Latest / Caught on the Mike... / Chad Jensen of Bridge The Gap

Transcript

Chad Jensen of Bridge The Gap · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Disclaimer, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Listener discretion is advised.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Caught on the Mike.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mike.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I am with Chad from the band Bridge the Gap, a band based out of Salt Lake City, Utah.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: They've got a new album coming out in April, uh, produced by the one, the only Bill Stevenson of the Descendants and All.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Chad, how the heck are you, man?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Mike, I'm doing so good, man.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: I've been looking forward to this.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, I've been stoked as well.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, your publicist sent me your music, and I hadn't heard you guys before.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I I don't want to offend you, and I hope they don't, but I'm an old school bad religion fan.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when I heard you guys, I got I had bad religion vibes, and I'm like, oh shit, yes, I want these guys on my show for sure.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Bad Religion is in fact the greatest and best band in the world.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So we're sharing a brain there.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, how stoked are you to get this new album, Gainsayer, out into the world?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, so stoked and just impatient because we actually, by the time this thing comes out, it'll be we'll have been out of the studio 13 months.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: It w it's been in the can basically since the end of March 24.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: And uh the reason it took so long to kind of get get it out is we took our time finding the right label teams on this one, and that just took a little bit longer than we would have preferred ideally, but good things come to those who wait, and we ended up with a great partnership with Double Helix and Spam and P.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it all worked out, but yeah, dude, we're like chomping in the bit.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: We're so sick of sitting on this thing, you know.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do you ever find that whenever you've had material in the can for so long, you start worrying about writing too much new material that you bury the thing that you're trying to promote?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, that's a constant battle for me, but you just because like I'm always writing.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not I don't always I'm not always trying to write, but is always coming, so like I have to I have to try and pace myself a little bit.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's been a lot harder on this one because so much time has passed.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: But like for us, and I don't want to I don't want this to diminish our excitement over the music, but like this album now feels like old news to us.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we've been we recorded it over a year ago, we've been dealing sitting with the songs for even longer than that, and so uh we're what excites us is that we finally get to share it with our fans and with the world, and you know, that whole thing.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, dude, we're we've uh we've been busy.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: As an old school band guy myself, that was a battle that I always faced as well.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you put an album, you you wrap it up, you've got it mixed, you've got it mastered, you're waiting to press it, you're waiting for the CD or album release parties, you're waiting for your whole marketing plan.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And by the time it actually comes out, you might have a whole other album written and ready to go.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know about you, but I've always worked with guys that are always like new material is the best material.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Let's play the new stuff, let's play the new stuff.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, guys, slow your fucking roll.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: We gotta promote this other stuff still, too.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Totally, totally.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: No, dude.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: I live that, I mean, that's exactly how it is uh for me in particular, and uh for us, but yeah, dude, I definitely feel you.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: We and we got a lot more in the can, too.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I have I've probably like written, I don't know, 10 or 12 songs since we left the studio, and then I have a file of about 70 songs that I've demoed over the last like three years, and so that's what we did like on Gainsay, the the upcoming record is I just went through and was like, okay, I demoed this one, but you know, with a slight favoritism, like you said, to the the newer batch, so to speak.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: But it's funny how that works.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Always, always.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So without any further ado, for those that might not be familiar with who Bridge the Gap is, let's talk a little bit about your origin story, how you guys came together, and what brought you from then until now.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we all are are from the same little hometown uh in southern Utah called St.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: George, and it's right on the border of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so we were actually geographically a lot closer to Vegas than we were, say, Salt Lake City.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so growing up, you know, it wasn't a small, small town, but I don't know, 150,000, 200,000 people, kind of a college town, actually.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: But uh so, you know, we're all from that town.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: We formed bands, played together, created a scene in the early nine early and mid-90s.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then, you know, what we eventually all kind of came together and joined forces, and and we had a band called Unfold that went from like '97 through about 2005 is when we hung it up.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: And we did a lot.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like we toured, we put out an album and an EP, um, you know, played on the warp tour a couple times.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: And about 2005, we uh kind of, I don't know, got sick of it and went our separate ways.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: And we all, you know, started families eventually and careers and businesses and whatnot.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then around 2020, and it honestly had nothing to do with the pandemic for what it's worth.