Prepare for a wild ride as we go backstage with Baranot Regrets and Sid Stratton to uncover the magic and mayhem of the music world. Our journey starts with a nostalgic trip down memory lane as Sid reveals his life-long love affair with music, triggered by the iconic Batman Forever soundtrack. Hear his fond recollections of partying with Jimmy Buffett, his parents’ favorite musician, and how music can transport us back in time, igniting forgotten memories and emotions.
We then step into the pulsating world of live music, where pyrotechnics and theatrics reign supreme. Sid grants us a backstage pass to his electrifying performances and the dynamic world of live shows, from the larger-than-life spectacles of bands like AC/DC and Motley Crue to the challenges and triumphs of the industry. We delve into the creative process behind album covers and the importance of trust in the high-stakes world of music production.
Our conversation takes a spookier turn as we discuss horror movie nights and the iconic soundtracks that accompany them. From the unforgettable tunes of Batman Forever and Queen of the Damned to the timeless classics of Rocky Horror Picture Show, we explore the unique relationship between film and music. We also entertain the idea of sending our music to Quentin Tarantino, famed for his eclectic soundtracks. Join us for this compelling journey into the heart of the music industry, filled with priceless insights, laughter, and unforgettable tales.
Check out Sid Stratton
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Check out the Playlist on Spotify
Follow us Everywhere
Make sure to HIT that LIKE BUTTON and SUBSCRIBE to our Channel to be notified of new episodes!
We always have a new episode every Monday at 1 pm
Please share our page with your friends!
Rock on
Prepare for a wild ride as we go backstage with Baranot Regrets and Sid Stratton to uncover the magic and mayhem of the music world. Our journey starts with a nostalgic trip down memory lane as Sid reveals his life-long love affair with music, triggered by the iconic Batman Forever soundtrack. Hear his fond recollections of partying with Jimmy Buffett, his parents’ favorite musician, and how music can transport us back in time, igniting forgotten memories and emotions.
We then step into the pulsating world of live music, where pyrotechnics and theatrics reign supreme. Sid grants us a backstage pass to his electrifying performances and the dynamic world of live shows, from the larger-than-life spectacles of bands like AC/DC and Motley Crue to the challenges and triumphs of the industry. We delve into the creative process behind album covers and the importance of trust in the high-stakes world of music production.
Our conversation takes a spookier turn as we discuss horror movie nights and the iconic soundtracks that accompany them. From the unforgettable tunes of Batman Forever and Queen of the Damned to the timeless classics of Rocky Horror Picture Show, we explore the unique relationship between film and music. We also entertain the idea of sending our music to Quentin Tarantino, famed for his eclectic soundtracks. Join us for this compelling journey into the heart of the music industry, filled with priceless insights, laughter, and unforgettable tales.
Check out Sid Stratton
Watch the full episode on YouTube
Check out the Playlist on Spotify
Follow us Everywhere
Make sure to HIT that LIKE BUTTON and SUBSCRIBE to our Channel to be notified of new episodes!
We always have a new episode every Monday at 1 pm
Please share our page with your friends!
Rock on
Welcome everyone to Music Junkies a podcast about people sharing extraordinary stories about how music has impacted their lives.
Speaker 1:Welcome everyone to Music Junkies, our guests today Baranot Regrets, baranot Caviets they will never settle for less. Florida based hard rocker Sid Stratton, welcome. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great. Thank you for having us all and I really appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1:I'm excited, like so I actually had a guest on my show probably about five months ago and brought up your name and said, hey, listen, you should really get these guys on your show. And I was like I went and kind of Googled you guys and you were my selling feature right Like back in the day I love Megadeth and I was like, wow, the lead singer is pretty hot, we got to have him on the show.
Speaker 2:Appreciate it. Thank you, thank you All through. Like growing up, everyone always was like, oh, you look like a young Dave Mustaine. So like, yeah, I hear that all the time.
Speaker 1:For sure. Yeah, I was showing a picture of you to my daughter. She's like 26 and she was like whoa, yeah, you got to have him.
Speaker 2:Appreciate it. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. So, before we jump into your playlist, what was your experience putting the songs together for me today?
Speaker 2:Oh man, what was the experience? I just like really just picked out stuff that really just talks to me. You know what I mean. Like I'm really excited that we get the chance to share them all. I don't think some of them are going to come out of left field, so I'm excited to see what people think when they watch this and how they take to it. I don't think they're going to see it coming for a lot of it I love it.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, let's get, because I am like looking at your playlist and you know it's interesting when you get, you know like a hardcore rocker on here metal band and then lots of their playlist is like the song the first song that I'll play here in a minute it kind of like throws you off a little bit. But any kind of artists that I've had on here that is heavy, it is all the same, which blows me away. So I'm always curious by the stories. So here's your first song. You ready, yeah?
Speaker 2:let's do it.
Speaker 1:Kiss from a rose seal. Obviously, I feel like anytime that song is played there's a couple. Most people get it like the first like 30.2 seconds, and they're like, oh I know this song.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this song it's. So. I remember being a kid. I'm a huge Batman fan. Like in a room right now there's just there's like Batman stuff everywhere. And the first Batman movie I could remember as a kid was Batman forever, and not just because of like how it looked and it was Batman, but I remember the soundtrack, not just like the musical score, which I was a big fan of, but just like the pop songs that were on it. So like you had YouTube, but the big stand out for me was seal, and so I remember I was pestering my aunt to get me the cassette. So she did, she got me. It was. It was like she did it herself. So it was Kiss from a Rose by Seal, and then it was Savage Gardens. I want you. It was like a and B and I wore out the tapes consistently and so she had to keep making them for me and get me, but I would just wear them out. But yeah, I love that song, just love it so much.
Speaker 1:And Savage Garden, that's so hilarious. My daughter's father was a drummer of Savage Garden, so what?
Speaker 2:Oh, that is awesome. Yeah, I love that. So I made a post today because someone posted something weird where it was staying with you on a mountain and it was that whole. It's like when you haven't been in the bar with your fellows in a long time and it's just all these guys in the bar and they sing that song together and I was like that was literally us on tour. Like Savage Garden came on. I don't think the rest of the band really cared, but Raven Death Dancer, which is our drummer's girlfriend, she's a Savage Garden fan, so she was singing it too and I was like, oh my God, you like Savage Garden. She's like you like Savage Garden. I was like I love Savage Garden.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we don't hear about them, like like I haven't heard really of them in like 20 something years. Right, like it's. It's so crazy when people put like stuff like that and it just brings you back to that time when you're like, oh my God, I was so young and that's so crazy and like the connections like I could still picture it now in my dad's Ford Ranger just driving around town.
Speaker 2:I'm just again flipping the cassette and you know, just like putting Savage Garden seal back to back to back to back, and I think my parents probably got annoyed with it after a while. But I just couldn't get enough of those two songs specifically.
Speaker 1:Like what was your parents music when you were growing up?
