Okay, so that was the kiss the kissing disease dead lover their most recently released track
on Spotify. Kissing disease. Welcome to the talk no look glad to have you finally on.
How are you guys today? I'm good. Good to be here. Yeah, it's a great day. So we are
joined by Maddie Spencer Dylan and Edmund. Wonderful. Wonderful. So I wanted to want
to ask you guys want specifically Maddie. So this this group, you know, you're in another
group back in St. Louis. But here in New Orleans, you came here in 2021. Okay. And you started
the band, you came up to it was Eddie and Spencer, correct? Yes. And you wanted to start the band.
Okay. So what what inspired that process and how come you approach them specifically?
Me and Eddie had done like a songwriting session together. I totally forgot about that. You're
so right. We did do that. Yeah, it was just like, Oh, I like, I just want to get together with some
people and like practice songwriting. You know, totally. Yeah, you're so right. We did do that.
And then I you played like a couple of songs. And I was like, these are these are good. And
then you're like, I'm working with this bassist. Yeah. And I was like, All right, two for one
special. That's awesome. So what was the vision when you when you were first approaching?
Um, honestly, like, I didn't have much of a vision. I just really wanted a band and wanted
to just get a group together and kind of see what became of it. Yeah, because I up until
then I'd really only played like a few solo shows in college so far. And if I don't perform
regularly, I start to like actually like go insane. So I was like, Okay, guys, we got to we
got to figure this out.
So initially you first committed to NYU, you know, that's been your dream school since you were
eight years old. What was I told you how hard were you? You know, so I mean, obviously, you're
here in Loyola University. What was that process like?
Um, it was weird. I spent a total of two weeks at New York University. And it just wasn't the
right fit, I guess. It was it was very focused on being a good performer and nothing else. And I
know that with like the way the music industry is today, if you don't have like a connection or
daddy's money or whatever, like, you got to know the business, you got to be able to work your way
around a DAW, you got to be able to kind of do it all. And I don't think that that was really the
plan that NYU was was forming for me. And so this program is a lot more like all encompassing.
So did you already know people from Loyola? Is that why that transition was easy? Because, you
know, how did you even find out about Loyola from NYU?
Yeah, um, I my god brother went here for music education about 10 years ago. And he knows a couple
people that teach in the popcom program now. And my best friend since literally preschool also came
down here. And when I was talking to her, because when I came back from NYU, she was back home because
of Hurricane Ida. And so we got to like see each other. And she was like, Yeah, there's like a
program like that at Loyola, you should like, look it up and check it out. And I was like, Okay.
And then my god brother kind of asked around being like, Oh, do you think she would like it down
here? And they were like, Yeah, tell her to like come audition. And I did.
So about the band, Spencer, it was you that came up with the name, the kissing disease. How did
that come about? Well, I don't know if it was me. It's like one of those things that happened so
fast. Like, um, but basically, I remember the first time we got together. It was one of the first
times I really met Maddie in like, an actual sense, like we had class together. But it's like,
Edmund brought me on because Edmund and I had been like playing music together a little bit,
like doing open mics and stuff. And so we came together and we know we're just kind of playing
ideas around with each other. And we're like, so like, we're coming up with a band name. And like,
I've always hated up coming up with names. It's like, it's like, it's the worst part. It's just
like, Oh no, like, so I always just kind of like say jokes. And Edmund had mono that week. And
COVID at the same time, actually. And so from my memory, at least I was just like, Oh, like, what
about like the kissing disease? Because like mono. And I was like, Yeah, sure. I was like, really?
stuck, I guess.
I'm not gonna lie. Like,
like the start of like, the kissing disease, like I was literally like one of the lowest points in
my entire life. And, and I'm very glad that this band was created. So yeah,
really. So fresh from from Houston. So you're coming in as a freshman from Houston. What was
what was so I mean, if it's not too personal, personal, you know, what was really going on?
Oh, yeah, I mean, I just had like, I had this, like long distance relationship that like wasn't
working out. And I got I just got really sick. And like, everything just kind of like, came
crashing down. And like, I don't know, we all met together. And we started writing or playing
music together. And it was, it just kind of like took me out of it. It was really fun.
Well, that's great.
And Dylan, can you can you tell me a little bit about swing gives you wings?
Why do you know about that? I don't even know.
How do you find out about that? So, okay, so swing gives you wings was like the first or
second band that I had ever been in. That's actually blowing my mind the fact that you just
brought that up to me. That's crazy. You did your research. So swing gives you wings was a jazz
combo that my friends and I started in our sophomore year of high school. And our whole
purpose was our school, they would they would let you make a club. But any money you made is
that club would go back to donate to the school. And we were like, No, no, no, no, no, we're
gonna make a bunch of money performing as this jazz combo. And we're going to give it to the
American Cancer Association.
That's raised over 15, over 1500 from what I saw. But you're saying, what?
Well, we got I mean, probably other like investments like from our parents and stuff. Oh,
oops.
There's a microphone. I'm scared, man. No, but like with like parent donations, we can
get like 2500 or 3000. But in total, we did get like from gaging 1500 around there. And
then the funny thing about it was the school tried to take all of that money and put it
towards the school ice cream fun. That's it. We had to have my my tenor sax his dad. His
name was also Dylan. His father put it into an offshore account in Sweden.
That's
the money just disappeared. Should you admit to this?
That's fine. Yeah, no, it's but yeah, that was the first band I was ever in. That was the first
like real public gig I ever played. We played for three hours at a little bar called Clementines.
And I mean, it was great. I sucked at drums back then. But I mean, the band had what over
seven people. This isn't San Francisco, California, state high school, San Ramon. Yeah, San Ramon,
California. Yeah, it was a very hard finding musicians in that area. Oh, yeah. I mean,
like, I knew all these guys because I was in the jazz program with them. And I went to like middle
school with the majority of them. But finding people that were actually dedicated to all this
stuff, that was really hard. Like, you know, it's it's really tough to. It's funny, the parallel
between like the kissing disease and swing gives you wings where with that, it would be hard to
organize like one rehearsal every two weeks. But with the kissing disease, I can be like, hey,
guys, I want to rehearse right now. I want to rehearse right now. And we can just kind of do
it plan two or three in a week if we need to, which we don't really need to. But it yeah, it
was it was really hard to find. Not that they weren't capable, everyone there was capable,
but people who were actually dedicated to like doing the music and everything like that. I mean,
like we're playing autumn leaves, you know, it's nothing super complicated. But like, yeah, it was
wow, that's so weird that you know swing gives you wings. That really took me by surprise.
