WEBVTT

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welcome to Hey, Are You Listening? This is a

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podcast exploring the past, present, and future

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of Christian music. My name is Joel. I'm here

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with my good friend Brandon. And we, a few years

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ago, connected over a mutual love of some different

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artists. But we also have some pretty different

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tastes. And so we love getting to do this each

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and every week to get to experience some new

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artists from each other, invite some friends

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along for the journey. It's a good ride. Brandon,

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it's Monday. How are you? Other than this cold,

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I'm doing pretty good. Yeah, there's things you

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just can't dodge right now. They're like everywhere.

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It's it's not you can't. It's undodgeable. You're

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right. Undodgeable. Wait, are you saying you

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have a cold right now? That's why I'm saying

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this. I've got my four feet away. I'm just kidding.

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Speaking of things that you can't touch. We have

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a special guest here with us today. Really, really

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excited for this. You may know him from his time

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with the band Bleach or his stint with audio

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adrenaline during the Kevin Maxx days. But welcome

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to our good friend, Mr. Jared Byers. Yay. What's

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up? I'm happy to be here. Dude, we're so glad

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to have you here. This is really fun. This is

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awesome. I've been looking forward to this for

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a while. Really? Tell me more about that. Yeah.

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Well, I mean, you're one of my favorite people.

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Whoa. Okay. Keep going. Um, so just stop it.

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You know, the few moments that we've been able

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to sit across the table from each other have

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just been some of the best conversations that

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I've had. So tacos. I am. Yes. We love tacos.

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He had some really good tacos over the years.

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Conversations. We got a lot in common. We do.

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which is really fun. So we're super thankful

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to have you here. Awesome. So we're gonna be

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digging into Jared's story during this episode,

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finding out more about him and his kind of journey

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through a lot of this stuff. But before we get

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too deep into that, let's look and figure out

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what is in the news. All right, so let's talk

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a little bit about what's been going on in the

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world of music Christian music One thing that

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I found out that I saw just happened this past

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weekend I don't know if you guys caught this

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but there's a new like a brand new festival called

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Thunderfest That happened Jared totally missed

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this. Yeah, but it was in Portland, Oregon September

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13th and 14th And like listen to the lineup.

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It's pretty interesting. So living sacrifice

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Squad 5 -0, wish for Eden, no innocent victim,

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the blamed, the Huntington's, blaster the rocket

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man. There's some old school tooth and nail stuff

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on there. That's rad. Yeah. And that's in Portland.

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Yeah, it came out of nowhere. It got announced

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like about a month and a half before it actually

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happened. That's crazy. I wonder who's doing

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that. I have no idea, honestly, but I kind of

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wanted to hop on a plane. I've never been to

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Portland, so that might be fun. I bet Brandon

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Evil's probably doing it himself. He's like,

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let's bring Tooth and Elbat. He's like, if I

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do it in Portland, nobody will notice me. Travel

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a few hours away from Seattle. Yeah, that's Brandon

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for you. Oh, that's pretty fun. So that's cool.

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That would have been fun to go to. Yeah. Brandon,

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you found out some news about another festival,

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right? Yeah, I had some amazing news that happened

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this week. John Rubin returned to the stage.

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Oh, that's awesome. That's news of 2025 right

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there. That's some good news for everyone. Yeah.

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And yeah, he returned at Uprise Fest. So it's

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a festival up in Pennsylvania. So it was a pretty

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good lineup, too. But I really just focused in

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on John Rubin. So John Rubin. Dude, he's awesome.

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I got to tour with him several times. Oh, really?

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Such a cool dude, yeah. And we had so much fun.

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He's like one of the funniest guys I've ever

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met. Yeah, I believe that. But also just an amazing

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creator, songwriter, lyricist. Yeah, he's awesome.

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We would always give him a hard time because

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he's very paranoid. And so when I was touring

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on Bleach and we toured with John Rubin in the

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past, It was so easy like we would just be like,

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hey John, did you eat the meat in catering today?

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Be like, yeah, I mean it was really good Yeah,

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I don't know man And he would be like wait what?

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Was it undercooked? We didn't have to say anymore.

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He'd be like was it what was wrong with it? Are

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you sick? And he'd be like I oh no, I don't feel

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good right like he would just go downhill That's

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one thing I love about John Rubin. That's hilarious.

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I love that. Well, that's cool. Brandon, you

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missed it, though. You missed seeing it happen.

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I came close to driving up there for it, but

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it's a pretty good trip. Yeah, that would have

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been fun. Yeah, that would have been fun. Let's

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talk for a second before we kind of get into

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this about just what we've been listening to

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lately. What's kind of taken up time in our wherever

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we listen to music. It's Apple Music for me.

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But yeah, I'm both. Yeah, both i'm spotify and

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apple. Wow. I know I Share the wealth Mainly

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about now listening with spotify now. Yeah, it's

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been probably the biggest tension between me

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and john's relationship Oh really? Yeah. Oh man

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working through it though. So i'm glad that I

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can be here Just hopefully to help, you know

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mitigate things and bring some peace to this

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i hope so yeah i mean as an artist though like

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um it doesn't matter uh i will say more from

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apple music than spotify do we okay uh the last

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the last um check i got in the mail from ascap

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i think it was 34 cents and that was like from

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the last five years Don't know so so we it doesn't

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matter probably it's a really clear like moment

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for us to say that the music industry is broken

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Yeah, oh, yeah, I mean definitely I mean for

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a long time. Yeah. Yeah, it's rough. This is

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different. It's very different Yeah, we'll talk

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about it. Yeah, so What have you guys been listening

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to lately? Well, for this, I've started listening

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to a lot of bleach so I could catch up. Whoa.

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I'm sorry. I'm one of those fans that Joel mentioned

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that knew you from the audio adrenaline era.

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So whenever I hear Jared Byers, I'm like, yeah,

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audio adrenaline. That's what he does. And not

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realizing that there's this whole back catalog

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of different bands you've been a part of. So

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you didn't listen to bleach before this at all.

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OK, cool. Well, you're young, right? Yeah. I'm

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33. So I say that, Brandon, because I was young

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when I was in Bleach. And Joel, you know that.

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I joined Bleach when I was really young, and

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they had already been a band. So yeah, when you

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talk about the years of Bleach looking back now,

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it really makes me feel old. But I was the young

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guy. Yeah, the other guys are actually really

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really old One of the cool one of the fun things

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about this for us is we have about a you know

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Decade of space between us. Yeah, we were like

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engaging in this this world at like different

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times Yeah, I'm like late 90s early 2000s and

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Brandon's like a little after that Yeah, it's

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been kind of fun to just get get to expose each

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other. Yeah, totally pretty fun. Yeah, that's

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really fun He's got the Me Without You shirt

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on too. Check it out. I love it. That's great.

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I have a story about them, too. Guys, I am like,

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so Sleep Token put out that last record. Yeah.

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And I love it. It's the first record they put

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out. It took me several listens and I fell in

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love with it. I didn't get it. And then when

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you look at them wearing masks and their crazy

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stage gear, I'm like, it's cool. Whatever. It's

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cool. But the sec this last record that came

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out I I didn't love it at first and then it just

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started I don't know. I just started Really appreciating

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some of the things it was different, but it was

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the same. I don't know how I can explain that

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Yeah, you can tell that the band a sophomore

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record for a band is the hardest And I don't

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even know if this is their sophomore record honestly,

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but for since they became popular This is their

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second record, right? So Maybe that was me being

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like, well, I know this is not gonna be good.

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I don't know But good lord. Yeah, I love it.

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I listen to it all the time and You guys were

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asking right before we started this who else

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might be listening to and honestly You guys know

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the band as cities burn. Yeah, so I've been spinning

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scream through the walls their their record for

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Two weeks straight. Yeah, and it's the one that

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you just you just want to blast and like the

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lyrics What they're saying in the music it's

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so good. It just sets me on fire. That's really

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I went to therapy last week and I am blasting

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this record and it was my first session at this

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new therapist that I've gone to and the woman

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at the front desk was like Was that you playing

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music really loud? And I'm like, I am so sorry.

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Yes. That is how I get prepared to come to therapy.

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And it was that record. Wow. It was like, but

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it was so good. Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah.

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Yeah. I've kind of, um, I mentioned a week or

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two ago on the podcast, uh, was talking a little

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bit about, um, five hour in frenzy. And so for

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like, for whatever reason, that's like, I feel

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like all I've been listening to since then, um,

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it's awesome. I'm just like caught up in it again.

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Um, of how good again for the first time. Yeah.

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Caught up in just how good of a songwriter Reese

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Ripper is like, um, his lyrics are just incredible.

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And, um, and I, I just think there's something

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really Awesome. I said this before about a band

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that can be real honest and like earnest about

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their faith, but still point fingers at themselves.

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Um, and, and the church and say, we don't have

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it all right, or we don't have it all together,

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but we're working towards something. And, uh,

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and I just always love that about them. Yeah.

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They're awesome. They're really, really dear

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friends of ours and mine. Um, yeah, I literally

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just talked to. Leon or Jeff the girl. Yeah two

00:11:30.409 --> 00:11:33.509
days ago. That's awesome because she's She's

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like wholeheartedly like Wanting to know what

00:11:35.929 --> 00:11:39.070
we're doing with bleach. Yeah, she's such she's

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I'm like I didn't realize you like this that

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much But they did ask us to do their farewell

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tour, which was one of the best tours we've ever

00:11:47.330 --> 00:11:50.029
done. Mm -hmm That's really cool. Well, you guys

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just Just played at Murray Hill Theatre Like

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yeah the night after they played we did go to

00:11:56.830 --> 00:12:00.070
the were you there to catch them? No, so we I

00:12:00.070 --> 00:12:02.929
we tried to a couple of our guys in bleach did

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yeah they went and they were able to hang out

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and see the show and I went with my brother Milam

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and We have a new guy Pete Prevost who our text

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message thread is Bleach plus Pete. It's a joke,

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but he's been playing with us whenever we done

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reunion stuff over the last like 15 plus years.

00:12:28.950 --> 00:12:34.870
Yeah. And so we got a late start. We were trying

00:12:34.870 --> 00:12:36.610
to get there and we just didn't make it. Like

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by the time we would have got there, they were

00:12:38.009 --> 00:12:41.269
already like probably packing up. Yeah. And yeah.

00:12:41.490 --> 00:12:45.330
So I hate it. Yeah. Yeah. But I do want to see

00:12:45.330 --> 00:12:47.980
him. They're playing like a normal band these

00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:51.320
days. So they really are playing. So I don't

00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:54.539
like I do. I want to see them and I would love

00:12:54.539 --> 00:12:58.659
to do. I think it's only a matter of time. Yeah,

00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.519
because there's the plan. I get to see him last

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last October at Friends Fest. That's right. Yeah,

00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.720
man. They and they loved it. I heard that was

00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:12.019
a good show. So good. Yeah. And I've probably

00:13:12.019 --> 00:13:13.860
seen - That was one thing Leonora was talking

00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:15.080
to me about. She's like, we're really bummed

00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:17.399
we're not doing it this year. Yeah. I've probably

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seen them 10 times in my life, but I really feel

00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:23.799
like that was one of the best shows of it. Really?

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They were so tight. That's wild. That's unbelievable.

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They're finally getting good. That's the joke,

00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:32.320
right? That is a joke. They've always been awesome.

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That's great. Yeah, a lot of fun. They're a lot

00:13:35.820 --> 00:13:38.960
of fun. All right. Well, let's get into some

00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:46.159
of our conversation. We play that little sound

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effect in case, you know, the sponsors ever want

00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.500
to pay up this whole thing. They need to pay

00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:59.009
big time. All right. So. We've got some questions

00:13:59.009 --> 00:14:01.730
to ask you along the way, but maybe just to kick

00:14:01.730 --> 00:14:04.309
us off You just literally had that experience

00:14:04.309 --> 00:14:06.789
at Murray Hill Theatre with you guys first show

00:14:06.789 --> 00:14:15.490
and how long Well, I Would say like first real

00:14:15.490 --> 00:14:18.750
show probably in around 20 years. Yeah, we did

00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:23.549
we did a festival Sam our guitarist works for

00:14:23.549 --> 00:14:25.710
a church out of Franklin. And we did a festival

00:14:25.710 --> 00:14:28.309
with him and that was kind of like a super last

00:14:28.309 --> 00:14:30.110
minute thing, but it was really cool. It was,

00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.610
it was a fun experience. Um, so we did that,

00:14:32.610 --> 00:14:36.429
but that was more for, you know, the church and

00:14:36.429 --> 00:14:39.529
it wasn't a bleach show. Um, this was the first

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bleach show that we've had since probably 2005.