Speaker 2:So they're also. We're also big like parent heads, like love Jimmy Buffett. So my dad, actually, back in the it's like late 80s, early 90s, my family owned a bar here in Florida and it was called the night out pub and it's been bought and sold like a bunch of times since then. But like they used to sell so much alcohol they were second only to Disney and then so they would take my parents on trips. So my dad got flown I can't remember what to do, what I know what it was with my mom, and they met Jimmy Buffett and ended up partying with him like all weekend and so I think he was a parrothead before then, but that's really just like kept it going. So now, like I've been to like four Jimmy Buffett concerts, I think.
Speaker 2:So it's really sad to see his passing because a lot of his songwriting like that's how I would learn to write songs is kind of like rewriting Jimmy Buffett songs and like how the stories he would tell. So, yeah, jimmy Buffett, ac DC, guns N' Roses, ozzy, my dad took me to AC DC, my mom took me to Guns N' Roses, so yeah, it's all over the board. You too, my mom, was a big, you too fan and it's funny because, like when I started getting to heavier stuff like love, like Rob Zombie, marilyn Manson, corn, like a huge into those bands. So while my parents were taking me to the AC, dc and Ozzy and Guns N' Roses, I would then take them to see those bands and Nine Ish Nails. So it's kind of it's really cool being able to take each other to each other's concerts.
Speaker 2:Now my mom's a huge corn fan and it's really funny. She's just like can't get enough. She's always like do a cover, shoot some ladders, and maybe we will one day. I met a friend at a tattoo shop. We like did a charity event at called Cat 2 Day and I met this guy named Brad and he's a great bagpipe player. So we're talking about maybe doing that as a cover. So, I think my mom's going to like lose her mind. She's going to be like what?
Speaker 1:I love that because I did that with my kids all the time. Like I like exploded their mind with so many different kinds of music. Like my my mom was like Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, all of that kind of stuff, and then my dad was like 11 years older than my mom so it was like you know Blueberry Hill and Chuck Berry and like all of that kind of stuff. So when I was like obsessed with music and then obviously I grew up into the 80s and then I love like hair band and then it was like so my collective of music has been all over, so we do like a lot of, because my kids really like thrash metal or raise that's kind of their, you know, so like great stuff.
Speaker 1:Thrash metal, and I'll take them to Rave's. So we do a bunch of that stuff too, and I love it because it's so fun to watch them. Like when we were going to concerts, I loved being in the front row, like you know. And now when you go see concerts, now it's very, it's so different.
Speaker 1:It's like you're sitting in seats and it's like it's still fun, but like where is like you're dying and having to like strip all your clothes off because you're sweating to death on the floor and they're having to you know came on stage yet, like, I miss those days and I wish that they got to experience those days.
Speaker 2:I took my sister to go see. It was offspring, bad religion, penny wise and whole wheat bread. And she's like I want to go into the pit. And I was like I don't know if you want to go in the pit for this. She's like yeah, let's go in the pit. I was like let's wait out one song and after one song let me know if you want to go in, I'll take you in first song. This guy gets like thrown out of the pit, like it's knocked out and it's just like on the ground done for the rest of the night. And I was like you still want to go in? She's like no. And I was like, yeah, I didn't think you would.
Speaker 1:We just actually seen them at punk rock bowling in Las Vegas. So we see, oh cool.
Speaker 1:Like me first in the gimme game is bad religion. Rancid was like fricking awesome. It was so good. Yeah, it was like a three day event. It was like all old school punk bands that I haven't seen like forever. So I was like this is so fucking awesome. Dropkick was there, like it was so much fun. So, yeah it's. It's crazy how you just kind of all over Cause when I met my husband he was all old school punk, right. It's like bad religion. Sloppy seconds, all of that kind of stuff which I never really listened to. Nobody ever really shared that kind of music with me. Yeah, so it was cool to be able to like do that and then me come back and share like totally different music that he's never been exposed to too. So it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:That's kind of like how my wife and I are, cause she like leans more on a lot of the like I was a cure fan but she like loves the cure and a lot of that kind of stuff. So, like the most I knew about the cure is cause I was like a big fan of the crow so I knew the song like burn and all their hits and then she introduced me to like their whole albums and I was like whoa. It seems like with the cure it's like every time they did something like just going back and looking at timelines of things, they would do something. A lot of people would try to copy it and they were off to the next thing and then people were always trying to catch up with the cure and they were always ahead and I thought that was just so cool it is really cool.
Speaker 1:Do you remember the first concert you ever been to?
Speaker 2:I think it was Carlos Santana. Oh, wow, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's pretty impressive.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, my parents took me to go see Carlos Santana, and then Jimmy Buffett was pretty much right off the start as well too, so those two were like one and two. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Were you like a rocker in high school? Like what kind?
Speaker 2:of career. Oh yeah, oh yeah. I've always just been music all the time. It was, yeah, I would get in trouble for wearing like guns and roses shirts and Marilyn Manson shirts. And we'd get like what is it called Dress code violations? Cause all the stuff I was wearing I was like these are bands. I was like what are you talking about? And they're like, hey, you know, promote violence and sexual content. I was like it's an album. I was like what do you? I was like come on. So I was always getting in trouble for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you could be any 80s frontman, who would you be?
Speaker 2:Oh man, man, there's some there's. I love ACDC and I would have loved to have been like Brian Johnson, like back in black era, which still blows my mind just how how a band can put out with two lead singers back to back Allen's from Highway to Hell, back in black, you know, especially after a tragedy, and both of them are just so crazy good. I'm just like I would say Brian Johnson for ACDC, That'd be awesome.
Speaker 1:That would be awesome. I love ACDC. I've seen them a few times and what an unreal show. I miss going and I don't know if you guys do this, but I've noticed like over the kind of get this 80s realm, and maybe even some of the 90s too, where the concerts are, like you know, so off the wall with Pyrotechnics and all this crazy shit. I miss those days. That's why I keep going back right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I know like we're going to see Kiss next month and I'm like I'm only going to see Kiss because I think it's going to be like a fucking unreal stage show and them all dressed up, and I think that would be awesome. Like I never miss a Motley Crue concert because I know it's going to be off the hook, I know it's going to be all crazy, Same as. So. I love going to see shows like that. Do you like? Are you influenced by that? Do you know these elaborate type of shows as well?
Speaker 2:So so funny story. I hope I don't go too far off the tracks with this one. But so when I started, like the Sid Stratten rebrand because I was in a band for like 10 years before didn't really go anywhere. We toured a few times and it just didn't happen or didn't work out. And then during pandemic I like did a rebrand and became Sid Stratten and the whole idea was the more theatrical Alice Cooper, Motley Crue. So we tag teamed with my, my wife Hones, a burlesque called Bad Witch Burlesque.
Speaker 2:So it's like while I was playing all the dancers would do aerial arts, pole routines, belly, any, any kind of fire dances, and so then that transitioned to what we do for live. Now, when we get to do our full theatrical shows, that's what we do. And I remember one year we did Miami We've only been a band for a year and a half, so this was the first one and we do them almost every year. Maybe every like seven months to a year would do a big theatrical show and one of the dancers set my hair on fire and almost set my face on fire. So yeah, yeah, we love pyro. I still love doing it. I was like, ah, it's all right, let's just you know, we'll be a little more careful next time.