High school bands. High school. Tell me about it. So Dylan, you joined the band later in the
formation. Okay, so you're actually pretty, pretty recently joined in the past year. Yeah, we're
coming on a year. Well, what drew you into the kissing disease and in how do you feel you added
or changed the band sound and groove and dynamic and chemistry? Well, what drew me into the kissing
disease was I really like Edmunds guitar parts. He's like, like the George Harrison of this band,
that guy can write some hoops. Oh, goodness, you know, he can write some real hooks on the guitar.
And you know, he's my roommate now. We have a pretty we met in our ensemble freshman year.
And, you know, he was like, Oh, I really like this band, the backseat lovers. And I said,
Hey, I really like to spend the backseat lovers. And so we, we just kind of connected through
that and we have similar music tastes. And what I've introduced to the band is, you know, Edmund
and Spencer and Maddie with her vocal parts, they all get very complex. Like it's very technical,
what they're doing. And I decided, I don't want to be very technical. And I don't want to be very
complex. I'm going to play as straightforward as possible, just so that I can let them have the
space. I'm just the rhythm. You know, I'm just doing that me and Spencer can connect as long as
my kick matches his base. Man, you say that, but I swear the drums on on hands. Oh, yeah. Well,
I mean, yeah, that's a stand out. It's all high hat texture, you know, right? It was this thing
of like, you know, I want to like, I want to introduce like the simplistic nature of everything
if that makes any sense. And so I don't know if I've changed, like the vibe or the dynamic all
that much that would be for them to talk on. But I do know that I really like the feeling of playing
with these people. And I really like the feeling of just like, sometimes, you know, he'll be in
our dorm, and he'll craft this really cool guitar part. And I'll find myself like, air drumming
because I like, I know what I want to do, you know, and it never has to be something that complex.
But yeah, yeah, I think that, you know, it's, it wasn't too hard to join this band. I like
everyone in the band a lot. And when we're in a room together practicing, it just feels very
freeing. Yeah. Awesome, man. Thank you for sharing. Eddie, I wanted to ask you, I found like,
maybe was it like a personal website of yours? I don't know. But who knows. But in the article
within the website, you mentioned that playing Southport Hall for Make Music Nollum was a career
highlight. Oh, my, I know exactly what website you're talking about. That's for me doing guitar.
All right, let's see. What made that show so special? Oh, man, I think it was like, it felt
like one of the first like, it was just like a, I don't want to say like, it felt like a real show,
but it just felt like, it felt like it was such a big stage and like, there was like cool lights.
Okay. And the lights were cool. And was there something about the crowd? Yeah. I think there
were a lot of people that I really admire that were in the crowd. My professors,
you know, like Kate Duncan, my guitar teacher was there, which was awesome. And Billy O'Connell
was also there. And I respect them all so much. And it just, Ed Wise was also there. I cannot
forget pop. And they all just like mean so much to me. And I respect them so much. And like,
what they've done and the fact that they like, want to pay it forward meant a lot. And to like,
play for a cause where you like, you know, teach underprivileged kids to give them like music lessons.
I think like music has helped me a lot, like process my own stuff. And like to be able to like,
give that to children and other people is just paramount. Yeah. Do you feel that show
marked like a turning point or milestone for kissing for the kissing disease? Because I mean,
many legendary acts have performed at that at that venue as well. Anyone jump in on it. But
do you feel that that there was a turning point for after that show? I think there definitely was.
Because I think we were able to take ourselves a little bit more seriously.
But I mean, we had some like decent gigs beforehand. I mean, not not many. This was very early on in
our like gigging career. Because that's really the first semester where we even started
playing shows. Like actually, right. And you know, this was kind of like the big one that kind of
like what's going to happen at the end of the semester. And like, we knew about it for like
months. And you know, we had so much time to like market for it and get really excited for it. And
then I mean, the venue was super cool, you know, like seeing all like the legendary acts that like
have played like in the green room and stuff. I had never been in a green room before. And it was
like a bad green room. I mean, it was like really grimy and gross, but it was a pain. And they had
beer for us. It was awesome. Yeah. I bought tickets to go see that show. Really? You guys played
me bag, right? We did. I remember I watched Gabe up on that stage and I was like, I want to be
the best man. Okay, so that was what that was before you were even in the band. Wow.
Because you guys like debuted, you sang on the mic.
So y'all's first time playing at French Quarterfest. What was that moment like stepping
onto onto the Esplanade at the at the shade stage? Oh, y'all are all looking at me. I don't know.
It was it was really fun. It was I don't know. The whole thing was was handled very professionally.
I felt like we got that really like professional like you are playing a festival experience of
like getting to go backstage and they're like, do you guys want drinks? We have like coolers
with drinks. And I was like, yes. And, you know, getting to like talk with the sound person and
they're like, we're here for you. Instead of like, yeah, everyone was just like super nice and super
professional. And it was really cool to just have people that weren't necessarily like aware of us.
Right. Here are our stuff. And it was it was really cool to see like as we were playing people like
walking past like turn their heads and like watch or like decide to come in and stuff like that and
see like the audience go from like a few people to like more people by the end of our set. That was
really fun to see. Do you remember that YouTube video? Yeah, we found this video on YouTube
where this just like a random attendant of French Quarterfest. She took a video of us and like on
her YouTube channel, like I think she's like an Uber driver or something like that. She's like a
blogger too. She's like a blogger. She's like a blogger to her like Uber trips. And then there's just like, she did like the kissing
disease at French Quarterfest. And we're just like, wow, we're getting real recognition.
I remember for French Quarterfest, I was like borderline panic attack because the past two or
three gigs we had done, they were all outdoors and it was getting towards springtime. And my
hands would start sweating. And this was before I'd keep an extra pair of sticks with me on stage.
And like the past two or three gigs we had done before, my sticks just flew out of my hands mid set.
And I think it happened at French Quarterfest too. And I just had to grab another pair and like
keep playing. So for like an up and coming beginner drummer that wants to ultimately,
you know, play at festivals, what do you feel would be some useful tips that could really help
them out? Keep a hand towel on you for sweat. Always have two or three pairs of extra sticks and make
sure they're within grabbing distance and practice your rudiments. Because I didn't. I got to pay
the price because of it. But yeah, just practice, practice, practice, and make sure that you're
prepared for anything that can go wrong because it will go wrong. Look up and have fun. Have a good time.
Oh yeah. Have fun most definitely. Honestly, that was one of my favorite sets we ever played.
I mean, you know, we had like the awesome gear behind us. Did you plug into the Twin Reverb
that they had up there? I did. You had the freaking refrigerator box. I had like an 8x10
and an AMTIG. We felt cool up there. It's like, yeah, we're a real band. Was this your equipment?