00:14:44.529 --> 00:14:48.690
No, I mean, we, we did a few reunion shows a

00:14:48.690 --> 00:14:51.820
few years after that, but yeah. Yeah, wow. How

00:14:51.820 --> 00:14:54.259
did it feel being? That's so good up there. That's

00:14:54.259 --> 00:15:00.159
so good I I live here in charleston and the rest

00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:02.759
of the guys live in nashville And so I I took

00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:07.419
a couple trips to nashville Over, you know a

00:15:07.419 --> 00:15:11.379
month Before the show just to kind of you know,

00:15:11.379 --> 00:15:14.600
shake the dust off and yeah jam out and it was

00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.179
a chance for us to kind of Figure out what songs

00:15:17.179 --> 00:15:20.559
we want to do what how we wanted to do it um

00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:25.360
I had this weird Do you guys do you know the

00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.200
song Sun stand still? Mm -hmm. So that's like

00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:31.960
one of probably Most of us would say that's our

00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:33.960
one of our favorite songs. Yeah, our favorite

00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.940
song that bleach has ever done There's always

00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:39.940
a special moment and we've always done it as

00:15:39.940 --> 00:15:44.299
the ending of a show and for some reason I just

00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:48.620
was like This show is this this is special and

00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:52.080
we're on this level We're so many years later

00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:56.159
like what defines bleach like how should we?

00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.659
Come out and obviously we need to rock out. Yeah,

00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:03.200
and that's a rock song But I just I remember

00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:06.419
talking to the guys beforehand. I was like we're

00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:09.259
trying to figure out our set list And we have

00:16:09.259 --> 00:16:11.500
a good idea of what songs we are but not necessarily

00:16:11.500 --> 00:16:13.200
order and I'm like What do you guys think about

00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:15.779
starting with Sunset Still? I'm like, why don't

00:16:15.779 --> 00:16:20.960
we just set the tone Wow and Like Davey and a

00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.500
cut Davey was like, oh dude, I've never thought

00:16:24.500 --> 00:16:26.940
about that Let's do it and the other guys kind

00:16:26.940 --> 00:16:28.419
of had to come around a little bit But they were

00:16:28.419 --> 00:16:30.899
finally like that's a good idea. Let's do it

00:16:30.899 --> 00:16:33.399
And so I felt like it just made the whole show

00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:38.419
like it like I said it set the tone Because the

00:16:38.419 --> 00:16:41.799
last show we did The last few shows we did were

00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.159
very emotional. Mm -hmm, and we can get into

00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.159
that more the way bleach kind of came to an end.

00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:51.389
Yeah very emotional, we're very much a family.

00:16:52.129 --> 00:16:57.350
And we very much have experienced life as a family.

00:16:59.289 --> 00:17:02.809
So a lot of things go into that, but it was very

00:17:02.809 --> 00:17:05.609
special. Murray Hill has been special to us.

00:17:07.390 --> 00:17:11.450
The owner, the guy that runs it, Tony, amazing

00:17:11.450 --> 00:17:14.289
dude, has a heart of gold, just really cares

00:17:14.289 --> 00:17:18.130
about people. just spreading the gospel. And

00:17:18.130 --> 00:17:23.849
you want to talk about God's hand on something.

00:17:24.269 --> 00:17:26.849
How many Christian clubs are still in existence?

00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:31.950
I know that were 30 years ago. Yeah, there's

00:17:31.950 --> 00:17:34.569
not any. I was telling Brandon the other day

00:17:34.569 --> 00:17:38.150
that it blows my mind. My band actually played

00:17:38.150 --> 00:17:40.789
there once when we were on the road. Oh, cool.

00:17:41.609 --> 00:17:44.829
I love that. It blows my mind that it's still.

00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:48.569
They're still open still the same mission like

00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:51.970
I love that so much. It's awesome Yeah, and and

00:17:51.970 --> 00:17:55.309
it's in a part of Jacksonville. It's not Safe.

00:17:55.309 --> 00:17:57.789
Yeah, like we used to go there and we were really

00:17:57.789 --> 00:18:01.309
scared You know, it's gotten better. Yeah, it's

00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:03.309
cool to see like how it's changed over the years,

00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:07.089
but No, and I love that that's their heart, you

00:18:07.089 --> 00:18:09.950
know, they're like come on let's love on people.

00:18:10.009 --> 00:18:15.650
Yeah come in for positive music Music that means

00:18:15.650 --> 00:18:19.470
something, you know, yeah, and I don't know how

00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:22.769
but they're still there. Yeah So so cool. Yeah,

00:18:22.829 --> 00:18:24.930
so beautiful was awesome. All right. Well, let's

00:18:24.930 --> 00:18:30.130
back up. Yeah and And and get into this Yeah,

00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:31.809
cuz so can you tell us a little bit about how

00:18:31.809 --> 00:18:37.150
music entered your life? Yeah, so I I mean from

00:18:37.150 --> 00:18:40.430
a young young age I loved I've always loved music

00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:45.880
I'm the youngest of three boys My oldest brother

00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:49.619
Josh is eight years older than me my middle brother

00:18:49.619 --> 00:18:53.900
Milam who is in bleach is five years older They

00:18:53.900 --> 00:18:58.220
were both big big -time 80s music like we're

00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:03.539
talking poison guns and roses like But also our

00:19:03.539 --> 00:19:06.640
parents my my dad was a pastor. So I'm a PK a

00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:09.400
preacher's kid They didn't appreciate us having

00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:13.079
those albums. So we had to go to The striper,

00:19:13.619 --> 00:19:16.859
white cross, white heart, all the whites. You

00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:22.579
know, like, yeah. So good. Which striper is still

00:19:22.579 --> 00:19:26.480
like probably me and the guys in the band, like

00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:28.640
probably one of our favorite bands ever. And

00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.000
still going. Yeah. Unbelievable. Talking about

00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:34.160
still going. Yeah. Like the bunny rabbit, like

00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:38.559
still going, but it's awesome. I love it. Yeah.

00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:41.779
21 symbols, 21 drums. That's what Robert Sweet

00:19:41.779 --> 00:19:44.700
would say. And he would have the cymbals hanging

00:19:44.700 --> 00:19:47.619
from chains. So when he would hit a cymbal, it

00:19:47.619 --> 00:19:50.819
would just swing. Like I'll never forget that.

00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:52.539
That's so cool. But those guys are awesome. And

00:19:52.539 --> 00:19:54.500
they played with like Motley Crue and they really

00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:57.740
blurred the lines, you know. Which unfortunately

00:19:57.740 --> 00:20:02.180
stopped for a little while. But my brothers are

00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:05.059
who got me into music. My mom played and taught

00:20:05.059 --> 00:20:08.059
piano. She always tried to teach me my biggest

00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:12.319
regret. As far as music goes is not taking my

00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:14.400
mom's advice and learning piano when I was younger.

00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:19.619
I was into sports And wanted to I wanted to be

00:20:19.619 --> 00:20:22.519
a baseball player and like no, I don't want to

00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:24.380
play piano I didn't have the patience for it

00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:28.500
and I regret it. I wish I did I mean I can hit

00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:32.779
a couple keys here and there but no I'm not any

00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:37.799
good So, yeah just from a really young age music

00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:42.680
was kind of Instilled in me. That's awesome.

00:20:43.339 --> 00:20:48.839
So what what led from that and just kind of taking

00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:51.180
music and being a listener, being a fan. How

00:20:51.180 --> 00:20:54.700
did you then enter into the world of music as

00:20:54.700 --> 00:20:57.119
a musician where you start playing? What was

00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:01.059
the beginning of that like? That is I really

00:21:01.059 --> 00:21:04.940
have to die. That's Milam. Yeah, my brother Milam.

00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:08.609
Was playing guitar he my limit that at the time

00:21:08.609 --> 00:21:13.170
was in high school He was a skater kid middle

00:21:13.170 --> 00:21:18.089
child Need I say more like the artsy like nobody

00:21:18.089 --> 00:21:22.150
understands kind of child so he's trying to find

00:21:22.150 --> 00:21:27.170
himself and Always just been like he was an incredible

00:21:27.170 --> 00:21:30.269
drawer But when he put his mind to something

00:21:30.269 --> 00:21:33.890
he was really he's brilliant. Like the dude is

00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:39.319
a genius and but not just smart smart like art

00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:42.460
like he's just really just i don't know how his

00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:45.640
mind works and we have those conversations like

00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:48.200
he'll talk to me i'm like brother you got to

00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:52.319
slow down like i need you to draw what you're

00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.700
talking about to me so i can like understand

00:21:54.700 --> 00:21:58.200
um but that was kind of the gift that he has

00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:03.240
and um yeah he uh he was big time in the guitar

00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:06.450
and especially when um He went to college. He

00:22:06.450 --> 00:22:08.890
started playing in a band and they started touring

00:22:08.890 --> 00:22:11.950
regionally. Um, actually in Anderson, South Carolina,

00:22:11.970 --> 00:22:15.630
he went to Anderson University, which it wasn't

00:22:15.630 --> 00:22:18.930
that then, but, um, they started touring and

00:22:18.930 --> 00:22:23.309
that's kind of how he got to start. I was just

00:22:23.309 --> 00:22:26.470
like, well, I want to do something. My brother

00:22:26.470 --> 00:22:28.210
at first, when I was a kid, I wanted to go into

00:22:28.210 --> 00:22:30.710
the military. My oldest brother went to West

00:22:30.710 --> 00:22:33.930
Point. Saw how hard it was and I was like I am

00:22:33.930 --> 00:22:38.630
NOT doing that I'm out. Yeah, and so I went my

00:22:38.630 --> 00:22:42.250
other brother route Like let's play music and

00:22:42.250 --> 00:22:45.410
I think I'm pretty sure I had a conversation

00:22:45.410 --> 00:22:47.849
with my alum and I was like I want to be a musician

00:22:47.849 --> 00:22:50.630
Like I want to be a singer because I want to

00:22:50.630 --> 00:22:53.450
be in front you like as a kid. You're like I

00:22:53.450 --> 00:22:57.269
want right That's who you know is the singer

00:22:57.269 --> 00:23:00.599
and he's like you should be a drummer And I didn't

00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:02.279
know what he was doing, but now I look back and

00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:05.019
I think he was planning something I really do

00:23:05.019 --> 00:23:07.880
and I was like, okay cool cuz I love gadgets.

00:23:07.980 --> 00:23:11.519
Yeah, I love things Me being a firefighter is

00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:13.859
like one of the biggest thing that draws me to

00:23:13.859 --> 00:23:16.299
it is like we use so many different kinds of

00:23:16.299 --> 00:23:19.920
tools and gadgets I love it. Like my house is

00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:23.440
just full of knives and weird things that I just

00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:27.519
love tools, you know, yeah and so drums were

00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:29.559
always that as a musician you're like oh well

00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:32.599
you got to tinker with this and unfortunately

00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:35.920
it's like the hardest to move around to and it

00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.920
takes the most time to set up so i didn't really

00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:42.119
i didn't think about that but um no i i went

00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:45.700
heads in and uh just fell in love with drums

00:23:45.700 --> 00:23:49.779
and um one of the guys that played with my own

00:23:49.779 --> 00:23:53.289
at the time yogi who plays for Demon Hunter now.

00:23:53.750 --> 00:23:56.750
He played for several really good bands that

00:23:56.750 --> 00:24:00.170
actually toured with Bleach too. He did a lot

00:24:00.170 --> 00:24:03.130
for me. He was, it's kind of cool. He was like

00:24:03.130 --> 00:24:05.289
my mentor. You know, I was like, what drum should

00:24:05.289 --> 00:24:08.329
I get for my first or second drum set? And kind

00:24:08.329 --> 00:24:11.150
of heads to use. What kind of stick size? And

00:24:11.150 --> 00:24:14.349
I had that guy that was like really good. So

00:24:14.349 --> 00:24:17.410
I got a one up from everybody else in a way.

00:24:17.750 --> 00:24:19.769
And that's how I started playing drums. That's

00:24:19.769 --> 00:24:23.529
awesome. Yeah. Awesome. So when when did bleach

00:24:23.529 --> 00:24:28.170
come into that picture? Yeah, so playing drums

00:24:28.170 --> 00:24:35.410
I I played for a band in high school that did

00:24:35.410 --> 00:24:39.849
really good regionally There was a pastor that

00:24:39.849 --> 00:24:45.329
was in that van that's massive. I Won't I don't

00:24:45.329 --> 00:24:48.549
won't say his name. That's what yeah, you know

00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:56.440
Steve Furtick we were in a punk band and we were

00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:03.039
pretty good and then my brother Milam again was

00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:07.500
playing with somebody called Miss Angie and I

00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:16.819
was 17 in high school in Georgia and my brother

00:25:17.150 --> 00:25:21.569
Was on a tour with the insiders and the dingy's

00:25:21.569 --> 00:25:23.130
And it was like a really cool tour. The insiders

00:25:23.130 --> 00:25:26.769
are awesome. You like 500 frenzy those guys were

00:25:26.769 --> 00:25:32.410
very close together and and so I went and It's

00:25:32.410 --> 00:25:35.910
crazy The the drummer for the dingy's which I

00:25:35.910 --> 00:25:38.089
was a big fan of they're a tooth -and -nose records

00:25:38.089 --> 00:25:43.210
man Kind of like ska reggae. Mm -hmm, and I loved

00:25:43.210 --> 00:25:47.940
them for years before I saw him play the show

00:25:47.940 --> 00:25:51.299
and Being my own little brother I went early

00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:53.819
and their drummer just quit like a couple days

00:25:53.819 --> 00:25:56.640
before So the drummer for the insiders was filling

00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:01.039
in Met the guys Milam was like Jared you should

00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:04.720
play a Song with the dingy's and just kind of

00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:06.940
like try out and see if they would want to use

00:26:06.940 --> 00:26:08.779
you That's awesome. Like maybe you could finish

00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:10.420
this tour. It was towards the end of the tour

00:26:10.420 --> 00:26:15.990
and I was like Dumb enough to do it And I knew

00:26:15.990 --> 00:26:19.609
their songs. Yeah, and so I'd never forget I

00:26:19.609 --> 00:26:22.829
it was a show in Georgia at a high school in

00:26:22.829 --> 00:26:26.670
a gymnasium and I played they were like why don't

00:26:26.670 --> 00:26:28.569
you just come up and play a song during our set?

