Are you listening? This ain't no quiet thing
We're screaming out our lungs Hey! Are you listening?
Hey! Are you there? Hey! Are you listening? Or
do you just not care? Are you listening? This
is a podcast exploring the past, present and
future of Christian music. My name is Joel, and
I'm here with my good friend Brandon. And we
connected over a mutual love of some particular
artists, one of whom we're going to have with
us today. But we also have some pretty different
tastes along the way. And so we get to experience
some new stuff from each other while inviting
some friends along for the ride, which is always
a good time. Brandon, how are you doing today?
I'm doing great today. Awesome. I'm always hoping
you have like something like really insightful
to say when I ask you that question bringing
some news to the table I don't I feel like right
now. I don't know if it's good or bad, but I
feel like I'm really living off of Leftover Halloween
candy. Oh, yeah, so I don't I feel like I'm feeling
happy But I know that I'm eating a lot of just
junk so I don't know you're you might pay for
it That's awesome. Well, today's really fun because
we actually have a friend here with us today
and drum roll. You may know him as the bass player
in the band John Zetta or the singer in Don Quixote's
Horse or maybe even those few shows that he played
with a band called Bellador way back in the day.
Joining us today is our friend Ty Garvey. Ty,
what's going on, man? Hey, guys, how's it going?
Good. Good, man. It's so good to see you. I can't
believe you brought up the shows. The one show
I played with. No, it wasn't just one show. I
mean, just one show. I obviously wasn't around
then. So you are not. And sadly, and in truth,
we told I played like half the show. Oh, actually,
I was at that show. Then was that the one at
Horizon? Yes, okay. So never mind. I was there
I think it was like Christmas break or something
and I was something like that Yeah, I didn't
have a base Like my base. I don't know what happened
to my base I think I'd given it to someone else
to like do something with and And I was like
I called I think Tony was still working at music
around at the time. Yeah and i was like tony
i need you to bring me a bass for music around
this show because i don't have one so was it
that that was scott's like last show and so they
were transitioning him out like as you were transitioning
in or something yeah i think that was kind of
the idea um but then it just and i i think we
rehearsed a handful of times after that and it
just kind of never yeah it's kind of fizzled
out but um it was fun uh you know That was I
mean, I guess I guess Brandon, you know that
that was Joel's old band. Mm -hmm. And what you
probably don't know is that that band was like
my favorite band of all time and like still like
one of like as far as bands that had an influence
on me as a person Just way up there on the list
And so it was just I mean it was even surreal
to just be like in that band for for like 10
minutes Well, i'm really i'm i'm personally honored
that after I was in the band that That the bass
player for jones etta played in the band that
I used to be in It sounds like this band just
had such an impact that maybe they should be
on that list of the best christian bands of all
time Oh, okay there you brought it up. Here we
go. Um ty I don't know if you if you don't follow
us on facebook. Have you seen the drama? I don't
know. I haven't seen the drama. I don't have
a Facebook, but I have listened to that episode.
Yeah, there's some real controversy in that episode.
So just to catch you up, then I posted a poll
on our Facebook page asking people to let us
know who they thought should be in the top 10
Christian artists of all time. And let's just
say we're going to like call it um pole gate
or something i don't know it's just like gone
a little uh out of control and a little controversial
so i'm not really sure what we started what's
what's the uh most controversial thing that's
been said so far um mostly just people mad that
their favorite artist wasn't on the original
list of like five artists that i put on there
I feel like the list, it is a little weird though
because you have right now Amy Grant's leading,
but I think that Jonesetta right now is like
in a 10 -way tie for 10th place on the best Christian
bands ever, so. I personally voted for Jonesetta.
However, I also voted for Amy Grant. So, I mean
it is, we are getting close to Christmas season
and Amy is the queen in my opinion, so. I don't
know and people are gonna people and have their
opinions about who they think should be up there,
but Ironically, I don't think that our list is
gonna end up being that different from Which
breaks my heart a little bit, but I'm with you
Jill I just I just kept shaking my head at that
list You know, it's whoever whoever's playing
on Caleb now. It's basically what that list is.
I guess I don't I don't know of someone who doesn't
listen to Caleb. So, anyways, well, thanks for
bringing that up, Brandon. We do encourage you
to go find the poll and vote, especially if you
vote for Jonesetta. Yeah, it'd be great. It'd
be great. All right, well. Today's gonna be really
fun because mostly we're just gonna talk to Ty
and get to know him and his story a little bit
and figure out what all happened as a part of
his life and where he is now, what's happening
with him now. But before we get into all of that,
we are going to talk about what's in the news.
So what's been going on in the world of Christian
music? Basically nothing. Unless you have something
you know, I actually at the time of record by
the time this releases Winter Jam will have released
their Lineup and I feel like that's probably
Probably they they had an image earlier where
it's looking like it's gonna be a Like a male
artists headlining. It's one of those things
where I don't know if you've you've seen but
they'll like Blur out all the bands and ask for
people to choose But I feel like you have your
classic like you have that the one headliner
Then you're gonna have a female soloist then
a group probably a rapper on there I don't know
one thing I've noticed in the past few years.
It used to be Like ten bands, but I think in
the past few years It's shrank down to closer
to seven or so which I don't know. I remember
back in the day It would be exciting to have
my band like a band that I liked on there, but
like I remember Stephanie Smith getting Maybe
15 minutes. So I feel like as a band, you know,
if you if you only have 15 minutes for your set
You're getting through maybe three songs maybe
four So like I've been been there since they've
changed that around but I don't know Ty do you
have any announcements tied to winter jam? Do
you want to make it official? Yeah, actually
Winter Jam sent me a memo this morning that they
told me I could announce it. I've never been
to Winter Jam. I'm aware that it exists. That's
as far as my opinion of it. I think I've been
once to Winter Jam. I remember this moment where,
oh goodness, I want to say third day was playing
and then the guy from Need to Breathe came out
and did a guest appearance because it was here
in Charleston. And so he lives here. And so he
just like popped out and it was like this moment.
But that's really all I remember. Well, see,
I remember for like so for us, we we were kind
of in this bubble of we just had I was explaining
that the radio station we grew up at, it made
Caleb look like it was on the cutting edge because
it was just very this like conservative radio
friendly one. So when Winter Gym would come,
it was actually Us getting to see bands that
were a little more out there. And I remember
one of the years the lineup was you had Toby
Mack, Stephanie Smith, Family Force 5, Hawk Nelson.
So you had a lot of these. A lot of your favorites.
Yeah. And I think that around 2012, it kind of
started changing to more of it was only your
K -Love type artist. Right. So like for me personally,
back in the day, it was like that was the first
time I saw Skillet. Remember seeing them on the
the bill and thinking this must be like a band
that's just starting out I had no idea how big
skill it was and then you get there and there's
fire shooting up and there's Their merch line
is you know out the door and I'm like, oh, I
guess I guess they do have some fans You realize
I've been a band for like 50 years That's funny
the only thing I've got which I'm personally
excited about and Brandon we've had a conversation
about this but MXPX is coming to Charleston next
March, which is a pretty wild thing. Like we,
we get some music here, but MXPX probably plays,
I don't know, maybe 20 shows a year, I'm guessing.