That's pretty cool. So do you feel that there's perks to being a festival playing band? Oh,
definitely. Yeah. I mean, you know, I was about to say like they have like drinks for us and like
little snacks and stuff like in the back and then everyone just kind of treats you like really nice.
You know, they're all very professional and you get to use really cool gear and they make you sound
good. It's not like some crappy bar venue, no shade at anyone in particular. Where, you know,
like the sound is kind of set and then forgotten about. But like at this one, they really put care
into making sure that we sounded good and we did. So yeah. You know, were there any unexpected
moments during the show? You know, whether it's with the set list or with any crowd interaction
or on stage interaction? I remember that one guy who was like, hey, can I get a picture of you?
And then we all crowded into the, oh, I remember. Yeah. There was this like older gentleman
that came up like while after we played while we were backstage, like as we were like talking,
I think we were talking to your mom, Dylan. It was my mom and my dad. Yeah. And this,
yeah, he came up to us and to me directly and was like, can I get a picture of you?
And it was very strange and. Hold on. So was it just of you with no one else? Like he wasn't in the picture.
Yeah. It wasn't like with you. It was of you. And I was like, okay, slay.
And then luckily like one of y'all noticed that it was kind of an odd.
And then I like jumped in. He's like, yeah. And then he said, yeah, he said, oh, and the rest of them,
I guess, he was so mad. I was like, oh, that was great. Do you have like admirers after
show like like crush admirers? Has anyone like approached you guys after a show?
I think I can speak for me and Spencer when I say that we're the drummer in bass.
So no, no, I have heard. I have been told that people think our bassist is really cool.
Well, that's I think our bassist is pretty cute. No one ever told me this.
I never heard about this.
So, uh, W W L gave you guys some spotlight during French Quarter Fest. How did it feel
getting that kind of exposure so early in your career? Oh my gosh, that was such a crazy day.
We had to be there at like 6 a.m. Oh, yeah. And it was just like the tiny little clips of us like
playing. Yeah, because it was a very stripped down set. You're on the Cajon. Aren't you Dylan?
Yeah, you're on the Cajon. And it was on it. We borrowed it from Kate Duncan. It was my first
time ever playing a Cajon. And I played it wrong. It was on the opposite side.
I looked like an idiot up there. It was really funny. It was really good. And I had like the
stupid little ukulele bass with the rubber strings like because we were told it's supposed to be like
an acoustic set and we're like, okay, what the hell are we in Dylan? So that's what we came up with.
Yeah. I think what happened? How did we so we got that like, I think, like maybe like two days
before there was like, it was one day before and it was we found out during tips. Yeah, during
the uptown throwdown. And that also is like a very late night. I remember you're so right. And so
they let us go home early because they're like, y'all need to be there at 6 a.m. Yeah. And since
it was, you know, like with the school, they were able to be like, okay, yeah, no, y'all can go.
But I mean, my voice usually after tips is like shot. So I think each time we played while on
TV, my voice was like more human. I don't know if I started out sounding completely human.
There was one really cool part about that for me. I don't know if you guys had something similar,
but after we got off the news, I think it was like maybe around noon, noon 30 around there.
Right. I went to the OR to go grab myself some lunch and I was swiping in my ID and she's like,
Hey, baby, how you doing this morning? I was like, I'm great. And she said, you know, I saw you on
the news this morning. I was like, wait, this feels really cool. This is awesome. I had several
people say they saw us on the news in the morning. I didn't know people watched the news.
They were all older people, you know,
else's up. This might be weird. Tell me if y'all remember this, but like when we were there,
like, and like TV is weird because like it's just like go and then like it's like chill and then
it's like go again. But in the meantime, I think weren't the there were like these two birds that
were like on a pillar. They were doing a special dance. And it was really distracting. Yeah.
And everyone was just like, like the crew was like looking back is like, what is that noise?
And we were just like, are these two birds? Like,
I still remember that. The other really good part of that was, I don't know if it was your mom or
your mom, but one of them like took a video. Oh, discovering us on the news. And it's just like
the worst lowest quality video. And then put it up to their TV and you like can't even understand
what Maddie's saying because it's so compressed. I love a good. That was great. Yeah. That was great.
Now, if someone walked, oh, hold on, I think I just lost my mic connection here.
Okay, I'm back. All right. If someone walks into a kissing disease show, having never heard of you
before, what's the one thing you want them to walk away feeling? Stumped us. I mean, the best
compliment that I ever got at a show was, do you remember when we did a howling wolf and Robin and
Matt came up to us and they were like, man, you guys make me want to go home and practice.
Yeah, that was that's what I that's what I want people to take away. Oh, wait, I can do this.
Let's do it. Yeah, like, yeah. I want people, I guess, to feel enjoyment. Maybe. Yeah.
You talking about did not like regret. Yeah. Yeah, I think I want people to like, I guess,
like feel seen or heard. I want people to feel something because I've had people say like,
oh, I was jamming the entire time. Right. And people that like, you know, don't really focus on
the lyrics. But also, I've had people that are like super big, you know, into like, listening to the
lyrics at shows and stuff like that be like, Oh, yeah, I was listening to the song and like it
brought a tear to my eye. Because I don't necessarily like need everyone to come out feeling like,
yes, that made me feel so good. Because a lot of our songs are like very deeply sad. But as long as
y'all feel something, that's that's kind of like less alone, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what's that
songwriting process like you guys get in a room and bang things out together to someone present
something in a rehearsal, Maddie, do you write lyrics and the band tries to add on to that?
What's what's that like? It's it's been a mixed bag so far. Because Dead Lover was like originally
yeah, Edmunds song. I just kind of brought it in. And then I've had some songs that were like
pretty much finished that I just brought in. And I was like, can y'all like add your parts to this.
And then we've had songs where we've pretty much started like from the very top of just figuring
it all out together or be like, oh, I have this like single riff, let's like, turn it into something.
So it's it's I don't think there's like a definitive process. And I don't think there needs to be.
Yeah, yeah, it's always felt very naturally. I don't feel like we've forced any thing that we've
written like. Yeah, yeah, I don't I can't write if I don't have anything to say, which I I have a
lot to say. So I don't really have a hard time with that. But I'm not going to just like write
lyrics to write lyrics or write lyrics that I don't really care about or write about something
that I don't feel like some kind of connection to it doesn't have to necessarily be like personal
experience. But at least capturing like some kind of of feeling. What song have you all been most
proud of instrumentally and creatively? Is there is our standout song for you guys? I can think of a
couple. I think like the go to one would be like, there's a song called hands, which is going to be
on our EP that will be releasing soon, hopefully. But we all just kind of like, I don't know, I came
up with this like riff thing, because I was trying to like work out with like delay pedals and stuff,
but and then I like brought it to the band. And we all like, eventually like added our own thing.
