WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.560 i think that radio stations kind of got maybe 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:04.540 sick of playing Smooth Criminal and then 00:00:04.540 --> 00:00:06.980 all of a sudden like Movies became this thing 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:11.400 all over again. What's up y 'all! This is Dryden 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:14.619 from Alien Ant Farm and you're listening to My 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:19.879 Weekly Mixtape with Brian Colburn. Yeah baby! What 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:23.039 is going on friends? Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:26.100 I'm your host Brian Colburn, and my guest tonight's 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:28.870 been on my mixtape.... well, actually, at the time, 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:32.429 mixed CDs, and now playlists. And that's been 00:00:32.429 --> 00:00:35.229 for the better part of a quarter century. So 00:00:35.229 --> 00:00:37.490 I'm extremely excited to welcome Dryden Mitchell 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:40.329 of Alien Ant Farm to the show. Dryden, thank 00:00:40.329 --> 00:00:42.689 you so much for joining me tonight, man. Yeah, 00:00:42.770 --> 00:00:44.950 thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Thanks 00:00:44.950 --> 00:00:47.810 for your time. Well, let's start with the basics 00:00:47.810 --> 00:00:51.649 here. What does the word mixtape mean to you? 00:00:52.630 --> 00:00:56.270 Oh, man. You know, I think at the time, like 00:00:56.270 --> 00:00:59.070 back when it was like tapes and stuff, it was 00:00:59.070 --> 00:01:03.149 kind of a cool way to share your, maybe vicariously 00:01:03.149 --> 00:01:06.609 what your thoughts are to someone else, like 00:01:06.609 --> 00:01:08.510 maybe like a girl that you like or something 00:01:08.510 --> 00:01:10.269 like that. You know, it's kind of a cool sentiment 00:01:10.269 --> 00:01:14.370 to compile a list of, I can't remember ever making 00:01:14.370 --> 00:01:16.810 like a hateful mixtape and handing it to like 00:01:16.810 --> 00:01:19.310 a dude, but maybe that could have been cool too. 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:21.700 And I don't know that I ever did it for a girl, 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:24.239 but it makes sense that it may be kind of a cool, 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:27.000 like almost like a, I don't know, like a Hallmark 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.640 card, but full of songs, you know, that's pretty 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:32.799 rad. And I would make a, I remember like taping 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:36.400 songs, this will age me, but taping songs off 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.200 the radio and stuff, you know, and I would get 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:41.700 like, I'd always miss the first verse or some 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.659 shit, you know, just because I didn't catch it 00:01:44.659 --> 00:01:49.040 in time or, but yeah. I've made plenty of mixtapes 00:01:49.040 --> 00:02:12.199 for sure. Well, tonight we're here to talk all 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:15.319 things Alien Ant Farm, and I want to start back 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:18.520 at the beginning. And I'm not talking about Anthology, 00:02:18.699 --> 00:02:21.139 even though it's celebrating its 25th anniversary 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:25.060 this year. We'll get to that. Okay. I want to 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:29.939 go way back to the self -titled or $100 EP and 00:02:29.939 --> 00:02:33.159 love songs, which features early versions of 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:36.400 tunes that showed up on later albums like SS 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:38.919 Recognize, which was re -recorded for Truant 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:42.300 and Wishing, which became Wish on Anthology. 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:46.120 I mean, we're going back to cassettes here. Yeah, 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:50.719 that's cool. I worked for this Iranian guy named 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.919 Hassan and he earned Marcello's pizza and I had 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:57.460 a crappy little car. And even before the tapes, 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.719 I would listen, we would record our rehearsals 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:02.159 just with like a ghetto blaster, but you'd have 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:04.680 to like throw like a sweater over the mic because 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:07.939 it was just way too loud to get any kind of sound. 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.520 But I would, I would roll around at my job, Marcello's 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:14.819 delivering pizzas and coming up with vocal lines. 00:03:15.310 --> 00:03:18.810 from these crappy mixtapes of sorts that we would 00:03:18.810 --> 00:03:21.810 make from our rehearsals and stuff. So it just 00:03:21.810 --> 00:03:24.669 reminded me of that. Now, when you listen back 00:03:24.669 --> 00:03:27.729 to those early versions of the songs, what stands 00:03:27.729 --> 00:03:31.270 out to you the most? The rawness of the recordings, 00:03:31.530 --> 00:03:34.849 how the songs evolved once you re -recorded them, 00:03:34.870 --> 00:03:37.509 or maybe even something else? Yeah, you know, 00:03:37.509 --> 00:03:39.490 I haven't heard them in so long, but I almost 00:03:39.490 --> 00:03:42.689 can hear them in my head from the past. Probably, 00:03:42.770 --> 00:03:45.580 yeah, just... crappy production and just you 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:47.979 know at the time just trying our best you know 00:03:47.979 --> 00:03:51.960 and and uh we finagle studio time with kind of 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:54.319 someone that knew someone or you know we didn't 00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:57.900 have any any means of that much cash or you know 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:00.659 so i would say the the thing that stands out 00:04:00.659 --> 00:04:03.300 to me the most is how kind of stripped down and 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:05.740 there's a charm to that too though you know what 00:04:05.740 --> 00:04:08.340 i mean it's like a cool song will always kind 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:11.099 of shine through um you hear the you know the 00:04:11.099 --> 00:04:14.110 oldies and stuff You hear these lo -fi bands, 00:04:14.349 --> 00:04:17.509 I think in that time they were probably trying 00:04:17.509 --> 00:04:20.709 to sound as slick and beautiful as possible. 00:04:20.750 --> 00:04:25.589 It just happened to be playing on inferior gear, 00:04:25.709 --> 00:04:29.370 I guess. And the songs from those cassettes were 00:04:29.370 --> 00:04:31.970 eventually re -recorded for the band's Greatest 00:04:31.970 --> 00:04:34.569 Hits album. And for those listening, I'm not 00:04:34.569 --> 00:04:37.850 talking about a recent compilation. I'm talking 00:04:37.850 --> 00:04:41.430 about the band's debut that was released two 00:04:41.430 --> 00:04:46.069 years prior to Anthology back in 1999. I always 00:04:46.069 --> 00:04:49.269 was a big fan of the tongue in cheek title to 00:04:49.269 --> 00:04:53.370 this album. Was there a cheeky sarcasm to that 00:04:53.370 --> 00:04:56.129 or was there a little up and coming confidence? 