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The Return of Letter Kills · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_04: Disclaimer, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_04: Listener discretion is advised.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_04: Next year will be the 20th anniversary of one of my all-time favorite albums by one of my all-time favorite fans, Letter Skills.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_04: But five marches on, and Letter Skills broke up in 2006 with very little public examination as to why and what happened to the members afterwards.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_04: Last September, I had the privilege of speaking with Letter Kills lead singer Matt Shelton in episode 74 of this podcast.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_04: In March of 2023, Letterkills announced a reunion, and I have the return of Letterkills on this podcast today.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_04: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Caught on the Mic.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: So I am gonna start this episode a little bit more unconventionally with an anecdote.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_04: Last night, my wife and I were taking a walk around our neighborhood.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_04: We have a nice man-made lake in our neighborhood, a dog park.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_04: She goes on a nightly walk that takes about two and a half miles, and I decided to join her.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_04: That walk was a four and a half mile long walk because I listened to episode 74 of this very podcast with my friend Matt Shelton from Letter Kills.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_04: And then I listened to the bridge, and by the time I hit my front door, I was ready to run through the walls like I was the Kool-Aid man.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_04: And ladies and gentlemen, I will tell you why.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_04: Because I am excited to present Kyle Duckworth, Matt Shelton, Tim Cordova, Letter Kills.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_04: This is the return of Letter Kills.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_04: How are you guys doing?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_04: What's up, Mike?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_04: What's up, Mike?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: That was awesome.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Doing great.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having us on here.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Mike the King of Intros.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_04: I am so stoked to have you guys on.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_04: You were talking before we started recording, Kyle, about how much of an impact the used had on you back in the day.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_04: And I would like you to know that you had that same impact on me back in the day.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_04: I was in a band called the Reagan era at the time.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_04: And I was all about that uh rock and roll resurgence, that bubble going back to the things that made rock great, like the Motley crew, the Guns N' Roses, taking the modern and blending it with the old.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_04: And you guys were a big part of that.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_04: So I never had the opportunity to thank you, and I am just so blessed to have that opportunity right now.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's pretty moving.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm somewhat speechless.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Kyle, did you know you would have such an impact on Mike?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_03: Personally?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: I never I don't think that's uh it was personal.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that was a whole group.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: That was not to Kyle.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: I thought that was very good.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_04: Come on, guys.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_04: Come on.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, that is awesome.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_04: I'm super excited because Matt and I talked back in September of last year, and then what was it, March that you guys announced this show that's coming up July 28th?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we did.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_04: So how did that come together?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so we uh so after we talked, we was you said September?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: That's crazy.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: I I could have sworn we talked after we had kind of decided all this.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: So in January, we you know, we basically decided that was the the um you know the do-or-die come to Jesus moment for the band where we were gonna, you know, we're either gonna do this or we're not.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, we had we had kind of been waiting for the potential for all five members to be able to do it, and uh just never really got the opportunity.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_03: And so this year in January, we uh we all got on the phone and just decided that you know Kyle was we wanted to do something, um, even if it was just us three, and and uh to make it happen.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: And so we set a deadline for the end of January to see what our options were in regards to like just putting together a show ourselves because you know I I had I had told to do this before, but I'd tried uh you know reaching out to different promoters and just gotten feelers and tried to make something happen and never could land anything.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, you know, Kyle, of course, um with how just influential he is and impactful he is on our lives, he like may he made a couple of calls and and before you knew it uh you know people cared.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: And so um yeah, and it so in January we decided we're gonna do a Rheina show and it kind of snowballed from there.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_04: So where is everybody located currently?