Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / The Circle Of Life With TAYLOR ROBERTS From RIDING WITH KILLERS

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The Circle Of Life With TAYLOR ROBERTS From RIDING WITH KILLERS · HEAVY Music Interviews

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  My name is Taylor Roberts. I am the guitar player for the band Tap
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  Root. I am also the lead singer and guitar player for the band Riding
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  with Killers, and we just released our debut record, We'll Circle, this
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  past December and you can find it on every online outlet from Spotify to Apple
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  Music and everywhere in between. And Hostility is on f M radio right now,
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  So request that wherever you are, request hostility, please do it.
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  Well, I'm gonna get off, I'm gonna request the finished that. Hell
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  yeah, I love it. But because as you mentioned, my i'd like
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  last year Riding with Killer's releasty debut album, Full Circle, so probably even
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  named five six months now, sid has the reception being dude, it's it's
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  been pretty good. Man. You know, we're we're we haven't. I
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  don't feel like we've truly dug in yet, but with the things that we're
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  doing, we're we're seeing an incredible response. You know, as I was
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  saying, Hostility is at rock radio right now. And you know I'm not
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  I'm not a rich guy. I don't have a record label, I don't
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  have rich parents, I don't have rich friends that just throw money at me,
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  But I essentially threw a pebble at rock radio with that song and the
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  response we're seeing. You know, we have stations like will Rock and Chicago
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  one to one, the Riff in Detroit one the radio, you know,
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  picking up the single, and we're starting to make some d it moves around
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  the charts, so you know, it's it's letting us know that we definitely
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  have something real here and funny enough. Another song we had talked about doing
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  as a single, Don't Fade Away, and even you know, the company
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  I'm working with, they suggested that song too. We've started to see that
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  song just rise recently, like like we went from like I don't know,
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  like six thousand plays to twenty thousand plays within a matter of a couple of
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  days. So people are finally starting to hear the music. I feel like
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  it's starting to get out and make the rounds, and I think it's it's
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  turning people's heads, you know, Like I feel like we're starting to finally
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  get recognized and people are starting to be like, hey, who is this,
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  you know, and it's paving a really good path for us to start
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  getting on the road and hitting these places that are you know, showing us
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  some love and really digging the material. All of those lines by You've been
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  in the music industry for a while and you've seen all the changes coming go.
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  So how do you actually gauge the success of a release in the modern
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  As I back in the old days, it was pretty easy, But he
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  says, there's so many different platforms. Yeah, I mean, I mean,
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  obviously if you look at Spotify numbers and you see him climbing because I
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  mean, I'm not paying for you know, plays or views or paying to
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  get on on playlists or anything like that. So like when I start to
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  see organic growth like that, and then you know the fact that we we
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  headlined a city, We headlined Lansing, Michigan the other day, and you
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  know, we we we've had the venue three fourths sold out, you know,
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  like and we've never played there before, much less headlined and on a
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  Sunday night. So like the fact that people are starting to come out the
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  shows, and you know, we're getting just more interactions online and we're starting
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  to see our t shirts out in the wild more and more. It just
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  it's there's little things here there that are really you know, tall tale signs
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  and you know, just interacting with fans, you know, with people that
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  will randomly hit me up throughout the day and send me like the most amazing
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  message, you know, saying how the music is you know, connected,
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  or how they've connected to the music and how it's you know, relevant to
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  their lives in whatever way it might be. So the fact that I know
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  that this is starting to reach people, you know, it's it's it's it's
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  moving slowly, but it's it's real, you know, And I would rather
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  take that route at the end of the day, you know, and just
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  that slow organic growth, but it is still growth, and you know,
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  it doesn't seem to be slowing down. So tell us a bit about Full
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  Circle from a musical point of view, and what are you gone for with
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  the album? So for me, like Full Circle, that was me essentially
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  perfecting a sound that I feel like I've been working on since I was a
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  kid, Like just guitar wise, it's it's what I've always done, but
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  it just it feels more mature. I also got to work with some of
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  the most incredibly musicians. You know. Dave Coglan did all the drums and
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  he's he's the drummer for Sponge, you know, Detroit local legends. He
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  also played for tap Root, you know, he was their touring guy for
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  a while, which just how we met. And then I got to work
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  with Tim Krukowski, previously a Sponge and a phenomenal musician and a bass player.
