Latest / The Chris and Mike Show / #161 - Jennifer Benson from Ignescent

Transcript

#161 - Jennifer Benson from Ignescent · The Chris and Mike Show

0:57
Yeah, hello boys and girls. Welcome to Chris and Mike.
1:01
So I'm Chrissy's Mike. This is Jennifer Benson from Oh
1:05
my gosh, ignescent. You got it.
1:08
OK, I got it right. I got it right.
1:09
I got it right. She's here today with me.
1:12
She's here today. We're live on Twitch and the
1:13
YouTube live aspect as well. So Jennifer, give us a little
1:16
bit of spiel, who you are, what you're all about and why you
1:18
want to come on this wonderful show that's in what, 29
1:21
countries now with over 300,000 views and just climbing.
1:25
Awesome, awesome. Yes.
1:27
I'm Jennifer, lead singer of the band Ignescent, and we're from
1:31
the Chicago area. We have a new album that will be
1:34
coming out, so just wanted to share that on here through
1:38
Frontiers Records in March of 20 or March 20th, 2026.
1:45
Where is Frontier based out of? Is that a Chicago record label?
1:48
No, they're out of Italy. OK, I'm right down on I-55 in
1:54
Pontiac. How did I land that?
1:57
Yeah, how? Did how did you I I submitted
2:00
our music and yeah, yeah, I just, I emailed them our songs
2:06
and they liked them and we're interested and then got a record
2:09
deal. So that's how it worked.
2:13
That's pretty cool. Italy in all places, Yeah.
2:16
And knowing that there's labels in Italy, that's cool.
2:18
Yeah, yeah. Any glitch you there Mark?
2:21
You're looking kind of funny. What's that?
2:24
Any glitches in the matrix? You're looking kind of funny.
2:28
No, I couldn't hear for a second.
2:30
OK. Well, look, yeah, looking you
2:32
guys are like in the 90s and for some reason I'm at 40, don't
2:35
know why. Stupid, stupid Internet in
2:38
Arizona. Now I understand.
2:40
Oh, OK. Is that why?
2:42
But I'm on. You're good.
2:43
Yeah. So, So, Jennifer, we have this
2:45
weird little thing in Arizona. I have Starlink and I have a
2:47
direct cable. And every now and then in the
2:49
afternoons, it just doesn't want to work for me.
2:51
It's the weirdest thing. And he's in Illinois, so.
2:53
And you're, are you in Chicago? Are you in Chicago?
2:57
Yeah, I'm in Chicago. OK, yeah, Mike's in Pontiac.
2:59
So you guys are in the same world.
3:02
You're freezing. Nice.
3:03
OK, that's not crazy part. Yes.
3:06
So today it's like a heat wave because a few days ago it was 8
3:09
and today is like 40. So it's almost like shorts
3:11
weather now. Yeah, I felt like I didn't need
3:14
a jacket for once. All right.
3:17
Yeah, yeah, OK. And I'm sitting here in shorts
3:20
and AT shirt when you know, it's 79° outside.
3:23
Where are you at? Arizona.
3:26
Oh man, the. Place I left to come back to
3:28
this hell hole. Why did you do that?
3:33
Because my family's here and I needed to slow down a little
3:36
bit. Gotcha, gotcha.
3:38
That makes sense. Him and I were doing what you're
3:41
doing now. In the 90s we were basically
3:44
playing all over Arizona and California and wherever we could
3:48
find gigs, so. Nice, that's awesome.
3:53
It's all about the rock'n'roll. So here's your website.
3:55
Give us a little bit insight. Who are your fellow band mates?
3:59
Yeah, so Mikey Green is on bass guitar, Andre Leon is on guitar,
4:07
and Cole Coreal is our drummer. OK, so the drummer's the guy
4:11
with the shaved head. No, the drummer.
4:14
The other way. Other way, sorry.
4:17
OK, that's OK. Yeah, yeah.
4:20
That's OK. How long have you guys been a
4:22
band? It it's been many years.
4:28
We just about our first album, like our first full like album
4:32
was with Frontiers in 2023. Before that we're just releasing
4:36
singles and EPS. But yeah, so we've we've been
4:42
around for quite a bit. Right on.
4:46
And the first album, how did that did?
4:47
How did that work to the chart? Did you guys make some waves?
4:49
Did you go on tour with that? Yeah, the, well, actually the
4:55
single before the album Remnant that hit top 50 on active Rock
5:01
Billboard charts. And it was like rock's most
5:05
added with Evanescence on one week and then and then our song
5:11
that was from the album called Not Today that hit #1 on CMW
5:17
Rock Billboard charts. Yeah, yeah.
5:21
And now we've done many shows. We've opened for Skillet,
5:23
Flyleaf, Buckcherry, We've played at Rockfest many times in
5:29
Incarceration Fest and all that. And actually currently we have a
5:35
a single called The Caney Side Conquered.
5:38
And it's been at #1 five weeks in a row as of last week on on
5:44
the CMW Rock Builder charts. Wow.
5:46
Congratulations. Yeah.
5:47
Thanks. That's awesome.
5:49
Thank you. So are they?
5:50
You're the face of the band. Yes.
5:54
Are they going to light us up if we sample your music on here?
5:58
Oh no, go ahead. OK, OK, so let.
6:02
Me. If they do, we will send you an
6:04
e-mail. All you got to do is confirm
6:05
that we're on this show. It's as simple as that.
6:08
There you go. There you go.
6:10
They do protect us. Awesome.
6:12
They they do. OK, hold on.
6:14
I got to move screens. I've heard people tell horror
6:18
stories about the dealings that they've had with Spotify.
6:21
Chris will tell you it was as simple as letting them know that
6:25
our guest was the feature. You know, the, the band we
6:27
played was the guest. They investigated it.
6:31
It took like 4 days. They sent me an e-mail, said
6:34
your show's back up. You know, sorry, Yeah.
6:38
They were totally cool about it. So I can't say enough good
6:40
things about Spotify when it comes to doing their due
6:44
diligence and then doing the right thing.
6:46
So you may get an e-mail from Chris or I that says can you
6:49
confirm that you were on the show if we sample your music OK,
6:53
but as we're not like. Yeah, we're not really sampling.
6:55
We just want to showcase it because what we do here is.
6:58
Yeah, showcase is a way better word.
7:00
Yeah, open up because we want to show anybody any band we have on
7:06
like to share their stuff. Where's my sound?
7:09
Can you hear the sound? There you go, right there.
7:14
You can hear the sound. Perfect.
7:16
OK, it's not coming to my. Headphones, which is weird.
7:20
You must still have a darkness where no hope is found.
7:30
I will not be controlled. I love your voice.
7:34
Thank you. Actually, that's Billy Gray of
7:41
Fozzie. He was featured in this video.
7:44
Oh cool. Women.
7:48
I love how women sound when they say so.
7:51
Cool. Women are so lucky with their
7:53
voices, the dynamic, the range. Just.
7:56
Drew me right in. Yeah.
8:05
I like it. I dig it.
8:10
Yeah, so who writes most of your music
8:28
lyrically? I do.
8:34
I Co write sometimes with Jeremy Valentine and Brandon of New
8:38
Year's Day. But yeah, I do a lot of the the
8:42
lyric writing. This is Kevin Young disciple.
8:46
He's in this song. What did you say a minute ago,
8:57
Mike? Oh, I was going to tell you to
9:01
pause it real quick because I couldn't hear what she said.
9:04
Oh, OK. I'm trying to pause it on the
9:06
screen that I'm watching it. So I had asked her, I had asked
9:09
her who writes, who writes the music lyrically?
9:11
So we tell him that again, if you would please.
