WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 My brother played AthFest. We're very excited 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:05.500 to be back for AthFest. I think that AthFest 00:00:05.500 --> 00:00:09.279 is one of the most beautiful events in the country. 00:00:09.460 --> 00:00:12.640 We're here backstage for AthFest. Playing AthFest 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:15.080 is wonderful. She's an AthFest regular. You've 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:16.920 got to come to an AthFest. We're talking to the 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:18.679 live stream for AthFest. Hello, live stream. 00:00:18.739 --> 00:00:21.519 Hello, mom. A nice AthFest slot is really worth 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:23.980 a lot. Everything that happens at AthFest benefits 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:28.199 this nonprofit and arts education for K -12 students 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:31.079 in Athens -Clarke County. We were on one of the 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:33.719 first AthFest samplers. It was my first AthFest 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.740 ever playing it, which is super cool. AthFest. 00:00:37.240 --> 00:00:39.219 SweatFest. AthFest is so sick. I love seeing, 00:00:39.340 --> 00:00:42.380 like, Athens just has the greatest variety of 00:00:42.380 --> 00:00:45.240 people. AthFest educates. You want to get a slot 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.780 at AthFest. One thing about AthFest, there's 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:50.210 so much going on. We're playing AthFest. This 00:00:50.210 --> 00:00:52.250 is my first time at AthFest. First time I've 00:00:52.250 --> 00:00:54.829 ever been here for AthFest. I'm here at AthFest. 00:00:54.869 --> 00:00:57.450 You just did sound check for AthFest. Every musician 00:00:57.450 --> 00:00:59.450 you play with wants to play AthFest. It means 00:00:59.450 --> 00:01:02.409 a lot to me to be able to play AthFest. You look 00:01:02.409 --> 00:01:03.890 at the AthFest lineup and you're like, these 00:01:03.890 --> 00:01:05.569 are all new guys and you know they're going to 00:01:05.569 --> 00:01:35.349 be good. You have bands playing everywhere, but 00:01:35.349 --> 00:01:39.310 there's all kinds of different vendors. And can 00:01:39.310 --> 00:01:42.109 you just talk a little bit more about what would 00:01:42.109 --> 00:01:44.290 people experience when they come to AF Fest? 00:01:44.569 --> 00:01:47.030 Everything that happens outdoors is free to the 00:01:47.030 --> 00:01:49.469 public. So the three outdoor stages with musical 00:01:49.469 --> 00:01:52.969 performances on the Kids Fest stage. So those 00:01:52.969 --> 00:01:56.409 are youth performers or performers that are like 00:01:56.409 --> 00:01:59.969 directed at youth, like kids bands. We also have 00:01:59.969 --> 00:02:02.939 dance performances there. Then there's a block 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:08.020 -long artist market with anywhere from 55 to 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:12.240 70 artists that are local or regional artisans 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:15.800 that have, whether it's working with fabrics, 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:19.180 metal work, they're selling their wares. We also 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:22.340 have affiliated events. So these are events that 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:27.099 happen alongside or with. So comedy night, that 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:30.219 usually happens Thursday night. Yeah. Nate Ball's 00:02:30.219 --> 00:02:37.050 comedy. And then we have the, at UGA Lamar Dodd, 00:02:37.110 --> 00:02:40.590 they have a print and zine expo, I think it's 00:02:40.590 --> 00:02:44.409 called. Yeah. With local and regional artists 00:02:44.409 --> 00:02:46.810 that are making zines or graphic novels, that 00:02:46.810 --> 00:02:51.330 kind of thing. We added a poetry reading at the 00:02:51.330 --> 00:02:53.990 Globe. We usually have a movie night. I think 00:02:53.990 --> 00:02:56.770 we have fire breathers. We're always talking 00:02:56.770 --> 00:02:59.819 about adding more. To date, we've given out over 00:02:59.819 --> 00:03:04.099 $750 ,000 in grants every elementary, middle, 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:08.099 and high school in Athens, Clark County. All 00:03:08.099 --> 00:03:12.539 of our grants go to serve public school students. 00:03:12.699 --> 00:03:15.699 We have three categories. We give out grants 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:19.439 for arts equipment. That could be instruments, 00:03:19.819 --> 00:03:25.629 amplifiers, microphones, and... Software platforms 00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:28.330 to be able to record live music or live interviews. 00:03:28.770 --> 00:03:32.310 Drums that went to a school that they utilized 00:03:32.310 --> 00:03:36.889 initially for a math class. Multiplication tables. 00:03:37.090 --> 00:03:39.969 Like all of that stuff, they would do it to a 00:03:39.969 --> 00:03:42.729 rhythm. And then they ended up taking those to 00:03:42.729 --> 00:03:46.229 like a language arts class to do poetry with 00:03:46.229 --> 00:03:48.469 and like figure out meter. One of our grants 00:03:48.469 --> 00:03:52.949 is helping to fund a local middle school was 00:03:52.949 --> 00:03:56.280 invited. Their orchestra was invited to perform 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.780 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. So we're helping 00:03:59.780 --> 00:04:02.280 to fund that trip for 50 middle schoolers to 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.639 go perform in Carnegie Hall. So programs and 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:07.800 experiences. And then professional development, 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:09.639 which is something that's so hard for teachers 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.400 to get funded. We're sending one teacher to the 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.259 National Arts Educators Conference in Chicago 00:04:16.259 --> 00:04:21.540 and another teacher to do like a, it's called 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:24.339 ORF. It's like a whole music teaching method. 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:29.019 I am so lucky in this job, A, that this job exists, 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:32.579 and I get to do all these different things and 00:04:32.579 --> 00:04:34.819 wear all these different hats, but also the previous 00:04:34.819 --> 00:04:38.240 executive director and the previous board had 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:40.879 to do so much work. This is just when the town 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:44.220 needs income, you know? They're making grants 00:04:44.220 --> 00:04:48.860 to promote arts and music in those schools. So 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:52.589 basically, they'll give a grant to a band. that, 00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:56.170 like a school band, a middle school band to buy 00:04:56.170 --> 00:04:59.329 violins, or they'll give a grant to an art department 00:04:59.329 --> 00:05:02.350 to buy supplies for such, or to take a trip somewhere 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:05.110 to do something. So basically they, teachers 00:05:05.110 --> 00:05:07.589 will apply for grants, and then AthFest will 00:05:07.589 --> 00:05:10.769 allocate the money as they see fit. And the grants 00:05:10.769 --> 00:05:12.730 are very, it sounds like very specific for a 00:05:12.730 --> 00:05:16.620 very, like... specific purpose that's right they 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:19.779 have to promote the music and arts in the schools 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:22.959 in local schools so at fest being for athens 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:25.939 they've made a lot of great grants and i think 00:05:25.939 --> 00:05:29.220 once bands understand and people understand that's 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:31.899 what the money's for i think they'd be more accepting 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:34.480 and willing the number of like young bands i've 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:37.240 seen this weekend yeah it was awesome just and 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:40.860 like That's the thing is like happens has its 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:43.819 share of like seasoned longtime veteran musicians, 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:47.860 but You're also seeing like the young kids come. 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:51.420 Yeah Keep it going when I moved here. There was 00:05:51.420 --> 00:05:54.899 a hundred and twenty or so original bands that 00:05:54.899 --> 00:05:57.519 only played original music no cover bands, which 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:00.839 is Blew me away like I moved from North Alabama 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:03.560 Muscle Shoals And we only had a few bands like 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:06.220 three bands there that would only do original 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:14.790 songs The fest just kicked off this evening, 00:06:14.910 --> 00:06:18.189 and there's electricity in the air, I think. 00:06:18.589 --> 00:06:21.050 Is that fair? It's the solstice, and if anybody 00:06:21.050 --> 00:06:23.050 comes to our show, I'm going to put a spell on 00:06:23.050 --> 00:06:25.550 y 'all. It's going to be a good spell. I'm Kane 00:06:25.550 --> 00:06:28.189 Stanley. That's one thing I'm sure of. I'm not 00:06:28.189 --> 00:06:29.829 sure if it's a claim to fame, but I'm an Athens, 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:33.250 Georgia native, and I've been here playing music 00:06:33.250 --> 00:06:37.120 for over 30 years. I did spend some time away 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.120 from Athens before college, and I came back up 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.360 here to go to school, and really, I just wanted 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:43.399 to play music, and I got a degree while I was 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:47.019 doing it, and I've been playing ever since, and 00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:48.939 I've probably played in more bands than there 00:06:48.939 --> 00:06:51.660 are letters of the alphabet out of Athens, and 00:06:51.660 --> 00:06:54.319 I've toured the country several times playing 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:57.139 music. I'm here covering AFFest. That's why I'm 00:06:57.139 --> 00:06:59.160 in town this weekend. Y 'all are playing AFFest. 00:07:00.060 --> 00:07:02.639 Some of you, I'm guessing, have played many AF 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:05.439 Fests. Some of you have never played AF Fests 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:10.040 before. But I was the intern in 2007. Laura, 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:12.100 will you tell us about your internship in 2007, 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:15.500 please? Let's start there. Okay. It was still 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:18.529 Troy Aubrey. And there was another guy that was 00:07:18.529 --> 00:07:20.089 doing it, too. I can't remember who it was. I'm 00:07:20.089 --> 00:07:23.370 sorry, that guy. One time ago, I was going bar 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:26.050 to bar, getting the wristbands to the band so 00:07:26.050 --> 00:07:29.649 that it wasn't chaos to get the wristbands. I 00:07:29.649 --> 00:07:31.310 like the nil -dry flip. Whatever bar they were 00:07:31.310 --> 00:07:33.449 playing at. And I keep forgetting, you couldn't 00:07:33.449 --> 00:07:36.009 just text everybody or anything. Like, I'm finding 00:07:36.009 --> 00:07:40.230 people on MySpace. Like, there is Facebook, but 00:07:40.230 --> 00:07:43.600 it's only college students. I went to, it was 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.399 called Gainesville College, but that's gone now. