Hey, what's up? This is Eva from Eva Under Fire,
and you're listening to My Weekly Mixtape with
Brian Colburn. Stay rock stars. Welcome to My
Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that takes the classic
mixtape approach to building a modern playlist.
I'm your host, Brian Colburn. One of the things
I like to do on this show is chat and curate
mixes with some of the incredible artists whose
music has been featured on countless mixtapes
and playlists of mine. And the music from my
guest this evening has been a mainstay of all
of my hard rock playlists over the past year,
and rightfully so, because this band is everything
I love about hard rock music and then some. So
please welcome my guest for this evening, the
one and only Eva Marie, lead singer of Eva Under
Fire. Eva, thank you so much for joining me tonight
on my weekly mixtape. Brian, that's so cool,
man. Thank you so much. What a lovely intro.
Now, hopefully all your listeners will be like,
yeah, I got to check them out. Well, we're going
to get into all that, but we're going to start
with the same question I ask all my guests. And
I'll preface this by saying. There are no wrong
answers to this question. Eva, what does the
word mixtape mean to you? Oh, man. 1990s hip
hop. You know what I mean? Yeah, man, because
we grew up downriver Michigan, right? We're very
close to Detroit. And a lot of my friends all
had mixtapes as kids, you know what I mean? But
there was like a way that you would discover
people too, right? And then like people go like
door to door with their own mixtapes, you know?
So it's really. That's what I think about when
I think of mixtape. Definitely, definitely. Now,
our topic for tonight's mixtape collaboration
is hard rock cover songs. But first, before we
get into that, I'd like to talk to you a little
bit about your band's album, Love, Drugs and
Misery, which was released this past September
via Better Noise Music. After touring... The
summer of 2022 with Hailstorm, The Pretty Reckless,
and The Warning, which let me start by saying,
as a father of two young ladies, it's amazing
to see a stacked lineup of incredible female
singers carrying the hard rock torch across the
country. Wow, much love. Thank you for that.
Oh, no problem. But using that summer jaunt to
build up hype before the album's release and
then finally releasing it this past September.
How has the overall reception been thus far?
Because you're still relatively early in the
album cycle here. Yeah, it was crazy to me because
it was so unorthodox the way that we released
everything after pandemic world and crazy stuff.
And so finally we get a chance to be on this
awesome, you know, finally getting a chance to
be on these awesome stages with these, as you
mentioned, you know, high profile rock and roll
women, man. It was a killer stage show for sure.
And then finally releasing the album, I think
a lot of people really, really were receptive
to Blow, the single. It's got a hard rock edge,
but it's also just, it's fun. And I think having
Spencer on it really didn't hurt, which was cool.
But yeah, I'm finding it's a really cool response
because there's so many varied opinions of why
people love certain songs. And I love that they've
chosen so many different ones. I think that's
one thing on this album that I'm really proud
of is... It's got so many different sounds. And
I almost feel like the audience just can't pick
a favorite. You know, they're just like so many
of them are like different ones for different
reasons. I think that's been really fun to see.
And that's a great problem to have. First off,
that there's that there's no deciding on one
song that really resonates. My daughters are
huge fans of the song Blow that you had mentioned
earlier. And their reasoning for it is it's hard
rock music that they both say you can dance to.
And you really can. Because it's definitely a
hard rock song, but it's got this groove to it
where my nine -year -old is up and dancing. For
me, I love it because it's kind of the meeting
of the two worlds. Because a lot of younger kids
are kind of, through their friends, just kind
of indoctrinated into music by the pop music
they hear on Top 40 radio. And as a hard rock
fan myself, I like to let... than listen to as
much variety of music as possible. So when we
find something that the two of us connect on
or the three of us connect on, it's special to
me. And Eva Under Fire is one of those bands.
Oh, so fun. Awesome. I love knowing that. That's
cool, man. And the mini rockers are my favorite.
bright -eyed, bushy -tailed ones at the very
front of the, you know, we play, we love the
rock show. We love playing live. And so when
I see these little kids that are out there, man,
it's the coolest thing. And they just, they have
so much fun. And I love knowing that your kids
can dance around to it, right? That's part of
it for me. That's really cool. And I'll tell
you right now, every kid you see in that audience
in front of you on stage, that's a set of parents
that are doing it right. Letting kids experience
rock and roll music live. Letting them experience
the real deal. That is so important to me and
I love that. Let me tell you what. If you have
music, listen up musicians. If you have music
out there that kids like, you're doing something
right. Because then kids are honest. They don't
know how to lie to you. They will be brutally
honest. I had some kid come up to me at a concert
in New Jersey. She had a checklist. Right. She
had a rating like a scoreboard of all the bands
that she has seen. And she would give us each
a rating based on how well we performed live.
She was like 10. It was awesome. I'm like, you
never lose that spice, my friend. Never ever
lose that. That is awesome. You definitely have
a future Rolling Stone writer right there. And
then being from New Jersey, that's my stomping
ground. So I'm proud that the state is doing
well for you then. You guys are breeding music
critics, man. And I'm happy to report I got a
10. I got a 10 out of 10. All right. Rock and
roll. Well, one of the things I find most fascinating
about you personally, along with music, is that
you're also a licensed therapist who's actively
still treating clients. Yeah, I'm not taking
on any new clients because things are, you know,
getting busy. But I do. I just still have a handful
of clients. Yeah, that I see via telehealth.
And so it's been a really. interesting to figure
out how to blend the two worlds, but truthfully
so fulfilling and kind of like way more crossover
than I ever thought there would be. So it's been
really gratifying to see that. Well, being a
musician myself, as well as a podcaster, I know
how much work goes into crafting whatever the
art that you're working on, maybe be it a song
or a podcast interview, and then balancing that
art with your family and a full -time job on
top of that. There's that balance, which is really
a lot of the struggle of doing it. And it's impressive
that you're able to do both and be successful
at both. So a hat tip to that. And something
I want to bring up, listening to this album so
much over the last few months, there are some
lyrical themes that come across in the album
that are extraordinarily deep, but they're handled
with a care and compassion that really resonated
with me as a listener. So without getting into.
obvious specifics do the stories you hear as
a therapist maybe help you craft songs or do
they ever work into your mindset from maybe a
thematic standpoint I think in the sense that
people experience maybe certain broad concepts
like grief like anger right then then that kind
of like I'm always focused on emotions that I
feel like are relatable but also I feel like
my music is the I guess it's kind of the inverse
of what I do when I'm in the role of being a
therapist. So when I see clients, it's about
those clients and me trying to serve them living
their best life. And then when I write and I
sit with my music, that's kind of like my own
personal journal and reflective more so like
my own journey with the stuff. You know, it's
like music is my therapy and then I get to go
be a therapist for other people. I think that's
kind of how it works in my brain most of the
time. Let me tell you that resonates with me
so much because I have told people for years
without music, I am nothing. It is literally
the glue that holds me together. And this podcast,
I was doing a show prior to this playlist wars
and we had to go on hiatus. And the few months
that we weren't doing the show, my friends, my
family, my wife, everyone pointed out, you're
not yourself. Once I started back up podcasting
again, they immediately said, you're back. And
it's something where talking music with people
and hearing the stories about songs, it just
is a livelihood and something that I'm truly
passionate about. And I'm glad to hear I'm not
alone in that. That is really, really cool. Oh,
dude. Yeah, no preach because truly, I think
music should be the sixth love language, like,
like, this is where people can feel heard and
understood and like share emotion and talk and
feel like they can truly connect with others
through music. And that somehow music itself
right in the lyricism that you can feel like
somebody like you're not alone in that, like
you just said, and I think that's the most powerful
thing about it. I love that. So and thank you
for that. That's a high compliment to me that
people would listen to my lyrics about my story
and then be able to find themselves in that.
