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Brian Swindle of Have Mercy · 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.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Baltimore and Ad Mercy have built a legacy of the most only starts all block that speaks to anyone is very memories of lost the longest.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it's 2013 to first point.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now with their second studio album, the loneliest points I've ever been, having dropped on August 29th, Broadband Ryan's Twindle opens up a new chapter, one that's both raw and reflective.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: In this conversation, we dive into fans journey, the stories behind the new swindles like August 17th and TV Closed, and what it means to create something that lives in the quietest moments of the night.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Caught on the Mic.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mic.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've mentioned this in a few episodes recently, how we're in that seasonal transition.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Summer is coming to a close, fall is starting to eke its way in, and I get excited about new music releases that hit in the fall because a lot of times, sonically, they just hit differently.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I gotta tell you, the new album that is dropping from my next guest has this very impactful opening track.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I just got done telling him that's a song called Only If Only.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: It is such a good opening track, and it kind of just sets the tone of the whole album.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, I am welcomed by my new friend Brian from the band Have Mercy.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: How the heck are you, man?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, I'm doing well.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: How about yourself?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Fantastic, fantastic.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you were able to join me on the show.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man, this is cool.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I I don't do a lot of podcasts, but I I checked out some of your episodes and I was like, fuck it.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'll do it.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if we can cuss.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Please, please.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: I say this a lot too.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I say I use curse words as punctuation marks.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Hell yeah.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So the new album is called The Loneliest Place I've Ever Been.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: I feel that album title like none other.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so how did you come up with that?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, so uh it it's so the record was actually going to be called Only If Only, the first track on the record.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then we like slowly moved away from that title.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, as we were writing one of the songs on the record called uh What Happy Is, there's a line in that song that says, This is the loneliest place I've ever been, but it's the only place that I'll ever learn to love again.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Oh, that's such a big statement.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like that needs to be it.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I like long album titles sometimes, so I figured, why not?
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love that.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the the textures you have on this record, you can tell that you have a lot of broad influences.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's kind of take it back to when you formed the band, 2009, you had some metal roots, and then you transitioned into have mercy.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you kind of give the origin story a little bit?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, it's crazy.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like the band existed before the band even existed, if that makes sense.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, uh yeah, we were around in like 2009, 2010, and kind of like pulling metal influences and some indie rock stuff and mixing it all together, and then we kind of nailed down our sound around like 2012 and went for this like what we thought was like a cool like indie sound, but it was just fucking emo music.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we like just went down that rabbit hole for a little bit, and I think slowly it just naturally evolved into our a more polished version of what we were when we started.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: So um it's just yeah, I don't know.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: We've we've kind of touched on different things throughout our discography, but I think now we're at like the perfect um like sound.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like we are at our sonic peak, I feel like, right now.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I hate to be a repeating guy because I've mentioned this on several podcast episodes lately, about how streaming has kind of influenced music in such a way that genres are almost borderless anymore, and music is just music.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I've had set one guest point out that music these days is more about mood.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like the evolution of the industry at large and everything that was going on around the band kind of allowed for you to be a little bit more exploratory during that era?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think so.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I I think for good reasons bad.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think like we were pushed to be more exploratory based on like what the labels wanted and what our versus what our band wanted.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we got to dive our feet into different waters.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: We also get to work with different songwriters who worked more in the pop world.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we kind of got to like explore those roots and then come back to what our sound naturally is now because we're like a pretty much a DIY band now.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it's it's uh yeah, man.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: I I I think like getting there there are no rules anymore.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: You can do whatever the fuck you want.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's I don't know, man.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's a I love that.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's a good and horrible time to be a musician.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Some sometimes you you the horrible side of it is the lack of obsolescence because back in the day it was the few, the proud, and now everybody's doing it, and everybody has the capabilities of doing it in their own home or their own practice spaces.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dude.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that it's great because some uh, you know, some musicians who would have never been found are being found on a daily basis and fucking really thriving, and that is terrible because there's some really bad artists who are also catching fire, and yeah, but uh you know, who am I to say what's bad?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a good thing.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I was, you know, I will spend time doom scrolling on like the TikTok and all this other stuff.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I a lot of people that the algorithm feeds me are like music managers, music critics, and people along those lines.