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.500 But, like, I had a dual thing. Like, I did high 00:07:48.500 --> 00:07:51.019 school and college at the same time, so I had 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:53.839 a faith. But it was just chaos. But it was so 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.639 cool, so much fun. And, like, I was even talking 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.339 to 5 -8. Like, they played a rock and relief 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:01.720 benefit we did for our kid Katrina. And I was 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:03.980 like, it's just funny how that stuff, like, really, 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:07.240 like. It gets in your subconscious. And the modern 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:09.199 skirts are back. And unfortunately, playing while 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:10.759 we are playing, they're probably tired of me 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:12.540 saying this, but they were like... Yeah, you're 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:15.600 the competition now. But it was like, they were... 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:18.839 I mean, I went to all their shows. My dad and 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:21.079 I would go to the 41 together. I was always proud 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:22.740 of him because he was like, all right, if you're 00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:25.199 going to rebel, then let me come with you. And 00:08:25.199 --> 00:09:18.730 he liked it too. He liked it too. I don't have 00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:21.049 an AthFest story because the first AthFest was 00:09:21.049 --> 00:09:24.690 after I already left town. Is this your first 00:09:24.690 --> 00:09:27.470 AthFest? First time I've ever been here for AthFest. 00:09:27.850 --> 00:09:30.809 Yeah, I was either in Los Angeles or yeah, I 00:09:30.809 --> 00:09:33.460 was always gone. when it was invented, so I was 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:36.879 here in 91 to 99, and then coming back a bunch 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:41.419 in 2000, but I moved to L .A. in 2003. My band, 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:44.059 Shank. What's up, Shank? We were on one of the 00:09:44.059 --> 00:09:47.419 first AthFest samplers. They used to put out... 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:50.080 I miss those. Those are good. Okay, there used 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.360 to be a disc that they would put together, and 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:56.399 any band that released an album that year was 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:59.000 able to submit, and then, yeah, we got a song 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.700 on there, and we didn't play that. year, but 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:05.679 I was happy to be on the album. And then my Afro 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:08.779 -Caribbean Folkloric Drum Ensemble called Muyuba 00:10:08.779 --> 00:10:11.740 has played several times, and we've opened up 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:14.720 some shows. And then I've played twice with a 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:16.879 reggae band called Natty Lovejoys on the main 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:19.340 stage, and that's always been really fun. And 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:22.139 there were several years where I was... not in 00:10:22.139 --> 00:10:24.720 town for it, and I don't know. I really like 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.059 that we're doing a night show. This is our first 00:10:27.059 --> 00:10:29.399 gig, and we're playing Half -Fest. It's pretty 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:32.740 cool. So I've been half -winking at introducing 00:10:32.740 --> 00:10:37.500 slightly famous somebodies. We're introducing. 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:40.299 That's part of the fun. You've got to show up 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:42.299 to see who's going to show up, and you never 00:10:42.299 --> 00:11:42.100 know when the next one will be. to all those 00:11:42.100 --> 00:11:44.379 folks for making those hard choices and that 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.960 kind of work so that I get to be, I get to think 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:52.539 how big we can go. I get to dream big. It's something 00:11:52.539 --> 00:11:55.980 that the community always supported, but it took 00:11:55.980 --> 00:11:58.440 a long time for it to get to where it is now. 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:00.320 It's really great for the businesses. It's great 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:02.860 for all the venues that host the Club Crawl. 00:12:03.179 --> 00:12:08.740 I've never seen Athens as alive as I do during 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:12.629 FFest. Yeah. is a lifeline for a lot of those 00:12:12.629 --> 00:12:16.529 businesses. AthFest is put on and put together 00:12:16.529 --> 00:12:20.350 by a mostly volunteer committee of about 20 people. 00:12:20.669 --> 00:12:24.169 We have one event coordinator, and that is like 00:12:24.169 --> 00:12:27.649 a paid stipend person. And then our booking agent, 00:12:27.870 --> 00:12:31.509 Troy Aubrey, Aubrey Entertainment in town. He's 00:12:31.509 --> 00:12:34.730 been doing it for 20 years. Troy works with a 00:12:34.730 --> 00:12:36.970 booking committee, and that is something that... 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.519 He's done a great job. It was one of my first 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:42.259 pushes when I started was adding more people 00:12:42.259 --> 00:12:44.559 to the booking committee. And he's done a great 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:48.600 job of recruiting from the community, recruiting 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:51.039 a couple of people who work in like booking hip 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:56.340 hop shows in town. And then going to some of 00:12:56.340 --> 00:12:59.539 the smaller clubs like Flickr, Bouvet and getting 00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:02.740 their booking folks on. They're going to know 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:05.220 who those smaller up and coming are better than. 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:09.139 myself or Troy or... There was a lot of diversity 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:12.419 in terms of the music. It was really a nice representation 00:13:12.419 --> 00:13:36.659 of a lot of different kinds of music. Where is 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:40.620 the love? Where is the love? Where is the harmony? 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:46.879 Gone are the days, the days of happiness. Where 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:52.220 is the love? Where is the love? Where is the 00:13:52.220 --> 00:13:58.639 harmony? Gone are the days, the days of happiness. 00:13:59.779 --> 00:14:02.740 The simple little things like please and thank 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:30.470 you. I know it don't do no good to complain. 00:14:31.409 --> 00:14:35.070 I learn to roll with the punches. I don't need 00:14:35.070 --> 00:14:37.389 your check, baby, but can you teach me something? 00:14:37.590 --> 00:14:40.129 Don't be acting like my daddy and be trying to 00:14:40.129 --> 00:14:42.690 preach or something, because my life is my own. 00:14:42.830 --> 00:14:45.509 And no, I do not need for nothing. No, I do not 00:14:45.509 --> 00:14:49.169 need for you either. Hey, I'm by myself. I'm 00:14:49.169 --> 00:14:52.629 in a two -seater. Hey, might switch it up and 00:14:52.629 --> 00:15:12.429 get that new beamer. Hey. There's some fests 00:15:12.429 --> 00:15:15.629 that happen where I'm from. It's like they act 00:15:15.629 --> 00:15:18.690 like it's a representation of all the local music, 00:15:18.750 --> 00:15:20.809 and then it's literally all middle -aged white 00:15:20.809 --> 00:15:24.049 people playing blues and folk. I have to report 00:15:24.049 --> 00:15:26.210 on the diversity of our performances for our 00:15:26.210 --> 00:15:29.250 grants. And yes, this was the most diverse year 00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:34.009 by far. And a lot of that is Troy's work recruiting 00:15:34.009 --> 00:15:36.610 great folks for the booking committee. It makes 00:15:36.610 --> 00:15:39.009 it a much better experience too. Like it's not 00:15:39.009 --> 00:15:42.210 just like a token or something. Like this is, 00:15:42.230 --> 00:15:45.789 it's way better to go see 10 different kinds 00:15:45.789 --> 00:15:49.200 of music than it is to see three. Yeah. It's 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.019 just better. Trust, like they're like, oh, the 00:15:52.019 --> 00:15:53.679 club crawl is going to be awesome. Every year 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:59.379 we get over 500 applications to play at the festival. 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:04.519 And somebody looks at every single YouTube channel 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:08.100 they link or everything. Like this year we were 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:10.860 approved for and completely thought we had like 00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:13.620 a $35 ,000 National Endowment of the Arts grant. 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:19.919 And that was yanked by executive order. So, yeah, 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.080 those kind of grants are probably not going to 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:26.480 be available to us for the remainder of this 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:30.460 administration. So the kind of individual donors 00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:33.539 or just popping in an extra five bucks when you 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:35.460 buy your pass is going to be even more important 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:38.820 for us to keep nurturing the next generation 00:16:38.820 --> 00:16:42.399 of Athens artists. So with the booking committee, 00:16:42.700 --> 00:16:47.100 everyone submits. Artists submit, and they submit 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:49.960 links and all their info, and then there's a 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:53.360 period during which the members of the booking 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.500 committee go through the spreadsheets and check 00:16:56.500 --> 00:17:02.759 everyone out and make your own list of priorities, 00:17:03.179 --> 00:17:08.240 maybes, and then you just have your no's or your... 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:11.359 Backup backups. But nobody's like, nobody really 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:13.720 campaigns against people being on. They just 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:17.259 have their picks for it. Yeah. Everyone basically, 00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:21.240 yeah, we have our picks for it. Unless I can, 00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:23.420 the only thing I can think of is if someone is, 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:28.259 I know that this act is very problematic in some 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:32.089 way. It doesn't represent AthFest or. I don't 00:17:32.089 --> 00:17:34.549 know. It would have to be pretty extreme to be 00:17:34.549 --> 00:17:36.950 like, I have to let you guys know about this 00:17:36.950 --> 00:17:41.289 person or band. Otherwise, after we go through 00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:44.470 looking at the list, we come together as a group 00:17:44.470 --> 00:17:49.150 with kind of our picks. And Troy Aubrey is the 00:17:49.150 --> 00:17:53.069 head of it. And Troy already always comes with 00:17:53.069 --> 00:17:56.630 who he's picked for headliners and who he has 00:17:56.630 --> 00:18:00.529 offers out for. And we fill in the blanks. is 00:18:00.529 --> 00:18:02.750 essentially how the booking committee works. 