And I just find it funny that they're coming
to Charleston, South Carolina, but I'm thrilled
about it to get to go see them. And so Ty, I'm
gonna drag Brandon to see MXPX even though he
has no history with them whatsoever Don't need
it never really listened to them at all Was that
a band you have you listened to so I listened
to MXPX kind of like Occasionally I was never
I was never like a big MXPX fan like I liked
them never owned a record You know, I know the
hits punk rock show What's that one that I play
the bass line to all the time? Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah I saw them I've seen them twice. I saw them
once at cornerstone in like oh two maybe or three.
Yeah, and then And then I saw them in maybe 2018
with five iron frenzy in Nashville. Come on.
Yeah It was a great show. It would be a killer
show. I remember they were doing that tour together
and I'm like, oh man, that would be so, so much
fun. It was. Yeah, I believe it. I saw Five Iron,
you've probably heard me say this on here, but
I saw Five Iron last year at Furnace Fest and
that was such a great, such a great show. And
I think that was the best that I've ever seen
them and I've seen them tons of times. Yeah,
they killed it. I mean, I haven't seen them since,
I guess, 2018, but I guess I've seen them twice
since they've gotten back together. And both
shows were just top notch. Yeah, they're so good.
More to come on that. All right. Well, let's
talk a little bit about what we've been listening
to lately in the world of Christian music. So
anything that you guys have that's caught your
ear that you spent some time on? I knew for me,
just to do my research, I've been listening to
a lot of Joan Zetta. That's not a new thing for
you. I know we'll dive into it. It's just so
fascinating how different the two albums are.
So for me, I love just turning them on and just
seeing how... I remember years ago, I did an
interview with Ty. And I made a comment that
it almost felt like you're listening to a band
that it's their first and like their 10th release
but in reality it's like a year maybe in between
the two releases or so and so for me kind of
just in the mood like if I want to party I'm
putting on this one if I want to kind of just
Reflect and I don't know walk around the fall
weather. I turn on cruel to be young and yeah,
that's awesome I'm all reflecting I guess I Feel
like I feel like the city of Charleston actually
had a huge influence on cruel to be young really
Yeah, like we at the time we were writing that
record Robert was dating a girl that lived there
and so Robert was spending a ton of time in Charleston
and Like anytime we weren't on tour like he was
in Charleston and then we would even We did all
the photo press stuff for that record in Charleston.
Interesting. We came up to Charleston for a few
days and we had this original cover for the record
that was a photo from, I guess, downtown Charleston,
but ended up not being the cover. Interesting
tidbit. That's awesome. Yeah. I love that. Yeah,
Joan said it's great. I'm glad that you spent
some more time with them Brandon. That's great.
For me, something I've been listening to lately,
a guy named Tyson Motzenbacher just put out his
new record Modern Worries on tooth and nail.
Have you ever listened to Tyson, Ty? I haven't,
but I've heard a lot of people mention him. I've
kind of been out of Christian music. for like
listening to it for a long time. Yeah. And so
but he's he's one person that a lot of people
that respect their opinion on a lot have mentioned
him to me. And so I've been meaning to check
him out. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
I think I think you would like him listening
to him. I'm like he he definitely deals with
like a lot of faith topics in his music. And
you can tell he grew up um in the church but
I don't like I don't have a real solid sense
of like where where he is with his faith um but
he asks a lot of really good questions that I
think are super important for the church to be
thinking about and asking um and so I there's
a there's one song on this new record I can't
remember it's like one of the last it might be
the last song on the record but it's basically
a conversation between him and God um about Like
the state of the church in America. Um, and it's,
it's a really fascinating song. So I would encourage
you to check it out, but his stuff's awesome
and a little all over the place. Really, really
creative. So it's fun. What about you? Um, yeah,
I mean, Oh, one artist that might've been John
Paul Dove that turned me onto him a couple of
years ago, but Ever since I started listening
to y 'all's podcasts and I've been sort of revisited
his stuff is uh, john van doesen. Yeah Um, man,
he's just so good. Um, and really that origami
Part two, is that what it's called? Yeah. Yeah.
And that record is just Unreal, um, and those
songs are just so so so good Uh, so i've sort
of been revisiting him a lot lately and then
um There's a guy at the last church I worked
at Um, there was a guy on staff with us named
chris ekis who is um, he's kind of trying to
break into the The ccm sort of world. Um, and
his stuff's great. Um, it's not really like My
thing necessarily. It's a little too ccm for
me. Yeah, um, but like he is an immensely talented
dude and uh, he's put out a handful of I think
just a couple like eps he's put out. Um, and
they're they're great Some really great songs
and he's just he's a great dude and a great talent
for sure. That's cool I'll have to check that
out. I love that. I love that Alright Brandon,
it's time. Mm -hmm for you to reveal what this
Adventure is that we're going on with you. Alright,
so today I wanted to jump in a time machine.
Okay to a year called 2005 so we just had the
The Dove Awards, so I wanted to go back and see
what it looked like 20 years ago in mainstream
Christian music. So I printed off here, I've
got the nominees and the award winners. I'm gonna
see if you guys can guess who won the awards
back in 2005. Man, I'm gonna have to confess
that 2005 was not a year that I was spending
a lot of time listening to Christian music. I
was in seminary at this point. but even that
like Yeah, that was not Yeah, I'm gonna do really
badly at this. I guess what I'm trying to say
I feel like this is gonna be a battle to see
you can do that not worse All right, well you
give us some categories all right, how are you
gonna do this? Yeah, let's start with rock album
of the year. All right Your nominees are day
of fire by day of fire See a faces by cutlass
set it off thousand foot crutch They're only
chasing safety under oath. And where do we go
from here pillar? So who do you think took home
Rockham of the year? I've only listened to one
of those albums. Mm -hmm Wait, what's the last
one again? Where do we go from here by pillar?
Yeah So the only album that I've listened to
off that list is they're only chasing safety
by under earth Correct, but I somehow doubt that
the double words gave best rock album see that
I agree Even though it probably should have deserved
it So I haven't heard any of those other four
albums, but I promise you that that under earth
records better So out of pillar thousand foot
crutch um day of fire cut i've never even heard
of day of fire i haven't either that one i've
never heard of that band have you heard of that
band no okay at least we're all on the same page
to be clear i'm not making up any um of the nominees
um 2005 i guess this is this is post is this
post jonesetta no this is during the heights
of jonesetta this is this is before the first
record came out Really? Holy cow. They had no
idea what was coming. What month was the Dove
Awards held? When are we talking? I think it
would have been fall. Yeah, it would have been
the fall. Fall. So we were probably finishing
writing popularity at this point. Ty, did you
ever play a show with Cutlass, Thousand Foot
Crutch, or... Day of Fire. Definitely not Day
of Fire. Under Oath, or who was the other one?
Pillar. Pillar, yeah. No, we never played with
any other bands. Actually, we played one show
with Under Oath one time before they were Under
Oath. Yeah, I'm gonna go with Thousand Foot Crutch.
I'm gonna go Cutlass. Your winner is day of fire
Great they released three or two more albums
and they've got 25 ,000 monthly listeners on
Spotify. So what label were they on? I have no
idea. Cutlass was on I Can't remember what I
can't remember. Yeah That was not those that
rock Category was never my rock category time
Yeah. Next up is Song of the Year. We have Blessed
Be Your Name, Dare You to Move, Friend of God,
Glory Defined, Healing Rain, Meant to Live, More,
Through the Fire, Who Am I, You Raise Me Up.
