Hey everybody, what's going on? It's Sandy McKinnon.
I play bass for the band Royal Tusk. Me and Brian
Colburn today are going to get together on my
weekly mixtape to talk all things hard rock.
We have some fun, we're going to kill it, and
let's get to it. Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape,
a podcast that takes the classic mixtape approach
to building a modern playlist. I'm your host,
Brian Colburn. Joining me tonight as guest curator
is Sandy McKinnon, bassist for Royal Tusk. Sandy,
thank you so much for joining me on My Weekly
Mixtape, man. I'm pumped to be here, brother.
Well, I'd like to start by asking you the same
question I ask all of my first -time guests,
and that is, what does the word mixtape mean
to you? you know what i'm glad to say that i
actually grew up in the era of actually making
mixtapes with the two uh cassette players and
stuff like that or holding down the buttons when
you're trying to record it off of a radio or
whatever hell yeah so they mean a lot like i
i mean back in the day i mean if i was interested
in in a girl and i would be like you know this
is what i've been listening to on mr cool you
know and i'd slip it over or whatever and meanwhile
she's going what the hell is this shit Well,
I am so stoked to have you on the show tonight
because not only are we co -curating a mixtape
filled with modern hard rock songs, we're also
going to be diving into tracks from the band's
brand new album, Altruistic. Now, since Royal
Tusk has toured with bands and artists such as
Slash, Pop Evil, Monster Truck, and Big Wreck,
as well as performed on the Shiprock Cruise,
among many other things, I'm sure it's safe to
say you probably have a wide bank of songs and
bands to choose from for tonight. What were you
looking to bring to the table, musically speaking,
with your song choices? I guess when you asked
me, I was sort of sitting there and I got a little
stressed out because I was like, what I normally
listen to is different from what Dan normally
listens to or what Quinn normally listens to.
And that's what makes us work so well together
is because we don't have one genre that we sort
of pull from. We all listen to different stuff.
So, save for myself and the band, I listen to
a lot of, I guess more on the heavy side of things.
But we all still like our pop music, as you can
tell, and even most. Tusk songs, you can hear
it. Of course, of course. Well, let's get down
to business. Hell yeah. Tonight, as I mentioned
at the top of the show, Sandy and I will be curating
the ultimate modern hard rock mixtape, and we're
going to use that old cassette deck approach.
Sandy, as my special guest, will begin side A
with his first song choice, and then I'll choose
a song that I feel best follows up that choice.
We'll then flip -flop choosing songs until we've
mapped out 10 tracks for side A. We'll then give
our mixtape a proverbial flip, and we'll map
out side B only this time. time, I'll kick things
off with Sandy choosing second. Our overall goal
for this episode is to craft the best modern
hard rock mixtape possible through only 20 songs.
At the end of the show, you can take our conversation
to the next level by visiting the episode page
at myweeklymixtape .com to give our final mixtape
a listen via the embedded playlist. And if you
like what you're hearing on the show, you can
help me out by either telling a friend, leaving
the show a five -star review wherever you're
tuning in, or becoming a Patreon mixtaper at
patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape. And
before we get started, a few of the Patreon mixtapers
chimed in with songs they would use to kick off
tonight, and I want to give a quick shout out
to a few of those. Tom Hutchinson chimed in with
Baroness' Shock Me. Chad LaMassa chimed in with
Dead Sarah's Weatherman, saying the opening riff
by Suzy Medley hooked me the first time I ever
heard that song and I've been a fan ever since.
I personally couldn't agree more. That's an absolute
monster. Both Philip Bergman and David Owens
both chimed in with Andrew WK's Party Hard as
a fun way to kick off the festivities. Cactus
Pete chimed in with Alter Bridge's Pieces Broken,
saying it's one of his favorite guitar riffs
ever. And Seeker chimed in saying he can't go
past Royal Blood. They're doing brilliant things
that sound new but still respect the rock. And
he went with Out of the Black from their self
-titled album. So, Sandy, with those picks out
in the musical atmosphere, I'm going to officially
press the record button on our mixtape and turn
the floor over to you. What song are you choosing
to kick off side A and why? I'm going to kick
off with something a little bit heavier. we actually
used to tour with the guitar player in this band
and it's a band from the uk called the architects
and their brand new single called steen red when
you ask for more modern stuff i sort of had to
go into my my look at my spotify lists and sort
of see what i've been listening to and i'm always
a champion for my friends bands now their guitar
player adam he's from vancouver and My old band
and his old band used to tour together, so when
I heard he kind of got the call up to be the
guitar player in one of Europe's biggest metal
bands, I was overjoyed for him. So I keep tabs
on his career, and this single is definitely
a barn burner. It's heavier than shit, and I
love listening to it. Knowing that he's a man
in the high six, I love that shit. Hell yeah.
This is a monster song. This is definitely...
taking the hard rock thing to the extreme and
bringing the metal into it. So I like where you're
going with this right from the jump is this gets
the energy up and kicking it off with a level
10 song is awesome. I'm all here for that. Hell
yeah. So following that up, I think I'm going
to bring it a little bit more towards the hard
rock, but still keep that monster riffage going.
And I'm going to go with a song that dropped
in 2023 from their album Screaming at the Sky.
I'm going to go with Blackstone Cherries, Out
of Pocket. I've been a fan of this band since
their self -titled album in 2006. And they effortlessly
towed the line between Southern rock, hard rock,
and blues. And they do it with such a friggin'
swagger. And Out of Pocket is a classic example
of the kind of monster hard riffs you get throughout
Blackstone Cherry's catalog. And I feel like
it's a good place to start if you're looking
to kind of check out their newer music. You know,
the term like Southern rock to me was always
like kind of weird. What the hell is that? Like,
I know what it means, but it's like. There's
a sound, especially for a new band to say that
sounds like Southern Rock. I say Blackstone Cherry
is like the... If you were to look in the dictionary,
their picture would be right there because they
are killing it. It definitely has that throwback
kind of swampiness feel to it. Kind of dirty.
It's got that swagger. And I guess that's what
it means. And I don't mean to sound like a dumbass.
Not at all. What Southern Rock is, we all know
what it is, but it's more of a feeling, I think,
than a genre. You know what I mean? 100%. Yeah,
they definitely... When you hear a song like
Pieces Free, you hear the southern rock side
of things where it's a little slower, a little
bit more refined. But then when they open up,
it's more of the vibe of the song than it is
the genre itself. And it's merging the two. Exactly.
And I think that's a badass choice you picked.
That band's cool. That band's really cool. All
right. Well, we're back to you now for track
three to follow that up. man i i like i for modern
i it's definitely not modern but this band definitely
inspired us a ton while we were writing altruistic
now the band the deftones deftones for us it's
just you know it's not so much always riffing
and always like doing the idea that less is more
sometimes just it's harder than a than a sledgehammer
like a band like deftones where they're writing
one note all together it's so sonically massive
it sounds like uh It feels like a weight on your
chest, kind of. And that's what I really like
about that band. And I think the song you've
seen, The Butcher, off the album Diamond Eyes,
it's got a really just kind of a delayed guitar
riff. And it's kind of haunting. And it just
slowly makes you bang your head. And it's totally
kick -ass. Couldn't agree more. Diamond Eyes,
to me, might be one of the Deftones' most...
underrated albums i feel like it's not in the
conversation as much as it should be because
that album is full of killer tracks oh yeah this
is a really underrated album in their catalog
i love it i absolutely love it this song i mean
it's maybe not obviously not a single or anything
like that but i also when royal test started
out we were on tour with with big rack i remember
uh thornley was uh was sound checking to that
and i was and i was like Oh yeah. Hell yeah.