And I like, you know, just giving something and seeing like, kind of like what turns out. And then
like my other favorite one was honestly when like Dylan made the guitar part and I just kind of built
off of that. Oh, for maybe maybe. Yeah, for me. I really liked I liked making that song. Yeah, hands
was very magical for me, because the like chorus progression fit perfectly with this like chorus
that I had written already. And I had this song and I really wanted to do something with it, but I
didn't really know what to do for the verses. I was like, I have this chorus. It has to be
for something and it was like perfectly in the key with like this same progression. So that was
like, that felt very magical. Like that song was like meant to happen in the universe. And it was
and it was it's a very like cathartic song, because it's about like a really hard night of my life.
So it's it's like, I don't know, that song is very important. I think for like all of us as a band,
I think that's the song for all of us. We all serve on that song. I think for me with hands,
that was like my first or second rehearsal ever with the band. And for some it was so cool to
see all come together. I my drum part didn't sound the same when we first made it, but it still sounded
pretty cool. But it was so cool to see like you two connect. And then you just the other one was
like, bitter water, where you like had like the story written. And then I think you just sat down.
What was the song where you just sat down? I literally you just wrote all of the lyrics
right there in the rehearsal room. I think I bitter water was like, yeah, it was
I think I had like a few lines in, you know, some kind of notes app note. Oh, yeah. And then was
like, okay, this kind of fits the vibe. And then just like pounded it out in like 1520 minutes.
And that, yeah. And I'm really proud of those lyrics. It's not like they're like nothing lyrics,
each line means something. So I'm very, yeah, that also felt like some kind of like divine
intervention where I just like got overtaken. I was like, well, I'd love to get some perspective
for any advice that you guys might have a well developed band in college for any up and coming
bands, other up and coming bands that are a little earlier in their careers. So what mistakes did you
make early on in your musical musical career that you wish someone had warned you about?
I don't really feel like we're like super like, yeah, band bands. I still feel like a baby. Yeah.
Yeah. I was in past bands that I've been in. Whether it was through me feeling
self conscious about my own ability, or whatever possible anxiety, I became much too,
much too critical of myself. And that ended up projecting onto other people.
And if you can just come into a room and be really happy and really positive and let all of that,
any of that stress, any of that negativity, just embrace it and say, I'm going to take a deep breath.
It's going to be okay. These are really cool people that I'm with. And we sound good. And we're
going to make something cool. If you can just accept that and accept yourself for who you are, everyone
else in the band will follow suit. And it makes everything a whole lot easier. Yeah. I mean,
I always tell myself even like, outside of band stuff, but even just going to like music school
in general, every time I like don't want to get up and take myself to a class or take myself to
a lesson or take myself to a gig. Because especially like when you're developing and you start playing
regularly, it can be very tiring. And like I have some chronic health issues, it can,
you know, really like wear me down. So I always am just like, okay, like you are
getting to do like the thing that you like to do the most in the world.
Yeah. Like all day. It's, it's, you don't have to go and go to math class. You don't have to like
go do a lab with people you don't like, you just like get to go play music with your friends. It's,
it's not that deep. Like, you know, take yourself seriously, but there, I think there is a balance
of taking yourself seriously and treating it like a business and also being like, this is my favorite
thing to do in the world. Like stop, stop complaining. I think there's like, I don't know,
there's so much stress around like everything around like being a band and like how to figure that
out. But like every time I think about it, like in the weirdest way, like the one thing that I can
control is like me playing on stage, which I think if you told me like when I was younger, I would
like believe the blown you off and be like, like, what are you talking about? Playing on stage is
super scary. And like it still is, but like, I don't know, it's just like the one thing that I
feel like I can control, like relative to a lot of other stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Well, in terms of, of
like managing your time, you know, between classes and you're also conflicting schedules and gigs
and rehearsals. What's your process of making everything work to maintain being a working band?
Google Calendar.
I think having like a set meeting time every week has really helped us.
Not even like rehearsal, just set meeting. Yeah. What would you discuss in a meeting that is not
producing music or making music? Business, social media. So social media, like our plans,
our ideas for like what we are trying to do, like in how we're going to make those come,
how we're going to make, how we're going to make, to come to fruition. That was,
was a good one. Thank you, buddy. But yeah, there's, I feel like with a band, it's like 5%
playing music. Like if you want to make it actually a business, then 95% figuring out how to get people
to listen to that music. I completely agree with you. So that's mostly what our meetings are about,
is just kind of putting ourselves more and more forward. Yeah. Well, balancing artistry with the
business side of music, what is something about, you know, any business tips that you feel like
every band should know? Keep track of your finances. Yeah. From the beginning. Yeah. I have never
like kept track of our business stuff in any other band that I've been in as, as well as we have.
And this is mostly due to Edmund because he's, he's big into that. So on the business side, what
do y'all's like specific roles, you know? I can break it down from, from my perspective. Spencer's
video man. Video man. Maddie is organization and planning and communication. Yeah. You're the one
who like hits up all the other bands. Edmund does everything else, accounting, money, just anything
along those ends. And then I'm here. You know, I do, sometimes I'll do social media, but I'm just,
I'm just the drummer. Dylan, you're, you're the moral support. It's very helpful to like have
someone that like, you know, if you're like, Oh my God, I like way too much going on. Dylan,
please, can you like help me with this? Like, can you do this thing? And you don't have like,
if you ask someone that has like a billion other responsibilities, it's like, Oh my God, no,
I'm not going to do this for you. But if you like have someone that's kind of just like always
like waiting for something, it's kind of nice. I'm the backup. You're not the backup. You're the,
you're the understudy. Oh, yeah. The swing. I don't know. For me, for me, like body doubling is super,
super important. Like I work a lot better if I have like some there to hold me accountable. Yeah.
So nice. Yeah, I work alone. So sometimes I'm like, Okay, good to see you guys. I'm going to go into
my cave and like do the things that I need to do. I mean, I feel like a lot of local bands really
just, they think the musical saw everything, you know, they don't, they don't put any effort into
the business side of it or reaching out and trying managing. And I feel like we would see a lot of
we would see a lot more popular bands if there was more of that because I do I've been in like so
many bands where the musicians are just like, trust me, bro, if the music if the music's good,
everything will come along and it never pans out. It's not that simple. Not anymore. No, it used to
be. But that was back when it was like pay to play. Exactly. Yeah. Well, in some cases, yeah.