There's two Switchwood songs? Yeah. Also not
to mention to switch with songs that are on a
record that came out What like three years before
this? Actually, I think that we talked about
this on a previous podcast. Did that album come
out in 2005? I think it might like it came in
like oh, no not 2005. I think 2004 because usually
with like what was it oh for it was it had to
been I I think it was oh three I moved in oh
three and they they were are that record was
already out and oh three At some point Yeah,
I think it was oh three Because they did that
20th anniversary I felt like that was 23 when
they did that my version heard that was like
Yeah, just a couple years ago there Yeah I'm
guessing you're looking it up. I feel like the
internet is Debating on this topic. I'm gonna
go blessed to be the name beautiful letdown came
out and 2003 yeah That checks out so why two
years later are we nominated? Oh, I feel like
that's Kristen. Yeah, that's just Christian music
for you Blessed be your name is definitely a
banger I'm just gonna go from my love for switch
foot Yeah, say dare you to move and the winner
is who am I back casting crowns? Mmm considering
our ranker pole I can see how that happened.
Here's another one. New artist of the year. Barlow
Girl. Bethany Dillon. Building 429. Day of Fire.
Matthew West. Day of Fire was just killing it
at this Devil Wars. They were the next big thing.
I feel like building 429 was around well before
that. I kind of thought that too, but... I mean,
there's a lot of love out there for Matthew West,
so I'm just gonna go Matthew West. Okay, I'm
gonna go Day of Fire. I think they took home
two that year. Building 429. You were so close,
Todd. Here you go. Group of the Year. Casting
Crowns. Mercy Me. Salah. Switchfoot. The Crab
Family. That's such a like broad spectrum of
musical genres As much as I would want it to
be switch foot, I'm sure it was either mercy
me or casting crowns Yeah, I'm gonna go casting
crowns just based on the the ranker episode There
you go. Oh, no, was it Casting Crown? Okay. There
you go. Yeah All right, and then finally who
took home artist of the year in 2005 casting
crowns Mercy Me, Michael W. Smith, Ceyla, or
Switchfoot? So basically the same list, but swapping
out two people. I'm gonna go for Casting Grounds
again. Yeah, I'm rolling with Casting Grounds.
That's my money train. All right, your 2005 Artist
of the Year is Switchfoot. What? Oh wow. They
got something right. That's funny. I just thought
it was interesting, like, seeing how many random
people popped up. Because I think usually whenever
there's nominees, I don't remember really being
surprised by anyone random from this year's Dev
Awards. Yeah. Day of Fire really surprised you,
huh? I'm gonna have to go check their stuff out.
If they sell my cut, I'm gonna be unhappy. All
right. Well, let's transition into our conversation
with Ty. So maybe before we dig into asking Ty
questions, Brandon, I feel like this is a great
opportunity for you and I to share like a little
bit of our history with Joan Zetta. Yeah. And
then we can start asking Ty questions. I don't
know. What do you think? That sounds good to
me. Yeah, I guess I can go first. There's less
of a history, but I discovered them off of...
it was Songs from the Penalty Box, I think number
five, and I've discovered so many bands from
that. There was Mute Without You, Starflyer 59,
Joan Zetta, Children 18 -3, Showbred, There's
just so many bands I discovered like if I had
to pinpoint album that probably shaped my um
like music taste the most it probably would be
that sampler album and um So I discovered jonesette
off of that and it started this trend where I
would find a band get really into them and find
out that they went a hiatus a year before I found
them and um So Jones Etta was a band that I would
like I would tell friends about and be hey you
got to check out this band it's really cool like
what they're doing and all and just like like
them like them and I remember like I would be
like online late at night just trying to find
oh is there an interview they did out there or
like are they coming back or what happened to
the guys and it led to finally tracking down
Ty and I was telling the story of someone the
other day that I remember finally being like,
I think this is Ty from Jones Etta. And for whatever
reason, I decided to send an email like at three
in the morning. I should wait till the morning,
but there's just this rambling email about like,
hey, I'm on a journey to find like Ty from Jones
Etta, like blah, blah, blah, this long email.
and i think like two days later i receive an
email and it's like your quest is complete you
have found i or that's awesome i love that um
yeah i for me um i knew tai as a person before
i knew him as as a guy in jonzetta and so um
um i yeah i We can maybe get into some of it
with his story, but, um, it was just super fun
for me being a guy from Mississippi who was in
a band in Mississippi, um, trying to like, um,
help create, um, a music scene, um, in our town
and be involved in what's happening and, um,
and see, see other bands start up along the way.
Jones said it wasn't Ty's first band that he
was in. And so we'll probably get into that a
little bit too, but, um, but, um, just getting
to know him and a lot of the other guys that
ended up in John setta, um, was super fun along
the way. And then like, as I was, um, exiting
kind of that scene and the band that I was in
and moving, uh, got married, moved away, um,
to go to school. And, um, and then like all of
a sudden I began to hear these rumblings. about
this jonesetta thing that i thought was just
not a serious thing at all just kind of like
a joke all of a sudden i'm like wait what a second
tooth and nail's having conversations with them
and what's going on and then i remember getting
like there was like some sampler that came are
you guys released an ep or a sampler or something
before that and yeah we released like a four
song thing yeah i listened to it and i'm like
holy cow this is so good And I just I remember
just like standing back with like just so much
pride and like when they were able to Accomplish
and just such a big fan of their music and then
especially when a cruel to be young came out
I'm like man. I like I Love this album so much
And still to this day like listen to it all the
time And so it's just it's cool for me to be
able to have a personal connection But Ty, let's
get kind of into your story a little bit. So
tell us a little bit about how music entered
your life and how you became just like a fan
of music to begin with. Yeah, I mean, I. I don't.
I feel like growing up, music was just always
around like. Like my parents, both my parents,
neither of them really played my dad. Played
drums kind of but I never really saw him play
drums But like I just felt like the radio was
always on when I was a kid. Yeah Now it was always
on country music like it was my mom was like
a huge Patsy Klon fan and my dad was a big Elvis
fan and Willie Nelson Willie Nelson and Elvis
were his two like guys And so growing up We always
had the radio on country music. It was either,
you know, Miss 103 or Catfish 95, the two country
stations in the Jackson metro area at the time.
And it was always those two. And so I but I loved
it. Like, I don't know what it was, but I just
I've ever since I was just a small child, like
I felt like a very deep connection to music.
And yeah. And so I listened to it all the time.
I would carry around a little boombox with me
and just Anytime I was outside like I would set
it down and play radio station and listen and
and then it and I was just but I was exclusively
a country music guy until I was in seventh grade
and I randomly one night came across the music
video for my own summer by the deftones and it
like Just shattered my world in the best way
possible I should remember go. Wow. What is this
like? this is what I need, I need more of this.
