WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.940 In 1997, a major record label poured massive, 00:00:04.019 --> 00:00:06.900 I mean, just massive resources into a rising 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:09.640 alternative metal band and their very first order 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:12.400 of business, deleting a single punctuation mark 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:14.640 from the band's name. Right, which is just... 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:16.500 And that one missing dot ended up completely 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:18.960 destroying the band's career. It sounds completely 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:21.820 absurd from a modern perspective, I know. But 00:00:21.820 --> 00:00:26.239 in the ecosystem of 1990s music, a typographic 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:28.980 choice like that could essentially act as a cultural 00:00:28.980 --> 00:00:31.510 death warrant. Welcome to your contestant, Taylor 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:34.549 Deep Dive. Today, we are opening up a highly 00:00:34.549 --> 00:00:37.289 specific, totally fascinating Wikipedia page 00:00:37.289 --> 00:00:41.850 detailing the chaotic life cycle of a 1990s American 00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:45.070 alternative metal band called Piston. And for 00:00:45.070 --> 00:00:47.170 you listening, we are going to use their story 00:00:47.170 --> 00:00:49.409 as our main mission today. We want to understand 00:00:49.409 --> 00:00:52.170 the intense, often fatal friction between underground 00:00:52.170 --> 00:00:54.469 artistic credibility and corporate commercial 00:00:54.469 --> 00:00:57.170 success. It is a phenomenal case study really. 00:00:57.250 --> 00:00:59.390 When we look back at the 20th century, the tension 00:00:59.390 --> 00:01:02.049 between art and commerce, it defines almost every 00:01:02.049 --> 00:01:04.569 major pop culture movement. But with this band 00:01:04.569 --> 00:01:07.730 in particular, we have a perfectly contained 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:10.909 narrative arc. It shows us the exact mechanics 00:01:10.909 --> 00:01:13.629 of how that friction breaks people apart and 00:01:13.629 --> 00:01:15.950 occasionally how they put themselves back together. 00:01:16.310 --> 00:01:18.530 So as we get into this, I want you to think about 00:01:18.530 --> 00:01:23.090 a time you loved, a local or niche Maybe it was 00:01:23.090 --> 00:01:25.709 a band, a local coffee shop, whatever. And suddenly, 00:01:25.750 --> 00:01:28.409 they gained mainstream attention. Right, that 00:01:28.409 --> 00:01:31.129 feeling of... Think about that weird, messy mix 00:01:31.129 --> 00:01:33.269 of pride and protected this you felt when the 00:01:33.269 --> 00:01:35.769 rest of the world discovered your secret. Because 00:01:35.769 --> 00:01:37.930 understand the downfall here. We first have to 00:01:37.930 --> 00:01:40.790 build the foundation. Let's set the scene. Staten 00:01:40.790 --> 00:01:44.549 Island, New York, 1993. Yeah, Staten Island in 00:01:44.549 --> 00:01:47.010 the early 90s is a crucial piece of context here. 00:01:47.450 --> 00:01:50.299 It's... It's geographically isolated from the 00:01:50.299 --> 00:01:52.500 hyper trendy scenes of Manhattan or Brooklyn. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:54.799 You literally have to take a ferry to get there. 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:57.959 Exactly. It has a working class, gritty atmosphere 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:00.579 which perfectly incubated the kind of heavy, 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:03.340 brooding, gothic alternative metal this band 00:02:03.340 --> 00:02:06.439 was trying to create. And the band forms around 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.259 a core duo. We have Henry Font on vocals and 00:02:09.259 --> 00:02:12.659 guitars and a bassist who goes by the frankly 00:02:12.659 --> 00:02:17.110 incredible stage name, Val. I -U. Spelled V -A 00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:20.610 -L dot I -U -M. Yes, V -A -L dot I -U -M. So 00:02:20.610 --> 00:02:22.250 they start doing what every underground band 00:02:22.250 --> 00:02:25.050 does to get noticed, right? Recording cassette 00:02:25.050 --> 00:02:27.729 demos. They put out their first tape in 93 and 00:02:27.729 --> 00:02:30.590 then followed up with a second demo boasting 00:02:30.590 --> 00:02:34.449 a deeply memorable title. You're in the money. 00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:37.669 which is an excellent sneering punk rock pun. 00:02:37.729 --> 00:02:40.349 But more importantly, that second demo is where 00:02:40.349 --> 00:02:42.830 the foundational connections of this band really 00:02:42.830 --> 00:02:44.949 take shape. You're in the Money was produced 00:02:44.949 --> 00:02:48.469 by Josh Silver, and he was a key member of the 00:02:48.469 --> 00:02:51.330 highly influential Brooklyn -based band Typo 00:02:51.330 --> 00:02:53.370 Negative. Okay, let's untag this for a second 00:02:53.370 --> 00:02:55.629 because Typo Negative are absolute giants in 00:02:55.629 --> 00:02:57.789 this specific gothic metal space at the time. 00:02:57.930 --> 00:03:00.669 Huge. And the band's close friendship with them 00:03:00.669 --> 00:03:04.080 brought pissed on. a dynamic of both help and 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:06.840 scorn over the next few years. It's like having 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:09.180 a wildly popular older sibling in high school. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:11.599 That is a great way to put it. Right. They can 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:13.740 get you into all the cool parties. They can introduce 00:03:13.740 --> 00:03:16.620 you to the gatekeepers. But once you're inside, 00:03:17.020 --> 00:03:18.759 you constantly have to prove you aren't just 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:20.699 riding your coattails. Right. You have to earn 00:03:20.699 --> 00:03:22.919 your keep. You have to prove you actually belong 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:26.330 in the room based on your own merit. What's fascinating 00:03:26.330 --> 00:03:29.310 here is the mechanics of how purity testing worked 00:03:29.310 --> 00:03:32.310 in the 1990s metal scene. We have to remember 00:03:32.310 --> 00:03:35.229 this is an era before the internet algorithm 00:03:35.229 --> 00:03:38.409 just, you know, served you a personalized playlist 00:03:38.409 --> 00:03:40.530 of new music. Oh, yeah. Totally a different world. 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:44.090 Your musical scene was your physical localized 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:48.030 community. It was deeply tribal. Who you associated 00:03:48.030 --> 00:03:50.750 with was the primary indicator of your artistic 00:03:50.750 --> 00:03:53.129 identity. So building a foundation with scene 00:03:53.129 --> 00:03:55.729 giants like typo negative gave them this massive 00:03:55.729 --> 00:03:58.689 immediate credibility injection. It did. But 00:03:58.689 --> 00:04:01.280 that scorn you mentioned. That's the inevitable 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:03.919 flip side of that coin. When you are elevated 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.039 by your association with underground royalty, 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:08.759 the community watches you with a highly skeptical 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:11.439 eye. They're waiting for you to mess up. Exactly. 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:13.199 They are waiting for you to stumble. They want 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:15.080 to see if you are truly authentic or if you are 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:17.699 just a tourist borrowing someone else's aesthetic. 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:20.100 Wow. Which ironically means that when Piston 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:22.459 eventually clashes with corporate music culture, 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:25.180 the explosion is so much more volatile because 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:28.000 their initial credibility was so heavily scrutinized 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.160 from day one. And initially, they passed that 00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:34.939 authenticity test with flying colors. By 1996, 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:37.800 the band rounds out its lineup. They bring in 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:41.040 Paul Polos on guitars and backing vocals, and 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:43.519 a drummer named Danny Cavadlo, who goes by Jam. 00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:45.939 Good lineup. Yeah, and they secure a deal with 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:48.519 a respected independent record label called Mayhem, 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.180 or Fierce, and they drop their debut full -length 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:54.620 album, number one. And it absolutely resonates. 00:04:54.740 --> 00:04:56.800 I mean, it receives critical acclaim, not just 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:58.839 in the local New York scene, but across the United 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.079 States and even over in Europe. Yeah, the source 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:02.939 material notes, they had massive success over 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:05.540 there. For an independent band, this is the blueprint 00:05:05.540 --> 00:05:07.600 for success. You have the underground credibility. 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:10.240 You are landing massive tours with major acts. 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:12.199 I mean, they actually toured with Marilyn Manson 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:14.500 during this period. Which was huge at the time. 00:05:14.860 --> 00:05:17.160 Unbelievably huge. And you have critical validation 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:20.019 on multiple continents. So they are riding the 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:22.519 quest of the wave. And naturally, the corporate 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:25.240 world smells blood in the water. Within a year 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:27.300 of that indie release, they make the massive 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:30.720 jump to a major label, Atlantic Records. Yeah. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:32.740 And here's where it gets really interesting because 00:05:32.740 --> 00:05:35.360 I want to push back on the typical rock and roll 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:38.100 narrative. Yeah. We always hear about bands signing 00:05:38.100 --> 00:05:40.319 to a major label like it's just, you know, a 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:42.560 bigger paycheck. Right. But what is the actual 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:45.379 mechanism of that jump? What changes day to day 00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:48.620 for the artist? It is a complete paradigm shift 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:51.600 in expectations and scale. Think of it like pulling 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:54.160 a deep sea creature up to the surface. OK, I 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:56.300 like that. Down in the underground, the band 00:05:56.300 --> 00:05:59.240 survives on immense pressure. The struggle to 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:01.839 pay for studio time, the hustle to book a van 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:04.639 for a tour, they are adapted to that environment. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:06.720 And an indie label understands that. Exactly. 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:08.779 An indie label fundamentally understands that 00:06:08.779 --> 00:06:12.120 culture. A major label, however, is a massive 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:15.120 corporate machine built for mass market distribution. 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:18.360 They operate in the sunlight of MTV and commercial 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.300 radio. Right. So when you pull that underground 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:24.160 band up to the surface so quickly, the sudden 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.339 lack of pressure and the exposure to the corporate 00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:29.160 elements can cause them to creatively explode. 00:06:29.500 --> 00:06:32.920 That deep sea analogy is perfect because the 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:36.300 bends set in almost immediately for Piston. Right 00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:38.399 around the time they make this massive leap to 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:41.180 Atlantic, the original lineup fractures. Yeah, 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:43.620 it's just falling apart. Paul Polos and Danny 00:06:43.620 --> 00:06:46.240 Jam Cavallo leave the band. They are replaced 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.860 by Burton Gans on guitars and Jeff McManus on 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:51.560 drums. So the foundation is already shifting. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:55.319 New massive corporate label. two brand new members. 00:06:55.939 --> 00:06:58.660 But Atlantic Records still holds the rights to 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:01.899 this incredibly successful debut album number 00:07:01.899 --> 00:07:03.639 one. And they want to capitalize on it immediately. 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:05.259 Right. They want to put their massive distribution 00:07:05.259 --> 00:07:07.920 muscle behind it. So Atlantic issues a re -release 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:10.160 of number one. Right. They update the packaging 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:12.959 with new photos. They design new artwork. And 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.079 then they make one tiny, seemingly insignificant 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:18.639 change that derails the entire trajectory of 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:20.899 the band. The punctuation. The punctuation. I 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:23.160 need you to explain this corporate logic to me, 00:07:23.300 --> 00:07:26.420 because it is wild. Up until this exact moment, 00:07:26.620 --> 00:07:31.139 the band's name was spelled P -I -S -T dot O 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:35.300 -N. Piss dot on. Right. Atlantic Records decides 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:37.120 to remove the period. They change the official 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:41.800 spelling to P -I -S -T -O -N piston. And the 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:44.300 justification given for this, the label deemed 00:07:44.300 --> 00:07:47.519 the spelling friendlier. Yes, friendlier. Wait, 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.920 was it really just the dot? Did fans actually 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.300 abandon a band over typography or did Atlantic 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:54.500 force them to change their actual musical sound 00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:57.620 too? It was entirely about the dot. And to understand 00:07:57.620 --> 00:07:59.860 why, you have to look at the wordplay. When you 00:07:59.860 --> 00:08:02.920 spell it, P -I -S -T dot O -N, it reads as pissed 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:06.139 on. Right, yeah. It is a vulgar, angry, provocative 00:08:06.139 --> 00:08:09.040 double entendre. It fits the punk and alternative 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:11.899 metal ethos perfectly. It's a bodily function. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.199 It's an insult. It's gritty. Oh, wow. And when 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:15.879 you remove the dot. Exactly. When you remove 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.040 the dot to make a P -I -S -T -O -N, it just becomes 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:20.160 pissed and like a mechanical part in a car engine. 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:23.420 It is safe. It is neutered. And it completely 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:26.100 strips the name of its provocative edge. That 00:08:26.100 --> 00:08:28.500 is why Atlantic thought it was friendlier for 00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:31.620 mass market retail shelves. That is wild. It 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:34.659 really highlights how utterly out of touch major 00:08:34.659 --> 00:08:37.580 labels can be when they try to package alternative 00:08:37.580 --> 00:08:39.440 culture. Completely. They weren't just fixing 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:42.159 a typo. They were trying to scrub the grit off 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:45.360 the band so they could sell them at like suburban 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:47.519 shopping malls. If we connect this to the bigger 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:50.279 picture, you have to understand the sociological 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:53.740 concept of cultural shibboleths. Shibboleths. 00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:56.919 Yeah, a shibboleth is a custom, a phrase, or 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.419 in this case, a tiny typographic marker that 00:08:59.419 --> 00:09:02.659 distinguishes insiders from outsiders. Subcultures 00:09:02.659 --> 00:09:05.500 use these micro signals to identify who really 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:08.620 belongs. Interesting. So in the 1990s, the concept 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:11.059 of selling out was the ultimate artistic sin. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.120 Let's pause on that for a second, because for 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.840 you listening today, that might Today, if an 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:18.080 indie artist secures a brand deal with a massive 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:20.720 corporation, their fans usually celebrate it 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:22.899 as a hustle. They got the bag. Right, they cheer 00:09:22.899 --> 00:09:25.639 for them. Why was it a sin in the 90s? Because 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:28.440 in the 90s, underground and alternative music 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:31.620 scenes were explicitly formed as a political 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:34.159 and cultural rejection of corporate America. 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:38.519 Huh? The mainstream was seen as plastic, manufactured, 00:09:38.860 --> 00:09:42.179 and hollow. So making a jump to a major label 00:09:42.179 --> 00:09:44.299 always felt like a potential betrayal to the 00:09:44.299 --> 00:09:46.580 community that built you. It was a very protective 00:09:46.580 --> 00:09:49.620 scene. Highly protective. For the fans who had 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:52.299 Champion pissed on in the Staten Island underground, 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:55.080 that missing punctuation mark wasn't just a marketing 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:57.740 decision. It was the physical, undeniable proof 00:09:57.740 --> 00:10:00.379 of corporate meddling. It proved the band had 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:02.940 bent the knee to the executives. Exactly. The 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:05.580 backlash was... immediate and brutal. The removal 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:08.059 of the dot led directly to heavy criticism from 00:10:08.059 --> 00:10:10.440 their own core audience that the band had officially 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.399 sold out. Yeah. And remember, Atlantic is actively 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:16.519 trying to push them to the masses. Under this 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.259 new friendlier spelling, the band is sent out 00:10:19.259 --> 00:10:22.100 to tour exhaustively. They're out on the road 00:10:22.100 --> 00:10:24.139 grinding it out, trying to win over audiences 00:10:24.139 --> 00:10:26.179 while their foundational fans are turning their 00:10:26.179 --> 00:10:29.399 backs. And that kind of physical and emotional 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:33.059 grind takes a massive toll. During this intense 00:10:33.059 --> 00:10:35.740 touring period, their new drummer, Jeff McManus, 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:38.639 is forced to take a brief medical hiatus. Which 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.960 is terrible timing. It is. Interestingly though, 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:43.940 this is where the band's history with Type O 00:10:43.940 --> 00:10:46.500 Negative comes back around to save them. Johnny 00:10:46.500 --> 00:10:49.299 Kelly, the drummer for Type O Negative, steps 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:51.740 in as a temporary touring member to fill the 00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:54.259 gap so Piston can keep their momentum going. 