This guy's a music fan. He listens to everything
from like really obscure rock and roll to even
mainstream stuff, which I would consider Deftones
pretty mainstream when it comes to metal. Well,
from one basis to another, I'm going to follow
up with a song that I'm going to align with one
of the Patreon mixtapers for a band and a song.
And from their 2014 self -titled album, I'm going
to go with Royal Bloods Out of the Black. Hell
yeah. I mean, when you're talking about a band
that is a two piece with no guitar, for those
of you that aren't familiar with Royal Blood,
they are a singer slash bassist and a drummer.
That's it. And yet they pull off a sound that's
so massive, you would think it was a four or
five piece band. And that speaks. ahem volumes
about this group. And now they have brought a
lot more of the pop element into their later
albums, like typhoons and their new album, but
they still have this heft. And as a bass player,
I love the fact, and it's a selfish fact, but
I love the fact that the bass is front and center
in the sound. And it's just frigging that this
riff is massive. So out of the black by Royal
blood. Oh, this band is so good. When I first
heard them, I didn't know what to really think.
I was just like, oh, yeah, it's cool. I didn't
know if it was really rocked in my socks. But
then you sit down with it and you're like, holy
shit. No, it actually kicks ass. And then you
do go, oh, it's just the bass player and the
drummer. And the best thing about music is it
doesn't need to be stripped down. You can do
whatever you want with it. If it's just bass
and drums, it's just bass and drums. But if they're
adding keys or all these other sounds, it's great.
Those two guys working together sounds incredible.
All right. Well, now we are following that up
with track five. Where are you going to take
it from here? Oh, Lord. I'm going to throw it
back again, but I'm going to throw it back quite
a bit more. Before we started talking on this,
you had told me you brought your kids to go see
Metallica. Yes. Now, how on earth can we do a
rock or metal playlist without any Metallica
on it? Right? You can't. It's impossible. but
i was like and that was if someone you could
do a whole podcast go name your top however many
metallica songs i still be shitting my pants
trying to figure out which ones are my favorite
oh there would be fistfights 100 i was like i
the way i did it was what was the last one that
you were partying to and i could tell but based
on like what was i last and i'm like oh that
was sunday after super bowl and obviously had
a million beers like you were listening to blackened
The first track on Injustice Football. When I
took my daughter to see them this past summer
at MetLife Stadium, I had a bucket list Metallica
song that I had never seen them perform live.
And take into consideration, I've seen them live
already about a dozen times. And I almost damn
cried when the tape started playing of the reversed
guitar in the beginning. And Justice for All
is my favorite Metallica album. Blackened is
my favorite ever Metallica song. So you just
picked a goldmine winner as far as I'm concerned.
I mean, I saw the Garage Inc. show at Roseland
Ballroom when Metallica played Nothing But Covers.
I saw the S &M concert and they never played
Blackened. I'm like, when am I going to get a
Blackened? I finally got a Blackened and it was
frigging glorious. I absolutely love the pick.
Yeah. And you know what? I'm going to follow
up Metallica with one of the bands that's opening
for them on this tour. Wolf Van Halen, Mammoth,
WVH. You're to blame from his 2021 self -titled
album. I mean, this kid plays every freaking
instrument on this album, and it sounds so tight
and so clean. And on top of that, he could sing.
He could really freaking sing. And the fact that
he's putting out these songs. He could easily
do his father's guitar pyrotechnics and go out
and put out Van Halen style music, but instead
he's carving his own path. And I respect that
more because he has his own musical voice and
it's just coming through in epic fashion. I think
Mammoth WVH is a hard rock band to be on the
lookout for in the next few years. I absolutely
agree. And one of the things I will say about
that as well is. It's so easy to just copy styles
and do the exact same thing, but there is no
crossover really between Mammoth and any Van
Halen stuff. There's no sound other than there's
shredding, but even the shredding is different.
I love exactly to go on your point. It's just
badass rock and roll. It's not as badass as Van
Halen was and is. It's just... It's just different.
And exactly to your point, he's carving his own
way and not just hanging off the coattails. He
also looks like a really nice guy. Oh, my God.
He seems like the kind of guy that you could
sit down with and just geek out over music because
he seems like a fan. First and foremost, when
you hear him talking about other artists, you
could tell that there's a love and admiration
for not only the music he grew up seeing through
his father, but the music that he's. taken on
his own because he went out and played, if I'm
not mistaken, when Tremonti went out and did
a solo tour outside of Alter Bridge. That's right.
I mean, the dude just is a mecca of talent and
both of his albums, I think one and two are both
fantastic, but you're to blame is that riff that
as soon as you hear it, your head just starts
going and you're like, yeah, this is going to
get dirt. And when he kicks in, you're all in.
And his voice is just, Angelic. He can hit some
ridiculously high notes, and let's be honest,
on the tours that he did with Van Halen, he was
the Michael Anthony role, both on bass and vocally.
I went and saw Black Sabbath when they did their
final tour, and it was insane. But no Bill Ward
on the drums. And I get it. The guy that got
to replace him was incredible. Obviously, you're
not going to get... a schlub but uh it was i
was kind of like and that was the same kind of
feeling i had with no michael anthony but i mean
that's interband stuff and that's between them
and their uh them and their them and their god
i guess and yeah that's their own thing to deal
with i'm not gonna lie this summer i'm i'm checking
off the sammy list this summer i'm gonna go see
sammy with michael anthony satriani and jason
bonham doing the night of van halen I know it's
not Van Halen, but if they were going to pick
a guitarist that could pull off Eddie Van Halen
to the point where you can enjoy it in a live
setting, they didn't grab a slouch. Satriani
is one of the best. He does some monster stuff
with Chicken Foot. I mean, this band is top notch.
I'm pretty stoked to see that this summer. I
mean, Van Hagar is... All those songs are incredible.
I love that era too. Obviously, I'm David Lee
Roth. through and through, but those Van Hagar
records are no slouch. All right. We had a Metallica
Mammoth back -to -back one -two punch. What are
you going with for track seven? I'm going back
to the heavier side. I'm going back to the metal
side of things. A band that we look up to a lot
as a collective group and Royal Tusk is we love,
love, love, love Mastodon. Yes. Yeah, absolutely.
The riffing, how it can go from absolutely brutally
punishing heaviness. Just sweet, sweet kind of
melodies. And it just kind of bounces around.
And it can get really evil sounding. And it's
just, they're unreal. And it's a song more than
I could chew off their newest record, Hush and
Grim. Obviously, when that record dropped, I
stayed up late to just listen to it. And it did
not disappoint. I love that they're a band that
has gone from being way more on the metal side
of things to now. I might even say it's like
kind of on the weird, just on the weird spectrum,
like a band that goes out and tours with Primus
is the same band that's going to be going out
with Lamb of God this coming year. So, I mean,
you're talking about diverse heavy metal music.
