Welcome one and all to the latest episode of
Signals from Mars. I'm your host, Victor. This
is episode 448, and we welcome back to the show.
After a pretty long time, although I've been
appearing on Talking Metal and on his Patreon
podcast, I welcome back the one, the only, Mark
Striegel, the man that got me podcasting. We'll
get into that and a bunch of other things next.
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who is featured on this episode from Talking
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any event, you can go to SignalsFromMars .com
to keep up with everything Signals From Mars
related, whether it's the Patreon or any of the
social media platforms that are used to help
spread the word of the show. Yeah, so Mark Striegel
is back. And I'll get into this during the episode,
but he is the guy that did encourage me to start
podcasting. It's still a big deal to me after
all these years that he reaches out and wants
to have me on his show. And it's a thrill to
have him on here as well. With all of our ups
and downs over the years, I think the last few
years, everything has been very positive. between
the two of us and he's done nothing but support
me. So yeah, there's definitely more ups than
there have been downs. Um, but without his input,
I wouldn't be where I am here. 17 years later,
uh, with this show and doing some cool work.
I think, I hope that you guys are enjoying all
of the content that I'm bringing to you guys.
I'm Super inspired at the moment and trying to
provide you guys with as much content as possible.
So, yeah. As I always say, thank you for listening.
Thank you for watching. There's a million other
shows that you could spend your time on right
now, but to choose to be here and it means a
whole heck of a lot to me. So thank you. Let's
get on with it. Welcome to the latest episode
of Signals from Mars. Joining me today is Mark
Striegel. How are you, Mark? Good. How are you
doing? Doing good. Thanks for having me. Yeah,
thanks for you coming on. This dawned on me the
other day. You've been podcasting before I have.
It's going to be 17 years for me. Yeah. How many
people do you think have started podcasting after
listening to Talking Metal? Oh, I don't know.
I really don't. You know, we started 21 years
ago. There were definitely some people came in
right after that, but most people didn't start
podcasting until, you know, five to 10 years
ago. how, how many we personally were responsible
for, I really don't know. I'm sure, I'm sure
some, um, but, uh, but yeah, man, it's, it's,
it's crazy. I mean, it's like everyone has a
podcast nowadays. It's like, it's like Howard
Stern says, it's like, you know, who doesn't
have a podcast? It, it, it's, uh, it, yeah, I
could go on a whole rant and I don't want to
go negative, but I feel like it's just, it's
not as special as it used to be to me, you know,
um, where it's just like, seriously, every, everyone
and their grandma has a podcast. So it's, it's,
uh, you know, and since I brought talking metal
back, I've seen that, you know, it's like we
used to get thousands of downloads. We get hundreds
now. It's like, when I say we, I mean, I, I'm
the only guy doing it nowadays, but, um, uh,
yeah. So, so it's, uh, It still can be a powerful
platform, but it's harder than ever to break
through with it. We were so fortunate starting
it years ago when we did. But yeah, back to your
question. I really don't know. I'm sure a couple
dozen to take a guess. Glad I'm back doing Talking
Metal. It's kind of a little more under the radar,
you know, with my day job kind of taking up most
of my time. But it's been great. And we're posting
episodes where I'm posting episodes every Tuesday
on the feed. So if you don't follow or subscribe
to Talking Metal, I would totally appreciate
it if you joined our small club of listeners.
If you're interested in even more additional
content, I'm talking to the listener of this
show. Patreon is a place where, Victor, you've
been kind enough to join me a number of times
recently. We just had a great episode I posted
last week. that you and I did that only the people
who are supporting on Patreon, which you can
do anywhere from $2 to $20 a month, get. And
we had a great discussion on Ozzfest, which is
coming back. So what's that going to look like?