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_04: Let's start with Tim, go Kyle, then Matt.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm located in Murray, Utah.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's just a um part of the Salt Lake Valley, so right here near Salt Lake City.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: I am in Temecula, California, which is pretty much where where Letterkills started and was kind of our home base.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_04: And Matt, you're still in Fort Worth, right?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_04: Yep, Fort Worth, Texas.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_04: Making this come together, thankfully, technology works the way that it does now, because I'm sure that makes it a lot more ameniable than maybe say 10-15 years ago.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we we all have you know a lot more going on in our lives than we did 20 years ago.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: So it doesn't mean that doing this is any less important.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's just there's other things that are higher priorities at the time.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like you're saying, that technology, we don't have to go spend five hours in a dirty garage to write a song and have all of us have input with it uh and have it be something we can be excited about.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this this way, I mean, we've we've all been, I guess I can with a risk of getting ahead of myself.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've been working on material.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we have a song coming out soon, and it was all maybe a month to six weeks just shooting ideas back and forth.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: And uh Tim and Matt have a pretty good setup for putting down some ideas and and drums and that sort of thing to track.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we just did it that way.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: And when we got in the studio, it was the first time, our first day in the studio is the first time we've had more than two of us in the same room.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and it like I said, it we have a a song that we're excited to get out there, so definitely makes it it's a game changer for sure.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_04: I have picked Matt's brain about how letter kills initially came together because I listened to that episode and it didn't occur to me when we were recording the podcast the last time how fast everything happened.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_04: It's like 2002, three months later, you guys are on Island Def Jam.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_04: And I think there's a lot about fleshing out the dynamic of being in a band that maybe you guys didn't have the chance to experience the first time around because things happened so fast.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_04: So, Tim, this question's for you from your vantage point.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_04: How did Letterkills like come together and how did it have an impact on your life at that time?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: I had played, I had played in a band in the area, uh based out of the area for about a year, and um wanted to kind of go in a different direction musically.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So a couple of us from that band, we got kind of separated and went our own way, started learning how to write a different kind of music than we were used to.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And we kind of took that little project on uh small regional tours uh in the New Mexico, um, Texas, Oklahoma area, um, Mississippi.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And um as we were kind of touring that material, um, you know, small, really small shows, uh we came across Matt.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: We met Matt.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: He was um doing a singer-songwriter kind of a show, and um thought he was really great and kind of uh connected with him, and then we um the other guy and myself went back to um uh trying to put this two two-man project into a turn it into a band.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we returned to Southern California and um met up with Paul, the original drummer of Letter Kills.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: And at the time, I felt like Paul was the best drummer I had ever heard or ever played with.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: And at the time, I was also in a position where I thought, I'll give it like one more chance before I kind of hang this up and you know, kind of pursue a real career or something.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when Paul decided that he was interested in in playing drums for us, that's when I knew we have something.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I thought, well, if Paul wants to be a part of this, I'm gonna give it my best shot.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I had a lot of respect for his for his abilities.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And um long story short, it worked out that Matt actually ended up replacing the other guy that I was um writing songs with.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so it became a three-piece with myself and Matt and Paul.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we I we did a um had a small number of shows as a three-piece, just kind of getting off the ground.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh Kyle and Dustin were uh part of another band in that area, and they kind of were kind of splitting up so they could go to college and do different things.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it just turned out that um Matt spent some time with those guys and thought it'd be a great idea to bring them in on our project.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: So the five of us got together, and just as you said, within about five months, we were assigned to Island Def Jam, and it was just really, really fast.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: We were just doing um, you know, we're we we'd play a show.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: The way I remember it, um we would we played a skate park, and I remember showing up to the skate park and not really knowing what to expect for our turnout.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I just remember pulling up and there being a line down the street, and I did not recognize anyone.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: I thought, what is going on here?