Speaker 1:I love that you have dancers. I was going to ask you that. I love that concept. I think it's good, it's tasteful, it's not trashy. You know there's not a bunch of half naked, you know what I mean. But like trashy half naked, it's like these trash girls out from the crowd and they're just like here's my kids, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So like it's very tasteful, and I love that you do aerial and all of that stuff because it's so entertaining.
Speaker 2:And that's what you want.
Speaker 1:You want to be able to feel the music, but you also want to leave a show going. That was fucking awesome. If they come again I don't know who they were, or maybe I do I'm going to go see them again because the show was awesome and then the music's like the cherry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right.
Speaker 1:Instead of the other way around. Like there's been lots of concerts that I've went to, like Red Hot Chili Peppers is the only one that kind of popped into my mind and I loved them growing up and I went and seen them and I was still fairly young. I was so disappointed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. That's how I was when I saw like Jane's addiction.
Speaker 1:Wow, yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was just like. I was like kind of surprised. I was like I thought there was going to be more. Like I saw I would watch videos like older shows, and they were like a lot more theatrical than I saw them and I was like where'd all that go? No, I guess they got tired of it or something. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this guy put well, chili Peppers put like a white screen up and then they had lamps behind the screen that kind of showed in the shadow and it just stood there. I was like what the fuck is happening this? Doesn't seem real.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like. This doesn't seem. Yeah, and this is like sex magic.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is, like you know, your second, third popular album. Here. What's happening Like are you guys? Coming up already, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like gotta turn it up to 11 for that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:And especially like when you're going to see a band live, especially if you like have that kind of production budget. I think it's like you kind of should try to go above and beyond. That's why I love Ghost as well. Man, they just go above and beyond with their theatrics. And it's like when you're like a band that can play awesome live but also put on a show live and combine that. I feel like that just makes those bands so much more elevated in my eyes, like ACDC. Going back to them, seeing them like it was the Black Ice Tour and I think that was like Rock and Roll Train was the lead single, and then they had the train coming out like shooting fire out of the train, I was like whoa. I was like this is incredible. So it's just like I feel like bands, man, they really, if they're not doing that, they're really, you know, missing out because it's just so much fun, especially as like a concert goer.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's so inspiring. So that's why I like try to do that kind of stuff with our shows as well.
Speaker 1:I love it. Yeah, when we did ACDC it was Money Talks and they dropped money, so it was ACDC and I still have it, which is crazy because when I started the show three years ago I was like, oh, I should go find like all my I missed ticket stubs, Like back in the day get your ticket stub and then you, you know we save it, and so I was like going through it. I was like no way Stubs and like my ACDC money.
Speaker 2:I have a whole treasure chest of all my old ticket stubs from shows and I have hidden around here somewhere and I used to have them hanging up on like a corkboard on the wall and just had them all there, just like in the order of the show I went to see it. So I was always trying to, like you know, add more to the corkboard, so it just keep on going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. All right, this next song is your song. I'm excited. All right, you want to say the name of the song?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, that's Leviathan, yeah, that's that song. It's so weird because I remember writing that and just like I was listening to a lot of tool and so I was like, oh, time signature is changing it up, that'd be cool. So we do like a three, four, five, four breakdown back and forth and coming back into it and it's just like it's just so much fun playing it live. And the whole idea too is that song was like our mission statement when the first album came out. It was like, hey, this is like who we are. Storms are coming, going to blow you away. So we would try to deliver that kind of style of performance every time.
Speaker 2:So that's a, and I know in the lyrics was writing it was just more of the idea of like, you know, going out into this crazy world or you know music which in our minds is just like the storm, you know, going into a head first. We know the cracking is out there waiting to, you know, drag us down, but we're still going to face the head on. It's just kind of like my image of going and taking on the music industry is like, oh well, we know what waits us and we're going to tag it head on and hopefully we come out on the other side, kind of thing.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's crazy, being you know, obviously, probably for you just being in the new kind of realm of music now. Oh yeah, I know, back in the day it was like you know, I know this guy that knows this guy that, can you know? Pass on our tape. Now I feel like what are some like struggles that you have seen? Obviously you've been in the industry for a long time. What is kind of you've seen over the last call it. You know 12, 13 years of trusting like promoters.
Speaker 2:There's like few and far between good promoters that will like stay true to their word. Everyone wants like a piece of the pie. I've noticed and you got to like kind of watch out for that, because there are some people that just want to be out there to help you out, to help elevate you and just be like hey, just want to see you succeed. And there's other people that will like say that but want to like you know, train your, train your piggy bank or kind of screw you over. And we've had.
Speaker 2:I remember one of the first contracts I signed was when I was like 16 with like a really bad record deal kind of thing, and they wanted to fire the rest of my band that I had, make me a pop rock star and send me to Europe.
Speaker 2:And I was like, no, they're like if and for each one of my songs, if I wanted the rights, it'd be 10 grand a song to buy the rights back. And I was like, well, if these songs are worth this much to you, I was like I probably should hold on to these. And then was able to get out of that after four months because of a loophole in the contract. So dodged a bullet, but just keep my eye out on people like that and making sure it's like when you make a mistake, learn from it, don't do it again. So it's like I try to usually give people like two chances, like first time, like okay, you say that's an accident. After the second time. So that's how we are with like promoters and people we work with other bands, you know, whatever it is really it's just like two strike kind of thing we know to look out for now.
Speaker 1:So do you like all of your album covers yourself Like, are you designing them? Do you have somebody that's really good on that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's kind of like so the that logo where it's like it's so what it is, it's a Leviathan cross but incorporates, like my zodiac sign, batman fan, so there's a bat in it, of course. And then like the snake in there. So I had one of my buddies, wolfman. He just drew it by hand and he's like here you go. And then I had a guy redo it digitally.
Speaker 2:And then for the new album coming out from ashes diamonds on November 11, that one, we had two versions of it, one that Aaron, our drummer, did, and then Ryan took a crack at it, our guitar player, and he's like it's a cool cover but it doesn't match the music. And I was like yeah, yeah, I feel that. And he's like let me see what I can do. And he brought back this like neon pink design, really bright color. I was like, oh, there we go, that's what we're going to do. So it's kind of like a tag team. You know, I'll say like hey, here's the idea. One guy draws it up and then the other other one edits it, and then that's kind of how we get it.
Speaker 1:I like it. So tell me a little about the new album that's coming up. Like, obviously, I know some things changed over the last call at year and a half. For you, what is one thing that you feel really stands out in this album that you're proud?
Speaker 2:of how much it's evolved. Like I remember doing all the songs from the first album and where I was to the new one and I was like talking to our producer, john, and I was just like these songs like really hold up to like whatever is out there right now. He's like, yeah, man, he's like we're making some strides and we got some guest stars. We got Dan Sugarman of Ice Night Kills he features on it. He's going to be doing a guitar solo on one of them. But we got like a lot of guests on there where he's like played it for other people and people were like, yo, this is, this is what's up. And he works with some really cool, crazy artists. So that made me pretty proud to see how, like you know, it's not just like normal fans saying like, oh, yeah, that's cool, but like a lot of like my peers in the music industry, they're like, yo, what is this? You know, like a lot of people I look up to and I'm like, hey, I want to get to that level. And they're like, yeah, you're on the right track with this album.