00:26:29.210 --> 00:26:31.250
What song do you want to do? That's so when I

00:26:31.250 --> 00:26:33.829
just told them. Yeah, I was like, well, this

00:26:33.829 --> 00:26:36.410
is my favorite song Alright, cool done. We'll

00:26:36.410 --> 00:26:40.769
see how you do and I did it and They were like

00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:44.819
uh we're gonna finish the tour off um because

00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:47.519
it was towards the end but we have a uh a three

00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:50.180
week run after this tour that we don't have a

00:26:50.180 --> 00:26:52.200
drummer for yeah would you be interested in playing

00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:56.259
and i was like i'm a kid 17 so i was like yeah

00:26:56.259 --> 00:27:00.619
yeah didn't even ask my parents uh so but it

00:27:00.619 --> 00:27:03.039
happened to be the summer between my junior and

00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:06.000
senior year of high school and it worked out

00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:08.859
they asked me to do it And my parents, I don't

00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:14.119
know why, said, okay, yeah, go tour. Milam was

00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:16.440
the biggest, like, culprit for that. He was the

00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.660
one that was like, look, these guys are okay.

00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:21.720
Like, you can go and do it. It was a great experience.

00:27:21.740 --> 00:27:26.960
That was my first tour. That led me to, um, Milam

00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:29.660
later joined Bleach after Miss Angie. So the

00:27:29.660 --> 00:27:31.519
Bleach guys became really good friends of mine,

00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:35.829
just already kind of like family. That relationship

00:27:35.829 --> 00:27:38.650
led me to the Reliant K guys. They toured with

00:27:38.650 --> 00:27:42.049
Reliant K It was Reliant K's first tour and I

00:27:42.049 --> 00:27:44.589
think it was them and PAX 217 which is a rad

00:27:44.589 --> 00:27:49.230
tour. So Bleach was the headliner Went to a couple

00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:50.950
of those shows got to be really good friends

00:27:50.950 --> 00:27:54.049
Reliant K Same issue drummers are a problem.

00:27:54.549 --> 00:27:59.190
Apparently drummer Something happened needed

00:27:59.190 --> 00:28:01.829
one. They knew that I played with the dingy's

00:28:01.829 --> 00:28:05.079
for them. That was like You're good. Like yeah,

00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:07.099
they love the dingy. So that was like my calling

00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:12.420
card. Mm -hmm and They were like come on like

00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:14.359
come to Ohio and play for us. I was like, all

00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:20.140
right, so I did that for you know about a year

00:28:20.140 --> 00:28:26.960
and So yeah, so that was early reliant K. Yes

00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:31.619
early Because I saw reliant K. I have no idea

00:28:31.619 --> 00:28:39.410
what year it was on tour This is crazy, but I

00:28:39.410 --> 00:28:44.910
think it was with like 70 Jesus and third day

00:28:44.910 --> 00:28:47.990
Oh How bonkers is that? Yeah, but it was super

00:28:47.990 --> 00:28:50.529
low that tour. Maybe it wasn't that maybe I'm

00:28:50.529 --> 00:28:52.289
just imagining that in my head, but I remember

00:28:52.289 --> 00:28:55.829
going To see reliant k and I got they were handing

00:28:55.829 --> 00:28:58.630
out pre -release cassettes before the first record

00:28:58.630 --> 00:29:01.069
like came out. Oh, okay So it was really early.

00:29:01.069 --> 00:29:03.210
That is very early. Yeah, like goatee probably

00:29:03.210 --> 00:29:05.150
just signed them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool.

00:29:05.509 --> 00:29:08.450
Yeah That was probably before this whole gotcha

00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:12.910
thing went down. Gotcha. Yeah Yeah, uh, we were

00:29:12.910 --> 00:29:15.130
we were still touring the first album they released

00:29:15.130 --> 00:29:19.789
and um, and we were writing obviously matt teason

00:29:19.789 --> 00:29:22.519
is like The main guy that writes their music

00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:24.859
so he was writing it and I was putting the drums

00:29:24.859 --> 00:29:30.180
on the anatomy record And so it's kind of cool

00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:34.779
That's how I met Mark Townsend he is the producer

00:29:34.779 --> 00:29:39.059
for all of their albums and Now Mark Townsend

00:29:39.059 --> 00:29:43.880
is my brother's father -in -law so we kind of

00:29:43.880 --> 00:29:47.819
introduced him to his wife and Mark Townsend

00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:52.359
was always a hoot Phenomenal producer great guy

00:29:52.359 --> 00:29:57.160
I can sit he's like my father -in -law too, but

00:29:57.160 --> 00:29:59.720
uh, he would come up we would be playing and

00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:02.900
I was such a fast drummer it was before click

00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:07.740
and Well before I played to click it wasn't for

00:30:07.740 --> 00:30:12.099
click at like metronome, but uh, so He would

00:30:12.099 --> 00:30:14.339
come up and I would get off the click and we're

00:30:14.339 --> 00:30:18.559
we're doing demos with relink for the that anatomy

00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:21.660
record Like Sadie Hawkins dance and I'm just

00:30:21.660 --> 00:30:24.440
like I'll start speeding it up Mark Townsend

00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:27.220
will come out of the boardroom and just start

00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:31.640
clapping to me like a duck like an alligator

00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:34.119
and he would just go in front of my drums and

00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:37.380
he would just like one two and I just I'd be

00:30:37.380 --> 00:30:39.680
like but I would die laughing and I'll never

00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:43.380
forget that ever like that was my intro and recorded

00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:45.359
that was like some of the first stuff I ever

00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:48.519
recorded So yeah, it was cool. It was cool to

00:30:48.519 --> 00:30:51.920
be a part of. That's a that's one of my favorite

00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:54.279
real line K records, too. Yeah, I'm probably

00:30:54.279 --> 00:30:59.759
biased. It's a good one. And then I just, you

00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:05.119
know, living in Ohio, being away and touring,

00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:08.039
I just I was kind of mixed emotionally, like,

00:31:08.599 --> 00:31:10.980
I don't know if this is what I want to do. I

00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:13.579
was so young. Yeah. So there was a part of it

00:31:13.579 --> 00:31:17.500
still want to go to college and. The opportunity

00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:19.579
tour especially for a band like Reliant K was

00:31:19.579 --> 00:31:23.079
awesome. Love those guys But I remember going

00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:25.500
to a Bleach show they played in Columbus because

00:31:25.500 --> 00:31:28.039
I was living in Canton, Ohio Because that's where

00:31:28.039 --> 00:31:34.180
Reliant K is from and it was cold And I went

00:31:34.180 --> 00:31:35.900
to a bleach show and they stayed the night there

00:31:35.900 --> 00:31:38.160
and I just stayed with them in their rooms and

00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:39.680
it's one of those nights We just had a really

00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:42.180
good a good night of just kind of connecting

00:31:42.180 --> 00:31:44.990
and they're like, how's it going? And I'm like,

00:31:45.210 --> 00:31:48.069
it's, you know, it's going good, but I don't

00:31:48.069 --> 00:31:50.950
know if this is what I want to do for me. And

00:31:50.950 --> 00:31:52.970
we're like, okay, it was a trial. So it wasn't

00:31:52.970 --> 00:31:55.470
like, Hey, you're joining the band. That wasn't

00:31:55.470 --> 00:31:58.410
the issue. It was like, let's go until the end

00:31:58.410 --> 00:32:02.230
of the year and we'll reassess. So this conversation

00:32:02.230 --> 00:32:05.890
happened as I'm like, I don't know what to tell

00:32:05.890 --> 00:32:08.470
them because this conversation is going to happen

00:32:08.470 --> 00:32:10.829
in like the next week or two. Cause it was towards

00:32:10.829 --> 00:32:14.079
the end of the year. And the Bleach guys were

00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:17.640
like, well man, I mean, we're here for you, we

00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:21.819
support you. We would never want to pull you

00:32:21.819 --> 00:32:23.799
away from Reliant K, but just so you know, if

00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:26.819
you don't want to do that, Matt Gingrich, our

00:32:26.819 --> 00:32:29.700
drummer, who's been the original drummer for

00:32:29.700 --> 00:32:34.039
five years, just started the band with Sam and

00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:38.160
Davey. He's done. He's getting married and he's

00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:40.619
ready to move on. And we weren't going to ask

00:32:40.619 --> 00:32:45.359
you, but since you don't know possibilities and

00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:48.079
I was like oh wow I didn't know that they were

00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:51.579
like we would be honored you know to have you

00:32:51.579 --> 00:32:55.160
and I was like okay cool and it was literally

00:32:55.160 --> 00:32:56.779
one of those things I didn't say yeah I'll do

00:32:56.779 --> 00:33:01.039
it or no I went back and the next two weeks I

00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:04.880
just really heavily prayed and just kind of focused

00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:09.339
on what I felt was the best thing for me my brother

00:33:09.339 --> 00:33:12.779
being in the band and the bleach guys alone,

00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:16.779
I was like, that feels like home. And I've got

00:33:16.779 --> 00:33:20.640
an open invitation to just go home and create

00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:25.660
with those guys. And I was like, heck yeah, let's

00:33:25.660 --> 00:33:29.539
go. And it was hard. I mean, I heard from a lot

00:33:29.539 --> 00:33:32.700
of people that were very important. They were

00:33:32.700 --> 00:33:35.220
like, you're making a mistake. Bleach is on their

00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:37.869
way down. You know, they're they're done with

00:33:37.869 --> 00:33:41.009
go to your record or not for front records. Yeah

00:33:41.009 --> 00:33:43.650
They don't know what they're gonna do like their

00:33:43.650 --> 00:33:47.930
CCM relink K is like rising And it was just one

00:33:47.930 --> 00:33:50.130
of those things where I just didn't care. Yeah,

00:33:50.750 --> 00:33:53.490
and I'm so grateful for yeah I never I never

00:33:53.490 --> 00:33:55.690
regretted it, you know, you have those times

00:33:55.690 --> 00:33:57.289
where you look back. It's like well Yeah, I could

00:33:57.289 --> 00:34:00.750
have been in that man still and they did really

00:34:00.750 --> 00:34:04.069
good. Yeah, they still do good. Yeah, but um,

00:34:04.349 --> 00:34:08.659
no The bleach days This is a really long answer

00:34:08.659 --> 00:34:11.920
to what you asked me Brandon That's how it started.

00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:15.940
So I decided I'm gonna join bleach and it just

00:34:15.940 --> 00:34:20.420
happened the first of that year of 2000 mm -hmm.

00:34:20.619 --> 00:34:24.599
Yeah, so as you guys started Moving and bleach

00:34:24.599 --> 00:34:27.559
you're getting active in here. I know there there

00:34:27.559 --> 00:34:31.940
was like label changes and All kinds of stuff

00:34:31.940 --> 00:34:34.739
that you guys were navigating as a band walk

00:34:34.739 --> 00:34:36.579
us through like a little bit of that and what

00:34:36.579 --> 00:34:40.659
that looked like Yeah, so when I bleat when I

00:34:40.659 --> 00:34:44.099
bleached When I joined bleach they were going

00:34:44.099 --> 00:34:46.980
through kind of a breakup with forefront. Yeah

00:34:46.980 --> 00:34:50.559
And in a weird way, it was like a really cool

00:34:51.050 --> 00:34:54.269
time. It could have been I think what it came

00:34:54.269 --> 00:34:57.389
down to was the kind of the end of that early

00:34:57.389 --> 00:35:02.269
Bleach era where the guys like Eddie DiGarmo

00:35:02.269 --> 00:35:05.630
who kind of like founded Forefront was a big

00:35:05.630 --> 00:35:09.889
believer in like supporter of Bleach. Yeah. And

00:35:09.889 --> 00:35:12.949
he kind of went away. Some of the A &R reps like

00:35:12.949 --> 00:35:15.530
some of the guys that they worked with went away.

00:35:16.449 --> 00:35:18.909
And it just kind of turned into more and more

00:35:18.909 --> 00:35:20.969
CCM, you know, like we don't know what to do

00:35:20.969 --> 00:35:24.710
with you because you're you're a rock band Yeah,

00:35:24.710 --> 00:35:29.050
which and so if they're yeah and But at the same

00:35:29.050 --> 00:35:31.110
time, you know bleach was kind of changing to

00:35:31.110 --> 00:35:33.929
and it just kind of came to like a really cool

00:35:33.929 --> 00:35:37.409
like We'll just let you go and they're like cool

00:35:37.409 --> 00:35:41.489
like that's great and and it led to this fresh

00:35:41.489 --> 00:35:46.019
like new beginning but The guys like Sam and

00:35:46.019 --> 00:35:49.780
Davey and Matt Gingrich. Who are the originals?

