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Hello and good afternoon.How you doing? Oh, I'm good.How are you?Oh, listen to that energy.I was hoping that you had some energy, man.
Hey, man, let's talk about this album because you are coming in at a time of music where we need some great rock on top 40 radio stations.
Yeah, no, I agree.That's exactly why I write the music that we write.I feel like there's just some music that you don't quite hear anymore, and I think it's our job to put it back out there.
Yeah, because I grew up in the age of Foreigner and Journey, and I had all of these great bands, even Bad Company, but you're just not getting that in the radio industry at this time.
Yeah, I agree.Everyone loves that kind of music, but for some reason you just don't hear it being so prominent on the radio anymore.I can't really say why, but I'm glad we can say that we're helping bring that back.
And yet, just not even an hour ago, I came across this article where Jon Bon Jovi has teamed up with Mr. Worldwide and Pitbull, and they've re-released that song, It's My Life, but it's got the Pitbull touch to it.
I mean, is that really where we have to go?
It's not where I'd go, but like, you know, to each their own.
That album cover, dude, I hope to God you are marketing that.You've got it's on T-shirts.It's in posters.That album cover is amazing.
Yes, actually, I love it so much.It's. You know, we haven't actually marketed anything with it yet, which I'm definitely gonna do.I think it'd be awesome to get posters, at least, and stickers or whatever.But yeah, for sure, it's so cool.
We gotta put it on merch out there.
Yeah, because, I mean, where'd the idea come from for that cover?
Oh, um, well, I, it's like, it's drawn in the American traditional tattoo style.And, uh, uh, a few of us in the band have tattoos like that.And I figured like, why not just draw us like that?
It's kind of like the appetite for destruction album cover from guns and roses.And so that was kind of the concept.And then the artist kind of threw in some more designs on there, just to,
you know really make it their own and yeah it turned out really badass i'm glad it turned out the way it did it really uh encapsulates like what we are and like i think you can just take a look at the cover and be like well i know what kind of music they play yeah so like yeah yeah but don't you think that you're developing your own genre your own sound
Yeah, I mean who knows we definitely have the nectarous sound like it's hard to say we sound exactly like you know like Zeppelin or Aerosmith or Stevie Wonder or whatever because every song seems to have a different vibe.
I think overall you can definitely pinpoint us to like the 70s rock genre at least.
Yeah, I'll tell you who I picked up on I actually wrote in my notes while listening to everything Ozzy Osbourne and the Spin Doctors.
Oh, those are two comparisons I haven't heard for us.So that's pretty neat.
Yeah, because that funk beat, man.I mean, not everybody has that.Let's put it this way.Not everybody can do a great funk beat like you've got.
Yeah, yeah.You got to be able to play funk and have a good rhythm if you're in a rock band.So it's definitely something we're leaning into.
Now, when you go into the studio to put this together, are you putting in a lot of layers and then you'll take them away when you go live?How are you doing this?
Oh, you know, every song is different.Like sometimes you just, uh, you're in the studio and then like, you're just dicking around in the moment.Like you put zero thought into it.You're like, whatever.Let me just jam.
And then we got some songs like that and. And then there's a few other songs where it's like, I'm just going to add a million layers over it.
But we are one guitar band, so you can't bring that to a live setting, which I think bands like Led Zeppelin were like that.You could hear Jimmy Page doing so much in the studio, but it couldn't exactly translate live.
But we will find a way to play it live if we like it enough.
My wife and I are currently having a disagreement about the song Sugarcoat.I say you're using a wah-wah pedal, are you?
It's a talk box.God, she wins.Oh my God, you know what it did is it shot me back to the 1970s for our garage band where the wah-wah pedal was like the greatest thing on the planet.
Yeah, no, I agree.I'm not really digging the effects pedals, but I do have a wah and a talk box and I will for sure carry those around.
Yeah, yeah.What did you get from doing the music?Because, I mean, you really took your time on this.
I mean, you know, and I'll tell you what, I think that's probably the reason why I really enjoy this, because it sounds like that it wasn't a rush job.
Oh, no, we probably took like two years to do this whole project. Yeah, and we are bass players, a local producer up in the Twin Cities here.So we were able to record on our own schedule and our own time.So it was nice.
So like with Sugarcoat, like we recorded that about a year ago now and it had this very shitty outro on the end I didn't like.And then like a month before we released the album, like, hey guys, let's go back to the studio.I have this idea.