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And there is kind of a warning out there that the old tradition of the three-minute, 30-second long pop song is going to eventually turn into the two-minute long pop song in sync, and how people are writing music exclusively for social media now.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that's a little alarming for a traditional rock fan such as myself.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dude, it's so weird.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I I when we started writing music, it was to like write a full record, and now it's you know, on this new record that we're putting out, like I feel like nobody's gonna hear the majority of it.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: But they're gonna hear the first three singles and replay those over and over again.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, our attention spans are just so different nowadays.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I don't know, man.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna keep writing these full records.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Good for you, all I know.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Good for you, but I I I will kind of I will add a little bit of light at the end of that tunnel.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: It a band that I am almost ashamedly to admit that I was really late on was Jimmy Eat World.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: They're now one of my most favorite bands ever.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: But the same fucking way.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was late to them.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: I was too, dude.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like all when I was growing up, everybody was listening to them.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I don't get it.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then it hit one day.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, and so now I have that joy of like discovering their entire back catalog, whether a song was a hit or not.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of the times their deep tracks are some of the best songs I've ever heard.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: So to kind of lend to your point, it is still valuable to like take that album concept and record with that in mind.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dude, anything can pop off at any point, too.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we just I don't know how much you follow our band, but we just got on a NASCAR soundtrack for the video game that's coming out, and it's a song that we released like eight years ago.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like seven years ago, I was like, what the fuck's happening, man?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's good to I mean, as much as those singles are all that really counts, like building up your catalog is so important too, and knowing like where you've been and where you can go as a musician, man.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk, let's talk a little bit about your catalog from The Earth Pushed Back, released in 2013, A Place of Our Own released in 2014, and Make the Best of It released in 2017.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say are the three major differences between those albums and how have they that influenced the sound of the band now?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, those three records are very different.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like to me, listening to our first record, super raw, it was made in a week on like a$2,000 budget in a studio uh around here in Baltimore, and uh like the songs were just written in without any formula in mind, and then when we moved on to a place of our own, it was like, okay, we gotta be a little more formulaic, and then you have the label in your ear, like we could really use like a popier song, and we're like, well, we're just a sad rock band, so I don't know how we're gonna do that.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a little like few tracks on there that kind of like pop out in an odd way, but a lot of them are people's favorites now.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then make the best of us or make the best of us make the best of it was us trying to like combine both of those first two records and come out with something that's polished, poppy, but still just like deep lyrically.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I think like I think make the best of it may be the most similar to this newest record right now.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's just like we we tried to really polish it up, uh, but keep those sad, honest lyrics and uh just make the best record possible.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think those when we have those two elements in our sound, like the earnesty and then the polished sound, like it really creates something special.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, how did band dynamics play into this?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, collaboration partners and and you know, different band members' input like influence the sound between those three three records.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, when we first started this band, like it was when we first started back in 2009, whole different lineup.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and a lot of those songs will never be heard.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: But when the band first started popping off around like 2012, 2013, it was uh me, Nick, our bass player, Andrew, our guitarist, and our drummer Aaron.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we kind of uh we had uh another drummer for a little bit, Todd, throughout the years.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we had another guitarist, and I think like the sounds changed, but that first like have mercy sound was defined with our four core members, who I think it it's me, um Nick and Andrew and Aaron at the time, and then moved on to Todd.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, we've got a lot of members, uh, but that core sound was mainly Nick, Andrew, and I when we went in to like make this new record.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, we kind of formed every song as the three of us because we live very close together, and um, then we passed it all off to our drummer who lives maybe like two hours away, and he wrote everything, sent it back to us, and we kind of like worked it out from there.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I got lost in the question, so I have no clue where we're at now.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's okay, man.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, that's a general synopsis of our entire band.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: So most of the band, with the exception of the drummer, is from the Baltimore area.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: So our drummer's still from the Baltimore area, but now he lives like on the eastern shore and it's like two hours away.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: He's still in Maryland, but it's just R.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: He's near the water, in the middle of nowhere.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: He's living a good life.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, that's that's like bass player territory.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: You isolate the bass player, not the drummer.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man, it's crazy.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Now he has to carry all of his drums all the way from fucking Maryland.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So whatever.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: So in in 2019, uh you guys suffered tragedy and you lost a band member, and then shortly after announced a final tour that the pandemic disrupted.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: How did that period test both you and the band and your relationship with making music?