9:14
Yeah, yeah, I wrote, I write most of the the melodies and the
9:18
lyrics, but sometimes, yeah, but sometimes I do Co write with
9:23
Jeremy Valentine and with Bren Wolf of the band New Year's Day.
9:28
And so sometimes we'll go back and forth and and change some
9:32
things and work on that. But yeah.
9:36
And then not today was actually Co written with Josiah of the
9:40
band Disciple. But yeah, but mainly I I do
9:44
write like. So are you also a musician on
9:46
top of being a singer? Do you play an instrument?
9:49
No, I don't. Melody's just kind of pop in my
9:52
head. That's how this guy works.
9:54
No way, that's awesome. I love.
9:56
That's why I wanted to, That's why I wanted not only myself but
9:59
our audience to hear your answer, because I thought that's
10:02
what you said. And it's very similar to way
10:04
that him and I wrote music together.
10:06
Awesome, awesome. So yeah, I probably the same.
10:10
Like I'll have a melody and then some.
10:12
Maybe the guitarist will write around it or or you know, or
10:16
sometimes I'll hear the music and then I'll write to it.
10:19
But. Exactly.
10:20
We did the same thing. He would be singing something
10:23
and it would inspire me to play. Or I would be playing something
10:26
and he'd be like, keep playing that and he'd start digging
10:28
through his lyrics and he's like, OK, check this out.
10:30
Awesome. That's super cool.
10:33
I love that. We had so much fun.
10:35
Yeah, we had the we had that unique connection that and I've
10:38
never found anybody sense that that can do it to where I could,
10:41
I could write him something. I sent him something a couple
10:43
weeks ago. I sent it to him and write it as
10:45
he reads it, he understands the emotion and, and the vibe that,
10:49
that, that it's a poem, right? Because that's how I learned how
10:52
to write in, in poetry form, bowed format specifically.
10:56
So he, he would, he reads it and then he's like, OK, and then,
11:00
you know, the next day of practice or whatever, I'd come
11:02
out, he's like, check this out, dude.
11:04
And it just, it would fit. It was the craziest thing.
11:06
And it's always been that way with he and I.
11:07
And I would always be. So nervous to present it to him.
11:10
It wasn't really. Oh, yeah.
11:12
I was just like, here's the best I can do with what you gave me.
11:15
And he, yeah, I've never told him that.
11:17
But yeah, that's how I felt as a music.
11:19
I wasn't going in there going, hey, this is going to be the
11:21
shit, you know, right. I was more like, hey, check this
11:23
out. Do you like this right?
11:26
And I get. It and it always works.
11:28
So you, you obviously have that same dynamic with your band.
11:31
Because if, because I didn't, I didn't necessarily hear the
11:34
music behind of the guitars and the drums, things like that
11:36
until he started playing things. And then when the band put it
11:38
all together, right, they started kind of piercing putting
11:41
the pieces together. And I'd say, oh, then I then
11:43
they would change, right? Because then when all of a
11:45
sudden you hear the bass line, it's like, well fuck, I Can't
11:47
Sing that way on that part now because the bass line's there
11:49
and I want to chase the bass line.
11:51
You know, and then here's a compliment that only a
11:53
musician's going to give you. Your guys's dynamics are
11:57
outstanding. Yeah.
11:59
That means so much. And you know that when you're
12:01
writing songs, Chris was always big on that.
12:03
He's like, you know, let's build this up here.
12:06
You know, I love where you start off and you think the song is
12:09
going to be one way, but if you listen to the lyrics, you can
12:12
hear you guys lead, you know, into those heavy parts and very
12:17
well written and the dynamics are outstanding.
12:19
I thank you. Kudos to the guys in the band
12:22
too. Thanks and I appreciate that.
12:24
Definitely. And then I mentioned I don't
12:26
know if you heard because the music was playing, but Billy
12:28
Gray of Fozzie is actually featured in that.
12:32
And he did some like the guitar part and all that, but he's
12:34
featured in the music video, so. His voice sounds so familiar.
12:37
I'm not familiar with that band. I'll have to do some research
12:40
and check him out, but. OK, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:45
Oh, actually the singer is Kevin Young, a Disciple, but Billy
12:48
Gray is Fozzie. He's the one.
12:50
He's playing guitar. So there's actually 2 features
12:53
in that video so. That's nice.
12:55
Yeah, Yeah. So what's what's come on, what's
12:59
on the horizon for for the band? What are you guys doing for the
13:01
rest of this year and what happens in 2026?
13:05
Yeah, so right now we're just kind of putting a tour together
13:08
for next year because our our album releases March 20th of
13:15
2026. And so we're just like booking
13:17
shows around that. Currently we do have a music
13:21
video and a new song that's releasing before that, a single
13:25
off the album on January 26th. And I'm super excited because
13:30
that one features Clint Lowry of the band Sevendust.
13:33
He actually on it and he's in the music video.
13:37
So I can't wait. That's like only what, a month
13:39
away that's coming out So can't wait.
13:42
So there's another full circle moment, Jennifer.
13:44
We opened up for them when nobody really, I mean, they were
13:48
just getting started. Black it barely come out.
13:50
Yeah, they were playing. Yeah, they were playing at a bar
13:53
in Phoenix. Now they're huge.
13:55
That's. You'll have to ask him if he
13:57
remembers playing at the Big Fish Pub in Tempe, AZ Oh, maybe
14:01
like 1997 or so. OK, I will.
14:05
That's awesome. I love that band.
14:07
There's Heidi, too. They're amazing.
14:09
They're amazing. And from everything I've heard,
14:12
we didn't really get to interact with them, but they, every story
14:15
I've ever heard, they're all stand up guys.
14:17
They just love. They're blessed to be doing what
14:20
they do and that kind of attitude, you know?
14:22
Definitely. Yeah, that's.
14:23
Cool that you guys are awesome. Gonna jam with somebody from
14:26
their band, That's so cool. Yeah, yeah.
14:29
I'm like, it's a big dream and I'm just excited.
14:32
I can't wait. Yeah, I feel like musicians are
14:34
all one big family, you know? So when you meet somebody that's
14:38
that big. Yeah.
14:40
Successful men are often the ones that deal with this from
14:43
David to solve. This you guys.
14:45
No, I. Don't know what I hate.
14:46
Ads. Damn ads.
14:48
Oh, that's odd. That's that's.
14:50
What I thought I'm like, what is?
14:51
This joker. I hate when it does that, yeah.
14:53
Yeah, yeah. That's.
14:54
We're just going to, we're going to do the visual, let it
14:57
visually. All right, here something
14:58
gotcha. OK.
14:59
OK. Hold on.
15:00
I'll turn. Just a minute or so.
15:02
OK, OK. I love their sound.
15:04
Yeah. It kind of looks like Carrie
15:16
King. I am Mr. Brown outside Somebody
15:34
talking. I'll just be here if.
15:43
You're going to treat me? Like a fool, I'll be a joker.
15:48
For you, yeah. So who?
15:54
So you wrote that song? That one actually Co wrote with
15:58
Jeremy and Brandon Wolf of the band New Year's Day, and they
16:03
produced it. So yeah.
16:05
OK, and what, what, what's the whole premise behind this one?
16:09
That is based off of people like that are pretending to be your
16:17
friend to your face, but then behind your back they're talking
16:22
and saying, you know, bad things and gossiping.
16:25
And so, you know, it talks about how you thought that they were a
16:29
true friend, but they really aren't.
16:31
So if you're going to treat me like a fool, I'll be a joker for
16:34
you. So that's what.
16:35
It that's really cool. Thanks.
16:38
I like that. Thanks.
16:40
Where are you guys recording your music because the audio
16:44
quality is outstanding. Thanks, California.
16:49
And then vocals actually nearby in Wisconsin.