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  And then James Lascu did I would say about sixty or seventy percent of
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  the bass on that record as well. So you know, I really got
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  to step it up with the musicians that I was getting to record with and
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  that I had in the studio with me to help get these ideas out and
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  ultimately, you know, being around people that are as professional and badass as
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  all three of those guys, like, I feel like it made me play
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  better, made me play harder, and it also made me play smarter,
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  you know, And I feel like musically and sonically, like compared to what
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  my older projects were, I would say mature is the best word that I
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  can use to describe it, because it just its like I finally have you
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  know, some really just solid good songs that you know, aside from you
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  know, the lyrics, musically, it's just it's fun. You mentioned that
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  you just recently released Hostility Bright, but I did. It just shows the
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  songs on the album that you still release the singles from it nearly six months
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  after after releasing it. So is it more to como or is he's hostility
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  wrapping up the cycles side of speak. So I would say we're still kind
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  of riding the tail ends of the waves of hostility. But I am still
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  planning on releasing more singles, especially with the response like I mentioned earlier,
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  you know we're getting from Don't Fade Away, you know, so I definitely
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  want to do something with that when it comes to rock radio. I'm about
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  to release a lyric video for that song. I've got a music video for
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  DNA that we're getting ready to release next month. So I mean, I
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  still want even though the album's out and you know, the songs are out
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  there, I still want each song that I believe in to have it's it's
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  day if you will, you know what I mean, Like give it its
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  own special thing. Like I still want to do music videos for probably two
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  or three more songs on the record, And I feel like there's stuff that
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  I can cantinue doing with these songs over the next twelve months if I really
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  want to, and I probably will because again, like I said, I
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  feel like each of these songs, you know, has their own story to
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  tell, and you know, I'd be cutting myself short if i didn't try
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  to turn it into visual art as well. So there's definitely more to come
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  surrounding this entire record. And next year I'm looking to meet up with Ginny
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  Nord when she comes over from Sweden. She was the female vocalist on in
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  Silence, and we're definitely going to be shooting a music video together and we've
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  talked about doing some live performances together, so I'm hoping that means that,
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  you know, writing with Killers, will be doing some stuff with Rave the
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  Requiem, really great band out of Sweden. So there's there's plenty more to
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  come over over the next year for sure. And I've already completed the second
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  record as well, so I've got that hanging out. You know, we're
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  about to start the mixing cross us for that. I'm working on album art
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  for that as well, So I mean there's there's plenty plenty down the line,
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  and then of course you know with that, it'll be music videos,
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  more lyric videos, and then you know, in the interim start working on
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  getting the band on the road and you know, running towards more touring and
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  and and getting out of our area. How would you say Full Circle difference
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  musically to your debut EP get In, Well, for one, I I
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  had a little more time in practice to become a singer, and I had
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  a little more time of actually getting to write some lyrics and work with with
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  some people that really helped me along the way. But you know, get
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  In was that was my first attempt at being a singer because I was just
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  like, all right, I'm gonna take shots in the dark and I'm gonna
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  just whatever happens happens. And you know, with with Full Circle, I
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  feel like that was me articulating my ideas and you know, expressing what was
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  in my head and heart much better. You know. I I had been
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  in the in front of the microphone a couple of times, you know,
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  and I had a little bit more confidence, and I just uh, I
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  also got to spend way more time on those songs too, So you know,
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  again I'm gonna go back to mature. You know, I feel like
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  it's just better songwriting and uh, you know, because because that was always
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  my thing. Man is I can write you a guitar riff. I can
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  write you, I can write you a song structure, but as far as
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  being a vocalist and finding melodies and singing them and and and getting them out
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  properly like it, it's taking. I'm still learning, you know, Like
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  I'm in vocal lessons now and I'm working on just making my voice better.
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  So I'm hoping that I can continue that that maturity through through my songwriting.
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  But yeah, man, I I feel like I was just able to express
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  myself a little bit better and I had more time to think on the songs.
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  It's a lot of time. Like you sort of you weren't initially vitalist,
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  but you've become one tod this. But have you found that having to
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  sing and play at the same time is affected guitar playing it all? Like?
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  It does it impact how you got about that? I mean it's I
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  definitely approach guitar playing a lot differently to a degree, But at the same
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  time, I still feel like I'm writing weird, intricate stuff like I was
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  doing with my older bands. But I also didn't want to just regurgitate the
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  same songs. But I mean, I do have to be conscious conscious of
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  you know, you know, the fact that I'm singing and playing guitar at
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  the same time. And but but I'm also to a point of where like
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  if we if we track it, I'll learn it and I'll do it.