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:34.079 This year it was really lovely because we had 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:37.359 an intern who was able to facilitate sending 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:43.109 out the contracts in the past we've split it 00:18:43.109 --> 00:18:46.789 up gotten the contracts back from people but 00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:49.950 we do split it up as far as who's contacting 00:18:49.950 --> 00:18:52.410 who about the initial offers and getting things 00:19:18.029 --> 00:19:21.529 How do you make sure that the bands that share 00:19:21.529 --> 00:19:23.509 members don't play at the same time? Because 00:19:23.509 --> 00:19:25.089 that's got to be like, that's got to be like 00:19:25.089 --> 00:19:28.490 a real concern. It definitely is. And that's 00:19:28.490 --> 00:19:31.509 Troy. That's Troy Aubrey. That's wild. Because 00:19:31.509 --> 00:19:34.049 like John Neff, who I'm actually going to go 00:19:34.049 --> 00:19:36.690 talk to this afternoon, he played in three different 00:19:36.690 --> 00:19:38.609 bands at this year's AF Fest. And I was just 00:19:38.609 --> 00:19:40.470 joking with him. We should just call it Neff 00:19:40.470 --> 00:19:43.410 Fest. Just Neff. But that's a real concern. Like 00:19:43.410 --> 00:19:45.430 I can think of other, several other examples 00:19:45.430 --> 00:19:49.970 where people. are in multiple bands and that 00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:54.049 it's a lot to keep track of it's not just the 00:19:54.049 --> 00:19:57.289 hundred or so artists that play it's way more 00:19:57.289 --> 00:19:59.710 than that your hip -hop calendar was like very 00:19:59.710 --> 00:20:36.420 useful I love Athens. It's an amazing... I'm 00:20:36.420 --> 00:20:38.480 going to go home in a good mood. And this is 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.119 a special town. And I mean, honestly, there's 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:43.160 no place like Athens. And the musical history 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:47.230 is really cool. So... It's got a little something 00:20:47.230 --> 00:20:51.049 that nowhere else has, and I like capture that 00:20:51.049 --> 00:20:53.670 and try to hold on to it for as long as I can 00:20:53.670 --> 00:21:24.039 whenever I come here. Basically, it's the time 00:21:24.039 --> 00:21:29.720 that almost every local band plays. You can finally 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:33.279 see the bands you haven't seen or some new band 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.640 that's good or whatever. Just kind of everybody 00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:40.220 gets a lot of good camaraderie and a lot of good 00:21:40.220 --> 00:21:43.680 shows. I don't know. And then everybody comes 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:47.819 out. It's a hyper -local thing, but it's... We 00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:49.380 used to go up, Brian, when I think about it. 00:21:49.480 --> 00:21:51.339 Yeah, we used to go up from Augusta. Yeah. I 00:21:51.339 --> 00:21:54.779 couldn't wait. The first time I went, Jason Isbell 00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:57.299 was playing, like, right after Here We Rest came 00:21:57.299 --> 00:21:59.559 out. So it must have been, like, 2011, I guess, 00:21:59.660 --> 00:22:01.019 or something like that. I remember the outdoor 00:22:01.019 --> 00:22:05.539 stage. They closed it out Sunday, and the sky 00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:08.859 opened up, like, right after a set. The camaraderie 00:22:08.859 --> 00:22:10.500 is something you mentioned in the music scene 00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:14.049 in Athens and in MathFest in general. It's unlike 00:22:14.049 --> 00:22:16.690 anything I've ever seen in a music scene or an 00:22:16.690 --> 00:22:20.130 art scene in general. It's really something to 00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:23.390 admire and be proud of. Where do you think it 00:22:23.390 --> 00:22:25.809 comes from, man? Everybody's just kind of interested. 00:22:26.069 --> 00:22:27.750 And they're like, what are you up to? What are 00:22:27.750 --> 00:22:32.150 you doing? And then the people are very interesting 00:22:32.150 --> 00:22:35.069 there, too, because they're interested. And there's 00:22:35.069 --> 00:22:39.069 not a lot of posturing and stuff. They're just 00:22:39.069 --> 00:22:41.509 interested in what other people have going on. 00:22:42.109 --> 00:22:45.450 so it stays supportive in that regard i lived 00:22:45.450 --> 00:22:47.589 in athens and we were in atlanta and atlanta 00:22:47.589 --> 00:22:51.450 was good to us it was bigger and kind of clicky 00:22:51.450 --> 00:22:54.930 and easy to get lost and i was like guys i think 00:22:54.930 --> 00:22:56.589 it might be good if we were in athens and we 00:22:56.589 --> 00:22:59.569 came back there and it was just as good or better 00:22:59.569 --> 00:23:02.809 and you just didn't feel any of that weird grub 00:23:02.809 --> 00:23:05.450 with other bands it was like none of that it 00:23:05.450 --> 00:23:07.210 was just like everybody was cool i've noticed 00:23:07.210 --> 00:23:09.210 it in the comedy scene in athens too i think 00:23:09.210 --> 00:23:11.630 the comedy scene is the same way Me and Katie, 00:23:11.750 --> 00:23:13.930 we live in Forest Heights, a neighborhood. It's 00:23:13.930 --> 00:23:16.829 a really cool neighborhood. Like, not cool like 00:23:16.829 --> 00:23:19.069 a hip neighborhood, but like a nice. I don't 00:23:19.069 --> 00:23:20.910 know, it's just that it's where Taiwanese go 00:23:20.910 --> 00:23:23.710 to retire. Yeah, yeah. It's like affordable and 00:23:23.710 --> 00:23:27.250 really nice. Quiet. And so, yeah, you know. Yeah, 00:23:27.490 --> 00:23:28.630 that's what you want. And so we're there for, 00:23:28.670 --> 00:23:30.970 you know, I don't want to go anywhere, you know. 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:32.930 It's crazy. I mean, there have been amazing places, 00:23:32.930 --> 00:23:34.329 but there's never been a place where I'm like, 00:23:34.369 --> 00:23:37.049 oh, this is where, you know, we've got to move 00:23:37.049 --> 00:23:38.869 here. We're just like, I feel like it's like 00:23:38.869 --> 00:23:41.809 been home for so long and it's kind of, it's 00:23:41.809 --> 00:23:44.549 almost like engineered for. what i do you know 00:23:44.549 --> 00:23:47.849 that's right it's not too big it's not uh -huh 00:23:47.849 --> 00:23:50.609 i couldn't do a big city uh for any long period 00:23:50.609 --> 00:23:53.430 of time yeah you just feel at home when you come 00:23:53.430 --> 00:23:55.450 yeah it's very much and i think there's something 00:23:55.450 --> 00:23:59.410 about the whole i think like the things with 00:23:59.410 --> 00:24:02.890 the college the university the combination of 00:24:02.890 --> 00:24:05.349 the university like and people you know bands 00:24:05.349 --> 00:24:08.049 coming through and then leaving and and honestly 00:24:08.049 --> 00:24:09.970 people just come back it's funny when people 00:24:09.970 --> 00:24:12.279 like move away There's always that like, all 00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:14.819 right, good luck with everything. We'll see you 00:24:14.819 --> 00:24:18.079 in 20 years or 10 years or five years. And honestly, 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.819 I probably have like four or five friends who 00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:21.839 have left and moved back. I started going to 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:24.299 AthFest definitely when I was in college. And 00:24:24.299 --> 00:24:27.640 so I went, I want to say the first one I saw 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:30.220 the drive -by truckers. And I can't remember 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:32.700 if it was an AthFest or just they happened to 00:24:32.700 --> 00:24:36.369 be playing, but I think it was AthFest. We're 00:24:36.369 --> 00:24:39.950 playing at a pizza place that was on Baxter Street. 00:24:40.130 --> 00:24:44.210 Oh, wow. Like maybe outside, like on a deck. 00:24:44.910 --> 00:24:47.250 And I got my friend to go with me to that one. 00:24:47.589 --> 00:24:51.170 And then I want to say the next year, my brother 00:24:51.170 --> 00:24:54.029 played AFT Fest. And so with his band, the Blue 00:24:54.029 --> 00:24:56.990 Laws. And so I got to go to that AFT Fest. And 00:24:56.990 --> 00:24:59.349 that was really cool. That might have been when 00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:03.000 Jason Isbell joined. I remember seeing. Jason 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:05.359 Isbell just come up and he had this powder blue 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:08.279 suit on and that was, and it was really cool. 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:10.299 One of the first bands I'd seen when I moved 00:25:10.299 --> 00:25:13.640 to Athens and had just started school was Drive 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:15.099 -By Truckers and this little pizza joint and 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:17.119 here they were like on this gigantic, this was 00:25:17.119 --> 00:26:11.670 my second time. I got super lucky last year. 00:26:11.970 --> 00:26:15.309 I didn't apply to the end last year, but I had 00:26:15.309 --> 00:26:19.609 asked someone if they had any openings for singer 00:26:19.609 --> 00:26:22.789 -songwriters anytime soon, and it just so happened 00:26:22.789 --> 00:26:25.049 that they had one for AthFest and The Globe. 00:26:25.450 --> 00:26:29.230 And I was like, oh, this year I applied for AthFest 00:26:29.230 --> 00:26:33.269 as early as I possibly could, and it means a 00:26:33.269 --> 00:26:36.269 lot to me to be able to play AthFest, because... 00:26:36.569 --> 00:26:39.329 going to it for so long for so many years it's 00:26:39.329 --> 00:26:44.049 a very important festival to me and to be a part 00:26:44.049 --> 00:26:46.970 of it it's just such an honor watching my brother 00:26:46.970 --> 00:26:50.329 and his band be a part of it to me being a part 00:26:50.329 --> 00:26:53.529 of it and then all the years in between it's 00:26:53.529 --> 00:26:56.009 just very magical last year after i played a 00:26:56.009 --> 00:26:58.369 teenager came up to me and told me how much my 00:26:58.369 --> 00:27:01.789 songs meant to her and i was like oh my god thank 00:27:01.789 --> 00:27:05.779 you so much It was just really beautiful. And 00:27:05.779 --> 00:27:08.740 what's also, like, really beautiful about it 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:11.839 to me is that, like, the city turns out for it. 00:27:11.859 --> 00:27:15.440 And that's really amazing. And that's the other 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:17.299 side, I think, of the music scene that we haven't 00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:19.839 really talked about is there are just really 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:24.960 good fans in Athens. I 100 ,000 % agree. People 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:30.220 are really good at loving shit. And just not 00:27:30.220 --> 00:27:34.039 caring. not having a care in the world about 00:27:34.039 --> 00:28:06.420 it and being like, I'm just gonna dance. My special 00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:09.019 guest is Fedden. Fedden is a stand -up comedian 00:28:09.019 --> 00:28:11.460 and podcaster. I'm going to hand it over to him 00:28:11.460 --> 00:28:13.660 and let him talk to you about what it's like 00:28:13.660 --> 00:28:16.460 to do podcasts and get to meet all these people 00:28:16.460 --> 00:28:18.420 and get to interview them. And you have a special 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:20.460 guest yourself, right? I do. Let's introduce 00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:23.180 this guy. Yeah, I got Ben Spraker from a band 00:28:23.180 --> 00:28:26.799 called The Arcs who's playing tomorrow. And he's 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:30.339 been on my podcast. My podcast is called Overeducated 00:28:30.339 --> 00:28:33.579 and Underemployed. I'm here at AppFest with Ben 00:28:33.579 --> 00:28:35.819 Spraker. I'm here at AppFest. I'm actually from 00:28:35.819 --> 00:28:38.059 Florida. I'm not from Athens. The first time 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:41.019 I came here was to see Jason Isbell right here 00:28:41.019 --> 00:28:42.819 at this stage that we're sitting right next to. 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:46.259 And I've been coming back ever since. I love 00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:47.779 this city. I've been coming here since 2010. 00:28:49.329 --> 00:28:52.289 Ben, what brought you to Athens in the first 00:28:52.289 --> 00:28:55.390 place? Let's start there. I grew up in Virginia, 00:28:55.450 --> 00:29:00.670 and I ended up here. Yeah, I just ended up moving 00:29:00.670 --> 00:29:03.369 here to go to school at UGA like a lot of people 00:29:03.369 --> 00:29:05.269 and ended up staying because I just fell in love 00:29:05.269 --> 00:29:10.950 with it. All right, yeah. So it's one of those 00:29:10.950 --> 00:29:13.690 places that it can get monotonous, but you just 00:29:13.690 --> 00:29:17.049 can't quite leave it. Keep it real close. Can't 00:29:17.049 --> 00:29:19.190 really leave it. It's just such a good place 00:29:19.190 --> 00:29:22.809 to live. Yeah. And play music and all that stuff. 00:29:23.029 --> 00:29:25.769 Be creative. A lot of creative people here. A 00:29:25.769 --> 00:29:28.289 lot of infrastructure for creative things. It 00:29:28.289 --> 00:29:30.410 almost feels like the creative people are the 00:29:30.410 --> 00:29:33.170 majority and everybody else is the minority in 00:29:33.170 --> 00:29:34.869 this city. Yeah. Where it's like most places 00:29:34.869 --> 00:29:38.309 that's not the case. That's right. When I meet 00:29:38.309 --> 00:29:41.049 somebody and I ask them if they play music and 00:29:41.049 --> 00:29:44.990 they say no, I say God bless you. Yeah. Somebody 00:29:44.990 --> 00:30:59.960 has to just listen for God's sake. And I'll say 00:30:59.960 --> 00:31:02.140 that is kind of the philosophy behind my podcast. 