Oh, by all means. And look, I could go on for
the entire hour about this, but we did promise
the listeners that tonight we were talking about
hard rock cover songs. So I don't want to let
them down. And I'm sure listeners are just as
curious as I am to hear your cover song picks.
So anyone that knows me personally or even just
through this podcast knows I'm a cover song fanatic.
And I love dropping cover references whenever
possible. So my cover songs playlist is well
over 1 ,500 songs. So it's safe to say I have
plenty to choose from tonight. And the hardest
part will be what songs inevitably don't make
the cut. So, Eva, what were you looking for in
some of the hard rock cover songs that you're
bringing to the table this evening? Most of the
time, it's a place and time for me with music.
Right. So a lot of the cover songs that I choose,
I love hearing like a hard rock version of something
that I've either grown up with or that was special
to me for one reason or the other. So can I tell
you this cover song that I have on my brain?
Right. You asked me what mixtape meant to me.
And I said, like, 90s, early 2000s hip hop. Right.
And so my friend Jay from State of Mind and I
got on a cover together and we did Survivor.
So for me, it was like Destiny's Child has been
my jam since I was a kid. And now I need to try
to sing Beyonce. Come on. Right. And it was so
fun for me because I grew up listening to more
pop music. I'm a 90s kid. So I started trying
to emulate. vocalists like Christina Aguilera
and Alicia Keys. And Destiny's Child was one
of them. And so it was really cool for me to
be like, you know, my buddy called me up. Hey,
you know that soulful thing your voice does?
Can you do that on a cover song with me? I need
that. I need that. And I'll be honest, that is
actually one of the songs on my list for tonight.
And we'll see if we get it in because I think
that song is absolutely fantastic. It was a cover
song when I first heard it. I immediately said.
How the hell did this not happen sooner? Like
a hard rock version of Survivor. I don't know
what took so long. And you guys really rocked
it. I absolutely love because that song is a
powerful song in the pop sense. But when you
add those guitars, it becomes crushing. And I
absolutely love that version. So maybe spoiling
a cut of mine early in the night, but let's get
down to business. Tonight, as I mentioned. Eva
and I are going to be curating a hard rock cover
song's mixtape, and we're going to go back to
the 90s and use that old cassette deck approach,
meaning our mixtape is going to be broken up
into two sides, side A and side B. Eva, as my
special guest, will begin side A with her first
song choice, and then I'll add a song that I
feel best follows it up. We'll then flip -flop
choosing songs until we've mapped out the 10
songs for side A. We'll then give that mixtape
a proverbial flip, and we'll map out side B,
only this time... I'll kick the side off and
Eva gets to follow up. Our overall goal for this
episode is to craft the best hard rock cover
song mixtape possible through only 20 songs.
At the end of the show, you could take our conversation
to the next level by visiting the hard rock cover
songs page at myweeklymixtape .com and you can
give our final mixtape a listen. via the embedded
playlist. And if you like what you're hearing
on My Weekly Mixtape, please consider becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. And I'd like to welcome the
newest member of the Patreon mixtaper family,
Anne C. Anne, thank you so much for supporting
the show. Now, before I turn it over to Eva to
reveal track one, some of the fellow mixtapers
who follow me at My Weekly Mixtape on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok have chimed in
with their ideal opening track for a hard rock
cover song's mixtape. So I'm going to throw a
few of these out, Eva, just to give us some food
for thought. Perfect. Russell Y. chimed in with
Greta Van Fleet's cover of Adele's Rolling in
the Deep. Jason Whistle chimed in with In This
Moment's cover of Blondie's Call Me. Rob Jones
chimed in with Framing Hanley's cover of Little
Wayne's Lollipop. Seeker 11 chimed in with Metallica's
cover of Queen's Stone Cold Crazy. Hutchie chimed
in with Anthrax's cover of Kansas' Carry On Wayward
Son. And Sunshine Suze chimed in with Disturbed's
cover of Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence.
That's just scratching the surface of hard rock
cover tunes. Wow. I'm officially pressing the
record button on our mixtape and the floor is
yours. Why don't you dive into the song you chose
to kick off Side A and let us know why you chose
it. Oh, man. You know what, though? OK, so I'm
going to stick with the very first cover song
that I mentioned. Here's why. Because after hearing
all of your listeners timing in with all these
really awesome covers, there were some really
cool hard rock covers of Pabst on there. And
I think that we could really do some damage here
with that. with State of Mind featuring Eva Under
Fire covering Destiny's Child Survivor. That
is a great, great cover. I love the vibe that
you bring to it. And again, you're taking a pop
song and making it heavy. So following that up,
I think I'm going to stay in your lane right
now. And I'm going to go with a pop song that
was reimagined to follow that up. And I'll be
perfectly honest. My kids are massive fans of
this band, and I am a fan because I see the joy
it brings them. I do like a lot of their songs,
but this cover version is what sent me over the
top. And I play this version for them all the
time, and it helps bridge that pop rock gap between
them and myself. And the original is Imagine
Dragons Radioactive. But I'm going to go with
Bullet for My Valentine's cover from 2018's deluxe
edition of Gravity. Wow. I forgot they covered
that one. Holy smokes. Yeah. That's a great one.
Yeah. And they add just enough heft to it. And
it keeps the original pacing and the original
vibe of the song. But it's just enough heft and
just enough screaming in the specific parts of
the song where. It makes it heavier. And the
original for a pop song is heavy. Yeah, for sure.
But Bullet For My Valentines is heavier. And
that's what I'm talking about. It's got like
a heavy music bed, right? Because the original,
like Imagine Dragons, the singer has like a grit
vocal, but it's over top of a pop bed, right?