And then like whatever you hear on the end of the song now is like something I like came up with.And then like we recorded it really quick and then it made the final mix and So, you know, every song is different.
Some like you just hammer out and then others you spend forever trying to get all the little details down.But you only live one.
I'll sit there and I'll go ahead and I mean, I take notes during the entire session time and but I'll keep every single version of the song just in case it's like, OK, we got to go back to that version.I'm OK.
But the thing is, though, is that I've got notes of everything that are so fun to go back and just reread.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.I've been there.Like, sometimes, like, you have an idea in the moment, you're like, well, you gotta change this.And then you look back on those notes and you're like, wow, what was I thinking, you know?
sometimes you second-guess yourself when you don't have to and That changes over time you gain perspective and you realize like oh, maybe that mix wasn't the mix like at least I learned and moved on but see a lot of listeners of music and fans of music don't understand that moment when you're in the engineering studio, and you're listening to it through their Unbelievable speakers listeners don't have those speakers, but man to live it and to feel it is amazing
Yeah, no, I agree.There's something about studio speakers.Like, you'll hear it in the moment in the studio and be like, oh, fuck, that's so cool.
And then, like, you get that recording on your phone later and you hear the demo and you're like, that's not nearly as cool.
It's so funny you say that because when I record the music, what I'll do is I'll take walks and or I'll go driving in the car because every single place you are is going to be a different interpretation of a song.
Yeah, exactly.It's like everyone has their own set of ears.We all hear differently and each speaker is different and it's always a new experience wherever you hear it from.
So now when you say that you're up there in the Twin City area, I mean, we've entered this age of music right now where it seems to be going back to regional because not everybody can expand out to a national tour.
Do you see that happening from your side of the business?
Oh, you know, I've been I have a few thoughts on that.We definitely try to go national.But it doesn't always pan out.And we're always getting these tour offers.It's like, hey, $30,000 to jump on this tour.And it's like, who can pay for that?
I understand my fans don't make it anymore.Because it's so unrealistic to get your foot in the door in some of these situations. But yeah, I'll book my own stuff.We have a tour we'll do once a year, and we'll get out and travel the US.
But to jump on a big fancy tour that's being put on by a real production company, that's almost a bit far-fetched at times.
Isn't it great, though, to be in control of the path right now?Because, I mean, I've always heard those stories where, you know, the record company was in control.Oh, we're doing it for the record company, the record company.
But it just seems like music today is about, nah, we're in control.
Yeah.Yeah.It's good.Like, uh, we're not signed right now.So like, we definitely can do whatever we feel like doing.So we work at our own pace.We, uh, we basically take whatever path that tickles our fancy, you know,
And so yeah, it works for us right now.But not that I won't take orders from someone one day, because sometimes I don't have all the answers.
So maybe it'd be nice if someone would take the reins every once in a while and point me in the direction I should go or give me an opportunity I never would have thought of.So we'll see what the future holds.
My wife's ex-husband is a guitarist who's performed from Richard Marx to Madonna to Michael Jackson, and he has constantly told me, it's not what I'm doing on that guitar, it's what's coming out of the amp.Do you believe in that?
What's the difference?That's what I was thinking.But he feels that that amp has, I mean, you could be using tube amps from way back there in the 50s and 60s to where we are today.
Oh, you know, if you put it that way, that's right.Like I am particular about my tone.Like it's gotta be a tube amp if you're in like a rock and roll band.Otherwise it just sounds like it's like 2D compared to 3D.Like you want the 3D sound.
You want it to fill a room.You want to, it's, it might sound a bit more of like a crackly sound, but like, you know, it's raw, it's real.That's, that's what you want out of rock and roll.So that's a, I do go for that.
Man, you talk about that tone, it reminds me of an interview that I heard with Keith Urban, because he was asked about his tone.He says, how am I supposed to find my tone when I can't keep my ass still on that stage?I've got to be moving everywhere.
Yeah, that's true.Like, your dance moves and your playing, those are two completely different things you gotta focus on.
So, like, you can either be a good dancer and a shitty player, or like a great player who doesn't move at all, or, you know, hopefully that's middle ground.
You gotta feel it in your heart that the blues rock vibe that you've got inside this music is perfectly in tune with what's going on today.
Because, I mean, we're in such an age where some good blues and rock combined together would really be the answer to a lot of people's escape.
Yeah, you know, I definitely feel like, uh, it's slowly peeking back out into the world and like people are responding well to it, which like, I feel like, um, yeah, like we, we need this.
