, what what does it mean
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: for you as a you know, band member, as a
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: leader of Miss May. I like, yeah, what what does
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: it mean for you? You guys to be on a
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: record label? That probably means a lot to you.
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: And it's great. I always love like seeing how different
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: families and teams work, so it's been really cool to
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: see how they put an album together. And it's also
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: cool to see how they put an album together because
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: of the legendary albums they've done in the past, and
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: I think them being so established and being a part
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: of like it's it's exciting to have our album be
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: a part of their releases like historically. But the other
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: cool thing is they've been around so long and like
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: they're sort of cut from the same cloth that like
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: they remember the punk rock metal days. So it's very
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: it's been very nice doing this because we can they
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: can relate with us that when we want to do
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: something dry or something that's against the grain, because they
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: come from that world. And it's just so nice because
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: they're not like a built, fabricated label. They're like, oh,
• 43:56
  Speaker 2: we've we remember putting fires up and being punk rock,
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: like because we've done a lot of weird stuff with
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: part of this album, and it's just and every time
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: I send email to them like yeah, let's do it,
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: like that's different, and we like I'm always waiting for
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: like this is against the grain, like do you want
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: to try this, and like let's go for it, and
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: that's always as music's my ears.
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: So yeah, Well, and we were talking earlier about like
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: kind of the trajectory of a lot of bands. It
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: seems like Solid State and Tooth and Nail have kind
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: of gone through a similar trajectory of you know, initially
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: being this like very DIY punk hardcore kind of metal
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: underground type of label, and then eventually, you know, obviously
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: things you know, gains traction enough they I think they
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: were bought out by EMI for a while, and then
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: now they're they bought all of that back, and so
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: now they're kind of more of this like independent record label,
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: and so they went through a very similar trajectory as
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: like what you guys experience is a lot of other
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: bands experience.
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think it's like bringing it back into
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: It's like things get so repetitive and automated and just
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: so predictable. It's nice to like know then you have
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: to pivot and.
• 45:01
  Speaker 3: Make like ruffle the feathers.
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: And I feel like that has been like Solid State
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: in this may I's relationship the whole time is like hey,
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: we know what works, Like what can we do to
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: like spice it up?
• 45:14
  Speaker 3: And so we've all just been thinking so much outside
• 45:17
  Speaker 3: of the box.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: And uh yeah, while we were talking, there were the
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: little release or a little teaser that went up for
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: like a DIY last minute thing we filmed this week
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: of just like screw it, let's do this.
• 45:27
  Speaker 3: So that's and we haven't done that in the decade,
• 45:29
  Speaker 3: so it feels nice.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, they're just it's just so great.
• 45:33
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: Obviously I was somebody who was raised on Solid State
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: tooth and nail stuff, and so to add miss may
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: I to that legacy, to that rosters, it's just really cool,
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: you know, not obviously, I mean, let's be honest too,
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: Like the roster right now, especially on Solid State, is
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: so solid, like it's almost as good as it probably
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: was back in like the mid two thousands, like it
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: to have you know, Memphis may Fire on there obviously,
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: Norman jen Prada, Silent Planet. You know, like I'm sure
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: a lot of like your friends are on there. So
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: it's just you know, with where they're at right now,
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: just some of still some of the best medal and
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: hardcore out there.
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and we like they, like you said, they know
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: how to do it with like what we're giving them,
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: and it's just that's it's just so exciting.
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome. So all right, well, LEVI, let's dive
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: into your guilty pleasure artists. You mentioned a bit ago
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: that you are the pop guy in Memphis or Miss
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: May I so love to hear. What what are these
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: guilty pleasures that you jam out to all the time?
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: Uh?
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: So Number one will be Chris Brown and he just
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: announced another day in Cincinnati.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: With Oh I didn't realize he's still doing stuff. Yeah, dude,
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, I know I'm not very hit, but I
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: just didn't realize.
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he gets better like wine, he gets better,
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: he gets Okay, I don't know if he's a great person.
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: That's why my guilty pleasures Also, I don't know for
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: great people exact great music.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: Were you one of those people that, uh did like
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: that wedding entrance to that song? No, that it wasn't
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: like a like wasn't it like a like a bubblegum
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: commercial or something that that was made for.
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know the song I'm talking about.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Oh, there's like the Chris Brown song that's like, uh
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: just because it went super viral, uh like in early
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: YouTube days of like I think it. God, I'm almost positive.
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: It was a Chris Brown song. It was like a
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: wedding entrance. Uh even like the The Office Uh yeah
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: Forever by Chris Brown, Like it was like the super
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: viral video in the early YouTube days of this like
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: wedding entrance to that song. And then even The Office
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: like spoofed it. It was like a big deal.
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: Oh that's awesome. Yeah no, I uh yeah.
• 47:41
  Speaker 3: I like love R and B.
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: Like I don't know, I also like love the I'm
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: never paying attention to lyrics ever, i just love the melodies,
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: Like I'm never listening to what people are saying, right,
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: But it's just so funny because because I love R
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: and B for the singing, sometimes like my subconscious will
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: tune into like what he's saying while I'm working. I'm like, WHOA,
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: can't be saying like real dirty. I'm like, noly shit,
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: Like I'm just listening for your beautiful like falsetto.