16:55
It just kind of works out that way cuz there's a studio out
16:58
here. But yeah, so it's kind of a
17:00
combination. I could be wrong about this, but
17:02
I think a little known fact is a lot of the grunge music in the
17:06
90s was actually recorded in a studio in Wisconsin and don't I
17:10
don't know where. Yeah, well, I'll have to Google
17:13
that. I might.
17:13
I may be just talking out my ass, but I think Nirvana
17:17
recorded. Maybe there were.
17:20
Never. Mind no demos or something for
17:22
yeah, the album that ended up becoming Never Mind, That might
17:25
have been the story. Nice, nice.
17:27
That's awesome. Who's doing your video work?
17:29
Because that's outstanding too. Thank you.
17:33
Well, the last video was JT Ibanez.
17:35
He's worked with Sevendust and everything, but this one is
17:38
someone different. His name is Joseph Castleberry,
17:42
and he's from Chicago, actually, just the Chicago area.
17:45
I've known for years. And he does pictures for us.
17:48
And he did this video. And yeah, I love what he did.
17:51
He did an awesome job. Yeah.
17:53
He's really talented. Very good editing, very good
17:56
lighting. It's Yeah.
17:58
Well done it. Thanks.
18:00
So for people don't understand the behind the scenes of all
18:03
this kind of work, because this is work.
18:05
Making a video is work. It's not something this is, you
18:07
know, we're going to bust this out in two hours.
18:09
Yeah, this just didn't take 4 minutes to put together.
18:14
So, but so that's why I'm having that's why I'm asking this
18:16
question. So that video itself, do you
18:20
recall how long you were in doing the shoot?
18:22
Was it over a period of days? You know, kind of get shed some
18:25
light on that. So the people that watch and
18:26
listen to this can understand, you know, like we everybody sees
18:30
the end product, right? Like we had a moment.
18:32
I'd like to 1st of we had a moment the first year on the
18:35
show where where we saw this clip of Bruno Mars and all the
18:38
stuff he does behind the scenes getting ready for a show.
18:40
And you never think of that. You just you just, you just
18:43
watch the show. The you know, whatever he was
18:45
doing on an award show and it's he's just like, holy shit.
18:49
Like it's you don't realize the work that goes into it unless
18:52
you're a musician and and you do all that.
18:54
So with the videos, because I've done videos.
18:56
Yeah. But what you know, give the give
18:59
the insight to those that don't understand the amount of time
19:02
and effort and you know, are you, are you actually seeing in
19:05
the video? Were you lip syncing in the
19:06
video? Those kind of things are cool to
19:08
share with folks. OK, yeah, well, the whole
19:12
process, it took a while because those outfits that you saw the
19:18
guys wearing, they like they ordered those online, but they
19:22
weren't done. So they actually like added
19:26
things to them, they drew on them, they like did some sewing
19:31
and to create that outfit. So for them, it took a little
19:35
while, just even before we shot it just to get their outfits
19:39
right in the way they wanted them.
19:41
They put a lot of work into that, which I think is awesome
19:44
that they, you know that they did that.
19:45
That's. Another good point, and Chris
19:47
would be he knows all about that too.
19:49
Doing acting. Your costume is everything too.
19:52
You got to have a look. It is, it is.
19:55
And then they thank God I didn't have all this, but they had
19:58
white makeup. So it took forever.
20:01
And they've never done this before either.
20:03
It took them forever to get that white makeup all over them, you
20:07
know? So just like that process for
20:09
them. I didn't, not really, no.
20:13
They submitted one help. I asked them, but they're like,
20:16
no, no, no. So they helped each other
20:19
actually have some behind the scenes.
20:20
I should probably share that. But yeah, they helped each
20:23
other. But yeah, it was, it was a mess,
20:25
though. So the other thing is where we
20:27
shot, they ended up like the air conditioning broke that day and
20:31
we shot it in the summer in Chicago and it was, we were
20:35
boiling. It was, it was so hot in there
20:38
all day long. And then their makeup started to
20:41
like drip and like, and it was just kind of a nightmare for the
20:45
guys. I felt bad for them, but they're
20:47
troopers, so that that whole thing was kind of crazy.
20:50
But but yeah, I mean, after we got ready and everything here,
20:53
makeup, dressed, everything, we shot all day.
20:57
I mean, it only took one day, thankfully, but it still, it was
21:01
all day long. And then in between they had
21:03
like this little fan. So I remember the bass player
21:06
going like this, like, you know, because he's so hot, he's trying
21:09
to prevent like his makeup from dripping.
21:12
So it like in between, yeah, he we were all in the fans because
21:15
we were so hot. It was crazy.
21:18
But but yeah, it was a lot of fun.
21:20
And I, no, actually, I don't lip sync.
21:23
I actually sing to the track because then it looks more real.
21:28
If I'm just like lip synching, it kind of looks fake, you know,
21:31
so everyone's actually like playing and you know, and I'm
21:35
actually singing and cool. So it was, it was a blast.
21:39
It was so much fun. But you just kind of, it's kind
21:44
of going over, you know, the same thing over and over and
21:47
reshooting and shoot. So it's kind of very repetitive
21:51
in a long process, but it was worth it, so.
21:55
Yeah, I'm glad he asked that question because that is
21:57
something that I always tell people when they say what is
22:00
something about being a musician that I would never think of.
22:04
And that's the first thing I say, is playing the same thing
22:07
over and over and over. And you can't say I'm sick of
22:11
playing it because that's your job.
22:12
You. Know right you have.
22:14
To do and we would never say that anyway because we love
22:17
playing right and we love the songs that we wrote so that that
22:20
was a great question A lot of people don't realize it doesn't
22:23
take as long to shoot the video as the song is you know they
22:26
just think you go in there with your costume and play the song
22:29
and it took 10 minutes you. Know you're.
22:31
Talking 1416 hour day before you get it done.
22:35
To me, photography. I don't know how Chris feels
22:37
about it, but photography and videos to me were a necessary
22:41
evil. You know, I love the outcome.
22:44
I love what I saw there. But I saw what Chris asked.
22:48
I was like, oh, my God, that was a long day.
22:50
Or maybe the whole Weekender. Yeah.
22:54
It's really long, yeah. We just get to the point where I
22:57
hit play and we watched the video, right?
22:59
That's what I want to get to, yeah.
23:02
Definitely, definitely. But both sides of it, your
23:05
studio work and your video work, was well worth whatever time you
23:09
spent because the people that did it were outstanding.
23:12
Thank you. No, I appreciate that.
23:14
To me, a good audio engineer or a bad audio engineer, had that
23:19
song been recorded horribly, yeah, it would still be a good
23:23
song. But it would be unlistenable,
23:26
right? So yeah.
23:27
Those people are important. Oh, they are definitely,
23:30
definitely yeah. Oh I was going to ask something.
23:34
My brain farted. Oh, that's OK.
23:38
Well, no, I don't like, I don't like silence, so it's not OK.
23:41
Oh, I was. Stopping because I knew we had a
23:44
question. It's not OK.
23:48
I totally live. Yeah.
23:50
Wow, that's a dream. I want to say, I mean, photos
23:53
are the same way because you have to get your hair or your
23:56
makeup done. And especially for for women, it
23:59
takes a long time, you know, to get all that done and it's a
24:03
whole process. Oh, you got it.
24:04
That's what it was. So Frontier, Frontier being the
24:07
label, right? Frontier Music, Sri.
24:09
Is that what it's called? SRL.
24:11
OK. So with with them being your
24:14
label and the fact that they are in Italy and you mentioned
24:17
Chicago, you mentioned Wisconsin.
24:21
So do they have, do they have connections in those in those
24:24
parts of the country or you just you kind of off there doing it,
24:28
doing it yourself? As far as like Wisconsin and.