And so yeah, you know, quickly sort of dove into
the rock world, abandoned country music almost
completely. And then a couple of years later,
I'd become really good friends with a guy named
Drew Mellon, who you know, Joe. He was the bass
player for Color Revolt. and is the current bass
player for my band Don Quixote's Horse. We're
still really great friends today. But he was
the first person to sort of introduce me to Christian
rock stuff. He let me borrow his Tooth and Nail
VHS tape that he had. It had a bunch of Tooth
and Nail artists on it. And then he took me to
my first Christian rock show, which was Groove.
at First Baptist Church in Clinton. And man like
it just it became a world that I just became
obsessed with for sure. I think I was at that
show. You probably were. You probably were. I
just I was blown away by Matthew McGee's he had
like a leopard print flying V and I was like
that's the coolest guitar I've ever seen. So
yeah that was That's kind of how it got really
into music. And then it wasn't long after that
that I started playing guitar and. Yes, so tell
us about that then, like how you transition from
being like a music fan into a musician and how
that got started for you. Yeah, so my dad bought
me an acoustic guitar when I was eight and gave
me it got guitar lessons for me, but it lasted
like. I don't know, a couple of months maybe.
And then I was like, I'm eight, I've got better
things to do than sit in my room and practice
guitar. And so I put it down. But then kind of
when I had sort of started delving more to the
like the rock world in middle school, I became
interested in playing guitar again. And then
it was Christmas, Christmas of my ninth grade
year, my mom bought me this red Epiphone SG for
Christmas. And then I just became like obsessed
with playing guitar then. I did it every day
for three or four hours a day. And then, you
know, probably seven or eight months later, me
and Drew decided to start a ska band. And we
were called Weird Not Ugly. And we were... We
were exactly what you would imagine a 15 to 16
year olds playing Christian Scott sounded like
And we had a great time though and and that's
that's how I met Joel was I think it was like
summer of 2000 and We played a show with Joel's
band Ransom tree at Woodland Hills Baptist Church
And that's where I got introduced to Joel and
his band in his music and then that was like
another dramatic shift for me because I was like
What is this emo stuff? I was like, feeling this.
And there was like this weird period in our ska
band where we were like, tried to like, tried
to figure out how to write ska emo music. It
didn't work. It didn't work. Maybe there's something
in there. I don't know. It was just funny because
like we were in a ska band and we didn't want
to like kick our horn players out. We also just
we wanted to start playing stuff And we were
at this weird like thing. We were trying to figure
out what to do and I Remember we're not ugly
with a lot of fine fondness So I'm sure you do
too, but I you know as many as like we all have
to start somewhere And yeah, yeah story of that
start being like this huge awesome thing like
Rarely exists, right? Usually wherever we begin
is is a humble beginning as it probably should
be so Yeah began it was terrible But yeah, we
got okay at some point but y 'all are incredible
it was a good time good time Actually, yeah,
we can go and jump into this So I guess we we've
covered a couple of the questions we had on here
So I guess we can jump into when did Joan Zetta
start coming into the picture like after all
of your success with your emo ska music Yeah,
success is a strong word It's actually a word.
I wouldn't use it all actually No, yeah, so probably
around my senior year of high school our ska
band sort of dissolved Um, we never officially
broke up. So I guess we're technically still
together. Um, that release is still coming. Yeah,
we do. There is a six song EP that we recorded
with Ron Kaiser, um, that I have, um, it's never
been put out there publicly nor will it ever
be, but I feel like you like. Probably owe it
to friends to share. Yeah, there's there's people
I could share with for sure. That's a patreon
exclusive I was putting myself in that category
Yeah, I feel like I feel like you definitely
deserve to hear it because you had to hear us
live No, so yeah senior year of high school That
band was just kind of dissolving We couldn't
figure out how to make the emo Scott thing work.
And so, uh, we just kind of gave up a Drew joined
color revolt, um, who at the time were called
Fletcher. Um, and then I started playing in another
band called citizen youth, which is just like
a man rock band is the best way I can describe
it. Um, um, and, and in citizen youth, Robert
was the drummer, Robert, the singer Jones that
it was the drummer of citizen youth. And so Robert
and I formed like a really tight friendship in
that band. And then through that band, Robert
just called me one day and he was like, Hey,
I've got a funny idea. He's like, I want to start
a band and play a show and break up on stage.
And I was like, that's a great idea. And he was
like, and the funny thing is I'm going to play
guitar and sing. And I was like, that is funny.
And he's like, Kyle's in. Kyle, who had been
in a band with Robert, also previously called
Median, which were awesome. And he's like, Kyle's
in to play the other guitar. He's like, but I
need a bass player. And I was like, I don't really
play bass, but I would love to do this. And so
that's how we started. It was a guy named Doug
on drums. I don't remember where Doug was from.
I think it was from Terry or something like that.
Doug, not a real drummer. I was not a real bass
player. Robert wasn't a real guitar player. Kyle
was the only one doing what he was supposed to
be doing in the band. And yeah, we played that
first show. We broke up on stage. It was funny.
It was a good time. And then a few months later,
people asked us to play again and we did. And
it was at that second show that I realized I
was like, oh, this is way more fun to me than
my real band, Citizen Youth. So I decided to
quit Citizen Youth at that point. And then was
just kind of bandless for a while because I didn't
because while Jones Etta was a thing, we weren't
really a thing like we didn't consider ourselves
to be a real band. The only time we would get
together and play was if someone asked us to
play a show. You know, we didn't practice. We
didn't write songs. um and so I was kind of banalist
for a while until um until I joined velador for
about 10 minutes um hey I have a vague memory
ty of um coming to someone's house that had like
a room over a garage um does this sound familiar
did you guys practice like Yeah Yeah, it was
at Robert's house. Yeah. Okay, so there's a room
over his garage that we practiced Yeah, we're
coming to one of your like I think I guess early
practices or something Like I don't know if it's
me and was it when Tony was in the band. It probably
was. Yes Okay, that would make sense. Yeah Yeah
Yeah, we were probably just Super stoked to have
Jill Lane's worth in our midst while we were
practicing Couldn't believe Tony was in our band
either For a little bit uh that's funny what
tony was playing keys is that yeah he was playing
keys that's so awesome he was playing keys and
had like a he had like a drum machine that he
would make beats for and he had this sampler
that he would make these crazy samples for and
stuff it was awesome we recorded one ep with
with dan helman tyler when tony was in the band
yeah that that just never came out um and it
had it had a very i had the very first version
of like communicate on there um and a handful
of other songs that Tony was a part of and more
things that I'm so sad never came out. I would
love to hear that too. Like I don't have any
of that. I don't know that we ever really finished
it. Yeah. But there is what there's one song
on there that I feel like Tony had a big hand
in helping us write called sunshine and spin
us that had this great like trap beat behind
it. And I would kill to go back and hear that
song. It's probably terrible. But my memory of
it was that it was awesome. And yeah, that's
cool. I love that. So you guys were beginning
to practice, starting to play random shows. When
did this become a thing that wasn't like a joke
anymore, but something that you're committed
to? Yeah, we started playing more regularly.