00:35:51.159 --> 00:35:54.219
We're like, where are we? Should we quit? Like,

00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:59.699
is this where we stop? And I know Sam and Davey,

00:35:59.719 --> 00:36:01.559
obviously, they're the two that stayed with it.

00:36:01.559 --> 00:36:04.579
We're like, no, let's freaking go. Like, let's

00:36:04.579 --> 00:36:09.699
just let's just press on and keep going. And

00:36:09.699 --> 00:36:15.559
so they already had Jerry, our bass player. Had

00:36:15.559 --> 00:36:17.960
played a tour prior to all that happening and

00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:21.699
then Milam joined in after that tour my brother

00:36:21.699 --> 00:36:26.340
and So the band was that and then Matt Gingrich

00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:32.239
the drummer Decided to call it quits and That's

00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:36.559
when my conversation with them after playing

00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:38.599
was really at K came in hand and it was just

00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:42.519
like all these things pieced together and we

00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:47.699
went to Sam had family and there are Sam and

00:36:47.699 --> 00:36:52.639
Davey are from Indiana and this is January In

00:36:52.639 --> 00:36:54.780
Indiana, so I just remember like six feet of

00:36:54.780 --> 00:36:58.280
snow on the ground like We're all living in a

00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:01.340
basement and we just set up our stuff. I'm like

00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:04.860
What's right? Yeah, and we go some and like I

00:37:04.860 --> 00:37:07.599
remember We are tomorrow was like the first song

00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:11.460
we just hashed out like in the basement and it's

00:37:11.460 --> 00:37:14.730
just blizzard outside meantime I'm still getting

00:37:14.730 --> 00:37:17.789
to learn the guys like Sam is like how much would

00:37:17.789 --> 00:37:19.730
you guys pay me to go jump into the river out

00:37:19.730 --> 00:37:22.750
there that's like covered in ice and I'm like

00:37:22.750 --> 00:37:25.429
I'm still like what drum part do I want to do

00:37:25.429 --> 00:37:27.750
right and Sam is talking about jumping in an

00:37:27.750 --> 00:37:31.050
ice river and I think one of the guys is like

00:37:31.050 --> 00:37:34.210
I'll give you five bucks he's like okay and he

00:37:34.210 --> 00:37:37.269
just like Runs out in his underwear and boots

00:37:37.269 --> 00:37:39.769
like cowboy boots I don't know where he got cowboy

00:37:39.769 --> 00:37:42.110
boots from but somehow he was just running out

00:37:42.110 --> 00:37:45.409
and he jumped into a river and He made five dollars

00:37:45.409 --> 00:37:50.289
for that. That's my intro to bleach Yeah, I love

00:37:50.289 --> 00:37:53.489
that we're tomorrow is one of my favorite That's

00:37:53.489 --> 00:37:56.469
awesome, and I love your drum part on that specifically.

00:37:56.469 --> 00:37:58.969
Oh, thanks. I love how it starts out It's just

00:37:58.969 --> 00:38:01.889
yeah, that's cool. That was um, I didn't write

00:38:01.889 --> 00:38:06.000
it that way. Yeah. Yeah, so We have a demo version

00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:09.619
and then the record version. Yeah, and or in

00:38:09.619 --> 00:38:12.519
Thornton the guy that produced our again for

00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:16.119
the first time and our other couple records after

00:38:16.119 --> 00:38:20.079
that He kind of came up with that part and yeah,

00:38:20.079 --> 00:38:22.780
it turned out great. I love it But yeah, that

00:38:22.780 --> 00:38:25.280
was that was the end of forefront. We shopped

00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:30.679
around goatee and tooth and now a label we all

00:38:30.679 --> 00:38:33.699
loved called vagrant because like Some of our

00:38:33.699 --> 00:38:36.639
favorite bands were like, obviously, Jimmy World.

00:38:37.380 --> 00:38:39.579
My favorite band was Saves the Day, the Get Up

00:38:39.579 --> 00:38:43.840
Kids. Dashboard Confession. Yes, dashboard, which

00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:46.260
Chris was kind of a good buddy of ours. He he

00:38:46.260 --> 00:38:49.940
actually told us that he he played super good

00:38:49.940 --> 00:38:53.019
feeling on a daily basis just to like make himself

00:38:53.019 --> 00:38:57.820
in a better mood. That's awesome. Yeah. So we

00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:02.170
we were able to shop labels and. And we just

00:39:02.170 --> 00:39:05.110
found the best best fit with tooth and now and

00:39:05.110 --> 00:39:08.050
honestly that was a huge That was the biggest

00:39:08.050 --> 00:39:13.369
turning point for us as a band You want to talk

00:39:13.369 --> 00:39:17.289
about credit We got it. It was like overnight

00:39:17.289 --> 00:39:20.489
But our record that we recorded with them again

00:39:20.489 --> 00:39:23.610
for the first time gave us that credit, too so

00:39:23.610 --> 00:39:27.449
in a way it was kind of deserved because The

00:39:27.449 --> 00:39:30.070
band we would we would have guys from like under

00:39:30.070 --> 00:39:33.280
oath and people we didn't even know. Like if

00:39:33.280 --> 00:39:37.320
we play a festival somewhere, Bleach was playing

00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:40.280
with like, you know, back in the day with Third

00:39:40.280 --> 00:39:44.519
Day, Sixpence and None the Richer or, you know,

00:39:44.539 --> 00:39:47.500
and now you're talking about playing with freaking

00:39:47.500 --> 00:39:52.500
Me Without You, Under Oath, like the really cool,

00:39:52.500 --> 00:39:59.440
like solid state bands, Tooth and Nell and When

00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:02.019
we signed to to the now they were even like we

00:40:02.019 --> 00:40:05.880
want you to be on bc and we were like, nah I

00:40:05.880 --> 00:40:08.800
think our our our first release they they released

00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:12.739
like a ep of our Our record again for the first

00:40:12.739 --> 00:40:15.460
time and it was it has bc on it. Uh -huh And

00:40:15.460 --> 00:40:17.800
they we were like we don't want to be bc. We

00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:20.440
want me to to now and they were like, okay cool

00:40:20.440 --> 00:40:22.760
Like that was the relationship we had with them.

00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:25.980
It was just great. Yeah, it was like It just

00:40:25.980 --> 00:40:28.320
worked. It was really good. Like we I know a

00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:31.639
lot of bands that have had bad experiences with

00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:34.699
them. There's a lot of stories about that. But

00:40:34.699 --> 00:40:38.719
for us, it was it was awesome. It was great.

00:40:38.800 --> 00:40:41.099
It's a record label. Yeah. So there's only so

00:40:41.099 --> 00:40:43.820
much that, you know, there probably was, I would

00:40:43.820 --> 00:40:46.219
imagine, compared to like a forefront records,

00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:50.019
just a ton more like freedom of expression. And

00:40:50.019 --> 00:40:52.019
it was getting to be who you wanted to be in

00:40:52.019 --> 00:40:54.300
that moment, which is cool. And then you had

00:40:54.300 --> 00:40:58.500
to worry about JPMs. Jesus per minute. Yeah.

00:40:58.940 --> 00:41:00.860
and that was a real that's a real thing yeah

00:41:00.860 --> 00:41:04.820
like guys you know we heard your songs and you

00:41:04.820 --> 00:41:06.739
just need to hear Jesus a little more and it's

00:41:06.739 --> 00:41:11.099
like oh my god you know that really makes you

00:41:11.099 --> 00:41:15.679
question things so yeah it was it was very refreshing

00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:20.960
and they were they were on board and they did

00:41:20.960 --> 00:41:25.119
give us a lot of freedoms but they were still

00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:27.780
they wanted to hear What was happening? They

00:41:27.780 --> 00:41:30.219
wanted to be a part of it, which which made us

00:41:30.219 --> 00:41:32.420
feel good, too Yeah, I felt like they did it

00:41:32.420 --> 00:41:34.599
in a really healthy way It wasn't like we're

00:41:34.599 --> 00:41:36.780
gonna micromanage everything you do. It was like

00:41:36.780 --> 00:41:40.099
no just send us your stuff and Usually every

00:41:40.099 --> 00:41:42.440
time they're like, this is great Like we're digging

00:41:42.440 --> 00:41:44.739
it and then like like I said, we'd have those

00:41:44.739 --> 00:41:48.019
guys like under oath the supertones I would I

00:41:48.019 --> 00:41:50.900
remember having like Dan from the supertones

00:41:50.900 --> 00:41:55.429
jump on my shoulder singing fell out I'm like

00:41:55.429 --> 00:41:57.849
I've never met you before you didn't think I

00:41:57.849 --> 00:42:01.170
was cool when we played the last few shows together

00:42:01.170 --> 00:42:04.389
kind of thing and and it was just like instant

00:42:04.389 --> 00:42:07.389
credit and But the record kind of spoke for itself.

00:42:07.409 --> 00:42:10.030
Like I said, you know, so it was a cool experience.

00:42:10.349 --> 00:42:14.989
Yeah Yeah So what brought things to a close for

00:42:14.989 --> 00:42:19.510
bleach? So that was the beginning and now we're

00:42:19.510 --> 00:42:26.530
talking about the end You know That that was

00:42:26.530 --> 00:42:30.710
in the midst of recording again for the first

00:42:30.710 --> 00:42:33.369
time and touring that record The next record

00:42:33.369 --> 00:42:36.050
was astronomy and astronomy was the hardest record

00:42:36.050 --> 00:42:39.590
we've ever had to do That was like our version

00:42:39.590 --> 00:42:41.849
of bleach. That was our sophomore record. Yeah,

00:42:42.250 --> 00:42:46.849
which is really difficult and Honestly, we didn't

00:42:46.849 --> 00:42:49.730
know why we struggle so much the crazy thing

00:42:49.730 --> 00:42:54.170
about it is when You know, Sam, at some point,

00:42:54.329 --> 00:42:59.230
Sam, his mom passed away. And that was really

00:42:59.230 --> 00:43:05.349
hard on him and us. And. Davey was going through

00:43:05.349 --> 00:43:11.630
his parents, his dad had really bad health. Some

00:43:11.630 --> 00:43:15.269
marital issues and the thing about bleach was

00:43:15.269 --> 00:43:20.530
family first. Yeah, it's never about. The music.

00:43:20.829 --> 00:43:25.349
First it's we're a family and if you have an

00:43:25.349 --> 00:43:29.150
issue or a problem at home We're not leaving.

00:43:29.369 --> 00:43:33.630
You're not leaving Like you like that was my

00:43:33.630 --> 00:43:36.730
that was my core values as at such a young age

00:43:36.730 --> 00:43:40.070
that I'll never forget The way that those guys

00:43:40.070 --> 00:43:42.769
I was 18 when I joined the band. They really

00:43:42.769 --> 00:43:48.349
taught me Extremely important values, which is

00:43:48.349 --> 00:43:51.500
very rare In the music industry even Christian

00:43:51.500 --> 00:43:55.659
music, but those guys had oh they they had it

00:43:55.659 --> 00:43:59.679
set Like this is who we are There's no going

00:43:59.679 --> 00:44:01.920
against it. There's no I don't care who you are

00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:04.420
Like this is what we believe in and also we're

00:44:04.420 --> 00:44:06.900
not gonna treat anybody like we're better than

00:44:06.900 --> 00:44:10.900
them. And so welcome to that world of Will be

00:44:10.900 --> 00:44:13.760
the first to show up for soundcheck in the afternoon

00:44:13.760 --> 00:44:16.820
and we're the last to leave because one of us

00:44:16.820 --> 00:44:20.389
like especially Davey is skateboarding with kids.

00:44:21.050 --> 00:44:25.010
You know, it was like, cool. And then we'll still

00:44:25.010 --> 00:44:30.730
go to Waffle House or freaking Denny's at 2 a

00:44:30.730 --> 00:44:34.349
.m. with whoever's left. Right. And we've just

00:44:34.349 --> 00:44:36.929
had like so many nights with fans like that.

00:44:37.909 --> 00:44:40.570
And I hate to even say fans like we never really

00:44:40.570 --> 00:44:45.309
call them fans. So but it is what it is. So,

00:44:45.309 --> 00:44:48.119
yeah, I was that's that's kind of been that I

00:44:48.119 --> 00:44:52.880
was able to be a part of. And in the midst of

00:44:52.880 --> 00:44:57.099
astronomy being mixed, my brother died, which

00:44:57.099 --> 00:45:00.559
is Milam and I's brother. He was fighting the

00:45:00.559 --> 00:45:05.900
war in Iraq and that was a tough blow. The guys,

00:45:06.179 --> 00:45:08.280
you know, we obviously needed to take time off

00:45:08.280 --> 00:45:11.599
for that. So the guys gave us two months off

00:45:11.599 --> 00:45:16.380
and... We have dear friends, Yogi being one,

00:45:16.719 --> 00:45:19.840
played drums for me and that just kind of volunteered

00:45:19.840 --> 00:45:23.039
and stepped up. Like if, if the band stops, we

00:45:23.039 --> 00:45:25.880
were in debt. And so if the band stopped, the

00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:29.860
money stopped too. Um, but also in a way they

00:45:29.860 --> 00:45:32.679
were like, we, we feel like we need to keep going

00:45:32.679 --> 00:45:35.559
for your brother. Like this is what Josh would

00:45:35.559 --> 00:45:40.119
want us to do. Cause my, like Sam, Davey and

00:45:40.119 --> 00:45:42.710
Jerry felt like Josh was their brother, too.