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: But I'm like, that's that's crazy.
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: And then to add to that, my second one would
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: be which is like I would say the same but
• 48:11
  Speaker 2: in the female aspect.
• 48:12
  Speaker 3: I love Sabrina Carpenter.
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: So have you seen that there's this photo of her
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: next to Taylor Swift, and she literally looks like a
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: little person, like she just and I know she's like
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: not tall, but like to see her next to Taylor
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Swift and I'm guessing like yeah, almost like six foot maybe,
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: but like you can truly see like a foot difference,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: and it's just like it. She literally looks like a
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: child next to Taylor Swift.
• 48:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I can know.
• 48:40
  Speaker 2: I could say I love, Yeah, I'm obsessed with with her,
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: and then third would be this just because he's not
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: as popular anymore. But I've been on the train. I
• 48:52
  Speaker 2: love some like Morgan Wall the Cancel Training, but I
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: love like shitty pop country favorite.
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: I mean that is truly guilty pleasure.
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: It can't sound like og country, like everyone gives me
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: hard like no, this is real country. I'm like, no,
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: it has to have eight away to be like not
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: like it has to be the cheese ball like that's
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: what I love, Like I want I want it to
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: sound like hip hop country. I don't know why I
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: feel it.
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: Colin and I are from South Dakota, and you would
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: you'd fit right in that. That's okay, the only thing
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: that's on the radio out there.
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: So I love it and I love how their lyrics
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: that stuff I can never say. I'm like, he's just
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: wrote a story, like he's nothing rhymes, they're just I'm like,
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: it's a great like there's a pun, there's always a pun.
• 49:37
  Speaker 3: And I'm like, I wish I could do this in metal.
• 49:39
  Speaker 3: I would have so much.
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: Fun, you know. I I do think Miss may I
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: needs to have a song about a truck.
• 49:46
  Speaker 2: Easy.
• 49:47
  Speaker 3: We can easily like.
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: A truck and a little Natty's light, Like that's just
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: we need, we need, Miss may I.
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: That's very We're very Camo and Nascar our crew.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: So that's right, that's right. Love that. That's a great list. Also,
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: by the way, I'm curious if, uh, you know, every
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: now and then I'll go to like a metal show
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: and like you know, in between sets or whatever, you know,
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: there's like the pa music that's being played. And from
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: my understanding, usually bands are actually in charge of it.
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: That's not like whoever is in the back of the house.
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: Uh is Sabrina Carpenter like a band? You know? Is
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: that like an artist that we could maybe expect to
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: hear as you guys are setting up.
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: The guys would never go for it. I'm definitely completely
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: opposite than the guys. Yeah, but cool, not on that
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: this the last.
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: Lead singer, you get to like choose that kind of
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: I feel like you should be able to choose that
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: kind of stuff.
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: You're telling me, dude, Well, I will say the last
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: story just did in Europe. Great American Ghosts opened with
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: a espresso sample, so great. Great, yeah, so every night
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: I thought to hear Sobrina as their intro.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: That's so great. I a couple of years ago saw
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: Callous Now Boys and they open like right before they
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: got on stage, they had the every Time We Touched song, uh,
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: and you know they're just coming out like dancing and
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: then they you know, go in the first song. It's
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: just like the dichotomy of like every time we touch
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: and then whatever craziness that Klastow Boys are about to do.
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: It was just amazing. It was like so cool, and
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: I'm like, you know what, I love when metal people
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: embrace like some of their pop sensibilities.
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because that's yeah. I don't Uh, you'd be surprised
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: how many crossover like scary metal guys love.
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Like there were a bunch of softies at
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: the end of the day.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: No one's listening to I feel like two metal guys
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: in bands like no one's jamming like in their headphones
• 51:31
  Speaker 2: heavy music.
• 51:32
  Speaker 3: Because he listened to it all day.
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: They're like listening to.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: At some point you need something else, Yeah, yeah, you
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: need some Sabrina Carpenter at some point, so lovely. Well,
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: what do you want to plug? LEVI? So obviously new
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: albums coming out soon, I would imagine shows are coming up. Yeah,
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: what do you want to plug?
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we have a headliner coming up the Perpetual Iron
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: Tour in November and December with Port of a Cyrus,
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: which is very cool. We've never toured with those guys,
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: which is crazy and be like grew up the same.
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: We've like right down the road and we've played festivals
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: and went offs, but never done a tour with them. Somehow,
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: it's finally happening and they're playing Discovery front to back.
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: It's twenty years in Discovery, so which is really cool.
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: Our fifteen years fifteen years Discovery, Yes, and Convictions and
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: Downswinger on that tour. I'm just so excited to get
• 52:19
  Speaker 2: a headliner out on this new stuff. But yeah, November December,
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: check that out, and yeah, album comes out October second.