I think Mastodon is that. I couldn't agree more
in there. One of those bands that is so widely
respected there. I mean, we just talked about
Mammoth WVH, but I know he's posted about them
several times, just gushing. over the songs.
They almost reach this level of like tool where
people just put them in a different bracket all
in of itself. Like, is this metal? Is this hard
rock? No, this is Mastodon. No, this is tool.
It's, it's, it's its own thing. And to be able
to carve that out in this current musical landscape
is not an easy feat. And they do it with such
ease album after album. It just seems effortless
for these guys. watching them live is incredible
like nice laser shows you can enjoy them over
an edible or two and uh yeah like i just i i
really really enjoy listening to that band one
of the things quick little story here during
pandemic you know everyone was like releasing
weird kind of songs and stuff like that dan actually
did a cover version of filters hey man nice shot
oh what a great song and You can check it out
on YouTube. It's there. But it's the guitar player
Bill Keller from Macedon did it with him. Whoa.
And Fluff from Dragged Under. Well, was of Dragged
Under. And Chow from Stone Sour. And Tanner from
In Flames. Quite a lineup. Oh, God. I'm going
to have to embed that over at the episode page
at myweeklymixtape .com. So anyone listening
can go check out that video. I'll make sure to
do that. I was absolutely like watching Dan do
it. I was green with jealousy. I have actually,
I did pick filter on there, but I, that song.
And I was like, you know what? I'll just mention
it actually. Cause I just mass it on them being
together. And doing that was just like, to me,
it was just totally kick ass. Couldn't agree
more. And what I'm going to do now is do something
we haven't done yet. I'm going to bring the ladies
into this. Oh, hell yeah. Because hard rock has
its share of amazing female singers. And one
of my favorites over the last two decades was
Lacey Sturm from Flyleaf. Oh, hell yeah. And
in 2023, she put out an album, Kinotic Metanoia.
This album is so massive and so heavy. I'm going
to go with the song reconcile. Now I've always
been a fan of Lacey's work with fly leaf. And
I followed her through 2016 life screams, which
was another killer album, but it was a bummer
that it took from 2016 to 2023 to get a new album
from her. But in that time, she's reunited with
fly leaf again, and they're doing things together
as well as her doing her solo stuff. Reconcile
has this monster riff and. Lacey's voice is ridiculously
powerful, yet extremely delicate and dynamic.
She has such a way to go from the heft to the
soft, like turning on a light switch on and off.
Like there's no curve with it. It's just boom.
She's there. And it's so unique. Her voice really
stands out. As soon as you hear it, you're like,
that's Lacey. And I feel like that deserves a
spotlight in this mix tonight. So Lacey storms
reconcile. That's a great choice. That's a great
choice. That's a very unique sounding voice.
In the hard rock genre, that is just like a powerful,
powerful voice. Well, following that up, we each
have one pick left for Side A. What do you got?
You know, I'm going to keep it in the theme of
the ladies. There's this band that I don't know.
They're not really big in North America. I discovered
them almost by accident while going down a Spotify
rabbit hole. I found out they were actually quite
prominent in Europe, headlining some festivals
and stuff like that. But they're called Brutus.
And they're from Belgium. They're a three -piece
band. And the song is called War. And the vocalist,
she actually is the drummer as well. Really?
Big time. So we're talking like a Levon Helm
in the band here. But I'm talking about like
a band that's known for opening her bands like
Deftones or Converge. Like you've got all these
spectrums of like thrashier metal to like really
just big sounds. Oh, and thrice and stuff. And
it's like, it's cool. And she sounds, it's got
these ethereal parts and there's parts that are
just really blasty. It goes from being punk.
It goes from almost kind of shoegazy parts. I
love this band. And every time I get a chance
to show somebody, I always feel like I'm championing
this band because I don't feel like I'm not enough
people know them here in North America. Well,
I will be perfectly honest. You have stumped
me on this one and I cannot wait until we're
done recording. I've already got it pulled up
here. I'll be experiencing this song for the
first time. And I'm so stoked to hear it after
the way you described it, because that sounds
right up my alley. So thank you, because I love
when people introduce me to new songs. song warm
like it has a insane intro it's just oh it's
it's a builder and then it's like well i know
what i'm gonna close this side with because in
2022 this band released one of my favorite albums
of the year and here we are two years later and
i still rock this album probably once a month
and this is a band that's music has evolved over
the last 20 something years The band I'm going
with is Papa Roach, pretty much a household name
to anybody in the country. New metal, last resort.
But in 2022, they released the album Ego Trip,
which was probably my favorite album of the year.
And the opening track on it, Kill the Noise,
is so massive. It's one of the songs that they
either opened with or. put in the second slot
of their shows. So that shows how much faith
they have in the song to get people up and moving.
And the fact that they were able to pair it up.
The last time I took the whole family to see
them, it was between angels and insects followed
by kill the noise. And the one, two punch works
so well together. Ego trip is an album was very
interesting to me because I feel like if you
listen to infest, And then you listen to 2019's
Who Do You Trust? It almost feels like there's
two different bands. However, on Ego Trip, the
band took the entire evolution of their music
and took every style that they ever incorporated
and threw it into a blender and created something
that really would please a fan of Papa Roach
from any era. If you loved the new metal, rapping
stuff that took place on infest there's something
for you if you loved the emotive stuff like lifeline
in the early to mid 2010s there's something for
you if you like the later stuff like renegade
music and who do you trust there's something
for i could have picked any track on this album
because i absolutely love it from start to finish
but kill the noise punches you right in the face
and i think it's a great way to close out the
side book ending the architect seeing red the
thing about papa roach we were out in the uk
with uh we were supporting monster truck out
there and a couple of the bigger venues have
two rooms in them and stuff like that and a couple
nights this other room had papa roach in there
and so we would go over there and like after
we would play we just like pack up our shit because
we're the opener run over and we would be able
to catch uh papa roach's set and they were incredible
every single night But that's only overlooked
by how nice Jacoby Shaddix is. We run into him
either backstage or out and about when everyone's
just killing the afternoon, going for a walk
or something like that. And he was always such
a nice dude. Shout out to Papa Roach. That whole
crew is just a nice crew of dudes. I'm going
to sidebar with one story about Jacoby because
20 -something years ago. I saw with one of my
buddies Papa Roach open for ready for this lineup.
It was Papa Roach, Eminem in the mid slot and
Limp Bizkit as the headliner. Oh, hell yeah.
That sounds wicked. We were front row in the
arena right on the side of the stage. And in
between bands, Papa Roach was hanging out right
in front of us. So I called him over it. I work
in radio. I'm a radio guy. I said, tomorrow you're
doing a radio tour. And I'm going to be right
in the hallway next to you. So make sure you
stop by and say hi. And he gave me like one of
the bro hugs. He said, sure thing, dude. And
my buddy said, he's not going to remember that
tomorrow morning. Next morning, I'm sitting at
work. I'm typing. It's like 10 o 'clock. And
I hear, yo, where the F's my boy Brian at? Up
and down the halls. And my boss comes in. She
goes, Brian, it sounds like somebody wants to
know where the F you're at. And I'm like, oh
God. She goes, who is that? I said. That's our
10 o 'clock radio tour. That's Cody Dick from
Papa Roach. She goes, well, why don't you go?
