Artist Friendly with Joel Madden - Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line

Episode Date: November 19, 2025

On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden is joined by Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line. Throughout the past decade, the Starting Line have largely stayed active by playing their classics across various tours, including the 10th anniversary of Say It Like You Mean It in 2012, and releasing their three-song Anyways EP in 2016. However, the emo and pop-punk elders returned with their first album, Eternal Youth, in nearly two decades this past September via their own label Lineage Recordings. Taking influence from Lifetime, Drive Like Jehu, and Title Fight, the band have been busy debuting those new songs live, including at this year’s When We Were Young Festival and their own headlining run. Stopping by the Artist Friendly studio, the Starting Line frontman sits down with Joel to open up about their comeback. ------- Listen to their Artist Friendly conversation on ⁠⁠Spotify.⁠ ------- Follow Artist Friendly! IG: @artist.friendly TikTok: @artist.friendly YouTube: youtube.com/@artist.friendly ------- Host: Joel Madden, @joelmadden Executive Producers: Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Jillian King Producers: Josh Madden, Joey Simmrin, Janice Leary Visual Producer/Editor: Ryan Schaefer Audio Producer/Composer: Nick Gray Music/Theme Composer: Nick Gray Cover Art/Design: Ryan Schaefer Additional Contributors: Anna Zanes, Neville Hardman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What we're trying to achieve on the record is not rocket science. Like, we're really just trying to recreate the magic of big choice in Jersey's best dancers. Records like that that just have very simple fundamentals to them, but we just wanted it to hit us the same way that those records hit us. Thanks for coming. That's my pleasure. What was the last time we saw each other? Well, we were ships passing in the night, forgive the point.

pun when we were on the warped cruise. Yeah. Yeah, but we didn't get a chance to kick it much then. Yeah. Before that, maybe Japan. Yeah. It's been a long time. It's been a long time. Yeah. We're, we were both grown up. You look as old as you. You look very handsome. Thank you. Yeah. Smell good. You too. Got a real fit on. You know, I, you're a well-dressed man. I pulled out all the stops for this one. You know what? I think you were well-dressed, though. I think you're well-dressed. I think you carry yourself with some elegance. I appreciate that. Once I hit 40, I said no more shorts and no sleeves on stage. Yeah, I'm 41 now. 41. You look like you're like maybe 31. Ah, yeah. Thanks, man. Jeez, man. What's your wellness routine? Weed. Weed. Weed and water and going for runs every once in a while.

Weed water, runs. Yeah. Stay up late. Everyone's a while. I actually think, now hear me out. Because I don't smoke weed but okay but i'm not against it i'll smoke it sometimes and then i always regret it because i get paranoid and then every like once or twice a year when everyone's like yeah let's let's let's smoke some weed and i'm like okay or like someone will like like like i was with mitchell from chase atlantic and he wanted to listen to like new i told this story when he was here so i'm not divulging any private information but we he wanted to go listen to demos and he like wanted to smoke weed and i was like trying to be cool because he's the coolest guy i think he's like the coolest guy i think he's like the And every time I'm with them, I feel like I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm 25 too. And I'm like hanging

and like, yeah, I smoked weed. And then I smoked weed and I just freaked out. We're listening to demos. I'm afraid the cops are going to come. Meanwhile, we're in LA at 2 a.m. on Mulholland, like listening to music. So I understand. It's very strong stuff out here. You sound like a man that could use an indica. You need to stay away from the sativas. That's where that jittery. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Let me be your guru. Indica. But I think the weed probably is something like medication for the calm, the stress. You probably live with a marginally amount less stress because of the regular smoking of marijuana. And then therefore the aging and stuff gets slowed down because it is stress and things like that.

Like lack of sleep, stress, things like that. Being unhappy is actually like a core killer. I agree. Yeah, I think that it seems to work with my brain chemistry very well as far as staying stress-free, keeping pretty happy-go-lucky, not letting little things bother me. It seems to help with that stuff. Also, creatively, it helps me a great deal. I got busted for weed once going down to Bonaroo, and they found like an ounce and some change, and I got put on probation for a year. And I was a good boy and didn't smoke weed for that entire year. Really? Yeah.

You had to stop. Well, you know, it was like in Virginia and I had a probation officer that I just would call into. She never made me do the cup thing or anything like that. But over that year, I wrote three songs that were not very good. And in the month that I started smoking weed again, I wrote seven songs that were all keepers for a record. So it seems to work with me.

It's not for everybody, but it seems to be for me. It works for you. Yeah. Yeah, but I can tell because you look clean, clear, healthy. I appreciate that. You too, I'm happy for you, man. That's great. Thank you.