00:10:54.539 --> 00:10:57.379 So let's look at the board here. They have deep, 00:10:57.460 --> 00:10:59.960 supportive friendships with well -known acts. 00:11:00.379 --> 00:11:03.279 They have energetic new blood in the band. They 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:05.700 are backed by the massive machinery of a major 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:09.000 label. On paper, this is the mathematical recipe 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.059 for becoming the biggest alternative metal band 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:13.720 in the world. But the promises of this era just 00:11:13.720 --> 00:11:16.320 completely fall apart. The ecosystem was entirely 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:18.899 wrong for them, and major labels are notoriously 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:21.799 impatient. After a handful of exhaustive tours 00:11:21.799 --> 00:11:24.360 and constantly battling negative reviews from 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:26.850 an underground scene that felt to trade by the 00:11:26.850 --> 00:11:29.309 perceived corporate polish. Atlantic Records 00:11:29.309 --> 00:11:31.370 just pulls the plug. Just like that. Just like 00:11:31.370 --> 00:11:33.889 that. They are unceremoniously dropped. Imagine 00:11:33.889 --> 00:11:36.330 the psychological whiplash of that experience. 00:11:36.549 --> 00:11:39.149 You go from being the pride of the Staten Island 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:42.269 underground to touring Europe with Marilyn Manson, 00:11:42.549 --> 00:11:45.950 to signing a dream contract with Atlantic, to 00:11:45.950 --> 00:11:48.490 legally changing your name, to getting chewed 00:11:48.490 --> 00:11:50.610 out and abandoned by your own fans. And then 00:11:50.610 --> 00:11:53.009 getting dumped. To finally getting dumped by 00:11:53.009 --> 00:11:54.970 the label that forced you to change in the first 00:11:54.970 --> 00:11:57.389 place. All of that happens in the span of just 00:11:57.389 --> 00:12:00.870 a couple of years. It is the brutal transactional 00:12:00.870 --> 00:12:03.590 reality of the music business. When the corporate 00:12:03.590 --> 00:12:06.429 machine realizes you aren't yielding the immediate 00:12:06.429 --> 00:12:09.370 massive financial return they projected, they 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:12.789 discard you. There is no loyalty to the art itself. 00:12:13.090 --> 00:12:15.570 So what does a group of artists do when the major 00:12:15.570 --> 00:12:18.409 label dream turns into an absolute nightmare 00:12:18.409 --> 00:12:21.590 and the fans you left behind don't want you back? 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:23.649 You fight back. You fight back with the only 00:12:23.649 --> 00:12:26.820 weapon you have left. your music. Which brings 00:12:26.820 --> 00:12:30.919 us to 1999. In 1999, the band retreats from the 00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:33.220 corporate world entirely. They return to the 00:12:33.220 --> 00:12:34.940 independent label that initially broke them, 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:37.620 Mayham Records, and they release their second 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:39.639 full -length album. And the title they chose 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.580 for this record. L out. spelled with a dollar 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:44.940 sign for the S. So what does this all mean? To 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:47.720 me, it shows the sheer unadulterated audacity 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:50.500 of this band. Oh, absolutely. When faced with 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:53.019 the psychological fallout of alienating their 00:12:53.019 --> 00:12:55.399 core fans for a corporate promise that fell through, 00:12:56.110 --> 00:12:58.889 They didn't write an apology record. Oh, they 00:12:58.889 --> 00:13:00.970 didn't. They didn't try to quietly go back to 00:13:00.970 --> 00:13:03.049 their roots and pretend the Atlantic era never 00:13:03.049 --> 00:13:06.309 happened. They named the album Elle Out. It is 00:13:06.309 --> 00:13:08.889 the musical equivalent of quitting your job by 00:13:08.889 --> 00:13:11.210 setting the building on fire while you're still 00:13:11.210 --> 00:13:13.429 sitting at your desk. That's a great image. They 00:13:13.429 --> 00:13:16.470 leaned entirely into the insult. It is a deeply 00:13:16.470 --> 00:13:19.309 fascinating psychological response. The music 00:13:19.309 --> 00:13:22.090 itself was described as being rife with crooked 00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:24.830 and spiteful poking. They aimed their crosshairs 00:13:24.830 --> 00:13:27.759 at everyone. No one was safe. No one. They targeted 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:30.019 the music industry as a whole, they took shots 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:32.759 at their former label Atlantic, they mocked the 