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we played that show.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: We had to play that show twice because the um they sold so many tickets that we had to play the set twice to get everybody in.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I felt like something good was happening, you know.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: All of us kind of felt like something was really uh gonna happen for letter kills.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was just a really great time of uh us playing with many of our friends.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Many of our friends had bands, and we just had a great time playing shows out in the Southern California area.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we wanted to branch out into the LA area, and so um we kind of went through the steps there.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: We even did a uh pay-to-play situation out in Orange County where we met the next guy who would uh help us get to the next step, and so it was a series of steps, but it all was very, very quick, and it had a huge impact on my life because you know I felt like I could bring in the ideas that I had musically, the personality that I had, and it meshed really well with the other guys, and they all had a very similar experience, I think, where they got to bring their ideas in.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, the even the songwriting happened really fast.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um I don't really remember how the songs were written.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: It was so fast.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: I know Matt had a lot of songs in the in the um in the tank, you know, ready to go.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: And his melodies and his lines, a lot of stuff that he was pulling from, I think he had written over the course of his life before we got together.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so we were just ready to go with that first record, and it happened so fast.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: I really don't remember like it being a difficult process at all.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, it was I'm really proud of the bridge.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I think it's a really great record.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And as you were saying um a minute ago about how it was that kind of resurge resurgence of great rock, like you know, Motley Crue and whatnot.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: That was something that we really felt, and something we really thought was really cool, but we at the same time didn't want to do just a sunset strip kind of a sound.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: We wanted to have a fresh sound, and um, with the five of us bringing in our ideas, that's how kind of we got that fresh sound.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't just uh a ripoff of uh sunset strip era music.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_04: So yes, yeah, it's like a stew, everybody adds their own element to it, and I've been into several bands that have been like that, also, where you know, if you let every single member function at their best and bring the best of themselves to the table, that's when you're gonna end up with the best songwriting.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_04: It's also when you end up with the most chaos, too, sometimes.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_04: But so that is true.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_04: Kyle, what did Matt do and what did Matt bribe you with to get you to leave your project and and and join up with these guys?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: There was absolutely no bribing needed.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I say that the band I was in, it was uh it was with some very good buddies of mine, you know, some some of them being lifelong friends.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: And uh as much as I liked it, when I saw Letterkills play for the first time, I went, that's what I want to play.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: That is exactly the music I want to play.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know these guys yet, but that's what I want to play.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: And um the the other, the old band, that all kind of fell apart, and and uh it all just kind of like it was meant to be, really.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Matt and Paul, we had we had met, Dustin and I had been kind of hanging out with with him a little bit, met Tim through them, and with it seemed like within a month or two they asked us to join, and I still remember our bands played together at a show, and that it was a dirt lot at a church, and that dirt lot is where my kids they go to school at that church now, and they play at recess on what was that dirt lot.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it it's it's a pretty cool memory whenever I'm there.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: But I remember when when they asked me to join, I was playing guitar and singing for that old band.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: And Tim played guitar and Dustin played guitar, and so it was kind of like we're all just kind of standing there like, we're gonna have three guitars, or how's this gonna work?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: And in my mind, I'm thinking, I'm not gonna step back and play bass.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: There's no way.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: And once I got over myself and came to terms with the fact that Dustin and Tim were better than me at guitar, I'm like, okay.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I went and bought a bass, and and we had a show that I think within a week.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: I was so nervous to play bass, I almost I almost threw up.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_04: But one of my favorite stories from the last episode, and I'm gonna make you retell it because it is fantastic, is that three-day period in between having an offer from Drive-Thru Records and landing on Island Records.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like, Matt, do you want to retell it or do one of you other guys want to kind of tell it from your point of view?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: I think I would love to hear their their perspective from when we when we got Scott Bradford to look at our contract from drive-thru, and he he basically said, Hold on, you can do better than this.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: We were we were stoked on drive-thru.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: We we thought that was the greatest thing that could happen for us, and we were just so overjoyed.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't know anything, you know.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: We um we took it to um an attorney to have to have the contract all done up, and he just said, you know, I'm just kind of curious.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Let's hear your demo.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: And this was a done deal, you know.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: We were gonna go with with uh drive-thru.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he listened to the first two songs, and he's like, I get it, you know, sounds like something drive-thru would put out.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then he heard the third song, the last, it was just a three-song demo that we made.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: He heard the last song, and it was it was essentially a power ballad with a guitar solo.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, Hold up.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I don't think that this is you know something uh that you could just yeah, he basically is like, let me put together some showcases and get this out to some other um labels.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we did a couple of showcases and um held off and you know didn't didn't go through with the drive-thru thing.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um but it was yeah, it was that he he saw a different dimension to our sound that he thought other labels would be interested in as well.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_04: I'm a big proponent of looking through windshields, not rear view mirrors, but do any of you guys take a step back, look at the material at the time, and just think to yourself and just be blown away by what you were capable of at that point in your lives, especially with everybody being so much younger, right?