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Chad Johnson and Johnny Grimes: Furnace Fest 2024 · The BlackSheep Podcast: Presented by HM Magazine

0:17
Stop God by God die guy. Yeah, right, all right, today
0:30
we've got Johnny Grins and Chad Johnson from Furnace Vast super stoked to chat with
0:35
y'all. I think the last time we chatted was like maybe a couple of
0:38
years ago when we were I think we were doing like a recap of the
0:42
like the like the twenty twenty two festival or something. So it's been a
0:46
couple of years since you've at least been on the pod, but I've chatted
0:48
to both of you within the last like year or so. How are y'all
0:52
doing today? Y'all looking great. Johnny, you've got the blonde hair going
0:55
now, it's great. Yeah, doing well, doing well. We're just
1:00
really kind of in the thick of things planning the festival. Actually, Chad
1:03
and the guys and Lena and the whole team are going to be in Birmingham
1:07
tomorrow. Heck yeah. Yeah, so it's our first like full on side
1:12
production meetings. So yeah, things are going really well, man. Yeah,
1:18
it's always it's always fun, just like being able to tour Sloss Furnaces
1:26
with the Gang way before you know, like any kind of festivities happened,
1:33
and and and just realizing how much that place is transformed into what everyone has
1:42
come to know as furnace Fest for three days. But yeah, man,
1:47
it's it's exciting. What is it like, Oh, of course, what's
1:52
it like to show up to this slast furnaces when there's like nobody there?
1:57
Like I've only known it to have like a thousand plus people, like thousands
2:00
of people there. That's the only way I experienced it. It's probably maybe
2:05
eerie and creepy. I don't know. I don't I don't get the the
2:08
creepy part, Johnny, No, not at all. You haven't seen the
2:13
ghosts that are supposedly wandering around there. No, man, maybe maybe this
2:15
will be the time. Maybe maybe tomorrow or Wednesday we can get David to
2:21
take us down into the haunted chambers or something. Yeah, I do need
2:24
David to do that. Like the first time that I took a real tour
2:29
of Sloughs to consider it for furnace Fests back, you know, like twenty
2:32
something years ago. I do remember somebody like taking me down like exploring some
2:38
of the like underground chambers, and it was it was pretty spooky, but
2:43
not in a like I didn't hear ghosts or anything. But it definitely felt
2:46
a little creepy. I was like, man, there's for sure some some
2:49
worms and bugs, maybe a snake or two down here. Yeah, And
2:54
I don't want to mess with the snakes in southern Alabama, No thanks.
2:59
No snakes of Sloss are not to be reckoned with. I love walking around
3:06
Sloss when there's nobody there, and so it's I love it because all my
3:10
memories are so amazing, and you know, just being surrounded by thousands of
3:15
people who you love and respect, and so I love just walking around and
3:21
contemplating what was and what is to come. Right. I mean, last
3:24
time, this time last year, when we went down for the same meetings
3:30
they were, it was the farthest thing from peaceful because they were completely destroying
3:37
the shed stage. They were literally like tearing out the old stage and like
3:42
they were they were doing something with the concrete. So it was just so
3:46
loud and obnoxious. This time, I feel though, it's just going to
3:49
be like, dude, let's let's bring the hammocks and set up set up
3:53
shop for a for a while. Smoked cigars in the hammocks. There,
3:59
you go some way to do it, you know, I remember a couple
4:01
of years ago, Colin was like, you know, it would be fun
4:04
to like get some one of the local people that we've met down there and
4:08
like them sneak in with like maybe a few bottles of whiskey or something,
4:12
and then bury it in the ground there and then like you know, we
4:15
get to the festival and then you just like you know Unbury. You know,
4:17
it's almost like a treasure that you just like Unbury, Like that would
4:21
be that would be one you know you talking about like smoking cigars out there,
4:24
like that would be one way to you know, get some you know,
4:27
seven some whiskey when you're out there. If you want the adventure,
4:30
that's fine. But if you want to sneak a bottle whiskey in, you
4:32
know, two guys. So it's just like I'm sure and I'm sure you
4:38
we don't have to really twist your arm that much to sneak in some whiskey
4:41
into the festival, right, you just have to share it, you know,
4:43
or we'll just have a bottle whiskey. So there we go, There
4:46
we go. But I actually like the buried treasure whiskey because to like go
4:51
through that level of effort and then like somehow bring in shovels or something like.
4:57
I feel like if you go to all that up hand, Yeah,
5:00
yeah, you should be allowed to enjoy your own whiskey. That's true.
5:04
Well, let's talk about this last this sort of last at least of what
5:09
we've known as the iteration of Furness Fest. So obviously in the early two
5:13
thousands, you guys do it for four years, then there's this long hiatus
5:15
or sort of maybe it wasn't even thought of it as a hiatus. Maybe
5:18
you guys were just like done, and then all of a sudden it comes
5:21
back, and now here we are in the fourth year of this and you
5:26
all, you know obviously last year announced during last year's festival that this would
5:30
be this coming year, twenty twenty four would be the last year's festival.
5:33
I'm really curious, like before we dive into like all the stuff that's going
5:36
to be going on at this festival this year, I'm curious, like,
5:40
what sort of was the story knowing that four years ago, like there it
5:45
was ann now or maybe five years ago, I guess it was announced,
5:47
and then obviously the pandemic shut it down for an entire year. But I'm
5:51
I'm really curious, like, did you guys truly go into that first year
5:56
not knowing if there would be a one after that? Because it like does
5:59
at this point now it feels like, all right, well you did four
6:01
years. It feels like it was just like it was planned, like we're
6:03
gonna do it for four years again and then we're gonna call it quits.
6:06
Like, was it truly like you went in for that first year truly not
6:11
having an idea that it would go on like for another few years? Yeah?
6:15
Oh yeah, one. I mean I was I don't know if you
6:18
even remember this, Oh I'm sure you do. Could you got a good
6:20
memory, Johnny? But like the three dudes were trying to convince me that
6:26
before twenty twenty one happened, like we should do here's all the reasons why
6:31
we should do this for three more years. And I was the one that
6:35
was like, I don't know, man, the one the one time thing
6:40
just feels right. You know, there's something it wasn't. I mean,
6:44
I think the closer we got, the more open I became to the idea.
6:47
But then once I was there, I was like, Okay, this
6:50
is truly magical. We we really do need to figure out how we could
6:56
fulfill like the original four years as a thing. But no, prior to
7:00
that time, it was I don't even remember up until maybe a few months
7:05
before the festival that I don't even think it had even come up in conversation.