00:04:56.209 --> 00:04:59.029 Like, you know, yeah, these songs really are 00:04:59.029 --> 00:05:02.879 going to be hits one day. Yeah, maybe, but I 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:05.480 think it was more just the joke of it all. I 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:09.100 think we thought, all right, you know that some 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:12.720 journalists in these muso mags are going to take 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.939 the bait and kind of crap all over the band for 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:18.180 who do they think they are with the greatest 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:20.819 hits. They don't even have one hit. So yeah, 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:23.740 I think that was more our intention. We never 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:26.600 really took much of anything too seriously. The 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:30.120 music we took seriously, but that was about it. 00:05:30.430 --> 00:05:32.889 I think we maybe to our own detriment, we suffered 00:05:32.889 --> 00:05:36.629 with image and trying to be cool. I feel like, 00:05:36.629 --> 00:05:39.670 you know, in those early days and even now of 00:05:39.670 --> 00:05:42.509 being kind of almost like an anti front man of 00:05:42.509 --> 00:05:46.050 we all love rock and roll and the theatrics that 00:05:46.050 --> 00:05:48.709 comes with it and stuff like metal. We're huge 00:05:48.709 --> 00:05:51.949 fans of but no one really wanted to go down that 00:05:51.949 --> 00:05:55.110 road. And while I think we put on a cool live 00:05:55.110 --> 00:05:58.750 show, we've never been into. taking anything 00:05:58.750 --> 00:06:02.509 too seriously or going down that path. So I think 00:06:02.509 --> 00:06:05.410 in a roundabout way, Greatest Hits was like this 00:06:05.410 --> 00:06:08.149 weird little middle finger of how things are 00:06:08.149 --> 00:06:11.350 supposed to be, I guess. And since a lot of the 00:06:11.350 --> 00:06:14.529 songs from Greatest Hits made the leap to Anthology, 00:06:14.810 --> 00:06:18.310 whose idea was to keep the compilation theme 00:06:18.310 --> 00:06:21.410 going, albeit tying it into the band's name? 00:06:22.029 --> 00:06:27.000 Yeah, that almost feels like it was. semi premeditated 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:29.699 coincidence you know I think anthology just made 00:06:29.699 --> 00:06:31.920 sense because for like you said it kind of tied 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:34.300 the amp thing into it and I think we all kind 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:36.839 of looked at each other and kind of giggled that 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:41.360 oh my gosh this is kind of the next version of 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:44.779 greatest hits you know and which was again coincidentally 00:06:44.779 --> 00:06:47.480 funny I don't think it was too intended really 00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:51.329 but it worked out cool So was there ever a joke 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:53.829 about maybe fully committing to the bit and having 00:06:53.829 --> 00:06:57.449 every album you ever release play off of a greatest 00:06:57.449 --> 00:06:59.970 hits? I don't know, maybe swapping out something 00:06:59.970 --> 00:07:04.110 like essential, swapping the E for the A or something 00:07:04.110 --> 00:07:06.949 along those lines. Yeah, you're right in line 00:07:06.949 --> 00:07:09.110 with us. I think we all have that conversation 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:13.009 of like the essentials or, you know, the complete 00:07:13.009 --> 00:07:16.009 works or whatever might come next, you know, 00:07:16.009 --> 00:07:19.040 and I still think that. You know, I don't know. 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:21.759 Maybe we ditched the whole ant thing. Although 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:25.000 we did call our last record mantras. I don't 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.079 know. Maybe like AF, like master of puppets. 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:32.060 And we'll just like, I don't know. That would 00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:34.720 be a little ridiculous, but I'm kind of sold 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:37.019 on master of puppets. I think that would be pretty 00:07:37.019 --> 00:07:41.439 cool. I'd buy a copy of that. Now, Papa Roach 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.259 played a role in greatest hits, eventually being 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:47.709 represented through the anthology album. Because 00:07:47.709 --> 00:07:50.170 the band signed to their new noise label for 00:07:50.170 --> 00:07:53.329 that release. Can you talk about that relationship 00:07:53.329 --> 00:07:55.610 and how it helped set the tone for the band's 00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:58.850 future? Well, you know, P Roach being from Northern 00:07:58.850 --> 00:08:01.629 California and us being from Southern California, 00:08:01.670 --> 00:08:08.410 we met and bonded in a way that I guess, you 00:08:08.410 --> 00:08:11.670 know, bands are like little gangs back in the 00:08:11.670 --> 00:08:14.269 day. And I think maybe they still are, but I 00:08:14.269 --> 00:08:17.079 don't know. There was a lot of like. shit talk 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:20.279 or crap talk among you know among the scenes 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:23.560 and stuff and I always felt like it was kind 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.060 of cool when you paired up with a band or something 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:28.079 and let your guard down a little bit anyways 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.819 Papa Roach had a great following up north and 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:32.960 I felt like we had a pretty good one down in 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:36.740 our area in Southern California and I think that 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:39.799 we just started trading shows to try and gain 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.860 fans uh elsewhere and you know they'd come down 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:45.279 south and open for us and we'd go up there and 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.299 open for them at least while elastid papa roach 00:08:48.299 --> 00:08:50.620 started to pop off so fast they were suddenly 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:54.059 even in our area becoming a bigger band but yeah 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:57.759 we we bonded in that way and uh wanted to share 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:01.139 fans with each other and uh and it was even talked 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:03.600 about and discussed that whoever You know, there 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.659 was rumors about both bands getting attention 00:09:06.659 --> 00:09:10.299 from labels and about to be signed to a record 00:09:10.299 --> 00:09:15.759 deal. And