• 52:26
  Speaker 2: Just so excited for everybody to hear it, and we
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: have so and to plug. It's something I've been building
• 52:33
  Speaker 2: and developing more and more. But if you guys go
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: to play do mismad dot com, you can play all
• 52:40
  Speaker 2: the riffs of all of our songs and there's a
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: worldwide leader board and everything. So whoa, we've been all
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: the new songs yep. So we've been teasing new songs
• 52:49
  Speaker 2: and we might have a back catalog for Christmas come
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: out of other albums.
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: So are are your guitar players allowed to participate or
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: are they just like seen as like this standard and
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: then everybody else has to like But like I mean
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: imagine like somebody is like actually better than like you
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: guys' guitarist, Like I would feel like inferior as a guitarist.
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: Like I don't know if I'd like this because I'm
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: about to get replaced potentially.
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: It's more our drummer Jared. He it's really mad that
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: he's not on the leaderboard. He was like waking when
• 53:17
  Speaker 2: the first came out. He was waking up. But like
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: he's like thirteenth or fourteenth now, Like there's plenty of
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: people that are better at him than our songs are.
• 53:26
  Speaker 2: I write them all because I'm coding them, but like
• 53:29
  Speaker 2: they're on time. So it's like it's it's the user,
• 53:32
  Speaker 2: it's not the uh, it's not the song.
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: There is there a way to have like vocals in
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: this too? Can we add vocals to the leaderboard?
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: No, no, I was I was trying to look up
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: a bunch of cool things. I'm trying to make it.
• 53:44
  Speaker 2: I try to make it fun too, So it's like
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: it's like a medium, so there's no hard or easy,
• 53:49
  Speaker 2: but it's definitely not easy, like and you can't just
• 53:51
  Speaker 2: listen to songs. You actually have to play to listen
• 53:53
  Speaker 2: to the whole song. So like my mom can't get
• 53:56
  Speaker 2: through a song. My mom wants so hard to be
• 53:58
  Speaker 2: on a leaderboard, but she can't beat a song.
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: So you know, that does remind me. I you know,
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: every now and then, like when I go to karaoke,
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: I'll like try to look up to see like their
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: whole directory to see if like they have kind of
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: any like niche metal, kind of you know music that
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: you know, what you typically wouldn't expect to be at karaoke.
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: Are you are you like, are you aware if like
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: there's any karaoke kind of thing out there that has
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: any Miss may I songs I don't like. Every now
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: and then i'll see like blind Side or like Norma
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: Jean weirdly enough I'll see or like maybe under Oath,
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: like I'll see some weird bands every now and then
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: on karaoke directories. But yeah, has there been any Miss
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: may I?
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: No, I've never seen to this day yet, No, Miss
• 54:35
  Speaker 2: may I. I do see this on even the oldest, rustiest,
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: dustiest touch tunes.
• 54:42
  Speaker 3: Or on there like the biggest dive bar.
• 54:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know how that.
• 54:46
  Speaker 3: We're usually on the touch tunes. So that's about it.
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: Are you one of those people that will like, you know,
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: put your like was it like twenty five cents or
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: whatever to have it played and be like oh yeah.
• 54:57
  Speaker 2: My daughter, man, my daughter too, And they think it's
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: so fun, but they don't do it as like to me,
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: it makes me turn to dust because I don't like
• 55:04
  Speaker 2: the attention. I'm like right, So then they're like, yeah,
• 55:08
  Speaker 2: this is my god, and I'm like, guys, okay, cool,
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: but I'm like you played it three times in a row.
• 55:12
  Speaker 2: I'm like, you gotta I don't think this restaurant wants
• 55:15
  Speaker 2: to hear Miss may I three times.
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: It sounds like your daughters think of you as like
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: you're like the cool dad. Like they seem like, you know,
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: because I would have definitely been embarrassed by my dad,
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: but like it sounds like they're pretty unembarrassed, like they
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: think you're actually pretty legit.
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: Oh they go, it's yeah, they're my especially my oldest
• 55:33
  Speaker 2: because she's been on tour a few times. Yeah, she
• 55:35
  Speaker 2: loves it. It's funny because anytime we meet someone new
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: or someone younger, because she knows that, I like, she
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: understod She's old enough and wise enough to understand that
• 55:43
  Speaker 2: I appreciate when the younger demographic likes our band. So
• 55:46
  Speaker 2: when she meets like teenagers, she's like, do you think
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: he knows who your your band?
• 55:49
  Speaker 3: He's like, She's like, I can tell him about your band.
• 55:51
  Speaker 2: I'm like, it's but anytime a teenager comes up and
• 55:54
  Speaker 2: they're like, hey, I get a picture, I'm.
• 55:55
  Speaker 3: Like, we got him.
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: She's clearly the biggest fan of Miss may I. Like,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: clearly she's trying to evangelize you guys to the whole world.
• 56:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, she's the best.
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: That's awesome. Sweet. Well, super excited for the new album.
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: Like I said before, it's some of the best Miss
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: may I that I've ever heard. Yeah, hopefully we'll be
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: able to catch you guys a tour sometime soon. And yeah,
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: just very very excited for all of this. Yeah, just
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: you're plugging away almost twenty years later, here you are
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: still making some of the best music and still playing
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: some of the best shows you guys have ever played.
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: So it's just really.
• 56:28
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much, thank you.
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: This