7:10
It is like should we do this for four years? Or when did
7:15
that conversation happen? Then? Like were you guys like in your second year
7:17
of the festival so like was that twenty twenty two? Like at what point
7:20
did it come up where you're like, all right, maybe we should just
7:24
like do the four years since the original run was four years. Like at
7:27
some point that conversation must have happened. When was that? I think it
7:30
was related. I think it was a little bit like like probably either the
7:35
week or two right before the festival or during the festival. But I mean
7:40
at that point, we didn't have a ticketing partnership beyond the first year,
7:45
so we had to like go figure out how to do a ticketing deal.
7:48
And I mean so there, yeah, they're really there really wasn't a master
7:54
scheme behind how to flow out additional years up until right pretty much the festival
8:03
at least, that's how I remember it fun. Yeah, it was still
8:05
a few years back. It feels the conversation started happening maybe a month before
8:11
the festival twenty twenty one. It's like, because you know, we felt
8:15
like we caught lightning in a bottle, you know, and it was like,
8:18
Okay, should we do this? Should we not? Of course I
8:20
wanted to do it. Mike and Ryan definitely wanted to do it, and
8:22
Chad's just kind of like, you know, Chad is far more careful about
8:26
things, you know, and he's constantly ruling us back because we would just
8:31
I mean, there's a reason why he doesn't have yellow hair and you dog
8:35
yes, and a mustache. Yeah. I don't have yellow hair and a
8:39
mustache. What does that say about me? Boring? Please? But yeah,
8:45
we made that decision that week of to do it again. I don't
8:48
know if we made that decision to do it four years though, until after
8:54
the twenty twenty one was over and we were kind of well into the planning
9:00
of twenty twenty two. But ye oh, no, go ahead. Now,
9:05
I was just gonna say, but I do remember making that decision the
9:07
week of Furnace Fest. Yeah, I think I think there was a big
9:13
part of me that that kept saying like, I just want to see how
9:16
the festival goes. I want to be there. I want to feel it
9:20
for myself and then make a decision so if I'm not mistaken, that's It
9:26
wasn't until we were there and it was like, okay, this is this
9:30
is beautiful. But practically speaking, when we signed a ticketing agreement, that
9:35
was when I think we had to make the call like, hey, we're
9:39
going to do this for either another year or two years or three years.
9:41
And then it was like, well, let's if we're going to do one
9:45
year another year, let's just do let's commit to three and do the you
9:48
know, fulfillment of the original festival years. But yeah, so it would
9:54
have been like after that first year where you really kind of got this sense
9:56
of like, you know, let let's let's like repeat this in the way
10:00
that we did for the original run. Yeah. Yeah, that's that's super
10:03
cool. Correct. So you know, and I know you've like alluded to
10:07
this, you know, just with with talking about like you you show up
10:11
to the festival, you're all of these people that you both have known for
10:16
years, and it's just like it's almost like this magical family reunion of sorts
10:20
like both with the bands, the fans. I mean, it just it
10:22
really it's I felt that as a fan to certainly imagine that you guys feel
10:28
that as organizers, Like what is it that you feel like maybe going into
10:31
it? And maybe it's hard to know what you'll feel going into this last
10:35
year, but what do you and maybe anticipate your feeling going into this,
10:39
Like is it gonna be bittersweet like knowing that it's gonna be the last of
10:43
what has been? Is it going to feel like you're just gonna like be
10:46
in tiers the entire time? Like what what are do you anticipate you you
10:50
feeling like for this last year? Yeah, that's a that's a great question.
10:54
I don't know that I've that I've honestly really thought that far ahead.
10:58
I I think we're still so much in the work like head down work mode,
11:07
like we just we just have to get this thing over the finish line,
11:13
both financially and practically from an organizational point of view, that it's not
11:18
we're not quite to a place of just like oh what you know, like
11:22
now that we're here, I mean once like probably a week, maybe a
11:26
couple of weeks before I'll start. My brain will shift and I'll start thinking
11:31
about who I'm going to see, friends that I'm gonna hug, which hero
11:37
donuts, you know, and how many I'm gonna eat, like where I'll
11:41
have a cigar with Johnny. It'll be all these things that you know,
11:43
which bands am I super excited to see all that stuff, But right now
11:48
it's still it's it's actually really difficult for me to go there, just because
11:52
I feel like there's so much heavy lifting that has yet to take place that
11:56
I can't It's sort of like, I don't know, I can't think of
12:01
a great analogy, but it just feels like the works, the work's not
12:05
done until you can't celebrate yet, you know, right, Yeah, I
12:09
mean I think tomorrow, when the when everybody's in town, it'll start syncing
12:13
in a little bit. And but you know, as Chad says, like
12:18
for me, June, July and August are hands down the most stressful times
12:24
in the life of planning a music festival, just because you have, uh,
12:31
you have mounting debt, like so much like, Okay, this is
12:37
a multimillion dollar festival. We've got to sell tickets you know, we got
12:41
to keep selling tickets in order to pay for this thing. So your bills
12:46
shoot up significantly because this is when you start tying in vendors and you know,
12:50
toilets and I mean everything and so oh goodness. And then ticket sells,
12:54
you know, are strong, but they're just slowly growing, and then
12:58
you have a massive pick up towards the end and you're like, Okay,
13:03
we're only going to lose x amount of dollars or hey, we're gonna break
13:05
even. So this is notoriously the most stressful part of time in planning a
13:11
music festival. But I'm an extremely sentimental person. You know, I'm an
13:16
extremely emotional person. So it starts hitting me pretty pretty early. And I'll
13:22
probably see everybody tomorrow and probably get a little tear yud. Yeah. What
13:28
about for you, man, what do you look forward to or what do
13:31
you anticipate? Well, again, like going kind of back to what I
13:35
mentioned before, where in a lot of ways, Furness Fest feels like a
13:39
family reunion. And you know, Colin and I have been doing this podcast
13:41
for a number of years now. We've interviewed a lot of the bands that
13:43
have played Furness Fest, for the last four years or I guess will be
13:46
four years now, we've gotten to know some of these folks really, really
13:50
well, and sometimes it's like one of these things where you know, like
13:52
I'm just a fan. Like at the end of the day, I was
13:54
like a thirteen year old kid listening to under Oath, and it's like so
13:56
weird to me that looking back, like thirteen year old Mason would have been
14:01
like so like in disbelief that he would interview in fifteen years interview Spencer Chamberlain
14:09
for example. Right, So, like the fact that I've been able to
14:11
get to know some of these folks over the years and then meet a lot
14:15
of them for the first time in person at Furnace Fest has been like such
14:18
a cool moment and you just immediately it's like, all right, now I
14:22
can see like why we're friends, Like I can see why, like it's
14:24
so much fun hanging out on the podcast, and now I can see like
14:26
why it's just so much fun hanging out in person. Like it just becomes
14:30
like that every single year, and so it just really feels like reunion and
14:33
I'm looking forward to that so much again, Like just being with friends listening
14:37
to the music that we love, maybe sometimes stage diving. Well that's what
14:41
I was gonna say. I'm looking forward to you beating your last viral video.