And I went out the hallway. He's like, yo, dude.
And he came over and he gave me a big hug and
brought me back into the studio with the rest
of the band. And they were all really cool. They
signed a copy of my Infest CD and we chatted
for like 15 minutes. It was just absolutely awesome.
That moment made me a ride or die fan for Papa
Roach. Exactly. I can't agree with you more.
That's a great story, actually. Well, there you
have it, folks. Side A of our ultimate hard rock
mixtape, which kicked off with The Architect's
Seeing Red, Blackstone Cherry's Out of Pocket,
Deftone's The Butcher, Royal Blood's Out of the
Black, Metallica's Blackened. Nice follow up
there. Black into Blackened. Yeah, yeah. Mammoth
WVH, You're to Blame, Mastodon's More Than I
Can Chew, Lacey Sturm's Reconcile. Brutus' War,
and Papa Roach's Kill the Noise. Head over to
myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the songs we've
discussed in this mix through the playlist embedded
on the episode page. Now, I'm super excited to
dive into some of the tracks from Royal Tusk's
new album, Altruistic, starting with the thrashy
album opening track, Fire in Your Veins. Now,
when you compare Fire in Your Veins to opening
tracks from your mountain EP Shadow of Love,
Deal Breakers Dynamo, or Tusk 2's First Time,
I personally hear an evolution of the opening
tracks getting consistently heavier and more
aggressive with each Royal Tusk release. Is that
something the band ever took into consideration
when coming up with the album sequencing? I mean,
we've had a few personnel changes from Mountain
to where we are now. And I really think that
like, you know, when you write music together
with certain people, that's what the sound that
comes out of it. So it's not so much that we're
trying to write heavier. It's just that we're
writing heavier music. It's been a mainstay of
me, Quinn, and Dan since Deal Breaker. And even
in Deal Breaker, we still had some other members
that were still, you know, we had an organ player
and stuff like that. When he left, we didn't
change that. We just kept going as a four -piece
now, and it was just back to two guitars, bass,
and drums. And as we just kept going, man, like
I said, it would be crazy for me to think that
we were intentionally just writing heavier music.
You know, we're like, oh, we should be heavy
now. But that's not the case. It's just the way
it's going. And the thrash element to me was
something that I hear elements of it on other
albums like Tusk, too. But to be front and center
as the album opening track, it was such a kick
in the face. And I love the way you open this
album. So I'm kind of curious how this one came
together for you. I mean, that song was the last
song that we greenlighted for the record. Really?
Yeah, we had so I'm telling you, there's probably
a dozen. different demos of that song with different
choruses, different ways we played the riff,
different arrangements. It just, for some reason,
we just couldn't get it to sound right. And then
we just took a break from it. When we revisited,
it was like, whatever we're doing now, it sounds
the best. So don't fuck with it too much. It
seems the most normal to us. It's like looking
at each other, is something rubbing you in the
wrong way? No, no, no. So. Yeah, that's the way
it sort of went. Well, next up in my altruistic
deep dive is the anthemic Head Up. Oh. In the
middle of tracking this album, your front man,
Daniel Careri, went through a pretty scary, almost
year -long ordeal due to a blood clot in his
lung, which left him barely able to speak. Can
that insanely intense and, quite frankly, scary
situation lend itself to the overall heft and
weight of Altruistic as an album as a whole?
Because to me, it's safe to say being a fan of
the band's entire catalog i feel like altruistic
is the band's heaviest effort to date i would
agree with you absolutely it is our it is our
heaviest to date when we finished the record
uh when we did our last vocal note and our last
little auxiliary percussion or whatever you have
you one week of the day dan got sick and he was
sick for the next two years uh me and dan go
back we were we grew up in the same neighborhood
we were friends we played the same soccer team
we were five years old skateboarded we toured
in our old band together all over the world and
stuff and then he started this one and asked
me to come along and i absolutely so when you're
going to your friend's house every day to walk
his dog because he can't do it because he's bedridden
it was it was a bit of an eye -opener for all
of us uh some things are bigger than the band
you want your boys to be healthy and happy and
that's something that sometimes you know I don't
know the health. Maybe we take for granted, but
when you kind of are face to face with it, it's,
it's rough, you know? And so head up. I mean,
we had already written it and it's a bit of a
jock jam, which we love. And we are also, cause
we're from Edmonton. We are diehard Edmonton
Oilers fans. I kind of figured that we go, we
take the good with the good. We take the bad
with the bad. We've been to both ends of the
pool, but, um, Right now, they are actually using
our song when the Oilers come in in the third
period at the Rogers Stadium. Oh, that's badass.
Oh, man. And for us, just growing up and seeing
that shit, you're like, oh, that to me was like,
I'm in my nerdy, I think I've made it sort of
moment. I mean, as a sports fan myself, could
there be anything cooler than seeing one of your
favorite teams come out to a song you wrote and
recorded? Oh, yeah. And then we just went on
that historic run, which was cut last week. But,
you know, it was knowing that we're part of this
this year's run for the cup is great. Yeah. Well,
the band self -produced altruistic. Can you talk
about what that meant in terms of writing, production
and the release process versus your other efforts
that were done with labels involved? Absolutely.
When we started doing this, we kind of looked
at each other. It was the way that we sort of
our hand were kind of forced, just judging by
the way the world was at the time. It's not like
we could fly somewhere and make the record. We
couldn't have people fly in to make the record.
But we knew we had a handful of great songs and
great demos that we could probably pick from.
And, you know, none of us have like, we've all
worked in making records before. So we kind of.
have an idea of like what we're doing you know
what i mean it's not like we need someone there
to tell us how to do the songs but we had the
studio rerun of the studio for months and months
and months now growing up i was like man it'd
be so cool to make a record like aerosmith they
just seem to get to lock themselves in the studio
for a year straight and just get drunk and hang
out and party and make a record you know and
when you join when you especially in this day
and age in the music industry, that's not the
case. You have a finite amount of time because
you have a finite amount of money to make a goddamn
record. You know what I mean? That was the best
part about the way the world was during pandemic
is they were like, yeah, no one's using the studio.
Go ahead. Okay. So we had our nine to five and
go in and create, which was the best. Quinn,
when we're not on the road, his job is he produces
some other bands as well too. So he's able to
do the engineering side of things. Dan has produced
tons of artists and helped co -write stuff. I've
been there alongside the both of them forever.
So I definitely write a bunch of songs as well.