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  So I don't think I'm limited by any means whatsoever. I do think that
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  my style took a little bit of a left turn from my previous bands,
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  but that was because I didn't want to be this band that was backed by
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  like, you know, ten tracks of orchestra and whatnot, and that was
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  what my old band was, I guess starting to go towards I wanted to
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  be more of like a rock band like Alison Chains or you know Corn,
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  you know, and yeah, they have a little bit of the E D
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  M elements, but at the core of it, they're a rock band.
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  And I would say that was why my guitar style change was. I just
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  I wanted to be more of a guitar driven rock band. So and especially
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  like with some of the newer material, like there's there's a lot of weird
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  stuff that I'm gonna have to learn and you know, to sing and play.
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  But I like the challenge. Man, It's it's fun, you know.
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  It's not. And if it's if it's not easy, that means it's
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  gonna be worthwhile at the end of it once I finally nail all of it.
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  So yeah, yeah, I've got to ask Bry. Like with the
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  band named writing Matilla's like, when you first started, you have anyone to
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  show up to the show's expected a brutal death metal band because you didn't sound
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  like a rock band, you know. That's actually I don't I've actually not
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  had anyone tell me anything like that. But I think because of the bills
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  that we've been on, like like the first show we actually did well.
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  I mean the first time. The first show we did was for Sure Microphones.
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  We we did a showcase with them, but like our first like live
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  show after the pandemic was with seven Dust and Tremani, so we we kind
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  of fit in that category and it worked, you know. But I I
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  think it's it's one of those bands that, like, you know, over
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  time, it'll just kind of be like, Okay, that that is the
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  rock band riding with killers. But I haven't had anyone tell me they thought
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  I was going to be a death metal band just yet. No, that's
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  that's that's the first, that wasn't probably seven I fucking love seven Dust.
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  Probably that would have been a great show, dude. It was awesome.
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  Man. We had a great time with those guys, and Uh TREMANI.
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  I love his solo stuff and and he's just the nicest dude ever. I
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  mean, like, we were hanging out backstage and then he just walks up
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  to us and starts like at twenty five in it long conversation and we're like,
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  oh fuck, that's Mark Tremont. What And then the rest of his
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  band walked up and just we started talking about guitars and gear and nerding out
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  and it was just like wow, like you know, because I mean,
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  dude, like, dude has what Platinum Records and and one of the a
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  couple of the biggest bands in the world, and he just walks up and
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  just starts hanging out. It was It was a very very good show.
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  We had a great time with with both bands. Seven to Us Crew was
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  awesome as always. Uh, And one of their guys even bought one of
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  our shirts that that that was really cool. When we started seeing guys from
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  that camp like grabbing armor and I was like, I'll give you one,
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  and they're like, no, fuck that we're paying for it, and it
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  was like that's awesome, so you know, it was it was it was
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  a really cool, really cool time with those guys. We've done We've done
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  quite a few cool shows, man, Like, like we we've only I
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  think we're not even the ten shows just yet, but I mean, you
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  know, we've done festivals with Three Doors Down see their Non Point club dates
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  with ten Years, and quite a few others. Man. It's it's it's
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  been a good start to this man for sure. Oh yeah, brother,
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  Well, hopefully she keeps on going, mate. But in the meantime,
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  the album Full Circle is out now and I listened before the interview. Man,
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  I really really enjoyed. It's a good album. Bis. Hopefully we'll
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  hear much more from me in the future. Absolutely, Chris Man, thank
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  you so much for having me and I'm and for spending us and and uh
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  and believing in what we do. Man, I really enjoyed hanging out and
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  it's just just still to have a conversation with someone on the complete opposite side
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  of the world. So just thank you very much for having me as a
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  guest, brother, and hopefully we see sooner rather later. And we get
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  to get Tomich of what we decided. Hey man, dude, I'm telling
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  you, dude, if there is an avenue for me to come play Australia,
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  I will. I will exhaust all my means to get there. So
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  if there's a will, there's a way. So it's just it's just a
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  matter of time at this point, mister Day that day to see the man.
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  Now, it's a good out from you. Its small around him from
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  so Calm Song said, Oh you mean it's for so small? I can
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  I'm so small. I can't as last still push your show like you're from
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  them? Then you struck from what your from me? What are your from?
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  Give me those fens that give a thousand money that see I can't say,
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  can it as Costello? That's aassic costs as Costell? I got so
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  so suns s jasscall thasscal hostel