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, at that time, uh when our band member passed, like Andrew, Nick, and I were still on good terms.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we had a bad falling out though.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: So we we weren't on the best terms, but we were still talking and stuff like that.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then like after that happened, I was I was going through a rough spot myself, and I was like, I think it's just I think it's time to call it fucking quits on this band.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: And we had the full intention of never opening this door again.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um Nick, our bass player, ended up doing the final tour with me and some hired guns, and then like after that tour was over, we took a couple years off.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I had to get sober, that was a whole thing, and then like somebody reached out to us to play a show randomly, and we were like, Oh, well, I guess we could just do one show, and then that turned into a whole thing of like now we're just fully back in it.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and it's nice because like, you know, when we started this band, we were kids who didn't have any future and just wanted to uh you know try to make it big.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: And like now we're all just guys with regular jobs who want to do this in our free time.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I think there's a lot more um, I don't know, like passion involved now, because that's purely what it is, like a passion project, and you're our heads are in the right spaces now.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: So like it's crazy, like the way since 2019, when our band member passed, like the way this evolved over the past couple years is fucking nuts.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: I you know, I was talking with Sam from ex-ambassadors yesterday, and we were we were talking about how our concept of time has changed since the pandemic, like how five years actually feels like only one year now, and how ten years only feels like five years now.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how has your concept of time changed whenever you consider all of that that you went through at that period of time to the place you're at right now?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, dude, like you said, it feels like no time has passed at all.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: But it I don't know if that's just the way like uh the I look at it, or if that's like you said, the way everybody feels.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like I getting sober feels like it was fucking six months ago, but it's been five years, so it's like congratulations, by the way.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, man.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: I I I fucking talk about it a lot and I always feel like really self-conscious, but I also think it's one of those things that like I just have to I have to say to remind myself and to fucking tell everybody else.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, man, it's it's times super weird now.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Especially like I I don't know how old you are.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm in my mid-30s now, like it's fucking weird how things are evolving.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's what you were saying.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Growing up and things are fucking going quicker, and you're like, what happened to my entire 20s, man?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: They're gone.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So the reason I asked that question and kind of setting the table for it is it seems like there's more doing this for yourself in this season of this project than maybe there was before because of all of this self-actualization that you've had as a result of maybe like getting sober, the experiences that you've had, quitting putting the band to rest and then reviving it.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, do you feel that that has influenced some of the songwriting process as well with these this new album and these new tracks?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I think I I'm as much as this is for the fans, like writing music is for me.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like it it it it's it's how I get my fucking feelings out, and not writing like religiously or not writing um repetitively for a couple years, like I had so much fucking built up.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, man, it's just like I don't know.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: It is it it feels like a selfish act now to write music, but it's it's it's what needs to happen.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: My wife talks about it all the time.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, This is this is you, like you have to do this.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Every time that I feel guilty about going on the road or something, she's like, This is this is what you're meant to do.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So touring recording musician myself who walked away from it.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: I had similar feelings whenever I started this creative endeavor of a podcast in 2020.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, man, am I just gonna look like a damn clown?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, I feel that way sometimes, yeah.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: But then then it just I keep doing it and I keep showing up and I'm doing it for myself, and I find that a lens of layer of therapy that maybe I wouldn't get in any other aspect of life.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm still scratching that creative itch, but I'm also like I'm also creating something what all of us as artistic types want, something we can share with the world.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, totally.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe like it, maybe we're all supposed to be doing this for ourselves.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like maybe that's the only wee reason that it connects with other people is that it's so honest and fucking real, and other people go, I feel that too.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I see that you're doing these things for the right reasons.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we should be doing these things to make ourselves happy.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, not only ourselves happy, but yeah, dude, you hit it right on the head because I will tell you, I and I'm sure you can kind of share uh a relation to this, is like I felt like there were so many years where I was chasing that dragon in the music business where I was just like, okay, I'm writing this song superficially.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even know if I like it, but it gets a crowd reaction, so I I you know, and so I was writing so much superficially that at the end of the day I just felt defeated, and it was easy to um tear other people down and tear myself down as a pro, you know, as part of that process to where this podcast situation, getting to meet people such as yourself, I can have honest, sincere conversations where I can be me, you can be you, and it feels so damn genuine, you know.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: This is uh it's your baby, you own it.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, it I think once you lose that genuine part of yourself and you start doing your art for the wrong reasons, it's the worst fucking thing you you can do.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: I have a lot of regrets about that over the years, is like doing music for the wrong reasons for a couple years, and like just being able to find it again and like understand how beautiful this community is and how beautiful like music is and how much of an impact it has.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's fucking cool, man.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, and then you think about it and you're like, how many meaningful relationships did I piss away because of my conquest?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how many friendships did I disrupt because of my conquest, right?