So having all of us in the room together, picking
and choosing how these arrangements and what
parts are going to stay and what parts are going
to go, that was incredible. Again, not being
forced and not being hurried along. So my follow
up to that is when you're dealing with only band
members opinions, sometimes you're kind of tunnel
visioned as to what each of your own personal
thoughts are of where the song goes. And that's
sometimes where the producer. might be able to,
from the outside looking in, make the situation
easier. Were you guys all on the same page with
where these songs were headed? Or was there any
conflict in building them to try to get them
to where it was a collective, that's what we're
talking about? I mean, we actually put out a
documentary about us being in the studio. It's
on YouTube. It's called Do No Wrong, Making Up
Altruistic. And one of the things that we do
touch base on is like, you can be up all night
making a riff. And you think it's the best thing
since sliced bread. You bring it to everybody
and everyone can be like, oh boy, that one is
a fucking stinker. And if you're going to sit
there and whine about it, yeah, you took some
time. We all take time to write songs. You got
to think of the betterment of like the final
song. You know what I mean? Not so much that
your part gets in there. That seems pretty egotistical
now, does it? Your ego kind of needs to be kind
of fucked off and in another room or something
like that. Because if the part doesn't work,
well, let's find a part that does. Let's find
a part that this song that you could listen to
and be like, it's kicks ass. Not this song is
fine, but I'm really happy that I had my fucking
two and a half minute bass solo in there. See,
but you cut it down from four minutes. So at
least you were being thoughtful there. I'll meet
you halfway. Well, the next track I want to play
is the death of common sense. Thematically, would
you say the songs across Altruistic are telling
a story? And if so, what would you say the overall
theme of the album is? It's hard to say what
the overall theme of the album is. The idea of
altruism, when we were discussing it, it's like
you can look at it so many different ways. One
of the things I brought up was Altruistic. Is
that? Is anybody ever genuinely altruistic? Like,
are you doing something so selflessly? Or is
there always that idea that you're bettering
yourself by helping someone else? You know what
I mean? Very much so. Yeah. And I don't want
to take that idea because doing something good
for somebody else, regardless, is good. Being
a good person is what the world needs more of.
Good people. Yeah. You know what I mean? And
so, I mean, I guess it really doesn't matter.
At the end of the day, if you're doing it to
benefit yourself, but you're doing all this other
stuff, then I mean, if doing it for yourself
means you're sleeping better at night and fuck
all the power to you, I think that's great. But
if you're like, you know, if you're doing it
just to be seen, I think that maybe that's a
little crazy. But again, who the hell am I really?
But I think at the end of it all, I think there
are some people who selflessly do things for
themselves or for other people. I mean, I like
to think that that exists. Again, at the end
of the day, if you're a good person, that is
really what matters the most. Couldn't have said
that better myself. 100 % agree. And now the
next song that I'm going to pick from Altruistic
is actually going to serve as double duty right
now. Because it's the fourth track I'm sharing
from the album, but it's also my choice to kick
off Side B. And it's the current single from
the album. And it's hated. Oh, hell yeah. Daniel
has gone on record to say that this song was
written from the point of view of someone who
is labeled unredeemable. It doesn't campaign
for the person's innocence, but poses a question.
I found that statement to be absolutely fascinating.
Could you elaborate a little bit on this track?
I mean, that's in a nutshell, that's Dan. Like
he was like when he was explaining what his idea
was behind those lyrics. That makes sense. Is
there an idea that someone could be changed and
welcomed back almost like and as if nothing had
happened? I mean, one thing we will see if someone
gets out of jail, it's still to this day, it's
impossible to get a job. You know what I mean?
They'll always look at the blemish of mistakes
made in the past. And again, we're not campaigning
for anything like that. But, you know, it's something
that needs to be brought up. It's definitely
a very real. thing that happens in this in this
world and in our society couldn't agree more
in the song to me i could have went with any
of those four to kick off the side but looking
at side a i feel like hated is the perfect way
to continue this out of papa roach's kill the
noise the tape flips over and there you have
hated and i think it's a perfect way to get things
going so now you have the tough decision of what
you're going to follow up your own song with
I have my little list written beside me. So if
you see me, my eyes is doing some weird shit.
That's exactly what I'm doing. Uh, you know,
I'm going to go with when this airs, we'll have
been probably several weeks into our cross Canada
tour with the band broken love. Yes. Yeah. There
are homies. I love those dudes. That whole crew
has been awesome. We met them while both of us
were supporting Pop Evil. We've gone on to do
more touring with them. When we were deciding
who were going to be our touring partners for
our, I'm not going to say our comeback, but it
sort of is. We haven't been really a band since
the pandemic thing started. So when we were coming
back, we're like, of course, that was an easy
decision. Boys, you want to jump back in the
van and come out with the boys or what? So they
have this song called Like a Drug. And it's one
of those goddamn earworms that I find myself
when I'm doing something like mowing the lawn
or, you know, something like that. I'm always
singing that melody. What the hell am I? Oh,
it's broken love. She's always want to write
a message. I'm like, stop writing songs like
that. Bucking me up. I absolutely applaud the
pick because you just scooped me on the band,
on the song that 2022 is black box. This song.
is, I'm going to use a word, and you normally
don't use it with hard rock, but damn it, it's
dancey, but it still rocks at the same time.
There's this groove to it that's absolutely undeniable.
I couldn't agree more. Like a Drug's got such
a unique vibe. I'm so happy you picked that because
that's one less song I got to stress over now.
So bravo. And I'm going to lean into that. quote
unquote dance vibe. Let me just put this out
there for the real hard rock heads out there.
I don't mean you're actually going to go out
there and actually dance to it. It's one of those
ones that just gets your head moving. And I feel
like, yeah, one of my former guests has a song
that I feel the exact same way about as I do
broken loves like a drug. And I. feel like it's
the perfect follow -up and i'm gonna go off of
2022's love drugs and misery and i'm gonna go
with eva under fire's blow featuring spencer
charnas of ice nine kills oh hell yeah this is
one of those hard rock tunes that immediately
gets you pumped up i could see this song being
used in wwe or sports broadcasting for like a
wrestler coming out or you know at the start
of a i guess based on where they're from we can
maybe say a detroit lions game the entrance theme
for them and this song was also featured in the
2022 movie the retaliators which starred jacoby
shattuck who we talked about earlier from pop
broach Ivan Moody, a five finger death punch
and many others. If you're a fan of Eva under
fire or hard rock in general, I highly recommend
going back to all the way back to episode seven,
the ultimate hard rock cover songs playlist as
Eva Marie was my guest curator for that episode.
And we dove into a ton of great modern hard rock
covers, but I think broken love in the Eva under
fire is just, it's just a chef's kiss right here.
No, hell yeah. So with that, we are back to you,
Sandy, for track four. Track four. So I'm going
to throw it back again. I want to throw it back
to a band that made me actually want to start
playing bass when I was about 10 years old. Rage
Against the Machines. Oh, there we go. I got
tickets for them when they were doing their tour.
And unfortunately, they canceled that portion
in Canada where we are. And I was heartbroken.
I was like, but. they'll be back and then late
last year when they announced they are not going
to be getting back together I was mortified I
was pissed off but I get it you know it's the
way it goes it's the nature of the beast it's
just a bummer because I had never that's a bucket
list band that I'll now never be able to see
the song I chose was from their covers album
which is a I know I know it's weird but I also
wanted to add the song I picked It's such a killer
rap song, and I just wanted to put it on my list.
So I figured, why don't I just do the cover?
And it's that How I Could Just Kill a Man, the
Cypress Hill cover. One thing I want you to do
when you listen to it next is if you turn it
up, the recording of it, it sounds demented.