24:31
Well, like, like you're in Chicago, right?
24:34
Yeah, OK. And you and you referenced that
24:36
you, you did some recording in Chicago, California and
24:38
Wisconsin. He's.
24:39
Asking if the label has ties in this area.
24:42
Oh, gotcha, gotcha. No, those are just my contacts.
24:47
Yeah, they let me do basically what I wanted to.
24:51
Do so. You literally sought this label
24:53
out, found them, they liked you. Yeah.
24:55
And then they're just kind of supporting your dream from this
24:59
point forward. Yeah, yeah, That's really cool.
25:03
Yeah. And they're helping with a lot
25:04
of different, different things. Yeah.
25:06
It's a huge blessing because, you know, to record, it's
25:11
expensive. It's like, and so I'm just
25:15
thankful that they're willing to invest in me and they believe in
25:18
me and they're willing to help me.
25:20
So it's, it's awesome. I'm really thankful.
25:23
Well, they they made a good pick because you guys got a great
25:25
sound. I mean, I can see you guys
25:27
blowing up for sure. Just.
25:29
One they and they've had a couple of things chart already,
25:31
which is cool. Yeah, yeah.
25:33
There you kind of already are blowing up and now you're in 29
25:36
countries, so. Yeah, yeah, that's right.
25:39
Which which is pretty cool. That is pretty cool.
25:42
It's pretty cool to us too. I try to think about it.
25:45
That's awesome. It is awesome, yeah.
25:50
OK, so the tour, what's what's the deal with the tour?
25:52
Yeah, you're planning it. Do you have anything set up yet?
25:54
I just cuz I pulled up the the site on the on the tour page.
25:57
So I'm going to share that because it looks like there's a
25:59
couple dates up there. Yeah, yeah, it's just kind of
26:02
being worked on now. But yeah, we have.
26:05
We're at District 142 in Wyandotte, MI on March 27th and
26:11
we're with Texas Hippie Coalition, so I'm excited about
26:14
that. That's like one of my favorite
26:16
clubs. I love that place.
26:18
And then we're at Murray Hill Theatre in Jacksonville, FL
26:23
April 18th, and then we're at Life Fest in Oshkosh, WI, July
26:27
9th and 10th. And Skillet is actually at that
26:31
at that test too, so I'm excited about that.
26:33
I like them a lot too. Yeah, I love them, I love them,
26:37
but we'll have a lot more dates. It's just being worked on.
26:41
So yeah. You can stay posted if you just
26:43
go to the tour tab, ignessantmusic.com or the bands
26:46
in town Ignescent as well. Yep, Yep, bands in town do me a
26:49
favor. Click on their merch button.
26:51
There I want to see what kind of merch T-shirts I need to.
26:55
That's our new CD that's coming out, the artwork and so yeah,
27:02
that's we can pre-order some merch and the CD and and album
27:09
as well. US fans, is that is that coming?
27:12
OK, cool. Is that coming on the thing?
27:14
No, it's not. Hold on.
27:15
I got to. I got to reshare.
27:17
Sometimes when I switch screens it doesn't follow me.
27:20
I noticed that. Following what I want, man.
27:23
So there we go. And so this is all through the
27:27
label, which is cool. Yeah, that's all through the
27:30
label. Yeah.
27:31
And we have, you know, vinyl records, but red vinyl, Yeah.
27:35
Selling. Yeah.
27:37
So I'm excited. Yeah.
27:39
And then the T-shirts with the artwork and.
27:43
Yeah. Nice.
27:45
And then that's the older CD and then we have a few other things
27:50
as well on the merch site, but I.
27:52
Don't have my glasses on. Is that design on the hoodie on
27:55
the back or the front like the picture?
27:58
Looks like the back. Back ends, yeah, the design's on
28:01
the back and then the logo's on the front.
28:04
The name's on the front. Yeah, that's awesome.
28:05
Yeah. Well, you have to go to the
28:08
website, Mike. I'm going.
28:10
Yes. You can join their their mailing
28:12
list, you can you can get on the holiday so vinyl Club.
28:15
I'm a fan already. Are you guys streaming?
28:17
Do you have your album? Are any singles available
28:21
anywhere? Yeah, it's on Spotify.
28:26
The two singles that just released from the album are on
28:31
there now, Joker and Light Up the Night that just released
28:34
like 2 days ago I think, or two or three days ago.
28:37
That's on there. And then obviously the new album
28:41
will be out on there too. And Fighting Me is on Spotify
28:45
too. And then we have our E PS in
28:49
some singles on Spotify and Apple Music and, you know,
28:54
Amazon all all over pretty. I listened to 101,000 minutes of
28:58
music last year so you guys are now in my rotation.
29:00
Oh. Yeah, holy cow, that's.
29:03
Awesome. I work at a factory so I'm
29:05
working on an assembly line. So I just set my speaker in
29:07
front of me and for basically 8 1/2 hours a day that's all I do
29:10
is listen to music so. Nice, I will be.
29:13
Introducing you guys to all kinds of people.
29:16
Awesome. Thank you.
29:17
No, I appreciate that. Yeah.
29:19
Do it if you want good. I'm I'm brutally honest so.
29:22
Really. OK.
29:23
I love your sound. I'll definitely be introducing
29:25
you to people that I know like that kind of music and they will
29:28
do the same, so. Thank you.
29:29
Yeah, I appreciate. It I know Chris will do the same
29:32
because him and I One thing we have in common our our
29:35
admiration. Not our admiration, our
29:37
fascination. That was almost a real faux pas
29:40
with. Serial.
29:41
Killers and female lead singers. Nice, yes?
29:47
There's something about the way that, and he said it earlier,
29:51
there's something about the way that you guys just sound
29:54
naturally with your voice against that Hard Rock music.
29:57
It just, it's so cool. It all started back with heart,
30:00
you know? Yeah.
30:02
And Wilson just belting out that song, Yeah.
30:04
Against that heavy riff or whatever, you know, like
30:06
Barracuda or yeah crazy on you just yeah, chills thinking about
30:11
it you. Know.
30:11
Yeah, she's awesome. Or Evanescence.
30:14
Evanescence too. Amazing.
30:16
Yeah. Her version Have you heard her
30:18
version of going to California I.
30:21
Don't think so. YouTube it.
30:22
She did it during the pandemic. OK.
30:25
I cried listening to it. I think she actually got a
30:27
comment from Robert Plant himself.
30:29
No way. Wow, that's awesome.
30:32
It's beautiful. It brings tears to your eyes.
30:35
Awesome. See other other cool, other cool
30:37
female lead bands that I've been into the last couple years.
30:40
Hailstorm in this moment, yeah. In this moment, thank you.
30:44
Yeah, they're awesome. Yeah.
30:46
Within Temptation. Yes, yes, they're awesome.
30:51
Yeah. I was never.
30:52
I was too. I was never big in the heart.
30:54
Yeah. I never big in the heart.
30:55
I don't know why heart wasn't my thing.
30:56
Pat Benatar. Love.
30:57
Pat Benatar. Yeah.
30:58
I love Pat Benatar too. Go back and listen to Heart.
31:00
I think you missed something there.
31:02
I, I just, I just, I was never big in the heart, man.
31:04
Yeah. Go back, you're older now and
31:06
wiser. I just.
31:07
Wasn't man, you know, it's kinda, you know, you just it's
31:10
like if you heard. Crazy on you right now.
31:12
I wouldn't go. Crazy, yeah.
31:14
Well. She's going to go crazy on you
31:16
and she means it, man. It's just, you know, it's.
31:20
Just. You know, you know, it's kind of
31:23
like, I mean, I, I respect Janice shops and for what she
31:26
did in the in. The Oh don't hurt my heart.
31:28
No, I'm just saying I'm just, but I'm not.