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, oh dude, definitely.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, I you fuck everything else, I'm gonna climb the ladder, and it's like, dude, what a terrible way to live.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: But it's you know, uh you you have to make all the m mistakes in the world to like get to where you are now, and uh you know, without all of those relationships I pissed away, and uh, you know, all of the reasons I did music for the wrong way or wrong reason uh in the past.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like if I didn't do that, I wouldn't be here now.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it's 110%.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it sounds like you have the same types of conversations with your wife that I have with mine.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: So Oh yeah, dude.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: She's she's my therapist.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, mine too.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, uh, I need to talk to you.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if you were to go back, go back to 2009, whenever you first formed this project, and compare it to where you're at right now.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Who are some of your musical influences then versus who gets your engine revved up now?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, it's so different.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like when we first started, I really wanted to be I wanted the band to be like Manchester Orchestra or Mansions or Weatherbox.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to be like that cool fucking indie sound, a little technical.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: And like now, like my wife and I just went to see the Frey the other night and the strike, and then we went to see Micah McCoromance.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And now I like like just way different things, and I want our band to just be like, I don't know, the best version of itself.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: And seeing bands like that, um it's just so uh I can admire it so much.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like those bands are so well put together.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think I like always like uh strived for a certain sound in the past, and now I just want whatever our sound to be or whatever our sound is now to be the best that it possibly can be.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And seeing musicians like that, like it's fucking insane.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: I I I asked that question because a lot of musicians start exactly like that.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: They they focus on the sound first and the song second, but eventually over time as they evolve they learn that song is king and sound comes second.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: The so the sound doesn't fucking matter at all, man.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: That like you can have a shitty guitar tone and like uh shitty like drum part, but like if at the root, like that the vocal and guitar, like that song is fucking good, man.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's just gonna it's gonna knock you off your feet.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I tell you, and and and I mean this com from a complimentary point of view.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: When I was listening to the new album today and I was digging into it, I loved it.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Being an Omaha, Nebraska guy, I heard elements of cursive and like like post artist in the ambulance thrice, just like little bits and pieces there, and I'm like, hell yes, these are guys I can get down with because that's the stuff I was listening to when I was in the peak of it, even though I've done like fucking everything.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: We were just in Omaha, and somebody uh came up to me, actually, multiple people, and we're talking about cursive and shit like that, and they were like, dude, you see your sound is just like that.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I've never been big into cursive, but I know like that's a compliment.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like fucking.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Especially from Omaha.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, those people are obsessed with Team Cash.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, and what's crazy is all of those guys, all the big venues in Omaha, all of those guys work at the big venues in Omaha.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like it's it's not a weird thing to see the bass player from Cursive be your production manner manager at a local music venue in Omaha.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool, man.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I really like that town.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Are you you're you're still living there now?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm actually in Lincoln, but I lived in Omaha for 15 years.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: I've been in Lincoln for 10, which is just 45 minutes away, the capital city of Nebraska.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: So that's cool, man.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Omaha was tight.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: I like that town.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, with the loneliest place I've ever been, dropping on August 29th.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: What themes or emotions run deepest through this record and what makes it different than anything you've released before?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, man.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like the the theme is way different than every other record because I feel like all our other records just ended with like uh the listener or the uh focus focal point of the record in a terrible place and always ends sad.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: And this record, like it when you listen to it, it kind of has like an upward incline, and like as you're listening, things get better and you're looking at things in a more positive uh way.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I I think by the end of the record, it's it's really like man, there's a light at the end of this tunnel.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if we can all just get there.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: But like emotion-wise, like it it's just it's it is as sad as the old stuff.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel like I write some sad shit.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: I've been through the thick of it, but um, I'm at at a point now in life where I have to like see the beauty in it all, and I think the record really shows that towards the end.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny you mention uh the emotional state of the album because both August 17 and TV Glows offer emotional entry points into the album.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: What stories or feelings were at the core of those songs?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uff all right.