The bass is almost blown out. It sounds like
the speaker they're using is flapping in the
wind, and it just sounds so raw. And I thought,
what a powerful choice song to pick to do. You
know, like a metal band doing, I could just kill
him in a Cypress Hill cover. The song gets me
jacked. Let's be honest. The original is a heavy,
badass song. Only Rage Against the Machine could
take that up a notch. I totally agree. And I
will say the seed that How I Could Just Kill
a Man planted. was part of when they did the
prophets of rage with chucky i feel like the
seed was planted when rage covered how i could
just kill a man the love became there between
those guys and the guys in cypress hill and and
how could it not well yeah send dog from uh cypress
hill wasn't a wasn't a metal it was in a hardcore
band in in the cypress hill era and i can't remember
what the hell it's called off the top of my head
oh yeah power flow that's right but hard hip
-hop Going with metal is not that crazy. You
got Public Enemy and Anthrax and all that kind
of stuff. And when you hear it, it doesn't sound
that crazy. It just sounds cool. Couldn't agree
more. As a bassist, one of the first songs that
I literally had to lock myself in the room and
figure out. And it's one of my, it's my may I
help you riff if I'm going to a music store to
look at a bass. I start playing the opening to
bomb track. Oh yeah, absolutely. Like that's
my, am I going to like the sound of this base?
So I love the fact that you picked rage. I'm
all in a hundred percent on that. I'm going to
pivot now. Okay. And these two songs on paper
do not go well back to back. However, we're kind
of. zigging and zagging on this side between
different styles. So I feel because of that,
it's going to work really well. And this is a
song that I rocked all throughout 2023. And instead
of leaning into the hip hop and the heavier side
of things, I'm going to pull from the seventies
arena rock and hard rock and garage rock. And
I'm going to throw them into a blend. I'm not
actually doing it. The band did it throwing these
genres into a musical blender. And getting White
Reaper's Fog Machine from 2023's Asking for a
Ride. This is everything I love about Cheap Trick,
Thin Lizzy, and all the bands on that ever. However,
it's got a modern, fresh spin. There's nothing
that sounds 70s or dated about White Reaper.
They honor the 70s sound, but make it sound modern.
And to me, that's not an easy thing to do. So
I love this song so much. If you go back to episode
50. The Songs of 2023 featuring D .T. Carroll
of Space Castle. You can hear more about this
one, but White Reaper owned 2023 with Fog Machine
as far as I'm concerned. What a killer track.
I can't get over how many of those songs made
my year in review on Spotify. I just, I love
that record so much. And Fog is such a... killer
track i totally agree it's got the thin lizzy
vibe but it almost has like a punk vibe to it
too it's one of those bands that you know could
literally tour with a punk band a rock band an
indie rock band you know it's just like it's
really great songs i mean it's pulling from everything
you know what i mean and it got a lot of play
from me And the baselines in it where he's just
walking. Like, it's just like, oh, my God, thank
you. Like, I just love the way they're able to
take the nuances of the sleazy 70s glam and modernize
it. And now you get to follow that up. Oh, yeah,
absolutely. Oh, what am I going to follow it
up with? Actually, I'm going to go with some
friends we had met on Shiprock Cruise several
years ago. And we stayed in contact. And hopefully
at some point we'll do some touring with them.
They released a new record at the ass end of
last year. It's Beartooth. And the record, The
Surface. And I really like their opening of the
title track, The Surface. I thought that was
a killer riff. It was a cool way to start. I
really enjoyed the singles they put out leading
up to the release of the record. But after I
had kind of played them all to death, it was
nice to hear some of the new tracks on it. And
that one definitely did not disappoint. I have
said it a million times on this show and people
know the next sentence that's going to come out
of my mouth. I'm a sucker for album opening tracks.
I mentioned it with your opening track on altruistic.
I always pay attention like the opening. You
got to hook me. Or else I might not give the
rest of the album a listen. And I know that's,
I sound like I'm being elitist and snobby, but
if you don't grab people's attention from the
get -go in this day and age with streaming, they
might not get to track two. They might veer off
in a million different places. And I'm an album
listening guy. So the album opener has got to
be massive. And I have to say that could be my
favorite song. It's tough because I also love
Look the Other Way. And Riptide, I mean, it's
a great album, but The Surface might be the pinnacle
of that album, too. So I love the fact that you
went with that one. There's another riff in that
record that absolutely is a sledgehammer, is
that one he does with Hardy. Oh, The Better Me.
Oh, my God, that pull -off riff? Yep, yep, yep.
That is gracier than all fast food food put together.
Absolutely love it. Following that up, Jesus,
I'm scrolling up and down my list. Oh, God, I
could go in so many different directions here.
As could I, man. Like, this is, oh, my God. Okay,
I'm going to lean into your album opening track
here. Okay. And I'm going to go with another
song just like Beartooth was released at the
tail end of 2023. And the album is called Pretty
Vicious. Like my pick of Lacey Strum, Luke Spiller
from the Struts has such a unique voice. I'm
going to go with the album opener, Too Good at
Raising Hell. When you have a band that channels
the Rolling Stones, Queen, David Bowie, and modern
hard rock and modern pop music and puts it all
together and creates this unique sound. Again,
we're pulling from the UK here. The fact that
this band isn't a household name yet in the US
shocks me. They should be. And there's this pop
sensibility to their sound, but it's seamless.
They could, like you had said with White Reaper,
they could be on so many different bills and
seamlessly fit right in and hit with different
audiences. The Struts are a band that I could
sit with my 70 -year -old parents and relate
with them on. That's not easy to do in 2024.
The fact that they also brought a horn section
into this track adds this like level of exile
on main street swagger to the song that look,
I love jazz music and hearing horns in a rock
song. If it's done the right way, I think elevates
it. And too good at raising hell is just a. He's
literally blowing on his nails and wiping them
on his shirt. There's just such a swagger and
such a confidence to this song that I feel it's
just a great album opener. And I wish more people
knew about The Struts. And I think they're going
to. I really think they're going to. The one
thing about The Struts is, I will say this, I
fell victim to being a bit of a, I say the word
I'm looking for is maybe a snob. When I saw,
because I'd seen a picture of them before I actually
listened to them. Now, I immediately thought,
oh, we're going to have another band that's trying
to do what The Darkness did, but it's almost
going to come across as a joke. And here I am
prejudging them before I even listen to it. And
that shouldn't be the way I look. I mean, I know
how that feels. I shouldn't fucking do that to
anybody else. And everything you said is 100
% correct. That band is a fucking monster. They
sound great. They sound genuine. And so it really
shut me up for any kind of preconceived notions
that I had about this band. They just, they're
a rock and roll band through and through and
they kick ass. And that was my bad to even, even
prejudge that before I even listened to it. You
know, they, that band is right down to tasty
guitar licks and really like the swagger. You
said a hundred percent there as singer holds
himself with a, you know, like a giant and it's
awesome. Well, look, What I've always told people
is even Stevie Ray Vaughan would miss a note
here and there. We all sometimes look at an artist
and judge before we hear we've all been there.
You see a picture and you're going, I'm not going
to like this or a band walks out on stage. And
before they play a single note, you're like,
oh, God, I don't know if I'm going to dig this.
And I'm going to put a pin in that statement.
Okay. And save it because you have the next pick
for track eight. Oh, shit. What am I going to
put on for the next one? I am actually going
to... We kind of touched base on them earlier
on the show, but you had mentioned Tool. Now,
as an outing for the band, we all went and saw
Tool on their last tour, came through Edmonton.
And it was incredible. You just sort of stand
there and your mouth is wide open. And one of
the things... You know, some people have all
these ideas of like backing tracks and vocal
tracks and blah, blah, blah. But I know for a
fact there were no vocal tracks while he was
singing out there. And that's the beauty of Latin
music sometimes is the imperfections of it all.