14:48
Well, the thing is is that, you know, the whole the
14:50
last one was all predicated on the fact that there was that big barrier in
14:52
between, right, or that there was that big jump that was needed to
14:54
be made. But now you guys are taking those barriers down, which has
14:58
been great. I was gonna bring that up, guessing we can expect that
15:01
again for this year's best. Yeah, the barriers are gone. So once
15:05
once we got rid of them, they're never coming back unless the insurance company
15:09
steps in, you know. And so uh yeah, do you guys ever
15:16
like have to like maybe it's like the insurance company, but like do you
15:20
ever have to like go through that whole processing that like actually the barriers in
15:22
some way, shape or form might actually be like create even more of a
15:28
potential for risk or well that's what that or even like remember that like first
15:31
year, the security team wasn't like super great and like that was a whole
15:35
security like there was a whole risk there, and it's like maybe like maybe
15:39
y'all just need to let these hardcore kids kind of figure it out, because
15:41
like that's kind of maybe the least risky thing to do is let them figure
15:46
it out. Yeah, this community has has notoriously policed itself, and so
15:52
but you've got to understand too, the first year, it would have been
15:56
impossible for us to not have the barricades or do not have a security firm
16:02
in which we hired because Sloss was being ran by someone different than who's currently
16:10
running it, so and they had a lot of different ideals and just standards
16:17
and stipulations that didn't necessarily make sense from a live music standpoint, and so
16:23
we just couldn't do those things. But yeah, you know, that was
16:27
the point that we made with David and the Sloss crew is is that we
16:33
have found that the barriers actually create a little bit more of a risk than
16:38
not having barriers. That's not to say that we're not going to have a
16:41
great security team, which we do. We finally have found the right guys
16:45
and gals who understand the importance of allowing people to police themselves, stepping in
16:53
when you need to, but not stepping in when you don't need to.
16:57
And so it's it's been a it's been a you know, there's always issues,
17:03
but yeah, you know, we found that the barricades not only create
17:06
a significant risk and challenge, but it does it's in a lot of ways
17:11
goes against the ideals and principles of who hardcore and punk Rockey is. You
17:15
know, we've notoriously for what since the seventies, have been invited people on
17:19
stage to sing right, you know, and so let's not create space where
17:25
that can't take place. And so we were thankful that last year we were
17:27
able to do that, and we were able to continue that this year.
17:32
Well, I'm looking forward to it. Another kind of question that I have
17:34
around just with this year's festival is is what, like what are the bands
17:38
like or what are the maybe not even necessarily the bands, like maybe maybe
17:41
it's the food, or maybe maybe it's like some of the people you meet
17:44
that you'll meet, Like, what what are the things that you're looking forward
17:47
to most for this year's fest? No pressure, that's the band I'm looking
17:53
forward to, uh seeing because I've only seen them one other time with Johnny
17:57
ironically at a festival in Louisville. But I'm excited to see them on the
18:03
shed. Say I'm excited to see mind Force again under Oath. You know,
18:07
like that just closing everything out was going to be crazy so much man,
18:12
so Notice and Victim on Saturday, Seos and Cohere. I feel like
18:18
every day it's just like there's so many bands that I'm actually floored to see
18:22
that it's a great problem I feel. I mean, this is unfortunately,
18:26
or I guess fortunately, this is nothing new. I mean every year,
18:30
I feel like there's always some stage, some band on some stage that I
18:36
want to see, and it's just kind of like how quickly can I like
18:38
get around people to get backstage or front stage or side stage for to see
18:45
this band and then and then should I be on this side because I want
18:48
to go over you know, to see that band over there, or like
18:52
how do I It's more about like how do I find the fastest way through
18:56
to try to keep up because as soon as I, you know, loose
19:00
loose sight that it's like, oh man, it's tough, but you need
19:03
to be like that, like that gym teacher like in middle school that was
19:07
like maybe a little bit too big to like run around the gym field or
19:11
whatever. So you just like we're always in a golf cart. Like Colin
19:14
and I had one of those gym teachers in middle school. You just like
19:15
you need to get one of those golf carts and just have somebody show for
19:18
you around your time. Yeah yeah, yeah, No, for me,
19:22
I mean it's always it's always just seeing seeing It's like a family union.
19:27
So seeing all all the people that you just love and respect and and all
19:32
the new relationships that you create online. You know, it's like, okay,
19:34
we're gonna make up. Meet us at the merch boot that love to
19:37
give you a hug, you know, and so meeting so many of the
19:41
people the kickoff parties that are at workplay this year, i'moaked about those.
19:48
But for me, the lineup is so stacked this year, and I will
19:53
probably leave the SHD maybe five times. You know, the shed stage from
20:00
start to finish is stacked, and so bands are like trapped under ice.
20:06
You know, seeing trapped under ice in the shed or seeing Bain in the
20:10
shed is going to be insane. So so yeah, man, I mean,
20:15
I'm just really excited about about the lineup this year. But also it's
20:21
gonna be it's gonna be sentimental, it's gonna be crazy. So creating space
20:26
for people to meet and just hang out. How does one choose bands or
20:33
like, what's the criteria that they use to choose bands for a festival that
20:37
you know won't exist at least in the way that it has for the last
20:41
four years, Like, how do you how do you make that decision because
20:42
it's got to be like maybe slightly of a different decision making process there the
20:48
first three years because you know that this is going to be the last time
20:49
you do it this way. Yeah, Well, for me, it's just
20:53
I guess the rarity of it, if that's the right way to put it.
20:59
So for me, like in a the who is just one of the
21:02
I think one of the best just hardcore bands of their time. I mean
21:07
they haven't played in how many years? Chat? I mean over ten years,
21:11
and so I thought it was twenty, but I don't know, it's
21:14
been a long time, I mean as a band, but yeah, it
21:15
may be close to maybe close to twenty. So like I would definitely see
21:21
that band because you're probably not going to see them again unless they do some
21:25
super rare thing in their hometown. But so yeah, that's that's it for
21:30
me. Rarity is going to be how I kind of pick where I'm at.