00:31:03.099 --> 00:31:06.859 I'm a historian, but I also really just approach 00:31:06.859 --> 00:31:10.740 this as a fan. I really love music. I've loved 00:31:10.740 --> 00:31:15.359 live music since I was a teenager. I think that 00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:19.480 AthFest is one of the most beautiful events in 00:31:19.480 --> 00:31:21.759 the country because of the way this city comes 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:25.460 together. to bring so many different types of 00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:28.279 music. People do show up. The people do show 00:31:28.279 --> 00:31:31.720 up, which is amazing. Even though every musician 00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:34.660 in town is playing, there still somehow manages 00:31:34.660 --> 00:31:37.619 to be an audience. Yeah, and they expect you 00:31:37.619 --> 00:31:41.839 to play your own material. If you play too many 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:45.779 covers, people start looking at you funny. Whereas 00:31:45.779 --> 00:31:48.740 most cities, it's the other way around. If you 00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:51.559 hear too many songs they don't recognize, from 00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:55.440 wherever. I think that's definitely true in my 00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:59.000 city, in Tallahassee. The majority of the bands 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:01.579 playing are cover bands. They're playing in bars 00:32:01.579 --> 00:32:04.400 while people are eating dinner. It's not like 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:08.400 here where the music is the main focus most of 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:10.380 the time. You play in a few different bands in 00:32:10.380 --> 00:32:12.859 Athens. I do, I do. Athens is small enough that 00:32:12.859 --> 00:32:16.279 it isn't too hard to get around. Yeah. Like, 00:32:16.279 --> 00:32:18.930 a lot of these... Band practices are like five 00:32:18.930 --> 00:32:21.150 minutes from my house, so it's really good. That's 00:32:21.150 --> 00:32:23.369 also, I think, the thing about AppFest is a lot 00:32:23.369 --> 00:32:25.849 of cities could never do something like this 00:32:25.849 --> 00:32:29.390 because the number of venues and bars in downtown 00:32:29.390 --> 00:32:33.809 Athens in a single location is such a unique 00:32:33.809 --> 00:32:36.809 kind of thing for a city of this size, especially. 00:32:38.309 --> 00:32:43.049 What do you think is, like, the other component? 00:32:43.890 --> 00:32:45.750 What do you think he just said about there being 00:32:45.750 --> 00:32:49.559 the number of Different bars and venues. I think 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:53.119 the story that I always read is that they built 00:32:53.119 --> 00:32:57.619 the mall out of town a little bit and all of 00:32:57.619 --> 00:33:00.000 the stores moved to the mall thinking that was 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:02.119 where it was at. All these empty storefronts 00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:06.140 were there and then bars and music venues filled 00:33:06.140 --> 00:33:09.599 those spots and that was the impetus for the 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:15.349 Athens music scene. But yeah, it's... A competitive 00:33:15.349 --> 00:33:18.529 spirit, honestly, is what it is. It's like everybody 00:33:18.529 --> 00:33:21.930 is trying to be the best, and everyone's just 00:33:21.930 --> 00:33:25.009 trying to play the best music they can, write 00:33:25.009 --> 00:33:28.690 the best songs they can. And you want to get 00:33:28.690 --> 00:33:30.769 a slotted -ass vest. You want to do this and 00:33:30.769 --> 00:33:35.049 that. It's competitive. Also, the city, because 00:33:35.049 --> 00:33:37.829 of the reputation of the music scene, does draw 00:33:37.829 --> 00:33:42.430 people move here for that reason. There's that, 00:33:42.529 --> 00:33:45.160 too. Your band, The Arcs, is playing tomorrow. 00:33:45.380 --> 00:33:47.599 That's right. Tell us about that band. So The 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:51.440 Arcs are playing tomorrow, Saturday, at 8 .30 00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:54.900 at Nowhere Bar, one of our very favorite places, 00:33:55.099 --> 00:33:57.140 one of the best places in Athens. I love Nowhere 00:33:57.140 --> 00:34:00.579 Bar. The coldest beer in Athens. There's ice 00:34:00.579 --> 00:34:03.000 flakes in it occasionally. That's right, that's 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:05.700 right. Yeah, but The Arcs are a band I've been 00:34:05.700 --> 00:34:08.639 in for a number of years with. The drummer, I 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:10.760 grew up with him. We were like little kids playing 00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:15.019 t -ball together. And then other guys we've known 00:34:15.019 --> 00:34:18.719 for many years. It's one of those two songwriter 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:23.159 bands where you have two of the guys taking turns 00:34:23.159 --> 00:34:25.280 singing because they were singing the songs that 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.260 they wrote. So it's a dual lead singer situation 00:34:28.260 --> 00:34:30.800 and a dual guitar situation, for God's sake. 00:34:30.940 --> 00:34:38.090 Oh, my goodness. Buckle up, people. Think about 00:34:38.090 --> 00:34:41.630 a gig at AthFest versus playing just another 00:34:41.630 --> 00:34:45.369 show. If it's an outdoor stage, it's really hot, 00:34:45.469 --> 00:34:48.510 so you better be ready to deal with some salt 00:34:48.510 --> 00:34:54.190 in your eyes, as they say. But also, playing 00:34:54.190 --> 00:34:57.130 at AthFest is wonderful because people come there, 00:34:57.250 --> 00:35:01.630 come to AthFest, engaged, ready to pay attention 00:35:01.630 --> 00:35:04.309 to who is playing, and then they want to engage 00:35:04.309 --> 00:35:06.710 with that band if they like them. They'll follow 00:35:06.710 --> 00:35:10.110 you and all that stuff. It's like people are 00:35:10.110 --> 00:35:13.650 ready to get halfway paying attention. That is 00:35:13.650 --> 00:35:17.190 cool, too. Yeah. But, yeah, like a nice AthFest 00:35:17.190 --> 00:35:19.550 slot is really worth a lot because you can get 00:35:19.550 --> 00:35:21.170 in front of a lot of people who never would have 00:35:21.170 --> 00:35:23.690 heard you otherwise. Have you ever considered 00:35:23.690 --> 00:35:26.190 leaving Athens? Have you ever even considered 00:35:26.190 --> 00:35:29.409 it? No, no. You don't strike me as someone that 00:35:29.409 --> 00:35:33.369 has. I got married once and moved to Atlanta 00:35:33.369 --> 00:35:35.969 for this person. But then as soon as that didn't 00:35:35.969 --> 00:35:38.750 work out, I came right back. Because suddenly 00:35:38.750 --> 00:35:42.989 it was twice as expensive to live in Atlanta. 00:35:43.150 --> 00:35:47.030 Everything is twice as expensive, at least. Yeah. 00:35:47.050 --> 00:35:50.559 Yeah. the big city and things have gotten a lot 00:35:50.559 --> 00:35:53.480 more expensive here over the years too but i 00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:55.880 still as someone who travels a lot like i do 00:35:55.880 --> 00:35:58.219 notice that it's still lower than average yeah 00:35:58.219 --> 00:36:01.400 yeah the idea is i think everyone who charges 00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:05.119 anyone for anything is thinking college students 00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:09.139 they got no money gone see i think it makes sense 00:36:09.139 --> 00:36:14.519 to to want the repeat ability of Students being 00:36:14.519 --> 00:36:16.360 able to come back over and over. And that's an 00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:18.059 interesting thing about playing music in this 00:36:18.059 --> 00:36:20.840 town for any number, any amount of time. You'll 00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:23.619 have your band. You'll have people coming to 00:36:23.619 --> 00:36:25.900 see your band. And then suddenly it just goes 00:36:25.900 --> 00:36:28.139 away. And you're like, what happened? All those 00:36:28.139 --> 00:36:30.059 people graduated. And now you've got to start 00:36:30.059 --> 00:36:33.559 over. So this band is Improvement Movement. And 00:36:33.559 --> 00:36:35.340 you're actually the person that turned me on 00:36:35.340 --> 00:36:37.639 to them in the first place. I'm so excited. I'm 00:36:37.639 --> 00:36:39.159 so excited about them, too. Let's talk about 00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:40.760 them for a few minutes before they go on. And 00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:42.420 then let's go watch them. They're from Atlanta. 00:36:44.579 --> 00:36:48.320 All four of them can sing like birds and play 00:36:48.320 --> 00:36:50.619 their instruments real well, and they write really 00:36:50.619 --> 00:36:54.500 catchy songs, and they sing together in harmony. 00:36:55.019 --> 00:36:58.559 Their harmonies are magical. It's mind -bending. 00:36:58.619 --> 00:37:02.739 So I have been looking forward to this for a 00:37:02.739 --> 00:37:05.699 while. I'm really glad you guys are going to 00:37:05.699 --> 00:37:08.500 be able to show it. You were sitting in the 40 00:37:08.500 --> 00:37:11.179 -watt, and they were playing in Tallahassee a 00:37:11.179 --> 00:37:14.219 few days later. Yeah. I was like, I have to go. 00:37:14.579 --> 00:37:19.219 And they blew me away. They are hard to describe. 00:37:19.300 --> 00:37:21.860 And there's tons of clips. You can pull up anything, 00:37:22.099 --> 00:37:24.659 and it's amazing live. They sing like birds, 00:37:24.760 --> 00:37:28.860 and their songs are catchy. And just now, we 00:37:28.860 --> 00:37:31.960 heard the guy, the singer, sound checking. And 00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:35.920 he sang a little bit, and I knew it immediately. 00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:40.309 So I am pumped. about this show yeah i love this 00:37:40.309 --> 00:37:42.650 band i'm really excited for them how many athvests 00:37:42.650 --> 00:37:47.409 have you played oh my god 10 something like that 00:37:47.409 --> 00:37:50.469 i don't play every year because some sometimes 00:37:50.469 --> 00:37:52.969 you just want to go to it it's really nice to 00:37:52.969 --> 00:37:55.409 just go and then there's some years where every 00:37:55.409 --> 00:37:57.610 band every musician you play with wants to play 00:37:57.610 --> 00:37:59.409 at fest and you're trying to book them all and 00:37:59.409 --> 00:38:02.030 it's really hard and then you're like schlepping 00:38:02.030 --> 00:38:04.210 your gear up and down washington street at a 00:38:04.210 --> 00:38:08.360 breakneck pace and it's yeah It's a mixed bag, 00:38:08.500 --> 00:38:12.099 but I love AthFest. So AthFest raises money for 00:38:12.099 --> 00:38:16.440 grant programs for schools and arts. Yeah. All 00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:20.320 across the county and the city. Yeah. What are 00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:23.219 some of your favorite younger bands to come out 00:38:23.219 --> 00:38:25.880 of Athens? All right. Well, I just saw one I'd 00:38:25.880 --> 00:38:30.860 never heard before called Bayou Princess. And 00:38:30.860 --> 00:38:33.480 if you like, if you know anything about Athens 00:38:33.480 --> 00:38:37.829 music history and pylon and. some of those kinds 00:38:37.829 --> 00:38:44.630 of bands time toy limbo districts anyway they're 00:38:44.630 --> 00:38:48.429 weird and danceable and that is the mixture of 00:38:48.429 --> 00:38:52.610 athens the classic athens and bayou princess 00:38:52.610 --> 00:38:55.889 has got it in spades go out and check them out 00:38:55.889 --> 00:38:59.650 they killed on the hull street stage today i 00:38:59.650 --> 00:39:02.289 was like they got the goods who else are you 00:39:02.289 --> 00:39:05.550 looking forward to this weekend oh man um Tonight, 00:39:05.789 --> 00:39:08.730 Dash Riprock are at the Georgia Theater tonight. 00:39:09.030 --> 00:39:11.610 I interviewed them earlier today for an episode 00:39:11.610 --> 00:39:14.110 of Overeducated and Underemployed. That's where 00:39:14.110 --> 00:39:15.929 I'll be late night tonight, too. They are the 00:39:15.929 --> 00:39:18.090 party. That band brings the party. I will at 00:39:18.090 --> 00:39:20.909 1145 at the Georgia Theater. I will be with Dash 00:39:20.909 --> 00:40:15.869 Riprock. And then Shakey at the Nowhere Bar after 00:40:15.869 --> 00:40:17.309 that. I got to see them one time open for the 00:40:17.309 --> 00:40:19.449 drive -by truckers, and they were phenomenal. 