Once Mick Parsons joined our band as a drummer
We we still didn't practice very much but like
we started kind of playing around town a lot
more and We became good friends with the band
as cities burn Because they would always come
through town and play shows and so we would always
just end up on the show with them and so we became
friends with them and then they got signed to
tooth and nail and then It was like October of
oh for they asked us to come to Louisiana and
play a show with them And then a show the next
night in Jackson and we had decided that those
were gonna be our last two shows like the last
two Jones other shows Just because I mean like
we talked about like we didn't take it seriously
We were all getting busier with school and whatever
else, you know So we decided those were gonna
be our last two shows and then that night in
Louisiana The first of the two shows ACB made
their manager who was on tour with them this
guy named Ryan Rado He was on tour with them
and they like forced him to watch our set And
he just he loved us and at the end of the night
he was like I Think you guys are great. Like
I want to I want to manage y 'all. I want to
like help you guys out We're like, I don't know.
We're planning on breaking up tomorrow It's funny
because we had like bill that show like as this
is the last job that a show like, you know, and,
um, and, but it wasn't, um, and so, yeah, just
on the way home that night, we were like, I don't
know. Should we give this guy a shot? And, um,
you know, we were maybe, and so the next night
we were like, all right, man, like, what do you
need us to do? And he's like, all right, you
guys get to take some pictures. You got to get
in my space. You get our start recording some
demos. Um, cause we hadn't done any of that.
Um, and we're like, oh yeah, yeah, we'll do that.
And then like three or four months went by and
we hadn't done any of it. He like, he called
us and was like upset. He was like, what are
you guys doing? Like, we're like, I don't know.
We don't know what to do. Like, you know, um,
and so he got us, uh, he got us set up to go
to Nashville that spring break of Oh five and
record that four song EP thing that came out.
And that became like the demo that we ended up
shopping around to labels and stuff. Um, And
that's really when things kind of just wildly
took off. You know, I remember getting in offers
from record labels after we sent the demos out
and, you know, tooth and nail being one of them.
And then it just kind of became apparent by the
end of that school year, May of 05, that we were
going to drop out of college and, you know, we
were going to really do this. And so yeah, that
was all very wild and very surreal and It kind
of hit me Like you asked there was a question
where you asked like when we know is kind of
a bigger deal Yeah, and I feel like that summer
we did our first tour Just around the southeast
with a band from Louisiana called Tyler Reed
And that was great it was a lot of fun But the
last show of that tour was in Jackson. And we
had to move venues last minute. And there ended
up being like 600 people at the show, which was
just insane. And then I remember like when we
played Backstabber and like just like everyone
in the crowd just like screaming it back at us.
And I was like, oh, wow, this is, I was not prepared
for this. Yeah, it was just a really crazy moment
for me. So, yeah. That has to be so surreal just
going from this moment where you're like, haha,
like we're doing the same just for the fun of
it. And then it probably feels like not much
time goes by and you're standing on a stage in
front of 6 ,000 or 600 people like. Yelling the
lyrics back towards you and you're like, how
did this happen? Yeah, I mean it was like a matter
of like ten months, you know like Ten months
from like we're gonna break up tomorrow to like
that happening and it's just like what is going
on? You know It was yeah, it was wild absolutely
wild For sure Well, like I said earlier so popularity
and cruel to be young They have very different
vibes. What was going on behind the scenes creatively
between those two records? Yeah, I mean a handful
of things I think The first one being I feel
like like any artist like your goal is not to
Produce what you've already produced. Mm -hmm.
So we knew going into the writing of cruel to
be young that Whatever we did we didn't want
to do popularity part two. Mm -hmm And you know,
it's probably much to the chagrin of Tooth and
Nail Records I think they would have loved the
popularity part two But we knew as a band we
didn't want to do that. So there's that thing
also At that time we had changed drummers We
had we had let Mick go and we had got our friend
Alex Warren to start playing drums and who was
a very just a very different drummer than Mick.
And then we'd also brought on our friend Tyler
Kemp to play keys and stuff, who was just this
unreal musician, just a true master of like piano
and keyboards and stuff like that. And and so
I think adding both of those dudes to the band
also really influenced um kind of the direction
we were going and I don't even know that we had
a direction to go it was just we're just gonna
write songs and see what happens you know at
the time as a band we were listening to a lot
of weezer a lot of the beetles a lot of the pixies
um those are stuff that was just like constantly
playing in our van and when we're hanging out
um and so I feel like I feel like that's just
kind of what came out of us. Yeah. And we were,
I mean, from the, from the get -go, we were really
worried that everyone was going to hate it, that
Tuthenet was going to hate it just because we,
we recognized early that like it was a very big
departure from, from popularity. Yeah. So when
you make a record like popularity that, that
captures for you guys, this, I mean, I so I saw
you on the tooth and nail tour And I I guess
popularity maybe was it was either like already
out or I don't think it was out yet. Maybe not
even out yet at that point. Maybe all I knew
was the demo But you guys already at that point
you it's you weren't like the openers openers
of the show Like tooth and nail was already like
pushing you up as this thing because they knew
they knew what was coming They pushed us hard.
Yeah um and so and they're like i don't know
the the killers are hot right now or whatever
so like um but for them like this is this huge
thing that nobody nobody in the christian music
industry or nobody in like our neck of the woods
like has made anything like this um and it's
true like um popularity was such a unique like
creative record it earned you guys um a lot of
backing from this label. I think I heard at some
point that like your tooth and nail deal was
like the biggest deal they had ever given to
an artist. I don't know if that's true or if
it's just something that at the time it was the
biggest deal they'd ever given to a new artist.
Yeah. Yeah. Yes. It's pretty wild. And so he's
got all this label support. You have this massive
fan base. I've never musically been in a position
like that. So I can't imagine what it's like
to like make a follow up. And so I can see where
like you're, you're probably feeling like, man,
I don't know. I don't know how anybody's going
to take this thing, but I would imagine too,
at the same time, there's like part of you that's
probably like, we love this a lot and are really
proud of it. Like how did those two emotions
kind of like battle each other? Yeah. I mean,
I think I looking back on popularity like I am
very proud of it and And I think we all are very
proud of it But at that time we essentially Had
been on the road playing those songs For like
almost two years straight at the time. We started
writing cruel to be young and so in that moment
We were we were very sick of popularity and we're
like the last thing we want to do is dance And
so yeah, but Yeah, I think I think I think at
the time we were a little more We kind of turned
our nose up at popularity a little more like
in that moment And so I don't know that it was
that hard to want to shift away from that for
us Yeah, then it is your question. Yeah for sure
So so then you make this record cruel to be young
which I think I've already said it's one of my
favorite records and And I just I love everything
about it. I don't know how you pulled off getting
design on there and I mean, there's just I don't
either There's so many great things about that
album But yeah, so as you're as you're putting
that album out and then you're like, what was
it like feeling about how people are receiving
this and the labels receiving it? Like you said,
you guys were nervous, but as it as things started
coming in, like how are you feeling about that?
It was it was a really weird time because. I
think we were extremely happy with the record.
I think Aaron Sprinkle, who produced it, was
extremely happy with the record. Randy Torres,
the guy that engineered it, who was the guitar
player for Project 86, he was also a big fan
of it. The six of us loved or the seven of us
loved it. Outside of that, we I mean, we just
weren't getting great feedback. When we first
demoed those songs out and we sent them to our
managers, it wasn't like, hey, these are cool
songs. It was just, why does it sound like this?