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:34.740 press who wrote the negative reviews about them, 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:37.799 and incredibly they even turned the vitriol inward 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:41.279 and mocked themselves. Wow. It was an album entirely 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:45.240 fueled by pure concentrated bitterness. And as 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:47.840 a fan of a good comeback narrative, you kind 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:50.639 of want a story like that to end. with a massive, 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:53.039 vindicating success. You want the Spite album 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.440 to be the undeniable masterpiece that proves 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:59.600 the executives and the critics wrong, but it 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.080 wasn't. It wasn't at all. And this raises an 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.019 important question about the nature of creativity. 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:07.500 Is leaning into criticism and using spite as 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:10.259 your primary creative fuel actually an effective 00:14:10.259 --> 00:14:12.659 way to reclaim your power? That's a good question. 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:14.840 Or does it simply alienate the audience even 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:17.480 further? Because in the case of Piston, the spiteful 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:19.539 energy couldn't save them. The album was met 00:14:19.539 --> 00:14:22.159 with lukewarm reviews and very sluggish sales. 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:24.960 You can only run an engine on anger for so long 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:26.919 before the friction just burns it out entirely. 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:29.740 Breakup rumors start swirling heavily. around 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:32.340 the band and soon after All Out is released Jeff 00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:35.059 McManus the drummer exits the group. McManus 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:37.419 does return very briefly a little later in the 00:14:37.419 --> 00:14:40.340 spring of 2001 to record a three -song independent 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:44.299 EP titled Saves. And that EP brought a tiny sliver 00:14:44.299 --> 00:14:46.539 of optimism back to the group. But honestly, 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:48.679 the structural damage was already done. The foundation 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:50.879 was crumbling. Yeah, it was too late. In late 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.679 August of 2001, the core of the band finally 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:56.539 fractures beyond repair. Valium, the original 00:14:56.539 --> 00:14:58.799 bassist who had been there since the very first 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:02.019 Staten Island basement practices in 1993, decides 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:04.159 to officially leave the band. And that departure 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.419 effectively marks the end of the era. Yeah. With 00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:09.179 Valium gone, the foundational duo is broken. 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:11.759 Right. And while they were never officially legally 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:14.600 declared broken up at the time, Palium did not 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.120 release a single note of new material as a band 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.379 for over two decades. Over two decades. Yeah. 00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:24.659 The wilderness years. From 2001 onwards, the 00:15:24.659 --> 00:15:27.899 band as an entity goes completely entirely silent. 00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:30.360 Just gone. But musicians don't just clock out 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:32.659 and stop being musicians because their band dissolved 00:15:32.659 --> 00:15:34.679 under the weight of industry pressure. No, the 00:15:34.679 --> 00:15:36.379 corporate apparatus may have chewed them up and 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:39.039 spit them out, but the intrinsic human drive 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:41.409 to create art doesn't just switch off. Throughout 00:15:41.409 --> 00:15:43.909 the 2000s, while the Puzzon name lay dormant, 00:15:44.309 --> 00:15:46.330 the individual members continued to pursue their 00:15:46.330 --> 00:15:48.990 own creative paths through various solo projects. 00:15:49.429 --> 00:15:51.309 We see Henry Font working on a project called 00:15:51.309 --> 00:15:54.070 Summer Flu. We see the guitarist Burton Gans 00:15:54.070 --> 00:15:56.789 working under the name American Popular and later 00:15:56.789 --> 00:15:59.009 forming a group called the Deadliz. Yeah, and 00:15:59.009 --> 00:16:02.490 the Deadliz actually had some real tangible output. 