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, first off, August 17th, I never thought it would be a single, and then it ended up being the first single on the record.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I did not think it was gonna be.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh like it's so August 17th was about like the last day I saw a family member before they passed.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: We knew they were gonna pass.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Me and my like uh immediate family went in and stole them, and I came home and I was like, fuck, I need to write.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I just need to write about everything I'm feeling right now, which I I've done a lot grieving in the past through song, but like this one felt different because I went with more of like a rock feel, and I wanted to fucking scream it all out, and I think that like that being the first single in the record is a good entry point for fans.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like everybody's gone through that kind of stuff, and as we get older, it's just gonna become more frequent, and it's really accessible.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: Song, you know, when you're sitting there going, I wish I could have said this to somebody, and I wish I would have done that, like that's what this song is about, like missing out on times because you feel like you fucked up and you should have been there more often.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's a good entry point.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then TV glows man is like it's about uh you know, uh growing up and finding young love, and then at the end of it, you're like you know, losing it and trying to navigate out of that, um, or trying to keep it alive, depending on which way you look at the song.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: But uh both like, yeah, it's it's good ways to get into a record.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you've ever fucking been in love, or if you've ever been sad, you can you can like have mercy.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great pitch, brother.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: That is a great pitch.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: That should have been a tagline for the record.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: We can get little stickers and put it on there.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: You've gone from Baltimore Beginnings through loss, breakups, reunions, and now a sixth album.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: What do you want Have Mercy's legacy to be?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: And where do you see the next chapter going?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I don't know if I can ever control what our legacy is.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I do like want to I want people at the end of the day to look at our band and be like, holy fuck, man, like they write some really good songs, and that's all I want people to take away.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I want people to connect to it and feel the things that I feel because like that's that's the reason I'm fucking writing all this music is to like let this out into the world, and if nobody else connects with it, uh you know, I'll still do it, but it it's super rewarding um in an emotional sense that other people do feel the same things I feel and can uh process their emotions by listening to it.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: So the answer to your question, man, I don't know what our legacy is gonna be, but I just hope people take away from this record and future have mercy records that like dude, I feel like we we know what we're doing musically, and um I don't it's time for us to really like show you what we're all about.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right, I love that.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's pretend just for a moment we're sitting around a campfire, we're having this deep philosophical discussion, right?
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: So this is your this is your time to be honest.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: How ready are you for this to just be out into the world fully?
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: And are you already cooking up the next batch of music after this drops?
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, it's so funny you say that.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: I I I hit up the guys today and I was like, I wrote a new song, and I like I've already written three and I've sent them to them, and I know I get annoying because like I I I'm a fucking workaholic, I can't stop, and now I'm just writing a lot because I'm fucking really into music right now.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I I new music uh hopefully comes out at some point after this.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm very excited for this record to be out there, man.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's been finished forever.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's been finished for like nine months now.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Dude, you you could tell I was asking that question from the vantage point of a guy that's released albums because you're like, dude, I've been sitting on it.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the that's the thing.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: I know I have been a part of projects where we've like we're days away from the CD release party, the album release party, and we've already got a whole other album written and ready to go.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dude.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: I I think that's where we're gonna be at.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Is like we're gonna be ready to rock, but then you can't release those songs for another three years, four years.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, it I I've definitely I'm I hope the guys don't listen to this because I'm gonna say it.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: Man, I've sent the record to way too many people already.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like friends of mine, I'm like, you've you've gotta check this out because I need your opinion, and I keep fucking doing that, and now like they're all gonna know it by the time it's out.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've ruined it for everybody.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's all right.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: You have your homies singing along to all the songs at the show.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean, you gotta take the find the silver lining in that.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: So with the album dropping on August 29th, um, what are your hopes like 18 months from now after it's circulated?
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: I I firmly believe this record strong enough that 18 months from now, we'll still be playing it.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like it normally we don't say that either.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm always like looking towards the next record, but this record feels super strong, and um, yeah, I think we're just gonna still be ripping it and still be trying to push it out under the world.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna be touring, supporting it?