I think we jokingly but seriously just 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:18.059 said whoever gets signed first is going to bring 00:09:18.059 --> 00:09:22.100 the other one with us. And it's crazy that they 00:09:22.100 --> 00:09:27.320 actually did because I can see how swept up and 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.840 busy they got when they popped. You know, it's 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.360 remarkable that they... held true to their word 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:36.100 i don't know that i think that we would have 00:09:36.100 --> 00:09:38.200 the intention to do it but you know i don't know 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:40.320 that we'd have the wherewithal to be like yeah 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:41.879 i don't know if we would have done the same thing 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:43.840 i would like to think in my heart that we would 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.580 have but like i know what's involved when you 00:09:46.580 --> 00:09:49.039 like the wheel starts turning for your band and 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.840 and uh it's anyways it's just props to them for 00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:55.120 holding true to it you know and that was just 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.240 amazing it's crazy that we all had this thing 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:01.190 that we were gonna do or say this little pack 00:10:01.190 --> 00:10:04.169 that we had, and it kind of came to fruition. 00:10:04.269 --> 00:10:06.409 Not even kind of, it came to fruition, you know? 00:10:06.950 --> 00:10:09.570 Things happen in mysterious ways for sure. Now, 00:10:09.570 --> 00:10:11.529 to those listening, if you want to hear about 00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:13.870 all the songs we're discussing in this episode, 00:10:14.110 --> 00:10:16.230 you could do so by heading over to the episode 00:10:16.230 --> 00:10:21.590 page at myweeklymixtape .com. Now, I'm going 00:10:21.590 --> 00:10:24.029 to stick with Greatest Hits for one more question 00:10:24.029 --> 00:10:26.909 here, because the last track on that album was 00:10:26.909 --> 00:10:30.610 called Slick Thief. otherwise known as Smooth 00:10:30.610 --> 00:10:48.309 Criminal. Was that title meant to throw people 00:10:48.309 --> 00:10:50.309 off the scent that it was actually a Michael 00:10:50.309 --> 00:10:53.919 Jackson cover? Yeah, no, well, not not to throw 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:56.019 them off. I mean, everyone, once you hear it, 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:57.559 you're going to know, basically, you know what 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:00.460 I mean? So, yeah, I guess, again, it was just 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:04.100 like that on Smooth Criminal, Slick Thief. I 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:06.159 don't know. We were all patting ourselves on 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.759 the back over the dumb dad joke, I guess. Well, 00:11:10.940 --> 00:11:13.440 it's no secret that Smooth Criminal became a 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:16.820 huge gateway into the band for a lot of people 00:11:16.820 --> 00:11:19.799 across the country, even though it was the album's 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:22.799 second single. So here in New York on New York 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.860 radio, movies actually saw a resurgence after 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:30.360 criminal's initial success. Yeah, we had, it's 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:32.039 weird how that worked, you know, and it was almost 00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:34.860 organically just, I think that radio stations 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:37.440 kind of got maybe sick of playing some of the 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.620 criminal. And then all of a sudden, like movies 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:42.639 became this thing all over again. It was a, it 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:46.240 was a really effective song for us. You know, 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:49.799 it was a single twice basically. And that works 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:52.259 for me. I mean, I was not bummed at all to see 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:55.299 it almost get another life for sure. You know, 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:57.639 we made another video for it and everything. 00:11:57.779 --> 00:12:01.259 So there's a few movies, videos out there. Yeah. 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:04.759 And then Criminal was so popular for so long. 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:09.039 It took almost a full year before Attitude dropped 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:40.799 as the third single. So looking back at the release 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.179 schedule for Anthology, do you see Criminal as 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:47.519 a blessing or a curse in terms of maybe radio 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:50.519 momentum for the rest of the songs on the album? 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:53.500 Yeah, it was weird, man. And we had just gotten 00:12:53.500 --> 00:12:57.240 to a bus crash around that time as well over 00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:01.259 in Europe, and it slowed everything down for 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:04.779 the band. I'd like to wonder what might have 00:13:04.779 --> 00:13:07.100 been or whatever. In my heart, I thought Attitude 00:13:07.100 --> 00:13:10.340 was going to be like, Maybe the way Incubus had 00:13:10.340 --> 00:13:15.340 Drive, you know, that just real, not that they 00:13:15.340 --> 00:13:18.500 sound the same, but I had high hopes basically 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:20.759 for Attitude. It's my favorite Ant Farm song. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:23.960 And anyways, it was weird, weird timing. And 00:13:23.960 --> 00:13:26.440 yeah, like you said, Smooth Criminal, like it 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:29.340 eclipsed the band, you know, so blessing or curse, 00:13:29.399 --> 00:13:32.580 as the years go by, you know, it's hard to complain 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:37.200 about any kind of accolade or success in this 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:39.950 business. Yeah, it was a weird one to swallow 00:13:39.950 --> 00:13:43.929 in real time. I always saw the band coming up 00:13:43.929 --> 00:13:46.690 where maybe the second record, Truant, you know, 00:13:46.710 --> 00:13:49.210 would have been a little bit bigger than the 00:13:49.210 --> 00:13:51.870 first record. And, you know, maybe on our third 00:13:51.870 --> 00:13:54.570 record or something where we would really pop, 00:13:54.750 --> 00:13:58.750 you know. And so Mike Tyson says, you know, everyone 00:13:58.750 --> 00:14:00.710 has a plan until they get punched in the face 00:14:00.710 --> 00:14:03.070 kind of thing. And all of a sudden, you know, 00:14:03.110 --> 00:14:05.529 Smooth Criminal is all over radio. And I'm like, 00:14:05.570 --> 00:14:08.210 wait up. I mean, yeah, we