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, around 2020, I decided to, I started getting really interested in gear and learning about gear because I my whole life had just been just put a guitar in my hands.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like I struggled to even restring a guitar for most of my life, no lie.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so I started getting interested in gear, and then I was like, hey, I want to I want to figure out how to home record so I can demo these songs I write all the time and at least send them to my friends and to the dudes, you know, from the band.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so that's what I did, and then you know, the dudes eventually feedback be like, dude, we should do something with this.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then we hatched a plan, dude, to go record our a record at the blasting room, you know.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: So we went from zero to 60 uh because the the standard and the expectation and the level of proficiency and just having your shit togetherness to to hang in the blasting room.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so that was a nice little wake-up call, but it all should came out in the wash and and worked out.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, how different is it for you now versus the first time around?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because everything has changed between streaming, social media, marketing, how you release music.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like did it take the wind out of your sails at all?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's really a double-edged sword, dude, because uh in one sense, it's it's never been easier to reach uh people and new fans, and there uh are far less gatekeepers, so to speak.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um but then but what's happened is even though the the number of gatekeepers has has diminished, um it's consolidated, and there's still a lot of gatekeepers.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so anyway, learning the dig the whole digital thing has been a little bit of a trick, but I would say uh, and like a rapid education, but I would say that really for us the biggest difference is when we were kids, you know, we were playing punk rock.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: We never had it in our heads that we're gonna be, you know, Van Halen rock stars or anything.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: But when we were kids, we were grinding for the dream, and the dream is defined by us as 19, 20-year-old kids or whatever, was uh if we didn't, if we could, kind of like Tenacious D, if we could pay the rent with our rock, you know, we'd have it made.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um whereas now it's like the only reason we even started doing it again.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, back then, of course, passion is what, and like artistry and the whole thing was why we got started it in the beginning, but now it really the only reason we came back together was for the joy and and fun and passion of of creating music together, recording it, per playing together, and the enjoyment and fulfillment that we get out of that, and we haven't really attached any expectations to it.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, that's partly a result of our age, you know.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: We we're all in our we're all in our early 40s, and uh, so you know, your perspective matures and uh your your uh realistic expectation of what's actually possible uh kind of comes to a more crystallized um for, so to speak.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: And really for us, because you know, we're all dads, we have businesses, we have families, we have jobs, careers, whatever.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: So bridge the gap is something we do purely for the fun, for the enjoyment, and uh fortunately it's good enough to where like you know, it's we can do some stuff with it, and we go out and we play, and but you know, none of us are trying to go, you know, jump on a 45-day tour.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's not really where we're at as a band, what we're trying to do.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's not to say we don't love playing and touring and and all that we do, and we do do it, uh, but it's just a more balanced approach.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard, it's it I guess is uh the best way to put it.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I find it kind of ironic a band of your genre and your style having broken up initially in 2005, right before the big MySpace boom took off.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever that happened, did you ever see that occur in real time and think, oh shit, if we had just kept the band going for another two years?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the thought occurred to me, like, oh wow, this is cool, like how easy it is to reach people, even then, because we were in the 90s and early 2000s where uh every band eventually, I would say by like 2001, every like competent band that was going for it, so to speak, uh at least had their own independent website that you would try and drive fans to.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Just kind of personifying this for myself and kind of sharing a kinship with you.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: I played in bands from the mid-90s until 2013, and it was like existing in four different decades from that very short time span, you know, from like 1995 to 2013, to where I saw the industry go through all sorts of really weird changes between social media, independent record labels, um, websites, and all of that take off.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember when I quit the first time, it was actually a year later than you, it was 2006.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's like first kid was on the way, and I was like, okay, can't do the band thing anymore.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's time to be a grown-up, let's let's wrap it all up.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I spent like nine months sitting on the couch watching Scrubs reruns, eating myself to death, going, okay, I gotta get out of the house and do something.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: But very much like Bridge the Gap, I was like, okay, if I do this, I have to do it right.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it has to make sense.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm going to take any fraction of time away from my family, it has to be done at such a high level that it pays its own dividends.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's exactly, dude.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's exactly our mindset.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why, and you know, when we come together and we do anything that has bridged the gap, man, we're we're organizing it and pre-planning it in a way that maximizes the bang for the buck, so to speak, because you know, everything you do nowadays costs money.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: You you know, hey, can you come to Denver for 800 bucks or whatever?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, yeah, but you know, rooms cost XYZ.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: When we were kids, if you had offered us 800 bucks to come to Denver, it would have felt like all the money in the world.