And it's like, it's like listening to like a classic rock station.Like, you know, it's going to be like the same, like 50 songs every day, but it's like comfort music, no one, what it's going to be.And like, I feel like we need that again.
Like I don't get that sort of comfort from listening to like the modern, like pop stations or whatever.Like, But yeah, like we need more rock and roll.That's the moral of this.
Well, I go in there and I study the ratings of all these radio stations across the country in the biggest markets to the smallest markets.
And one of the things that I'm seeing as somebody who like because I believe that the next music genre is being created in a way that I'm not seeing, you know, the the classic rock radio stations up in the top anymore.
I'm seeing really a top 40 radio station.I'm seeing, you know, adult top 40 stations.And that to me is that that bridge for for new artists to step right in there.
Yeah, yeah, I guess I haven't really studied like what the next new thing is or what the top stations are.I kind of figured in this day and age that it's impossible to create a new genre.
Right.But yeah, yeah, I guess you never know.Well, see, and what I mean by new genre is, you know, it's that you've created your own sound.In other words, when I when I go to your next song and I go to the next song, it's you.
And so therefore, if I were out somewhere and I heard the song, I'd say, oh, that's them.That's them.That's absolutely that you've got your own signature.
Yeah, yeah, I guess that's right.You could say we're rock, but more specifically, it's like, hey, that's the nectarous sound.And eventually one day down the road, you have bands who want to emulate that specific style.Yeah, I get that.
Yeah, I guess I strive for that as well, to be an influence and show people, hey, we can play rock, but we can play it this way, which you might not have thought of, which is the nectarous way.
Yeah. Do you think that listeners need to support you more on Spotify, iHeartRadio, iTunes?Because I know that these clubs are saying, I've got to see your analytics.Show me what you're doing for your numbers.
Yeah, I mean, I guess so.Like I think in this day and age, people are so focused on like what we look like on the internet, which I feel like is a little lame.Maybe I should be pushing people to do that more.
I've always been more concerned with getting people to the live show.I think it looks cooler to have a bigger crowd than bigger numbers on the internet.
Yeah.Yeah.I mean, to me, when it comes to some great music, man, you got to have the hair and you've obviously got that.Mine is in the middle of my back.It's like, no, I'm not cutting this damn stuff.
Well, that's what the doobie brothers used to do so you're you're right there man Yeah, yeah, you gotta have long hair I mean, it's not required but you just look a hell of a lot cooler when you play this music and have this look Where can people go to find out more about you or and look before we go there What what are you doing for a little tour right now?
Are you putting something together?I?
Actually, no, we were supposed to go out in the fall, but we had some plans changed last second We were supposed to go all the way down south like New Orleans, Texas, but I'm thinking that's gonna get pushed in the spring now So nothing's officially booked I've been a bit lazy about getting back out there because you know It takes forever to plan something and then when it gets delayed, I'm kind of like yeah, whatever already did the effort I'll wait to start again
Well, because it seems like every place on the planet now is starting to do music festivals.I mean, you had the Asheville.Charlotte had a huge music festival this year.And it just seems like that is the place to go right now.
Yeah, actually, I don't know if we've ever played a festival, this group, but yeah, I think that's definitely the way to go.
It's like a whole community when you're in there with all these people, they're all camping, you're just hanging out with the same group all weekend, listening to all these bands, it's like a big family of music.
It definitely seems like the place we want to be a part of.
Is there a family in the music industry these days?Are you guys swapping different licks and all that kind of stuff?
I don't know, I wouldn't say that.I think any licks I incorporate into my playing aren't exactly from the people around me.It's more from the music I listen to, which is definitely old music, not exactly the newer stuff.
So where can people go to find out more about you?And if you've got merch, let's sell that stuff, man.
Well, social media, Facebook, Instagram, we might be on Pornhub, I can't say for certain, unless you look us up.
Yeah, we exclusively sell all the merch at shows right now, but definitely see us expanding, building a website to get merch out there nationally.
If we have that demand, but um yeah, or if you if there's if you straight-up just want to know more about the band You can always message us Directly, I always answer.I am very good about communicating with the fans.
Oh, man.It's all about shaking hands and kissing babies, dude That's what it's about oh Yeah, yeah Wow well you got to come back to this show any time in the future the door is always gonna be open for you Perfect well.
Will you be brilliant today, okay?
You two arrow you have a good day
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