00:16:02.870 --> 00:16:06.509 They released a self -titled debut album in 2009 00:16:06.509 --> 00:16:08.990 and followed it up with a second studio album 00:16:08.990 --> 00:16:12.480 called Fabulous Disaster. in 2011. We also see 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:15.000 Jeff McManus the drummer stepping out on his 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:17.840 own with a project brilliantly titled Weekends 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:20.679 with Dan. I love that name. Me too. What's highly 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:24.019 notable here is that in 2006, McManus released 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:26.620 a single under that moniker called Anorexia, 00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:29.399 and it actually received genuine critical acclaim 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:31.519 in several punk rock publications. Which just 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.960 goes to show the talent was always there. The 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:36.399 musical instincts of these guys were always sharp. 00:16:36.460 --> 00:16:38.460 It was the machinery of the industry that failed 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:40.779 them, not a lack of their own abilities. Exactly. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.860 But still, 20 years is a massive chunk of a human 00:16:43.860 --> 00:16:46.899 life. People change drastically. Resentments 00:16:46.899 --> 00:16:49.259 fade, or sometimes they calcify into concrete. 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:52.759 So I have to ask, what does it take for a group 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.019 of people to come back together after 20 years 00:16:55.019 --> 00:16:58.860 apart? Did the dust finally settle on all that 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:02.360 90s industry trauma? I view it as a profound 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:04.920 testament to the resilience of the artists. Think 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:07.799 about it. The executives who forced that spelling 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:10.539 change, they're likely retired. True. The critics 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:12.920 who slammed them for selling out, they've moved 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:16.279 onto other targets. But the music remained. The 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:18.890 identity of the band remained. Yeah. So by March 00:17:18.890 --> 00:17:21.789 of 2015, news breaks that Piston has officially 00:17:21.789 --> 00:17:24.430 reformed, and they are actively getting into 00:17:24.430 --> 00:17:26.710 a room together to work on new material. They 00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:28.750 start bringing the disparate pieces back together. 00:17:29.230 --> 00:17:32.410 Henry Font is back. Burton Gans is back. Jeff 00:17:32.410 --> 00:17:34.829 McManus is back. And they bring in a brand new 00:17:34.829 --> 00:17:37.269 bass player, Jack Hamley, to fill the very large 00:17:37.269 --> 00:17:39.970 shoes left by Valetium. And critically, they 00:17:39.970 --> 00:17:41.869 take their time doing it right. This isn't a 00:17:41.869 --> 00:17:44.230 rushed, desperate cash grab to play a few nostalgic 00:17:44.230 --> 00:17:46.069 festivals. Right, they aren't just cashing in. 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.420 Exactly. Two and a half years pass after that 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:51.680 initial announcement before they formally declare 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:55.680 their full reformation in October 2017. And they 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:57.779 back up that declaration by booking a seven day 00:17:57.779 --> 00:18:01.079 UK tour for June of 2018. Going back to Europe 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:03.259 where they had some of their earliest and most 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:06.140 enthusiastic critical success. It's a beautiful 00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:08.380 full circle moment for them. It really is. But 00:18:08.380 --> 00:18:10.660 they aren't content just being a legacy act playing 00:18:10.660 --> 00:18:12.779 the old hits from the 90s. Yeah. They actually 00:18:12.779 --> 00:18:16.269 get back into the studio to create. On March 00:18:16.269 --> 00:18:20.349 25, 2022, they released the Cold World EP. Which 00:18:20.349 --> 00:18:22.289 is an astonishing milestone when you look at 00:18:22.289 --> 00:18:24.990 the timeline. That release marks the band's first 00:18:24.990 --> 00:18:28.549 new studio recording since the Saves EP in 2001. 00:18:28.750 --> 00:18:31.349 Wow. A 21 -year gap between releases. And they 00:18:31.349 --> 00:18:33.769 didn't stop there. They later expanded that release 00:18:33.769 --> 00:18:35.930 into a larger project called Cold World Plus 00:18:35.930 --> 00:18:38.390 S. They took the new tracks from the EP, they 00:18:38.390 --> 00:18:40.650 looped in the tracks from that 2001 Saves EP, 00:18:41.069 --> 00:18:43.390 and they even dug deep into the vault and included 00:18:43.390 --> 00:18:45.490 several unreleased demos from the year 2000. 