What's it going to be like? You and I talk about
that on the recent. patreon only podcast found
at patreon .com slash talking metal okay that's
my plug i'm done yeah yeah well i i as most people
know i mean i started this podcast after having
conversations with you so i mean i'm definitely
one that will always say that i started podcasting
because of talking metal and because of you but
um you also have to think of the fact that You're
also doing this kind of like I am on an independent
level where a lot of the other podcasters out
there are on some sort of a platform or they
have someone behind them, you know, with publicity
or with paying some part of the show. So, I mean,
I think to your credit, even though the numbers
may not be the same. you also don't have a machine
behind you. You're kind of doing it still DIY
kind of a grassroots style, which is how Talking
Metal has always been, you know, outside of,
you know, you guys were on Fuse and whatnot and
here and there on VH1 and MTV. You've always
more or less steered your own ship though. You
don't have a, you know, I'm trying to think you
don't have smart lists or one of these like big
podcasting networks behind you. You've always
kind of done your own thing. And that probably
lends itself to you continuing to do your own
thing as opposed to having to take orders and
having to. Oh, well, right. Interview this person
who. You know, there may not be any interest
in interviewing them or maybe they're so out
of left field that you don't even feel like they
fit in what you're trying to do. Yeah. Yeah,
man. I mean, definitely. I hear what you're saying.
I mean, but. And there's definitely a freedom
there I can talk to. who I want, but on the flip
side, there's nothing like getting paid for doing
something. Um, you know, I, I, I, it's not like
we've, uh, you know, I've heard other podcasts
pretend like, oh, we want to stay independent.
It's bullshit. Everyone, everyone wants to get,
get paid for what they're doing. And unless you're
already, you know, totally set financially, um,
I think, I think whether people admit it, they
all, they all dream that they're, they're gonna,
uh, you know, be rewarded. If not, if not with,
um, money with their podcast, definitely with,
uh, you know, recognition. So, um, which, which
we had that with talking metal, you know, like
I said, it's, it's flying under the radar now,
um, which, which. I am I am OK with currently
I have a day job which allows me to talk to hundreds
of thousands of people every day. So it's it's,
you know, I'm OK with talking to just a hundred
people or it's more than that. A few hundred
people on the Talking Metal podcast. And, you
know, I've been cutting the interviews up that
I do and posting them on social and they do great.
They get like, you know, some of these clips
get like. I posted one with Michael Wilton talking
about Rage for Order the other day. It's got
like 18 ,000 views or something. So yeah, it's
the content still coming from me on a corporate
platform. Well, not still, but it comes from
me on a corporate platform every six days a week
on the radio. But then, yeah, I have independent
stuff that I am able to. post on my own on the
talking metal podcast and of course on my instagram
which is where i'm focusing most of my social
media presence now which is just my my handle
mark striegel so so yeah man it's uh it's good
but yeah to your point it's um it's absolutely
nice to have the freedom that that you have uh
you know doing doing your show where you can
where you can talk about stuff and not worry
about somebody uh questioning what you're saying
or telling you, you need to interview this person
or that person. So, so yeah, there's, there's
definitely lots of pros to having creative freedom,
not working for the man. So, so yeah, yeah, definitely.
Yeah. It's funny though. You kind of alluded
to this. There's so many people though, over
the years, like when you started doing Patreon,
I did it a little bit after where. As you mentioned,
people said, I'm never going to do, you know,
any crowdfunding. I'm never going to do this.
And little by little seeing some of them, you
know, kind of follow suit. And there's nothing
wrong with that. If you don't want to do anything
like Patreon, that's cool. If you want to do
it, that's cool, too. I mean, it's your show.
You do whatever you want. Right. So I sent you
something yesterday, actually. something that
I came across that says that right. I saw that.
Yeah. I thought it was a video at first. It was
just a little post. Yep. Yeah. I was trying to
see, I was trying to find the source, but it
was just that post that I came across. It says
rock now among the fastest growing genres in
the U S outpacing country music per new report.