00:40:19.730 --> 00:40:24.170 Yeah, they're a local treasure. I really enjoyed 00:40:24.170 --> 00:40:26.969 them. They take everything that's cool, punk 00:40:26.969 --> 00:40:31.429 rock, but they apply a Burt Bacharach filter 00:40:31.429 --> 00:40:34.610 to it in the best possible way. A lot of cool 00:40:34.610 --> 00:40:39.480 twists and turns in their songs, harmonies. Pure 00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:42.480 punk ferocity. It's wonderful. They're incredible. 00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:45.980 Go see them. I'm really looking forward to Lily 00:40:45.980 --> 00:40:49.059 Hyatt over at the Georgia Theater. Daughter of 00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:51.199 John Hyatt. I actually just talked to her earlier 00:40:51.199 --> 00:40:54.380 today, too. Also, MK Barnes is playing over at 00:40:54.380 --> 00:40:56.800 Hendershot. She's great. I talked to her earlier 00:40:56.800 --> 00:41:00.070 this week. Great singer. I have interviewed probably 00:41:00.070 --> 00:41:02.269 20 different musicians that are playing this 00:41:02.269 --> 00:41:04.550 weekend over the course of this podcast. Wow. 00:41:04.929 --> 00:41:07.050 After the stream's over tonight, if you want 00:41:07.050 --> 00:41:08.429 to learn more about one of these artists, you 00:41:08.429 --> 00:41:11.730 can probably start with Ben Sprakers. So some 00:41:11.730 --> 00:41:13.269 other bands I'm really looking forward to this 00:41:13.269 --> 00:41:15.989 weekend. We talked about tonight, but I'm really 00:41:15.989 --> 00:41:19.530 looking forward to seeing the Arcs play. Me too. 00:41:19.690 --> 00:41:22.409 We haven't played in a bit of time. I'm going 00:41:22.409 --> 00:41:24.329 to be holding up a mirror because Ben hasn't 00:41:24.329 --> 00:41:26.070 been able to watch himself play in a very long 00:41:26.070 --> 00:41:30.730 time. I'm also really excited to see the Lanes 00:41:30.730 --> 00:41:33.789 play. Oh, man, they're amazing. That's Kevin 00:41:33.789 --> 00:41:36.230 Lane, who's also in the Arcs, but he has a band 00:41:36.230 --> 00:41:39.969 with his brother. He and his brother, of course, 00:41:39.989 --> 00:41:41.570 have been playing music together since they were 00:41:41.570 --> 00:41:43.789 kids, and they're called the Lanes. It's Matt 00:41:43.789 --> 00:41:48.309 and Kevin Lane, and they used to be in a local 00:41:48.309 --> 00:41:51.320 band in Athens called The Possibilities. Out 00:41:51.320 --> 00:41:54.380 is one of my favorite power pop records of all 00:41:54.380 --> 00:41:57.440 time. Yeah, it's a classic. Kevin's an amazing 00:41:57.440 --> 00:42:00.739 songwriter, man. He is. He is. He's quite good. 00:42:01.019 --> 00:42:03.579 Pylon Reenactment Society is playing this weekend. 00:42:03.739 --> 00:42:05.260 Yeah. I don't have it in front of me exactly 00:42:05.260 --> 00:42:06.900 when their set is, but look it up. I think it's 00:42:06.900 --> 00:42:09.440 tomorrow night sometime. Yeah. Pylon Reenactment 00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:12.119 Society. Go check that out. That includes the 00:42:12.119 --> 00:42:16.789 real, actual singer of Pylon. is in the Pylon 00:42:16.789 --> 00:42:18.690 Reenactment Society. I've got to say, I love 00:42:18.690 --> 00:42:21.670 their new records as much as I love the old Pylon 00:42:21.670 --> 00:42:24.730 records. They're great. They've done a really 00:42:24.730 --> 00:42:26.909 great job. Vanessa's done a great job of putting 00:42:26.909 --> 00:42:29.550 together a band that really holds that sound 00:42:29.550 --> 00:42:32.110 together. Yeah, they fly the flag for it, but 00:42:32.110 --> 00:42:37.170 bring something new to it. I've known Jason and 00:42:37.170 --> 00:42:40.210 Kay since I was a boy. I've known those people 00:42:40.210 --> 00:42:44.679 a long time. best people and just top level musicians. 00:42:44.960 --> 00:42:47.360 We've been graced by the presence of Gregory 00:42:47.360 --> 00:42:51.940 from Athens, Georgia Live Music on YouTube. On 00:42:51.940 --> 00:42:55.579 YouTube, Athens, Georgia Live Music. Yeah. I 00:42:55.579 --> 00:42:57.739 didn't quite realize it, but someone in Flagpole 00:42:57.739 --> 00:43:00.440 pointed out that Athens has the most well -documented 00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:03.320 music scene in the country thanks to this man. 00:43:03.840 --> 00:43:07.329 That's amazing. Yeah. I've used his site as a 00:43:07.329 --> 00:43:09.409 resource for a lot of my interviews, so I really 00:43:09.409 --> 00:43:11.710 appreciate everything you do, man. I've pulled 00:43:11.710 --> 00:43:15.510 some of my own band's promo material from your 00:43:15.510 --> 00:43:17.869 videos, too. Support live music and Bryce the 00:43:17.869 --> 00:43:22.369 Energy. I'm filming them tonight. Oh, man. Dude. 00:43:24.869 --> 00:43:29.550 I'll call you about 3 a .m. Okay. But I don't 00:43:29.550 --> 00:43:31.530 know, because the reality of that is I've got 00:43:31.530 --> 00:43:33.230 to be here at 11 o 'clock tomorrow. I need to 00:43:33.230 --> 00:43:35.500 start taking position. Yeah. In front of the 00:43:35.500 --> 00:43:37.300 stage. I'm so excited. I really appreciate you 00:43:37.300 --> 00:43:39.280 joining us, Ben. Yeah, man. Thanks for coming 00:43:39.280 --> 00:43:41.699 out. Always a pleasure. Yeah, thanks for coming 00:43:41.699 --> 00:43:44.239 out for the live stream. And make sure you catch 00:43:44.239 --> 00:43:46.820 the ARCs tomorrow. Tell us what time and place 00:43:46.820 --> 00:43:49.900 one more time. The ARCs at Nowhere Bar. Thank 00:43:49.900 --> 00:43:52.019 you so much, Ben. Make sure you check out the 00:43:52.019 --> 00:43:54.400 ARCs. I've been looking forward to this. Snakeball, 00:43:54.460 --> 00:43:57.800 y 'all. Athens, Georgia. Juggler TV. FFES 2026. 00:43:58.099 --> 00:43:59.980 Look at this beautiful face and add me on the 00:43:59.980 --> 00:45:27.769 socials. Love you. FFES. They're one of my favorite 00:45:27.769 --> 00:45:32.349 bands out of Athens. They are also in a bunch 00:45:32.349 --> 00:45:35.750 of different other bands around town, too. Kevin 00:45:35.750 --> 00:45:37.849 Lane, the singer, he's also in a band called 00:45:37.849 --> 00:45:42.210 The Arcs that I watched last night over at Nowhere 00:45:42.210 --> 00:45:47.469 Bar. They were fantastic. Hey, we got Matt. Do 00:45:47.469 --> 00:45:49.949 you want to jump in for a second? We got Matt 00:45:49.949 --> 00:45:52.730 Lane here. He's the drummer of The Lanes, and 00:45:52.730 --> 00:45:56.420 it's an honor to have you here, man. Sorry, I'm 00:45:56.420 --> 00:45:58.559 a little out of breath. I imagine so. You just 00:45:58.559 --> 00:46:00.300 played your heart out, didn't you? Hot, yeah. 00:46:01.579 --> 00:46:04.159 It's really brutally hot out here. I'm jealous 00:46:04.159 --> 00:46:06.320 of the folks watching this at home right now, 00:46:06.360 --> 00:46:09.260 to be honest with you. They're on their couches. 00:46:10.039 --> 00:46:13.340 Yeah. Matt, how many different aft fests have 00:46:13.340 --> 00:46:15.800 you played with different bands over the years? 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:19.159 Oh, God. I'd have to think about it. We played 00:46:19.159 --> 00:46:22.500 the very first one, Possibilities Dead. Matt's 00:46:22.500 --> 00:46:25.380 also... He was the first drummer of the Drive 00:46:25.380 --> 00:46:28.800 -By Truckers. He was in a band called The Possibilities. 00:46:29.380 --> 00:46:33.340 And The Lanes is the current project that he's 00:46:33.340 --> 00:46:36.820 in with his brother, Kevin. What is it like getting 00:46:36.820 --> 00:46:38.219 to play with your brother again? It's always 00:46:38.219 --> 00:46:42.599 good. We've always done things in some form, 00:46:42.659 --> 00:46:45.719 side bands or real band. We've always done it. 00:46:47.449 --> 00:46:49.409 But we've had this Lane thing going for a while. 00:46:49.510 --> 00:46:51.730 It's been fun. It's not something that we do 00:46:51.730 --> 00:46:54.630 a lot, you know, twice a year maybe. This Lane's 00:46:54.630 --> 00:46:57.190 record that just came out earlier this year or 00:46:57.190 --> 00:46:59.670 late last year, I guess it was. Yeah. It was 00:46:59.670 --> 00:47:02.250 a long process. Do you want to talk about that 00:47:02.250 --> 00:47:05.829 for just a second? It was just like we'd start 00:47:05.829 --> 00:47:08.690 recording some things years ago and not finish 00:47:08.690 --> 00:47:12.550 them or do one song here, one song there. And 00:47:12.550 --> 00:47:15.510 just we never really had a plan to make an album. 00:47:15.530 --> 00:47:19.099 We were just recording songs. And we finally 00:47:19.099 --> 00:47:22.380 just, towards the end of last year, we just decided, 00:47:22.460 --> 00:47:25.760 let's see what we got, record some new things, 00:47:25.800 --> 00:47:28.960 and make an album. It had been 10 years or so. 00:47:29.440 --> 00:47:33.340 And it's out on beautiful white vinyl, right? 00:47:33.380 --> 00:47:35.219 Yeah, really nice looking white vinyl. Yeah, 00:47:35.239 --> 00:47:38.619 black and white. Picking up all over town or 00:47:38.619 --> 00:47:42.320 at your shows. Yeah. You got any other shows 00:47:42.320 --> 00:47:45.059 planned in the future? Nothing right now. Well, 00:47:45.139 --> 00:47:47.440 keep an eye out for the lanes. Yeah, I'm sure 00:47:47.440 --> 00:47:49.199 we'll have something before too long. One last 00:47:49.199 --> 00:47:51.679 thing I'd like to ask you, Matt. On a day like 00:47:51.679 --> 00:47:55.119 today when it's so hot and you're the most active 00:47:55.119 --> 00:47:59.440 person on stage, undeniably just by the nature 00:47:59.440 --> 00:48:02.340 of the instrument you're playing, how do you 00:48:02.340 --> 00:48:06.460 prepare for something like this? Just I'd stretch 00:48:06.460 --> 00:48:08.500 a little bit and drink a bunch of water. Yeah. 00:48:09.420 --> 00:48:12.860 Not eat too much, drink a bunch of water. That's 00:48:12.860 --> 00:48:16.519 pretty much it. I have one of those little squirty 00:48:16.519 --> 00:48:20.719 fan things that keep on me. And we've got Richard, 00:48:20.900 --> 00:48:25.579 who played guitar today with the Lanes. Thanks 00:48:25.579 --> 00:48:27.619 for having me, man. He was fantastic. Thanks 00:48:27.619 --> 00:48:29.739 again, Matt, for coming by. We really loved your 00:48:29.739 --> 00:48:32.579 set. It was fantastic. I'll ask you the same 00:48:32.579 --> 00:48:35.179 question I just asked Matt. On a really hot day 00:48:35.179 --> 00:48:39.000 like today, how do you prepare to play in that 00:48:39.000 --> 00:48:43.320 heat? Bunch of water. Yeah. Gatorade. The crowd 00:48:43.320 --> 00:48:45.199 should be doing the same thing, right? Yeah, 00:48:45.280 --> 00:48:47.960 it's too hot. So everybody we're talking to at 00:48:47.960 --> 00:48:50.539 home is watching this in the air conditioning. 00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:54.880 Are you jealous? A little. A little, yeah. Yeah, 00:48:54.920 --> 00:48:56.860 a little bit. It's really great that they've 00:48:56.860 --> 00:48:59.159 put such a nice live stream together. I'm glad 00:48:59.159 --> 00:49:00.780 the folks at home were able to watch your set. 00:49:00.840 --> 00:49:03.900 Yeah, this is cool. I really enjoy the TV thing 00:49:03.900 --> 00:49:08.199 going on here. It's a nice setup. You couldn't, 00:49:08.199 --> 00:49:12.440 aside from it being 96, It couldn't be any better, 00:49:12.519 --> 00:49:15.599 but you guys aren't gods, so I don't expect you 00:49:15.599 --> 00:49:18.139 to control the weather. How many Outfests have 00:49:18.139 --> 00:49:22.360 you played over the years? At least 10. Yeah. 00:49:22.460 --> 00:49:23.900 What are some of the bands you've played with 00:49:23.900 --> 00:49:27.760 over the years at Outfest? Mother Jackson, Joyful 00:49:27.760 --> 00:49:31.340 Noise, and the Soul Small Voice. The Lanes, obviously. 00:49:32.340 --> 00:49:35.980 I feel like the Taxicab Versus played it one 00:49:35.980 --> 00:49:39.360 year. I'm forgetting somebody. That's all right. 