recorded it. We knew 00:14:08.210 --> 00:14:10.509 what we were doing in that sense. But I was like, 00:14:10.529 --> 00:14:13.029 this is not the way that that I was imagining 00:14:13.029 --> 00:14:17.590 all this to go down. And yeah. So, again, it's 00:14:17.590 --> 00:14:19.970 hard to, you know, 10 minutes later, you're like 00:14:19.970 --> 00:14:23.610 after your initial like bummed outedness for 00:14:23.610 --> 00:14:26.789 DreamWorks kind of dropping Smooth Criminal in 00:14:26.789 --> 00:14:29.409 the laps of radio. You know, how bummed are you 00:14:29.409 --> 00:14:31.769 going to be or just kind of go with it and ride 00:14:31.769 --> 00:14:34.470 with it? You know, again, we tracked it. So it 00:14:34.470 --> 00:14:37.629 was our baby, too. And I feel like, believe it 00:14:37.629 --> 00:14:40.389 or not, it opened up a Pandora's box of Michael 00:14:40.389 --> 00:14:43.429 Jackson covers because you had Fallout Boy and 00:14:43.429 --> 00:14:46.750 John Mayer doing Beat It. You had Shaman's Harvest 00:14:46.750 --> 00:14:49.370 doing Dirty Diane. I think you guys set the bar 00:14:49.370 --> 00:14:51.950 that, hey, Michael Jackson works really well 00:14:51.950 --> 00:14:54.769 as a rock song. It kind of does. I mean, you 00:14:54.769 --> 00:14:56.690 get you pick the tempo or whatever, you know, 00:14:56.690 --> 00:14:58.970 and ours just work. I've heard I've heard so 00:14:58.970 --> 00:15:02.779 many covers, you know, and. Michael's is always 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:05.279 the better one, but yeah, I like our version. 00:15:05.379 --> 00:15:08.139 I think it had like a good, it just lent itself 00:15:08.139 --> 00:15:11.080 to rock so perfectly. It felt like it just felt 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:14.500 appropriate. Now, one thing I have to talk about, 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:17.539 cause I am a huge fan of the hidden track. I 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:21.100 did a whole episode just on the beauty and appeal 00:15:21.100 --> 00:15:24.139 of them in and of itself. Alien ant farm is no 00:15:24.139 --> 00:15:27.960 stranger to hidden tracks. Orange appeal. was 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:32.460 a hidden track on the $100 EP cassette, and then 00:15:32.460 --> 00:16:11.230 again on Anthology. Okay, so I have to tip my 00:16:11.230 --> 00:16:15.230 hat to the fact that it's still hidden if you 00:16:15.230 --> 00:16:18.129 listen to this song on streaming, which doesn't 00:16:18.129 --> 00:16:21.149 go unnoticed, especially to a music nerd like 00:16:21.149 --> 00:16:24.570 myself. What's the story behind keeping Orange 00:16:24.570 --> 00:16:29.210 Appeal tucked away on all these releases? You 00:16:29.210 --> 00:16:30.629 know, I don't know that there was any thought 00:16:30.629 --> 00:16:33.649 other than, you know, I think when we first tracked 00:16:33.649 --> 00:16:36.570 it on that first go around, it was just this 00:16:36.570 --> 00:16:40.289 weird little ditty that sprang from a nylon string 00:16:40.289 --> 00:16:43.870 guitar. And I just, again, I had like an idea 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:46.450 vocally. And then, you know, I think the thought 00:16:46.450 --> 00:16:49.210 process was to, you know, maybe potentially turn 00:16:49.210 --> 00:16:52.470 it into a real song because it was so just hodgepodge 00:16:52.470 --> 00:16:56.279 and basically written in a minute's time. And 00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:58.720 then everyone kind of liked the feel of it just 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:04.400 being this broken song, I guess. And so for better 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:06.859 or worse, we just said, let's just leave that 00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:09.599 one alone. I don't know that it would ever really 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:13.680 turn into a song. So there it kind of sat as 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:17.180 this mauled animal on the road or something of 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:22.680 a tune. Now, when you revisit the anthology songs 00:17:22.680 --> 00:17:26.420 here in 2026, Do they bring you back to the person 00:17:26.420 --> 00:17:28.779 you were when you wrote them? Or do they feel 00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:31.240 like the songs have taken on a completely different 00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:34.480 life after years of playing them on the road? 00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:39.740 You know, it's weird. I feel like there's been 00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:43.059 moments in my life where a lot of those songs 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:46.200 from Anthology, at least 10, a lot of them are 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:49.730 halfway fictitious or made up. And it's weird 00:17:49.730 --> 00:17:52.990 to feel like a lyric or something way years later 00:17:52.990 --> 00:17:55.569 become like true or something real in my own 00:17:55.569 --> 00:17:58.269 life. And it's weird to think like, wow, is there 00:17:58.269 --> 00:18:01.470 something bigger going on that I wrote this lyric 00:18:01.470 --> 00:18:05.809 20 years ago? Well, now 25. And I'm experiencing 00:18:05.809 --> 00:18:08.990 this moment now. And I didn't know it back then. 00:18:09.069 --> 00:18:11.410 It's anyways, it's just strange, weird, almost 00:18:11.410 --> 00:18:14.069 deja vus or something. It's cool to think that 00:18:14.069 --> 00:18:17.529 little kid me. was in the driver's seat the whole 00:18:17.529 --> 00:18:20.170 time or predicting certain events in my life 00:18:20.170 --> 00:18:23.190 it seems kind of creepy and odd and and i think 00:18:23.190 --> 00:18:26.029 we all have the capabilities to foresee things 00:18:26.029 --> 00:18:29.150 or or again maybe you're just petting something 00:18:29.150 --> 00:18:32.369 that again coincidences are weird but yeah it 00:18:32.369 --> 00:18:34.789 is a trip to uh i don't know that it turns me 00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:38.289 takes me back to who i was back then but definitely 00:18:38.289 --> 00:18:41.950 like gives me all the feels of of those moments 00:18:41.950 --> 00:18:46.299 you know and in the anthology uh the making of 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:49.099 it was such a great time in in our lives you 00:18:49.099 --> 00:18:51.819 know and it's funny like people i was about to 00:18:51.819 --> 00:18:54.579 say kids but they're my age now but you know 00:18:54.579 --> 00:18:58.119 people and audiences will come fans will come 00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:00.220 around and say you know that was like my summer 00:19:00.220 --> 00:19:02.859 record or my high school record and in a weird 00:19:02.859 --> 00:19:05.640 way i'm like it was mine too you know like we 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:08.119 were making it but that was like our moment too 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:11.539 so we only got it you know, six months before 00:19:11.539 --> 00:19:14.119 the public did, but it was happening in real 00:19:14.119 --> 00:19:16.779 time and, and writing it and stuff. So yeah, 00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:20.059 it was like a special time to be at NRG recording 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:23.359 studios and, and just the people that we were 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:26.339 meeting with and, and knowing at that time was, 00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:29.779 uh, it's just, it was a special Papa Roach included 00:19:29.779 --> 00:19:33.220 and, and all of it, you know? Now I want to piggyback 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:35.640 off of that live part of the last question I 00:19:35.640 --> 00:19:38.079 asked, because during that era, Like we talked 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.359 about earlier, you were touring with bands like 00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:42.539 Papa Roach, you toured with Linkin Park, and 00:19:42.539 --> 00:19:45.680 that falls squarely under the Nu Metal banner. 