00:45:42.769 --> 00:45:46.289
Yeah. In a huge way. And Sam, actually, before

00:45:46.289 --> 00:45:49.989
Josh went to Iraq, Josh pulled Sam aside and

00:45:49.989 --> 00:45:52.630
was like, Hey, your brother, your big brother.

00:45:52.789 --> 00:45:55.750
Now, if something happens to me, I need you to

00:45:55.750 --> 00:45:57.110
promise me you're going to take care of Mylon

00:45:57.110 --> 00:46:00.090
and Jared. Wow. And Sam has told me several times

00:46:00.090 --> 00:46:02.329
he made that promise and he's going to keep it.

00:46:02.369 --> 00:46:05.369
So it was a really big deal for all of us. Those

00:46:05.369 --> 00:46:08.510
guys like went out of their way to continue our

00:46:08.510 --> 00:46:11.570
shows. just so Milam and I could pair our belts.

00:46:12.050 --> 00:46:14.030
Yeah. And it was so special. That's awesome.

00:46:14.650 --> 00:46:17.150
So that was that took a couple of months. And

00:46:17.150 --> 00:46:19.130
then we did the Five Iron Frenzy farewell tour.

00:46:19.150 --> 00:46:22.090
And that was the first tour that we did as a

00:46:22.090 --> 00:46:24.469
band. And it ended up being one of the last for

00:46:24.469 --> 00:46:27.769
us, too. It was just a natural thing. We just

00:46:27.769 --> 00:46:31.750
so many things are happening. After the five

00:46:31.750 --> 00:46:35.610
iron tour, we had one more string of shows in

00:46:35.610 --> 00:46:40.960
Germany. And Germany is always fun and for this,

00:46:40.980 --> 00:46:44.440
this like last string, Davey was just going through

00:46:44.440 --> 00:46:47.619
a lot. We were all going through a lot, but it

00:46:47.619 --> 00:46:51.340
was like Davey's turn and he had a really long

00:46:51.340 --> 00:46:54.500
walk with Milo and we were in and they call it

00:46:54.500 --> 00:46:57.420
how to it's spelled like Gouda the cheese. That's

00:46:57.420 --> 00:47:00.679
where Gouda is made, but they say harder and

00:47:00.679 --> 00:47:04.039
a beautiful, beautiful city in Holland actually.

00:47:04.039 --> 00:47:07.650
Okay. And we were playing Holland in Germany

00:47:07.650 --> 00:47:10.849
and Davey had a long walk with Milam's basically

00:47:10.849 --> 00:47:15.369
like, I got it. I got to hang it up. And he felt

00:47:15.369 --> 00:47:20.210
terrible. And Milam at the time was like. Dude,

00:47:20.730 --> 00:47:23.670
I feel the same way. And it was like all of us

00:47:23.670 --> 00:47:28.250
were like, yeah, like it's just. It was just

00:47:28.250 --> 00:47:32.800
life and. We were able to call it. On our own

00:47:32.800 --> 00:47:37.480
terms and and that goes back why I said family

00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:40.059
first, right? So if there was an issue at home

00:47:40.059 --> 00:47:42.440
or something one of us were dealing with, we

00:47:42.440 --> 00:47:45.880
weren't going to continue touring and ignore

00:47:45.880 --> 00:47:49.539
it. Yeah. And we decided to just go ahead and

00:47:49.539 --> 00:47:54.539
call it. Mm hmm. So it made sense. Yeah, man,

00:47:54.579 --> 00:47:58.679
I knew I know this had to be. Heavy days for

00:47:58.679 --> 00:48:02.440
you guys, obviously, as you were. You and Milam

00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:06.679
are navigating the the loss of your brother but

00:48:06.679 --> 00:48:11.519
then stepping into like a season where You then

00:48:11.519 --> 00:48:14.739
kind of grieving like a little bit the loss of

00:48:14.739 --> 00:48:17.840
that's a hundred so you are as a band and that's

00:48:17.840 --> 00:48:21.059
it and and Individually, yeah, you know as a

00:48:21.059 --> 00:48:25.380
band you're a band You're you are an individual

00:48:25.380 --> 00:48:29.000
but It's easy, especially young age to identify

00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:32.280
yourself as being in a band so when you lose

00:48:32.280 --> 00:48:37.099
that identity like who are you and That's when

00:48:37.099 --> 00:48:42.659
I Started struggling with depression panic attacks

00:48:42.659 --> 00:48:47.719
anxiety because I wasn't able to go on tour I

00:48:47.719 --> 00:48:51.940
wasn't a part of a band. My identity was Questionable

00:48:51.940 --> 00:48:55.639
like who am I? I have I don't have anything,

00:48:55.699 --> 00:48:58.760
you know, like yeah, I went through a couple

00:48:58.760 --> 00:49:03.559
of months of questioning everything. And that's

00:49:03.559 --> 00:49:06.980
when everything hit me. And that's that was when

00:49:06.980 --> 00:49:10.360
my my road started with depression and just from

00:49:10.360 --> 00:49:14.079
trauma. Yeah. You know, Milam and I were the

00:49:14.079 --> 00:49:15.820
two guys that had to tell our parents that their

00:49:15.820 --> 00:49:19.019
son was dead and was killed. And there's a lot

00:49:19.019 --> 00:49:24.559
of baggage there. Milam had his his fiancee.

00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:27.400
And they got married and in a lot of ways, I

00:49:27.400 --> 00:49:29.860
felt alone. You know, I didn't have the band

00:49:29.860 --> 00:49:32.739
and Milam and I lived together. I kind of lost

00:49:32.739 --> 00:49:36.639
him. Yeah. Um, and not to anything bad. Like

00:49:36.639 --> 00:49:39.920
it was great. We celebrated it, but still just

00:49:39.920 --> 00:49:44.099
like me being by myself for the first time and

00:49:44.099 --> 00:49:46.659
ever actually, now that I'm thinking about it,

00:49:46.659 --> 00:49:49.239
it was like the first time I felt that alone.

00:49:49.360 --> 00:49:52.219
Yeah. Because before I was just a high school

00:49:52.219 --> 00:49:55.219
kid and then now I'm like, well, my band's done.

00:49:56.260 --> 00:49:59.760
What am I supposed to do? Yeah. And then Bryce

00:49:59.760 --> 00:50:01.920
Avery called me from the Rocket Summer. I was

00:50:01.920 --> 00:50:04.139
like, Hey, do you want to play drums for me?

00:50:04.280 --> 00:50:07.780
I was like, Hey, yeah, let's go. So yeah, that's

00:50:07.780 --> 00:50:10.539
awesome. Well, that kind of leads into so what

00:50:10.539 --> 00:50:12.460
what was next for you? Like, what were the next

00:50:12.460 --> 00:50:14.280
steps in music? Because it didn't end for you

00:50:14.280 --> 00:50:17.019
there, obviously. Yeah. So that was that was

00:50:17.019 --> 00:50:20.360
literally coming out of that. I played with the

00:50:20.360 --> 00:50:22.800
Rocket Summer and that only lasted for about

00:50:22.800 --> 00:50:26.019
a year. Yeah. Like I told you, I think I was

00:50:26.019 --> 00:50:28.920
making $50 a show. Which, you know, that was

00:50:28.920 --> 00:50:36.800
2006, maybe 2005 and 2006. So, yeah, it's not

00:50:36.800 --> 00:50:40.360
$50 is a lot less than then, but still, right.

00:50:40.360 --> 00:50:43.039
I don't know how I survived. Yeah, it was fun.

00:50:43.159 --> 00:50:45.300
I really enjoyed it. I love I love the Rock of

00:50:45.300 --> 00:50:49.900
Summer in the music. Bryce is a dear friend living

00:50:49.900 --> 00:50:52.199
in and out of Dallas, where he was from. But

00:50:52.199 --> 00:50:54.679
Nashville was still my home. I was still based

00:50:54.679 --> 00:51:03.360
out of Nashville and. I was just ready to maybe

00:51:03.360 --> 00:51:05.619
do something outside of music. And I just kind

00:51:05.619 --> 00:51:09.500
of told Bryce after the last tour I did with

00:51:09.500 --> 00:51:12.320
him, we toured with Cartel and Receiving End

00:51:12.320 --> 00:51:16.400
of Sirens, these great bands. Cartel blew up

00:51:16.400 --> 00:51:21.400
after that. Huge fan of their band. I was like,

00:51:21.480 --> 00:51:24.590
I need a break because I think that... After

00:51:24.590 --> 00:51:28.469
bleach and like my brother being killed. I think

00:51:28.469 --> 00:51:32.590
I did I never mourned it any of that stuff and

00:51:32.590 --> 00:51:34.750
and it that's the kind of the beginning of me

00:51:34.750 --> 00:51:45.449
like Maybe just like Pushing things inside to

00:51:45.449 --> 00:51:48.039
not deal with them. Yeah It's like I can keep

00:51:48.039 --> 00:51:50.360
going in this moment and it just kind of that

00:51:50.360 --> 00:51:53.480
puts off me having to like the pain deal with

00:51:53.480 --> 00:51:57.400
this. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Coping maybe is a

00:51:57.400 --> 00:52:00.519
good word. And touring is a really, really easy

00:52:00.519 --> 00:52:04.320
thing to put things back because you're you're

00:52:04.320 --> 00:52:07.440
gone. You're on the road. You're surrounded by

00:52:07.440 --> 00:52:11.119
friends, you know. So, yeah, that was a big deal.

00:52:11.260 --> 00:52:13.920
But I needed to I felt like for the first time

00:52:13.920 --> 00:52:17.280
I needed to really. step back and start focusing

00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:22.639
on my health and myself. And so in the midst

00:52:22.639 --> 00:52:25.400
of that, I got the chance to play with Audio

00:52:25.400 --> 00:52:28.920
Adrenaline. Those guys were pretty good friends

00:52:28.920 --> 00:52:32.139
of mine. It was the original lineup and they're

00:52:32.139 --> 00:52:34.820
doing their farewell tour with Mercy Me. They

00:52:34.820 --> 00:52:37.099
did the first three months and then they decided

00:52:37.099 --> 00:52:40.739
to add three months after it. So Ben Sissel,

00:52:40.800 --> 00:52:43.000
the drummer for Audio Adrenaline had already

00:52:43.280 --> 00:52:48.320
told his new employee or employer. He's going

00:52:48.320 --> 00:52:50.639
to work a certain date, so he couldn't do the

00:52:50.639 --> 00:52:53.639
the next three months. So that's where I came

00:52:53.639 --> 00:52:56.780
in. OK. And I got to play. And that was the original.

00:52:56.900 --> 00:52:59.699
I was like Will McGinnis, Mark Stewart singing.

00:53:00.019 --> 00:53:04.460
That's awesome. Brian Whitman. Yeah, like that

00:53:04.460 --> 00:53:07.280
was very special. That was one of the most fun

00:53:07.280 --> 00:53:10.280
tours I've ever done. And that's how I got to

00:53:10.280 --> 00:53:14.179
know Mercy me really well. Back when they were

00:53:14.179 --> 00:53:17.699
still kind of blowing up and those guys are still

00:53:17.699 --> 00:53:22.059
like Really really good friends. Yeah, so that

00:53:22.059 --> 00:53:28.420
happened and then I got married Started a landscaping

00:53:28.420 --> 00:53:31.579
business You know because I only did that one

00:53:31.579 --> 00:53:35.639
tour. Yeah, and then um The guy named Nate Barlow

00:53:35.639 --> 00:53:38.159
and Carrie Barlow. Do you know the band Luna

00:53:38.159 --> 00:53:42.360
Halo? Yeah. Yeah We started a side project band

00:53:42.360 --> 00:53:46.519
that they started with the bass player for Kings

00:53:46.519 --> 00:53:50.280
of Leon, Jared. And it's kind of like a surf

00:53:50.280 --> 00:53:55.579
rock band. So that got me back into music for

00:53:55.579 --> 00:53:59.400
a little while. Just. We did South by Southwest

00:53:59.400 --> 00:54:02.199
CMJ in New York. We would do some really cool

00:54:02.199 --> 00:54:09.179
festivals. And then I. Was asked if I'd be interested

00:54:09.179 --> 00:54:12.579
in doing the audio adrenaline reboot. Yeah, and

00:54:12.579 --> 00:54:16.179
so that was with Kevin Max Will McGinnis who

00:54:16.179 --> 00:54:20.599
was from audio adrenaline And at the time I was

00:54:20.599 --> 00:54:24.239
like heck yeah, it'd be awesome because I knew

00:54:24.239 --> 00:54:27.179
the audio a guys and Mark Stewart was still like

00:54:27.179 --> 00:54:30.039
his hand was still on it. Yeah, he was very much

00:54:30.039 --> 00:54:36.480
still Kind of leading the way and You know making

00:54:36.480 --> 00:54:43.440
decisions. Right. So we tried it. And that I

00:54:43.440 --> 00:54:48.179
think that records really good that we did. And

00:54:48.179 --> 00:54:52.420
it was very special. I mean, we audio adrenaline's

00:54:52.420 --> 00:54:54.400
main thing to do that was because they have their

00:54:54.400 --> 00:54:57.019
ministry hands and feet. And it was a really

00:54:57.019 --> 00:55:00.559
good way to kind of just like promote it. Yeah.