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_04: Because hindsight's 2020, I'm sure if you wanted to create a letter kill sounding song right now, it would be a lot easier to do so right now than maybe than to recreate it at the time, if that makes sense.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think at the time, I mean we were all young.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was young, I was just turned 19, and Tim was a little older, not much, but we were all young, and and I think yeah, it was just about as genuine as could be.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we we tried to do it three or four years, about three years later, and we had the same people, same abilities, and we could not do it.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: We were all kind of in different spots, and we were trying to force it, and I think it just looking back now, it just I can appreciate how genuine and sincere and how it just kind of it all just happened naturally, you know, that record.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes, and I totally understand that, and I think a lot of musicians that will listen to this can relate to that as well.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_04: I would say, you know, I did seven bands myself, released multiple albums, and I I feel like there's always a sense of creative anxiety to outdo your last effort, and sometimes it's a massive hindrance on your actual organic creativity to a certain extent, because you want to outdo yourself that you get in your own head that that that organic ability to just go in there and just do it goes away.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Matt, you've you've done several bands since.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_04: Is that something you still occasionally struggle with when writing new music?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um, less and less, like every year.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like the older you get, the more, you know, obviously the more perspective you have.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um also trial and error, the older you get, the more you've done it wrong, you know.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so you get to this point and you look back and you're like, oh, well, one of the reasons why the bridge was so successful is because we didn't think about it.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we weren't, you know, we weren't trying to write this amazing record.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: We were just trying to be a you know, play cool music that we really liked and you know, put on good shows, and and um the record ended up being awesome.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: And and I think once you get in your own head and once you start becoming your your worst critic, you know, I think that that's that that that makes things really, really difficult.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: And then you multiply that times five, you know, when you got more members, and that just that just becomes really hard.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: And so the that was the cool part about I don't know uh if this is uh getting ahead, but like working on this new music, it was just really sweet to work with Tim and Kyle and like everything was on the table, you know.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_03: It was like it was like we just were like supporting each other and encouraging each other and like you know, really trying to take each other's idea to the next level instead of like really stopping to ask too many questions, you know, um whether something was cool or not.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: And uh it it really frees you up when you're not worried about being cool.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_04: So yes, yes, yes.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_04: That was a really loaded question.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, you know, and I spent a good part of the afternoon thinking about it because I I think about myself in that same exact perspective, you know, that moment that I made the decision that I wanted to pursue my family versus pursuing music.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_04: And that was a real honest conversation I had to have with myself.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's like, you know, the best band I ever did happened after my daughter was born.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_04: And it was one of those things where it's like, uh, why did that happen now?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_04: Why didn't it happen for the decade plus I was trying to make it happen before then?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_04: But I think a lot of that kind of rings true to what you you're speaking about, is I was finally relaxed.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_04: I was able to just be me and just do it and not think.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_04: So I I totally relate with that on so many different levels.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_04: Let's take a step backward and Again.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: This is like we are like the rock and roll Avengers pursuing the infinity picks here.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_04: Um, going back in time and to the future.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_04: Let's go.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_04: At the time the bridge came out, it was a very interesting time in music because it was really right before the social media boom happened.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_04: Like you guys dropped the bridge right as MySpace was starting to be a thing, like before it had fully taken off.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_04: At the same time, as far as the pop culture lexicon goes, the used was blowing up, story of the year was getting big, my chemical romance.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_04: It was a really good time for that genre of music.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_04: But you also had a rock and roll return to form with like Avenge Sevenfold releasing City of Evil and all these other great things happening.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_04: Do you guys again I prefer windshields as opposed to rear view mirrors, but do you guys ever question whether or not the bridge came out a year or two too early in contrast to that?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean I think as far as the songs and and the five of us, as far as that goes, we were we had all the potential, you know, to to have the same success that all those other bands had.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I think being 23, you know, getting off the road after being on the road for a few years and and writing that record and touring it and seeing the that potential and not having it kind of take off and watching all of our friends kind of go and break through that ceiling into the next level.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: It was I I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back, there is yeah, there's some frustration, and and I think maybe, yeah, a year later, maybe you never know what could have happened.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I think it definitely had all the potential to do it for sure.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_04: I am gonna reiterate how much of a fan I am and was of you guys at the time, but I've made that argument for years that I think the bridge came out maybe a year, year and a half too early.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_04: If it would have landed just a little bit later, and I even posted this, I posted this on Facebook yesterday.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_04: If it had landed just a year, you guys would have been one of the biggest bands in the world.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_04: I sincerely mean that.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_04: Like that album deserves to be heard by anybody that's a fan of the genre for sure.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really kind, Mike.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: One thing that I was uh that I was always aware of was um the appetite for destruction record had had a uh it kind of stalled when it was released, and then they had to kind of restart that campaign almost not quite a year later, but almost a year later, and um the you know, then it really took off, of course.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I thought I always thought, what if we had been able to do that rather than being pulled off the road to go uh write a follow-up record?