Yeah. Honestly, like, I know people talk about this, but like, get an LLC, make sure all your money is
centralized. While I was doing my research, I saw the Kissing Disease LLC, and I was really curious
to see the thought process behind it and whose idea it was, and why you found that to be so
important. It was really stressful to like figure out like who had what money from shows when we
like trying to like, you know, make a music video or something like, you know, like, I was like,
okay, like, at one point I was like, how much do we have in like the bank of Maddie? And I don't
know, I say that like, we're making a lot of money. We're definitely not feel like, you know, like,
who has like $20 and 50. So y'all are really doing this on a minimal budget. Oh, yeah. Yes.
Yeah, everything that we make pretty much goes back into the band at this point. Oh, personally,
we've not made a dime. I have never made money from any Kissing Disease show while I've been the
drummer. The only time I got paid was when I was subbing in. Didn't we do like 80 something cents
that one time? Because we've got 25. 25 cents. And this is something that y'all have to collectively
like be okay with. And I think we are like in a privileged position to where we don't have to be
like constantly on the grind, like trying to make money to live. I have a lot of good support at home.
So I'm like grateful for that, that we can like take that money and not have to use it to like
feed ourselves and we can like put it back into stuff. We would starve. We would be very hungry.
I am the only employed member of the Kissing Disease. The only one here with a job. I mean,
man, how are you managing that class and the Kissing Disease? I try. I don't really have much
else to say. Like we'll have a gig on Friday night and I'll get off work at Thursday night at like
five in the morning and I'll just say I guess Red Bull will fuel me through this. Yeah. Yeah.
You just got to accept it and go okay, I can do this. Because you can it's just playing the drums,
you know, just hanging out with your friends playing music. Yeah. Do you feel like essentially to the
to the root of it? Is that what this is to you? Just playing drums, drums and hanging out with
your friend? Yes. Is it as simple as that for anything for anyone? Yes. And every time I over
complicate it is when things in my mind start to go awry. And that's when I have to meet back
with my great roommate, Edmund here and say, Edmund, please help me. I don't know what I'm doing.
I'm super stressed and he'll go, it's not that big a deal. Hang out. Let's go make a song. It'll
make you feel better. You know. Yeah. And when you guys are writing, how do you all manage,
you know, I imagine conflicting ideas come about? Or is there any instances where, you know,
temperatures arise within the group and someone's blood may boil? Has that happened even yet?
I think, yeah, like, I think like, you know, when you have different ideas, like,
I think you can feel like super headstrong in a certain way. Something that's really like
worked for me is to not like, remember, like, we all just feel strongly about how like a certain
thing should go. And like, that doesn't necessarily mean that your idea is bad. People just haven't
like seen like, where you're coming from. And like, when you're doing that, it's really important to
use like, affirming language, like in a songwriting session, or just like, in general, like, not
being like, not like, I don't know, this is like lame, nerdy, Star Wars thing, but like, only as
sith deals and absolutes. And I'm just like, if you know, like, you got to, like, if you use that
absolute language of like, you know, always or like, never, like, you just kind of isolate yourself
and the other person. And it's important to just like, see the nuance and things. Yeah. Were you
at Chewbacca's on Sunday? Actually, I was. I was there too. It was really cool.
You were there too, Spencer. What would you all think of the experience? It was great. It was
my first time going in three years living here. I was really happy to see you. Yeah, I had a lot of fun.
I liked seeing Kate Duncan as a glowing, ham red shirt. Bro, no, we were walking up as the Shark
Nado crew was like, passing like, I think we saw maybe half of it, but I didn't want to be like,
that guy that like is like pushing my way being like, but so yeah, I didn't see her. There is also,
you know, the, have you all seen what we do in the shadows, like the TV show? Yeah, Colin Robinson.
Yeah, he was there. He was there. And I, and I looked and I did a double take and I was like,
wait, is that did he steal your energy? No, I guess that was Elon Musk. There was like an energy
vampires for Elon Musk. Oh, my God. That's that's based. Okay, so going back to the to the music
of it. Oh my God. Yeah. Your music touches on everything from heartbreak to feminist history.
What's a song in your catalog that you think best defines who you are as a band?
Not to glaze hands, but hands.
I think that's all of our like favorite ones. Yeah, I think.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, flower to dry is my favorite song.
Yeah, it's because you wrote a complicated part for hands.
I don't know a really cool part.
No, hands hands is the kissing disease. Yeah, I think we all have spots to show off.
I think there's a lot of good instrumental work. I'm proud of the lyrics. I'm proud of my vocal
performance. It's really fun to perform. I get to wiggle and like was really weird.
And yeah, I don't know. It's I get to kind of live my like David Byrne fantasy.
And that's really fun. Yeah. Talking heads.
My favorite part about hands is that all of us can play that song on guitar.
Okay. I have never attempted.
It's the easiest thing.
But like in I like honestly, I really like the guitar part because like I think I've sometimes
I've been stressed out about like, how do I fill up all this space like as a as only like one guitarist.
And I think, you know, having those effects, you know, make helps me like fill the sound a bit more
and makes me feel good about my instrument. Yeah.
So in terms of the lyrics, lyrically, your songs are described as intense and poetic.
Who are your biggest inspirations when it comes to songwriting?
Um, I just recently had to think about this because I had to write a bio for myself.
I think like I really love just people that are like super intense with it.
I love Mitski. I love Fiona Apple.
But I also love the like really theatrical people like I love like 70s glam rockers like Queen,
David Bowie, all of those people and like low key, like looking to pop music for like a good
rhyme scheme or just like a way to get people's attention. I think Lady Gaga's lyricism is really
underrated. Is there like a formula that she follows or something? Not no. I just think she's
just like a really good lyricist. Her lyrics are very smart, but they're also understandable. Like
I do really like the choruses tend to be like very memorable and very like that's like kind of the
thesis of the song. And then the verses have like these kind of really weird like references and
sometimes like you don't even really know what she's saying until you look up the lyrics. And I
kind of I I guess I follow like a similar formula. Like I want the the chorus to be very easily
understandable. Like you're like okay I get it now. And then the the verses you can like do a lot more
with. Okay. You can play around with it. I mean if you could pick a like a single lyric from your
songs that mean the most to you or that you put the most thought into and they mean the most to
you personally. What do you think it would be and why? Are you all able to even kind of hear what she's
saying when you're playing live? Yeah. Because I know a lot of bands have a real problem with hearing
the singer. Yeah that is a big problem. I actually have a big problem hearing Edmond too, but like
you just have to hope there's good there's a good sound person and there's good like uh like wedges
that you can actually at least until we get in years or so. Until we get in years. Yeah. I do like
to test them sometimes and be like what is this song about guys? I remember we were uh we were
tracking our EP last semester and I think we were recording either hysterical or bitter water.