And the report is a, um, 2025 mid -year music
industry report by luminate. Um, What are your
thoughts on this? I don't believe it. I don't
think it's true. I think the proof is in the
pudding. You can show me a bunch of numbers and
stuff. I'm much more, you know, but where are
the rock bands filling stadiums? And I'm talking
about filling stadiums with teenagers and 20
-somethings. They're really, they're non -existent.
So I don't, I think, you know, there's plenty
of other, Rick Piatto just reported that rock
streams on Spotify are declining every year.
So I don't know. I don't know who this Illuminate
is. Not not sure where they're getting that.
I think it's I don't believe it personally. I
go to tons, tons of shows. I do try to, you know,
even, you know, I saw in that post they were.
They had music from Ghost playing and I go to
Ghost concerts every time they come through through
town. While there is more younger people at a
Ghost show than there is at, you know. at, let's
say, KISS, it's still a lot of, it's still not
like a youth -based crowd. There are some of
those mixed in, but not many, to be honest. It's,
you know, instead of 50 and 60 -somethings, it's,
you know. 30 and 40 somethings at a, at a, at
a go show with, with some older people. I, you
know, some people in their seventies at a go
show. So, so I, I don't, I don't know. I mean,
I grew up at a time where I was going to see
iron maiden and anybody in the room over 18 was
old, you know? So it's, it's and the arenas were
filled. So I don't know that I believe that,
that, and I don't know. I think it's so easy
nowadays to throw up. News and get a million
likes and it doesn't it doesn't necessarily mean
the news is actually true. Would I like it to
be true? Of course. Of course. I just think.
I mean, we've spoken about this in the past,
Victor, there's a whole can of worms, the whole
bunch of stuff that needs to be discussed as
to what needs to happen to to bring. rock music
back. And, and, you know, whenever I question
this, I get some person on social media saying,
well, my kids like rock music. We went to, we're
going to see Iron Maiden together. All right.
Yeah. But you're, you're taking your kids to,
to see the, the, the show. I don't, I don't believe
that a lot of kids, and sure there's some, there's
always some, but they just don't have that passion
about it that, that, that we had. And anyone
who tells me that, you know, the Metallica concert
is filled with young kids definitely is at a
different concert than I'm at when I see them
at MetLife. It's all old people and not all.
I take that back. It's 90 percent old people,
you know, and when I young people to me is 30
and under. And yeah, so so I don't know. I just
I don't I don't see it. I know there's younger
bands I'm unaware of, uneducated on, but anyone
who's selling out MetLife, who's a rock act,
I pretty much know who they are. And I'm just
not seeing a resurgence in rock as that post
that you sent me is reporting. But sorry for
the Debbie Downer. I'm just being honest with
what I see personally. What do you see? Yeah,
no, I agree with you. You know, I my kids listen
to all types of music. They like a lot of hard
rock and metal. But to your point, if we go to
a show, unless it's one of their favorite acts,
they're not asking us, hey, Megadeth is coming
to play. Can we go see them? You know, it's and
are they going back and like. obsessively frantically
learning about who's in Megadeth now and, and,
and what their history is. Are they reading the
books? Are they constantly online searching Megadeth
and, and being obsessed with it? Like you and
I were when, when we were growing up, I don't
know your kids, Victor, but if I were a betting
man, I would bet they're not. They're not. Yeah.
Yeah. And, and And I see it with my son. He's
he's into football and he's obsessive with it.