And I like what they've done with the cover is
because they heavied up the actual lyric music
bed to it. So you get that heavy guitar sound,
which is sweet. Right. So now I toss it back
to you. I got to do that. You know what I really
like? I really liked your listener's suggestion
of the Framing Hanley's cover of Lollipop. There
was some hip hop with that first track on Survivor,
right? With the Destiny's Child vibe. I'm going
to I'm going to take song three, Framing Hanley's
Lollipop, because again, pop vocal, but almost
like a rap vocal, right? With them with heavy
guitar. So and I mean. Who doesn't love, you
know, a good mashup of rap rock, right? Of course,
of course. And let me tell you, that could have
went in so many different directions because
sometimes rap rock hits and sometimes it falls
flat, especially when it's a rock band trying
to take a hip hop song and kind of flip it on
its side. It could go in either direction. And
Framing Hanley nailed that version. And that
is not an easy thing to do. All right. So we're
going to stay pop still, I think. I think I like
where you're going with this. And one of the
biggest songs of the last few years, since the
pandemic at least, was The Weeknd's Blinding
Lights. I mean, you think about the Super Bowl
performance and everything else. The Weeknd is
everywhere. However, Saint Sonia did an amazing
cover as a digital single in 2021. And I'm going
to put that in here because I'll be perfectly
honest. The first time I heard their version
and hearing Adam sing The Weeknd's vocals with
the grit that he has in his voice, I'm like,
this is another level. And I absolutely love
that version. So I'm going to go with Saint Sonia's
version of Blinding Lights. Super cool. Super
cool. I did not know. I'll have to check that
one out. I have not heard that cover. Oh, it
is. Unbelievable. They rocked the hell out of
it. And the original is fun. And it's got that
dance beat. And at parts of the song, they incorporate
that while keeping the rock heavy. So they flipped
it on its ear, but also maintained the vibe of
the original and found a perfect balance to make
it work. Oh, wow. That sounds intriguing. I'm
definitely going to have to check that out now.
All right. All right. So my turn. So now that
I said rap, rap, I'm going to roll with From
Ashes to New because I've seen them perform this
live. They cover and do an amazing job with Linkin
Park's Faith. So I think Faith is like one of
those moments when I was a kid and I was first
falling in love with rock music that was really
like just anything Linkin Park touched and like
Hybrid Theory especially, but like even Meteora
and Afterword. So like I've always had such a
love for them. But I think that the way that
Prometheus to New does that cover, you can tell
how passionate they were about Linkin Park as
well. Right. I just think that's the right way
to pay homage to that that sound, you know, and
they just it's the sound that they do so well.
I absolutely love it. I mean, Linkin Park is
a special band to me because I actually saw them.
Within several weeks of Hybrid Theory being released.
And we saw them at a venue called the Birch Hill
Nightclub. It was in Old Bridge, New Jersey.
And there was maybe a thousand people there.
And the album had just come out. A year later,
I see them with Metallica at Giant Stadium on
the Summer Sanitarium Tour. And I knew that that
ascension from the club to the stadium was only
a matter of time after seeing them live once.
Wow. So cool. Now having from ashes to new on
this list, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask on your
album, you do a song with them coming for blood.
Can you talk about how that collaboration came
together? Dude, it's insane, right? Matt killed
that verse by the way. So it was really, really
cool. We had met almost. forcibly, right? Because
we were the new kids on the block at the label.
And so like the suits kind of were like, hey,
we're going to toss you on a new song. And so
I showed up on their set of their music video
and went, hi. You know, but then when we turned
in our album and we were looking for features,
you know, we kind of reached back to that connection
because Matt, when I performed on Every Second,
he was like, we should have just done a new song.
And so here I am with this new music. And I'm
like, hey, Matt, remember that time you told
me? we should just collab on some new stuff he
was like oh dude he actually like facebook messaged
me right after he wrote the lyric he was like
what do you think about this like first shot
it was fire it was absolutely uh like just hit
the nail on the head and caught the vibe of that
track so well so yeah that was really cool getting
to work with them well i am gonna follow that
up then because From Ashes to New is a guest
on your album. I'm going to follow up with another
guest from your album and one of their cover
songs that I'm a big fan of. And it stays in
that pop realm because Faint for Linkin Park
was still in that pop arena that we've been sitting
in inside of this mix. So I don't want to stray
too far from that. And that pop singer would
be Adele with the song Someone Like You, which
I absolutely love the original. But in 2013,
when Ice Nine Kills did their hard rock cover
of it, it blew my frigging mind. And Spencer
really is your guest on the song Blow. So we
get to tie it all in in this fire world. I don't
know if you've ever heard this version, but they
take the beauty of Adele's version and they add
this level of heft and Spencer could sing it
and scream it. So he's kind of. bounces between
those vibes in the song and it really, really
works. It's one of the coolest ballad covers
I've heard because they take it to a different
place. So for one, I'm following up from Ashes
to News Faint with Ice Nine Kills, Someone Like
You. And then I'm going to ask you, one, have
you heard that version if you like it? And then
two, working with Spencer on Blow, how did that
come together and what was that like? Yeah. Yeah.
There was a lot that was there that were just
the suits. Right. So before I get to that, you
asked me if I heard that cover. I have not heard
that cover. However, I do know that Spencer is
as a vocalist is like the best of both worlds.
Right. I mean, he just he's got range for days
and then he just he's got the most visceral scream
ever. Right. I mean, rainy day is like one of
my favorite ever. Right. Like that new album
was like. What just happened? But in any case,
he's also just a super cool guy. So fast forward
to how we got to work together. We had turned
in the album. The label wanted Blow as a single,
and they were going to put that on the soundtrack
for the movie that I was in called The Retaliator.
Also, Spencer acted in the film. So they were
just kind of like, hey, any chance you might
want to hop on this track? And he loved the hook.
We had never actually met. This was like real
early in the pandemic world kind of situation.
So like only via email and like his studio sent
back the tracks after he had recorded them. And
then like we recorded our version of the music
video, but it had to be filmed on location where
he was from. And we couldn't like hang out because
pandemic was like, you know, really super. It
was really weird. Like a really I felt bad asking
because I didn't. I didn't get to build any rapport
with him at all. You know what I mean? So it
was very strange for me. But then the year after,
so this was Welcome to Rockville 2021. And I
am, it's the first time we're touring like ever.
You know, we just started touring that year.
And I'm sitting on. park bench waiting for my
friends. They just ran to the bathroom and somebody
else ran to get like a catering card. So I'm
chilling in the walkway area between where the
rest of the festival was and artists dining.
And so all of a sudden coming down this, you
know, giant hallway thing is Panther and crew.
And I just sort of like conned and I like waved
because I didn't know if he would even remember
who I was. And he pointed at me and then came
over just rocking out. acapella was like i'm
about to blow he starts singing the hook man
it was the coolest thing ever like this dude's
for real i love it i love it he was like that
hook was so sweet he was like thank you for having
me on the track we got a picture it was great
so you know even if it's weird at first people
trust your gut instincts and sometimes it just
works out yeah it really does i love album opening
tracks that was one of the first episodes i did
on my weekly mixtape and For a modern album opener,
I couldn't think of a better one in 2022 than
Blow because it just kicks the album off with
such an intensity and it's fun and it's exciting
and it really introduces you to the band in a
way that you hear elements of Blow kind of weaving
throughout the entire album as you listen through
it. And I think that's the perfect kind of exclamation
point. To start the album off. So I love the
fact that it kicks off your album because it
is such a killer tune. Oh, you rocked it. I'm
so grateful that you're very analytical because
we would have never thought of that. But now
that you mentioned it, I'm like, oh, he's got
a point. You do see themes there from this first
track on the rest of it. Yes. I'm the kind of
guy when I grew up, I had the, I guess, good
fortune. Of having parents that listen to albums.