It was like all the emails said, why does it
sound like this? And then I feel like we got
a similar sort of response from Tooth and Nail.
which kudos to them for allowing us to make it
and not being like, oh, you guys need to go make
a different record. But also they were not stoked
on it. And so it was a very weird time in the
band because here's this record that we were
stoked on and we thought was really good. I remember
getting like the rough mixes back for the record
and we're listening to them and then like texting
Robert being like I think we did something really
cool here you know and he was like yeah I think
so too um and so yeah it was so it was kind of
it was hard to to exist in a space where like
you had something that you really believed in
and you were really happy with and to have your
team not sort of Reciprocate that Because they
had always had been before you know, like We
would you know, we were stoked on popularity
and then to the nail was also really stoked on
popularity. Yeah, and so It was this weird thing.
We're like, oh, you don't like us anymore, you
know, like and we don't really know what to do
about it Type Bob. I don't know. It was it was
a very bizarre time for sure. Yeah How did that
so? Maybe. How did those kinds of feelings and
that kind of reception and everything like did
that feed into what became like the the end of
Joan Zetta? Like, how did all that come about?
And it's kind of 100 percent. Yeah, I mean. I
mean, less probably like a month after the record
came out, like we we decided to break up and.
Yeah, I think that had a lot to do with it. I
think just this You know, there was always this
thought of like When you're on a label like Tooth
and Nail like the the sort of plan is you put
out a record your first record and you know,
hopefully it does fine and then You know you
want when you put out your second record You
want the first week sales of that record to be
more than the first week sales of your first
record. Yeah. And so that was always what we
wanted to happen. And then we would hear bands
on the label that didn't happen. Or we would
hear bands where their first week sales for their
second record was the same as their first week
sales for their first record. And we'd be like,
oh, man, that must be a bummer. and then Crota
B Young comes out and the first week sales of
it are like a quarter of popularity like and
we're like oh man this is really bad um and so
that felt bad um especially since you know the
label puts so much emphasis on record sales and
you know they're a business they're supposed
to make money um and so when we don't sell records
they don't make money and so but Like it just
it felt weird to you know for like two years
feel like you're on this meteoric rise and Then
to just drop off a cliff real quick was a weird
spot and it was very deflating and then we were
just We weren't getting we didn't feel like we
were getting good tours that we wanted to do
and so a lot of that was just You know, it's
this very sort of overwhelming feeling of like
we're just kind of spinning our tires in the
mud and we're trying really hard, but we're not
going anywhere. And I think that that definitely
played into us deciding to call it quits. You
know, for for almost four years, like we were
just on tour. Constantly and if we weren't on
tour we were writing and we're in recording,
you know so I think burnout had it had a bit
to play in there too, but just yeah, it was just
like Looking back, you know at the last four
years and and being like Well, where where we
gotten, you know? Looked like we were going somewhere
and then all of a sudden we're not going anywhere
and now it feels like we're going backwards and
so I think that was one of the factors in us
deciding to call it quits, for sure. Well, I
hope you guys know, and maybe in retrospect,
this exists more than it felt in the moment.
But from my perspective and a lot of people that
I know that love Jonesetta, their favorite Jonesetta
record is Cruel to Be Young. And so I think...
think there is so much love for that album and
I think that It gets lost probably in the hype
of record sales and all this other kind of stuff
that exists But I actually think like like time
probably tells a different story of like how
people actually like felt about that So I think
I sent you guys a message after I heard that
album And I'm just like, I don't even believe
that this exists. But yeah, it's such a great
album. And I hate that just the reception kind
of led to like a lot of that for you guys kind
of immediately. But I can't imagine the feelings
that you had to be feeling kind of walking through
that. Yeah. I mean, I think Well, I appreciate
you saying all that but to I do think time has
sort of like Validated our feelings about that
record more. Yeah, I think people have Said things
to us about it that makes me go. Okay, we weren't
crazy when we thought that this was a good record,
you know Yeah, it definitely feels better And
I don't even know that like had the reception
been good. I don't know that that would have
changed What happened, you know, yeah, because
there are a lot of other factors at play That
led to our breakup so yeah So after Jones that
you move into Don Quixote's horse Can you tell
us a little bit about how that got started? And
what's your plans for the next year or two? Do
you have a two -year plan five -year plan? 50
-year plan Yeah In five years, we'd want to be
the first band to play on the moon No, no, I
mean Don Quixote's horse started Well, well,
well after John Zetta for about 11 years after
John Zetta broke up But it was yeah. I mean,
you know, I never stopped playing music Pretty
much as soon as we broke up I moved to Memphis
and became a worship pastor at a church there
and Did that for a long time and then in probably
2019 I Don't know I was in this like weird place
where all I'd been playing for a Handful of years
at that point was worship music. Yeah, and I
sort of felt like Like the creative side of me
is was Gone like I like I used to think like
oh I used to be creative like that was like something
I believed about myself I don't know what happened
but I think I just I Was like I'm gonna try to
tap into creativity again, like try to see if
I can make something And so I ended up just writing
a song that's just It's on our first EP. It's
called trust. It was the first song I wrote And
it's really a sad song But it was the first time
I'd sort of tried to write a song from the perspective
of someone else And so I wrote it and I thought
it was kind of cool and then My friend Jason
who's the drummer of our band was coming down
to visit me at this point I'd moved back to Mississippi
Um, and he was going to come down to visit me
for the weekend and he played drums and I was
like, Hey, bring your drums. I got this song.
Um, I was like, Drew can come over and I got
the song and we're going to kind of jam on it
and see, see if we can make something with it.
And so, yeah, that's what happened. Like Drew
came over, the three of us kind of. Hammered
it out that song and we're like, Oh, this is
kind of cool and kind of fun. And Jason was like,
we should play a show. And I was like, I was
like, we only have a song. And I was like, if
we're going to play a show, that means I have
to write at least four more songs. And I was
like, I don't even know if I can do that. I don't
know if I can write four more songs. But yeah,
that kind of progressed from there. We started
getting together more regularly. I knew I wanted
a second guitar player. And so I asked Robert
to join as another guitar player. and he was
in the band for a while. And then he kind of,
I don't know, we didn't kick him out and he didn't
quit. We just kind of, I don't know, it just
seemed like something he wasn't really interested
in doing. And so I didn't want to make him do
anything that he wasn't interested in doing.
And a little bit before that, like we had brought
my friend Tucker on as a third guitarist. And
so Robert kind of left and then It just came,
Drew and Jason and Tucker and I, and that's how
it's been since then. I was able to write a few
more songs. You know, we've played some shows
and it's been fun. I don't know what our plans
for the future are. You know, we have a new single
coming out tomorrow, which is November 4th. I
don't know when this is coming out. So if it's
past November 4th, which I'm assuming it will
be, but not much. Yeah. You can go listen to
it somewhere on streaming platforms. Yeah, you
know, it's just it's something that we do for
fun. Like we all are married and have kids and
have real jobs. And and so those things are our
priorities. But it's fun to get together every
six or seven weeks and play a show or. Work on
some new songs or something like that. And so
that's kind of the plans. Like we're just gonna
keep doing this until We don't you know, it's
funny like I've It's nowhere near my most successful
band, but it is the band that I've been in the
longest Of all the bands have been it. This is
the one I've been in the longest is on q2 sports
It's interesting. They're releasing a single
tomorrow and winter jams releasing their stuff.