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: But now it's like, yeah, that covers uh, you know, uh half of the whole well covers the hotel room and then like, you know, uh the gas and whatever else.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: So um, but yeah, it's it's definitely a different time.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: In fairness, Chad, in contrast to inflation, 800 bucks from when we were kids was all the money in the world.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Totally, dude.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't think that worked out actually would be worth uh nowadays, or you know, what the conversion rate would be, but but definitely it went 800 bucks went a lot farther back then for sure.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's talk a little bit about the album thematically.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think you've released two singles so far in the throws and brothers.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um let's kind of talk about some of the subject matter that you cover and kind of what some of your influences are in the material.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dude.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, um, I would say the majority of the record is um, you know, there's no like specific theme to it.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the majority of the record is is kind of more just, I don't know, what you'd personal songs, whatever's, you know, eating at me in the moment type stuff.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: There's a few like social, socioeconomic, political, whatever observation songs.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, it's it's it's something that I think anyone who who are fans that that really liked secret combinations, our first record, um they're gonna be stoked on how we kind of built on that.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, when we got to the blasting room, uh, I mean, we were experienced in the in the music, and I had a lot of time uh writing songs, and you know, but working with Bill at Stevenson and the guys at the Blasting Room, I don't know, it was just such an education.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: I learned so much, and most of the songs that are on this record, you know, I mentioned I have this rat hole full of songs I've demoed, but most of the songs on this one uh are songs that were written after we got back from doing secret combinations, and so I think fans will be able to uh see kind of uh developmental upgrade in sophistication and sonically.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, look, I love the way secret combinations sound.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds it's also a blasting room record, and it's I love it.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's perfect in terms of the sonics and production.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's right up my alley.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: There's a reason we're going to the blasting room, right?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like so many of my favorite records were done there.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: But this one, dude, like there's just something about it that's a little bit denser in terms of the production quality, so it kind of helps that what I'm saying are a little bit more sophisticated songs hit a little bit harder, I think.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: And um, when I went in to do the vocals on the first record, I had not meaningfully done vocals and sang for 15 years, and anything I had done up to up to that point was like half-assed demo vocals in my in my little studio room at home.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so let me tell you that you're selling yourself short if you think that that's gonna uh hold water with Bill Stevenson on vocals.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: It was a rude awakening, my dog.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like uh it was brutal to a point where like two or three times I'm like, oh my gosh, like I am wasting this man's time.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: This is one of my heroes, and I'm utterly wasting his time.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: And in those low moments, it's like, you know, he's been doing this for so long that like he won't he would always seem to kind of detect when I was in that headspace, and you know, we'd pause and break, and he'd give me a little pick-me-up and uh, you know, emotional lift somehow, and then I'd buckle down.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: But I learned so much uh from Bill and I uh and what I needed to work on too coming out of that.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I spent time on it and on the vocals, getting better as a vocalist.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that when I went in the second time for Gainsayer, I think fans will be able to tell it's just it's just the vocals are better, uh, it's more thought-out vocals, harmonies, which was another thing Bill wanted me to be more pr uh cognizant of when I when I was demoing the next batch.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, just multiple levels of analysis.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a stronger record, it's a different record, but I think our fans will love it.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love hearing that.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Are you comfortable with kind of explaining how that collaboration ended up coming about?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, totally, dude.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's so casual that it's almost ridiculous.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so uh Jeff is our guitar player on uh, you know, he was our guitar player in Unfold, the original band.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: When we got it back together, um, it was Jeff and I originally collaborating on these demos, and he came out a few times to my place and we wrote a song and then we continued demoing a bunch of stuff.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then one day, you know, we're not kids anymore.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: We have a little bit better command of our resources and whatnot.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: And one day he's like, We're just daydreaming in my little studio, and he's like, you know, we should do something with these.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if you could record an album anywhere, what would where would you go with this?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, dude, I don't know, the dream would be Bill and Stevenson at the blasting room.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: I did not know Bill Stevenson.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: And he goes, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, maybe, yeah, that's cool.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: I I think so too.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: And literally, dude, like, I don't know, three days later, next thing I know, I'm getting copied on email responses on my from Bill Stevenson and and Jeff.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that quickly morphed into send me the demos, and that morphed into a phone call.