You know, life's being good to you. Life is good. It's treating you well. It's the best job I could imagine. Okay, so my impression of you from afar is things are going well. And then when I sit with you, I connect those and I go, well, he looks great. He's, you know, and like it feels like things are going well, if you could give like any number of things, if it's three or five or two or one,

the key components that you would say are creating what feels like a life that's going well for a 41 year old man. What would you say those key components are at this stage of your life right now? I have a lot of blessings coming my way, especially this year. I was speaking a little bit to your other friends in the room here. Yeah, but I am expecting my first daughter with my wife. Congratulations. Thank you. So as soon as I get home, that's happening. I'm very excited with that. That's been an ever-giving source of joy this year. And, you know, that news came right after we finished the record. And even while we were in Mexico City shooting the cover at the Paxus House in these different locations.

That was where my wife got nauseous for the first time. We didn't know that we were pregnant. So it creates a whole other level to like how special the record is for us and seeing that front cover and like knowing that my wife and my daughter were there with me during it. That's really sweet. Yeah. So it's like it's all that, you know, like I'm having a relationship with my wife that is,

you know, just seems to be getting better and more nurtured through being together. Like we really are two people that seem to be made for each other and are very comfortable. So that is, that's a great thing because I had been in relationships before where I got really squirmy and it was just evidently not a right fit. And so I think taking the patience to seek out your true partner is a very important thing, not rushing into that sort of thing. Like we dated for almost 10 years before we got married. That's great though.

Yeah. Because the marriage does take it to another level. It formalizes the relationship. way that I didn't really think we needed until we did it. And then I was like, whoa, there is a thing about being married. For sure. And we were together and we had two kids before we got married because we both didn't think the concept of marriage was the most important part of like our relationship. Yeah. But then one day I was like, well, I'm struggling to call you my mother of my children or kids mom. You're not my girlfriend. You're not my fiance. Like we haven't even, you know,

and nothing else sounds right to me but like wife. Yes. Right. And then we got married. And then it did go to another level when we got married. It was really interesting. I don't know if we thought about that. Yeah.

For sure. I shared that same philosophy even with my wife for a long time. And yeah, it's sort of like why get married? And then eventually you're with a person so long. It's like why not get married? Yeah, yeah. Like if we really are in this and want to be together forever, let's ante up.

And it's a cool part of adulthood I found, like getting married and going through it. And even just wearing the ring, it just feels, it feels right. And it's a new security that I had never anticipated when I was in my younger years. It's pretty cool. Yeah. How long you've been married now? Let's see. It'll be 15 years.

Whoa. Married. It'll be 19 years together. Our two anniversaries we kind of count is when we got together and then when. Well, really when we met because we were crazy about it. other but then yeah we weren't like i think it was like it was like in january or february after we had met that we like were like do you want to like are you my girlfriend or something like yeah had some kind of conversation like that we have those pillars of anniversary as well yeah yeah we met

was when we kind of count the first anniversary yeah and it's all at the end of the year so december is a big month for us because we're like our wedding anniversary is um 12 11 10 so yeah so they're they're like a week apart so i like it yeah it's cool so it'll be 19 years together and 15 years married at the end of this year. I like that. It's like the OPS. Yes. It's like on base plus lugging. Yeah, exactly. Yes. I love that. Do you like baseball? Love baseball. And this is like the first year. I've become like obsessed with it. But yeah, I think I went to six games at Citizens Bank in Philly this year. Okay. Do you live in Philly? Yep. Oh great. Close. Really close. Love it. Yeah. What a great place. So fantastic. We were also talking about the similarities of Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Close, yeah. It is. There's like a cool pocket of creativity of both of those places that sort of exist independently. A lot of my friends were from Philly because back in the day, you know, when you're starting out in the band days, you're going up and back for like little shows back and forth from like Philly in D.C., Baltimore area. Great place to raise a family. Absolutely. Amazing place to raise a family. I'm extremely jealous because I've always loved that area and I've always kind of like, I don't know, I just love that area. I think it's good people come from there. So many friends come from there. 100%. Yeah, it's everything that I know and I'm familiar and comfortable with. I live in the same school district that I went to. Oh, wow. Yeah. So I'm a total homer.

I didn't drift too far from the shore. Yeah, but isn't it cool how you run away from it and then you come back when you're older and you have a wife and you're having your baby on the way and you kind of start to appreciate the places that you grew up that you might have resented when you were younger or you might have thought you wanted to get away from. But then you go back and you're like, now, this is a pretty special place. 100%. I think I was in a unique position when I was younger because I left for the road so early. And I was living at home until I was 22 or 23 years old. Right. Because you're just on the road. Yeah. I was on the road so much that it was actually evident to me very early on

that when I came home it was nice to know where everything is because I was always so disoriented by being in a new place every day that it was really nice to know everyone and everything. You were young, really young. How old were you when you guys started? Like when you hit the road. Yeah, well I was 14 when

we started the band and actually I think we played shows together when I was not far from that. You were probably 15. Yeah, probably 15. I remember that. Yep, that one show at that like outside amphitheater with mighty, mighty boss tones and big wig. And there was another band called Gray Something that had another like little kid in the band. Like the little kid played guitar and he was like 11 or something and everyone else was like 20 years old.