So Hello Easter egg there I'm just knowing y
'all's music and what winter jam has become I
feel like that would be such a like they'd be
thrown for a loop like if the you just started
to see hearing like Don Quixote's horse and they're
expecting it to be like new song and like Matthew
West and then it's like I would also think winter
jam is probably really gonna hate this new song
that comes out tomorrow. I can't imagine how
cool it is for you just to be like at this point
in your life but still occasionally being able
to pick up a guitar and just play music and make
music with your friends. many of you the best
thing in the world man you've been playing music
with for like your whole musical career 100 yeah
drew and i uh drew and i've been you know in
bands together since we were 15 years old and
here we are we're 42 and you know still doing
it and it's so much fun i love that and i can
only imagine a little bit of what it feels like
but i can um quick story really quick uh It's
been a few years ago at Christmas time. My wife
surprised me by we were home for Christmas and
she randomly took me to this place in Clinton,
Mississippi. I had no idea where we are. And
she was like, go to the front door. And I'm like,
okay. And so I did. And it was Ty's house. And
I walk in and my band was all there and Ty hosted.
Us being able to kind of get back together and
play some music that we haven't played together
in years And that's so awesome. It was such a
great experience And so I would love to like
have that same kind of thing that that like you're
you're getting to experience with with drew But
um, but I think it's just so awesome that you
still get to do this and that you're still making
music man It really is a blessing man. Like it's
it is um It's it's always fun Like because there's
no need for it to be anything But that it's great.
Yeah, that's so cool. So now kind of looking
back on everything that you have experienced,
you got to play shows with some pretty cool bands
over time and tour with some bands like who are
who are some of your favorites, favorite shows
that you're able to play and artists that you're
able to play with? Man, um, I mean like the first
one that jumps out to me is we got to play this
festival in New Zealand called parachute we played
on the main stage one night right before switch
foot and it's like 20 ,000 people and just Insane,
you know, that's all like every moment of that
set. It was like I can't believe this is happening
Funny story about that right after our set like
we all rush off stage and we're just out of breath
like we you know gave it 110 left it all out
on the court type thing um and like i walk over
side stage and i see this set of road cases there
and i just um it switched foot road cases but
i was like i gotta find a place to sit down and
so i just hop up on top of the road cases i'm
just sitting there trying to catch my breath
and then out of the corner of my eye john foreman
comes walking up to me And I was like, I was
like, oh, he's going to ask me to go out with
the road cases. And I was like, that's fine.
And so I like, I like, as he walks up to me,
I jumped down and he just goes, Hey man, I just
want to say that was a really great set. You
guys played. And I was like, what? Thank you
so much. Like that's the coolest thing. And then
they like invited us to go surfing with them
the next morning. But we didn't go Because we
had tried surfing the day before and we were
all really terrible at it And then and they wanted
to go at like 4 30 in the morning. We're like,
yeah, we're not doing that Yeah, they are they
love surfing but that was like such a cool moment
That showed just like everything around that
whole experience that tripped in New Zealand
was just like perfect I love that and then yeah
you know my favorite tours we did uh probably
my favorite tour we did was when we did with
that city's burning mailing and the sons of disaster
which was a very weird tour for us musically
because those are two like pretty heavy bands
and we're not heavy and i think a lot of the
shows on that tour the kids hated us um because
they didn't know what to do with us and with
our music um but Just like the hangs with those
two bands were like the best like I just loved
hanging with those dudes It was a lot of fun.
Yeah, I remember I think it was did y 'all do
a Christmas pageant tour with family force 5
or do y 'all just do like a regular tour with
we just did a regular tour with family force
5 in the fall of 07 thing is called the dance
or our dance tour. Mm -hmm Yeah, it was us and
Family Force 5 and Secret Handshake. Lots of
dancing. That was the last tour we did before
we started writing Quill to Be Young. And so
on that tour, it was lots of dancing, but we
were also like sick of dancing. So, yeah, there
you go. Like, we found some inside information.
It was the Family Force 5 tour that's responsible
for Cruel to Peer. Directly responsible. You
know, you mentioned Switchfoot a while ago, and
I think that something y 'all have in common
is having to navigate this tension between being
labeled a Christian band versus being a band
made up of Christians. So for y 'all, how did
you navigate that? I don't know probably not
well I'm not sure like, you know, of course Lyrically
Jones that it was never explicitly Christian
I would say but we were definitely all Christians
and you know, I don't know that we I Don't know
that we had a problem with the label of a Christian
band But I also don't know that we necessarily
welcomed it But Yeah, I don't know like I feel
like our we saw our duty as Christians to be
more Towards the bands we were touring with because
we didn't do a lot of Christian tours, you know
We did a lot of general market and sort of secular
tours a lot of the bands we toward we didn't
toward a lot of Christian bands and so that's
kind of if If you wanted to call it a ministry,
like I think we saw our ministries being towards
those bands that we were touring with and not
so much to the people coming to the shows at
night. Of course, like, you know, we wanted to
be available and and we wanted to talk with kids
and hang out with kids and stuff as much as we
could. But it's funny, I don't have to bring
up the Family Force V tour again, but like. That
was one of the like. only like explicitly Christian
tours we did and and that like played like churches
and stuff sometimes mm -hmm and that was like
a lot of the the Christian stuff around that
was like my least favorite part of any touring
we did I remember I remember specifically an
incident in Oregon where Some guys saw us play
and he came up to our merch table up to the show
and was wanting to read the lyrics to our songs
in popularity. He came up to our merch guys,
a guy named Ryan Carter, and he was like, hey,
can I look at the lyrics to these songs? I want
to see how much they talk about Jesus and stuff
like that. And Carter being... the good merch
guy was he's like, yeah, CDs are 10 bucks. You
can buy one and like, you know, look at the lyrics
to your heart's content because we didn't have
any like open, you know? Yeah. And so the guy
was like, he's like, no, just open one up and
like, let me look at them. And Carter was like,
I'm just I'm not going to do that. Like, you
know, like you can buy one. They're 10 bucks.
And the guy got kind of like irate with Carter
and like, I think kind of yelled at him. And
so. And so then like a few minutes later, Carter
came and got me and he was like, Hey, there's
this guy out here and he's pretty upset because
I won't let him look at the lyrics to the songs.
Do you want to come talk to him? I was like,
sure. I'll come talk to him. And, um, you know,
and I came out and talked to him and, you know,
he just immediately like started going in on
me for like us, like abusing our platform that
we've been given. You know, you know, he's like,
I saw you guys up there playing and you know,
you didn't say anything about Jesus and all this
stuff. And Don't know. I just like I had to like
Calm him down. And then I was like look man.