So I started with vinyl and I was always staring
at the album cover. And then when I was old enough
to read, I would start reading the song lyrics.
And as you're listening to an album and reading
the song lyrics, and then it got a little smaller
on a cassette. You had the J cards you're folding
out. And then CDs, I'd open the book. And to
this day, I still do it because reading the lyrics
and hearing the songs, you start to see. Kind
of the thought process of the entire album coming
through this artist's writing. And you're reading
it and hearing it. And to me, the two kind of
really connect. And I really feel that with this
album, Blow really sets the tone for where the
rest of the album is going to go. Killer. Thank
you for that. Well, we're up to track seven on
Side A. And you've got to follow up Adele's Someone
Like You. Yes, it is. Okay. It's me. All right.
let's do a new cover of it's a hard rock cover
but it's a it's a new cover of a pop song have
you heard kayla king cover unholy no i haven't
oh my god you do so so okay so kayla king's new
on the scene she is like friends with similar
music people that we're friends with in our little
southeast michigan community here so that's how
we know each other awesome and i tell you what
everybody now is like covering the same like
pop songs that come out right so i feel like
people that cover these brand new covers of like
pop songs that are just releasing you with me
you've got to really stand out to to really like
get ahead of the game i guess and her cover of
sam smith's unholy is absolute fire And she's
got a really cool, like, she sings and plays.
So, like, you've got to see the music video,
too, when you listen to this cover. Because she
just killed it. Like, the whole thing is fire.
Kayla King. I'm, like, at this point now, I'm
feeling shame that there's a cover song out there
that I don't know. So, I'm, like, all excited.
I almost want to be, like, look, let's just pause
this interview for a minute. I'm going to go
geek out on this. But I love it because I got
a new cover song out of tonight. So that's so
frigging awesome. I'm so excited. I can't say
anything about it because I haven't heard it
yet. So I'm just going to move along and say
I'm going to follow up on a later episode about
it because I'm very excited to hear it. But following
it up because I do know the original. I want
to stay in this because we've got pretty much
we're sticking poppy on side A. And I'm going
to go with a cover of a pop song where. This
song went viral. I saw the video on YouTube and
I immediately said these guys wrecked this cover.
And that is a pun intended because I am going
with a cover of Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball.
And this is from 2013 and the band is called
Cry to the Blind. They kick it up like an 80s
metal power ballad. No way. The original has
that vibe. They took it to an extreme eighties
hairband power ballad, but with the heft of modern
hard rock and they do such a killer job of it.
So I am going to follow up Kayla King with cry
to the blinds cover of wrecking ball. That's
wild. I love it. I love it. I love it. That's
really cool. All right. So I guess it's me, right?
This is track 10. This is your, this is track
nine. This is your last song on side a. Okay.
All right. All right. All right. Check. All right.
How are we going to go out here, guys? God, there's
so many good ones. There really are so many good
ones. I wanted to save this one for the next
side because I feel like that because we but
I don't know what the next side is going with.
Okay. So this might be a little off theme here,
but Shinedown does an amazing Simple Man. God,
yeah. You know what I mean? And it's pretty.
And it's so Brent Smith could sing me the alphabet
and it's fine. You know, I just his voice is
so amazing. And I think maybe it doesn't stay
with like the current pop scene that we've got
going on Saturday. But it definitely is a rock
song about like a pretty ballad. And like sometimes
pop music can be, you know, I think it's got
a lot of pop. song elements when it comes to
the melody of the song. And I think even the
original, right, because it stays pretty true
to the original with the melody that it sings.
But it's just Brent Smith's version is just amazing.
Yeah. When you see that live, my wife and I had
the amazing opportunity back in 2019 before the
world shut down. We had just driven up to New
Hampshire to visit my in -laws and we got there.
And my father -in -law said, by the way, somebody
was selling. Tickets to shine down tonight. It's
only like 30 minutes from here. If you and Katie
want to go to a show tonight, I'm like, sure,
sign me up. So we went down the street and picked
up the tickets and it was they said 11th row
center. So I'm like, this is amazing. We got
there and it was 11th row, but rows 10 and up
was all standing room only. So we were basically
front row looking directly on the stage. And
I was I welled up a couple of times during the
night. Just it was shine down, bad flower and
dinosaur pile up. And. I mean, you know, Bad
Flower is an amazing group. I love their stuff.
And, you know, when they did Ghost, that song
really. And then the Jester, I was getting like
goosebumps. And then Shinedown came out and the
ballads. It's just such a powerful band. But
when they did Simple Man, everyone had their
cell phones and lighters up. It felt like it
was the 1980s. And he nailed the vocals with
ease. And it's just such a powerful live moment.
Such a wonderful cover. The only problem I have
is. How do you follow up a powerhouse vocalist
like Brent and end a side on a high note? And
there's only one song that I can think of that
could follow up Simple Man. Staying a little
slower at the end of the side, but a voice that
definitely rivals Brent in terms of the... Best
male hard rock vocalist category, I would say.
And I'm going to go back to 2007's Carry On.
And I'm going to go with Chris Cornell's cover
of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Wow. That's
a great cover. Holy smokes. I never thought about
that. But I mean, yeah, Chris Cornell. Exactly
right. Yeah, I get you. Yeah. Flipped the song
on its ear and turned it into this. heart -wrenching
ballad when the original is this upbeat happy
i mean i used to sing that song when i was three
and four years old trying to do the moonwalk
in my parents living room like but hearing chris's
version it's like why do i want to cry listening
to billy jean and that's what it does his was
so good i'll never forget this in 2008 david
cook was on american idol and he covered chris
cornell's version And all the judges started
praising, praising David Cook for his original
take on a Michael Jackson song. And I'm screaming
at the top of my lungs at the TV. Chris Cornell
did it. Obviously, David Cook's a fantastic singer,
too, because he pulled off Chris Cornell's version
so well. Right. But you're like, that wasn't
you. Yeah. I mean, the creativity came in. in
the arrangement that Chris brought to that pop
song. And I love when a cover flips a song on
its ear. So I'm going to close side A with Chris
Cornell's cover of Billie Jean. Beautiful. I
mean, truly, it's like a remake. You know what
I mean? It's a different thing than like a cover.
You know, sometimes you can transpose the, you
know, the guitar down half step, full step, whatever.