00:55:00.719 --> 00:55:02.900
And of course, like audio adrenaline had a really

00:55:02.900 --> 00:55:05.719
good name for themselves. So it was just like.

00:55:05.769 --> 00:55:11.070
Why not use that and Let's just keep it going

00:55:11.070 --> 00:55:13.849
and it worked out good. Yeah. Yeah, we did that

00:55:13.849 --> 00:55:16.949
for a few years. That's cool. Yeah Was that the

00:55:16.949 --> 00:55:19.090
first time that like you and Kevin max had like

00:55:19.090 --> 00:55:22.449
cross paths or had y 'all like know each other

00:55:22.449 --> 00:55:25.530
from previously? We knew each other previously

00:55:25.530 --> 00:55:31.090
But not well, uh -huh. So Kevin kind of knew

00:55:31.090 --> 00:55:34.710
me from a couple different bands and then he

00:55:34.710 --> 00:55:38.630
was like Oh, you were in bleach. Yeah. OK. I

00:55:38.630 --> 00:55:43.510
think I was like, you don't remember. But, you

00:55:43.510 --> 00:55:47.050
know, obviously I knew Kevin and that that was

00:55:47.050 --> 00:55:49.409
a that was really cool. Me and Kevin became really,

00:55:49.449 --> 00:55:53.170
really close throughout the whole the whole thing.

00:55:53.429 --> 00:55:55.510
And we got to go to Haiti a few times and do

00:55:55.510 --> 00:55:59.289
some special things for them. And the video that

00:55:59.289 --> 00:56:05.059
we did for Hands and Feet, like the single. Kings

00:56:05.059 --> 00:56:08.179
and Queens. That was very special the only drumsticks

00:56:08.179 --> 00:56:11.920
I've ever saved are the drumsticks that I am

00:56:11.920 --> 00:56:15.039
playing I'm using in the video and they're like

00:56:15.039 --> 00:56:19.039
purple because I use purple dye And I think my

00:56:19.039 --> 00:56:21.780
drums actually still have purple in them Just

00:56:21.780 --> 00:56:24.179
cuz they used like they had me hit drums and

00:56:24.179 --> 00:56:27.159
the purple dial and everywhere. So we were like

00:56:27.159 --> 00:56:34.250
breathing For days so what what's like what is

00:56:34.250 --> 00:56:36.929
it like when you're trying to reboot a band so

00:56:36.929 --> 00:56:39.610
audio adrenaline like you come back but it's

00:56:39.610 --> 00:56:43.309
like you have people expecting audio adrenaline

00:56:43.309 --> 00:56:46.309
from like the 90s you have people thinking oh

00:56:46.309 --> 00:56:47.969
man well now you got kevin so it's gonna take

00:56:47.969 --> 00:56:50.909
this direction yeah so what's kind of like what's

00:56:50.909 --> 00:56:53.610
the challenges like that when you're in this

00:56:53.610 --> 00:56:56.130
band but now you're like how do we reboot this

00:56:56.130 --> 00:57:00.250
it's very challenging Back then they had already

00:57:00.250 --> 00:57:02.469
done the newsboys and it was successful. Yeah,

00:57:02.510 --> 00:57:07.150
right This was different it was a whole different

00:57:07.150 --> 00:57:10.489
beast like they I think that the management company

00:57:10.489 --> 00:57:13.510
that teamed up with audio a Was a part of the

00:57:13.510 --> 00:57:16.650
newsboys reboot. Yeah, and they basically did

00:57:16.650 --> 00:57:21.269
the exact same thing And you you can't do that.

00:57:21.269 --> 00:57:23.030
Yeah, cuz you're dealing with a whole different

00:57:23.030 --> 00:57:27.429
animal. Mm -hmm and fans too like the fans kind

00:57:27.429 --> 00:57:31.110
of mix, but you have like totally different fans.

00:57:32.570 --> 00:57:36.409
Mark Stewart, I mean, there's no replacing that

00:57:36.409 --> 00:57:41.030
guy. But also Kevin Max, like that guy is something

00:57:41.030 --> 00:57:44.429
special. So you would think automatically like,

00:57:44.429 --> 00:57:46.409
oh, audio adrenaline with Kevin Max singing,

00:57:47.090 --> 00:57:49.289
this is becoming like, then it was like, this

00:57:49.289 --> 00:57:51.750
is becoming a thing where bands are replacing

00:57:51.750 --> 00:57:56.820
singers with someone. It seemed like a really

00:57:56.820 --> 00:57:59.940
good idea and for a moment. I think it was I

00:57:59.940 --> 00:58:03.579
think it was good But I think what it came down

00:58:03.579 --> 00:58:08.599
to it was just too It was just too appointed

00:58:08.599 --> 00:58:12.059
it was like we're gonna pay you this to play

00:58:12.059 --> 00:58:15.460
these shows and then You're gonna do this. You're

00:58:15.460 --> 00:58:18.159
gonna do this. You need to wear this and it's

00:58:18.159 --> 00:58:23.019
like, what are we doing? You know, I It was just

00:58:23.019 --> 00:58:27.579
too many people That had hands on the situation.

00:58:27.579 --> 00:58:31.500
Yeah, and it just kind of it became very stressful

00:58:31.500 --> 00:58:37.719
in a big way Just very very stressful. Yeah Which

00:58:37.719 --> 00:58:41.139
I will say they didn't have That much stress

00:58:41.139 --> 00:58:43.380
when they were creating the record. Yeah, so

00:58:43.380 --> 00:58:46.300
the album I think does a really good job displaying

00:58:46.300 --> 00:58:49.260
what audiojournaline wanted like that whole album

00:58:49.260 --> 00:58:51.679
of Kings and Queens Yeah, I think is beautiful.

00:58:51.960 --> 00:58:57.050
Yeah And then after that is when they were like,

00:58:57.150 --> 00:58:59.670
well, who's going to be in the band? That's where

00:58:59.670 --> 00:59:01.670
it got stressful. Yeah. Because they had already

00:59:01.670 --> 00:59:03.630
picked out Kevin Maxx because he had to do vocals.

00:59:03.829 --> 00:59:06.349
But I didn't play any drum parts on that album.

00:59:06.610 --> 00:59:10.389
Like I got hired in the midst of recording and

00:59:10.389 --> 00:59:13.730
even kind of towards the end. So I was just the

00:59:13.730 --> 00:59:17.769
live drummer. And the rest of the band was the

00:59:17.769 --> 00:59:20.710
same way. Yeah, I think I remember besides Will.

00:59:21.030 --> 00:59:23.150
Well, yeah, I remember seeing y 'all live here.

00:59:23.449 --> 00:59:25.989
I think by the time y 'all got in here like was

00:59:25.989 --> 00:59:28.949
it like Dave Gazarian from like super check Yeah,

00:59:29.150 --> 00:59:30.829
was already like out of the band like it was

00:59:30.829 --> 00:59:34.250
already and I was like, oh this is already People

00:59:34.250 --> 00:59:37.409
are yeah. Yeah, that's funny that you recognize

00:59:37.409 --> 00:59:40.590
that Mm -hmm. Yeah Dave gosh, he's one of my

00:59:40.590 --> 00:59:43.750
best friends. That was really hard. They they

00:59:43.750 --> 00:59:48.030
literally fired Dave and our keyboardist Jason

00:59:48.030 --> 00:59:51.670
It was like if you're not performing or doing

00:59:51.670 --> 00:59:54.449
what we want you to do Uh -huh, you're out and

00:59:54.449 --> 00:59:57.090
that that was weird. Yeah, you know I was like,

00:59:57.110 --> 00:59:59.710
okay I see what we're doing like it's kind of

00:59:59.710 --> 01:00:02.429
a different side of the music like Christian

01:00:02.429 --> 01:00:05.530
music industry It was you had experienced before

01:00:05.530 --> 01:00:07.889
it's kind of like this band is like business

01:00:07.889 --> 01:00:10.730
kind of thing. It was a business move Yeah, a

01:00:10.730 --> 01:00:12.829
hundred percent. Yeah, and I don't mean that

01:00:12.829 --> 01:00:17.070
Don't get me wrong. It was smart for my dudes

01:00:17.070 --> 01:00:21.369
with audio a yeah But for management and the

01:00:21.369 --> 01:00:24.159
people that were doing it For money. Yeah, it

01:00:24.159 --> 01:00:26.420
was a hundred percent business. Yeah Yeah, and

01:00:26.420 --> 01:00:28.860
I don't think a lot of people realize the music

01:00:28.860 --> 01:00:32.360
industry even christian. It's a business like

01:00:32.360 --> 01:00:37.420
It's not cool Like they're in it for money. Yeah,

01:00:37.420 --> 01:00:40.880
and I mentioned jpm's like why do you think they

01:00:40.880 --> 01:00:46.739
want? so many jesus's in a song awesome if you

01:00:46.739 --> 01:00:51.880
think it's to save souls, but airplay It's everything

01:00:51.880 --> 01:00:54.559
to do with it. Yeah, it's like Right now praise

01:00:54.559 --> 01:00:56.659
and worship is huge. So we need you guys to sound

01:00:56.659 --> 01:00:59.500
like a praise and worship band And we didn't

01:00:59.500 --> 01:01:01.619
know what to do with that. Yeah, that was kind

01:01:01.619 --> 01:01:05.820
of the end of My two to three years of audio

01:01:05.820 --> 01:01:08.639
drilling we started recording the next record

01:01:08.639 --> 01:01:11.019
Uh -huh, and the things we were doing were really

01:01:11.019 --> 01:01:14.800
good. Yeah, but we were getting denied One song

01:01:14.800 --> 01:01:16.980
after the other because they were like this is

01:01:16.980 --> 01:01:21.389
not what we want We're going to get so and so

01:01:21.389 --> 01:01:24.389
to record this. We're going to get this guy to

01:01:24.389 --> 01:01:28.329
write lyrics and melody on this. And it's like,

01:01:28.349 --> 01:01:33.050
oh, you want us to be a worship band. And yeah,

01:01:33.110 --> 01:01:35.690
because that's what's selling. That's what the

01:01:35.690 --> 01:01:38.329
radio is playing. Yeah. And that's that's that

01:01:38.329 --> 01:01:41.610
was 100 percent. So many bands in that moment

01:01:41.610 --> 01:01:44.849
that carried on and had a longer career. It's

01:01:44.849 --> 01:01:47.969
like they had to pivot in that direction to survive.

01:01:49.250 --> 01:01:51.610
There's there's bands that did and didn't like

01:01:51.610 --> 01:01:55.389
mercy me You know in a way they fit that culture,

01:01:55.670 --> 01:01:59.110
right? Yeah, but not necessarily. Yeah I really

01:01:59.110 --> 01:02:01.050
respect those guys because I feel like they've

01:02:01.050 --> 01:02:04.670
been able to keep it real for themselves like

01:02:04.670 --> 01:02:07.210
we're still writing creating what we want to

01:02:07.210 --> 01:02:10.250
right but Then again, I don't know what they're

01:02:10.250 --> 01:02:13.269
told to do. You know, I don't know how how much

01:02:13.269 --> 01:02:17.130
of that comes into play But yeah, there's some

01:02:17.130 --> 01:02:21.219
bands that That have really done a good job of

01:02:21.219 --> 01:02:25.000
it But like with bleach like we we crossed the

01:02:25.000 --> 01:02:27.260
line and that was probably the most proud thing

01:02:27.260 --> 01:02:29.780
I've ever been a part of is Blurring the line

01:02:29.780 --> 01:02:35.000
of Christian music to general secular Are one

01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:37.039
of our last tours with a band called hot rod

01:02:37.039 --> 01:02:39.699
circuit, which was one of my favorite bands on

01:02:39.699 --> 01:02:43.699
vagrant. Yeah as well And those guys are still

01:02:43.699 --> 01:02:46.300
really good friends of ours. They're not Christians,