And he knows all the stats and he talks to his
friends and they're all up on on the different
football people. And, you know, I go to a football
game, MetLife Stadium, see the Jets play. It's
it's it's a mix. There's tons of young people
there. They're into it. They're passionate about
it. Are there also older people there? Yeah,
it's football. But sports have continued to stay
relevant with young people in a way that rock
music, in my opinion, has not. And listen, I'm
not Gene Simmons saying rock is dead, but I think
among... the younger demographic it's pretty
close you know i mean i i people what about stranger
things they had metallica and and iron maiden
music yeah who freaking cares it's like it's
like it's like when i heard when i was a young
kid and heard heard you know a frank sinatra
song in in in a movie i was watching it was you
know and i maybe i liked that song but it was
i wasn't like going out and and becoming a Frank
Sinatra fan, you know, you weren't digging through
his catalog at tower records, uh, trying to figure
out who played, you know, third trumpet on some
song. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So, uh, yeah, you
know, um, but even, even with the stranger things,
if, if, if that's the argument, um, what outside
of master of puppets, Has that turned like the
younger crowd onto again? Has that made? Oh,
wow. I like the songs. I checked out the album.
Oh, wow. They've got this whole other catalog.
I've checked out all these other songs. I don't
see that. And I mean, Iron Maiden was in the
season finale of Stranger Things. The song The
Trooper was like a big part of that or not the
season, the series finale. And barely anyone
even. talked about it i mean it was like no one
no one cared yeah this is the first i'm hearing
of it and i you know yeah we we we got to see
the stranger things play in london and you know
we i didn't even get to the episode where uh
master of puppets comes out so i mean oh yes
well that's season four season four was good
but season five is definitely slow um i It's
not to get in a whole discussion, but season
five was a bit of a letdown for me. It's when
I say it's slow. It was mentally slow for me.
It's very fast paced. It's like it's all action
almost the whole season. And it's just like,
oh, the monsters. They don't have any, you know,
in in season four. And I would say season one,
two, there was a lot of character development.
that I don't think they have in season five,
which made it a little bit, you know, it's more
fluff. It's more action. But I thought the last
episode, they wrapped things up nicely. And that's
where they feature the trooper by Iron Maiden,
which no one even barely reported on. I mean,
Iron Maiden put out a statement the day after
the episode premiered on Netflix. But I mean,
just the fact that you didn't even know. that
was featured in there. It just speaks volumes.
No one really made a big deal out of it. Yeah.
What do you think about Iron Maiden putting on
their own festival? They're going to be playing
Neverworth celebrating their 50th anniversary.
It's called Ed Fest, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah,
man. I think it's cool. I, who's on, I mean,
I think who's on the bill with them. the darkness
and yeah um but see see again you're saying that
the darkness um damn it i should have pulled
this up sooner but uh yeah i think it's great
man i i mean why not i i i remember and i don't
even know who the bands were but i remember looking
at the bands that were performing and thinking
Those aren't the bands true Iron Maiden fans
want to hear. Like, I think they should have
Queensryche on there. And, you know, groups like
that, you know, Priest is probably too, maybe
they're too big. But I remember reading the list
of the bands that were playing and thinking they
seemed a little off to me. But besides that,
I think it's great to celebrate. Iron Maiden,
you know, and have a festival like that. I mean,
if they do it in the in my area here in the States,
I'll, you know, definitely go to it if it's in
New York City or New Jersey. It's awesome. It's
awesome. Yeah. So why not? So it's Maiden of
the Darkness, The Who, the Mongolian band, not
the British. Right. Yeah. Which which means they're
good. I've seen them open for Maiden. But again.
I don't know, when I saw them open for Maiden,
it was a pretty, the response from the audience
wasn't overwhelming. Let's just put it that way.
I think Maidenfest, you know, and it goes back,
the who, they're going to attract, maybe they
think, oh, they attract younger people and they're
trying to stay with that vibe. But on the flip
side, the people who are going to that concert
who are in their 50s, they want to see Saxon.
play with me and they want to see you know queens
right it's like that those types of bands i think
would get me personally more excited about it
but um having said that and you know i feel like
i'm in negative mode here this morning on your
on your show something i'm not allowed to do
on my my uh high profile platforms but so maybe
uh maybe maybe that's why i'm doing it but um
Yeah, man, I think I think it's great. They're
doing it. I think it would be even greater if
they had fans that really appeal to Iron Maiden's
base fan base. Yeah, that makes sense to me.