It was hysterical. And I started singing the lyrics to Edmond and Spencer and Maddie just said Dylan I
love how those aren't. So I was just singing straight gibberish and she's all I can hear through my
earplugs. All I need to hear is Spencer and I'm you know yeah. Yeah shit but going back to the
question though. So a single lyric from your song that means the most you personally what would it be
and why? Shoot. I don't know. Oh my gosh. Do any of you have one? Give me some time. I'm like the
keeper of the lyrics. I really like that bridge to maybe maybe. Mm-hmm. Oh that seems very personal.
And I can relate to it a lot. Yeah. So what is what is that bridge saying? What are the lyrics to that bridge?
Okay so the song's kind of about like feeling insane in this late stage capitalistic world that we
live in. Yeah and it's talking about like what we're like I don't know kind of like just going
insane in it and the lyrics are like or maybe I will crash my car or maybe I will start a war
or maybe I will pray for peace or become a tyrant I will lead with ease.
Yeah. Hell yeah man. Yeah guys. Really deep. How long did it take to write that or did it just kind of
flow? Maybe maybe it was really fast too. That was also one where like y'all just kind of played it
and I wrote to it for for a few minutes and kind of. I think you were 237. Yeah and I kind of just like figured it out.
I think that was again where I had like like a line or two and then just like built off of that.
I don't I'm trying to think of like my favorite lyric. I think like hysterical for me is very
personal. It's just about like the way like women's mental health has been handled throughout
throughout the years and there's like kind of slight references to like different different figures
and stuff like that. I do like I think the second verse of saying she planned out her death to make
it easy on her husband. She wouldn't want to take up space or wait. She wouldn't want to take up space.
Or garner much attention. It reminds me of like do you. Am I really hope I don't mess this up.
Is it. So we have flat that it was like the oven and then like there's like this one like
head in the oven and then like plastic or something or like something to like cover the doors to like
protect her children. Sorry that was like super morta. Yeah I mean it is like kind of a known fact
that the way that women commit suicide is tends to be a lot like less messy. They tend to go for
things that kind of make it less of like a burden upon everyone else. Right. And I like learned that
and was like oh this is like really messed up. That's horrible. Even in like their last moment
they're thinking about like oh god I don't want to be like a burden upon everyone else. It's like
oh. Why do you think that is. I mean because because this study was in comparison to men
who obviously do want to be a burden on everyone else. Maybe more empathy. I think I mean I just
think it's more of like a you know they feel bad for the person that's going to have to clean up
and you know who's probably going to have to clean it up as another woman. You know it's like men
I think don't always think about like the mess that they're making whether it's like a literal
mess or like a figurative one just because there's there tends to be like less consequences.
It might be it might be too early to tell since y'all are so you know young in your career
but what do you hope the kissing disease stands for in the long run.
I don't know. I I mean getting kind of following the train of thought I want to be
like a woman in a rock band that people can look up to. There's not many and especially like
you know I've heard like pretty much every single one like been compared to every single one.
I have dyed hair. Immediately people are like oh it's like paramour.
And it's kind of it sucks that people's you know reference points are so limited.
The fact that you know out of however many years of pop music I'll just put it at like
you know say like the last like 50 years of pop music people can only come up with like a handful
of examples of like a woman leading a rock band. I've had a music teacher say you know I just really
don't think like women should lead rock bands. I don't think they have it in them so I want to
I want to prove people wrong. Sometimes you got to work out a spite. So do you feel that that sexism
and misogyny is a is a a leading factor in the music industry traditionally? Oh it's it's huge.
I mean we I ever since I've played music I've experienced it you know from being called like
like my band back in St. Louis Chainsaw Boys. It's all women and then one male drummer and
one of our first gigs they made a joke about like oh are you his groupies? And we were all like some
like half of us were still underage at that point like it was still really it's a really weird comment
to make. There's been multiple times with this band where like they are spoken to. Even there's
been points where like they talk to my boyfriend before they will like talk to me like he's in the
band or like the like door guy like starts putting like wristbands on all of them and doesn't
attempt to like put one on me. That's happened like four times. That's happened several times
or like they asked like oh are you are you with the band and I'm like no dog I am in the band.
Like it yeah no I'm you just saw me do a sound check like are you stupid? I think we've had like
your face on a poster once. I think we've walked in like with our shirts with like your face on the
shirt and they'll be like are you with the band and all of us just have wristbands immediately
and they go up to Maddie and they're like um you're the muse.
Wow. Yeah. I mean that's just something so horrible to deal with. So I know you were talking about
you know creating out a spite earlier. Do you feel like the way you get treated um harnesses
harnesses creative energy you know that you won't normally get? Oh yeah for sure. I mean.