But, you know, to completely reimagine a song
like that is pretty amazing. If you played both
songs back to back, you would think you were
listening to two different songs. And that's
amazing. Yep. So, folks, there we have it. Side
A of our hard rock cover songs mixtape, kicking
things off with State of Mind featuring Eva Under
Fire, Survivor, Bullet for My Valentine's Radioactive,
Framing Hanley's Lollipop, St. Esonia's Blinding
Lights, From Ashes to News Faint. Ice Nine Kills
Someone Like You, Kayla King's Unholy, Cry to
the Blind's Wrecking Ball, Shinedown's Simple
Man, and Chris Cornell's Billie Jean. Head over
to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the songs
we're discussing tonight through the playlist
embedded on the episode page. Now, Eva, before
we flip this proverbial mixtape over to Side
B, I want to dip into some more Eva Under Fire
tunes, if you don't mind. And in 2018, the band
released a digital EP, Heavy on the Heart. And
there was a track on there that I absolutely
love, and it's called I Will Fight. And it was
a song that I thought, honestly, would fit seamlessly
into Love, Drugs, and Misery, but sadly didn't
make the final track listing. I have to ask,
was that song solely recorded for the EP? Was
that something that the label and you guys decided
at the end? As a fan, I'm a little surprised
it's not on the final track because it feels
like it sits in that whole range of songs we've
been talking about tonight. I love that. Thank
you for that. I will fight one of my personal
favorites also. And you're right. It was written
for the EP. And that was actually before we found
the label. And then they wanted us to go ahead
and get it right back in the studio. You got
an EP, but we want a full album. Right. So it
was kind of like a weird timing. thing and i
think that was probably the only the only hang
-up but you know with the wonderful world of
playlisting and technology now it's like people
can access whatever if anything all of our releases
and listen so so for me it was a little bit less
about you know i guess it allowed for like another
new song to be also like born onto the full -length
album version and that one just got a chance
to to have its heyday on the heavy on heart and
feet awesome And now I want to go back even further,
and I want to touch on a couple of your earlier
independent releases, 2016's War EP as well as
2015's Anchors album. Are there songs from these
albums that you still like to incorporate in
the headlining sets? Because as far as I'm concerned,
songs like I Am Fame, Broken, and Gunsmoke, along
with pretty much all of them, if I'm really being
honest here. would fit in seamlessly into a live
set. But I'm curious if any of those songs are
still kind of remaining in your live sets now
when you're headlining shows. Man, some of them.
And it's really funny because none of the ones
that you mentioned. But Gunsmoke, man, I haven't
heard that one in a long time. Okay, so Betrayer
sometimes will make it into the headlining sets.
We do have an April 1st show coming up, which
will headline a brand new venue near our hometown,
which is I can't I cannot wait. I mean, I'm just
so excited about new venue stuff because truly,
you know, especially after the pandemic, so many
places closed and like we were all wondering
where we're going to play. And so in that set,
we will be also including anchors, which we I
mean, that was the one that people first started
getting tattoos of. Like, yeah. I guess I didn't
really realize that I needed that song. And so
I wrote that song, but I didn't realize like
the power that it would have other people and
how much it would resonate. So that one's really
cool. And lastly, drift. Nice. Our very first
love song. Yeah. Very, very cool. All right.
Well, let's dive back into side B here and I
get to kick things off. So I'm not going to start
off side B poppy. I'm going to start off side
B with a cover of one of my favorite 80 songs.
And you know what? one of my favorite songs of
all time. So in order to pull this song off,
you really needed to bring it. And Incubus brought
it. And I'm not even going to say the song name.
I'll just say one sentence, and you'll know exactly
what I'm talking about. Dearly beloved, we're
gathered here today to get through this thing
called life. From 2009's Monuments and Melodies
compilation from the band, I'm going with their
cover of Prince's Let's Go Crazy. absolutely.
If you don't like, come on, Prince is one of
those artists that if you're going to attempt
to cover it, you better bring your a game because
that song is embedded in people's musical DNA.
And yes, Incubus really put together an amazing
faithful cover to the original. And I love it.
And that is how I'm going to start off side B.
Wow. Covering icon. Okay. All right. Legend.
All right. Okay. Yeah. We kick it off with a
Prince cover. Woo! All right. I'm going to risk
it. I'm going to risk it. I might stick my foot
in my mouth, but I think it's a really cool cover.
Eva Under Fire, covering journeys separate ways.
All right. I have it on my list. We went go big
or go home with covers, right? And that's kind
of what you said, you know, like when you cover
legend, you have to really like be confident
in what you're bringing to the table because
many people are like, oh, those are the untouchables,
right? And sometimes when people cover songs,
the idea behind it might be, oh, well, take a
less popular song and make it your own, right?
And there have been several bands that have done
that successfully. But we really wanted to intentionally
cover something that people were going to know.
It was going to have mass appeal. So Journey.
I absolutely love it. It's my favorite all -time
Journey song. It's not an easy track to pull
off vocally. And the fact that you do it with
such ease puts a huge smile on my face every
time I hear it. And while, again, your version,
like Incubus', stays faithful to the original
structure, the band does... Turn it up to 11
if you want to use the Spinal Tap reference.
And you guys really make it your version of the
song. So now, as a podcaster, I promise you,
I am not TMZ. I am just a music nerd. And Journey's
Frontiers album, which is what Separate Ways
came from, is in its 40th anniversary. And on
the date of its 40th anniversary, Daughtry released...
A cover as well of Separate Ways with Lizzy Hale.
With my girl, Lizzy Hale. And you were performing
that song on tour. I am friends with Dan, Casey,
and Aaron at The Itch. I've listened to your
interviews on their show. And I heard you talk
about that Lizzy had said to you, if only I had
the guts to come up on stage, I would have joined
you for it. And then in January, she's doing
it with Daughtry. I would just love to hear,
obviously. I'm fans of both. I love both versions.
I would love to hear what you think because here's
another cover. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And so here's
my take, right? Cover culture, right, is now
a very popular thing. Yes. And so I go on TikTok
and I see, right, I mentioned on side A, throw
it back to side A, Kayla King's version of Unholy,
but that was one of probably 30 in the same week
that that song came out. I feel like it's a little
strange only because maybe this particular song,
covering Journey's Separate Waves, is not like
a new song that's coming out. It's not a new
trend. However, we recorded it and released it
just trying to expand our 80s cover rap. And
I just so happen to have a vocal range that does
that well. And then... Stranger Things came out
and used it in the opening for Stranger Things
4. And I was like, oh, missed opportunity. They
should have used our cover. I was a licensing
thing. We could have made it. Right. But then
because we've been performing it on tour, we
get to open for Lizzie Hale. And she's like,
oh, my gosh, it's my go to karaoke song. And
so now sidebar, Chris Daughtry, who has worked
with Lizzie Hale a million times and a million
years ago. hears it on Stranger Things, got inspired
and wanted to cover it and feature his friend
Libby. So I don't, you know, this is everybody's
world, right? So like we all want to cover the
same song. Fine. Do you know what else happened
to me? I played it at a different festival in
like June of 2021 when we were on tour with Buck
Cherry and we were also playing with our friends
in Shallow Side and they cover it too. And they
covered it on the same show. So, pray for all.