21:36
I do think this year we were a little more systematic in terms of
21:40
picking bands by stage, which I don't think we've historically done, but trying
21:47
to book out stay like Friday, Shed stage, main stage, and then
21:53
later came the Pond stage. That did help bring a level of clarity that
22:02
I don't think we've had before because it's like, well, where does this
22:04
band fit? And then what about this one? So that I feel like
22:11
that would have been really wise to have done from the start, you know,
22:15
every year, just have booked it by stage, because then you kind
22:19
of eliminate a lot of stress and a lot of tension where bands might assume
22:25
that they would be playing one stage and then when it comes down to it,
22:27
they find out, oh, wait, we're playing this other stage,
22:30
Like wait, we didn't. We thought we'd be on the Shed stage.
22:33
And part of the curse of Furnace Fest is that it's really really difficult to
22:40
compete with the Shed. And I don't think any other stage is even remotely
22:45
as cool or as exciting as the Shed. And that's just like, how
22:52
do you build like a one hundred and fifty year old structure? To how's
22:57
you know, like a massive, you know, new concrete stage just so
23:03
we can say cool, Now we have two stages that are just as epic,
23:07
you know, so that that is it's not to say that the other
23:11
stages we haven't I think kind of made the best with what we've had to
23:15
work with. But and there's something like there are moments where like the pond
23:21
is going and then there's there's a band like Mineral or someone playing, and
23:25
it's like the lights from the pond and the lights from the stage. It's
23:27
it's magical in its own way. It's just that it's it's like every almost
23:33
every band from start to finish at the Shed is phenomenal. Like it just
23:40
looks and feels incredible. But there's a lot of times where I'll go to
23:44
the main stage and like, oh, there's it's so hot that all the
23:47
people are like crowded towards where they're shade. But then that looks kind of
23:49
funny, you know. Anyway, there's a lot of little idiosyncrasies I guess
23:55
about stages that I wouldn't have thought much about. Right right, One of
24:03
the things that I found really interesting for this year in terms of the band
24:07
selections that y'all made, uh is, it does seem and maybe you guys
24:11
have gotten like the sense as well, or maybe other people have commented on
24:14
this, but it does seem like this year, from top to bottom,
24:18
this lineup feels a little bit heavier in comparison to the last few years.
24:22
Like, you know, the last few years it was pretty balanced between like
24:25
you know, the hardcore bands, the metal bands, and then like the
24:27
indie slash emo bands, and this year it seems like there maybe are a
24:30
little less of indian emo bands in comparison to the years prior to Like,
24:36
was there any sort of decision making around that, Like, I'm I'm curious
24:38
around that that that because like maybe you've gotten that sense to me or maybe
24:42
you're like, no, no, I feel like it's just as indian emo
24:45
as it always has been. But I'm curious what you're thought. Yeah,
24:48
I think I think where that conversation started was is because we waited so long
24:53
to announce the Pond Stage. But I think with announcing the Pond Stage and
24:59
now that the old lineups out, I think it's fairly balanced. You know,
25:03
maybe you can maybe you can make the case that you know there were
25:07
well there were three more indie rock bands or emo bands you know, last
25:11
year. And I haven't done the math, but I mean I think that
25:15
there the three days when at the Pond stages has been you know, historically
25:22
kind of where are the indie bands and and emo bands have played. I
25:26
think that I don't think that there's a heavy band on that stage at any
25:32
point, and so I think it's pretty balanced this year. I think the
25:37
the challenge was is that we announced all the shed bands first and then main
25:41
stage bands, and Sober's like, you know, wait, it's it's just
25:45
all heavy bands and so but I think now I think now it's pretty balanced.
25:52
Yeah, that there was there was a conversation early on about, you
25:57
know, if this is going to be the last year. One of the
26:02
things that historically has has seemed to connect with people most has been the heavier
26:08
bands, and so I think there probably was a little bit of a bias
26:14
for us going into it thinking through, but a lot of times too,
26:17
it's sort of it's sort of like what we have to work with, you
26:19
know, like when when a band like Coaleses or known as a victim or
26:25
blindside or trapped under Rice or whoever says we're interested. But but then we
26:32
don't necessarily have the same caliber of artists on the softer side of the music
26:38
scale. It's it's just a little harder. So I think I think it
26:44
probably would have felt a little more balanced if we had had to a coales
26:48
we It wasn't until the very end that we were able to land reaging the
26:52
full effect. So right, you know, once there's that and it's like,
26:56
okay, now it's kind of a little bit more balanced. But yeah,
26:59
definitely the fact that we from the start, we we our intention was
27:03
to pull off this year as a two stage year, shed and main stage
27:07
only, and uh and then we thankfully all realize that now we can't.
27:11
It's gonna feel way too weird, and we're missing so many bands that that
27:17
really helped give Furnace Fest the overall feel that it that it has. And
27:22
if we just eliminate that stage, it's gonna it's just gonna it's just gonna
27:26
be strange. And there's so many people that that I think would have felt
27:30
underappreciated, yeah, unrecognized, but well, and then also, you know,
27:36
a peak behind the curtain, Mason, you know, is we and
27:41
we went into this year not knowing if we were going to do the the
27:45
Pond stage because the past two years, and we've pretty been been pretty vocal
27:51
and open about it, is that the festivals lost money and so and so
27:56
we were like, well, how in the world are we going to be
27:59
able to ensure that we at least break even this year? And so,
28:03
well, there there's really only two ways in which that can happen. Well,
28:07
there's three. Two ways. Is is reduce your talent budget, reduce
28:12
your production budget, and then the third one would be to increase ticket sales.
28:18
And so we know where we're at in terms of like what level festival,
28:22
you know, size wise, we know where we're at. And unless
28:26
you like look at Deftones or whatever, you're not gonna we're not going to
28:30
get past, say the height of it back in twenty twenty one. So
28:37
you know, is it sustainable? You know, is our budget sustainable with
28:41
the level the amount of tickets that we're selling. And we reduce ticket price
28:45
this year, so because we wanted to, we wanted to decrease the barrier
28:49
for people to come. And so thankfully we had a sponsor come in and
28:56
say, hey, we're actually going to donate the PA for this for the
29:02
for the pond stage, and so that drastically reduced our production cost, and
29:07
so that kind of helped us. And we'll announce who that sponsor is in
29:12
those in the next few weeks, but that really helped us make that decision
29:18
to hey, let's go ahead and do this, because we don't want to
29:23
lose a segment of fans who are like, I love the community, and
29:26
I love the fest and I'll go see an under Oath or a blind Side,
29:30
but you know, I'm not going to see, you know, all
29:33
these really really heavy hardcore bands. But what brought me was, you know
29:38
that those indie rock bands, and so we didn't want to lose that segment
29:41
either, right, No, I get that. I get that. Well.