31:30
But I'm not going out there and I don't I don't have only Janice
31:33
shopping music because it just, it just wasn't OK.
31:36
I'm sorry. Don't mean it hurt your heart
31:38
man. You know, you know, I'm just
31:42
being funny. Everybody likes what they like.
31:44
I know. I would not enter.
31:45
I mean, my mom would appreciate your music, Jennifer, but that
31:49
probably wouldn't be what she would gravitate towards.
31:51
She would say something like that's, that's nice.
31:54
They sound very. She seems like a nice girl.
31:58
Yeah. Why is it got to be so loud?
32:02
Yeah, right it. Has to.
32:03
It has to be loud. Man, it has to be.
32:05
Come on. She's listening to this so.
32:10
I'm sure. Oh, is she?
32:11
That's not what I would say at all.
32:16
Tell her to listen to You're Not Alone.
32:17
Maybe she'll like that one. That's like a ballad, so maybe,
32:21
maybe she'll like that. She'll probably say something
32:23
like let me hear the music and I'll decide for myself.
32:25
Michael Smart, Smart. Absolutely.
32:30
She's a good woman. Awesome.
32:35
So are you guys playing around here anytime soon like anywhere
32:40
in the Chicago area or? Yeah, we did last month.
32:44
We're kind of working on booking something either in the suburbs
32:49
or in the city for our CD release.
32:53
So hopefully March 20th or March 21st we should know more.
32:58
We'll. Definitely keep in touch because
32:59
I'm right down the road. I'll drive up and see you guys
33:01
play for sure. Awesome.
33:03
I would love to. Awesome.
33:05
Yeah. Thanks.
33:06
Thanks. That would be my honor.
33:08
I won't. I live too far away.
33:10
Yeah. You don't want to drive zone.
33:13
I don't understand like I don't get to.
33:14
Phoenix there, you get in touch with him because.
33:16
He'll. Yeah, absolutely.
33:18
Ever. If you ever play in Phoenix, by
33:20
all means reach Outreach out for sure.
33:22
Well, we may. We may, I will.
33:25
It's a nice place to visit. It's a good reason to go play a
33:27
gig there. Definitely.
33:29
I've never been there. Oh, they have a lot of really
33:32
cool clubs too, so I'm sure it'll be more since I.
33:35
You've never been to Phoenix? No, I've never been to Arizona
33:39
at all, honestly. OK, Oh, you'd love it.
33:41
Yeah. Just don't come.
33:43
Just don't book any shows from like May to September.
33:48
They're. Cool otherwise.
33:49
Because of the heat. Or well, if you're going to be
33:51
outside, I mean, and May's not bad.
33:53
It's July, August, September are the worst.
33:55
But you know, for the most part, July is hot.
33:59
It gets hotter in August than in the first couple weeks of
34:01
September. It's kind of tailing off and
34:03
fading away. But like I said, right now it's
34:05
it's this whole week it's been like 80°.
34:07
It's crazy. Seven.
34:08
Well, not 8076 to 79. You know. 47 in the morning type
34:13
thing, you know, but for us, winter is the end of January and
34:19
then February kind of sucks. It's super cold.
34:21
The Super cold usually in in that super cold.
34:24
Like super cold. I don't know about that.
34:26
Yeah. Super.
34:27
Cold 70° you. Know like a freezes man it's
34:30
like 32 it's like. 32 Come on. They'll have something on the
34:35
news like there's a possible frost warning, so cover up your
34:39
plants. Hey, hey, it makes you realize
34:43
men have nipples too. So it's that cold.
34:45
Oh man, that isn't. I like to make fun of him
34:47
because we are literally in the frozen tundra right now, but I
34:51
will sympathize with him because I lived there for almost 20
34:54
years. Your blood does thin out and 60°
34:57
is fucking freezing after you've felt 115 for what, 100?
35:02
Days in a row or whatever, cold. I don't get too cold at 60, but
35:05
like like upper 40s, yeah, I'm cold.
35:08
Anything below, I'd say 45. It's like, yeah.
35:11
Yeah, well, that's cold too. Right, right, right.
35:15
But it's something you're used to.
35:16
Like I could, I can hang with 60, I can hang in the 50s, you
35:19
know? Because I'll agree with
35:21
Jennifer, when I walked out the door today after work, I was
35:24
like, whoa, what's not bad out here, you know?
35:26
Yeah, it's nice. But it was still only 36.
35:29
Right. Well, I lived in Tennessee for
35:32
like a year and a half and yeah, it was beautiful.
35:35
I loved it. But they did not go out like it.
35:38
It snowed maybe an inch. And I was the only one on the
35:41
roads. And I was like, what is going
35:43
on? I don't understand.
35:44
But then I kind of understood because it was very hilly there.
35:49
I was more in the Knoxville area and so I started going up the
35:53
hills and I could barely make it up.
35:55
And so I'm like, OK, now I get it.
35:58
Like, I get why no one's on the road is ever me.
36:01
I can kind of understand there. You go.
36:04
So now are all the is the entire band, everybody from Chicago?
36:08
The guitarist is, but the drummer and bassist are from
36:12
Indianapolis. OK, so kind of split.
36:15
So how did you guys all meet? Like go back to the the origin
36:18
story. We have about 20 minutes left.
36:20
So origin us, tell us how how how your band came came about.
36:24
OK, yeah, I actually reached out to a friend and she introduced
36:30
me to the drummer Cole. And so that's how we met and
36:35
just auditioned him and it worked out.
36:37
He's an amazing drummer. And then he introduced me to the
36:40
bassist, Mikey, because they knew each other and they live in
36:44
the same area. So that's kind of how that
36:47
worked out. And then Andre is from, you
36:51
know, the Chicago area. Actually, he's originally from
36:53
Guatemala, but he's been here for maybe six years.
36:57
And I reached out to him on band mix and he responded.
37:03
And we just, you know, I auditioned him and then that was
37:08
it. So it kind of all came together.
37:10
So yeah, that's how it worked out, but.
37:15
Right on. Yeah, yeah.
37:17
That was the quickest origin story I've ever heard in my
37:19
life, that. Way it's very simple.
37:21
She literally built a band. I literally built the band.
37:25
Yeah, I mean MM did the same thing.
37:28
Yeah, but then we all ended up basically, I mean, half of us
37:30
live together, you know what I'm saying?
37:32
Oh, did you? So yeah.
37:34
Oh. Yeah, while you're a band, you
37:35
mean? Yeah.
37:36
Yeah, my bass player and I lived together, and my drummer and his
37:39
family lived right next door. It was a duplex.
37:42
Wow, that's and. We practiced in their living
37:44
room so. Awesome, that's very convenient.
37:47
I had my own. I had my own place, Jennifer.
37:49
He had. He was on my.
37:51
Turn. Well originally I had my own
37:55
place too, but then I he didn't anymore.
37:57
He did. I was living like a baller for a
37:59
while but then I realized you can only ball on a credit card
38:02
until they want their money. Yeah, that is true.
38:07
Actually I balled on about 7 credit cards till they wanted
38:10
their. Money.
38:10
Oh yeah, yeah. So how do you guys get?
38:14
Together like to practice if you're that far apart.
38:16
Now I like his question a lot. Yeah, we don't really practice
38:21
much. We kind of practice on our own.
38:24
I mean, we obviously at the beginning, you know, we did, we
38:28
just kind of met here in the Chicago area and they stayed
38:31
overnight here at my place. And then we just rehearsed for a
38:36
few days and and that was it. But you know, everyone kind of
38:39
rehearses on their own. So it makes it pretty easy that
38:44
way. And then if we do a lot of
38:46
shows, because we were doing like a lot of touring last year,
38:49
you don't really need a rehearse because you're kind of playing
38:51
the same songs over and over again, right?