Speaker 2:I was like, yes, so we even submitted, for I sent it to one guy we used to tour with and I can't give too many of the details away because none of it's like ironed out. But I sent it to him and I was like hey, I know you got a new band. You're going to be doing some touring next year. What do you think of this? And he sent me just like paragraphs of how much you love the album. He's like this would be perfect, open for us on tour. He's like let me see what I can do, so, fingers crossed, hoping for some good stuff to come our way. So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like being in this industry? Do you feel like maybe back in the day it was like people just heard you and were like, hey, come play with us. Do you feel like nowadays it's like you have to now be sending your stuff to people and being like, hey, it'd be really cool if we collaborate together?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's. Yeah, it's kind of weird. So, like I've worked with like the same producer for like 10 years, so that's the only person I've ever wrote any music, because that's how all the songs are. It's like me and the producer we just shoot an idea, or like there's a new song called Moxie off the new album, where he called me and he was like, do you like the killing joke? I was like, yeah, he's like, well, I just wrote the song.
Speaker 2:I think your vocals would be really cool on it. I was like, sure, let's do it. And yeah, we got this wickedly crazy song called Moxie that I can't wait for people to hear and yeah, so it's like even like getting show opportunities. Back in the day it was more like, yeah, we heard you through here, come on and play with us. And now it is definitely more of like I got to reach out because everyone you know it's you just got to try to cut through and make friends, you know, and make a good impression. And it's definitely more of in your own hands, which I prefer, that I don't like other people in control of our destiny. It's like, yeah, we're going to succeed or fail. I rather that be on my shoulders than anyone else's, because I don't like blaming people If something doesn't go right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, expectations on yourself, I'm not going to have an expectation on you.
Speaker 2:Exactly so. It's like, hey, if something doesn't go right, then it's because I dropped the ball and I can't blame someone else. So I much prefer that than you know an easy way out of saying like, ah, we could have done it, but they they didn't, you know, keep up their end of the bargain or they didn't do what they could have done.
Speaker 1:Do you have any weird rituals before a show that you have to do.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so Raven death dancer leads the band and stretches. So you know, before we all get up there we're all make sure to do our stretches. And then I'm a big, big wrestling fans. So, like we all do, like the NWO two suite, right when we go up on stage we two sweet each other and then we get going, you know. So that's like our ritual of stretches and two sweet.
Speaker 1:You're a big tool fan. Yes.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I have never seen them live and I want to so bad. But they're like my base playing style, justin Chancellor, 100% like the biggest inspiration on base for me, so it's like a love, love tool.
Speaker 1:You'll have to go back and listen to a good friend of mine. Her name is Brandi Lee and she was is a huge promoter. Anyways, like with tools, she knew those guys, but they would paint each other's toenails.
Speaker 2:It's like the weirdest stuff.
Speaker 1:He told me this crazy story about them all sitting in a circle painting their toenails and like come on, brandi. She was like nah, you know, I'm good, I'm good yeah.
Speaker 2:You're like we didn't have something quite like that, but I remember at incarceration, like we're big highly suspect fans and we were walking back to the tent while the rest of the bands watching Limp Biscuit, like we caught the first few songs. They're like, hey, let's go get a drink. And then we we ran to highly suspect and they were just like walking their dogs. So we all just kind of like hung out and played, played with the dude's dog and kind of like you know like oh, hi guys, but your dog, oh, my goodness. So it's like, but everyone in the campground kind of thing we're all like going to their dog and kind of like oh, yeah, you're highly suspect, but your dog was just really funny.
Speaker 1:Kind of moment where I'm like huh, don't expect that, you know has there been a show that you guys have played that you were like that stands out the most for you? Like yeah, or the atmosphere.
Speaker 2:Definitely incarceration, just because we're again. We've only been a band for a year and a half, actually, yeah you're, you're literally year and six months as of like yesterday kind of thing, and it's. It's just very weird how good we were, not weird. It's just mind blowing because usually when you're the small band, the new guys around you kind of got to like earn your, you know, earn your keep. And at incarceration, like Dan Hand delivered our wristbands to us and he's like one of the co guys of the whole festival, like super busy, and came and dropped off our wristbands to us himself and I was like what you know? And then we got catering and we're just treated like rock stars by the whole staff, security and we're just like this is incredible.
Speaker 2:And then not to get started on like the show itself was just so awesome playing and like in front of us is the prison that they filmed. What was that? Shawshank Redemption they filmed there and a bunch of music videos. Yeah, and it's just like that's the landscape as we're playing and just seeing the people, like the crowd of people, come in while we started playing, where even a few fans are like we. I guess there was like a the way the traffic was. It was like a bottleneck. And while we were playing there was like a bottleneck because people were trying to come see us and I was like whoa that's nuts.
Speaker 2:And then, after we were done, people were trying to jump on stage to grab my guitar picks and I was just like what is happening? And then coming down trying to load out, because they got a guy there waiting for your gear to bus it back, and everyone's like, no, we want your autographs. And we're like, is it cool? And they're like, yeah, yeah, go do your thing. We're like, okay, and then that took, like you know, 40 minutes and we're like we're so sorry, it's taken so long. They're like, no, no, so good up man. So it's just the crowd, the performance, the staff and just how well we are treated and received kind of blows our mind. And again, because we're just, we're the new kids on the block really and I love that.
Speaker 1:I love that how you speak of that, Because I feel like I know it probably gets repetitive, like over time, like the Rolling Stones, they're probably like oh, we're back more. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're like.
Speaker 1:yeah, we know we're great we got to sign like seven hours of autographs, but I think it's so cool that if you could stay like that, because this is what created you. Yeah, right, so like staying humble through that spot and soaking it in and enjoying it and loving that experience. I love that Like that is such such a good way to be, and I think more musicians need to be that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really, I don't know, like it's the only thing I've ever wanted to do since. I could like remember anything like all my whole family are musicians at some degree and it's just like that's all I've ever wanted to do. So anytime we get the chance to do it to me, I'm just like yes, you know, I'm just like so excited. Yeah, exactly, it's like no matter what else is going on, that always puts me in a good mood, you know that's cool, all right, next song. Oh yes.
Speaker 1:Beautiful people. Marilyn Manson. I remember when this album, I even remember when he came out, like it was such a shocker considering all the crazy metal bands, rock bands that we had anyways. He was just so very different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's the artist I've seen the most. I think I've seen him like perform 10 times.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm like with Chris, especially growing up at all of his albums, anytime there's like a magazine with him on it, every interview and he was kind of like the rabbit hole for me to fall into. Other stuff, like through Manson I discovered Nine-ish Nails, discovered corn, just you know slipknot. It was all through, you know, experiencing that. So I still remember the first time hearing that song. I uh, I was helping when I was younger, like there was other bands always playing and I would help them loading gear, just trying to, just trying to be around. You know, I was that annoying kid at every show, like hey, you need help, man. They're like just grab the guitar, bring it in, kind of thing.