00:18:45.529 --> 00:18:47.450 Oh, that's awesome. It's almost like they were 00:18:47.450 --> 00:18:49.569 officially bridging the massive gap in their 00:18:49.569 --> 00:18:52.849 own history. Reaching back 20 years to tie the 00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:55.630 past directly to the present. It perfectly illustrates 00:18:55.630 --> 00:18:58.490 how a genuine artistic vision can outlast the 00:18:58.490 --> 00:19:00.410 commercial forces that try to mold and shape 00:19:00.410 --> 00:19:03.470 it. They survived the scrutiny of the underground. 00:19:03.769 --> 00:19:06.009 They survived the homogenization of the major 00:19:06.009 --> 00:19:09.529 label system. They survived the bitter backlash 00:19:09.529 --> 00:19:12.410 of their own fans. And they survived a two -decade 00:19:12.410 --> 00:19:14.690 hiatus to finally reclaim their own narrative. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.200 It is an incredibly wild ride. Just to recap 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:20.640 this journey we've been on today, you have a 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:23.059 band that rises out of the gritty Staten Island 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:25.799 underground in the early 90s. They build massive 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:28.640 credibility, touring with icons like Typo Negative 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.819 and Marilyn Manson. They reach the absolute heights 00:19:31.819 --> 00:19:34.720 of the industry, signing a major deal with Atlantic 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:38.559 Records. And then... They are crushed under the 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.920 weight of a single missing punctuation mark. 00:19:40.980 --> 00:19:43.180 A dot that changed piston to piston and ruined 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:45.559 everything. They get branded with the ultimate 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:49.720 90s insult. Sellout. They respond with an album 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:52.700 fueled entirely by spite and bitterness, which 00:19:52.700 --> 00:19:54.900 ultimately fractures the band and sends them 00:19:54.900 --> 00:19:57.859 into a 20 -year exile. Right. only to culminate 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:00.839 in a triumphant reunion decades later, creating 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:03.140 music on their own terms once again. For anyone 00:20:03.140 --> 00:20:05.680 listening, it's vital to recognize that this 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:08.960 story isn't just about one specific alternative 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:12.779 metal band from New York. It is a perfect microcosm 00:20:12.779 --> 00:20:15.920 of the universal struggle between authentic creation 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:18.500 and commercial viability. Absolutely. It shows 00:20:18.500 --> 00:20:20.700 how fragile the ecosystem of underground art 00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:23.579 really is and how clumsily corporate interests 00:20:23.579 --> 00:20:26.220 often handle that fragility when they try to 00:20:26.059 --> 00:20:28.019 to package it for the masses. It really makes 00:20:28.019 --> 00:20:30.099 you look at the whole history of 90s music differently. 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:33.420 So as we wrap up our dive into this corner of 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:35.500 music history, I'll leave you with a final thought 00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:37.839 to mull over. OK. Think about the artist you 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:40.519 listen to today. We live in an era where musicians 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:43.039 are largely independent, managing their own brands 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:45.420 directly on TikTok, dropping tracks straight 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:47.619 onto Spotify. Right, the landscape has shifted. 00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:50.180 They're essentially acting as their own record 00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:53.400 labels and marketing departments. In today's 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.160 hyper -transparent, highly commercialized digital 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.440 world, could a change as tiny as a single punctuation 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:02.940 mark ever spark that kind of intense sell -out 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:04.940 backlash again? That is a great point. Or is 00:21:04.940 --> 00:21:07.240 the very concept of selling out just an outdated 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:10.059 relic buried in the ruins of the 1990s? It's 00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:12.240 a fascinating question about how our relationship 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:15.920 with art, commerce, and authenticity has fundamentally 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.299 evolved. Something to think about next time you 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:20.680 discover a great new underground band and want 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:23.240 to keep them all to yourself. Keep digging for 00:21:23.240 --> 00:21:25.380 those stories, and we'll see you on the next 00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:25.920 deep dive.