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: What if they had just um re rebooted the campaign after the dust kind of settled?
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because at the time there were some huge albums coming out, and uh back when we were trying to get ads at radio, it was just really difficult.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, once you know the Green Day American Idiot album came out, sold 10 million copies, and you know, the Killer's Hot Fuss came out.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was there's just wasn't a lot of space.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I've often thought, you know, what if we had just uh rebooted the campaign about six months later?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, that's amazing that you made that Guns N' Roses comparison because I had forgot they had released Welcome to the Jungle as a single twice.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, like they had they released it at the initial release of Appetite, and then they released it six months after Sweet Child of Mine dropped, and I totally forgot about that.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_04: That's a good comparison for sure.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_03: There's some there's so many factors that come into play with stuff like that.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you know, that's why you have such great artists that you wonder how so many people um don't know about them or don't don't uh care about them really or they don't get the success there is because there is this like ambiguous aspect of like how how little control you have over your artwork.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I mean Bob Dylan talked a lot about that aspect of you know, he didn't even he didn't have the audience that he wanted, you know, he didn't have the fan because the the wrong he would say the wrong people liked my music, you know.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it just it just goes to show like how little control we have over all this, and the best best thing we can do is just make something, you know, and uh you know, hope that it hope that it it connects with people.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yes.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_04: So the bridge itself came from a statement that LA Reed made to you guys as when you guys were playing one of your showcases, correct?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so it was basically we had flown up to New York to do a showcase for LA Reed because he had just um taken over Island Def Jam.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: And so um he was kind of like assessing his you know uh his talent and wanted to see you know who we were and what we were like and things like that.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: And afterwards, um our manager John Reese at the time, I think he he took us out.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if we were like at a bar or something afterwards, and he was he was kind of like bragging on us a little bit as managers do, that's what their job is pretty much.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: And he uh, you know, he came from the Guns N' Roses era because he had tormented them and was kind of like during that whole rock and roll uh movement, and so he always had this connection with us to that, like he would always kind of make comparisons and connect us in that way.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: And so for him, he was the one that brought up that that phrase, the bridge, like the you guys are the bridge between that and like what's happening now in music.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's where that originally came from.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_03: But it was the LA Reed uh trip to New York to see him and to play for him that that that came about.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_04: Let's kind of move towards what's happening now.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_04: So you guys have been exchanging music since as early as September last year.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_04: So let's connect the dots and let's talk about what brings letter kills from you know ending in 2006, 2007 to existing in 2023.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: So back in 2015, there's a text thread saying, like, you know, that we were planning to get together and just kind of be in the same room and hang out with each other.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And um that just didn't happen.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought at the time maybe this will be the uh entryway into getting back something back together.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um it didn't work out at that time, and then over you know, over the next few years, um, I think just life settled in in the right way for diff for different uh people, and we kind of came around to the idea of um being okay to move forward with with just the three of us.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: And um I just know I I don't know like where it started for these for these guys.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: I had always wanted to do it and just wanted to like I would always tell them if you guys ever want to do this, I'm 100% in.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh just kind of um waiting for everybody to get at the point where um where it was gonna work for them.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: And uh technology obviously, you know, is is really helping right now in that in the sense that we can we can do um life where where we live, and we can also uh spend time on our own working on ideas and uh sharing them via text threads and whatnot.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's actually really doable.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I went out to see Kyle in at the end of uh last year, last week of the year, December, um right right before New Year's, I believe.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was going out there for uh quick little vacation and hung out with Kyle for a bit.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think like that's when Kyle was just like Kyle and I were just like, let's do this, you know.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: So Kyle just didn't waste any time, got a conference call with the three of us, and um things have happened pretty quickly.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_04: What about from your perspective, Matt?