38:53
But now we have a new album, so we're going to be adding like
38:57
brand new songs to our set from the new album.
39:00
So we're definitely going to have to rehearse.
39:02
So yeah, I think we're going to get together in January and, you
39:05
know, either here or meet in the middle and just, you know, spend
39:09
a couple days together rehearsing and.
39:11
So when you put the when you put this record together, were you
39:13
guys all in different parts of the country?
39:16
Were we in different parts of the country?
39:18
Yeah. You mean like Indian?
39:19
Yeah. Yeah, OK.
39:21
So none of it was done like like when I recorded The Last Man is
39:24
and we went to Nashville, we recorded 4 songs and Dolly
39:27
Parton Studio Gravity and then the the rest of it was recorded
39:31
Chelsea Music Group which was Alan Jackson, George Strait, I
39:34
think Landing pad or something. We are rock but you know we were
39:39
under a universal label platinum plush record.
39:42
So that's where they put us. So we were there.
39:45
I mean, we were there as a band for the entire experience and we
39:48
got, granted this was 2007, so it was a different world back
39:52
then. That's why I'm glad you asked
39:53
that question, because now I'm seeing the Digital Age playoff.
39:56
Yeah, that's well, that's why I asked it, because these.
39:58
Guys are a band in different parts of the country and they're
40:00
that good and that successful. That's it's so cool.
40:05
Thanks. So.
40:06
So obviously all of you have massive music experience then.
40:09
Oh yeah. OK, so like so so because your
40:13
origin story was a minute long, Jennifer.
40:17
He's he's disappointed, Jennifer, I've never seen him.
40:19
Disappointed there's more behind it though that I can share like.
40:24
Step bus has passed. Now I.
40:26
Want to know now I want to know about the OK, so I'm not going
40:31
to ask how old you are because that's true, but I want to know.
40:33
I mean, is this a lifelong thing?
40:34
Have you been studying music, performing music and stuff since
40:37
you're, you know, knee high to a grasshopper?
40:38
Same with your bandmates, because obviously if you can
40:41
come across and pull off a live performance, being in, you know,
40:45
three different parts of the country, show for a couple days,
40:48
rehearse the songs, go out there and play live.
40:50
The cool thing about being in a band and playing live is nobody
40:53
knows if you make mistakes or not because they're just in the
40:54
audience watching and listening, you know?
40:57
And because we were so tired as a band, because, you know,
41:00
10,000 practices and shows and things like that, we looked at a
41:03
show as a that's. Why?
41:04
I asked that question too. We we played every day.
41:08
We either practice or we had a gig.
41:10
OK. Yeah.
41:11
And we looked at, we looked at live shows as it's 10 practices
41:14
in one, because you just, I mean, you're there in the
41:16
moment, right? But he just said it a minute
41:18
ago. We come from a different era
41:21
too. Yeah, there wasn't the
41:23
technology, right. Yeah, Yeah, we.
41:25
Had a camcorder, Jennifer, and it was the state of that.
41:28
They were like other bands would be like you guys got a
41:31
camcorder. You must be rich.
41:35
Layaway, Layaway. This was back in 93, right?
41:37
I did it layaway at this place called Service Merchandise
41:41
because my wife and I were having a baby.
41:43
I'm like, I got to record this life, you know.
41:45
So I I put on layaway for like 9 months and bought it and then
41:48
I'm like hey I can bring this to practice now.
41:50
Nice. Now we got our phones, we got
41:52
everything. Yeah, that's the thing.
41:53
It's. Convenient.
41:54
It's so easy. Exactly.
41:56
Yeah. And and and the the dynamic of
41:59
technology just to put her in in a real time stamp.
42:03
My last band, we did a Roger Sturgis tour in 2008.
42:06
There was you still had the flip phone.
42:08
There was not. You couldn't record a video.
42:10
I mean, you could, but it was cheesy as all hell.
42:12
Shit. The.
42:13
Pictures sucked and so none of that was documented.
42:17
Some of the stuff we did in the Sturges on stage, it sucked
42:20
because I mean, I would love to have that and it's just not
42:22
there. We did a cover of Simple Man
42:23
that that the second night we were there.
42:25
There you need to play Simple Man again.
42:27
I wish I could hear that version.
42:29
Oh, I and I do too, because it was such it was, but there's
42:32
nothing. There's nothing that's that's
42:34
captured that because the time wasn't there.
42:37
He did a. Version real quick.
42:39
He did a version of Roadhouse Blues at the Electric Ballroom
42:42
one night with my buddy Ray Stone playing guitar and there
42:46
was a music rag at the time called The Music Voice, and
42:49
there was a reporter there from The Music Voice and they took
42:52
the time to do a write up saying that was the best version of the
42:56
Roadhouse Blues I have ever heard Outside the Doors, hands
42:59
down. There is no debate.
43:00
That's basically what the statement was.
43:02
And it was. That's awesome.
43:03
The whole crowd was just like moving closer to the band the
43:07
further they got into the song. Nice.
43:10
So when he takes ownership of a song, I believe what he says
43:14
for. Sure.
43:14
Yeah, that's awesome. I've seen it with my own eyes as
43:17
a. Morrison Yeah, yeah, Morrison
43:20
was one of my he's one of my when I, you know, in my music,
43:24
the people that I like, I didn't, I didn't emulate them,
43:26
but I just, I like, watched them and like you, Morrison.
43:29
Morrison made it your own. Yeah, Morrison.
43:32
Morrison a lot. So because he was a poet too.
43:34
And I and I grew up when I started writing, I wanted to be
43:37
a writer. I didn't want to be a rock
43:39
singer. So that's just kind of how that
43:40
connection happened, right. And then my other ones were
43:43
better. And Bono, because I liked how
43:45
better wrote in his presence and I liked Bono's characters and
43:49
things like that. I don't know so much like Bono
43:50
anymore because he. Figured out that poets were
43:52
broke and rock singers were living in mansions.
43:57
Right. But that's kind of how so.
44:01
So back to my original thought there.
44:03
So you've been in the music world for how long?
44:05
Like when did you start? When was the?
44:08
When did you get the bug? When I, when I was 15, I got the
44:11
bug. I started like taking vocal
44:14
lessons. I started writing songs.
44:18
I started doing like talent shows, you know, starting out
44:22
that way. And then I kind of grew from
44:27
there. I got in a bad relationship,
44:30
though, with someone that was very controlling.
44:34
And so I they told me I couldn't do this.
44:39
I couldn't do what I wanted to do, basically.
44:41
Yeah. So that was crazy.
44:43
So I stopped for a bit and then thank God I got out of that and
44:48
made a smart choice. And so obviously it worked out.
44:52
But yeah, so after that I just, you know, full force went after
44:56
it. I started a band.
44:58
I, you know, just started like Co writing with different
45:02
people. How many bands?
45:05
Just two. Just two.
45:06
That's. It yeah, but I, I mean I've been
45:09
blessed to Co write with like some mirror of flyleaf in the
45:15
new song on the albums is with him and then one of my first
45:19
songs with Ignace and I Co wrote with Ben Cassica of skillet.
45:23
He used to be in Skillet. He's no longer in Skillet, but
45:26
yeah. So I Co wrote with him and a few
45:29
other people. But, you know, at first I just
45:31
kind of started myself like writing and and recording
45:36
locally and then I wanted, you know, to to grow and get better.
45:42
And so, yeah, I just started reaching out to people that were
45:46
like professionally in the business and Co writing with
45:49
them and kind of learning and growing that way.
45:53
So that's, yeah, that's. Kind of your own management or
45:56
do you have a manager or do you have an agent or somebody that
45:59
you know guides you in the right direction as far as your gigs?