01:02:46.460 --> 01:02:50.059
but they loved our music. And I was like, wow,

01:02:50.079 --> 01:02:52.719
this is cool. And we were on tour with them and

01:02:52.719 --> 01:02:54.599
they would ask us to do drugs. They would ask

01:02:54.599 --> 01:02:57.400
us to do and we wouldn't, you know, but they

01:02:57.400 --> 01:02:59.380
were like, why are you guys? They would literally

01:02:59.380 --> 01:03:02.360
ask us like, why are you guys different? And

01:03:02.360 --> 01:03:05.239
it was a cool thing because I love them asking

01:03:05.239 --> 01:03:07.400
that and not being like, well, I know why you're

01:03:07.400 --> 01:03:10.519
different because you're you're this and you're

01:03:10.519 --> 01:03:14.650
you're religious you know so -and -so we weren't

01:03:14.650 --> 01:03:18.230
we just we were just ourselves and we loved people

01:03:18.230 --> 01:03:21.389
and they were just like why like what makes you

01:03:21.389 --> 01:03:23.269
different but when they really asked that they

01:03:23.269 --> 01:03:26.510
could see it it was like we just have priorities

01:03:26.510 --> 01:03:30.289
different yeah like with what we believe in it

01:03:30.289 --> 01:03:33.889
and it and it created great conversations yeah

01:03:33.889 --> 01:03:36.230
and that was like the coolest thing we've ever

01:03:36.230 --> 01:03:39.429
done I love that so much yeah so with that talk

01:03:39.429 --> 01:03:43.710
to me a little bit about what it's like to be

01:03:43.710 --> 01:03:47.889
a person of faith even in the Christian music

01:03:47.889 --> 01:03:51.570
industry because you're spending time with a

01:03:51.570 --> 01:03:54.590
lot of different artists and I know that you've

01:03:54.590 --> 01:03:56.670
probably had the opportunity to grow close to

01:03:56.670 --> 01:04:00.670
a lot of people who who be just being I feel

01:04:00.670 --> 01:04:05.269
like being part of the industry almost can like

01:04:05.269 --> 01:04:10.530
wreak havoc on the faith of a musician or putting

01:04:10.530 --> 01:04:15.050
a 17 year old kid on stage and expecting them

01:04:15.050 --> 01:04:18.530
to carry the weight of the salvation of all the

01:04:18.530 --> 01:04:23.050
people who are in an audience. That sometimes

01:04:23.050 --> 01:04:27.030
the expectations that we put on people in the

01:04:27.030 --> 01:04:29.190
Christian music industry is actually the thing

01:04:29.190 --> 01:04:34.110
that ends up crushing their faith. For you, what

01:04:34.110 --> 01:04:38.460
was it like being a Christian in a band? And

01:04:38.460 --> 01:04:41.780
like maintaining like just some sense of faith

01:04:41.780 --> 01:04:43.500
and trust in Jesus through the midst of like

01:04:43.500 --> 01:04:46.480
all the ups and downs of that. Yeah. That's a

01:04:46.480 --> 01:04:51.440
really good question. I, I go to church. I related

01:04:51.440 --> 01:04:54.559
to church. Yeah. Um, I've seen so many of my

01:04:54.559 --> 01:04:59.239
friends that are musicians, brilliant, brilliant

01:04:59.239 --> 01:05:04.599
artists. Um, they think outside of the box. They

01:05:04.599 --> 01:05:09.280
think too much. They're smart. There's always

01:05:09.280 --> 01:05:13.760
that wonder, you know, like It's hard to prove

01:05:13.760 --> 01:05:19.039
for some people God is real. Yeah, you know and

01:05:19.039 --> 01:05:23.340
what I related to church is because I Grew up

01:05:23.340 --> 01:05:26.019
in the church and I've seen church hurt is real

01:05:26.019 --> 01:05:31.519
Church is a family and what really really really

01:05:31.519 --> 01:05:35.679
really? really hurts is when someone gets hurt

01:05:35.679 --> 01:05:39.760
by the church and they blame it on God and That

01:05:39.760 --> 01:05:43.019
changes their relationship completely. Yeah towards

01:05:43.019 --> 01:05:47.719
God and what they believe in And that that sucks.

01:05:47.719 --> 01:05:51.719
Yeah, you know, I know it's easy for me to say

01:05:51.719 --> 01:05:54.739
well the church is made of People and people

01:05:54.739 --> 01:06:02.539
are broken. Yeah but I Really do I know I know

01:06:02.539 --> 01:06:07.019
that That is a real heartbreak. If you have something

01:06:07.019 --> 01:06:11.059
happen with your church family, you know, we,

01:06:11.219 --> 01:06:14.340
we have people that might get looked down on

01:06:14.340 --> 01:06:20.960
for divorce and even heart like abortions. Um,

01:06:21.800 --> 01:06:24.619
where do you go? You know, like it's easy for

01:06:24.619 --> 01:06:27.780
us. And I just talked to my therapist about this

01:06:27.780 --> 01:06:31.539
yesterday. No, this morning. That's how It's

01:06:31.539 --> 01:06:35.199
been a long day. Yeah But I really you know growing

01:06:35.199 --> 01:06:37.920
up in the church. I have that religious guilt

01:06:37.920 --> 01:06:42.159
on certain things and You know, that's a real

01:06:42.159 --> 01:06:45.159
thing that I'm having to kind of power through

01:06:45.159 --> 01:06:52.480
But with bands and artists in particular like

01:06:52.480 --> 01:06:57.360
The guy I want to talk about his album in a little

01:06:57.360 --> 01:07:01.760
bit You know, he's a big part of that too. I

01:07:01.760 --> 01:07:05.960
think he's he's so smart. He's just He's probably

01:07:05.960 --> 01:07:09.000
been hurt and he's probably seen too much and

01:07:09.000 --> 01:07:16.199
it's easy I will say I've questioned my faith

01:07:16.199 --> 01:07:20.179
a lot. So there's no denying that yeah touring

01:07:20.179 --> 01:07:25.289
You know your you are in front of people You

01:07:25.289 --> 01:07:28.510
can you can take that medicine and and you can

01:07:28.510 --> 01:07:31.170
use it and there was a part of me that did at

01:07:31.170 --> 01:07:34.690
times where I was like All right, but I never

01:07:34.690 --> 01:07:37.809
I feel like God always kind of humbled me if

01:07:37.809 --> 01:07:40.809
I started feeling cocky in any any way I feel

01:07:40.809 --> 01:07:44.570
like I was always Easily humbled. Yeah But I

01:07:44.570 --> 01:07:46.730
was also surrounded by really good friends and

01:07:46.730 --> 01:07:51.010
family But but I can't speak for people that

01:07:51.010 --> 01:07:53.489
don't have that right So that's the difference

01:07:53.489 --> 01:07:56.550
with me and other people because I know guys

01:07:56.550 --> 01:08:00.510
that Yeah, like we're talking about identity

01:08:00.510 --> 01:08:04.590
yeah, you want to tell identity Your music and

01:08:04.590 --> 01:08:06.869
if you see somebody on a message board that talks

01:08:06.869 --> 01:08:10.690
bad about your song like that's brutal That hurts.

01:08:10.909 --> 01:08:14.650
That's your baby You know and the way we write

01:08:14.650 --> 01:08:17.770
songs is from our heart. Yeah, so if somebody's

01:08:17.770 --> 01:08:22.000
like going bad on that That sucks. That's that's

01:08:22.000 --> 01:08:25.239
heavy and with social media now, you can't do

01:08:25.239 --> 01:08:28.319
anything without hearing From comments from people

01:08:28.319 --> 01:08:32.220
that you don't even know. Yeah, so It's a different

01:08:32.220 --> 01:08:34.659
world out there at least when I was doing it

01:08:34.659 --> 01:08:36.579
full -time. We didn't have the social media that

01:08:36.579 --> 01:08:39.520
we do now So I don't know how much more that

01:08:39.520 --> 01:08:42.039
would play a part in me and my faith honestly

01:08:42.039 --> 01:08:49.989
Because I don't know. Yeah but am just very blessed

01:08:49.989 --> 01:09:00.229
that I am chosen and loved by just kind people

01:09:00.229 --> 01:09:04.729
like my family and it goes back to Bleach those

01:09:04.729 --> 01:09:09.970
guys the way I was brought up and those are the

01:09:09.970 --> 01:09:13.829
guys if I had an issue playing in a band prior

01:09:13.829 --> 01:09:16.689
or after them, I was like, I would still go to

01:09:16.689 --> 01:09:18.850
them and be like, what do you guys think about

01:09:18.850 --> 01:09:27.029
this? Or if I disappeared, like Davey became

01:09:27.029 --> 01:09:30.630
like kind of my absolute best friend throughout

01:09:30.630 --> 01:09:33.569
all of that after the years and Davey would call

01:09:33.569 --> 01:09:37.149
me and he knew if I didn't call him back or text

01:09:37.149 --> 01:09:40.550
him back after a day, he's like, Jared's doing

01:09:40.550 --> 01:09:43.310
this episode again. So he would just call me

01:09:43.310 --> 01:09:45.989
the next day and I wouldn't answer because he

01:09:45.989 --> 01:09:48.689
would call me the third day and he would do it

01:09:48.689 --> 01:09:52.710
and I would feel so bad, but he was never like

01:09:52.710 --> 01:09:55.949
Never mean or terrible. He's like dude. I just

01:09:55.949 --> 01:09:57.869
want to let you know. I love you. That's awesome

01:09:57.869 --> 01:10:00.050
Yeah, and that's what I had. That's who I had

01:10:00.050 --> 01:10:04.210
in my corner So for me, I'm very lucky. Yeah

01:10:04.210 --> 01:10:06.069
I don't know if that answered your question.

01:10:06.109 --> 01:10:08.529
No, it does because I think that's such an important

01:10:08.529 --> 01:10:12.779
like part of I think a lot of times when we think

01:10:12.779 --> 01:10:17.300
about faith, we tend to think about faith and

01:10:17.300 --> 01:10:19.399
our relationship with God in a really isolated

01:10:19.399 --> 01:10:22.180
way, but I don't think that's how God designed

01:10:22.180 --> 01:10:25.239
for us to live and walk, but God designed for

01:10:25.239 --> 01:10:28.899
us to live and walk with other people. And and

01:10:28.899 --> 01:10:32.380
it's other people that sometimes we like have

01:10:32.380 --> 01:10:35.119
to have in order to keep going. Yeah. And keep

01:10:35.119 --> 01:10:36.960
trusting. And I think that there's just great

01:10:36.960 --> 01:10:39.859
value and community and family. And you got had

01:10:39.859 --> 01:10:43.520
a really cool opportunity in a band to have like

01:10:43.520 --> 01:10:47.800
literal family and then like just like band family,

01:10:47.880 --> 01:10:50.239
too. And I think that that's that's such a cool

01:10:50.239 --> 01:10:52.699
thing that you were able to experience and walk

01:10:52.699 --> 01:10:57.130
with. Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing. Yeah, and I

01:10:57.130 --> 01:10:58.949
mean it a lot of it is who are you surrounded

01:10:58.949 --> 01:11:08.229
by yeah, you know There's good and bad yeah Yeah

01:11:08.229 --> 01:11:12.609
Well, tell us a little bit now about what's happening

01:11:12.609 --> 01:11:16.649
with bleach And in this moment, obviously you

01:11:16.649 --> 01:11:21.130
guys just played Murray Hill but like that's

01:11:21.130 --> 01:11:23.270
leading up to even more that's like Coming for

01:11:23.270 --> 01:11:26.369
you guys. So like what led to all this? Uh, this

01:11:26.369 --> 01:11:30.090
kind of like rebirth moment for yeah, um, I don't

01:11:30.090 --> 01:11:34.810
know if we we so we literally we have our text

01:11:34.810 --> 01:11:39.829
thread and um We we talk every day. That's never

01:11:39.829 --> 01:11:43.189
going away and that's really weird, but we're

01:11:43.189 --> 01:11:46.350
we're literally like best friends and brothers

01:11:46.350 --> 01:11:50.119
and we have a We have a a bleach plus pete thread

01:11:50.119 --> 01:11:52.300
and then we have a bleach family thread, which

01:11:52.300 --> 01:11:55.600
is like the wives and some of the kids within

01:11:55.600 --> 01:11:58.439
our families and So it depends on what the conversation

01:11:58.439 --> 01:12:02.239
is Um Depends on the thread that we're talking

01:12:02.239 --> 01:12:05.500
on but mainly our bleached little, you know The

01:12:05.500 --> 01:12:07.979
the six of seven of us because matt gingrich

01:12:07.979 --> 01:12:11.539
is still a part of Us as well. So there's seven

01:12:11.539 --> 01:12:16.800
of us in that thread It just kind of Milam actually

01:12:16.800 --> 01:12:19.659
is really good friends with Chad who does furnace

01:12:19.659 --> 01:12:24.979
fest and they they still talk a good bit and

01:12:24.979 --> 01:12:29.140
Milam was just like Obviously with it being like

01:12:29.140 --> 01:12:32.300
our 20th anniversary lately of like again for

01:12:32.300 --> 01:12:35.699
the first time and All these reunions happening

01:12:35.699 --> 01:12:38.239
and all these bands coming back to play again

01:12:38.239 --> 01:12:41.479
you know, we we've we've talked about it and

01:12:41.479 --> 01:12:44.760
toss it around and I think Milam just randomly

01:12:44.760 --> 01:12:50.180
asked Chad, like, what about bleach playing Furnace

01:12:50.180 --> 01:12:53.479
Fest? And he was like, dude, that would be awesome.

01:12:54.060 --> 01:12:57.699
But I mean, we're all filled up. Right. And he

01:12:57.699 --> 01:13:01.000
was like, you know, if we get a spot open up,

01:13:01.159 --> 01:13:05.640
I'll let you know. It's like, OK, cool. And Chad

01:13:05.640 --> 01:13:08.439
literally called my was like, hey, about bleach

01:13:08.439 --> 01:13:12.819
playing Furnace Fest. I was like, yeah. That's

01:13:12.819 --> 01:13:15.579
so. Let's do it. That's so fun because you guys

01:13:15.579 --> 01:13:18.260
were one of the like surprise like announcements.

01:13:19.000 --> 01:13:21.920
Yeah, that that came a little later. And I think

01:13:21.920 --> 01:13:24.039
I even texted you like that day that I saw it.