The other two are Airborne and the Almighty.
But yeah, Almighty. Yeah, all those all those
sound completely off brand to me. for a maiden
show but listen it's their festival they put
on who they want they they maybe you know that
you know how these bands are that they're like
oh we don't want motley crew doesn't want to
do shows with like uh bands that they consider
to be you know that's why they had joan jedd
on the and they apparently didn't want poison
but poison ended up on the the big deaf leopard
motley crew tour a couple years ago you know
they they all have their own They don't want
to be perceived in a certain way. They feel like
they're above the other. Motley Crue feel like
they're above the other hair metal bands. So
maybe Maiden Purposely is avoiding bands that
are more, you know, more, what do you call it?
Progressive metal or whatever. Yeah. I mean,
to your point. if I want Iron Maiden to put on
something like that, I want them, as you said,
to play with Judas Priest, Scorpions, Armored
Saint, things like that. But maybe it's off -brand.
Maybe it's also them not wanting to get shown
up by another band on stage. I mean, that probably
wouldn't happen. people's feelings get hurt sometimes,
you know, the priest toured eons ago. You would
think that by this point, whatever happened back
then would kind of be water under the bridge.
If anything did happen, you know, but it's just
a shame that that's something that I think fans
have, have wanted to see for a long time. And
yeah, I mean, Judas priest is probably going
to cost a lot more. Right. That's another book
than those bands. But but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
The other darkness might be cheap. I don't know.
I'm not like a darkness fan, but, you know, I
mean, they live over there. So, you know, there's
you consider that type of stuff, too. They don't
have to travel. Maybe. Could be they share. Yeah,
I think it's an odd bunch of bands. Airborne,
really, they freaking suck. I can't stand them.
But, you know, it's like I think the whole idea
of a maiden festival is great, though. Yeah.
Airborne, I saw them once in a small club here.
They were good in a small club, but to see them
up on a big stage, I don't think it's the same.
I just can't. Yeah, I've never seen them. So
what do I know that maybe they're great live?
I just can't stand listening to their music.
I think they seem so generic and, you know, boring
to me. But listen, maybe Maiden fans love Airborne.
I don't know. I'm not one of them. OK, last topic
that I wanted to talk about. This is actually
something that. On my show, on this show, we
talked about. Back in 2024, actually. Right,
okay. When The Sphere came up, when you two started
playing there, we did an episode where I had
Ed Ferguson, and I believe Jeremy Weltman was
on the show as well, and we talked about what
metal bands we thought could take advantage of
The Sphere with images, with the sound, so on
and so forth. And we talked about Slayer. We
talked about Maiden. Bruce has come out since
to say that they would never do this fear because
it would be too boring for them to just play
in the same venue over and over again. We talked
about maybe Kiss doing it. And we also talked
about Metallica, who seemed to be the band that's...
or not seem to be, they're the band that's actually
going to be playing the Sphere now. It's been
confirmed they're selling tickets and so on and
so forth. What are your thoughts on Metallica
playing there? Do you think that they're the
right fit for that? And is that the type of show
that would actually get you to travel and pay
the amounts of money that they're asking for
to see that show? Would that entice you? Oh,
yeah. I want to go, man. Completely psyched about
it. I think the venue looks really cool to me.
I think Metallica has the hardcore fans and the
casual fans who are willing to travel for that,
which is obvious with the way tickets are selling
and the prices they're going for. And I think
that's a great. match for the sphere a venue
I've never been to so I I can't speak to it uh
with you know uh having experience with that
venue but from what I see with the venue you
know the clips and stuff it seems like it's a
great match and and uh I I think I I'm excited
by it I think it's I think it's awesome I think
tool you know they've been Danny Carrier, that
band, said they're discussing doing something
there. I think that would be another band that
would be a really good fit, especially with all
their psychedelic overtones and stuff they have
going on in the tunes. You could really do something
fun with the imagery that goes on in that thing.