Speaker 2:And we were at the hard rock and I went to the gift shop, just like gonna buy a shirt and a bracelet or something, and the beautiful people came on the tv and I like stopped in my tracks and was like what is this? And just seeing that music video. And then right after that music video played with Nine-ish Nails head like a hole and I was like what is this? You know? So it's just like those two songs back to back, yeah, but definitely beautiful people was like you know that shock and how it was filmed and just hearing how like aggressive the percussion's were and which is like that's why I love drums so much on our records. It's just very aggressive and like up front, just like so much toms in there and everything yeah.
Speaker 2:I know that's like.
Speaker 1:I'm a drummer by trait so I love and I love being super aggressive. Like I love feeling that they say like if you got anger, go beat the shit of your drums for a reason, like I'm a big believer in that, it's like you can go do that, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, play instruments growing up yeah, I played piano a lot. I wasn't ever any good, but, like I would, I would have like piano recitals and just like improv, because I'm like I didn't want to learn the sheet music, I just wanted to create my own stuff yeah. I know it probably wasn't the best sounding stuff up there, but I was like I don't want to play hot cross buns at the, you know or whatever at the yeah, I'm like I ain't gonna do that, I'm just gonna go up there and make something.
Speaker 2:And so definitely not the reaction or definitely not what people were expecting. For, like you know, I was going to like first grade and stuff, doing these piano recitals, just like, nah, we're gonna, we're just gonna wing it, we're gonna see what we come up with. So not what they're expecting, but I loved it, yeah, and that kind of led into how did I even get to that? Oh yeah, so my mom's grandfather or owned, or owned an orchestra that tore it all over like Europe and stuff, and then his wife was a dancer, um, like a ballerina dancer. So it's like gotten a piano through there and then from there my uncle was a prominent like jazz drummer and he just played with everybody under the sun and he kind of gave me my first bass and when I was like I told him I was like, hey, who's Marilyn Manson? His head was like, oh, you want to know, because he had like all the albums of everything. So he took me down the rabbit hole and showed me everything on that side of the spectrum of music.
Speaker 1:So what was your first song that you learned on bass, that you were excited about learning, that you actually went and picked?
Speaker 2:so this is gonna be. Funny is like I never went out and learned anybody else's songs on bass. I just literally just wrote. The first song ever wrote was alone. So that song it's on all my deadly sins album and that one censored in rotten rows, were the first three and it was just had a bass. I wrote them in like 2007 as like a little kid, just messing around. Yeah, I never wanted to learn other people's music. I always just want to do my own kind of thing that's really cool.
Speaker 1:Do things inspire you to write? Or you just you could, you just natural talent just gonna. Hey, I can jump off this podcast right now and go write a song or do I guess?
Speaker 2:I guess it could be either because it's like, hey, if I just like start humming something, I could put something down. But a lot of it is like storytelling, because before I got into writing music I like to write short stories, like horror stories and everything, and then I just would put them to songs and then I was like, oh yeah, this is easy, we can just go do this and just ran with it, like that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:I'd like to write a horror movie with Rob Zombie yeah. I would like to write a horror movie lots of blood, lots of like I.
Speaker 1:I think, like obviously I think horror movies are now going like to the extreme of the gore, which is fine if people like that. But I like like the old school horror movies, like I love the remakes that he's did because they are. They're scary, they're not. Oh god, this guy's like it's just blood all over the place. It's super gory. It's like scary. You're like I don't want to fucking go outside and put the garbage away. Like I'm good.
Speaker 2:I'm good here yeah, that's how like I felt seeing Halloween. I was probably like it was weird growing up. Well, everyone was watching like a lot of cartoons. I was watching like, uh, well, not only Batman, but like Frightners and Halloween and Alien and all that stuff. So I was always like I loved horror movies growing up, so a lot of those more like psychiatric or psychological kind of horror movies where it's less focused on the gore, like yes, I want to get you know, get God, but it was more of like messing with your mind and like letting you you think of like something that's worse there than it actually is, kind of thing.
Speaker 1:So we do this horror movie with our, with our family, quite regularly. Where we'll go? Somebody's got to pick a horror movie. We're. We're preferring B movies because it's a little bit more hilarious when we're watching them. We all have to pick a player and then obviously the first guy that's dead. You're kind of out of the game that's cool.
Speaker 1:And now, we've moved it to Christmas horror movies. Have you seen? They're out of control, like they're really bad, like you're just like holding on for dear life just hoping that you're gonna like get killed first for you can kind of move on and do something else. But we laugh and we have drinks and we do that and it's you know, it's something that sounds awesome.
Speaker 1:It sounds like a great way to spend Christmas, honestly, yeah you know that little break where it's like the turkey goes in and then from like 12 to 5 people are kind of still hung over from Christmas Eve and he's like laying on the couch, wanting to die. You're like this is my opportunity to show you that's right, all right. Next song, one of yours, so censored yeah, whoo almost knocked the mic off.
Speaker 2:It's getting too into it yeah, so great song thank you, yeah, so that one is that.
Speaker 2:That was one of the original three. I remember getting a um I think I wrote that on a little starter kick guitar I got for Christmas and I just like, right when I got it, I just went and came up with that and just that was that was all she wrote with it. I remember like lyric wise, what was. It was just like talking about government censorship was all that was about. Like feeling that way even at like a young age, because I remember like the school would always get upset with like the content of my short stories in my journalism class and I'm like can't write about anything, can't do it. I'm like, okay, this sucks. So then writing music is like you can't tell me what to write. Now you know, that's where I kind of came from.
Speaker 1:I love it. So are you on movie buff? Do you like to watch movies? Oh, yeah, yeah so is there a soundtrack from a movie that you absolutely love oh, wow, um, I love the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack.
Speaker 2:Um, what did I just buy? I bought the Batman Forever soundtrack because I just, I don't know, I love it, love it so much, whether it's again, whether it's like the pop songs that are on it or like the actual movie score itself. Like love both of those. Um, wow, there's the queen of the damned. I mean that soundtrack is just awesome. Banger after banger. There's so many good ones. Yeah, I would love to like.
Speaker 1:I feel like vampire movies do have really good soundtracks, so so you're gonna love this.
Speaker 2:So like the new album, some of the songs. When I was talking to, johnny's like so what's the goal here? What are we trying to do? I was like you know that scene in Blade 2 when Wesley Snipes is walking through the vampire club and all that music's going on and all this like rose obscene, but party stuff. He's like yeah, I was like I want it to be where we could insert my songs into there and no one would bat an eye. They would just think it was part of it. He's like all right, let's do it that butt blood pumping.
Speaker 1:That like anytime you hear that song. That's the first movie I think of. It's like this is Blade, this is Blade yeah, yeah so that's uh, that's definitely, uh, it's.
Speaker 2:It's kind of crazy how much like some of the songs on there, like Beyond the Pales on the new album, that was written for a short film that my buddy was writing and then the film never came out but we had the song. So I was like, all right, well, it's gonna be on this album then. So I was trying to like write music for his film. Like he gave me the script I think it was called Kagami, I think is what it was called, and it's talking about like the different faces that you, I think it's like the three different faces. It's like you show your friends, you show the world, and then it's like the only face that you ever see. So that whole song was written for his movie. I keep telling I was like, bro, you need to put it out because he's a great actor and he's just got so much going on where he's always busy.