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean it it it's pretty much just like just like he said, there was this there was this element of like gradual.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_03: I think me and Tim were because we've been in music pretty much non-stop, it it was a little bit easier for us to kind of like wrap around our heads the idea of doing doing something um or coming back.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um but once Kyle was in and once Kyle kind of got that bug, um, you know, Kyle, he you know, me and him always kind of tag team each other in terms of like whoever is the the motivator of things, but I he he really is the spark.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: I mean he like I think I you know I'm always always down, but it's like you need somebody who's actually gonna make it happen, and and Kyle's a make it happen guy, and and so he he made it happen.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I think for us it was just it's been nothing but but really sweet uh things so far and uh really cool conversations and getting to know each other, you know, really for the first time, and uh, you know, even just like the beginning, the spark that we had in the beginning that made things happen so fast is happening now, you know, and so that's most people don't get that spark twice, and and so I'm I'm just trying to enjoy it.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_04: Kyle, you and I were talking Saturday night, and there's been a modular shift in the music industry in general that seems to be a little bit more family friendly, like drummer from Alkaline Trio just left, uh Sean from Slipknots taking time off to tend to his wife.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, a lot of bands that were big in yesteryear are kind of treating their band like a business that exists regionally and only taking select dates that make sense and fulfill that work-life balance.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_04: How do you feel about that?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_04: And how do you feel about this industry shift?
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I I love the shift.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I know that all of us, you know, we have we have things going on, kind of like we touched on before.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: Not that it makes letter kills any less important.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: There's just other things that are are higher priorities.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we started talking about this and uh talking about getting together and writing new material and touring, not not touring, but you know, within a sense, not not going out for five or six weeks at a time, uh, kind of what our goals would be.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it sounded like something I I could get excited about.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I have three kids, I'm married, and it sounded like you know, it's something they can come along for the ride as well.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we're all in a different headspace now.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely me.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's uh, you know, seeing buddies, bands from that era, they all have families and they're doing it, you know.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um it it all just kind of made sense.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, my kids they listen to the songs, they love the songs, and I want to include them.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it it all all those things, you know, kind of to came together, you know, and uh definitely something I I can get excited about, and I am excited about.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_04: So if you guys were to summarize what the goals are for this new iteration or this new era of letter kills, what would you say those goals are?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_03: Make great music and uh play some awesome shows.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think that that's it's kind of taking it back to the basics, you know.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I I don't know how much you know how much we want to speak about uh speak on this, but I mean as far as future goals, we have uh it all kind of started with getting a show together and and just putting together a show to get back together and and get on stage and try to make some sweat drip from the ceiling.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh and that kind of has turned into yeah, getting in the studio, you know, meeting Joey, and and he has an awesome studio at his place.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of it's all just kind of snowballed, like like we touched on earlier, doors are open and we're walking through them.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh our goals for next year, we we have a few festivals we have our eye on.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: We'd love to get on a few festivals uh throughout the country, and and if if we can put together a couple of four to five show runs uh and put out put out as much music as we can next year.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: That that's our goal.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_04: So I guess the big question is is how early do we get to hear some of this new letter kills music?