00:19:46.299 --> 00:19:49.240 But Alien Ant Farm was also playing Warped Tour, 00:19:49.339 --> 00:19:51.900 which at that time leaned much more punk and 00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:55.460 emo. What do you think gave the band that cross 00:19:55.460 --> 00:19:58.880 appeal where you could thrive in both universes? 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:01.839 Well, I don't know that we thrived on the Warped 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:04.400 Tour other than maybe we were like a little bit 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:07.240 of a black sheep on there. it was predominantly 00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:09.859 punk obviously but you know every once in a while 00:20:09.859 --> 00:20:13.380 like even on that same tour like um there was 00:20:13.380 --> 00:20:15.519 a few metal bands and there always is but like 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:18.240 311 was on there and we became really great friends 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:21.500 with 311 maybe we both bonded over not being 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:24.180 punk rock but we're definitely punk in attitude 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:27.019 you know but as far as the music goes i never 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:30.220 heard uh you know we're punk fans but i never 00:20:30.220 --> 00:20:33.119 really heard too much punk going into alien out 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.430 farm But yeah, you know, it was just one of those 00:20:35.430 --> 00:20:38.549 tours that, you know, I don't specifically remember 00:20:38.549 --> 00:20:40.950 how it came about, but it was offered to us. 00:20:41.029 --> 00:20:43.430 And you're not going to say no to a built in 00:20:43.430 --> 00:20:46.329 like, I mean, that's like an institution, you 00:20:46.329 --> 00:20:48.430 know, or like, wow, OK, that summer is going 00:20:48.430 --> 00:20:51.490 to be crazy with lots of new new ears and faces 00:20:51.490 --> 00:20:54.390 to play in front of. So we took that one. It 00:20:54.390 --> 00:20:56.930 was like a no brainer. And just a reminder to 00:20:56.930 --> 00:20:58.950 the mixtapers listening, you can hear all the 00:20:58.950 --> 00:21:01.150 songs we've discussed in this episode tonight 00:21:01.150 --> 00:21:08.019 over on the episode page. Now, I want to dig 00:21:08.019 --> 00:21:10.160 into some other parts of the catalog, too, because 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:13.180 as a fan of the band, I just can't pigeonhole 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:16.859 this discussion to just Anthology alone. We talked 00:21:16.859 --> 00:21:19.420 about Truant before. That was produced by Dean 00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:22.400 and Robert DiLeo of Stone Temple Pilots. What 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.640 was it like working with them, and how did they 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:27.140 shape the sound of that record, even in comparison 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:31.420 to Anthology? Yeah, well, it was phenomenal. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:35.420 I was very nervous, to say the least. I don't 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:38.539 know why, but I'm a kid, and I would be nervous 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:41.259 now, too. But it was a dream come true, man. 00:21:41.339 --> 00:21:44.019 We love Stone Temple Pilots. Upmost respect for 00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:48.079 those guys. We knew that Robert, the bass player, 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:51.559 was kind of, not to take away from anyone else, 00:21:51.619 --> 00:21:55.579 but I felt like he was the Rubik's Cube solver 00:21:55.579 --> 00:21:58.700 of that. of stone temple pilots we were all just 00:21:58.700 --> 00:22:01.480 kind of wondering how this was gonna go if it 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:04.500 was gonna work and then again knowing that you 00:22:04.500 --> 00:22:06.940 know scott wyland one of the greatest was their 00:22:06.940 --> 00:22:10.200 singer had me kind of on edge feeling like oh 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:13.259 my gosh i gotta sing in front of these guys it 00:22:13.259 --> 00:22:15.740 was a delight man we were at the morning view 00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:19.039 house in malibu which is uh morning view was 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:23.470 incubus's record so It wasn't a studio. I thought 00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:25.529 Morning View was a studio, but it's just a house. 00:22:25.650 --> 00:22:28.289 So I guess Thinkubus must have brought in all, 00:22:28.349 --> 00:22:30.549 you know, probably brought in a big console and, 00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:32.289 you know, made their record there like that. 00:22:32.450 --> 00:22:36.630 We brought in a smaller rig that we knew we weren't 00:22:36.630 --> 00:22:38.490 going to do a record there. We were just going 00:22:38.490 --> 00:22:40.849 to do pre -production. And basically, we made 00:22:40.849 --> 00:22:43.029 a whole mock record there with the DeLeo brothers. 00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:46.990 They'd come over every day and we'd hash it out, 00:22:47.089 --> 00:22:49.009 you know. And then at night, we were all getting 00:22:49.009 --> 00:22:52.329 hammered and being crazy kids. That was a wild 00:22:52.329 --> 00:22:55.250 time, too. You know, I wish I wasn't getting 00:22:55.250 --> 00:22:57.910 so hammered. But again, it's super memorable. 00:22:58.250 --> 00:23:01.130 Just trippy just to be in those guys' presence. 00:23:01.509 --> 00:23:04.910 And they had a lot to do with like kind of swaying 00:23:04.910 --> 00:23:09.690 our sound. And I feel like Truant is my favorite 00:23:09.690 --> 00:23:13.710 record in a lot of ways for their influence on 00:23:13.710 --> 00:23:17.289 it. And there's just deep tracks in there that 00:23:17.289 --> 00:23:21.450 maybe not a lot of public has heard. that are 00:23:21.450 --> 00:23:24.009 just really soulful and cool to me. And we weren't 00:23:24.009 --> 00:23:27.670 maybe necessarily like trying to hit a grand 00:23:27.670 --> 00:23:30.309 slam and make a trillion dollars. We were trying 00:23:30.309 --> 00:23:32.670 to just like make art in the room with these 00:23:32.670 --> 00:23:35.450 guys that were like true artists. And so that 00:23:35.450 --> 00:23:39.210 was a cool one for sure. Now, following that 00:23:39.210 --> 00:23:42.750 album up, the band released a tour only album 00:23:42.750 --> 00:23:47.329 in 2005 called Third Draft, which was later reissued 00:23:47.329 --> 00:23:51.819 in 2006 as Up in the Attic. What led the band 00:23:51.819 --> 00:23:55.319 to self -release that material and how did that 00:23:55.319 --> 