46:02
And that's a lot of work too. I used to do that for her band.
46:05
Yeah, I manage the band and it's a lot of work, yes.
46:10
Your brain. Another full time job.
46:12
Yeah, it is. Yeah.
46:13
I have like maybe 5 or 6 full time jobs basically.
46:16
That's why I never got to get married or have kids.
46:18
See. Everybody else yeah my dream yes
46:21
it's a lot it's a lot and I'm I'm booking too but I have
46:24
someone else helping me it's kind of cool that's Co booking
46:28
together and yeah from. Somebody who's been there, done
46:31
that, you're going to want to pawn all that shit off on
46:34
somebody else very soon. OK.
46:36
And here and here's why. Because you'll burn out on the
46:41
creative side. That's what happened to me.
46:43
I eventually had to hire a good friend who went to school for
46:47
all that stuff. Really.
46:48
And I said here, you know, you do the booking, you write the
46:51
contracts, it's just overwhelming.
46:53
It's it is. It's a lot.
46:55
It's like, Jesus, I'm getting like 1/2 a law degree here, you
46:57
know? Yeah.
46:58
Yeah, I know. I mean, it's great to learn.
47:01
Like I've learned so much. So you don't get screwed.
47:04
Yes, yes, yes. And I have, unfortunately, I've
47:08
learned the hard way, but but I know now what I know, basically
47:12
I know. So yeah, that's hard.
47:14
I have had a manager in the past but it's hard to find someone
47:18
who's a good fit in that you trust.
47:21
And just that's it. Just keep looking until you find
47:24
the person that believes in you so much.
47:26
Actually, you keep looking until you find the person that
47:28
believes in you more than you do.
47:30
That's what. You're looking for.
47:31
I would love to find that. That's our.
47:33
That would be awesome. You found Italy, Italy, Italy
47:37
believes. Yeah, that's impressive upon
47:39
itself. True.
47:39
I did find out, right? That's true.
47:42
If I can do that, I can find a man, a good manager that I
47:45
trust. Yeah, hopefully soon.
47:48
Yeah, you got a great sound. Stick with you for sure.
47:52
Thanks. You do?
47:52
I'm a fan. Already do.
47:53
You get a lot of comparing to to evanescence because of the the
47:56
female voice dynamic and the heaviness of it.
47:59
Yeah, I've gotten compared to Evanescence to Flyleaf to Cyndi
48:04
Lauper, which is odd. I don't know.
48:06
I don't quite understand that one.
48:08
They didn't listen to you. They might have looked.
48:10
At your hair? Yeah.
48:13
I mean, she has an awesome voice.
48:14
It's a compliment, but who else? Yeah, I think those are the main
48:18
people. Hailstorm.
48:20
A few people have said to and. Lizzie Hail's a bomb.
48:24
Oh, she's amazing. I love her.
48:26
I love her. Yeah.
48:27
And such a fan of music, there's no ego there.
48:30
Yeah, there isn't, which is nice because it's hard to find some
48:34
time. I think eagles are going away
48:36
with musicians because the more the more the digital age is upon
48:41
us. Yeah.
48:42
You have to tour to make money. Snoop Dogg had a had a, had a
48:46
billion downloads and made 40 grand.
48:48
I heard something. You have less than that.
48:50
Yeah, I heard something or 32 that you have to have like, I
48:53
don't know, you got to have like 30 million streaming something
49:00
in order for a musician to, to, to make it as a minimum wage.
49:04
Like that was the dynamic of it, right?
49:06
It's tough, right? So.
49:07
Yeah, so the days of stepping over people and stepping on
49:11
people to get up that ladder, I think they're gone because you
49:14
have to embrace people. You have to, you have to
49:16
surround yourself with positive people.
49:18
You have to show them how graceful you are and how
49:19
appreciative you are to go from here to go to here.
49:23
You need people to help you. You just can't.
49:26
You know, even in our day, those guys eventually got found out
49:29
about and they got sure outed, right?
49:32
Oh yeah, absolutely. You outed a couple of them on
49:34
stage. Yeah.
49:40
You make him mad enough, he's got no.
49:41
Filter, I get it. I get it.
49:45
But yeah. And then you, I mean, you got
49:47
the social media too. You have to do, I mean, yeah,
49:49
there's so much and you do. I mean, I would want to treat
49:52
people with respect anyways. I didn't mean that in a bad way
49:55
at all. I know those people know.
49:56
There's everything that. He said every, all of them,
50:00
absolutely 100. Percent so proud of him.
50:02
Yeah, that's awesome. You don't, but yeah, you're
50:05
right. Yeah, it's, it's tough.
50:09
Yeah, it is tough. And and I mean the digital ages
50:11
here in the social media is here, which is great, but it's
50:13
so inundated that you have to like we had, we had Joe, just
50:17
Joe. I don't know if you follow him
50:18
on Instagram or not, but if you don't, you should just type in
50:21
just Joe. It's amazing.
50:22
He'll he'll take a song and rework it.
50:24
He reimagines songs his own way on the piano.
50:28
Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing.
50:29
It's really easy to find him. Just just Joe on Instagram,
50:31
you'll see him. He's a ball ball guy, kind of,
50:33
you know, built muscly and and yeah, but anyway, when COVID
50:39
hit, he made this really poignant remark when we were
50:41
talking to him. He's like, I had to find my I
50:43
had to find my place in social media.
50:45
So his place was what he does now, which is basically he could
50:49
take one of your songs and and listen to it like it.
50:51
Then he's going to reimagine in a cinematically A cinematic
50:54
version. He takes, he takes.
50:55
That's one of the stuff he does. That's one way he does it.
50:58
Right, right. There's some of the stuff he
51:00
does is fantastic, like, like, and some of something like,
51:03
yeah, you can't mess with that song Joe.
51:05
But that's the cool thing about Joe.
51:07
He doesn't care and he responds to that.
51:08
He's like, I get it, man. It's not for everybody.
51:10
That's that's why he started liking him.
51:11
Like, like I, I kind of, I didn't diss him, but I was like,
51:14
yeah, that doesn't really work for me, man.
51:16
Yeah. And he commented back and we had
51:18
this little dialogue. I'm like, hey, did you want to
51:19
come on the show? Nice, that's awesome.
51:22
And he did. But that's what I'm saying is
51:24
there's, it's everybody we've come across when we've been
51:27
doing this now, you know, almost a little over.
51:30
We're in season 3. So it's almost three years, four
51:32
years, something. Every musician we've talked to
51:35
has been very graceful and very cool and very humble.
51:37
They're not there's no, we've had a couple.
51:39
We didn't talk to you because one of them had lead Singer's
51:41
disease, because he he had to reschedule the show, because he
51:44
had to leave his job, because everybody there was envious of
51:46
him. And you know what I would tell
51:48
those guys? Here's what I would tell.
51:50
Here's what I would tell this guy, Jennifer.
51:52
We had a Grammy nominated producer who basically was
51:57
responsible for the 90s sound of rap single handedly and would
52:02
never Chris drug that out of him.
52:05
Like he had a platinum and a gold album hanging behind him.
52:09
And Chris was like, I see you got some hardware hanging behind
52:11
you. And he's like, Oh yeah, I
52:12
produced some rap in the 90s. And then he went on to tell the
52:16
story. It's like this guy was like a
52:18
integral figure. So for a guy to tell him, hey,
52:22
you know, I'm too big to come on your show.
52:26
It's like. This guy had Platinum Alps
52:28
hanging behind him, so who are you?
52:30
Right. And he?
52:31
And he and he reached out to come back on the show to promote
52:34
his next single. One of the nicest people I've
52:36
ever met. So that shows you how Lamoine
52:39
Alexander he's, he's just a humble human because he he rode,
52:43
he rode the wave of that. It was the Tupac error, all
52:46
that, the Biggie, the Suge Knights, all that kind of jazz.