29:45
One of the sort of things that I've had over the last couple of
29:48
years attending Fornes Fast, loving Forness Fast is it does seem that ever since
29:55
you all made the announcement back in twenty was it twenty nineteen, and then
29:59
obviously uh, COVID happened and things got delayed, but I remember even back
30:04
then, it did seem like there was this maybe maybe ten year period where
30:10
these kind of bands didn't have a place where they all can play at the
30:14
same festival, Like they might like all individually play at like a different festival
30:18
or whatever, but they're all kind of like their own that they're not all
30:22
like playing together or whatever. Right, And now all of a sudden,
30:26
now we start seeing a lot of these bands that I've I've grown to love
30:27
or maybe they're newer bands that I love but would maybe also play furness Fest,
30:32
but a lot of them are starting to play at these other festivals.
30:33
And these other festivals have started to pop up, right, Like there's the
30:36
I think the when when we were young festival. I think Download just had
30:40
their festival, you know, and there's a number of other ones that have
30:44
popped up over the last few years. And I'm wondering, like, when
30:47
you look back at this, especially with this sort of second four year run
30:51
of Furnace Fest, do you feel like maybe you kind of were like the
30:55
catalysts that has started, Like oh wait, like it's a possibility to have
30:59
these indie and emo and hardcore and metal bands like all gathered together at the
31:03
same festival again. And these types of you know, indie like a lot
31:07
of them that may have like had some maybe some adjacency to the Christian music
31:12
world or whatever. But I'm really curious, like what your thoughts are about
31:15
how like so many of these festivals have popped up over the last few years,
31:19
and it seems like maybe Furness Fast back in twenty nineteen when you first
31:22
announced it, there wasn't a ton of those festivals that existed, and all
31:25
of a sudden, now they all exist. So I'm really curious, like
31:27
how you think about kind of the influence maybe Furness Fast has had, even
31:30
if Furness Fast hasn't gotten to the level of success that maybe some of these
31:33
other festivals have gotten. Yeah, to me, it's a too kind of
31:40
two pronged answer. One is that I do think that the timing of Furnace
31:45
fest coming back was really pivotal to people, and it probably did provide other
31:52
festivals that were maybe watching the kind of reinforcement that they needed or the urgement.
32:00
But I also think that timing wise, every My understanding is that everything
32:07
moves in twenty year cycles, so you can watch all sorts of of market
32:12
trends and different different things kind of like circle in this like twenty twenty year
32:17
kind of revolutions. So the year two thousand, I'm my guess is that
32:24
there were already others who were thinking about twenty twenty as a as just a
32:31
way to celebrate what was happening twenty years ago, because those numbers are so
32:37
even and so easy to remember that it's where it's even two thousand and one
32:43
and twenty twenty one. It's it's cool, but it's not quite as clean
32:46
and like sexy as two thousand and twenty twenty. So I don't know,
32:51
I think that was part of it, But it does seem like once we
32:54
announced Beloved, and once we kept announcing all these bands, that the the
33:00
reaction on social media must have been a really strong encouragement for anyone watching,
33:06
like, hey, there's something going on here. Yeah. I mean,
33:09
I think Chad Nelda, I think we gave people reason to say yes to
33:15
maybe some of the thoughts that they were having in terms of what they were
33:17
gonna do with their music festival. But I mean to to furnace Fest credit
33:23
too. I mean, it's kind of historically been a part of the DNA
33:28
of furnace Fest. It's kind of really to bridge the gap between all these
33:31
different genres of music and sub genres, whether it be you know, whether
33:37
it be indie rock bands in hardcore bands, so you would have the Operation
33:39
playing with you know, with thein Sevenfold or something like that, and so
33:44
but then also you had you know, bands that were professing Christian or believers
33:51
and then you know, non believers alike. So from its very foundation,
33:54
So I'm I think historically there's always been that kind of DNA to the festival
34:01
and then just kind of reuniting that spark twenty years later, I think I
34:08
think gave other people maybe the courage to say, hey, this works,
34:14
and it gave other festivals who had far better means and you know, team
34:17
and those types of things to be able to do it and grow it significantly,
34:22
So which is awesome, you know. I mean when we were Young's
34:24
an incredible music festival, you know, I mean, And so yeah,
34:29
I mean there are quite a few that are doing it now and doing it
34:31
really well, right, And I wonder if maybe if there was a blessing
34:37
or a silver lining to COVID, it's that for an entire year at least
34:43
live music was taken away from us and a lot for all of us,
34:47
that was probably the first time in our lives where we realize, oh wait,
34:51
like this is not this music in this music that we love is not
34:53
just given, Like we actually have to invest in time and energy and money
34:58
into making sure that continues, that this music continues that we love. And
35:02
so I wonder for a lot of people it was this sort of reckoning during
35:06
that year, especially the year of like kind of like lockdown and early pandemic,
35:09
of people realizing like, oh wait, like if I really love this
35:14
music, it could be taken away from me. So I'm going to like
35:15
actually take the time out of my life to make sure that I go to
35:20
a furnace fest or I go to one of these festivals, because it's not
35:22
given that we can just continue to do this in our lives, because something
35:27
like a pandemic can just end that like that. Yeah, I mean one
35:31
hundred percent agree with you. I mean, people, you don't necessarily know
35:36
what you have until you don't have it right right and it was taken away.
35:40
I still think live music has is facing significant challenges moving forward, whether
35:46
it be independent music venues or having a huge challenge because you know, we
35:52
can't compete we just can't compete in a world full of live nations and AEGs.
35:59
And I know everybody likes to like pile on to those guys, but
36:01
we really can't, you know. And so when we're when we're bidding for
36:06
tours, he's like, well, sorry, we're gonna go here, and
36:09
uh and it's a live nation venue and so but that's also happened in the
36:15
festival world, you know, I mean independent music. I mean, independent
36:19
festivals are are a dime a dozen now, like there's there's there's only a
36:23
few. I mean, like when we were talking about when we were young.
36:27
I mean, it's a live nation event and that's you know, it
36:30
is what it is. And so yeah, you know, the music industry
36:36
faced a significant challenge during COVID because it was essentially taken away from us like
36:40
that, and thankfully we still have access to that, but now it faces
36:45
this whole new challenge, which is major corporations coming in and absolutely controlling the
36:52
whole chessboard, and so it makes it really challenging. I don't necessarily know
36:55
if that was exactly your question, but that's kind of where I went.