00:49:40.250 --> 00:49:42.789 What do you love about playing AFEST? It's just 00:49:42.789 --> 00:49:46.190 fun. Seeing all the people out that get to see 00:49:46.190 --> 00:49:48.329 new music they haven't heard before. It's a lot 00:49:48.329 --> 00:49:50.690 of fun to see that. All right, I'm going to go. 00:49:50.789 --> 00:49:52.590 Hey, thank you for joining us, Richard. I really 00:49:52.590 --> 00:49:55.309 appreciate it, man. I hope you all enjoyed that 00:49:55.309 --> 00:49:58.030 set by the Lanes. They were fantastic. Last night, 00:49:58.090 --> 00:50:02.010 I tried to get into T. Hardy Morris. And I hadn't 00:50:02.010 --> 00:50:04.070 seen this at any other club the whole weekend, 00:50:04.130 --> 00:50:07.289 but there was a line all the way down the building, 00:50:07.409 --> 00:50:11.030 and they were at capacity. And I think people 00:50:11.030 --> 00:50:14.349 eventually got in for kind of the end of his 00:50:14.349 --> 00:50:18.369 set, but it was amazing to see that much support 00:50:18.369 --> 00:50:20.889 for T. Harney Morris. He's phenomenal. I really 00:50:20.889 --> 00:50:25.110 love his music. I caught Bloodkin. I got to say, 00:50:25.210 --> 00:50:58.239 what a phenomenal set. You really couldn't get 00:50:58.239 --> 00:51:01.840 in. There was plenty of space in all the clubs 00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:04.780 for all the club crawls. But, man, everybody 00:51:04.780 --> 00:51:07.500 wanted to see T. Hardy Morris last night. I think 00:51:07.500 --> 00:51:09.659 we're going to have to. I'm making a push right 00:51:09.659 --> 00:51:11.940 now. I call for him to be on the main stage next 00:51:11.940 --> 00:51:13.679 year. I know he's done it before. He should be 00:51:13.679 --> 00:51:15.699 back on the main stage, maybe even close out 00:51:15.699 --> 00:51:19.519 Friday night because that was a sight to see. 00:51:19.619 --> 00:51:23.699 I haven't seen literally 100 and some odd people 00:51:23.699 --> 00:51:26.469 lined up down the road. to get into Nowhere Bar, 00:51:26.630 --> 00:51:29.829 and they were at capacity already. I hadn't seen 00:51:29.829 --> 00:51:31.550 anything like that since. I'm trying to think 00:51:31.550 --> 00:51:34.150 of... I feel like there was one time at the Georgia 00:51:34.150 --> 00:51:37.530 Theater I had a really hard time. Maybe Centromatic 00:51:37.530 --> 00:51:39.389 or one of the people from Centromatic was playing 00:51:39.389 --> 00:51:42.230 or something like that, but I couldn't believe 00:51:42.230 --> 00:51:47.269 it. Thursday night, I was part of the Nate Ball 00:51:47.269 --> 00:51:51.110 Y 'all comedy kickoff show for this event. And 00:51:51.110 --> 00:51:53.409 I had a blast. We had Drew Morgan in. You've 00:51:53.409 --> 00:51:56.929 seen him on this live stream. We told a bunch 00:51:56.929 --> 00:51:59.010 of jokes. We stayed up late and stayed up way 00:51:59.010 --> 00:52:03.070 too late, especially for a kickoff party into 00:52:03.070 --> 00:52:05.110 a long weekend like this. But it was worth it. 00:52:05.130 --> 00:52:07.550 We all caught up with old friends. I'm in from 00:52:07.550 --> 00:52:10.869 Florida. I come up every year for AthFest. It's 00:52:10.869 --> 00:52:12.829 one of my favorite things to do, not just in 00:52:12.829 --> 00:52:16.349 Athens, but anywhere. So if you're at home watching 00:52:16.349 --> 00:52:20.099 and wondering, should I come next year? The answer 00:52:20.099 --> 00:52:23.460 is yes. The answer is absolutely yes. There's 00:52:23.460 --> 00:52:25.960 hotels all around downtown Athens that you can 00:52:25.960 --> 00:52:29.480 get at a relatively reasonable rate. If you've 00:52:29.480 --> 00:52:31.500 ever wanted to know what Athens is all about 00:52:31.500 --> 00:52:35.199 and what this scene is, if you're not from Athens 00:52:35.199 --> 00:52:38.050 and you're watching this stream right now. You 00:52:38.050 --> 00:52:39.690 got to come to an AthFest and you'll get the 00:52:39.690 --> 00:52:42.170 best demonstration of what Athens really means. 00:52:42.550 --> 00:52:45.190 I've never seen another city come together for 00:52:45.190 --> 00:52:47.630 art and music the way that this city does year 00:52:47.630 --> 00:52:50.650 after year, event after event. And I think AthFest 00:52:50.650 --> 00:52:53.530 kind of represents it the best. There's other 00:52:53.530 --> 00:52:55.170 great events throughout the year, don't get me 00:52:55.170 --> 00:52:58.809 wrong. I love all those other events. Wild Rumpus 00:52:58.809 --> 00:53:02.489 is something that's really fun. The way that 00:53:02.489 --> 00:53:05.210 AthFest just really brings together not just 00:53:05.210 --> 00:53:07.650 the community, but all the local businesses and 00:53:07.650 --> 00:53:10.949 bars and artists of all kinds, I really just 00:53:10.949 --> 00:53:14.349 think it showcases what Athens has to offer, 00:53:14.489 --> 00:53:18.150 no matter what you're into. In just a few minutes, 00:53:18.309 --> 00:53:23.690 we've got Celia Chantel, but Cassie Chantel, 00:53:23.769 --> 00:53:25.949 I'm sorry, I'm having trouble seeing my screen 00:53:25.949 --> 00:53:30.530 there. Cassie Chantel. For a little bit. Yeah, 00:53:30.530 --> 00:53:33.570 thanks. How we doing, Muggs? Oh, boy, struggling. 00:53:34.929 --> 00:53:37.309 It's day three. Yeah, I can't see it from here 00:53:37.309 --> 00:53:38.369 either. So I haven't been able to read anything. 00:53:39.190 --> 00:53:44.349 But we're here backstage for AthFest. I've got 00:53:44.349 --> 00:53:45.909 to say, it's not that bad. It's pretty cool. 00:53:45.909 --> 00:53:47.690 It's not that bad. I'm still a little sweaty. 00:53:47.969 --> 00:53:50.949 The tent helps. They gave us some fans to work 00:53:50.949 --> 00:53:54.110 with. But we're still sweltering out here. Oh, 00:53:54.130 --> 00:53:56.829 I see Count Zapula over there. We got to get 00:53:56.829 --> 00:53:59.849 him. Count Zapula. Yeah, we do need to talk to 00:53:59.849 --> 00:54:02.510 Count Zapula. Go get Count Zapula, Toby. Go get 00:54:02.510 --> 00:54:05.849 Count Zapula. He's probably introducing the next 00:54:05.849 --> 00:54:08.570 band or something. Yeah, I think he is. Count 00:54:08.570 --> 00:54:10.530 Zapula is showing up. I'm going to hand it over 00:54:10.530 --> 00:54:13.329 to Count Zapula here. Y 'all, thanks for tuning 00:54:13.329 --> 00:54:16.949 in. Enjoy the rest of AthFest. Hey, what's up? 00:54:17.030 --> 00:54:18.969 It's your good old friend Count Zapula here. 00:54:19.170 --> 00:54:21.630 Hell yeah. Thanks for coming in. How are you 00:54:21.630 --> 00:54:24.260 doing today? Pretty good. What do you do? What 00:54:24.260 --> 00:54:25.920 are you here for? I think you're introducing 00:54:25.920 --> 00:54:30.719 some Are we ready to rock on this thing just 00:54:30.719 --> 00:54:35.360 sit here and I'll brought you oh Dude that band 00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:37.440 was fun. What was the name of that band again? 00:54:37.500 --> 00:54:41.820 Y 'all? Orcestra, but coop the Cuba Macuba they 00:54:41.820 --> 00:54:44.559 were fun. I was out there dancing. I think did 00:54:44.559 --> 00:54:47.980 you get it on the camera Dan Dane? That band 00:54:47.980 --> 00:54:50.699 was so much fun. If you didn't make you dance, 00:54:50.880 --> 00:54:54.219 then you are basically dead. Or maybe deaf. And 00:54:54.219 --> 00:54:56.679 I'm apologizing if you are. I'm so sorry. Anyway, 00:54:56.820 --> 00:54:58.400 you know who it is. It's your boy Nate Ball, 00:54:58.460 --> 00:55:00.860 y 'all. Make sure you hit up those socials. Nate 00:55:00.860 --> 00:55:03.940 Ball, y 'all. It's Nate Ball, y 'all. So first 00:55:03.940 --> 00:55:07.460 up, I've got my good friend Yasmin here. She's 00:55:07.460 --> 00:55:09.920 an AdFest regular. How many years have you been 00:55:09.920 --> 00:55:12.340 going to AdFest? Keep it kind of close. Probably. 00:55:12.699 --> 00:55:16.019 20. And you are only, what, 22 years old? I know. 00:55:16.019 --> 00:55:17.679 So you started coming when you were two? Yeah, 00:55:17.679 --> 00:55:19.980 been going since I was a baby. I got you. I was 00:55:19.980 --> 00:55:22.420 actually watching this probably four -year -old 00:55:22.420 --> 00:55:24.380 out there cutting a rug, and I was just like, 00:55:24.440 --> 00:55:27.539 oh, she's got so much energy. I want to figure 00:55:27.539 --> 00:55:30.320 out how to steal it. Not the baby, just the energy. 00:55:30.739 --> 00:55:34.420 I can't lie, guys. It's a sweaty situation. It's 00:55:34.420 --> 00:55:36.360 hot out here. It's hot out here. You still make 00:55:36.360 --> 00:55:39.460 it look good. I make it not look good. You still 00:55:39.460 --> 00:55:42.320 look fabulous. I do. Oh, my God. This whole thing. 00:55:42.400 --> 00:55:44.420 This whole thing. But, yeah, so the whole point 00:55:44.420 --> 00:55:48.280 of this is the guys at Joker Joker TV log in. 00:55:48.519 --> 00:55:50.860 They are working really hard to live stream. 00:55:50.980 --> 00:55:52.300 You want to give a shout out to them before you 00:55:52.300 --> 00:55:55.739 head out? Shout out to all of y 'all. Yeah, all 00:55:55.739 --> 00:55:59.019 of y 'all. We got one more day to go. We got 00:55:59.019 --> 00:56:00.920 the rest of this day to go. I'm looking forward 00:56:00.920 --> 00:56:02.579 to this next man. They're supposed to be really 00:56:02.579 --> 00:56:05.059 awesome. What were their name again? Next man. 00:56:06.119 --> 00:56:09.199 Barkhouse. Barnhouse is up next, and I've been 00:56:09.199 --> 00:56:10.780 told that they're really fun. I've been watching 00:56:10.780 --> 00:56:14.400 them set up and drum. They've got bongos. They've 00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:17.559 got merengues. I think they've got key lime pie, 00:56:17.840 --> 00:56:20.639 which I want some of that too. But say bye to 00:56:20.639 --> 00:56:23.059 the lovely Yasmin. And I appreciate you coming 00:56:23.059 --> 00:56:25.579 by. Thank you, Nate. You're very welcome. I love 00:56:25.579 --> 00:56:28.880 you too. All right, you can sit right here. I'll 00:56:28.880 --> 00:56:31.119 catch up with you later. All right. What's up, 00:56:31.119 --> 00:56:32.820 brother? I'm Nate Ball. Hey, man. I'm Robbie. 00:56:32.960 --> 00:56:34.840 Robbie, nice to meet you, man. I feel like we've 00:56:34.840 --> 00:56:36.179 been around each other. I don't think we've officially 00:56:36.179 --> 00:56:39.099 met. We're talking to the live stream for AthFest. 00:56:39.179 --> 00:56:41.000 Hello, live stream. Hello, mom. Introduce yourself. 00:56:41.179 --> 00:56:42.719 Hello, dad. Hello, Carmen. Hello, Archer. Yeah. 00:56:42.760 --> 00:56:45.559 My name's Robbie. Robbie. Robbie, tell them what 00:56:45.559 --> 00:56:47.940 you do. I'm the singer for Barnhouse. Oh, man. 00:56:48.019 --> 00:56:49.639 I'm excited. Yeah, it's going to be awesome. 00:56:49.719 --> 00:56:52.239 Everybody's been telling me y 'all are like fun, 00:56:52.420 --> 00:56:54.239 like a rowdy fun time. Yeah. And then when I 00:56:54.239 --> 00:56:57.579 see bongos, I'm always like, let's roll. You 00:56:57.579 --> 00:56:59.420 can never have a bad time with some bongos. I've 00:56:59.420 --> 00:57:01.280 actually kind of gotten in trouble for putting 00:57:01.280 --> 00:57:03.460 my hands on other people's bongos. Hey, that'll 00:57:03.460 --> 00:57:05.079 happen. That'll happen in the industry, man. 00:57:05.239 --> 00:57:07.039 I'll be like, don't leave your bongos out if 00:57:07.039 --> 00:57:09.820 you don't want them banged. No chimes, no congas, 00:57:09.860 --> 00:57:12.119 no bongos, no nothing. Now, how long have y 'all, 00:57:12.260 --> 00:57:14.159 how long has Barnhouse been a band? We've been 00:57:14.159 --> 00:57:16.519 a band for about a year and a half now. We started 00:57:16.519 --> 00:57:20.239 playing January 2025. Nice, dude. So going from 00:57:20.239 --> 00:57:23.219 January 2025, this year you're on the main stage 00:57:23.219 --> 00:57:25.320 at Fest. That's pretty dope. Pretty awesome. 00:57:25.340 --> 00:57:28.210 Where are y 'all from? We're all from Athens, 00:57:28.329 --> 00:57:31.070 actually. Other than me. I'm the one guy out 00:57:31.070 --> 00:57:34.190 of the picture. I'm from Austin, Texas, but everybody 00:57:34.190 --> 00:57:37.670 else is from Athens. Austin is pretty cool. Yeah, 00:57:37.710 --> 00:57:41.630 yeah, yeah. Nepo babies, Nepo babies. Yeah, my 00:57:41.630 --> 00:57:47.050 mom owns Athens. No, Austin, great town. I've 00:57:47.050 --> 00:57:49.670 been out there to do comedy. It's one of those. 00:57:50.539 --> 00:57:52.920 Austin gives me an Athens vibe. It's just bigger. 00:57:53.079 --> 00:57:55.300 It's a big Athens. It kind of takes a little 00:57:55.300 --> 00:57:57.039 bit of the charm out of it. We get to see stuff 00:57:57.039 --> 00:57:59.400 like Athens. Exactly. And then I've been to South 00:57:59.400 --> 00:58:01.900 by Southwest a couple of times. That's a fun 00:58:01.900 --> 00:58:05.239 event. I think the last time, it wasn't always 00:58:05.239 --> 00:58:08.300 two weekends, was it? It started. Wasn't it just 00:58:08.300 --> 00:58:10.079 one weekend? I think so. Because I feel like 00:58:10.079 --> 00:58:12.300 the first time I went out there was for the film 00:58:12.300 --> 00:58:15.059 festival. Yeah. And then the next time I was 00:58:15.059 --> 00:58:17.079 out there, my friends were playing a band from 00:58:17.079 --> 00:58:18.719 Nashville called Cherub. Oh, that's awesome. 