So yeah, why not? I think it would be great.
I think Metallica is going to be great. I hope
I can get out there for it. Um, and, uh, I know
it's expensive, but, uh, it sounds like it's
a once in a lifetime opportunity because, uh,
you know, the time is, is, is ticking for Metallica.
Those guys are, you know, you get into your sixties,
it's like, how much further are they going to
be able to, uh, go on with, with, uh, playing
live? I hope it's for a while, but, um, I think
it's a very special thing for Metallica fans.
Yeah, I, I agree. And let's be honest, they're
the biggest metal band of all time. One of the
biggest rock bands of all time. I think you're
going to need that as well. Tool is another band
that has a big diehard following where you'd
be able to pull in people. And I mean, obviously
Adam, I mean, two of no problem selling out,
you know, arenas on for multiple nights in just
about any uh area of of north america the world
for that matter so i i think um they're definitely
a group that would do very well at at the sphere
and uh it's another band that i i would consider
traveling to las vegas for you know i don't know
if i'm going to be able if two will do it soon
i don't know if i'm going to be able to go back
for them if i go for maiden which could maybe
have or not maiden i'm sorry metallica which
could happen but um yeah we'll see any other
any other band you think that would be able to
play there i mean maybe acdc i mean i think you
need a an upper echelon band in order to to do
a considerable amount of dates there Yeah, I
don't know. Sure, ACDC, they could be a possibility.
I don't know. I don't know how I heard tickets
for ACDC. They're playing stadiums this year
in the States. Ticket sales have been a little
soft so far for those. I don't know if that's
accurate. So I don't know if they've, you know,
how many nights they could do it this severe.
Probably a bunch, I'm sure. But for me, they're
not, I don't know. There's something about just
their vibe, which. isn't in a real good fit with
the sphere. However, again, I've never been to
that venue. So, so I, I don't know. But they're,
they're definitely still, still seem to be a
stadium band. So yeah, of course they, they could
probably do the, the sphere. Don't know. Any
other that comes to mind that you think that
could be a good fit there? Well, I mean, Phish,
I'm not really a big Phish fan, but I know they
played there and they seem like the type of band
that would work well there with their jammy,
psychedelic journeys that take place in their
tunes. It's a tough question. I mean, I don't
know. A lot of the bands that I like, I don't
think are... popular enough to play there. You
know, the new metal bands really are having a
resurgence lately. So I'm sure Deftones or System
of a Down or something could definitely do numerous
nights at the Sphere. And I think those would
definitely be good options. I think they would
sell. And people would show up for those and
they have music that lends itself to a visual
experience. So I'll throw those bands in their
Deftones system. Do you think that they would
move towards doing a festival type thing there?
I don't know. I don't know. Ozzfest at the Sphere?
Who knows? It could be cool, right? You know,
screens. with images going of Ozzy and Sabbath,
you know, behind the bands that maybe cover their
tunes. Yeah, man. I think, you know, I think
there's a lot of possibility. Cool. Well, I do
want to thank you for joining us today, Mark.
Yeah. Thanks for having me. Where can people
check your shows out again? Well, you know, I'm
on SiriusXM. So if you want to subscribe to that,
you can find me on three different channels there.
But, you know, the stuff that's available for
non -paying subscribers is TalkingMetal .com.
That's where the podcasts get posted. And please
follow and subscribe to them on your podcast
providers. Talking Metal is back. It's been back
for 14 to 15 months at this point. Um, and youtube
.com slash talking metal and my Instagram, which
is just my name, Mark Striegel. Yep. Okay. And
if people want to subscribe to the Patreon. Yeah.
Patreon .com slash talking metal. Would love
to have you guys join me there. Cool. Awesome.
Uh, thank you, sir. And we will see the rest
of you guys on the next episode. See you folks.
Yeah, let's do it again soon.