Speaker 1:But you should send your music to Quentin Tarantino oh man, in a Tarantino that would be awesome music in his shows like.
Speaker 2:I should do that yeah that would be awesome I love Tarantino movies.
Speaker 2:All of his movies I love. That's actually so funny thing. So when we recorded this new album, john puts like a movie up on there so each song I can remember the movies we were watching. So it was like Res of War Dogs we watched. We watched that once upon a time in Hollywood and then. So this is going to sound weird. So there's one of the new songs on the record is called Blood Grind and that theme was like what if the game Red Dead Redemption was set in the Terminator universe? So we put the Terminator on and we watched all the Terminator movies while writing Blood Grind. But then the weird part was like when we were tracking we couldn't tell if we had the TV audio on because it was like lining up so well. So it's like if you play Blood Grind and watch the Terminator, it kind of goes hand in hand.
Speaker 1:That's really cool, but you could do that Like his movies. It's very rare that any of the music in there is super popular Like you would never hear a Rolling Stone song in there.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Like it's all great. Like the amount of music I've got from there on my playlist from Tarantino movies is crazy, because it's like, oh my God, this is such a good song, like for the part of the movie where you're like, ah, it's just. Yeah, he knows how to do both like well, I would love to have him on. I think he would be a a fricking riot in his story. I think the stories would be really.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Interesting Like. Why would you pick this song you know, like Little Green Bag for that Like, why would you do that Like? What is, you know, you know making you do that, which is really really cool.
Speaker 2:I always like artists like Tarantino too that are kind of they march to their the beat of their own drum kind of thing, like they're not like the stereotypical person in that industry. And that's why I like Jimmy Buffett. It's like built a billion dollar empire on his own and went against the thing. It's like people like that. I'm just like you know much respects. I love Tarantino and how he just he's like no, I'm going to do this, and he go and does it. You know someone's like no, you got to do this. He's like no, I don't think I will Love it.
Speaker 1:I love it too. So do you have any pet peeves? Things that drive you absolutely crazy?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I hate if there's like an expression like bring me a rock and then I'll do something with the rock and I would like. I hate that one. I guess it's used in like the military a lot and so like you'll bring up something like, well, I wanted a green rock. It's like why don't you say a green rock? Then you know I'd like your blue one. So it's just like if you're expecting something, let me know the details and how you want it done and I'll go do it. And it's like the same thing. It's like if I ask something of someone, it's like very detailed, you know, and it's like, hey, this is what we're looking to do. Because it's like then, if it doesn't come out the way and I'm like, oh, I don't like that, it has this in it, and then they'd be like, oh well, why don't you tell me not to put that in there? And I'd be like, oh yeah, you're right, I probably should have said that. So that's a big pet peeve.
Speaker 2:I try to follow myself to where I can get caught up into it and then also just like being prepared. I'm always, like you know, practice at home rehearse is when everyone gets together, because I like being like respectful of everyone's time, and I was like I know everyone has lives going on. You know they have so much, Everyone's life is so intricate and they got so much that they have to take care of whether it's like family, job, friends, bill, you know, whatever it is. So I try to make sure I'm like super respectful towards that, because it's like there's nothing worse than, like you know, making it feel like the person you're working with like you don't value their time, Because I know you don't get any time back and like the older I'm getting, the more I appreciate time. So I'm like I try to make sure I appreciate everyone else's time as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that, and I feel like everybody says they're busy because they're just so exhausted to answer any way else. It's like I'm busy, busy. Well, join the Espen Club because everyone is busy. We don't feel sorry for you anymore.
Speaker 2:Everyone's just, and it's so crazy to me how, like you know, I remember it's like just a few years ago if, like even before the pandemic, it didn't feel like everyone is busy, but it's like so many, like now, everyone's 100 miles per hour all the time and it's just like I need a calendar for my calendar. You know what I mean. And it's just, it's crazy.
Speaker 1:It's crazy but everybody's in a rush to like yeah, I'm sure Like, obviously Florida is way bigger than Calgary, but we, I call it the dear foot 500 because it's like, why are we going this gas? Like, where are we going at this time? Why is there so many people trying to like kill each other on the road? For what? Like, what are you running to all the time?
Speaker 2:Like, oh man, it's crazy.
Speaker 1:I find it's worse after COVID Like.
Speaker 2:I found.
Speaker 1:I find people's attitudes are worse. Everybody's busy, Traffic's bad. It's just like we're living in this realm of we've been locked up for so long that now we just want to be super angry which. I'm like totally opposite, when I'm like yeah. I looked at that as the most greatest opportunity to like build my empire during that.
Speaker 2:And that's I feel like I mean, that's what we try to do, that's what my wife did with Bad Witch, and that's like we took that opportunity to be like, hey, we're not shutting down anything, we're going to just keep going, you know, full steam ahead and put out entertainment for people to consume, because everyone needs to be entertained. You know, when everything, when the world's burning down, you know, and you need something to take your mind off of it, we were like, hey, let us entertain you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great, All right. Next song we're had like a whole nine inch nails.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a yeah, I mean I know I touched on it a little bit too, but yeah, that was another one that was just really like just blew my mind, seeing as a kid I think I was yeah, maybe it was 12 years, maybe younger than that, I don't know, it's pretty young. I think it was like 2004, 2005,. Seeing that for the first time and it just was like what is you know? Just what world is this? Why have I never heard of it before and where can I get more of it? So, and it's like, and again, now how I approach songwriting and then all of our albums is like the nine inch nails method, where it's like you know, go find a producer which I had the demos of, all the like the first album, I submitted those and they got picked up for a record deal kind of thing, where it was like I was like wait what? And they're like, yeah, yeah, we see something in this and it was like punk rock, thrash music and it turned from that into what you hear now and they were like, hey, we got this guy, we're going to sign you to him and he's going to mentor you and teach you more about songwriting and all that kind of stuff. And it was John Douglas. So, you know, 10 years later, we're still doing the damn thing together.
Speaker 2:And yeah, it's just, you know he's great at helping get ideas out. Where I'll be Again, I'll come at him with the demo and I'm like, hey, here's the canvas, here's the picture I'm trying to paint, what are your ideas? And he'll send it and send them back. He's like all right, here's what I got. And you know we do it all through like Guitar Pro, and it's just, it was, it's awesome. I love writing with him. Such good ideas. And then from him being able to, like he works with Corey Taylor, he works with Megadeth, he works with so many artists and he's always expanding his toolkit. So being able to learn from him because I'll go see him, probably try to go up there like once a year and go do stuff with him, and so every time I come back, it's just, you know his tool belt is so much bigger each time it's like you, level up.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he's like and that's how we got Dan Sugarman from Ice Night Kills. He like really helped us out. And he was like hey, do you want this feature? I'm like, yeah, he's like, well, he likes the song, so want to set it up. I'm like, yeah, let's do it. It's like come on, man, that's why, why not? You know, that's pretty awesome and it was like right when he was finishing with touring with Metallica too, so he came off that tour, did the solo, and then we got it in for Mix and Mastering and now, you know, it's, it's all all queued up and ready to go. So we're pretty excited.