36:59
I mean, it's just a reflection on Yeah, just the kind of the
37:01
state of the world, and I wonder, like how much, you know,
37:04
knowing the fact that at least for a year, live music was taken
37:07
away from all of us, and we sort of like realize, like,
37:10
oh wait, this is something that we really cherish, and it's not just
37:15
a guarantee. It's not given to us. So we've got to, you
37:17
know, make sure that we continue to support small artists, support these small
37:22
independent festivals because they can be gone in an instant, just like they were
37:25
because of the pandemic. One hundred percent. I think it's vitally important that
37:30
we continue to support small touring bands, independent venues, and then independent music
37:37
festivals. Even if you remember the day Mason where you would just say,
37:40
hey, there's a show happening at Slacker sixty six, don't I don't even
37:45
remember who's playing. I just know there's a show, and I'm showing up
37:50
because one, that's my community. I want to be around those people,
37:52
I want to hang out. I get to support the bands, and so
37:55
here's my five bucks and two cans of foods, you know, and so
38:00
so the bands are vitally important. The music's finally important, but it was
38:02
so much more than that. It was about the tonal unity, the atmosphere,
38:07
and those are still present, but you have to have that level of
38:10
commitment to say, Hey, I'm going to like this is great little music.
38:15
Uh this club here called Elcy. I'm going to l C why tonight.
38:19
Not because I necessarily know all the bands, It's because it's Lcy,
38:22
And so I'm going to support the community in which I've given my life to.
38:27
You know, I know, I know you guys have like talked a
38:30
little bit about you know, we really have no idea what's going to happen
38:32
with furness Fest after this year, and I like, I truly believe that
38:37
you guys like have not made plans and you're just being coy about it.
38:39
But I'm curious, like, maybe what are at least like some of the
38:43
possibilities, Like, is it that just like the brand of furness Fest,
38:46
it's done, We'll never hear about it ever again after after the first week
38:51
of October? Or is it going to be something where you know, you
38:53
know what, what are even like the possibilities that you maybe have brainstormed or
38:58
imagined or dreamed of of what for NISCAVESK could be knowing that this sort of
39:01
like three day festival version of it is likely not going to ever exist again.
39:07
Like, what are maybe your hopes or dreams even knowing that, y'all
39:10
don't it sounds like you have no plans on what that even could be moving
39:15
forward. Yeah, No, that's true. My hope and dream is uh
39:20
to wrap up this one with like such such excellence and such excitement that that
39:29
we're able to kind of like book end the beginning and the end in such
39:35
a way that it that it's like a seamless marriage that like, to me,
39:39
it's still I'm still, I guess in the same way that I struggle
39:43
to think about the actual being there. There's there's a part of me that's
39:47
just like, we just have to get through this one. But but you're
39:51
right, I mean, I think it's more there. There aren't any plans,
39:55
or aren't any I mean, it'll be the first year where we don't
40:00
and I'm very confident in saying this where there won't be a save the date
40:06
get your super cheap ticket to furnace Fest twenty twenty five on the Saturday night
40:10
a furnace Fest. It'll truly be a thank you and good night or thank
40:15
you and you know, farewell or whatever the phrase is. I think that
40:20
other people have suggested we do things like cruises, Maybe we move the festival
40:25
somewhere else, Maybe we do multiple festivals. Maybe we do a bigger festival
40:29
a smaller festival. Maybe we come up with a different name, maybe we
40:34
collaborate with someone else. Like there's been a lot of ideas put forth,
40:38
you know, or like friends and fans will suggest, like, you guys
40:42
should really do this, But as it stands currently, it's it's just exciting
40:47
to wrap up the original vision of four festivals without an ounce of pressure for
40:55
anything beyond this, and it's just like, dude, we did it.
41:00
We did four monstrous festivals year after year, and that's incredible. That's originally
41:08
we said one and then we did four. So that's an amazing feeling.
41:13
Yeah, I mean, my hope, my hope is that it's a it's
41:16
a multi part book, you know, and this is the end of chapter
41:21
eight, right, and so, but it's been a two part series and
41:24
who knows, maybe there's part three and apart four, but that is not
41:29
in the plans. It's not in the plans. We want to do this
41:31
one really well, and we want to like, you know, bookend it,
41:37
like Chad said, and walk away going. Man, we were really
41:39
proud of what we've accomplished the past four years. Now where you know where
41:45
it goes from there? I have no idea. I was reading Rob Bell
41:52
yesterday and he had this like great little kind of quote around like talking where
41:58
he was talking about ending things well. Uh, and he was like it
42:01
the the act of or the practice of ending something well is really really important
42:07
in people's lives. And where he talked about he had some sort of line
42:10
where he's like, there is a fine line between something being a graduation and
42:15
something turning into a divorce. There's a fine line between that of ending something
42:21
well or it or again it could easily turn into Now now it's not ending
42:24
well, and it's turning into something like a divorce. Right, So I'm
42:29
just like, what what does that look like for y'all to make sure that
42:31
like this ends well? What like what I don't like? However you want
42:36
to take that whatever that looks like. Maybe that means selling enough tickets where
42:39
we can break even. Maybe that is ending well. But I'm really curious
42:42
you all, what does what does ending well look like for y'all? Yeah,
42:47
I mean, without a doubt, just at least a break even profit
42:52
would be would be greatly appreciated. But I don't know, Like I keep
42:58
going back to a two to a podcast where I don't know if it was
43:04
I think it was still considered bad Christian at that point, but where Matt
43:08
and Toby were interviewing Tim from Under Oath, and he and he basically asked
43:15
the question which which was a question we were already processing, you know,
43:19
like, how how do these guys continue to keep a festival that was built
43:27
on largely on nostalgia? How do they keep it fresh year after year after
43:32
year? And so I guess for me, the first part is just like
43:36
the liberty and the freeing feeling to not have to be bound by that pressure
43:43
to do that it putting on Furnace Fest year after year does come with an
43:47
enormous amount of pressure that we not let the community down, that we book
43:52
all the best bands that we put that the weather's great, you know,
43:57
that we that that everything rolls smooth, that all the right food vendors are
44:00
there, that there's like so many things that have to go right in order
44:05
for everyone to enjoy themselves. That For me, it's just like I would
44:09
just love for that level of final like, regardless of whether anything comes next,
44:17
for everyone to have the same feeling that they have when they listen to
44:22
an album that they absolutely love and track ten finishes and they're like that's it,
44:30
Like I want more, you know like that To me, that would
44:32
be the perfect punch because wanting more versus that like divorce idea, Like,
44:39
man, why don't these guys just shut it down, you know, like
44:43
you died like four years ago. Yeah, I think for me, it
44:49
would be seeing the lasting relationships continue, or seeing the relationships created last and
44:59
continue asked a specific time, you know, music festival in September or October.