You feel like it gives you something more to write about? Yeah. Talk about. I have always been
kind of I always say like because growing up my mom was the one that went to work
and I didn't know about the existence of misogyny until like probably a lot later in life than like
a lot of people and I always like had the idea in my head that like yeah I can like do whatever a man
can do obviously like why why wouldn't I be able to? So it's um I don't know I I don't
want I don't want to like it's so it's so hard to like put into words
because there's a lot of you know artists in the past that have been labeled the like angry
woman stereotype or or whatever and it's just like yeah I think they have a right to be angry
and why is like this woman writing like an angry breakup song like too forward when like men have
been writing terrible breakup songs for for years like literally forever I think I guess like
something we want to do is manage like create a space where like people are allowed to feel like
like any of the emotions that they're allowed to feel I guess yeah what do you feel is different
about writing with the kissing disease and the chainsaw boys Maddie? Well I mean like the chainsaw
boys is like we're a punk band we're really not focused on like the technicality of anything
and that can be like a lot of fun there's like no rules I do a lot more just like yelling
screaming cussing at people but there's there's a like a lot more of like a technical side with
this band and I mean it's just two different sides of of my personality and and not even I think
there's there's like common threads between you know the the songs of of both groups so you know
it's I mean it's a it's a completely different group of people it's going to be like a different
vibe it's going to feel different but yeah I mean we we we write we write kind of slow
but I think that like allows us to get all of our parts like perfectly it's kind of like this is
this is baking like you have to have everything right or else it is like gonna turn out really bad
and chainsaw boys is a little bit more of like throwing a bunch of shit in a walk and like
just seeing if it tastes good um and it's just kind of like spicy and salty and you know you're
like okay cool I'm I this is gonna make me feel terrible later but this is awesome in the moment
do you guys currently have any tour plans in the works is that something that you guys are working
towards working on for this summer we're trying to get all our affairs in order to to get that going
yeah what's that looking like where you guys trying to try to play so we're thinking of starting
in Atlanta which is my hometown and then going well starting in Athens truly because it's only
about an hour away and then going to Atlanta and then going up to Tennessee to do like Nashville
and then from there we would continue on to st. Louis because that's where Maddie's from and then
kind of like hit the cities around there like Chicago so our city plan right now is we're gonna
start at Atlanta Georgia then we're gonna go to Athens then we're gonna go to Birmingham Alabama
oh that's right then Memphis Tennessee up to Nashville then st. Louis Missouri Belleville
Illinois Decatur Illinois and then Chicago yeah and I'm sorry don't don't uh don't quote me on any of
this or don't quote us all of these are subject to change it's a two-week plan tour I think and
is this did you want to do you want to answer me real quick yeah I guess I don't know it's like
our first tour I think we're definitely learning as we're going oh I'm excited to be part of the
process yeah it's it's kind of an experiment at this point I think will you be traveling you know
alone or are you guys gonna be billing with any other bands or is this gonna just be an
exclusive Kiss & Misey's tour where you guys are headlining the shows well we're uh though sorry I
was gonna say like it's gonna be us traveling and then whether or not we're gonna be headlining I
think is going to be subject to the city right um and depending on if we already like are established
there because like you know st. Louis like I've been in the music scene for years so that's gonna
be like way easier to get a show than like Memphis where I've never spent more than like a few hours
yeah how did you guys map out the tour like what what made you choose those specific
states and venues a painstaking three hour long meeting yeah I did it I think um for me the way
I thought about it is like I think you always want to start your like at least from what I've heard
uh you always want to start your show like and like you know in anchor city there's like this term
of like anchor cities of like there's like so you start their first show and it's like or
Spencer's hometown so like that's gonna be super cool and like we're gonna get like a lot of support
there and you know kind of wrap up around um st. Louis where Maddie's from and we also get a lot
of support there as well um and I guess like just like having those anchor cities and then
kind of just planning the way there is kind of how I thought about it at least and Eddie another
question for you as you guys know touring is expensive how do you all plan to navigate the
financial side of hitting the road so I mean we've been saving up um like the uh from the shows we've
been playing um we also uh we got like a an advance from the uh the student record label here
was that five hundred dollars that they that they give yeah I mean it's gonna be a shoestring
budget tour for sure uh I mean I think you know we're definitely playing on staying at a lot of
friends houses a lot of people's houses yeah I oh we're gonna be in the red yeah I think yeah I
think it's like a tour is coming at terms with that um you know we don't you know I don't do it
for the money you know I kind of just you know we want to do it for it's just like reach as many
people as we can what do you feel a good start a budget for the first tour would be a good start
like yeah for for a budget yeah yeah um well I mean your most expensive thing is going to be gas
like period or just transit and yes yeah uh make sure you have a really you know a car with you know
uh make sure you know the trade book trade backs between having like a really good um
um uh mileage on your car like um gas mileage and then also like remember that you have to carry
people and carry equipment yeah yeah rent a trailer which will knock like five miles a gaff
yeah um so planning for that is really important um I'm I'm thinking like a lot of
uh like sunflower seed like peanut butter substitute jelly sandwich
oh yeah things are just gonna be happening I mean I'm allergic to that you're gonna have to
you're gonna need energy for playing shows and then you're gonna be traveling extensively over the
the course of two weeks I mean that's just it's a bad situation if that's all the food that you're
gonna be relying on canned food that's the way to go canned but just spam yeah man spam spam and
some hot dog buns meals from friends yeah if we stay with parents we just pray to god that they uh
go for you get some food at us yeah hi mommy can you make me my friend's dinner please I think also
I um yeah I mean just planning to put some of our own money in maybe if we have to I I
don't really don't want it to have to come to that I I want to keep it I guess separate as possible but
oh I fully expect to spend at least a grand saved up of my own money to get us through the
maybe wow scenario you gotta you gotta plan for whatever can go wrong right probably so if anyone
wants to give me a graduation present of money so I will be accepting we'll have their venmo's
at my venmo is so a two-week tour with a self-supporting band with a student run record label helping
you guys out with $500 two weeks on the road five plus states is that right just above yeah they're
pretty I I mean like what are you though it's Georgia Tennessee Alabama Illinois realistically
what are you what are you looking at like if a drive time no no like expense wise are you looking
to spend two to anywhere from two to four grand on on on a self wow really yeah yeah yeah
probably so fun yeah I think it's that time that we do it though so like yeah like it is
gonna wipe our finances but you know I think it is for the greater good because we kind of need to
we need to get out of being stuck in the city of New Orleans yeah it is a great city for I think
a blossoming career but like the money is elsewhere yeah it's um I I've heard New Orleans referred
to as like a playground for musicians a lot of the time like you can do kind of anything you can
really experiment um but I think we're like ready to go from the playground and like play with the
big kids I guess where would you guys like to settle uh later in your career you know I I think
it's yeah I think you know you're obviously looking at like a you know the music hubs of
the United States like an LA or an Asheville or a New York New York New York to be great
there's a market a webster's from there honestly as from from Atlanta the scene for the stuff we
do is not the greatest yeah I mean it's like I think just taking a look at like whatever the
best opportunities are you know and kind of going from there uh you were gonna say something oh yeah
and I mean things are are subject to change I a Nashville has you know grown from being like
primarily country music to being just like a huge alternative hub for um alternative music and and
singer songwriters and in the last you know I'm not gonna I'm not like a music historian but I'll
just say like within the last decade or so um and you know LA has had its fair share of struggles
in in recent times yeah um and people say you know we don't know where like if that's it's
sustainable for being like uh uh an entertainment hub anymore um so you know things are subject to
change and there are times you know where Seattle was where the best music was or
the Chicago scene is popping or or Minneapolis or you know like you and especially with technology
like you can kind of be anywhere yeah and really in California you know Sunset Strip were a
Mollie crew the doors got their start I mean like a lot of I mean it's pretty much burned down
yeah Sunset Boulevard's done it's so it's so yeah New York you know tons of legendary artists
have come out of there I feel like it is like less considered a music hub these days but like I mean
it's always gonna be a culture hub yeah yeah I agree with that I feel like we should definitely
start to see more music cities in the next 10 to 15 years probably maybe even sooner yeah you know
like out of Texas yeah Austin Austin yeah that's live music capital of the world yeah in the US yeah
I mean probably you know or if we take you know a crazy turn into um a fascist regime uh London's
a great option yeah I mean we gotta look at Vancouver let's look at the music industry there
yeah it's it's actually great it is actually great yeah network network music group is is based out of
out of Vancouver and they they sign completely like ride up your alley I mean absolutely I mean
there are so many alternatives other than the United States where a musician can do amazing
I would argue better in Europe I would argue you can have a better career as a musician there
might be a more open market too because people want to hear rock over there yeah they want to
they live to hear rock over there are you all familiar with rival Suns yeah yeah yeah they
completely they stopped touring in the US or not as often and they only strictly tour in Europe wow
so that's definitely something that I've been looking into and exploring I mean because it's
it's become a reality now you know yeah the US doesn't treat rock and roll the way it used to
no I mean in a lot of like bigger rock acts that have even gotten popular in the States have like
not been American of course there are American artists but I mean like there was the band like
Monoskin out of Italy yeah I just saw last weekend the band Mulchott Doma from they're from Belarus
right um all their songs are in Russian so I understood maybe like three lines individually
of what they were saying but uh I had like the time of my life and it was it was awesome I mean I
feel like most recently the the youngest group that we've seen really become mainstream and rock is
what probably what greater than fleet oh yeah and you know greater than fleet there are a lot of
musicians have a lot to say about them because they essentially did the Led Zeppelin thing
you know which isn't a bad thing you know I love Led Zeppelin but it's not something that was new
you know but it's something that we hadn't seen in a while so that's why I think there was a market
it hits so well exactly and they I feel like they took advantage of that quickly and then it went
away you know and then they've still been able to to profit off that time where they were able to get
in and become popular yeah I really like um some of the stuff off their their second album I think
they like kind of went away from their own thing yeah and they do have a before the fire or is
that their first album I'm so bad with like the names because light my love on it got battle I
guarding skate yeah that's so good it's a good one I really like that song so going back to your
hometowns because that's just been mentioned throughout the episode were there any local bands
or artists from your hometowns that inspired you early on? Shoot. The local acts in my hometown.