I was like, oh, he got me beat. Yeah. Got the bigger separation. And then everyone's expecting you to hang with the other little kid and you're like, no, I want to hang with the fucking boys. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Because at 15, I mean, that's when I, when I, when we started Good Charlotte, we were 15. We didn't really get to tour until we were 19.

So we were doing the regional stuff and in the van and stuff. But like the record deal and that was 19, 20, 21 was when like things started to get like serious, like serious. But it's still kind of young. I still look at that and go like 19, 20, 21's young. Very young, especially in the grand scheme of things when you look at the totality of how long y'all been together. Yeah. How do you feel like being 15 and getting kind of like tossed into Warped Tour world? Do you feel like it had an effect on you in any way? It could be positive. It could be negative. Any which way do you think it altered? Like, how do you feel like that affected you?

Yeah. It's hard to say for sure because I don't know anything else except. That's all you know. Yeah, it's all I know. So it's, I can definitely identify that it's a unique experience and not. not a lot of other people have come out the other side of it, maybe in good shape. In tact. Yeah. So I feel lucky that I had a good support system and good roots where everyone was keeping me really grounded. And to be honest, like my experience throughout like the ages of Warp Tour and that kind

of thing was just sort of like acceptance into the scene and like my own like wrestling with like my acceptance in this music scene because I had always held punk music. to such a high regard and I've been like buying face to face no effects records. I hear that all over your records still. Oh, thanks, man. Yeah. I've been a fanatic for this kind of music since before I could drive myself to record stores. And now being placed in a situation where I get to like watch hot water music sound check.

Yeah. Like it was a real, I don't know, you know, it was a shock. And I was so excited. I was probably like a little overly gregarious at times, but I just tried to like, you know, act like I'd been there before as much as I could. And those first few years, I did feel a bit out of place. You know, I could hear, you know, like older bands on interviews talking about the younger bands on Warp Tour. And it probably sounds a lot how I talk about some of the younger bands.

But, you know, I try to handle that with compassion now because I was in that place. And it hurts to feel like, you know, you're lesser than your idols or something like that. Or you have, you know, an imposter syndrome to be on this tour. And now it's a beautiful release now that we're at this stage in the game. And there's other bands that are coming up to us, giving us props and given us respect. and even the festivals themselves, you know, showing appreciation and gratitude for what we're doing,

means a lot because now, like, the shoe is on the other foot and we get to, if we want, like, bring bands that we like from the new generation and take them under our wing to a certain extent. And I just try to learn from those experiences and those sensations of feeling like I don't belong. Yeah, I think that's the youth and then the kind of experience and wisdom

and whatever you want to call it, the age of being older, I'm a half a decade older than you, which is, you think about it in terms of that. I could say it a lot of other ways. You can say five years older than you or whatever, but I'm a half a decade older than you. Right. So at that time, you come into Warptor, I'm there.

I'm a half a decade more experience, which at that time is like something like 30% of your whole life. Yeah, right. And a quarter of mine. And you look great, by the way. Sort of toss that in there. Thank you. But when you think about it,

At the time, five years is like a third of your life and a quarter of mine. And we're hearing guys who five years is like a ninth of their life, a tenth of their life. So if we just put proportionate, everything proportionally is going to mean something different to all of us. Proportionally to you, it's going to mean more. Proportionally to me, it's going to mean more than it means to you or less than it means to you depending, right, when what we value changes with our age. And then to older guys, when you realize it when, because now you're at 41, you more easily say things that you think

and feel because things don't hurt you. Yeah. So if someone walked up to you and went, oh, that's a fancy outfit, you'd be like, yeah, it is pretty fancy. Thanks. Not, what does he mean by that? Thank you, kind, sir. Yeah, yeah, like, thank you, kind sir. And you're like, because you're older, you're wiser, you're faster, you're smarter, you don't take offense because you don't care because you made a decision that you stand by and you're there in it and you don't even have to question it. And so when someone says something that if you were 15, you could be like, what does he mean by what I'm wearing? Oh my God.