45:07
That's really what I hope continues. So the Facebook Furnace Fest community group
45:13
still thrives on the daily, those relationships that were bonded around this event still
45:21
last many many years into the future. All the people that I've got saved
45:25
in my phone and we text on a consistent basis, and whether it's just
45:30
like hey, man, just book your favorite band, not telling you which
45:35
one type deal, it goes way beyond that, Hey, how are you
45:38
doing? How are your kids. I see that you've been sick, you
45:42
know, is there anything I can pray for you about those types of things?
45:45
Seeing those relationships continue for the next four years, eight years, twelve
45:51
years is really going to be the test of whether or not this is a
45:54
graduation and not a divorce, right right, Well, and there's probably some
46:00
his Fest babies out there that they'll continue. Uh, yeah, there's got
46:02
to be quite a few of them. I've definitely heard of people that have,
46:07
like you know, met at the at the festival and started dating and
46:09
maybe they're at the point now where they're getting married or engaged whatever like That's
46:14
that's a whole reality of this festival. And y'all are the match makers.
46:16
Yeah, there's been people married the New Tender Fast. It's there's been people,
46:22
you know, they've married at the fest, got engaged at the fest,
46:25
met at the fast. They I think they there's even a few that
46:29
conceived at the fast. But let's hope that it was like maybe back at
46:36
one of the hotels or something not on the festival grounds itself. Johnny's lips
46:40
sealed. There's quite a few stories, you know, you know, more
46:45
than what should be should be said yes, well, uh, to kind
46:52
of close out, you know, it's been three years. Obviously you're gonna
46:54
be you both are going to make a ton more memories at this last year's
46:58
festival. But you have the three years of this last iteration of the festival.
47:02
From the last three years, what are some of the like your favorite
47:07
moments that you can think about like that, just like maybe it's maybe it's
47:09
like some band playing at the shed, or maybe it was like you had
47:14
one of the burgers that Andy from a police for purging made and you're like,
47:16
that's the best burger I've ever had in my life. Like, but
47:17
what are those like favorite moments you think back from the last like three years,
47:22
knowing that you're gonna make a ton more memories this year. Yeah,
47:27
the first one was that that first morning back on twenty twenty one, that
47:32
Friday morning, and just just the overwhelming feeling that it was to walk around
47:43
passing out little baseball cards. Before anyone had had any expectations that we would
47:50
do multiple festivals, that every year would come with exclusive and very some very
47:53
hard to find baseball cards, and that that would even be a thing that
47:58
I'm just out there passing out Strong Arm Elliott baseball cards and saying hi to
48:01
people and just completely blown away by how many thousands upon thousands of people were
48:08
like flooding into the festival and then to see, uh, I don't know,
48:15
just there's so many bands that so many, so many like the fact
48:20
that that that same year that under Oath played when the Sun Still Sleeps like
48:24
that that was one of the more shocking moments because I never thought they would
48:29
ever play that song again. And so when Spencer was like, we're gonna
48:32
do something that we haven't done, you know, in like twenty years,
48:36
I was like, no, and probably we'll never do again. Yeah,
48:37
I remember, probably were not We're never gonna happen again. I was like,
48:40
no way, well that And I think around that time, like Dallas
48:44
was still a little touch and go, like I think he was out,
48:45
maybe out of the hospital, but he was still you know, struggling,
48:47
And it was one of those moments where it was like God, like this
48:51
is so cool, like like everybody is thinking about Dallas right now, and
48:54
this is like a great way to honor him. Yeah, and then you're,
48:58
yeah, you that was a perfect segue because you're who would have been
49:00
the Malene and Blindside combo on the Shed stage and just like so much,
49:07
even though we had some technical issues, just like there is so much magic
49:10
between those. And then, oh man, I'm trying to think last year,
49:16
what was what was the memory? I think it was how often I
49:22
would find myself standing wherever watching a band and just like the connection that I
49:31
would that I would feel to people that either I had not met, and
49:36
then especially to people that I've realized that the history I share is like now
49:43
decades long, and just seeing a friend that's like, dude, I haven't
49:45
seen you in so long, but remember when we put on shows together,
49:51
or remember when we did this thing or that thing, or it's just it's
49:54
a weird feeling that there's history everywhere and everywhere. Yeah, I think for
50:01
me it's in twenty twenty one, standing at the front gate before we opened
50:07
gates and seeing so many people, I was like, I was a little
50:13
overwhelmed, terrified. I was so scared. I was like, we're about
50:17
to open these gates. It's going to be pandemonium. This place is going
50:21
to get burned down, you know. But no, but it was amazing
50:24
seeing all these amazing people, and you know, musically, I think Stretch
50:30
Armstrong really was like the crown jewel for me because they have been such an
50:37
instrumental band for me and my life. And of course Beloved was incredible.
50:45
In that moment that Chad had with everybody on stage before Beloved was really special.
50:51
I think it set the tone. It set the tone for Furnace Fest,
50:54
and that tone has been carried over for the past few years. And
51:00
then that first year I think really you can't talk about it without talking about
51:05
the relationships that were created and that have lasted, you know, for the
51:09
past few years. And the twenty twenty two was the was a massive challenge
51:16
for us all. We were all completely stressed out. We were all you
51:22
know, there are parts, there were times where we're doomed like this is
51:27
this is rough. I mean, we lost two hundred thousand dollars that year,
51:31
and so when you're leading, you're going into a festival knowing that you're
51:36
about to lose that much money. And once again you're just four guys who
51:40
don't have that kind of money. We don't have live nation or anything behind
51:45
us. As this rights it all, you know, it's it's terrifying but
51:49
it also stresses you out. And so I saw a half of two bands,
51:57
half sets of two bands that year that was it wow, because it
52:00
seemed like none only was there this weight, this pressure on your shoulders,
52:07
knowing that you're going to lose all this money and you don't necessarily know how
52:09
you're going to climb out of it. But there was just continue issue after
52:13
issue after issue after issue, and so I'm here, I'm there, I'm
52:17
taking care of this, I'm doing that, I'm doing this, I'm doing
52:20
that, and and so I think, so Yeah, for twenty twenty two,
52:27
it was really like, when I look back, it's about the team.