It's why like art on the wall looks so great
because it's not perfect. And that's why it should
be. Don't get me wrong. I like the idea of like
when they add things to make things sound bigger.
But if you're enhancing the show, I get it. But
if it always sounds the exact same, well, then
they're kind of missing the beauty of it all.
You know what I mean? And when they play Jambi
from 10 ,000 Days, because I'd been following
their set list FM stuff and I'm a total nerd
when it comes to that stuff. What are they going
to play? And I was like, oh, they're not. It
looked like there was a zone in the set. And
I saw from all the past ones that they were like,
we'll put this one in tonight. We'll put this
one in tonight. That they were changing, but
they were doing mostly fear and oculum stuff.
But when they did zombie in Edmonton, a damn
near shit, a solid gold brick. It's that guitar
lick at the beginning and the song starts growing
and you're sitting there going, I've been listening
to the song for three and a half minutes and
the song still hasn't done anything, but it's
totally captivated you. And then the drums. kind
of demolish your ass the whole way to the end.
And I couldn't get enough of that song. And when
they did a live, I was felt like a, like a school
kid again, you know, with pressure and heavy
music smiling and lacked like a total Goomba.
Oh, I get it. When I saw them in 2019 on the
fear inoculum tour in New Jersey. I got Jambi
in the set list too. And that was like, okay,
if you're picking something from 10 ,000 days,
you've chosen correctly. There was no, you chose
poorly in this situation. However, I will say
I was the one person that I thought I was going
to get mugged on the way in because I walked
in saying, I really hope they play Numa tonight.
And people were like, we don't want to hear all
of Fear Inoculum. I'm like, whoa, calm down,
guys. I actually like Fear Inoculum. I'm sorry.
love the new album i think it's great and numa
to me was one of danny carey's like drumming
opuses so i love that and the night i saw them
i got to see them do enema live they did parable
and parabola back to back which was like the
fact that they mix sets up i'm the same way i'm
a nerd where if i'm going to see a band i always
look to see what they're playing when if they
mix up the sets from night to night I had mentioned
the Blackened thing from Metallica on Side A.
I was following every one of their overseas dates.
And the first two or three dates, they didn't
play Blackened. And I'm going, son of a bitch,
I'm not going to get my Blackened. And then they
started reintroducing it. And I'm like, oh God,
but New Jersey's the first show on the US tour.
So I have no clue. It could be resetting the
slate and they might not play it again. But thankfully
they did. So I totally get where you're going
with that. Yeah, man. And you know what? I'm
with you. I like Fear Noculum. But here's the
thing is there's so many years between every
Tool album that Tool fans get to sit there and
get to know it for years and years and years.
We didn't really get that with Fear Noculum.
And I think that's why you were probably going
to get mugged. Yeah. I mean, but at the end of
the day, I feel like. And I've listened to the
albums many, many times since 2019. It ages like
a, I'm sure Maynard would be happy to hear this.
It ages like a fine wine because, and I'm really
hoping we don't have to wait until what, 2027
to get another Tool album. I'm hoping we get
something sooner than that. I hope so too. But
when I was a kid, to kind of go back a little
bit, the first Rage Against the Machine and the
first LP by Tool, Undertow, were like, to me,
Those were like the Bibles, you know what I mean?
And then when you have Maynard actually singing
on the Rage Against the Machine record. Oh, yeah.
I was like, oh, of course these guys are one
of the same and cool as hell. And when I knew
Tool was always going to be a band that I had
respect for was when I learned that both Danny
Carey and Maynard, well, Danny played drums and
Maynard was one of the voices in Green Jell -O's
Three Little Pigs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maynard
is the nut by the hair. When I found out that
that was Maynard, I'm like, this dude's frigging
awesome. Like they don't take themselves so seriously
all the time, but their music says otherwise.
And I love that. Absolutely. Yeah, that's cool.
All right. So now I'm going to pull the pin out
of what I was thinking before. And this is a
band that I saw open up for Shinedown. And the
only thing I knew about them was one of my friends
told me they were kind of emo rock. which casts
a wide net. And there is some emo rock I'm a
big fan of and other emo rock that I'm not at
all. And going by just that and the band's name,
I feel like I formed an opinion without hearing
a single note. And to this day, I regret even
having that thought enter my mind. So here we
are at the show. I didn't know what to expect.
And I usually do a ton of research of the bands
I'm going to go see as opening acts. So I'm familiar
with everything. However, we had just driven
up to New Hampshire that day. And my father -in
-law said to me, as soon as we got out of the
car, have you ever heard of this band Shine Down?
And I said, of course, I love them. He goes,
my neighbor's selling tickets. They're like seventh
row. And she just wants to sell them. Just to
get rid of them because they can't go tonight.
They're like $60 she's going to sell them for.
Do you and Katie, my wife, want to go see it?
I said, of course, we'll take a night out. We
just spent seven hours in the car with the kids.
We'll take it. So we went over there and I got
to see and hear for the first time ever. We got
there just in time to see Dinosaur Pile Up opened,
which I love those guys. And they're in my list
as well. But Bad Flower was on next. And they're
set. blew my frigging mind. And I'm going to
go with the song, The Jester. As soon as they
were done with their set, I walked right over
to the merch table, bought the CD, and it's been
in constant rotation ever since. That song just
hit me in such an emotional level. I feel like
they're definitely one of those bands that is
just on the cusp of exploding to something a
lot bigger. And if they keep on the path they're
at, they're going to be headlining the places
Shinedown does, I think. So I'm going to go with
The Jester. man that band bad flower is so good
i know uh broken love has done a has done an
american tour with them but we actually played
with it as well on ship rocked and i got to meet
some of the guys in the band we're all super
nice chill dudes i'm with you when they got on
stage i was like i had no idea what to expect
and they absolutely lit the place on fire they
were right unbelievable yeah good singers good
players, good vibe on stage. Like when it was
time to get tender, it was time to get tender.
When it was time to rock out, it was like, holy
shit, this is killer. And it was a total rollercoaster
for the entire set. And my wife even turned to
me and she said, I wasn't expecting this. And
neither was I. It's just, they blew the roof
off the place. And I know immediately why Shinedown
brought them out because Shinedown doesn't bring.
weak opening acts with them i know that there's
been this talk in rock music that bands like
to bring in groups that they know they could
do better than on stage shinedown always seems
to be that band that brings out groups that challenge
them to be better on stage and to me when a band
brings a talented opening act out on the road
with them the winner is the audience Absolutely.
And I want to see bands challenging each other.
Look, it's not a competition. Please let me state
that. But when you bring a band out that you
know is going to destroy the place every single
night, and then you get to do the same, it's
just more amazing concert memories for the people
in attendance. Man, the idea that from a musician's
standpoint, it's like, man, we're all in this
together, man. We've been doing this, we've been
slugging it out. For someone to try to almost
sabotage your career, that seems, to me, fucking
bananas. That is crazy. Why would someone do
that? Also, it's art. It's so hard to say this
one's better than this because everything is
so subjective. Hey, freaking men, man. That is
something I preach each and every single episode
on this show. Yeah. If a song doesn't vibe with
you, that doesn't mean that the person next to
you isn't moved to tears. And neither one of
you are wrong. But the fact that a band can sometimes
command where people that normally wouldn't vibe
to it and bring them in and convince them through
their stage show and do their performance. Again,
the winners are the audience. And to me, when
people go in with a closed mind, they're missing
out because there's so much amazing stuff that
they're too in their box, too narrow minded to
embrace. So I'm always the person that says,
what time does the first band go on? And my buddy's
going, well, we can hang out in the parking lot.