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I don't uh Bill cut didn't quite know what to make of us because you know it's not cheap to record at the blasting room, right?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: And um he's used to a label of some sort, foot in the bill, and because it's a band that's out there, you know, touring, grinding, doing its thing, you know, a well-honed, oiled machine, and uh he's talking to these two like 40-year-old dudes who just want to come make a record with Bill Stevenson, no labels paying for it.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it took him a minute to kind of wrap his brain around it, but I guess he liked the the songs, and he's like, Yeah, or you know, it was good enough for him, the demos, right?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Yeah, so here's the bottom line, here's my windows, and we just booked it.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: And um, at that point is when I really um rallied and conscripted our drummer, Ryan, who was also our drummer when we were kids.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I had to go I found him when he was 16.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: I had to go sit in his parents' living room and convince them to let me take their kid across state lines on tour, which they did.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: They they let me uh but anyway, so we got Ryan involved and he had like a three-week run-up to fit to learn the demos, and he did and killed it at the blasting room and at Secret Combinations.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: And up to that point, dude, honestly, this is the honest truth.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: This was when we left the blasting room the first time, as great as the experience was, it was still more of just like a project, like it was kind of more of a uh Chad Jeff, Sean Ryan uh creative like uh thing.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't until we started getting the mixes back that we went, damn, dude, we're gonna have to do something with this, guys.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if we put this out, we're gonna have to like be a band and play a little bit and like promote it and stuff and find a label and and the rest is history, man.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, maybe that was a long-winded way of explaining it, but no, that was a perfect way of explaining it.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think about this world that we live in right now, this technological world.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now we can we could shit on it all day long.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: We could talk about all the evils of social media, we can talk about we could sound like old grandpas and be like, well, back when we were kids, you know, how much better everything was.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: But the connectivity that this world allows for now versus back then makes moments like that possible.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like more times than not.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I think I I I think about that in regard to even booking episodes of this podcast.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've had conversations with people that I would have only dreamed about having conversations as little as 10 years ago, but it it's this synergy.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's existent in the world that allows for us to be the best version of ourselves that we could possibly be.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: And taking that to a marketing point and a publishing point, like how do you feel personally about the way the new music industry exists and how releasing songs exist?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: Man, I'm torn on it because you know we grew so fast in our social media following and and so many people, you know, in the old days, seriously, when we were doing this before, if you wanted people to hear your music, even if you were like a sign band on an independent level, like you had to tour, you had to go out and eat, play in front of them.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh so nowadays it's it's a little bit different.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like the cart can actually come before the horse.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and that's really the approach we took was I mean, not to sound too corny, but like the whole if you build it, they will come thing was like, all right, let's we've got what we believe is a quality piece of music here and an album, and we create our social media accounts and start just trying to do some of the things that we're seeing other bands do in terms of promoting it, and it grew fast.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like our Facebook following grew to like 50,000 people in two years, and our our Instagram you know grew really fast too.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, so those are blessings, so to speak, right?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: Those are assets and and means to communicate with fans that when you and I were uh grinding it out back in the day was utterly unavailable to you unless you were signed to a competent like uh label.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so there's so many blessings to it, but the problem is you've got a lot of it's it's a cacophony of music.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so figuring out how to separate yourself in that sea of everyone's on Spotify, everyone's got a band, everyone's you know, and I don't say that dismissively, I'm saying that I love it.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: More power to any all the artists, it's so much the accessibility and uh all that stuff, it's there.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: Home recording, that proliferation has also led to the more and more music.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it can be daunting and a little bit overwhelming.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so what we do is basically, Mike, is we stand on the music and we basically say, hey, look, man, if you here's what we this is basically the mu we're playing the mu we're writing and performing and recording the music that we want to hear.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like this is our interpretation of our musical tastes and then of you know what's on our mind as artists, uh, in our hearts.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: And if it's if we like it, other people will like it.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: So let's just do our best to try and see if we can't help this music find its tribe.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: And uh social media has helped us do that to a great degree.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I agree with that.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's crazy because I've had this same conversation with so many different uh musicians from different stages in their careers.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously, younger musicians, like I just had a pop star on recently, uh young 20-year-old girl, and she was talking about how important authenticity is to Gen Z.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something that maybe we don't think about, but you just described like to a T.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean you you are making music for yourself, and sometimes that allows for more people to have buy-in into the art that you're creating.