00:23:57.940 approach play out with the fans, especially since 00:23:57.940 --> 00:24:02.079 looking now that original third draft is pretty 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:05.579 sought after? Yeah, you know, I think we were 00:24:05.579 --> 00:24:08.359 in between that little, there was a little flux 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:09.940 in there where we didn't know where we were going 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:12.599 to go as DreamWorks was dissipating, kind of 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:16.200 falling away unbeknownst to us. We probably would 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:19.559 have maybe even sat on Truant and founded a home. 00:24:20.089 --> 00:24:21.849 I think there would have been, I'm not saying, 00:24:21.869 --> 00:24:24.589 oh, because DreamWorks fell apart was the reason 00:24:24.589 --> 00:24:27.430 why Truant wasn't so successful, but I have to 00:24:27.430 --> 00:24:30.670 imagine that it might have been, we probably 00:24:30.670 --> 00:24:32.970 got a little more mileage out of that record 00:24:32.970 --> 00:24:37.529 with a proper label. You know, again, unbeknownst 00:24:37.529 --> 00:24:39.990 to all this stuff was happening without us even 00:24:39.990 --> 00:24:42.970 knowing that DreamWorks was going away. And so, 00:24:43.049 --> 00:24:46.450 yeah, there was a little bit of purgatory in 00:24:46.450 --> 00:24:49.349 that timeframe. And so we just had these songs 00:24:49.349 --> 00:24:52.630 and we threw it out. And then suddenly back in 00:24:52.630 --> 00:24:55.650 the game of big labels or whatever, a girl named 00:24:55.650 --> 00:24:59.210 Polly Anthony who ran Geffen came in there and 00:24:59.210 --> 00:25:02.150 we added a song to Third Draft called Forgive 00:25:02.150 --> 00:25:04.710 and Forget. I think Third Draft and Up in the 00:25:04.710 --> 00:25:08.309 Attic are the same exact record minus one song 00:25:08.309 --> 00:25:12.130 we added to Up in the Attic. So yeah, you know, 00:25:12.150 --> 00:25:15.369 we just wanted to release it and run. We had 00:25:15.369 --> 00:25:18.789 a 311 tour. to do and we wanted material and 00:25:18.789 --> 00:25:21.490 we wanted a record in hand and so we threw that 00:25:21.490 --> 00:25:24.289 third draft out and yeah that's how that went. 00:25:56.049 --> 00:25:58.829 Now, was Forgive and Forget written while on 00:25:58.829 --> 00:26:01.109 that tour? Because it wasn't on Third Draft, 00:26:01.150 --> 00:26:03.730 but it was on the Up in the Attic album. You 00:26:03.730 --> 00:26:06.309 know, I think it was written at NRG where we 00:26:06.309 --> 00:26:10.509 recorded it. And I think we did the record with 00:26:10.509 --> 00:26:14.710 Jim Wirt. And then a guy named Jay Baumgartner, 00:26:14.750 --> 00:26:18.470 who owns NRG, and he produced Anthology. I think 00:26:18.470 --> 00:26:20.930 he even kind of listened to the material and 00:26:20.930 --> 00:26:23.410 basically was like, look, it's a cool record. 00:26:24.220 --> 00:26:27.759 i want that like movies almost you know basically 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:30.500 we need we want to we want a big smashy song 00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:32.940 and that was like our i think forgive and forget 00:26:32.940 --> 00:26:36.599 was our attempt at trying to like throw one up 00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:39.339 you know spike the volleyball kind of thing and 00:26:39.339 --> 00:26:42.220 and that we spent a couple days at nrg or maybe 00:26:42.220 --> 00:26:44.900 one day or something and threw down forgive and 00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:48.460 forget to try and just add a little more uh buffness 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:51.140 to the record and and hopefully that might have 00:26:51.140 --> 00:26:53.619 been a single that hit and And it never did, 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.420 but it's a cool song. That's one of my favorites 00:26:56.420 --> 00:26:58.059 on the album, which is why I had to bring that 00:26:58.059 --> 00:27:01.259 up. That's cool, yeah. Now, earlier we were talking 00:27:01.259 --> 00:27:05.259 about the album titles for the band. Greatest 00:27:05.259 --> 00:27:07.900 Hits and Up in the Attic are the only two albums 00:27:07.900 --> 00:27:12.279 in the Alien Ant Farm discography that are missing 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:16.900 either an ant or an AAF reference. Because when 00:27:16.900 --> 00:27:20.740 you think about 2016's Always and Forever, you 00:27:20.740 --> 00:27:24.619 have the AAF. And then Montrose has the ant included. 00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:27.500 Is that intentional on the band's part? Or am 00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:30.480 I just reading way too much into this? No, I 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:33.039 don't think it was intentional. I mean, in that 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:35.240 moment, we just said, let's drop the puns kind 00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:38.220 of thing or whatever, you know, and, and I'm 00:27:38.220 --> 00:27:41.400 trying to think of how, you know, why, you know, 00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:44.059 up in the attic, there's a, there's a lyric from 00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:47.000 a song called she's only evil on up in the attic. 00:27:47.339 --> 00:28:05.519 And I think it just says that. I think I had 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:08.819 this idea of, you know, at the time my wife painted 00:28:08.819 --> 00:28:11.460 all the pieces in the attic there that relate 00:28:11.460 --> 00:28:14.460 to something, some form of an alien ant farm 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:17.740 song at this attic full of old memories and old 00:28:17.740 --> 00:28:21.019 lyrics or little things in the attic that remind 00:28:21.019 --> 00:28:24.140 you of, I guess, ant farm antiquities or something. 00:28:24.809 --> 00:28:26.910 yeah, I just thought that was cool name and everyone 00:28:26.910 --> 00:28:29.849 just agreed or not. Maybe they didn't agree that 00:28:29.849 --> 00:28:32.069 it was cool. Maybe they just didn't want to fight 00:28:32.069 --> 00:28:34.690 me on it or something. But yeah, that, that was, 00:28:34.690 --> 00:28:37.809 that was that. And so, yeah, there wasn't any, 00:28:37.869 --> 00:28:41.250 any, uh, too much thought into that. I honestly 00:28:41.250 --> 00:28:43.390 had no idea. Your wife painted the up in the 00:28:43.390 --> 00:28:46.529 attic album cover. Very cool. Yes. Yeah. Wow. 00:28:48.009 --> 00:28:51.450 Now across the band's last three albums, 2006 00:28:51.450 --> 00:28:54.829 is up in the attic, which I just mentioned. 2015's 00:28:54.829 --> 00:28:58.329 Always and Forever and 2024's Mantras, there 00:28:58.329 --> 00:29:01.509 were roughly nine year gaps between each of those 00:29:01.509 --> 00:29:05.150 albums. And now here we are in 2026. And like 00:29:05.150 --> 00:29:08.190 we mentioned, the band is celebrating the 25th 00:29:08.190 --> 00:29:11.430 anniversary of Anthology with a vinyl re -release. 