Hell, you can hang out in the parking lot. I
want to see every band on the bill because I
have no idea if my next favorite band is on this
bill tonight. Hell, yeah. Well, you know the
old saying, what's good for the goose ain't good
for the gander. Amen. I do also, as a collective,
if all the bands rock, I mean, for me personally,
bringing out, one, people that are cool, good
hang, and two, a band that I like. I mean, it's
like, again, why would you bring out someone
that you want to stomp around? That's bully mentality.
You know what I mean? And rock and roll, I got
a place for fucking bullies. You know what I
mean? Nope. I've always been the kind of person
where if I'm at a show and there's an opening
band and somebody's not giving them a chance,
I find another place to go hang because it ruins
my experience. Especially when you get people
that have had a couple too many and they think
that they're the star of the room. drives me
nuts it's like concert etiquette to me go and
be in the moment and if you don't want go hang
at the bar if it's not your thing no problem
but yeah room for the people that want to be
up front man it's a challenge every night i i
i kind of embrace the idea of someone being like
your band sucks i'm like fuck yeah well sandy
we have talked about 19 songs tonight okay and
as my guest you kick things off and you also
get the privilege or despair of closing out this
playlist what is the cherry on top of our hard
rock playlist now would if you were me would
you go on the side of sweets or would you go
on the side of like thunderish considering When
this song ends, the tape's going to flip over
and go back to seeing Red by the Architects.
I'd go out thunderous. I'd go out thunderous.
So that way it continues this endless loop of
the story we've told. But that's just me. That's
just me. Well, you know what? Yeah, you're right.
Okay, there's a brand new band. And they're considered
a metal band. But I don't know if I would agree
with the statement. I think they're brand new.
And I almost feel like when I'm like, oh, these
kids listen to crazy shit nowadays. You know
what I mean? But I can't seem to stop listening
to their stuff. And they wear masks like Slipknot
and all that stuff. But they keep showing up
on my feeds. And Spotify seems to know that I
like it. And it's that bad sleep token. Yep.
Yep. You know what I mean? And everything about
it, I was kind of like, I'll get dragging my
ass to get into it. Because I was like, oh, everything
in my being is saying, you don't like this. You
don't like this. But I fucking do like it. And
I'm not going to pick one of their singles because
I actually have found a B -side that I found
to be like, in my opinion, top notch. And it's
the ending track on their new record, Take Me
Back to Eden. But the song is called Euclid.
And at first I was like, I didn't know what to
think about it. But his melodies are so syncopated
with pop sensibilities that it's like, I'm having
a tough time not listening to the song. Again,
right after I listened to it, it's catchy. It's
got some heavier bits in it. They revisit parts
from other songs where they kind of put, you
know, like it's just it's a very great, great
track. Sleep token to me. And maybe this is because
we're based in the US and they're from out of
England. I feel like they just came from out
of nowhere, out of the blue. And everybody overnight
just knew who they were. And that might be because
people were fans of them. from overseas and then
when they started playing shows in the u .s they
just naturally exploded i love the fact that
again you can't put it in a box is it metal is
it progressive i use the word in quotes there's
progressive elements there's indie rock and pop
elements all kind of thrown together and again
that means it's its own thing and it's unique
and it's different yeah and i'll just say it
I don't think they need the masks, but I think
they probably helped in the beginning to make
the story. But I think the music stands without
the masks. Totally. And again, rewind many decades
ago when Kiss started. Was it the makeup that
got them exposure or was it the fact that they
had great songs? And the answer is yes to both.
But would the music have gotten there without
the two together? I don't know. I don't know
how finicky. the music scene was back then because
it was before i was born but to me i don't think
sleep token needs it but i think it's part of
the experience as well now yeah and again it's
his piece of art and it's how he's presenting
it and again that's when i'm going back do whatever
the hell you want. It's your piece. Let's hear
how it goes. I mean, if I can sit there and listen
to your music and not know how you look, I don't
give a shit. Right. But it's like, if you, but
if I go and see you live and that's part of your
whole package, then, then all the power to you,
you know, at the end of the day, it's, I love
kiss too. I fucking love kiss. But yeah, again,
like when I, when I first heard them, I was almost
wondering, I'm like, maybe it's just, maybe I'm,
I'm the wrong demographic for it, but I gave
it another try. And I was like, geez. Christ,
he's got some nice melodies there. And I kind
of kept going from there. And I've been following
them. I've kind of heard them during when we
were forced to be at home. So I didn't have anywhere
to be. So I got a real good chance to sit with
these records and kind of get to know them a
little bit better, you know. And that was, I
thought that band really, really shone because
it was totally different from all the other stuff
I was listening to. And I think the vibe coming
out of the jester into Sleep Token is just perfect.
I was going to go with Bleed by Meshuggah. Okay.
And it like a real kick in the ass. But then
right as I was about to say it, I kind of looked
down like. And that's the fun of this. It's totally
spontaneous. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, there
you have it, folks. Side B of our ultimate hard
rock mixtape, which kicked off with Royal Tusks
Hated, Broken Loves Like a Drug, Eva Under Fire's
Blow, Rage Against the Machines, How I Could
Just Kill a Man, White Reaper's Fog Machine,
Beartooth's The Surface, The Struts, Too Good
at Raising Hell, Tools, Jombie, Bad Flowers,
The Jester, and Sleep Tokens, Euclid. Head over
to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the songs
we've discussed in this mix through the playlist
embedded on the episode page. Now, Sandy, Altruistic
is out in the open right now. What does the rest
of 2024 have in store for Royal Tusk? Well, I
mean, when this comes out, we'll be ass deep
in a Canadian tour, touring Canada in the middle
of winter. I mean, I don't know who the hell's
bright idea was that, but I mean. Couldn't do
Key West. Oh yeah, no shit. But yeah, I think
we'll finish the Canadian tour. We're using this
time to actually reintroduce ourselves to everybody
that, you know, because we've been gone for a
little while due to personal sicknesses and just,
you know, and it's fun to. put new music out
and you get those messages from people that that
didn't leave our sides and stuff like that and
they know who they are and we you know we love
them so much and everybody from from coast to
coast from his tippy north to his tippy south
to texas you know what i mean like everyone has
been showing us love and i can't wait to get
back out there and so hopefully we'll be back
down to america sooner than later and uh hopefully
back to europe as well too Well, I was going
to say, if you're going to be coming back with
a statement, altruistic is the statement to come
back with. Congratulations on the new album.
Look forward to seeing you guys when you swing
through New Jersey. This has been an absolute
pleasure, Sandy. Thank you so much for taking
the time to join me on My Weekly Mixtape. My
man, thanks for thinking of us, man. That was
awesome. That was super fun. Remember, you can
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That's all for this week. Thanks again for listening.
And until next time, enjoy the tunes.