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: But as far as releasing it, again, it's varying degrees of how people feel about that.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like some guys that were established back in the old school, they're like, I hate the way we release music now, how we trickle out songs and trickle out songs and trickle out songs, and then nobody thinks of music in terms of a whole album anymore.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the one saving grace for us on that, and I refuse to ever be that that band that is a single band for the what it's worth.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but the one saving grace for us in that respect is that punk rock is still culturally, it's about the music, it's about the tactile, physical.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like people want to read the lyrics, they want to see the pictures in the inner sleeve.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that translates to how they also consume uh to a point.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: It translates, I think, to how like people who are fans of punk rock uh engage with streaming.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, of course, every album is gonna have its songs that resonate more with people or have its uh deep, you know, further reach or whatever, but that's the one good thing is you know, punk rockers they still want the albums, you know what I mean?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: And like I have a lot of buddies in that I've uh over the years, and then also new people since we've been doing this again, uh, that are not in punk rock, and they they stick to this like rigid that single release thing, and it's like, man, to me, you're you're missing the cart for the whores.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's killer if you're falling in reverse.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: If you've already got this massive following and platform and a huge label supporting you, and like then yeah, dude, milk that.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: But like otherwise, you gotta flood the zone, in my opinion, with qual it with what you know, your music, and um then just do the best you can to help that music reach people, honestly.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it sounds basic, but you know, I I'm not exactly an expert, right?
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just telling you what my read on it has been since kind of getting back into it, you know, whatever it was three years ago, four years ago.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: So are you a physical media guy?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you like vinyl and CDs and old school way of releasing things?
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: This time around, we opted not to do CDs on Gainsayer, but um just because people don't ask for them.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, some do, don't get me wrong.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: We sold uh I don't remember the exact number we printed on Secret Combinations, but we sold through half of them.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: People do ask for it, but like I would say at a show or even with our online store and stuff, I would say like one out of every ten physical music sales was somebody who asked for it on CD.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: They wanted vinyl.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so I I love it too because I like to collect the things I care about, whether it's guitars, you know, amps, uh music.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: I like to collect it.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: I like to hold on to it, look at it, touch it, the whole thing, the possession aspect.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then with me, you know, one of the things that made me like fall in love with punk rock um was the lyrics.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, look, pop music, there's plenty of genres and and songs, they it has meaning, but punk rock, even if it's not a political stance song or whatever, like I come from that bad religion-inspired, you know, place where the lyrics blew my mind.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so when and and I learned so much about the world from reading bad religion lyrics and then memorizing them, and I could probably spit them out to you, like name the song, I'll spit the lyrics out to you right now.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, because I would first thing it was one of my favorite things, you know, back when bad religion was still in its every two years, releasing album kind of cycle.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: Man, I love coming home with that record, flip putting it in, and then flipping open the lyrics and just following along, baby, for the first time.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so that translates to today's day and age, too.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like if I discover a new band or an artist that I'm into, uh, I'm gonna, and if I really like it, I'm gonna buy that physical music.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: And at the very least, when I'm listening the first few times, I'm I'm reading the lyrics on it, provided they're up, you know, on Spotify or or Apple or whatever.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to read along because that stuff means something to me.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: I love that, man.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: I tell you, um, I sometimes wonder if there's not like a little bit of a generation gap as far as um how people consume music and not.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's like I would call us zenials, like like uh late gen X, early millennials, zenials, and then there are the late millennials that I think kind of drifted away from it, drifted away from the traditional way of doing it.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: But this latest generation, like people like my daughter's age, my daughter's 18, she's singing in a band for the first time herself.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: They're all about physical media.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we we will go browse thrift stores and antique malls, and she's buying CDs.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, what?
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: People still buy CDs, and she goes, Oh yeah, all my friends are starting to get into CDs now.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I would that's not something that I ever would have thought would have a renaissance, you know.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Vinyls make sense to me, cassettes to a degree make sense to me.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: I never thought CDs would have a renaissance, but that is something that I'm kind of observing and I think is great.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's fantastic.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's interesting, and frankly, it's very encouraging to hear that.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um now it makes me rethink my CD strategy on.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I absolutely love that.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: So this album comes out in April.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: What are some long-term plans for bridge the gap upon release of the album?