00:58:18.719 --> 00:58:20.909 They rock. Similar to AdFest where it's a whole 00:58:20.909 --> 00:58:24.269 weekend of like in clubs, on stages. It's a great 00:58:24.269 --> 00:58:26.730 weekend. I like it. I like the diversification 00:58:26.730 --> 00:58:29.429 with AdFest and the bands and everything. It's 00:58:29.429 --> 00:58:31.570 like if you're into something, you're going to 00:58:31.570 --> 00:58:34.250 find it. If it's not main stage or any of the 00:58:34.250 --> 00:58:36.449 side stages. You're going to find something within 00:58:36.449 --> 00:58:40.110 the big city. All the other smaller places. You're 00:58:40.110 --> 00:58:41.389 going to find something that you're going to. 00:58:42.090 --> 00:58:44.130 Yeah. That's the best part about it. You want 00:58:44.130 --> 00:58:46.050 to tell these guys about anything? You got any 00:58:46.050 --> 00:58:51.170 shows coming up? Well. We just recorded three 00:58:51.170 --> 00:58:54.369 singles here in Athens this week. Nice. Debut 00:58:54.369 --> 00:58:56.690 singles. Where did y 'all record? We recorded 00:58:56.690 --> 00:58:58.690 at Chase Park. Okay, nice. Thanks to our buddy 00:58:58.690 --> 00:59:01.190 David Barbie. Oh, David. I know David. Yeah, 00:59:01.210 --> 00:59:03.510 man. David Barbie and our engineer McKendrick 00:59:03.510 --> 00:59:05.829 helping us out at Chase Park. Yeah, it was a 00:59:05.829 --> 00:59:07.329 great time. That's awesome, man. I might have 00:59:07.329 --> 00:59:08.869 to head out soon, though. I was wondering if 00:59:08.869 --> 00:59:09.989 you were going to go to the show. They're mad 00:59:09.989 --> 00:59:11.070 at me over there. Yeah, they're probably going 00:59:11.070 --> 00:59:12.150 to need you, brother. It was great to meet you, 00:59:12.150 --> 00:59:13.269 man. It was so great to meet you. I can't wait 00:59:13.269 --> 00:59:15.489 to see the show rock out, man. Thanks, man. Thanks, 00:59:15.550 --> 01:00:07.690 brother, man. main stage. Y 'all gotta make sure 01:00:07.690 --> 01:00:09.650 to check them out, because they're gonna rock 01:00:09.650 --> 01:00:12.110 and roll. And it just so happens that the majority 01:00:12.110 --> 01:00:15.409 of the boys are hometown locals, so we gotta 01:00:15.409 --> 01:00:18.409 support them Athenians. Alright, up next, y 'all 01:00:18.409 --> 01:00:21.630 know the man, the myth, the legend, Fedden. How's 01:00:21.630 --> 01:00:24.289 your weekend going, dude? Oh man, it has been, 01:00:24.409 --> 01:00:27.889 this has been the coolest at -fest that I've 01:00:27.889 --> 01:00:31.059 ever had, I think. Cool as in... Vibe, not temperature. 01:00:31.699 --> 01:00:34.639 Oh, it was way hotter last year. Actually, I 01:00:34.639 --> 01:00:38.659 have been to some sweat fest. I mean, at fest, 01:00:38.880 --> 01:00:41.500 sweat fest. So, no, this has definitely been 01:00:41.500 --> 01:00:43.659 not bad. I'm glad we got a little bit of cloud 01:00:43.659 --> 01:00:46.440 cover. And then it's not raining, not going to 01:00:46.440 --> 01:00:49.039 work. I really love Dangfly. They were probably 01:00:49.039 --> 01:00:51.739 my favorite band that I've seen out here today 01:00:51.739 --> 01:00:55.639 outside. But that being said, that steel drum 01:00:55.639 --> 01:00:59.219 thing was pretty cool, too. That's the one, like 01:00:59.219 --> 01:01:01.440 I said, I had to go out there and dance. I accidentally 01:01:01.440 --> 01:01:03.719 almost ran over a four -year -old girl. That 01:01:03.719 --> 01:01:05.820 would have been rough. I don't know. What is 01:01:05.820 --> 01:01:09.579 that? Manslaughter? It's weird. If you intentionally 01:01:09.579 --> 01:01:12.300 kill somebody, it's just whatever. But if you 01:01:12.300 --> 01:01:16.059 accidentally, it's manslaughter. Anyway, that'd 01:01:16.059 --> 01:01:19.059 be a good band. What about band names of a band? 01:01:19.199 --> 01:01:20.820 Do you think there's one out there called band? 01:01:22.260 --> 01:01:25.320 Bandslaughter. If there's not one, don't steal 01:01:25.320 --> 01:01:29.800 my idea, guys. Trademark 2026. That feels like 01:01:29.800 --> 01:01:31.840 a fun one. I like to say it. I want to be in 01:01:31.840 --> 01:01:38.460 that band and play cowbell. A name of a band 01:01:38.460 --> 01:01:41.900 called Band Slaughter? Got to have more cowbell. 01:01:42.420 --> 01:01:44.159 So what's some of the fun interviews you've already 01:01:44.159 --> 01:01:46.420 done this weekend? So I talked to Lily Hyatt 01:01:46.420 --> 01:01:50.139 and Dash Riprock yesterday. Nice. I talked to 01:01:50.139 --> 01:01:52.420 MK Barnes earlier this week, and I watched all 01:01:52.420 --> 01:01:54.519 three of them play last night, and it was phenomenal. 01:01:54.940 --> 01:01:57.179 There's some great shows. That's the one thing 01:01:57.179 --> 01:02:00.159 I like doing this. It's a lot of fun, but I'm 01:02:00.159 --> 01:02:02.559 just going to be able to catch the main stages. 01:02:02.960 --> 01:02:05.300 So I'm unfortunately missing some of the other 01:02:05.300 --> 01:02:06.500 really good stuff. Yeah, I've been doing the 01:02:06.500 --> 01:02:08.539 club crawls quite a bit. That's the one thing 01:02:08.539 --> 01:02:11.440 about AdFest. There's so much going on. You get 01:02:11.440 --> 01:02:13.699 FOMO. You're like, there's three bands I want 01:02:13.699 --> 01:02:15.940 to see at the same time. That's happening to 01:02:15.940 --> 01:02:18.860 me tonight. That guitar is awesome. Yeah, would 01:02:18.860 --> 01:02:21.039 you bring that over here? Hey, we're here with 01:02:21.039 --> 01:02:23.980 Mary Joyce. What's going on, y 'all? Whose guitar 01:02:23.980 --> 01:02:25.860 is this, Mary? We've got this guitar for Raffle. 01:02:26.039 --> 01:02:28.159 Oh, my God. Mary, do you want to tell us about 01:02:28.159 --> 01:02:29.659 this guitar? This is the Raffle guitar. That 01:02:29.659 --> 01:02:32.079 is sick. Yeah, so this guitar was donated by 01:02:32.079 --> 01:02:34.820 Fender and then hand -painted by our theme artist, 01:02:35.019 --> 01:02:37.699 Maggie Baxter. Maggie crushed it this year. I 01:02:37.699 --> 01:02:40.880 love it. The lover. So we are raffling it off. 01:02:40.940 --> 01:02:43.760 Tickets are only $5. That is a heck of a deal. 01:02:43.920 --> 01:02:46.300 Show them the back, too. yeah so it's got the 01:02:46.300 --> 01:02:49.219 year the logo i mean that's awesome i personally 01:02:49.219 --> 01:02:51.559 cannot win this guitar but i really hope somebody 01:02:51.559 --> 01:02:53.800 in town does so i can see it in action exactly 01:02:53.800 --> 01:02:55.659 that would be super cool to be able to see somebody 01:02:55.659 --> 01:02:58.500 playing it from this because it's the other thing 01:02:58.500 --> 01:03:00.840 it's not just a piece of art it is a playable 01:03:00.840 --> 01:03:03.239 piece of art it sounds really good i got to play 01:03:03.239 --> 01:03:05.440 it a little bit really that's cool it's it is 01:03:05.440 --> 01:03:08.000 lovely i mean it's a piece of art that makes 01:03:08.000 --> 01:03:11.349 art yeah Wow. Just like you. Are we an inception 01:03:11.349 --> 01:03:14.429 or what? You're like, we're in art within art. 01:03:14.710 --> 01:03:17.590 All of us, man. Yeah, exactly. All of us. That's 01:03:17.590 --> 01:03:19.269 exactly it. All right, I'm going to go on stage. 01:03:19.269 --> 01:03:20.710 And then real quick, will you introduce yourself 01:03:20.710 --> 01:03:23.170 real quick to the guys? Okay, I'm Mary. Director 01:03:23.170 --> 01:03:26.690 of AthFest Educates. Everything that happens 01:03:26.690 --> 01:03:30.530 at AthFest benefits this nonprofit and arts education 01:03:30.530 --> 01:03:34.269 for K -12 students in Athens -Clarke County. 01:03:34.550 --> 01:03:37.030 Exactly. And Mary Joyce, how we get those young 01:03:37.030 --> 01:03:39.429 bands here in Athens is through these programs. 01:03:39.429 --> 01:03:41.349 There's the raffle on the screen, guys. There's 01:03:41.349 --> 01:03:44.030 so much going on. I have FOMO because I'm sticking. 01:03:44.170 --> 01:03:45.809 I love watching the main stage, but I'm like, 01:03:45.869 --> 01:03:47.949 there's like three or four things at a time I'd 01:03:47.949 --> 01:03:50.070 love to be at. Next year, I'm going to figure 01:03:50.070 --> 01:03:52.210 out how to clothe myself. Yeah, speaking of. 01:03:52.329 --> 01:03:54.269 I got to go on stage. Go on stage and do your 01:03:54.269 --> 01:03:56.230 thing. Love you guys. Thanks for popping in. 01:03:56.250 --> 01:03:58.769 Awesome. Thank you so much to Mary Joyce for 01:03:58.769 --> 01:04:03.590 joining us. Mary Joyce is the thing behind the 01:04:03.590 --> 01:04:06.650 whole board. It was amazing for AdFest. She works 01:04:06.650 --> 01:04:12.150 365 days a year to make this happen. For my show, 01:04:12.349 --> 01:04:14.510 seriously, Mary Joyce, big shouts out. This is 01:04:14.510 --> 01:04:17.409 hard work. Troy Aubrey, Aubrey Entertainment, 01:04:17.690 --> 01:04:20.750 putting in tons of effort and work. If it wasn't 01:04:20.750 --> 01:04:22.050 for these guys and the help, I wouldn't have 01:04:22.050 --> 01:04:26.070 my own show now the third year in a row. It was 01:04:26.070 --> 01:04:29.110 awesome. Can't wait. I'm still feeling it. I 01:04:29.110 --> 01:04:30.809 just want to tell y 'all who I'm really excited 01:04:30.809 --> 01:04:33.150 to see tonight. Yeah, you tell me. The Arcs are 01:04:33.150 --> 01:04:36.769 playing over at Normal Bar. Oh, nice. T. Hardy 01:04:36.769 --> 01:04:41.599 Morris. Slightly famous somebody. All kinds of 01:04:41.599 --> 01:04:43.059 amazing bands on the club crawl. We're going 01:04:43.059 --> 01:04:46.360 to pass off the mic to the one and only Slayla. 01:04:46.920 --> 01:04:49.019 Yo, my name's Cam. I'm the lead singer of a band 01:04:49.019 --> 01:04:50.960 called Schmooze. We're like if Paramore was grunge. 01:04:51.019 --> 01:04:53.960 We played here last night at midnight at Paloma 01:04:53.960 --> 01:05:43.300 Park. Schmooze. S -C -H -M -O -O -Z -E. AthFest! 01:05:43.519 --> 01:05:45.659 Dude, I actually follow you on Instagram. I've 01:05:45.659 --> 01:05:48.059 actually, I've tried to book you a thousand times. 01:05:48.260 --> 01:05:49.880 Oh my god, I'm sorry. You guys are always busy. 01:05:50.059 --> 01:05:53.119 Yeah, dude, yeah. We got people, we got a bassist 01:05:53.119 --> 01:05:54.860 in Atlanta, we got people here, I'm still in 01:05:54.860 --> 01:05:56.980 school. This is my first AthFest ever playing 01:05:56.980 --> 01:05:59.440 it, which is super cool. Now I'm walking around 01:05:59.440 --> 01:06:02.659 shooting some bands. Did you already play? Yeah, 01:06:02.780 --> 01:06:06.260 I played last night at midnight at Paloma. No, 01:06:06.320 --> 01:06:09.239 dude, Athens is so sick. I love seeing like Athens 01:06:09.239 --> 01:06:12.739 just has the greatest variety of people. It's 01:06:12.739 --> 01:06:16.460 oh, it's so cool. So many cool people. I love 01:06:16.460 --> 01:06:18.639 the community of it. All the vendors are so sick. 01:06:19.380 --> 01:06:23.039 Oh, yeah. Music. Oh, my God. Music. Perfect. 01:06:23.159 --> 01:06:26.139 Dude, speaking of the community, I had lost my 01:06:26.139 --> 01:06:28.780 backpack. Oh, my God. And I went hunting. I think 01:06:28.780 --> 01:06:31.739 I was gone for an hour and a half. Yeah. It was 01:06:31.739 --> 01:06:34.179 in Lost and Found. Somebody had seen me drop 01:06:34.179 --> 01:06:37.179 it. Yeah. Went and took it immediately to Lost 01:06:37.179 --> 01:06:39.900 and Found and told them to. They were like, hey. 01:06:40.019 --> 01:06:41.440 And so they were like, hey, we've been looking 01:06:41.440 --> 01:06:44.300 for you, waiting for you. Awesome. Wonderful. 01:06:44.420 --> 01:06:48.000 Wonderful group of collection of people. Barnhouse. 01:06:48.260 --> 01:06:50.539 Barnhouse. From Athens, Georgia, about to rock 01:06:50.539 --> 01:06:54.260 the main stage. Put your hands together for me 01:06:54.260 --> 01:06:57.880 and Slayla. And then Barnhouse. Oh, my God. And 01:06:57.880 --> 01:07:02.050 then Barnhouse. Talk about Barnhouse. Shout out, 01:07:02.090 --> 01:07:04.849 Barnhouse. Oh, there they are. Everyone in the 01:07:04.849 --> 01:07:08.949 band, after high school, we went our separate 01:07:08.949 --> 01:07:11.090 ways, but we would still get together over the 01:07:11.090 --> 01:07:15.849 summers. And I went to school with a guy named 01:07:15.849 --> 01:07:20.150 Cecil Conley, James Madison University. He put 01:07:20.150 --> 01:07:23.309 on a festival called Cecil Fest to celebrate 01:07:23.309 --> 01:07:30.090 his birthday, and he booked us. So we went and... 01:07:30.460 --> 01:07:33.679 A friend of ours, Caroline Pru, came and she 01:07:33.679 --> 01:07:40.559 filmed it. And we watched it, and it was a pretty 01:07:40.559 --> 01:07:43.500 good performance. And that's what encouraged 01:07:43.500 --> 01:07:48.159 us to, maybe we should try this for real. So 01:07:48.159 --> 01:07:53.179 we decided that it was after Andrew graduated, 01:07:53.539 --> 01:07:56.909 we were going to move to Georgia. And that's 01:07:56.909 --> 01:07:58.670 what we did. We were all in different places 01:07:58.670 --> 01:08:02.449 when we signed the lease. With facts. Because 01:08:02.449 --> 01:08:06.630 he was in, he went to Amherst, so he was in Massachusetts. 01:08:06.750 --> 01:08:11.730 The drummer, Ian Worden, he was in Guam, and 01:08:11.730 --> 01:08:15.769 I was in Harrisonburg, Virginia. And then we 01:08:15.769 --> 01:08:18.739 made this decision based on a... The love of 01:08:18.739 --> 01:08:21.659 music and that, basically that Cecil Fest performance. 01:08:22.119 --> 01:08:25.399 And that was basically like a one -off reuniting 01:08:25.399 --> 01:08:27.800 kind of thing that your friend got you to do. 01:08:28.359 --> 01:08:31.460 It was, we were, we played. You still played 01:08:31.460 --> 01:08:33.319 together some throughout, after high school? 01:08:33.439 --> 01:08:36.819 Okay. But it was fun to, you know, we played 01:08:36.819 --> 01:08:39.600 as much as we could, but we didn't really. It 01:08:39.600 --> 01:08:41.579 sounds like you were, that was geographically 01:08:41.579 --> 01:08:44.920 challenging. We would say the least. We would 01:08:44.920 --> 01:08:48.220 play at. and Harrisonburg and other places during 01:08:48.220 --> 01:08:51.180 the summer. But we didn't do a whole lot of real 01:08:51.180 --> 01:08:54.760 traveling until we moved to Georgia. Gotcha. 