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_03: Then come come uh sooner than than you think.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's about it.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_03: That was a non-answer, sir.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_03: I've been here before, Mike.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_03: I've been here before.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_04: What's what's so funny is and you know, just kind of dropping the the walls here a little bit, is listening back to your first episode, you were telegraphing this the whole time.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_04: And I just I don't know, I I and I know it didn't really happen happen until January, but like reading between the lines of some of your storytelling, I was like, oh my gosh, letter kills is getting back together.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_04: Like listening to it in hindsight.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_01: So you know what's funny about that too, Mike, is you said that episode is in September.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if we were even talking about this in September.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: Matt, I think Matt just had a crystal ball or something.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_04: So he did say on the episode that you guys were passing song ideas back and forth.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it did start earlier than than uh my old brain can remember.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_03: We had yeah, I mean, we had shared we had shared some stuff and were messing around, I think, but it was not a uh I think it was more just like camaraderie uh type stuff, and it ended up being more than that, but that's that's what it was at the time.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_03: So I just remember Tim sharing ideas and things like that that he was working on and writing, and um, but we hadn't yet got to the point of making any decisions that it wasn't even on our radar that this was actually possible at that time.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: So it's cool that I didn't even think about that, but that's really cool that it ended up the way it is.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um yeah, we got we got a new we got a new single coming out.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, we can say that that much, and hopefully soon uh we'll be able to say more, um you know, along with our our show on uh July 28th in Santa Ana, and um and we're definitely working on more to come, both music and shows.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_04: So, Tim, if you had to pick one band that you could share the stage with again in this current iteration, who would it be?
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, automatically like our hearts go out to story of the year.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because those guys, I mean, they they took us with them as much as they could.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they were they were uh their careers were building right before our eyes, and they they took us right along with them.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they shared everything that they gained, they shared with us.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: So they shared all those moments with us.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: So it'd be very special to play with those guys.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_04: Nice.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna dare ask if that's already in the works because you're gonna give me a non-answer again, aren't you?
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I'll I'll say this much.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_04: If we could make that show happen near Omaha or Lincoln, Nebraska, you know, you'd make a make a certain podcaster and his audience very happy.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_04: What's something you want to accomplish this go-around that you didn't get to do the first time around, Kyle?
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's a good question.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: I I I want to probably be I'd like to be present for all of it.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like I was so young and kind of naive and and for lack of a better term, just unappreciative.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: I just kind of took it for granted, you know.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I appreciate every bit of this now, you know, a completely different perspective.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I know Matt, when he was in town a couple years ago, two or three years ago, he stopped by my house and I hadn't seen him in years.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'd talk to him, you know, every we'd check in on each other every year or two.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: But he sat down on the couch, and within five minutes, I knew more about him than I did after touring for four years.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just a completely different appreciation for it, appreciation for these guys and uh kind of what we've all been through and and what the possibilities are.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: So yep.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_04: Since then to now, things like Spotify, Apple Music, the streaming services have taken off.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, social media is a part of our everyday lexicon to the point where it's almost as essential as a cell phone to communicate with people.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_04: Like, how are you going to leverage social media and these new forms of communication to not only spread the word about new letter kills, but maybe bring some more attention back to the bridge?
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so that's that's actually the tricky part because um, I mean, we all know you can't really leverage social media.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_03: They kind of leverage us, but it's you are the product.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_03: That's how they get you.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, that it is the difficult part.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, we've talked about we've talked about this because you know, you only so many people see your posts.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and every you know, every day I'm getting messages from people that are just like just now discovering us and just now rem seeing that, hey, I didn't have no idea you guys were back, let alone playing a show.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um and so it's just it's really difficult and to be honest, a little frustrating because you know, like you feel like you're you're kind of helpless uh to do that.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um so we're hoping, you know, releasing a new song and getting some uh PR out there.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_03: I think that we can you know hopefully awaken some people, but also just you know, it excites me too.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_03: Kyle's been really uh encouraged me a couple weeks ago or a month ago or so about just even the possibility of new fans, and I don't think that that was on my radar really, because you know, we we had gotten to a certain level, and so I think um that excites me is like the new music and new fans, and and uh I think I think our old fans are gonna love it.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_03: I think that they're gonna probably you know uh be a little shocked and at how how good it is, to be honest, because we're kind of we're kind of shocked at how good it is.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_03: I'm kind of shocked at how good it is.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh um but yeah, so like that you know, social media we'll use it the best we can.