01:13:24.180 --> 01:13:27.619
You did. So cool. Yeah. Yeah. So excited. You

01:13:27.619 --> 01:13:30.100
were like, do you need a drum tech? Is that what

01:13:30.100 --> 01:13:32.880
you asked me? I might have mentioned something

01:13:32.880 --> 01:13:36.960
like that. But no. And then and then Murray Hill

01:13:36.960 --> 01:13:39.840
Theater is celebrating their 30th year anniversary,

01:13:39.840 --> 01:13:43.430
which is incredible. And so they Around the same

01:13:43.430 --> 01:13:45.609
time that might have come before but they were

01:13:45.609 --> 01:13:48.869
like would you guys be interested in in reuniting?

01:13:49.390 --> 01:13:52.750
You know just for a special show Because we had

01:13:52.750 --> 01:13:55.829
played, you know somewhere around ten shows there.

01:13:56.430 --> 01:14:00.090
Yeah And the shows like I saw a list of them

01:14:00.090 --> 01:14:02.449
and every one of them were we're freaking awesome

01:14:02.449 --> 01:14:07.789
like super special Like the reliant k -tour we

01:14:07.789 --> 01:14:10.329
sold it out twice 500 friends and we sold it

01:14:10.329 --> 01:14:12.579
out twice and then there's a bunch of other really

01:14:12.579 --> 01:14:14.939
cool shows that we did there and we were like

01:14:14.939 --> 01:14:16.800
heck yeah like we'll do anything for you guys

01:14:16.800 --> 01:14:18.859
like that's a really cool opportunity for us

01:14:18.859 --> 01:14:23.359
just to get back together yeah and play um and

01:14:23.359 --> 01:14:27.560
so yeah yeah that's it and then it just kind

01:14:27.560 --> 01:14:30.159
of the the other guys are all in nashville and

01:14:30.159 --> 01:14:32.180
they've been inspired they do tuesday morning

01:14:32.180 --> 01:14:36.359
coffee and they'll sometimes get together and

01:14:36.359 --> 01:14:39.380
and just kind of jam out and write like old times

01:14:39.940 --> 01:14:42.079
And unfortunately, me being here in Charleston,

01:14:42.260 --> 01:14:45.539
I can't be a part of it. But they're doing it.

01:14:45.539 --> 01:14:50.220
And I'm hearing demos and things from that. And

01:14:50.220 --> 01:14:55.060
it's exciting. It's really cool. And so a lot

01:14:55.060 --> 01:14:57.159
of this is just brought like, well, what does

01:14:57.159 --> 01:15:00.439
this look like for next year? So these two shows

01:15:00.439 --> 01:15:03.039
are all we're going to do this year. But I think

01:15:03.039 --> 01:15:06.739
for a reasonable goal. Next year for us. We were

01:15:06.739 --> 01:15:09.560
talking about doing 20, 25 shows. Wow. That's

01:15:09.560 --> 01:15:13.000
awesome. Yeah. And trying to hit, you know, at

01:15:13.000 --> 01:15:16.220
least a couple of shows per like region, you

01:15:16.220 --> 01:15:18.720
know, like we want to make it out to the Northwest

01:15:18.720 --> 01:15:22.460
and Southwest and the Midwest, the Northeast,

01:15:22.460 --> 01:15:26.699
you know, like Texas was always special. You

01:15:26.699 --> 01:15:30.140
know, we have those regions that are like the

01:15:30.140 --> 01:15:34.140
Midwest was always freaking great. Yeah. Bleach

01:15:34.140 --> 01:15:38.340
is from Indiana, basically. So it's like we're

01:15:38.340 --> 01:15:40.579
playing at home when we're in the Midwest. Yeah.

01:15:40.619 --> 01:15:42.539
Yeah. Yeah. So we want to we want to have the

01:15:42.539 --> 01:15:44.899
opportunity that we're actually we actually just

01:15:44.899 --> 01:15:49.039
picked up another show. The the label that we're

01:15:49.039 --> 01:15:51.819
working with, Sam is actually a part of creating

01:15:51.819 --> 01:15:56.840
and we're going to do kind of like a cool. I

01:15:56.840 --> 01:15:58.319
don't even know what it is, honestly. I'm just

01:15:58.319 --> 01:16:01.159
the drummer. I just they're like, we're going

01:16:01.159 --> 01:16:03.750
to do the show and. It's for the record label

01:16:03.750 --> 01:16:07.029
and I look at my schedule and I'm off. So I'm

01:16:07.029 --> 01:16:08.770
like, let's do it. Let's say we're going to do

01:16:08.770 --> 01:16:12.069
it. So I think it's like mid October, October

01:16:12.069 --> 01:16:16.470
16th or 14th, something like that. Yeah. So we

01:16:16.470 --> 01:16:19.409
just have furnace fest on the fourth and then

01:16:19.409 --> 01:16:23.010
that random show in October in Nashville. It's

01:16:23.010 --> 01:16:24.810
downtown Nashville. Yeah. Yeah. And that's actually

01:16:24.810 --> 01:16:28.670
a really cool club called the end. Okay. Yeah.

01:16:28.689 --> 01:16:32.270
Yeah. So that's awesome. It's cool. Yeah. It's

01:16:32.270 --> 01:16:36.550
like 200 people max. It's a cool vibe, dive bar.

01:16:37.470 --> 01:16:40.750
That's so exciting, man. It's so fun that you

01:16:40.750 --> 01:16:46.050
guys get to experience this again at a different

01:16:46.050 --> 01:16:48.670
moment of your lives, but yet you've been able

01:16:48.670 --> 01:16:51.029
to stay connected in such a cool way. Yeah, and

01:16:51.029 --> 01:16:54.289
I will be honest, I questioned it. I've had long

01:16:54.289 --> 01:16:58.750
conversations with Mylam because Mylam is there

01:16:58.750 --> 01:17:03.170
again. And I just feel like I'm not and I'm I

01:17:03.170 --> 01:17:06.289
have a different job now and It doesn't really

01:17:06.289 --> 01:17:09.649
fit the other guys their jobs are just kind of

01:17:09.649 --> 01:17:12.229
different They can kind of hold their own schedules

01:17:12.229 --> 01:17:16.869
a little better and I can't do that. So You know

01:17:16.869 --> 01:17:19.069
Milam's like if we decide to do these things

01:17:19.069 --> 01:17:21.909
in the future Like how do you feel like if we

01:17:21.909 --> 01:17:23.569
work with you would you want to do it? And I'm

01:17:23.569 --> 01:17:25.409
like, I don't know I'll believe it when I see

01:17:25.409 --> 01:17:30.859
it and it's like now I see it I you know, I don't

01:17:30.859 --> 01:17:36.560
know I can't I can't Imagine them doing something

01:17:36.560 --> 01:17:40.680
without me. There's just a part of me There's

01:17:40.680 --> 01:17:43.779
something that I don't know how to explain the

01:17:43.779 --> 01:17:46.819
connection that I have with bleach Personally

01:17:46.819 --> 01:17:51.039
with with my dudes But with the music because

01:17:51.039 --> 01:17:54.520
you know Milo and I wrote a lot of our music

01:17:54.520 --> 01:18:00.079
Together as well. Yeah Just like from the brothers

01:18:00.079 --> 01:18:03.180
and we brought it to the band and they made it

01:18:03.180 --> 01:18:11.439
really good and songs, but I literally we rehearsed

01:18:11.439 --> 01:18:15.180
a few weeks before the show in Jacksonville and

01:18:15.180 --> 01:18:19.659
I we were sitting down on the second day of rehearsal

01:18:19.659 --> 01:18:22.800
and just kind of For the first time just sitting

01:18:22.800 --> 01:18:26.060
down having a conversation and I just I started

01:18:26.060 --> 01:18:29.930
crying I'm not a crier, but I was just like,

01:18:29.949 --> 01:18:33.109
guys, I got to be honest with you. Like I. I

01:18:33.109 --> 01:18:38.409
wasn't sure about this, you know, and but. With

01:18:38.409 --> 01:18:40.510
the rehearsal we did the night before and just

01:18:40.510 --> 01:18:44.289
like I'm all smiles and I was brought to tears

01:18:44.289 --> 01:18:48.789
playing, there's just those songs. There's looking

01:18:48.789 --> 01:18:53.850
up and seeing. One of my guys playing, you know,

01:18:53.909 --> 01:18:57.890
like Milam has his. Things that he does playing

01:18:57.890 --> 01:19:00.430
guitar when he's in a good place that he doesn't

01:19:00.430 --> 01:19:03.529
do anything anywhere else And I'm seeing him

01:19:03.529 --> 01:19:05.829
do that and it was the first time I'd seen him

01:19:05.829 --> 01:19:10.989
do these little things that he does in 20 years.

01:19:11.010 --> 01:19:14.569
Yeah, and I'm like, this is cool. Yeah, or I'm

01:19:14.569 --> 01:19:17.470
looking at Sam or Davey You're like we're we're

01:19:17.470 --> 01:19:20.109
like trying to talk or rehearse through a song.

01:19:20.109 --> 01:19:21.689
We don't know what we're saying We're laughing,

01:19:21.689 --> 01:19:24.529
you know, it's like those little things that

01:19:24.529 --> 01:19:28.939
we have as a band We've always had but after

01:19:28.939 --> 01:19:30.939
all these years you really learned to appreciate

01:19:30.939 --> 01:19:35.579
it and you know, like And I was like this is

01:19:35.579 --> 01:19:39.199
this is awesome. Let's do it. I want to be a

01:19:39.199 --> 01:19:42.420
part of it Yeah, it's like home again. Yeah,

01:19:42.420 --> 01:19:46.100
that's cool entirely. That's cool Well, man,

01:19:46.100 --> 01:19:48.420
I really appreciate you digging into this with

01:19:48.420 --> 01:19:51.020
us. This has been such a good conversation and

01:19:51.020 --> 01:19:55.270
so I appreciate your just vulnerability and It's

01:19:55.270 --> 01:19:59.729
so fun to hear so much of the story of where

01:19:59.729 --> 01:20:02.949
you guys have been and where you've been involved

01:20:02.949 --> 01:20:07.989
and engaged throughout the history of Bleach

01:20:07.989 --> 01:20:10.869
and just so many different pieces of music. So

01:20:10.869 --> 01:20:12.470
thanks for coming and sharing your story with

01:20:12.470 --> 01:20:14.229
us. Heck yeah. I really appreciate it. It's been

01:20:14.229 --> 01:20:17.390
an honor. That's cool. Well, we're going to transition

01:20:17.390 --> 01:20:34.000
into our lyric of the week. So this week, our

01:20:34.000 --> 01:20:36.640
lyric of the week comes from the bleach song,

01:20:36.779 --> 01:20:40.720
We Are Tomorrow. Wow. Off again for the first

01:20:40.720 --> 01:20:44.340
time. And here it is. But it takes more than

01:20:44.340 --> 01:20:47.279
what we are, faith and more than what we are

01:20:47.279 --> 01:20:51.000
to shine, to shine. It's our time. It's now or

01:20:51.000 --> 01:20:54.199
never. It feels like that in this moment, which

01:20:54.199 --> 01:20:57.670
is cool. Yeah. I love that. Well jared, thanks

01:20:57.670 --> 01:21:01.149
again for joining us. Um, is there any way that

01:21:01.149 --> 01:21:04.729
people can keep up with bleach and what you guys

01:21:04.729 --> 01:21:07.270
are doing like anything on the social media?

01:21:07.390 --> 01:21:10.970
Yeah It's funny. You said that because we just

01:21:10.970 --> 01:21:14.430
created a tiktok. Okay, awesome We're like we're

01:21:14.430 --> 01:21:17.270
trying to figure it out. Um, I I would the best

01:21:17.270 --> 01:21:20.229
thing to do is we're pretty active on our facebook

01:21:20.229 --> 01:21:24.170
Um, our instagram is bleach is alive. Yeah, and

01:21:24.170 --> 01:21:26.659
so that's Think that's got all of our links and

01:21:26.659 --> 01:21:28.680
I think most people have Instagram. Yeah, so

01:21:28.680 --> 01:21:29.979
I'll just say go there I don't know what our

01:21:29.979 --> 01:21:32.340
tick -tock is. I I just created a tick -tock

01:21:32.340 --> 01:21:35.939
because bleach did I've always wanted one just

01:21:35.939 --> 01:21:40.460
never felt cool enough to do it Facebook, you

01:21:40.460 --> 01:21:42.880
know, we we're on there quite a bit and all of

01:21:42.880 --> 01:21:46.960
us are under those accounts. So You'll see us

01:21:46.960 --> 01:21:50.060
talking to If you want to join in and comment

01:21:50.060 --> 01:21:52.020
or anything, we're we're always there. That's

01:21:52.020 --> 01:21:54.100
cool. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I know people

01:21:54.100 --> 01:21:55.920
are going to be pumped. Follow along. Join you

01:21:55.920 --> 01:21:59.000
guys, find you and catch you at Furnace Fest

01:21:59.000 --> 01:22:01.739
this year. Yeah, so that's really fun. Well,

01:22:01.819 --> 01:22:04.220
thanks again for joining us. This has been a

01:22:04.220 --> 01:22:18.789
great, great conversation. listening.