52:30
To see those group of people come together and go, we're going to
52:35
get through this together. We're going to do it to the best of our
52:37
ability, and the chips will fall where they fall. And so everybody's from
52:42
Atlaana to Denise to Chad or Ryan Mike, I mean everybody who's you know,
52:46
merch people and all of our vendors and just you know, rocked it
52:52
out and uh and we got through it and we survived. So the team
52:57
was really that moment for twenty twenty two for me, But twenty twenty three
53:01
for me, it was about a party and I was like, last year
53:05
was so hard. I was so stressed. Things are going smooth. And
53:09
I told the team, I said, hey, come about noon on Friday,
53:13
I'm putting this walkie talkie down. I'm not picking it back up.
53:16
And I didn't and I had the best time. And it was because of
53:22
the team. The team was like, okay, cool, we want you
53:23
to do that. And so again those the team that we've hired and that
53:30
have came on board to volunteer or get paid pennies on the dollar, like,
53:35
we want you guys to go and enjoy this, and we did.
53:37
And so like so I got to hang out with Chad a lot, I
53:42
got to hang out with friends a lot. I got like my seeing my
53:45
son enjoy it last year was incredible. Him and all his little friends,
53:50
well fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen year olds like moshing harder than all
53:54
these old men. And I was like, this is cool. And then
53:59
have my daughter on the stage, she's twelve years old on the stage watching
54:04
turnstile and her eyes just you know, light up. And then every year
54:07
for me, and this is gonna sound cheesy, but every year for me,
54:12
is when Chad and I pull out cigars and we clip the tip baby
54:15
and we light up. I'm just like, Okay, this is why we
54:17
do it. This is why we do it. To sit back, stop,
54:21
enjoy what we just created and what we just man. Even though we
54:25
lost two hundred grand and twenty twenty two, we still we still got to
54:29
watch thrice from the security fence with cigars in hand that was given. That's
54:37
almost worth too, yeah, almost worth two hundred grand, absolutely almost.
54:42
So yeah, and it's about those experiences and doing it with the people that
54:45
you love and so so those are by far the most memorable times for me.
54:52
Yeah, you mentioning your kids, uh, you know, jamming out
54:55
and having having a blast like that is what when I look back at least
55:00
especially last year as one of my favorite furnesce Fest moments. It's to be
55:04
able to watch a band like Living Sacrifice, like these guys are what in
55:07
their mid fifties, they're getting close to sixty even and seeing some of their
55:12
like original fans like from like the eighties, and you get some of these
55:15
guys that have been listening to hardcore since the eighties. I mean you get
55:20
like some of those people and they're in their fifties, maybe even some of
55:22
them in their sixties, and they're jamming out, having a hell of a
55:28
time. And then yeah, then you like last was it like Saturday night
55:31
last year? You see Turnstile and you see all these like twelve and thirteen
55:36
year olds and all these kids and some of them who decide to climb the
55:39
rafters, Like it is amazing that, like we have this music that connects
55:45
all of us. Whether you're sixty years old or you're still learning algebra,
55:49
like it doesn't matter, and we all are still connected to this music.
55:53
And it's one of those things where this music like it's sort of marginalized and
55:59
the rest of like i mean, it's not mainstream music. There's a reason
56:00
why it's not considered mainstream is because it's like kind of marginalized in the general
56:05
music industry. And so we all sort of have this like commonality where we
56:08
know, hey, there's this like there's this thing that we're connected by that
56:13
not many other people in the world are connected by. And whether you're sixty
56:16
years old or you're thirteen years old, you're connected to this and you're a
56:20
part of this and and like to actually see that happen with sixty year olds
56:23
mahin in the pit with a bunch of like sixteen year old to me is
56:27
like the coolest thing. And it's because you all have curated this this event
56:31
where all of that music comes together, and that means you get sixty year
56:36
olds and sixteen year olds coming together and having the time of their lives.
56:40
Yeah, it's truly special. Man's helmbling. So anyway, that's like one
56:45
of my favorite furnest Fest moments is Yeah, especially last year, you know,
56:50
thinking about like seeing all these young people at Furnace Fest watching Turnstile and
56:54
like I remember being that thirteen year old kid watching under Oath or you know
56:59
whoever. It was my time right Like I was that thirteen year old And
57:01
to think back and I'm like, oh wait, like I was thirteen and
57:05
I was jamming out to these bands. And now to know that there's a
57:08
whole new generation of those bands that are like for that thirteen year old,
57:12
their fourteen year old, like that's the most important thing in their life right
57:15
now. Like I'm like that, that's so cool that this music is continuing
57:17
to live on. It's really cool too to see these thirteen, fourteen,
57:22
fifteen, sixteen year olds listening to such great bands. I mean, Turnstile
57:25
has been a great band for a really long time. People are like,
57:28
oh, these are the new kids in the block. It's like, no,
57:30
they've been around forever. Yeah, but you know they're popping H two
57:34
oh and strife In and Judge and like, you know, all these great
57:37
bands. And I'm like, I mean I see these kids that are you
57:39
know, from Birmingham and good friends with my son. I mean, they're
57:43
just posting great music. I was like, I was like, since when
57:46
are you listening to H two? Oh? You know, this is incredible,
57:50
you know, and a lot of music stands the test of time,
57:52
you know, especially in hardcore and punk, you've got these kind of weird,
57:55
silly phases that run through. But man, they're so many great bands
58:00
that just stand the test of time. And it doesn't matter who you are,
58:05
what generation you're a part of. You're like, oh, that band's
58:07
great. But also the Ogs can look to you know, Incendiary and all
58:10
these great bands and go Gody, these these dudes are killing it, you
58:15
know, and so it's really cool to see that overlap old guys looking forward
58:20
young guys looking back and it's it's pretty cool. Yeah it is. Yeah
58:24
I was. I was a thirteen year old, you know, watching under
58:28
Oath DVDs where Chad would appear, and you know, it's like the weirdest
58:30
thing in the world to be like, who's that. Fifteen years later now
58:35
I'm just chatting with him and give him a hug at Furnace Fest every year,
58:37
and it's just like, what is life? Even sometimes it doesn't even
58:40
make sense to live. I feel the same way, dude, it is.
58:44
It is crazy. Yeah. Well, I don't want to take too
58:46
much of you guys's time. I know you're busy, you got to you
58:49
got an entire festival around, But I'm so excited to see you all in
58:53
just a few months. I'm gonna I'm going to give both of you a
58:55
big hug. It's going to be a time of both for Colin and I.
59:00
It's going to be the time of our lives. We're gonna just soak
59:02
in every single moment. So I can't wait to see you guys in just
59:06
a few months. Oh Center, love to Colin. Yeah, we'll do,
59:10
We'll do, Thanks, dude, Love you. Excited for October a