That's fantastic. Look, honestly, as a cover
song fan, like I told you, I have 1 ,500 on my
playlist. I love hearing multiple versions of
the same song. I actually have this thought in
my mind of an episode that I want to do down
the road on my weekly mixtape, which is just
pick one song and have 20 different completely
varied versions of one song for an episode. kind
of show all the different artists takes on a
track. So I love it. I'm all for it. And like
I said, in no way, shape or form, was I trying
to be like TMZ there? I just love the fact that
this song is one of my favorites as a child.
seeing all this kind of resurgence because of
its 40th anniversary and Stranger Things and
everything else. So good. I mean, if you want
to know what I want to do with it, I would just
love for myself and Hailstorm and Chris Dockery
to all tour together and we'll just go up and
sing it all together. Why not? Oh, hell yeah.
I'd love that. Front row for that one. Hell yeah.
All right. So you mentioned. So here's the thing.
We're only allowed to hit one band. per episode
because you know rules and everything so before
i move on i had another eva under fire cover
song on my list that i'm not going to be able
to use now but damn it i'm not going to miss
this opportunity to talk to you about it and
that is your cover of you two's with or without
you know what screw it it's my show i could do
what i want i am following up Separate Ways Worlds
Apart with Eva Underfire's cover of U2's With
or Without You. Because you know what? U2 is
a massive band and Prince and Journey and U2,
it all works. I make up the rules here. I don't
care. There you go. You tell them, friend. You're
calling an audible and it's two of my songs.
Yeah, I love it. Honestly, this is one that really
resonated with me because... When I first heard,
I put the CD and I'm listening to the album.
I always scroll through the track titles, but
I don't really hyper focus because track titles,
there are a lot of songs that could be called
whatever the name of the song is. So all of a
sudden I hear the opening and I hear the vocals
hit and I say, ooh, it's U2. And the thing that
really impressed me about this cover is it was
dangerous. Because you take a song that is ingrained
in three decades of people's DNA. It was ingrained
in the 80s from U2. And then in the 90s, my wife's
favorite show ever is Friends. And the scene
where Rachel and Ross are, and that song is playing
in the background, it had a resurgence. And then
U2, one of the biggest bands on the planet, it's
seen generations of love for this song. To take...
chances with a cover is exciting and dangerous
but it's risky because the purists might turn
sour on it oh they'll turn coat and attack you
yeah quick what you did to this song was you
brought it to a completely different place and
it was an absolutely gorgeous and stunning rendition
of it and it it kind of builds up to the ending
where it gets heavier But the fact that the beginning
was so erythral in the opening and tribal almost
with the just kind of with the hitting drums
and it was very quiet and soft. I love it. So,
yeah, I'm following up Eva under fire with Eva
under fire. And you could call me out in the
show notes. I understand. But you know what?
She's our guest tonight. And I do love this version.
And damn it, I'm doing what I want. There you
go. See, you're taking risks. I'm taking risks.
You're like, hey, I'm having back to back Eve
Under Fire songs. I'm like, hey, I'm trying to
cover the biggest band in the world. I get it.
We just do what we want out here, right? It's
rock and roll. So I have to ask, were you nervous
rearranging a song that everybody knows so well?
Was it something where you were like, this is
risky? Oh, yeah. I mean, we knew what we were
up against when we thought, OK, cover songs for
us are Go Big or Go Home. As soon as we made
that rule, we knew what we were up against. So
then it just became a game of how far can we
push this? We're like, oh, U2, biggest band on
the planet. No problem. Sure, it's a little intimidating,
of course, but I think any of our cover that
we do typically are because of the nature of
the way that we... approach cover song right
i mean we've you should have seen us when we
were doing covers like we did cover set during
the pandemic because our friend that books for
us and in this local area she's actually the
owner of the new venue that we're opening up
for in april 1st and she she there was nothing
else going on it was during the pandemic it was
like a food truck outside by the detroit river
and she was like will you guys come and play
cover like sure she was like i need like three
hours and i was like holy crap okay So we learned,
dude, we played Zeppelin. We played Metallica.
We played, we, we just ran through the gamut.
We played Biggie Small. Like we did so many crazy.
Is there a video of this? Cause I want to see
this now. If you go, if you go into our Facebook
archives, I'm pretty sure they would have, they
would have video footage of this. It was all
just crazy acoustic jams, you know, but like
some of the covers that we found would really
translate super well live. We kept them around.
We worked it out. And I think it really was helpful
to kind of, you know, gain a little bit of perspective
on, you know what, we want to do this go big
or go home thing. This is a good testing ground.
Absolutely love it. Well, Eva, we're back to
you now after the back -to -back Eva covers.
What are you going to follow it up with? Go big
or go home on side B. Right. Oh, there were so
many cool ones. All right. so when we're talking
about iconic songs right iconic covers right
Marilyn Manson covering Sweet Dream by the Arrhythmics
and it was it I mean these are the covers that
break people's career right like that's and I'm
pretty sure that that is where Manson just hit
like guy rocketed to stardom Right. Oh, yeah.
And for all of the things that, you know, say
or not say about Marilyn Manson's music and his
original isn't like how provocative and how like
crazy shock rock he was and is. But that was
such a creepy, haunting version. Absolutely love
it. Obviously, Annie Lennox is a treasure on
vocals. And yeah, she's such an inspirational
female vocalist through all the stuff she did
with the Eurythmics. through even some of the
newer stuff, her cover of I Put a Spell on You
that came out a couple of years ago just makes
the hair on my arm stand up. It's just so wonderful
and so perfect. Marilyn Manson's was so dark
and it truly introduced the, dare I use the word,
character of Marilyn Manson, but it really introduced
the persona of Marilyn Manson. And like I say
all the time on my shows, We're here to talk
about music. I'm not going to get into his personal
life and any of the stuff happening. We're talking
about the songs tonight. And his cover of Sweet
Dreams was a complete reimagining. And it was
taking a song that everybody knew and flipping
it on its side. So I love it. And I know what
I'm going to follow it up with. Oh, boy. And
our friends at The Itch are going to stand up
and celebrate. Because this is another band that
has been on their show several times and I know
they are big fans of. I'm going to go with a
cover of Phil Collins. And I'm going to go back
to 2004. And I'm going to go with Nonpoint's
cover of In the Air Tonight from the Recoil album.
Nonpoint is one of the most underrated bands
from that new metal genre. And taking a song
like In the Air Tonight, which is so iconic.
Everybody knows that drum part. Nonpoint takes
this iconic drum beat and turns it into a tribal
opening where the whole opening of the song,
which is normally very quiet in the Phil Collins
version, is tribal and it's still slow and you're
still kind of like building, but it has a more
rock edge to it and a more rock flavor. And when
they kick into that iconic do -do -do -do -do
-do -do -do. It kicks in heavy and it still brings
the originals heft. So to take on a challenge
like that, non -point knocked it out of the park.
And I'm going with in the air tonight, following
up sweet dreams. Wow. What a cool reference.
We got a chance to play with non -point. I'm
ship rock. It was sick. They're amazing live.