00:29:11.549 --> 00:29:14.769 And you've got a brand new song out on Judge 00:29:14.769 --> 00:29:52.789 and Jury Records called Reasons. With those long 00:29:52.789 --> 00:29:56.829 gaps between records, did the release of Mantras 00:29:56.829 --> 00:30:00.069 maybe reinvigorate the band to keep pushing forward 00:30:00.069 --> 00:30:04.250 with new music here in 2026? Yeah, it basically 00:30:04.250 --> 00:30:07.130 like, yeah, absolutely. You know, I would say 00:30:07.130 --> 00:30:11.309 halfway through Mantras, we were halfway done 00:30:11.309 --> 00:30:13.769 with it. And then I kind of took a step away 00:30:13.769 --> 00:30:17.740 and just, you know. we just weren't getting along 00:30:17.740 --> 00:30:21.240 and I was in my own head. I was getting like 00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:24.240 really fucked up and I'm about four and a half 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:27.720 years sober now. Congratulations. Thank you, 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:31.400 bro. And, um, so yeah, that was just almost necessary 00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:34.740 for me to just kind of figure my, my situation 00:30:34.740 --> 00:30:39.279 out. And do I want to do this anymore? The, the 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:42.819 romance of, you know, being on tour with. four 00:30:42.819 --> 00:30:45.680 guys and all that is like a weird little marriage 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.799 and all the things you know again i'm blessed 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:51.500 to do it but then some of that stuff does get 00:30:51.500 --> 00:30:53.940 old and tedious and weird you know a lot of that 00:30:53.940 --> 00:30:57.859 the all the things that seemed romantic about 00:30:57.859 --> 00:31:01.640 being in a band suddenly you're not so into anymore 00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:04.440 obviously the music is cool but i can create 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:07.960 music at home all day long so anyways it was 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:10.099 just something to think about and once you know 00:31:10.099 --> 00:31:12.160 i got my head on a little straighter or a lot 00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:15.599 straighter and mantras turned out to be everything 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.579 we wanted it to be as far as servicing our brand 00:31:18.579 --> 00:31:22.039 as far as sounding great sonically we're so proud 00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:25.099 of that record that yeah it did it did again 00:31:25.099 --> 00:31:27.900 we're not the biggest band in the world and we've 00:31:27.900 --> 00:31:31.779 left this band for dead a few times so to kind 00:31:31.779 --> 00:31:34.930 of water our little plant our brand and see it 00:31:34.930 --> 00:31:37.430 grow, sprout new leaves and stuff is almost like 00:31:37.430 --> 00:31:39.329 we're all looking around at each other going, 00:31:39.450 --> 00:31:41.970 well, you know, we had a successful little run 00:31:41.970 --> 00:31:47.109 through Europe and America and, and, uh, Australia 00:31:47.109 --> 00:31:50.369 the last, you know, two years, let's keep this 00:31:50.369 --> 00:31:53.630 going, you know? And I met Neil, uh, the drummer 00:31:53.630 --> 00:31:56.289 from three days grace. I met him at a festival, 00:31:56.369 --> 00:31:59.670 him and Howard Benson run judge and jury. And 00:31:59.670 --> 00:32:03.480 literally just, we. traded phone numbers basically 00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:06.339 we are our dressing rooms right next door to 00:32:06.339 --> 00:32:08.440 each other and i saw neil and said hey man dig 00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:10.880 your band and he was kind of like likewise bro 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:13.200 and before he left i was like hey let me give 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:15.380 you my number just you know it's just stay in 00:32:15.380 --> 00:32:18.160 touch because we had a cool little convo you 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:20.440 know a week later he's on the phone with howard 00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:23.160 benson saying hey you guys want to record some 00:32:23.160 --> 00:32:26.380 songs or something and it was just cool and organic 00:32:26.380 --> 00:32:29.259 pretty trippy how that one worked out but that 00:32:29.259 --> 00:32:32.200 led us to scratching our heads and saying, dude, 00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:35.319 this is pretty cool. And let's keep our brand 00:32:35.319 --> 00:32:37.539 going and see if we can come up with anything 00:32:37.539 --> 00:32:40.480 pungent and powerful in the next little while 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:44.400 here. Now, Reasons was written by Rome Ramirez 00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:47.980 of Sublime with Rome, and the song touches on 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:51.019 the idea of redemption, something that we all 00:32:51.019 --> 00:32:54.130 can relate to in one form or another. What was 00:32:54.130 --> 00:32:57.049 it about that song that resonated with you and 00:32:57.049 --> 00:32:59.730 the band enough to make it Alien Ant Farm's new 00:32:59.730 --> 00:33:03.690 single? Well, you know, I would like, again, 00:33:03.750 --> 00:33:06.130 to add, maybe make that a romantic story, but 00:33:06.130 --> 00:33:10.509 our management manages Rome as well. And they 00:33:10.509 --> 00:33:13.650 asked us if we were down to record that song 00:33:13.650 --> 00:33:17.609 and try it. And honestly, I love the song. I 00:33:17.609 --> 00:33:20.130 think it's great. I love Rome. I love his voice. 00:33:20.230 --> 00:33:23.279 He's amazing. Oh, yeah. It literally was like, 00:33:23.380 --> 00:33:26.940 I like the song. Let's give it our spin and let's 00:33:26.940 --> 00:33:29.359 see what we can do with it. He had a really cool 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:32.740 demo of it that was just a little more pop. Again, 00:33:32.839 --> 00:33:35.000 it's still pop, I think, in our version. We're 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:38.420 a much heavier banner. We can be at times. But 00:33:38.420 --> 00:33:42.259 we gave it a little bit more claws, I guess. 00:33:42.579 --> 00:33:46.279 But yeah, we just, again, we were asked if we 00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:48.339 would be interested in doing it. And I heard 00:33:48.339 --> 00:33:51.279 the demo that sat with me for a month or two. 00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:53.680 I just kind of had it on, you know, every once 00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:55.259 in a while I'd throw it on. The first time I 00:33:55.259 --> 00:33:56.500 heard it, I was like, I don't know if that's 00:33:56.500 --> 00:33:58.880 like very ant farming or whatever. And then, 00:33:58.900 --> 00:34:01.259 you know, as I looped it and stuff, I'm like, 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:05.200 man, that baby, you're the reason. I was like, 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:07.619 man, it's so like hooky and good. Let's just 00:34:07.619 --> 00:34:10.780 like, let's try it, you know? And we did a demo 00:34:10.780 --> 00:34:14.000 of it that was a little more, kind of had a Weezer 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:16.920 approach, which I loved. And then ultimately 00:34:16.920 --> 00:34:19.440 just ended up being just straightforward rock 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:22.829 song at the end of it all. And yeah, I dig it. 00:34:23.349 --> 00:34:26.730 Now, is Reasons a taste of what's coming on the 00:34:26.730 --> 00:34:29.309 new Alien Ant Farm record, which is expected 00:34:29.309 --> 00:34:34.250 later this year? Maybe production -wise, but 00:34:34.250 --> 00:34:37.650 I think we kind of get a little more, not even 00:34:37.650 --> 00:34:40.809 little. I think our stuff's going to be heavier. 