Speaker 1:That's really cool. Is there certain people, like maybe two, three people that you would love to collaborate, that you're like oh man, I am, I made it because I am collaborating with this guy.
Speaker 2:So so I've thought about this and it's I don't know how to answer it really, because it's like I'm a big fan of like hey, if it's not broke, don't fix it, but you should always be expanding. That's why I like working with John, because I'm like hey, we already did this song, I don't want to do it again.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And he's the same thing. He's just like, yeah, we don't, let's not do the same thing twice. So we're always pushing each other and I feel like like I would love to work with Trent Reznor, but I know he has a way to work, but I don't know if that would mesh well. I mean, I would love to, you know, I'd love to collaborate with him, but I'm like, would it work? And same thing with someone like Marilyn Manson, rob Zombie because they're all stuck in their ways, right?
Speaker 1:They?
Speaker 2:have style.
Speaker 2:And it's like I don't know if it would work if I'd came in. You know they're like, hey, no, that's disrupting it. Like no, no, no. And it's like, hey, fair, I understand that. No, no problem at all. So it's, I'd love to work with those people. But you know, I don't know if it would be a good mesh of writing styles, because I'm not like a big like jam out the idea. I like more structure. So it's like, well, I'll write out the music and tabs or whatever and I'll send it to everybody. And then I'm like, hey, send your ideas back and we write like that. But being like in the rehearsal space for like eight hours jamming one riff doesn't seem very productive to me.
Speaker 1:No, it's supposed to sound like this. No, I think it sounds like this, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and especially when you're trying to show the bigger picture and no one sees it so much easier if you get a tool like Guitar Pro and write out the whole thing so they can see how the layers are. You know, you can see what's supposed to be played, where, who's taken this part and a lot of our stuff, since we play we're a three piece band live, so it's a lot of it's like me and Ryan picking and choosing. All right, so I'll play the guitar part for this. You go play the lead, or there'll be a section where I'll play the lead and he's playing the rhythm and like, like during Oleander, I'm playing the bass, rhythm, guitar and key section and I took them all and morphed them in one bass track and then their song like Twilight Zone.
Speaker 2:Ryan does like a lot of improv, fun solos on the top and Aaron does the same thing too. He's like I feel like we can make it more aggressive, put some percussion here, and I'm like do it, do it, just do it live, because it's awesome. You know, it makes the song. I feel like it involved more. So it's, I don't know. It's just so cool, so cool, love it.
Speaker 1:So when is your new album coming out?
Speaker 2:November 11th we're doing now I didn't realize it was. I guess there's a. What game was it? Is it Skyrim? I guess that's the anniversary for that, and so we're all big nerds. But I never played or was deep into Skyrim. So our drum was like, hey, that's the anniversary of this, that's awesome. I was like, oh cool, I guess that's also the anniversary of that. But yeah, November 11th we're dropping from ashes to diamonds. We're doing this album release show here in Orlando at the rent theaters, this big, beautiful space, and right now it's decorated like Nosferatu's castle.
Speaker 2:So we're going to be playing doing the whole album release in all the burlesque and everything, and basically it's going to look like we're in Transylvania at Dracula's castle playing all these songs. So I'm super excited.
Speaker 1:That's really cool. So I seen and I'm not quite sure if I got this right or not but if you have like 18 under, are the dancers allowed to be on the on the stage?
Speaker 2:Depends, I think, on. So the cool thing with like our shows, like we'll do family friendly festivals.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So then it's more go go, yeah, and like we did a bunch of convent, like we love playing conventions, because, again, we're all big nerds, so we did mega con, spooky empire, phantasm, and that we just it's more like go go and, like you know, fully covered but still looking rock and roll and everything. We did a festival in North Carolina and it was like that too. So we're able to, depending on where the show is or what style of show it is, we adjust it Cause I'm like I don't, I don't like swearing any of my songs. It's not because I don't like swearing, cause I, you know I swear all the time, but it's more of a. I like it to be attainable, cause I remember being a kid and it's like, you know, if it's too many F bombs, like my mom was like now you can't have it and I'm like damn. And then finding out later those songs like man, there's so many great songs.
Speaker 2:I missed out on all that and I think the biggest yeah, yeah, and I think one of the biggest inspirations for the reason why I do something like that was um, I got slipknot, volume three subliminal verses and they don't you know. Drop any F bombs or anything like that on there and just to hear how heavy and mean and angry and intense you can be without, without, sorry yeah.
Speaker 2:So that was very inspiring to me. I'm like, yeah, I'd love it, like I still want to deliver that anger and hatefulness and everything, but make it more attainable that way. You know, if someone's mom, you know, like hey mom, can I get the Sid Stratten record on now as the parental advisory, I'll be like dang, you know. So I try to make it more accessible to everybody.
Speaker 1:Right. Do you do anything to keep your voice?
Speaker 2:Um, I probably should rehearse a lot Like yesterday's rehearsal was eight hours. Just trying I have like, um, I've only taken one vocal lesson like real vocal lesson as a kid, and the teacher shouldn't teach me how to sing, she just taught me how to breathe, like keep that, and I just watched that cause I didn't want to learn how to sing like other singers.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then there's one other guy's class where it's more about breathing instead of singing. His name's David and he's pretty, pretty popular on Instagram and I never thought I'd meet him. And then when we did incarceration, he was there and I was like standing there and, mind you, we have like slip knots here in this moment, see all these bands and I see him and I was like I walked up to him and I was like I got a thank you and he's like, oh, what? I'm like I watch your tutorials on how to breathe and you know your stances and everything. I was like they helped me out a lot. I was like, thank you so much. He's like, oh, appreciate it, man, yeah, yeah, keep on kicking ass. So it's just kind of funny. I just watched his videos on how to breathe and your posture and now, not sing from the throat kind of thing, make sure to sing from the diaphragm. That's about it Drinking.
Speaker 1:What do you love most about your band?
Speaker 2:Oh, just the people in it. Yeah, putting this band together, the big like thing for me going back to not wanting to waste time is I was like, hey, this is a lot of time we're going to be spending with people, so these got to be great people and it's like if they're not good people I don't want to be around them. And so met Ryan, great guy, both of us huge, huge like action figure collectors. So we got like cases and stuff. We buy the same action figures. Basically. I go to his house and I'm like bro, I just bought those. He's like, oh, I just bought these two.
Speaker 2:And then, of course, my wife's you know main go-go dancer charges of all the burlesque. We say she does lead vocals on Ron Rose live. So it's a little bit different than the recording Some of the big Lana Del Rey fans. She has that kind of Lana Del Rey kind of sultry voice to it, so it brings it to a different, different level and I love it. And she's the head booty shaker we say as well. And then we met Aaron. He was supposed to do a music video for us, or no, no, no wait, it was so Leviathan, I was the guy who does these.
Speaker 2:Yeah we buy a lot of his stuff and he was following us and we just got rid of our drummer and he reached out to Aaron. Aaron reached out to me. I was like oh, we already got somebody, but music video instead. And he's like sure. So then I was like can we do a call? He's like sure. And I called him and was like hey, do you want to be the drummer? He's like what, I thought it was going to be a music video.