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we don't have we don't have money, we we don't have a backing in terms of like being able to like push as much as we want on social media, but um we have uh we've we've been really grateful to have a handful of people that really believe in our music and are are doing what they can uh with their platform, and um we're just taking it as it comes.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_03: But uh like I said, we just want to make some great music again and and enjoy it this time around and and uh play some cool shows.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_04: So uh it was kind of a trick question because I was trying to get you to commit to releasing the bridge on vinyl at some point in time.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_04: All right.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm hoping this happens.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: If we can I'll I'll say, oh go ahead.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: That that is on our radar for sure.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_03: We would love to be able to do that.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_03: I want a vinyl.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I want a vinyl of that record.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_03: So that'd be great.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's just you know, we've got to figure out what all uh you know, none of us know anything about like, you know, we don't know what we can do, what we can't do, so we're open some from uh to get some help from our manager and our old lawyer to kind of figure out what do we even what even can a band do that had it, you know, in terms of like getting music and being able to put it on vinyl or repress anything, or you know, even me and Kyle were just kind of like talking, just mess it around yesterday, but just like even if we wanted to like re-record a song in a in a new like kind of like reimagine it, you know, like the like Thrice did with their album, like I just don't know what I don't know what all the the the um the legal elements of that or possibilities are, but everything's on the table with us.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_03: We're just we're just exploring.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_04: It's a crowded space right now online, and as far as navigating social media, because you are kind of prisoner to the idea of how algorithms work, and there is no science to it whatsoever.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_04: Gary V will say that I'm totally wrong, but I say Gary V's wrong.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_04: I've tried the 10 posts a day thing, and I've tried the posting every other day kind of thing.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_04: Nothing's consistent, and it's it's crazy that all it usually takes is one magical post, and all of a sudden you're on everybody's radar again.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know how you guys feel about it, but one thing I always encourage people to do that are pursuing creative endeavors is if you're not on TikTok, You almost have to get on TikTok, even if you're just creating a minute clip every day of like old songs or of your show flyers or something along because that is the only user-generated algorithm that's left anymore.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_04: Like Facebook and Instagram are all kind of controlled by the platform, but TikTok's the last one that's actually controlled by the users.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_04: So pretty much.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for that.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: We appreciate you.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_03: We respect your opinion.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, when you tell letter kills, they have to do something.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_03: It's there's just something about it that makes us not want to do it.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_03: You know?
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_04: This is why I love you guys.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_04: This is why I love you guys.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_04: No, this is amazing.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_04: Uh I I can't say enough how excited I am to see you guys back, doing things again.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_04: Um, having the privilege of calling you all friends.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_04: I'm hoping this is like podcast appearance number two of 100.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_04: Like, anytime you guys want to talk, you know you've got uh seat at my table.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, you know, I I love you guys.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_04: You guys mean the world to me.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_04: So any final words for the audience.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for uh old fans, new fans to hear our new songs.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to uh to meet them at any shows we do and uh and be present and uh yeah, I just can't wait for for what the future holds.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yep I agree, and um I'm so excited to uh share our new song and um you know when that gets released, um I'm I'm really excited about that song.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, to get on stage with these guys, it's gonna be amazing.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: Can't wait for uh what's next.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_03: We're still you know, we're still writing songs to bang your bang your head to and uh to sing along to, and uh we can't can't wait to release this stuff.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, you know, I don't know how else to say it, but I hope you're ready for this.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, nice, yes, yes, Matt, Kyle, Tim, thank you guys so much for doing the podcast.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_04: The world's a better place with you guys in it.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_04: I I can't wait.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: Mike, thanks for having us.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Mike.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate you.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Mike, appreciate you for having us.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_04: Once again, I want to thank my friends in Letter Kills, Kyle, Matt, and Tim for making an appearance on Caught on the Mic before their big reunion show, July 28th in Santa Ana, California.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_04: It's gonna be a huge show.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_04: I can't wait to see what's gonna happen next.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_04: I can't wait to listen to the new music and hopefully eventually get my hands on a vinyl copy version of the bridge.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_04: Make sure you give a listen to the bridge yourself on Spotify and follow Letterkills on any forms of social media you can find them on.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_04: They are the most active on Instagram.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_04: Search out letterkills.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_04: Trust me, you will not regret it.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_04: And while you're surfing social media, make sure you give Caught on the Mike a follow on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_04: You can also visit me at www.caughtonthemic.com.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_04: This has been Caught on the Mike with Michael Clark.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_04: I'm Michael Clark.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_04: Until next time, thank you.