In my hometown? Well that answers my question. No no no no no no no no. I have one like near my hometown
it's about three hours away from me they're a band that from not wrong kind of originated out of a
San Luis Obispo they've I've really just taken a step back to go and like look at their music again
but they're called Juniper Honey. You show me them. Yeah I showed you and they're they're really cool.
I like their stuff. Yeah my brother introduced me to them two years ago when he was going to
college with some of the guys who were in the band and it was really interesting to see because
they're very very indie rock almost like a almost pop punk probably more similar to like
modern baseball more than anything you know what I'm saying yeah but they're they're really cool
I really like a lot of their music I've just been doing a deep dive of it the past week and a half
that's awesome. They're doing well as well. They're doing pretty good they have you know
they have I want to say a couple thousand monthly listeners like eight thousand. All right they're
doing really solid yeah. You sorry like repeat the question again. Yeah in your hometown were there
any local acts that inspired you early on. Yes so oh I mean the vexie lovers are a local act but I
would say like for me like I think growing up like as I was kind of going towards the end of high
school I would go to the University of Houston like scene and I would see all the bands that were
playing there and like seeing like you know like college bands or like high school bands like kind
of influenced me like oh like I can do this thing like and like there's still like a space or a
community specifically with like I think like the punk scene is like I feel like you can just like
always find like a group of like punk like punk weirdos you know like just like in any city and
like I think it's really awesome that like there's always just a community there and like it's it's
you know like I think initially like when I was in Houston like I was like oh like I don't feel
like there's like anything for me and then you can always just kind of like you know take the time to
look and you can see what people are doing and like I would tell you I've had so much fun going to
like house shows and like bands just playing out of their garage and then I met one girl who was like
end up being like the guitarist for like this other like pretty like decently sized act in Houston
that like got uh uh Madeline the person and like that was super cool to see and I was like
damn this is awesome wow thank you for sharing uh I guess to say I mean to close off I have a few
more questions for you guys and I think they they're fun and I hope you guys enjoy them but
what's one thing about the kissing disease that fans might not know but should
I mean I I have double-jointed thumbs that's pretty cool do they like crack
probably not oh that's that was a worse sound than I imagine hey try it's interesting
but try his because it's oh yeah I don't want to pull your cord up one of them does that sound bad
oh wow it's great like get close to it yeah oh that could have been really bad
one thing that people should know about us they don't know about us is that we're all pretty nice guys
did you come hang out with us they come to our shows maybe yeah I well I mean I like kind of going
off of that like we I think are all quite shy people um and I I mean we were talking about this
like before like a lot of people have have said that they thought I hated them um and that's not
true I'm not a hateful person despite talking about um working out of spite just like a few
minutes ago um but I like yeah I I think um I don't know we we we are we're shy but like please
come come talk to us I feel like you couldn't even tell that you are shy when you got when you all
get up on the stage if you're if you're saying you're shy then you all turn into different people
for sure yeah and that energy that y'all bring is is hot man I I'm more comfortable on stage than I am
like being a person in the world it's weirdly way less scary to be on stage than it is to like
talk to a person outside your dorm you know yeah so much more nervous just because you're like
elevated like three feet from the stage it's like the lights are bright you can't see yeah I just
don't have to worry about anyone being there yeah so what's next for you guys and in your music
shows anything that you can tease for the listeners for the talk nola we got we got we have so much
yeah so much like in the pipeline we're cooking so much yeah I feel like we've been yeah we've
been like definitely cooking like a big stew yeah it's like we've been throwing a bunch of
recipe ingredients in and now it's time we finally just like scoop it and put it in bowls yeah yeah
I like we we have our single with wolf moon yes that is coming out soon oh what's that called
bitter water bitter water yes and that will be accompanied by a music video
and then leading into the summer we will have an EP and that's like kind of our first collection
of all of all of our songs that we've been playing since we've started as a band yeah um so it feels
like a very you know it kind of the end of the first chapter of the kissing disease a little bit
I feel like it's going to be like a big moment yeah well so lastly where can people find you
follow you catch you at your next show where you guys often playing yeah that's my favorite thing to
say at the end of every set you can follow us on instagram at the dot kissing dot disease
do we post on instagram that often no will we yes we're trying we're trying we're trying so so so
hard um and we're all really scared of social media and being perceived on it so um and we have
a show at the end of february um at saturn bar and then we also will have a show in march at
syberia no that's also at saturn bar now sorry guys and on spotify you can find us um we are the
kissing disease there's another german band called don't talk about that don't talk about that on air
there called kissing disease and we are the kissing disease we are the kissing disease there's a
massive difference right and you can listen to our first song you know where you're kissing
well you'll hear it on the talk nola uh the kissing disease thank you so much for coming on
maddie spencer dylan eddie you guys have been great phenomenal guests uh to the listeners
please go stream dead lover right now and uh have a great night thank you thank you