01:08:54.979 --> 01:08:59.520 Gotcha. What was it about Georgia that... Kevin 01:08:59.520 --> 01:09:02.720 Kinney. That was what it was for me. When I went 01:09:02.720 --> 01:09:07.579 to JMU, one of my best friends, Andrew Stitt, 01:09:07.579 --> 01:09:13.689 was my roommate. And another musician... Amy 01:09:13.689 --> 01:09:16.970 Dominguez, who's still active in the D .C. area. 01:09:17.029 --> 01:09:20.569 She played with, I randomly saw her in Athens 01:09:20.569 --> 01:09:23.310 one day. She was playing cello with Mary Timoney. 01:09:23.909 --> 01:09:27.510 But I'm not sure what, I know she still plays. 01:09:27.550 --> 01:09:29.489 I think she's very involved in classical music 01:09:29.489 --> 01:09:34.829 and playing the cello de gambo. She does neat 01:09:34.829 --> 01:09:37.590 stuff from what I see. Yeah, it sounds like it. 01:09:37.630 --> 01:09:41.500 She brought over a copy of McDougal Blues. And 01:09:41.500 --> 01:09:44.000 my roommate and I listened to it. It was probably 01:09:44.000 --> 01:09:47.479 about three times in a row. Just absolutely loved 01:09:47.479 --> 01:09:51.819 this record. And after the whole Cecil Fest thing 01:09:51.819 --> 01:09:55.039 and we were trying to decide where to go, he 01:09:55.039 --> 01:09:57.859 kept saying, Andy Stitt, that is, was like, you 01:09:57.859 --> 01:10:01.880 should go to Athens, Georgia. He'd play the Athens, 01:10:01.979 --> 01:10:04.560 Georgia Inside Out soundtrack all the time to 01:10:04.560 --> 01:10:06.859 kind of encourage it. And then when I found out 01:10:06.859 --> 01:10:08.680 that Kevin Kinney lived in Athens, I was like, 01:10:08.720 --> 01:10:11.819 let's go check it out. So did you visit first? 01:10:13.399 --> 01:10:16.100 Repeatedly? No, we came down once. You came down 01:10:16.100 --> 01:10:19.340 once. Came down once and we went to see, we saw 01:10:19.340 --> 01:10:23.340 Harvey Milk at the Atomic. And we saw a band 01:10:23.340 --> 01:10:26.939 called Funkomatic at the 40 Watt Club. And I 01:10:26.939 --> 01:10:30.380 think we had lunch. It was like five bucks going 01:10:30.380 --> 01:10:32.939 in there on the beer. So we're like, yeah, this 01:10:32.939 --> 01:10:36.340 will work. We actually didn't move into Athens 01:10:36.340 --> 01:10:40.430 proper. We lived in Comer. Okay, okay. year and 01:10:40.430 --> 01:10:43.329 a half something like that but you found it affordable 01:10:43.329 --> 01:10:46.449 you found it to have the scene that you were 01:10:46.449 --> 01:10:49.470 looking for and people that you admired and respected 01:10:49.470 --> 01:10:52.930 oh yeah was there any other was anybody arguing 01:10:52.930 --> 01:10:55.250 for any other city was there any other was there 01:10:55.250 --> 01:10:58.569 debate about it or was it really i think we had 01:10:58.569 --> 01:11:02.710 talked about maybe two or three cities ashville 01:11:02.710 --> 01:11:04.529 i think was something that was considered but 01:11:04.529 --> 01:11:06.689 i think athens was like let's go and check it 01:11:06.689 --> 01:11:09.670 out and see what that's What was it like? What 01:11:09.670 --> 01:11:12.350 was this entering a scene that's pretty well 01:11:12.350 --> 01:11:15.649 established already? You know what? One of the 01:11:15.649 --> 01:11:17.590 reasons we chose Athens was because it was 1996. 01:11:18.569 --> 01:11:20.970 The Olympics were going on. So we figured all 01:11:20.970 --> 01:11:24.210 the clubs would be packed. Instant fame, you 01:11:24.210 --> 01:11:26.989 know what I'm saying? Yeah. International audience 01:11:26.989 --> 01:11:31.550 coming to you. Yeah, exactly. So that was another 01:11:31.550 --> 01:11:34.989 big reason why it was Athens. We didn't take 01:11:34.989 --> 01:11:37.010 into account how difficult it was going to be 01:11:37.010 --> 01:11:40.760 to rent. places then that's why we wound up in 01:11:40.760 --> 01:11:43.979 Comer interesting yeah because they had a lot 01:11:43.979 --> 01:11:47.479 of the a lot of the events here in in they I 01:11:47.479 --> 01:11:50.880 think they had rhythmic gymnastics they had I 01:11:50.880 --> 01:11:54.359 think soccer okay or at least women's soccer 01:11:54.359 --> 01:11:57.260 because we were playing at a place called wishbones 01:11:57.260 --> 01:12:00.960 when was it the women's team won it was a brandy 01:12:00.960 --> 01:12:05.079 chastain whipped off the top a huge roar and 01:12:05.079 --> 01:12:07.399 it was right as we finished the song we're all 01:12:07.399 --> 01:12:10.159 like there's no way people here to make that 01:12:10.159 --> 01:12:14.020 kind of sound for us but yeah so i bet it felt 01:12:14.020 --> 01:12:17.779 good for a minute but it was rhythmic gymnastics 01:12:17.779 --> 01:12:20.659 i think maybe kayaking or something weird there 01:12:20.659 --> 01:12:25.460 were a few events here in town yeah yeah so after 01:12:25.460 --> 01:12:29.720 the kind of the olympics blows over you're able 01:12:29.720 --> 01:12:33.420 to move in Athens proper but what you were having 01:12:33.420 --> 01:12:35.979 the realization of the Olympics when I asked 01:12:35.979 --> 01:12:38.039 you this the first time but what what was it 01:12:38.039 --> 01:12:41.699 like to move to a city as just like anything 01:12:41.699 --> 01:12:45.600 it's a they're less mom -and -pop shops downtown 01:12:45.600 --> 01:12:49.920 than they used to be I think of the spirit is 01:12:49.920 --> 01:12:52.760 still pretty much the same I think that's true 01:12:52.760 --> 01:12:56.020 but some of the geography and obviously the people 01:12:56.600 --> 01:12:59.760 have changed but it's Athens is still a great 01:12:59.760 --> 01:13:02.479 place to be as far as I'm concerned yeah I think 01:13:02.479 --> 01:13:05.899 it's been shielded from a lot of the you've seen 01:13:05.899 --> 01:13:08.119 there's definitely been some gentrification here 01:13:08.119 --> 01:13:13.140 and corporate corporations moving in just like 01:13:13.140 --> 01:13:16.640 everywhere else but I do think that it has been 01:13:16.640 --> 01:13:20.939 somewhat shielded from a lot of the shit that 01:13:20.939 --> 01:13:24.619 has really screwed up a lot of the other cities 01:13:24.619 --> 01:13:27.779 in America There's still a real, I think, a true 01:13:27.779 --> 01:13:31.760 love of music and the arts here in town. Yeah. 01:13:31.880 --> 01:13:35.000 There's still a real, I think, a true love of 01:13:35.000 --> 01:13:38.600 music and the arts here in town. Yeah. It's a 01:13:38.600 --> 01:13:41.920 real priority in a way that I don't see in other 01:13:41.920 --> 01:13:45.199 cities that they claim they love the arts and 01:13:45.199 --> 01:13:48.619 do support the arts in some ways, but it's not 01:13:48.619 --> 01:13:51.039 their passion. Yeah. Pat Moswalt has a famous 01:13:51.039 --> 01:13:54.460 bit about being in Athens and the way things 01:13:54.460 --> 01:13:57.739 were. In the grand scheme, a lot of it's true. 01:13:58.100 --> 01:14:02.020 I think that's pretty supportive. So, yeah, it's 01:14:02.020 --> 01:14:05.500 changed, but a lot of it's still, in a way, still 01:14:05.500 --> 01:14:10.020 the same. Yeah, you just did soundcheck for AthFest. 01:14:10.180 --> 01:14:12.819 Yeah. Have you all ever played AthFest before? 01:14:13.279 --> 01:14:16.699 No. We played the Heathens thing. We played over 01:14:16.699 --> 01:14:20.039 at the Flickr for Matt's dial -back showcase. 01:14:21.000 --> 01:14:23.060 That's the last time we were in Athens, so we're 01:14:23.060 --> 01:14:26.640 very excited to be back for AthFest. What do 01:14:26.640 --> 01:14:29.420 you think is unique about Athens versus other 01:14:29.420 --> 01:14:34.579 cities? We started, I was a huge REM fan in college. 01:14:34.680 --> 01:14:38.500 And when I came here, it was like Mecca. It was 01:14:38.500 --> 01:14:42.420 like going to see REM's house. And I love the 01:14:42.420 --> 01:14:45.960 B -52s too. It's just such a cool experimental 01:14:45.960 --> 01:14:49.119 scene where a lot of art students like to grab 01:14:49.119 --> 01:14:51.920 guitars and make funky, crazy, outrageous music. 01:14:53.449 --> 01:14:56.930 Athens has always just created the coolest, unique 01:14:56.930 --> 01:15:00.550 music. And I don't know why. I don't know if 01:15:00.550 --> 01:15:03.930 it's Georgia. It's close to Atlanta. But there's 01:15:03.930 --> 01:15:07.210 just something here about the college and artists. 01:15:07.710 --> 01:15:10.649 It's like the art school creates the best music 01:15:10.649 --> 01:15:13.310 in town. Not the music school. It's the art school. 01:15:13.869 --> 01:15:15.770 Because everybody's crazy. And they're wearing 01:15:15.770 --> 01:15:18.449 crazy haircuts and crazy clothes. And you get 01:15:18.449 --> 01:15:20.850 bands like Love Tractor and Guadalcanal Diary. 01:15:21.720 --> 01:15:25.180 And then it all went on to Drive -By Truckers. 01:15:25.239 --> 01:15:28.319 And to this day, there's still these super creative 01:15:28.319 --> 01:15:31.119 bands coming out of Athens. We're looking forward 01:15:31.119 --> 01:15:33.479 to seeing some of them for AthFest. It's like 01:15:33.479 --> 01:15:35.140 you look at the AthFest lineup and you're like, 01:15:35.180 --> 01:15:36.819 these are all new guys. And you know they're 01:15:36.819 --> 01:15:39.060 going to be good because they're coming from 01:15:39.060 --> 01:15:42.819 Athens. And it's a proving ground for really 01:15:42.819 --> 01:16:57.220 cool art rock. So that's why I love it. Troy 01:16:57.220 --> 01:17:02.359 Aubrey, who puts on AthFest, I think he was conscious 01:17:02.359 --> 01:17:06.760 of when he knew, he was involved in the scheduling, 01:17:06.979 --> 01:17:09.220 because he knew I played in all three of those 01:17:09.220 --> 01:17:11.640 bands. And it worked. We were in high school, 01:17:11.739 --> 01:17:15.260 and Kevin, we met this guy, our friend Bob, in 01:17:15.260 --> 01:17:19.380 high school, and we were in a marching band together, 01:17:19.479 --> 01:17:22.899 all three of us, and just met him, and he was 01:17:22.899 --> 01:17:25.199 interested in playing too, and he played a little 01:17:25.199 --> 01:17:29.750 guitar. We just started that up. And that was, 01:17:29.810 --> 01:17:33.689 we literally would, Bob's dad had a trailer out 01:17:33.689 --> 01:17:37.750 on Lake Seminole, about 20 miles outside of Denver. 01:17:37.869 --> 01:17:41.029 And he didn't live there full time, so we just 01:17:41.029 --> 01:17:44.810 had access to this trailer. We just went out 01:17:44.810 --> 01:17:50.869 there almost every day and just played. And it's 01:17:50.869 --> 01:17:54.649 kind of the same thing. It was just like, we'd 01:17:54.649 --> 01:17:58.670 invite friends out there. sometimes and but yeah 01:17:58.670 --> 01:18:01.649 there wasn't there was there's nowhere to play 01:18:01.649 --> 01:18:04.630 we just we didn't really play out anywhere other 01:18:04.630 --> 01:18:07.649 than like we'd do little parties and stuff like 01:18:07.649 --> 01:18:11.210 that and so you moved to Evans because you wanted 01:18:11.210 --> 01:18:14.350 places to play music pretty much yeah by that 01:18:14.350 --> 01:18:17.350 point we had we really started getting a little 01:18:17.350 --> 01:18:20.170 serious about it and Kevin was writing a bunch 01:18:20.170 --> 01:18:23.090 more songs and Bob was writing songs too and 01:18:23.090 --> 01:18:28.590 yeah we just wanted to to go for it, and Athens 01:18:28.590 --> 01:18:32.989 was not too far away. Yeah. Yeah, we did. And 01:18:32.989 --> 01:18:36.569 it had a reputation, too, obviously, for everything. 01:18:36.930 --> 01:18:38.890 Yeah, for sure. And the cost of living was, I 01:18:38.890 --> 01:18:42.130 think, really killer back then. I think back 01:18:42.130 --> 01:18:46.649 on it, the first house we found was on Willow 01:18:46.649 --> 01:18:50.750 Run, which is a normal town, and we think it 01:18:50.750 --> 01:18:54.840 was $500 a month for all three of us. I think 01:18:54.840 --> 01:18:57.140 back on that now. That's crazy. Unbelievable, 01:18:57.319 --> 01:19:00.260 like, how much more expensive things are now. 01:19:00.979 --> 01:19:03.100 Like, we were just able to come up here with 01:19:03.100 --> 01:19:07.659 nothing, really. Find little jobs and make enough 01:19:07.659 --> 01:19:10.439 money to pay the rent and the bills and be able 01:19:10.439 --> 01:19:12.220 to play music and just play it out as much as 01:19:12.220 --> 01:19:14.659 we could. And previously, they didn't have an 01:19:14.659 --> 01:19:18.460 official photographer. They had interns do it. 01:19:19.399 --> 01:19:22.739 And Mary Joyce, who's the executive director 01:19:22.739 --> 01:19:25.640 of AFES Educates, and one of the things that 01:19:25.640 --> 01:19:29.640 she wanted was to have an official photographer 01:19:29.640 --> 01:19:32.720 and an official video, just because that was 01:19:32.720 --> 01:19:35.979 something that they didn't have. So when the 01:19:35.979 --> 01:19:39.220 idea of having an official photographer came 01:19:39.220 --> 01:19:44.829 up, she thought of me. kept in touch over the 01:19:44.829 --> 01:19:47.770 years. And so she reached out and asked me if 01:19:47.770 --> 01:19:49.649 I was interested. She's like, well, you're already 01:19:49.649 --> 01:22:59.680 doing it. Thanks so much for coming out.