So I love that. I think I'm going to go with
disturbed. Because they have a lot of really
iconic covers. But I'm going to go with your
recommended. The Simon and Garfunkel Sound of
Silence. It's such a great cover. David Draymond's
voice is another one that's just iconic. Disturbed,
you could do almost a whole list of Disturbed
covers. And The Sound of Silence is one. It's
got seven kajillion billion views. I mean, my
parents called me up and they're like, hey, have
you heard of a band called Disturbed? And I'm
like, oh, God, you heard The Sound of Silence
cover, didn't you? And they're like, yeah, this
is unbelievable. Believe it or not, I had Disturbed
on my list, but I didn't have that one because
I wanted to have something kind of waiting in
the wings. I had their cover of Land of Confusion
by Genesis. Because that one pummels and it's
so heavy. Also a great cover. I mean, they rock
their covers. So I love that pick. But following
it up, you just went like big, big, big. I mean,
yeah. Okay. So I'm going to go with your friend
Lizzie Hale here because we haven't talked about
her in this list. And this is really tough. Because
I want to stick with the big names that we're
covering. So I am going to go with Hailstorm
covering, oh God, I'm torn right now. Okay, ACDC,
Shoot to Thrill. Nice. From the reanimated 2
.0 covers album. I mean, if you're going to do
an ACDC cover song, you have to bring it. And
ACDC has such a distinct vocal delivery, whether
it's Bon Scott or Brian Johnson. And Lizzy Hale
takes a song which was, you know, it's on the
Back in Black album. Brian Johnson had been singing
it for the better part of 40 years. It was in
Iron Man. Everybody knows. And she just slays
it. And yeah, that's not an easy song to do,
but she brings her own. to it where you're like,
wow, this is truly an ACDC cover, but it's also
truly a Hailstorm song as well. So I'm going
to go with Hailstorm. Yeah. Shoot to thrill.
Nice. Nice. And shoot another one. You could
take your pick of covers. I seriously just could
have picked one at random, honestly. Yeah. Right.
I was like, which one did we get to pick? All
right. All right. All right. All right. All right.
So this one that I'm going to pick is a little
bit of a. Lippity -flappity. Because I don't
know which artist is bigger. But I'm going to
go with Johnny Cash covering Nine Inch Nails.
Ooh. Because I don't think a lot of people don't
know still. It was news to me even just a few
years ago that that was actually not his song.
Oh, my God. The original, I mean, the downward
spiral was my senior year in high school. When
I first heard Johnny Cash, like I'm aging myself
out with that one. But when I first heard Johnny
Cash and I mean, those last albums, they were
certainly country because Johnny Cash was country.
But make no mistake, when Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
are your backing band for the American albums,
they were rock, too. And I'll be honest, Johnny
Cash is hurt is I'm just going to hot take. It's
a better rock song than Nine Inch Nails hurt.
Wow. I mean, I'll have to give that to you, but
that's what I mean. Like, you know, when we're
talking about covering icons, like Johnny Cash
is an icon in his own right, but for him to cover
Trent Reznor's song, I mean, you would hear the
rock version of it from Ninersdale, and you would
think that would have been the cover because
Johnny Cash is so famous. Like, why wouldn't
it have been the other way around? And look,
you know, just the whole story behind it, like...
Oh, my God. The video like I'm getting my hair
on my arm is standing up just thinking about
it. It's such a powerful, beautiful send off
to such a legendary career. So that's impossible
to top. I have one song left and you have one
song left. So I'm torn right now. I have two
songs that I want to plug in. I don't know which
one to go with. All right, I'm going to go with
a cover of one of the biggest bands in the world.
And it's a cover by a group that you have toured
with. And I'm sure you have seen this song performed
on that tour with this band. But I am going to
go with the Warnings cover of Enter Sandman by
Metallica featuring Alessia Cara from the 2021
Metallica Blacklist compilation. Here is a song
that. in no way, shape, or form, does anybody
usually want to attempt to cover? Because it
is one of the most iconic rock songs of all time.
You think about it in sports references. You
have the Sandman for the New York Yankees coming
out to it. I mean, it is a stadium anthem. And
here is this band who gets a pop singer and joins
this Metallica compilation and covers their biggest
hit song ever. And they completely... change
the vibe of the song. And I love it so much because
everybody knows when you hear the opening guitar,
what's going to happen. And I thought it's exact.
I figured, oh, here we go with a cover event
or Sandman. And when the drums came in and they
were in a different timing, I said, you have
my attention. And then when I heard the singer,
my daughter immediately said, wait a minute,
that's a pop singer. I'm like, wait a minute.
What the hell is happening here? And then the
whole song is basically flipped on its ear until
the ending where they kick back into the original
for the close. It's such a brilliant reimagining.
I'm so glad I found a place to put it on this
list. So I'm going to go with the Warnings Enter
Sam. And they've done a ton of great covers.
And I know you shared the stage with them with
Hail Storm and the Pretty Reckless last year.
I don't know if this one was on the set list
or not, but I'd be curious just what your thoughts
are of The Warning as a whole. Yeah, no, I mean,
they're great girls, you know, and they really
go out there and kill it live. They have so much
fun. You can just see it on their face how much
fun they have, right? But I loved seeing them
in the space where I found them at this particular
run because it was more of them focusing on their
own release, right? And I think that the single
at that time was Choke. Choke, love that song.
Oh my God, so good. Yeah. So, I mean, I felt
like they came into their own, right? They'd
grown up as kids covering Metallica, you know,
the three Mexican sisters that are just, they've
always grown up playing music together and they
got their start very early. But this was a space
where I really felt like I could see that this
was the warning, you know? Yep. And it was really
cool to see. And they're so sweet too. They're
just. The warning is one of those bands. I'm
going to drop maybe an obscure band here. I,
if you've heard of them, I'll, I'll be like,
wow, that's amazing. But a band I really enjoyed
a lot in the nineties was a group called drain
STH and they're not from the U S but they were
a. heavy female front, all female band that had
this almost Alice in Chains kind of vibe to it.
And they were really cool and really eclectic.
And The Warning gives me that vibe. When I first
heard Choke, I'm like, oh, my God, this is Drain
STH through three younger ladies. And I absolutely
love it. So for anyone out there that doesn't
know either The Warning or Drain STH, here's
some musical rabbit holes for you to go down
tonight, along with obviously Eva Under Fire.
But Eva. You now have the hardest job of them
all. We're closing out the entire night, and
you need to find a song that follows up, disturbs
the sound of silence, hailstorms shoot to thrill,
Johnny Cash is hurt, and the warnings enter Sandman.
You organized this. You put me on the spot. On
the spot. The quintessential last spot. Yes.
All right, let's see. I got it. Okay. I got it.
I got it. I got it. I have always loved this
cover. And I mean, it's not a band that we've
worked with just yet, but it's one of the biggest
bands on our roster. Five Finger Deathwrench
covering Blue on Black. Nice. Yes. Such a great.
Just the way that I've been. And maybe this is
because I'm a vocalist. I don't know, because
every single cover I've always mentioned is like
something about the vocal captures me. and makes
it convincing and makes it theirs for me. Right.
So I guess that's maybe the most important component
of me listening to covers. But yeah, it just
so I mean, it's so suits his grit. Oh, definitely.