52:48
He was there in that dynamic. So he saw it and just his long
52:52
version of his story. He just kind of started seeing
52:54
all the bullshit climb to the top and he kind of he just had
52:56
to walk away because because it got dark.
52:59
Kind of like the Diddy stuff going on.
53:00
And if you like, I. Got into it for the music, I
53:02
like the beats, and then all of a sudden people started killing
53:05
each other and I wasn't all about that.
53:06
Yeah, no, no, I, yeah. Wow.
53:09
But. But yeah, so, so humility goes a
53:12
long way, I think, in the world of music nowadays.
53:14
Because without it, you're. And always like I.
53:16
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, absolutely, Absolutely.
53:19
I did a stint on iheart where I had a radio show and anytime an
53:22
artist came through, if they weren't, if they weren't kind of
53:25
following the guidelines, then I heart would just stop playing
53:27
them. Guess what happened to that
53:28
artist? They're done.
53:31
To the wind. Because I heart owns everything.
53:36
But if they but if they, if they showed up and championed what I
53:39
heart was doing and signed all the autographs for 2-3 hours and
53:42
played their 3-4 songs, then they kept going down that path
53:46
and they kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger because I
53:48
Heart backed them because they put their their best foot
53:51
forward and sucked it up for three hours.
53:54
Signing for. Well, I think.
53:55
I can speak. I think I can speak for all
53:58
three of us and say just sitting here for this hour, we all got
54:01
into music because we'd love music.
54:03
And then we treated everyone that we were ever associated
54:06
with accordingly, Right, Right. I'm not a singer.
54:09
I needed him in the I formed the band as a band.
54:12
It wasn't the Mike Michaels experience, as bad as he wanted
54:15
to name it, that. I wouldn't name the Mike
54:17
Michaels Band. That's really.
54:19
But it wasn't. I wanted a 25% partnership, just
54:23
like Led Zeppelin was. I always made the joke, and it
54:25
wasn't a joke. It was a serious statement.
54:27
If it's good enough for Led Zeppelin, it's good enough for
54:29
anybody, right? Because, yeah, they wrote the
54:32
Blueprint. So they split all their
54:35
royalties 25%. And that was Jimmy's attitude.
54:38
I knew I needed these guys. I'm not a drummer.
54:40
I'm not a bass player. I'm.
54:41
Not right. You can't do it by yourself.
54:43
Oh yeah, we all have to leave. Nemesis would not have existed
54:46
if that wasn't my front man sitting there right in front of
54:49
right. He was the voice of the band,
54:50
just like you're the voice of your band.
54:52
Otherwise you're an instrumental experience, and that's a whole
54:55
nother story. Nobody wants to hear that.
54:57
No, Yeah, well. A small sliver of the possible.
54:59
Small percentage of the world wants instrumentalists.
55:02
I'm one of those weirdos. Johnny yeah, no, I agree.
55:05
Like, I appreciate my bandmates. They like work really hard.
55:09
I mean, they're awesome guys. And yeah, I mean, they do a lot
55:13
so. And like you said, I mean, I,
55:16
they couldn't do it without me. I can't do it without them.
55:18
We're A-Team, so I'm grateful for that, so.
55:21
Yeah, absolutely. So where can people find all
55:23
your stuff? What are all your socials?
55:26
So you can go to Ignescent music Facebook, ignescent music
55:30
Instagram, Ignescent on Spotify, Ignescent music TikTok, we're,
55:39
you know, ignescentmusic.com for our website and then ignescent
55:43
bands in town. And I think, yeah, I think.
55:47
That's and what's your YouTube? Just ignescent?
55:48
Ignescent. YouTube, I think it's ignescent
55:52
music and then there's a lot of our new stuff on Frontiers Music
55:57
SRL site to on their YouTube. Yeah, yeah.
56:01
I think that's what I found on YouTube.
56:03
Is their their their website or their YouTube channel?
56:07
Yeah, but if you just type in Ignace and it'll pop right up.
56:10
OK, cool. Right on.
56:12
So thank you so much for coming on the show today.
56:14
We totally appreciate it and. Excited.
56:16
About, about. Yeah.
56:17
And, and as you get stuff dialed in for 2026, the tour and things
56:21
like that, when you're closer to the release date, if you want to
56:22
come back on, shoot me a message.
56:23
We'll get you back on. So we can, we can, we can
56:26
promote your tour and promote the album release, things like
56:28
that. Thank you.
56:29
Especially because March is, you know, 3 1/2 months away.
56:32
So we'd have no problem getting you dialed back in.
56:34
Maybe have the band, you get the band.
56:36
Come on, we can do. All Yeah, they would love that.
56:38
We can have multiple windows. We've had four windows at once.
56:42
OK, I didn't know. If you do that, Devils.
56:44
I think we have 5. Do we have 5 with devils?
56:46
OK. 'Cause they had their manager
56:47
with them too. That was Yeah.
56:49
Really. Oh.
56:50
OK, that's good to know. Yeah, those guys.
56:52
Are black if anyone's near well, they don't need to be near you.
56:55
They can chime in, just we'll tell us who we'll send an e-mail
56:58
to and that'd be a blast. OK, yeah, we'll definitely do
57:01
that next time. That would be awesome.
57:02
They would love to do that. Then we'll get their origin
57:05
versions, yeah. Definitely that is true.
57:12
Have you ever seen him disappointed that's.
57:13
His old one I. Just figured this should be
57:15
some. Cool.
57:15
No, it's OK. No, it's one of those we love
57:19
moments like that. It's the first time for
57:21
everything. It's being funny.
57:23
Yeah, yeah, it's awesome. Normally.
57:26
So again, here's the reason that I'll let you wrap up, but
57:28
normally somebody would go on for like 25 minutes about how,
57:32
and that's fine too. Yeah, but I think he was just
57:36
like blown away. You're done.
57:38
It's a minute. You can't be done.
57:39
Because I watched the clock, when I asked, it was 440.
57:42
She was done at 4:41. I was like, OK, it's.
57:46
Just that simple. No, but you know, it's, I mean,
57:48
it's one of those things, you know, it's.
57:50
Just yeah. And.
57:51
When you know, you know. Like our original?
57:53
Story is a little bit different, but I'm not going to bore you
57:55
with with that so. We'll talk about it.
57:57
Next time it's actually. Yeah, we will.
57:59
We will. Awesome.
58:00
So again, this is the Chris and Mike show.
58:02
He's Chris. I'm I'm he's Mike.
58:04
I'm Chris. This is Jennifer Benson from
58:06
Ignescence. Go check her out.
58:07
Go buy her music. It's it's they're going to have
58:09
a banner year in 2026 already charting.
58:11
They charted a couple songs already from the previous music,
58:13
so that's something to be excited about for them coming on
58:17
a tour in 2026. As always, if you're feeling
58:21
sad, depressed, suicidal, don't do it.
58:22
Go scream in a pillow. Go journal.
58:24
Go write. Go run, go work out.
58:26
Go find somebody to talk to you. If you can't find someone to
58:28
talk to, text 988. They are standing by waiting to
58:30
talk you off that Cliff. Tomorrow is a better day with
58:33
you in it. We want you to wake up because
58:34
we don't want you leaving a hole in somebody else's heart because
58:37
you didn't for Chris and Mike and Jennifer from in in essence,
58:40
I I just have such a hard time saying that I'm sorry you.
58:44
Know you're all good. Nothing but love.
58:45
We'll see you next time. Peace.
58:47
Peace. Thanks, Jennifer.
58:50
You're welcome. Love you brother.
58:52
Love you too man. Thanks for having me.
58:55
The place