00:34:41.110 --> 00:34:43.869 We have a couple real mellow, mellow, mellow 00:34:43.869 --> 00:34:47.690 songs. But overall, we got some more like... 00:34:47.949 --> 00:34:50.769 dirty rock songs I guess than reasons reasons 00:34:50.769 --> 00:34:54.070 is pretty slick and pop less which is great but 00:34:54.070 --> 00:34:57.389 yeah I think ours are more a little more like 00:34:57.389 --> 00:35:00.769 dirt in the chili I guess any idea when fans 00:35:00.769 --> 00:35:04.110 are going to hear the new album I'm not sure 00:35:04.110 --> 00:35:08.130 yet we I have I think we have four songs done 00:35:08.130 --> 00:35:12.210 and then four more that are done musically and 00:35:12.210 --> 00:35:15.329 I'm working on those right now as we speak to 00:35:15.329 --> 00:35:18.699 I'm actually just trading files this morning 00:35:18.699 --> 00:35:21.440 and trying to solve these little riddles and 00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:23.940 make them as cool and cohesive as we can you 00:35:23.940 --> 00:35:27.099 know so is there any chance the album's gonna 00:35:27.099 --> 00:35:31.900 be called mafter of puppets or now now that i 00:35:31.900 --> 00:35:35.519 said that i so want it to be but i i know like 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:39.619 100 that everyone's gonna be like no dude so 00:35:40.300 --> 00:35:43.820 If it was all up to me, master of puppets would 00:35:43.820 --> 00:35:46.679 be out next week and it would be, that's it. 00:35:47.179 --> 00:35:49.300 Do you want me to put it to a vote to the, my 00:35:49.300 --> 00:35:52.119 weekly mixtape listeners? Maybe if they vote 00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:54.739 overwhelmingly for master, that's becomes the 00:35:54.739 --> 00:35:57.179 album. I'll let you know. Yeah. Lowercase and 00:35:57.179 --> 00:36:03.460 capital a F lowercase T E R. Master of puppets. 00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:05.980 Yeah. I'm, I'm for it. Please vote for that. 00:36:06.670 --> 00:36:09.309 Well, I want to take us full circle here because 00:36:09.309 --> 00:36:11.349 I mentioned at the top of the show, the show 00:36:11.349 --> 00:36:14.110 is called My Weekly Mixtape. And because it's 00:36:14.110 --> 00:36:17.070 centered around mixtapes and playlists, what 00:36:17.070 --> 00:36:20.010 are three songs that you're rocking right now 00:36:20.010 --> 00:36:23.210 that you think the listeners of this show should 00:36:23.210 --> 00:36:27.010 check out? Three songs that I'm listening to 00:36:27.010 --> 00:36:31.150 right now? Jeez. I've been down like the vinyl 00:36:31.150 --> 00:36:34.500 pick right now. And there might be some obscure 00:36:34.500 --> 00:36:38.320 things, you know. Again, I'm going to probably 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:43.320 bum some people out. Okay, let's go back to Weezer 00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:46.380 because I got one called Okay Human. Oh, yeah. 00:36:46.739 --> 00:36:49.420 Do you know that record? Oh, it's great. So all 00:36:49.420 --> 00:36:53.239 my favorite songs are slow and sad. I'd have 00:36:53.239 --> 00:36:54.980 to say all my favorite songs. I think that's 00:36:54.980 --> 00:36:57.920 the name of it. Yep. So, yeah, that's cool. And 00:36:57.920 --> 00:37:00.559 he did. There's a lot of like strings from Abbey 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:03.619 Road in that. So when you hear how like that's 00:37:03.619 --> 00:37:06.099 a golden record, man, it's truly good. I feel 00:37:06.099 --> 00:37:08.519 like it's a Beach Boys album that was never made. 00:37:08.840 --> 00:37:11.159 Dude, you open the vinyl and it's just rivers 00:37:11.159 --> 00:37:15.000 like in the Abbey studio, maybe or some. It's 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.739 it's that's a good one. I just got Mama Said 00:37:19.739 --> 00:37:23.019 again. That was a big record for me. Lenny Kravitz. 00:37:23.219 --> 00:37:27.309 Oh, so. So maybe just the obvious one, like Mama 00:37:27.309 --> 00:37:30.449 said. Ah, Always on the Run. Yeah, you know, 00:37:30.469 --> 00:37:32.829 it's such a great banger. I like the mellowed 00:37:32.829 --> 00:37:35.650 songs on that one, but I'll just say that for 00:37:35.650 --> 00:37:38.130 that reason, because it is a more rockin' tune. 00:37:38.510 --> 00:37:44.769 And yeah, maybe Chris Cornell, the Euphoria Morning 00:37:44.769 --> 00:37:56.380 record. Yeah, what song am I thinking of? She's 00:37:56.380 --> 00:37:58.920 going to save the world. Ah, can't change me. 00:37:59.260 --> 00:38:06.460 Yes, yeah. So yeah, Cornell, Weezer, and Lenny 00:38:06.460 --> 00:38:10.340 Kravitz. Sorry, those might be lame songs. Not 00:38:10.340 --> 00:38:12.280 at all, man. All three are great. Are you kidding 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:16.380 me? Yeah, I agree. But I thought you might be 00:38:16.380 --> 00:38:19.920 wanting something new, and none of them there 00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:23.219 is new. There are no rules when it comes to music 00:38:23.219 --> 00:38:25.380 because it's all subjective, my friend. Yeah, 00:38:25.400 --> 00:38:29.420 absolutely. Well, Anthology's turning 25. There's 00:38:29.420 --> 00:38:32.239 Mafter of Puppets dropping later this year, at 00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:34.960 least if I have any say in it. Dryden, this has 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:37.059 been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much 00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:39.920 for joining me on my weekly mixtape. Yeah, man. 00:38:40.019 --> 00:38:41.880 Thanks for your time. This was a good conversation. 00:38:42.199 --> 00:38:44.860 Some of the interviews I've had, some of them 00:38:44.860 --> 00:38:47.179 are a little stiff and rigid and weird, but you 00:38:47.179 --> 00:38:50.139 got a little knack for this, dude. I appreciate 00:38:50.139 --> 00:38:53.239 it. Oh, well, I appreciate that, man. Thank you. 00:38:53.559 --> 00:38:55.760 And to those listening, if you want to hear any 00:38:55.760 --> 00:38:57.460 of the songs we've discussed tonight, you could 00:38:57.460 --> 00:39:00.920 do so over on the episode page at myweeklymixtape 00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:03.760 .com. If you have thoughts, comments, or future 00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:06.199 episodes you'd like to hear on the show, send 00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:09.980 me an email, myweeklymixtape at gmail .com. Hit 00:39:09.980 --> 00:39:13.840 me up on social media at myweeklymixtape. Use 00:39:13.840 --> 00:39:17.519 the contact page at myweeklymixtape .com or become 00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:21.250 a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com. forward slash 00:39:21.250 --> 00:39:24.690 My Weekly Mixtape. It's free to join, and there's 00:39:24.690 --> 00:39:26.650 tiers there if you'd like to support the show 00:39:26.650 --> 00:39:29.789 a little extra. If you're tuning in on Apple 00:39:29.789 --> 00:39:32.750 Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, please be sure 00:39:32.750 --> 00:39:36.050 to click that subscribe button, drop a like, 00:39:36.230 --> 00:39:39.909 drop a comment, drop a five -star review, leave 00:39:39.909 --> 00:39:43.449 a gold star, you know, do all the things, and 00:39:43.449 --> 00:39:45.449 help spread the word about My Weekly Mixtape 00:39:45.449 --> 00:39:48.670 to other music fans in your life. Once again, 00:39:48.769 --> 00:39:51.550 my name is Brian Colburn. This has been my weekly 00:39:51.550 --> 00:39:54.590 mixtape. And until next time, enjoy the tunes.