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh, we're gonna try.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: We all have day jobs, and uh that makes it super hard to tour, but you know, we I think we figured it out now that like two-week runs are really good for us, or you know, a couple days here and there.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and unless we have made the statement that unless Jimmy World offers us a tour, then we will quit our fucking jobs or take a leave of absence and we will go.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's the one exception.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it's funny, uh, you know, a couple years ago I had Adam from Story of the Year on, and we were kind of talking about how um we were talking about how the weekend warrior thing is becoming the norm even for guys that have made it big, because almost every big name musician that you know has another side gig, primary side gig anymore.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's the only way you can live off of music nowadays.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, it's not too too strong of a statement, but like it works for us to have the day job and then do this on the side.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's just way easier this way.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: Every time we hit the road now, it's like a little vacation.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the it's not like oh fuck, we're gonna be gone for two months.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, I'm gonna be gone for a week and a half, and then I'm gonna go back to my wife and my dog, and it's gonna be nice.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, when the world shut down in 2020 and people had to stop altogether, and then it started to open back up.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think guys, that's another silver lining where guys got really keen to the idea of doing it efficiently and doing it impactfully.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: So whenever you're scrolling on Instagram and you see a tour poster pop up, you're only seeing 10 to 12 dates on that tour poster, whereas 10 years ago it would have been like 50 dates on that same tour poster.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, dude, and like a lot of people now are breaking up their tours into little legs.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Leg one is two weeks and they'll go home, and then the next one's two weeks, go home.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: But like I I tell people when we were touring back in like 2015 or 20 yeah, I think 2015 is when we did warp tour.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we were gone over 230 days out of the year.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that doesn't happen anymore, I feel like.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the world's the world's no worse for it.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, as much as we all want to see live music and and support live music, like seeing people happy, healthy, and well adjusted is probably a greater reward.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're not in a fucking tour bus every night and you're doing that in a van like we were doing, like it is just such an unhealthy way to live, and such it's so unsustainable.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm breeding ground for conflict.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, no doubt, man.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, fucking get out of my seat.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: You're in my seat.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: All those kind of fights, dude.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: Brian, I have had a blast chatting with you.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: My closing that's on talking to you.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: My closing question, my favorite question to uh ask every single person that does the show, and it's a little off the rails, but what's your advice based on all the experiences that you've had for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today?
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'll say I think everybody can listen to each other a little bit more, and I think everybody should have uh more of an open mind when it comes just to just about everything.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of the conflict in the world, and I never talk like like we said, we're no politics, no religion, but uh man, I I see a lot of people like uh shut down somebody else's uh belief system so quickly, or shut down uh their opinions or views on something when they really just never gave any chance.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, man, you just gotta have your maybe have your heart open a little more in this world and think it would be a better place.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: I agree, man.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think the world needs to rediscover nuance.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good way to put it.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody is so like adapt to like going to the extreme on one side or the extreme on the other side that there are some very nuanced things that exist in the center if you just stop and listen.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: Life is complex, man.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: All right, my friend.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't you tell my audience where they can find you guys and your music online?
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can find us at Have Mercy MD on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky, whatever.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and uh have mercy music.com.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: And our record comes out August 29th.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's called the loneliest place I've ever been.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that's it.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love it.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: Brian, thank you so much for doing the show, my friend.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: The world's a much better place with you in it.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks, man.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: You too.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Once again, I want to thank my friend Brian from the band Have Mercy for being on the podcast today.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're following them on Instagram at Have MercyMD.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: Go to your favorite streaming platform, listen to their new album, listen to their older albums too.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: Great band, fantastic conversation.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: Can't wait to see what's next for them.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: While you're being generous with the follows, make sure you're following at Caught on the Life on all social media platforms.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, I am trying to grow the YouTube channel.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: If the YouTube channel doesn't grow, the podcast doesn't grow.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: So if you could do me a huge favor, go to YouTube, subscribe to my channel.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: It'll make a world of difference.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I gotta tell you, sometimes watching these episodes adds another that you don't get by listening to the audio only version.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm glad to have you here no matter what.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can visit me www.cotonthemic.com.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate the traffic there as well.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: This has been Caught on the Mike with Michael Clark.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, thank you.