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: So we will be announcing some shows, uh, our record release show and some uh shows, you know, uh around the West US this spring and summer to support Gainsayer.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have two more singles dropping before the record, uh, for what it's worth.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if our labels would be pissed off that I said that or not, but uh two more two more kind of teasers of the record.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the songs we picked to run as singles, I think uh a lot of bands, and this is the way I thought, for example, on Secret Combinations was like, okay, which which song is like best case, in my opinion, gonna resonate with the broadest, you know, swath of of potential fans, because we were starting from square one on on that record.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: But this one that we picked the singles, it was more like, hey man, which ones kind of best represent the record in their own way where fans can listen and go, okay, there's more of this to come on the on the full length.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so anyway, we're stoked about that.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: But we'll have some shows to announce here very, very soon.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you're following us on social media, you'll you'll get that straight.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: That is your cue, ladies and gentlemen, to make sure you are following Bridge the Gap on Instagram or any social media platform out there.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: Man, this is this is pretty dope.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, Chad, I ask as kind of a closing question, everybody.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's really a sensitive question considering the state of the world right now.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: What's your advice for making the better world a better place tomorrow than what it is today?
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, that's tough.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: That's tough, man.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're it's such a divided helter-skelter situation right now.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'll tell you what I do is I think it's kind of like when you're in an airplane and they're there, you know, you no one listens to what the stewardess or the flight attendant, whatever, is saying.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but if you actually pay attention, they tell you to take care of yourself with the flight mask before you take care of someone else in the event.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I gotta cut you off for a moment.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have used that same exact analogy on probably no less than 10 episodes of this show.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: See, we've been we've been sharing a brain on more than one topic, bro.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um but and it's similar to like, you know, what they teach um, you know, uh lifeguards, and if you're gonna save someone who's drowning.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so applying that to the world as it is is like for right now, I'll just tell you, like, I'm I can't I'm taking care of what I'm controlling my controllables, and I'm trying not to get too caught up in whatever is being said on television at night or the social media because man, it's so extreme, and um, you know, uh it can be very uh overwhelming and kind of negative.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's not to say I don't pay attention to it.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm I'm I'm a father and I gotta know what's going on in the world, and um, but I just kind of worry about my clan, so to speak, and when I can reach out and help, you know, I'm helping on any individu it individual level that I can.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's really it.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I just try to keep it simple, bro.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: I I love that.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's like focus on your lane, focus on your house first before you focus on the world.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it's like don't cast stones from glass houses.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's like nobody's got a perfect situation.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: So uh no one's perfect.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna go out there and preach my worldview to somebody.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, listen, I as a songwriter, some of the stuff I write about are critiques of certain things, I suppose.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't want to sound too much like a hypocrite, but in terms of everyday life is what I'm saying.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm not right, I'm keeping it, I'm keeping it real in that sense.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you tell my audience where they can find you online, how they can find your music, and when they can find your music?
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so uh just follow, just search Bridge the Gap on uh Facebook, Instagram, or on TikTok.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: Although I gotta tell you of all the platforms, you know, TikTok the one is the one to me that I just I don't get it.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: My kids do.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: My teens and my young, you know, I've my oldest is 21 years old, you know.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm old.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, you know, so uh connect with us on social.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: We're on all the major socials, and then find us on Spotify uh and and follow because like I said, we got two more singles dropping, and then a 14-song banger from the blasting room April 11th.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: So we're we're stoked.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: Love it.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I am so glad that we got the opportunity to get to know each other, and I hope we stay in touch and uh get to do this more in the future.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, brother, this was a fun conversation.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad we crossed paths.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for inviting me on.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, thanks, Chad.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: The world is a much better place with you and it, my friend.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, thanks, buddy.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: You too, bro.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: Once again, I'd like to thank Chad from Bridge the Gap for joining me on the podcast today.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: That was a fantastic conversation.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you are following Bridge the Gap on all social media platforms.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: Check out Games Thare when it comes out in April.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: Please save the album on Spotify if that's an option.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: Visit their website, bridgetegapunk.com.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: I know they will appreciate the extra support.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: And while you are being generous and supportive, make sure you're following Caught on the Mic on all social media platforms.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you are subscribed to my YouTube channel and visit me www.cotonthemic.com.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: Shoot me a quick line for any depth inquiries or just a shoot if you want to.com.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: This has been caught on the mic with Michael Clark.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, thank you.