I had Five Finger Death Punch on my list. I had
their cover of Bad Company. Oh, Bad Company would
have been a great one, too. Yeah, they're both
great covers. But look, any universe where more
people are talking about the genius that is Kenny
Wayne Shepard, the original recording. Makes
me happy because Kenny Wayne Shepard is one of
those one of the most underrated blues guitarists
I've ever seen live. His band is so great. I
love that his music has resonated enough where
a band the size of Five Finger Death Punch puts
it out and then people go, wow, this is a great
Five Finger Death Punch song. They're like, no,
really. It's Kenny Wayne Shepard and it introduces
Kenny Wayne Shepard to a whole new audience.
So I am completely on board for it. I absolutely
love it. And side B is really it's off the rails.
We kick things off with Incubus. Let's go crazy.
And then we had a two for Tuesday double shot
of Eva under fire with separate ways, worlds
apart and with or without you breaking the rules
here on my weekly mixtape. And no, I don't care.
Following that up was Marilyn Manson. Sweet dreams.
non -points in the air tonight, disturbs the
sounds of silence, hailstorms shoot to thrill,
Johnny Cash is hurt, The Warning featuring Alessia
Cara, Enter Sandman, and closing it out, Five
Finger Death Punches, Blue on Black. Head over
to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all of the songs
we've discussed through the playlist embedded
on the episode page. Now, Eva, before we hit
eject on this mixtape, We got to talk about touring.
The band is about to head to Europe with Skillet
and Like a Storm for the Day of Destiny tour.
Why don't you tell people about that run of shows
and what Europe can expect from this run? Holy
cannoli. Can I just tell you, you gave us so
much love to our single Blow, right? And it hit
top 10 in US radio, but it hit top three in German
radio. So we have, I think, four or five dates.
in Germany on this run. So I cannot wait. We've
been asked so many times on so many social media
platforms. When are you coming to the year? When
are you coming to Germany? When are you coming
to Europe? When are you coming to the UK? And
now we finally get a chance to like really spread
our wings and go get on a plane and like do it
for real. And it's with our friend. Like I can't
even, I'm so excited like that. What a crazy,
awesome, just pure blessing. skillet are the
type of humans that you wish you would always
meet in in like the business world right where
everybody's telling you on the business side
of things is so messy it's so chaotic you know
don't get so discouraged and blah blah you meet
people like skillet humans that do it like that
they are one of the hardest working bands i've
ever met they are so energetic live and they
are some of the kindest humans you'll ever meet
they take care of their band and i remember sitting
on the, um, like one of the green room couches
with their production team, production manager.
And he was like, listen, when you guys go to
Europe, there's a couple of things you gotta,
you know, make sure you take note of like the
electrical outlets and whether or not you run
into much power there. And like, there's converters
and things like, so just ask me. So for us to
finally get our shot at going to Europe and it's
with that guy, we were like, Hey, remember all
those tips and tricks you gave us? Looks like
you get to just walk us through it, pal. He was
like, you guys again. We were like, yeah, we
get to go there, friends. So we cannot wait.
Like a Storm is also just very sweet. Their band's
already, I've never met them, but their band's
already reaching out on Instagram. Like, hey,
your returner buddy is cool. Let us know if you
guys need anything. So just, I can't wait. Well,
I mean, we've been talking about covers all night
and they covered Linkin Park's Crawling. They
did a fantastic job of that. They did. And then
obviously, let's not forget, we talked about
90s hip hop way back at the beginning of this
episode. Like a Storm covered Gangster's Paradise
and did a killer version of that as well. How
appropriate for mixtapes. Exactly. We're just
dropping references all over the place. Well,
then let's... bringing you back to the U .S.
after this tour. You've blown up in Europe. Everyone
loves you in Europe. You're coming back to the
U .S. this summer. You're playing the Incarnation
Festival July 14th through 16th in Mansfield,
Ohio. And you're on the bill Friday with bands
like Slipknot, Megadeth, Bush, Flyleaf with Lacey
Sturm back in the mix, and then many, many others.
Besides your set, are there any bands that you're
looking forward as a music fan as well? So many.
Brian, I can't even tune. Like, I don't know.
I don't know what I'm going to do. My hope is
many of them will also be on several other festivals
so that I can, like, try to schedule which stages
I go to at which events, right? So, like, I mean,
we're playing Upheaval. We're playing Incarceration,
like you said. We're playing Blue Ridge. We're
playing Rock Fast. We've got Rock for Vets this
year, which is awesome. I think this is our most
heavy schedule for festivals that we've ever
done. So I can't wait. It'll be really cool.
But yeah, there's there's a whole list of people
that I got to go see because I haven't. But we
got a chance to do a lot of that this past year
at Aftershock. And I mean, Evanescence and Youngblood
and Bring Me the Horizon and My Chemical Romance.
Like it's wild to me that I get to do this for
fun. I get it. Look, I've been in bands for.
30 years and while we never got to the level
that you were we got to play certain shows opening
for black label society and the misfits and other
bands in new jersey venues like the stone pony
even those one day that we were kind of like
we called it our day in the sun we were still
playing rock star on stage but then immediately
transitioning into fans as soon as we were done
because of the love we had for the other bands
on the bill and i love seeing and talking with
other musicians that are still in that moment
because it is such a beautiful thing because
it really is a full circle music is so it just
unites all of us and it's such a wonderful thing
so now as a podcast host if I don't ask this
question I'm just not doing my job so is there
any new music in the works that you'd be willing
to share or is there anything maybe some big
bombshell news that you want to kind of drop
to give people something to chew on, new music
from Under Fire coming, even though the new album's
only a few months in? Is there anything else
in the works? So lucky for you, friend and friends,
we did take a long time to release the album
we just put out. And so we're chomping at the
bit to release more. And our people, our team,
they know that. And because this is a cover song,
podcast i can tell you that we're just getting
started writing so the new music from us will
be a minute but we may or may not be dropping
some more covers to keep you guys satiated until
the next evander fire album absolutely i can't
tell you when and i can't tell you what it was
but it will be it will make your covers heart
happy All right. Well, then once those are out,
we're going to have to have you back so we could
talk more cover songs. And Eva, I look forward
to catching you guys the next time you swing
through New Jersey. I want to thank you first
off for the music that you've brought into my
and my girls lives and my family's lives. Thank
you for being a positive musical role model to
my young. impressionable children that are listening
to this music now and paying attention to it.
And it's resonating with them. And most importantly,
beyond all of that, thank you so much for joining
me on my weekly mixtape and crafting, which I
think is an absolutely killer mixtape of cover
songs. Thank you for being my guest tonight.
There we go. Thank you guys so much for having
me. Thank you, Brian, for all the kind words,
truly now. And I can't wait to, I can't wait
to see what you girls think of the next new stuff.
Here we go. Awesome. Awesome. Remember folks,
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You can also head to my weekly mixtape .com to
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That's all for this week. Thanks for listening
until next time. Enjoy the tunes.