I was like I don't know what you want from us,
but like You know we view like the the people
in the bands we tour with those are the people
we spend time with Those are the people were
with every day for ten weeks You know like and
so those are the people that we view our ministry
towards you know and I was like I was like you
don't know us You don't know our life. You don't
know And so for like you to come here and be
accusing us of all this stuff is just it's not
good like it doesn't look good on you doesn't
look good on christianity like you know, what
are we doing and I feel like I feel like those
were the run -ins that made it difficult to to
identify as a christian ban, um, but then also
just like Mean we were like what 21 and 22 years
old the time and like I can't I I don't even
know who I am as a person at that point like
It's it's hard to like have these young people
Sort of carry the weight of faith For a whole
bunch of people that like their band And and
put them up on this pedestal when like and they
know that like none of us belong on a pedestal
We're just a bunch of kids um and we don't know
anything like even if we could you know have
some sort of theological argument like we don't
know what we're talking about like you know we're
just saying stuff that we've heard other people
say you know uh so yeah i don't know i felt like
it was a weird sort of line to try and walk like
i don't think we were ashamed of it in our christianity
in any way but it was also We also felt like,
we also kind of felt like it was going to be
like a hurdle to our career, or like something
that was going to box us into this thing and
put a ceiling on how far we could go. I think
that makes sense. Yeah, I feel like we've talked
about this a little bit before. I've thought
a lot over time just for my own engagement in
that world. um, to the extent that I was able
to, and Ty, you probably even know this better
than me, but, um, seeing so many people that
we were able to tour with and play shows with
and spend time with, um, who I feel like the
Christian music industry, like wrecked their
faith, um, in Jesus and, um, and people, sadly
people, Christians, um, hurt their relationship
with Christ. And I think what you said about
putting pressure on these young kids to stand
up and like that they have to have it all figured
out and they have to get it right every time
and they have to live the certain way and not
make mistakes. Just the pressure of that that's
put on somebody, especially some of these young
bands. I feel like that's been a big reason why
I've seen so. many people just kind of walk away,
not just from Christian music, but from Christianity
altogether. How are you able, as someone who
was knee deep in all that stuff, able to still
walk away from it as a person of faith and trusting
in Jesus? I think it's a hard lesson that you
have to learn to separate the person of Jesus
from Christianity. Not that they're separate
things, but I mean Christianity is like the people
who call themselves Christians and the person
of Jesus. Those are two very different things.
And so you have to separate those, and then you
have to ask yourself, okay, what am I putting
my faith into? And I think in order to survive
that, you've got to be sure that what you're
putting your faith into is Jesus and not the
people that call themselves Christians. Because
if that's what you put your faith into, then
every time you're going to be let down by them,
even with best intentions. And so it's separating
that. you know, I I'm You know at the age now
42 like I have a ton of friends who are close
friends who who are close friends I don't say
where they are close friends who I grew up with
who have always been Christians and and then
now you know, they're they're questioning a lot
of things and you know, or they're They're no
they no longer would call themselves a Christian
and you know, they're agnostic or they're just
straight -up atheist And when I asked them about
that, like when I asked them what went wrong,
like where, not what went wrong, but like what
changed for you. It always seems the answer comes
from a lack of ability to sort of separate who
God is and who the church is. And you know, and
not realizing that like what you believed in
all along was This human institution the church
Little sea church, I guess and and and it wasn't
God that your entire faith was in, you know,
and so I think that's a recipe for disaster And
you know also don't mean to incorrectly paint
any of my friends but that's just kind of the
The the feeling I get when I when I have conversations
with them about faith and stuff like that. Because
a lot of their grievances against God or against
the church, I'm like, oh yeah, I agree with you.
But I don't think it's God that you're mad at.
I think it's the church. And then that's a whole
other conversation. I'm pretty angry at the church
all the time. But I still believe that Jesus
is who he says he was. Um, and so it's just a,
it's trying to separate those two things to the
best you can. Yeah. Um, and having grace for
trying to have grace for, for one of them. Yeah,
I feel like we're, we're in a culture where we've
lost our ability to be gracious towards each
other, no matter where we fall on this stuff.
And, um, just from, you know, cancel culture
and all kinds of stuff. Like we, we've sadly
everything that we feel and see in society from
all the division that exists out there around
politics and, and everything is all those things
are living and breathing inside the body of Christ.
And I know, I know you've worked at Churches
right since you've come out of this I'm thankful
for me that I've been able to experience a different
side of the church at the same time and been
able to be part of Community of believers that
are really trying to like faithfully live out
what it looks like to to walk with Jesus But
I know that's that hasn't been everybody's experience.
And so yeah for me it just puts a Attention on
my heart of saying how can I best live out who
Jesus is day in and day out as I'm having conversations
with people and meeting people who have never
experienced him or people who've walked away
from him. I don't want to be what people's view
of Christianity is in America. Like I pray that
my life can display who Jesus is, but it's such
a challenge. It is man. I feel like, I mean,
Even for me like the sort of label. There's my
dog back there Like I have a hard time Identifying
with the label of like evangelical Christian
right now which is which is it's funny because
I Definitely would say I'm a Christian and I
would definitely say that I'm evangelical in
the sense of like I want people to know about
Jesus But I feel like at least for me like that
term is is something that That I don't want to
be associated with And so it's hard to like try
and figure out how to exist in that space And
how to Speak in love To people in that space
and and how to be truthful with people in that
space as well without sewing discord or something.
I don't know. It's a tough position to be in
from my perspective, and it's something I'm daily
trying to figure out how to navigate and walk
through. Yeah. Well, I'm thankful that we get
the opportunity to figure it out, and even though
we get it wrong a lot of times, thankfully God's
gracious towards us. Indeed. and we get to do
our best to be gracious towards others as well.
So dude, this has been such a good conversation.
I'm thankful for you opening up and being real
about who you are and where you are. And we're
just, we're excited to continue. I can't wait
to hear the new Don Quixote's horse track when
it hits. And I'm excited to see why it wouldn't
fit well at Winter Jam. So I think that'll be
a good time. Go give it a listen when you get
a chance. Cool. All right, we're gonna move into
our lyric of the week. All right, this week's
lyrics come from popularity off of popularity.
It's popularity. I keep on keeping but everybody's
dying for their own opinion. Popularity. Yeah,
I think it's scary. I'll fall asleep to you screaming
at my brain. I remember hearing that song and
I immediately sent it to my best friend Keith.
I was like you gotta listen to this. I remember
the time was being like there's never been anything
truer said in music congratulations yeah i'll
tell robert you said that i love that i love
that well ty thanks again man for joining us
i know um we've talked about how you guys have
something new dropping but um yeah where do you
want people to find you online where can they
find Don Quixote source like where um Yeah, I'm
I'm relatively elusive on the on the social medias,
with the exception of a couple of years ago,
I got an Instagram because my wife got tired
of tagging Don Quixote's horse Instagram and
in like trips she was trying to win for us and
stuff. So I don't even I think I changed my Instagram
handle last night. I don't remember what it's
called. I think it's I think it's now. Tizzle
from instant grizzle. You want to if you want
to follow me on there, I don't I mean, I don't
know if you here's that my account is private
So if I don't know you accept your follow request
So I go follow our band don Quixote source on
Instagram Don underscore Quixote's underscore
horse That's not private and you can you can
check that out and you know support our band
I don't know how listen support good music so
attack and keep playing music with his friends
So yeah, I mean we don't make any money anyway,
so it's not like it's gonna But yeah Yeah, awesome.
Awesome. Well dude. Thanks again for joining
us. We appreciate it. I appreciate everybody
for listening. You can find us online Hey, are
you listening on Facebook and we're on X? please
like subscribe, listen, review, whatever you
want to do, so we can keep getting the good word
out on this. But I'm thankful that we get to
have these conversations each week, thankful
that Ty was able to join us today, and thankful
for the journey that you guys are on with us.
We'll see you next week.