Speaker 2:And after meeting him, he's like Aaron's one of the sweetest, most kind, loving human beings you could ever meet. He is just just like a big warm hug when you meet him, you know, and just like a great I don't know just great energy when you're around him. Like he could be having a bad day, like I'll reach out to him sometimes and be like man, I'm feeling down and frustrated about this. And he's like it's okay, man, we are all. You know. He tells me the same thing. He's like we're all busy. You know, we're all going through it. He's like hey, we're doing a lot, man, so be proud. So it's like we're all going through it, be proud. So it's like whenever I need like a pickup, you know, I'll reach out to Aaron and just talk with him and he makes me feel better, I love people that fill your cup.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I need to be more people like that, cause I feel like I'm a cup filler, but I feel like I don't got a ton of cup fillers in my realm. Right, I feel like I have some, but I feel like I really latch on to the cup fillers. Yeah, sometimes I feel bad if I have it and then I'm like I got to phone this person because they're the only person that's going to break me out of that, and I love the way you described that yeah, yeah. Those types of people.
Speaker 2:I'll be on like the way home from work and I'll shoot him a call or something like that and I'll be like you know, man, what's going on. Talk to me, you know, and it's just yeah, it just feels really good talking with him. He really just makes you feel just happier after talking to him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it All. Right, your last song, you ready.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Lucky 13.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So that one, that one, we haven't played in a long time, until recently. We started playing it again Cause it's like some songs you can't like crack the code live, and especially when there's so much going on. It's like, how do you do it? It was just three of us and we finally cracked the code for that song and we're playing it live and people were losing their mind. We're like, yes, we did it and it's a there's kind of a joke with us, because there's a line in there where I say like restraints you placed on me, and we were driving and me and my wife she goes what are you saying right there? I'm like why? She's like I think you're saying one thing, but I know it's not it. I'm like, oh, restraints you placed on me. She's like I thought you've been saying some stranger pissed on me. I was like what? So now, like live, I'll sing that sometimes I'll just be like some stranger pissed on me and then people will be like what?
Speaker 2:And like when we're touring, that's what people are saying to you, like in the bus and everything that that song comes on our shuffle, everyone's like some stranger pissed on me and I'm like, oh man, so yeah, and then it's, it's a whole. We've rewritten the song where the lyrics are all just about paying your pants now, and it's just. It makes it hard sometimes playing it live, cause I try not to sing those. Well, not only that, it's like I'll fumble the words cause I go to sing those and I'm like wait, wait, wait. I'll get like choked up for a second. I'll turn and look at them and they're like laughing at me cause they know. You know I was about to saying the pee pants lyrics. How?
Speaker 1:did you meet your wife oh?
Speaker 2:wow. So I first time I saw her and I didn't get to meet her. She was like a cage dancer at this like nerd bar that I would go to and I wanted to go talk to her but I thought she was like with someone else because someone was like lurking by the cage. I was like damn you know, really wanted to get to know her. Come to find out that was just some like creepy dude and I was like damn it.
Speaker 1:I should have wanted to talk to her. I'm like that's probably a creepy dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and she's like I wish you would have came and talked to me. And then a few months later my friend Wolfman it was kind of like blind dates, double dates set up. He, like him and his girlfriend at the time invited us out for trivia to meet each other. And me, wolfman, his girlfriend, were hanging out and I didn't know it, but his girlfriend at the time was sending lashes pictures of me. She was like taking secret shots. She's like oh, this is Chris, I think you should, you know he should meet him. She's like who is that? You know, kind of thing. So then we got to, got to meet each other and been almost five years now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he just got married last year. Passion she's just very one of the most well, no, the most passionate person I've met, very determined, like she's. It's weird. So there's very few people in the world I've met that said they were going to do something and then do it and then be excellent, like the best at it. And she keeps doing it with everything she chooses. She's like I'm going to do this now and then goes and does it, and it's awesome. And she's like I'm going to do this now and goes and does it, and she's awesome. And I'm just like how are you doing this? It's like so crazy, so crazy to me, so a lot of like. I learned so much from her. Like I went to, I went and got my masters in business and like everything that I learned she already knew how to do and I was just like she's just so intuitive and just kills it at everything, so it's just blows my mind.
Speaker 1:I love that you guys work together. My husband and I work together too, and you know, I feel like I don't know if you guys experienced this but in the beginning maybe you're trying to find each other's roles. But once you kind of figure out each other's roles, it's like so much.
Speaker 2:So much easier. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a lot, cause I know sometimes it'll be like all right, who's right on this one, who's wrong on this one? But you know, most of the time Put your hands up.
Speaker 1:band mates, Put your hands.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, so it's. But now it's like it's easier and easier, you know, and especially cause like all the burlesque dancers are hired from her company. So it's like making sure that relationship's good between her and her dancers and doing like subsection. So it's like, hey, this core group of girls will work with us where these don't cause. It's like you don't want to oversaturate your shows with the same people or else you know that kind of brings down ticket sales. So you got to make sure you got a good mix of people so that way we can keep doing more shows and keep it fresh.
Speaker 2:Cause I'm like I don't like putting on the same show. It's the same thing with the writing songs. I don't want to write the same song, I don't want to play the same show. So it's like how do we keep it evolving? And now we're to the point where we're like I think we have 22 songs. I think it is so for a lot of these shows we try to change up the set list as much as we can and like we try to put in our main ones, like Twilight Zone and censored as much as we can, but we like just changing it up to see how the crowd reacts and then it makes it more fun, cause it's like if you saw us last month, this next month it's going to be a different set. If you see us the month after that, then we'll probably bring do a mesh of those two sets, so it's always something different.
Speaker 1:I love it. So where can we stalk you, hunt you down? Obviously, we know Spotify, itunes, but do you have a website? Do you want to be followed on Instagram, tiktok, youtube? You want?
Speaker 2:to-. Oh yeah, all of it. We got our main website, sitstrattencom. You can go there for updates and go to our Instagram at sitstratten. Same thing for Facebook, tiktok, all that good stuff. Youtube subscribe, follow, like, do all the good things, because we've got a lot of good things coming.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, thank you, sid. So much for joining us today on Music Junkies, but before I let you go, I'd love for you to leave me and our junkie fans some words of wisdom.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah. So the mission statement now for the band is what you said at the beginning offer no caveats, bear no regrets, never be one to settle for less, because, at the end of the day, man don't lower your standards for anyone or anything. Do what you believe is right and don't apologize for being awesome and being yourself, because if you're compromising well, you're not living your best life. So don't compromise.
Speaker 1:I love it. Great words of wisdom Again, like follow, subscribe. I'll leave all your socials on there. We'll promote you for life, which I love. I'm excited to see where you are six months from now, a year from now, and have you in the band come, you and your wife. I'd like to have you and your wife on the show together, which is a lot of fun too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're all bunch of characters, so I think it's definitely it gets very funny. It gets very funny. You can tell whose role is what when you get all four of us on the screen at the same time.
Speaker 1:I love it. Thanks again so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you Appreciate it.