I took time to find this outfit and I put effort into this. And like when you think about that if you zoom out, you realize when I say at 15 to be thrown into the warp tour, this is what I'm talking about. talking about. It's not the drugs or the this or that. Like 15 year olds can find drugs anywhere. They can find anything to get into anywhere. And they're going to, by the way. In fact, I would almost feel safer if they were on tour with some responsible, if you attached yourself to some responsible people. Right. And you were around people who were looking out for you who were like, hey, slow down a little bit, man. Like it's almost better than if you're running around the streets of

Philly getting into whatever and you're supposed to be at like Johnny's house. You know what I mean? Big time. So the thing is though is like at our age now and then once we have kids, even the depth of what you feel knowing that your child's on the way, it ages you in a way. Yeah. Like suddenly things become more clear of what's important, what's serious, what's not. Oh yes. Who do I even have time to take serious? Who do I have time to listen to? Totally. Who do I have time to deal with? you treat other people too. That's a big one. Yeah.

So it's funny because at 15, 17, 19, 20, it changes rapidly what we take in as serious or gospel or threats or not or this or that. Like it changes. And then as you get older, you realize how those old or punk bands and all those older band guys could just say whatever the fuck because they're at an age where it doesn't it's not that heavy to them. And they actually don't think they think it's that heavy to you either. Right.

So it's like an interesting. As an older guy, I look back on it and I do put my arm around the younger us and go like, you guys did good. Like you handle all that shit because we dealt with the same thing. We had bands that were all kind of their opinions of the youthfulness of all of us. And we were young. We were excited. We were like happy to be there.

We didn't know the rules. We were just trying our best. best. Yeah. And then we got met with all kinds of just like old punk guys and the people saying shit that hurt our feelings. And now I just think it's funny. Now someone came up to me with those same comments on the street.

I would just kind of, I wouldn't even know what to do with it. I just think it's funny. You know, like, yeah. And it's not because I'm some like cool guy. It's because I'm older now. And I'm just like, what are you talking about? Yeah. The age is a great equalizer.

It gives you more tools to disarm situations like that. I will say, you know, to your guys credit, you and your operation had always been so kind to us personally. And from everything that I've witnessed with how you interact with other bands, you know, like, I remember on WarpTor and they probably, you know, were predecessors to you and I, but MXPX were on there. And I remember you just like sitting up next to Mike and just like singing MXPX songs with him on guitar. And I just thought like, my guys, man. I love those guys. It was so great. you know, like that was probably when you guys were really escalating maybe like at your steepest

incline for, for the, for that first point. And then MXPX, I think we're on the Ernie Ball stage at that point. So they were. Yeah, but they were, they were one of my formative bands. And you can hear that. Yeah. I love that. And it was like at that moment, I was like, oh yeah, I hear a good deal of like MXPX's influence in Good Charlotte's music. There is MXPX in Good Charlotte. I promise you for sure. Like that it's one of the bands when I was forming my idea of how do you write a song and how do you be a band. I got to go see them play at this little venue called my brother's place in Waldorf, Maryland, which was like not far from where we lived. It's out in the, it's out very far away from like major city. It's not an A market, right? Yeah. And that show was like really important. Like I saw a band on stage and my friend was the runner because it was like a little mom and pop venue. So like my friend was. was the runner. So I wrote along in the car when he was taking Tom to get like guitar strings or something. Oh, yeah. I realized this was in the car. Yeah. But that band was important to us. And we always have said that. And there's a bunch of other bands too. But then when we met them, it was that nice

experience of when you meet a band you love and they're cool. Yes. And they've always been cool. Absolutely. Yeah, those guys are salt of the earth. You just got to cherish that experience. you don't get to have that all the time. Absolutely. I had a similar experience. I'd got a Tom autograph when I was a kid and then we shared a bus with them in Europe and I don't think I ever told them that.

But it's just so, it's such a trip. I probably told them too many times. Yeah. Legends. I think you guys are the same as us. I think that most bands, I would say like I would say I would put most bands in the,

cool, like pretty cool, nice bucket. And I would say we were just trying to look like we knew what we were doing most of the time. And then we also were wanting to be friends. Like we wanted to be friends with bands. Like, yeah. Part of the reason why we did it is like we dreamed of going on tour and we thought that's what it was. Like it was like Warped Tour was summer camp. Tour was like being out with your friends. And so I think that was our approach. So we did have a friendly like stance. It's great, man. It's rare to meet fans that are both successful and on the level for some reason. So I always put you guys in that exception. And I think that that's a great reason why we should tour together. Hey, let's do it. I promise my band, I would tell you, we're accepting the offer,

whatever it is. Okay. Really? Yeah. Okay. Sight unseen. That's a huge compliment. Oh, dude. I mean it, man, wholeheartedly. Like, there's a, uh, Very few bands that have, like, I do emo nights a lot. Yeah, yeah. And so to do that- I love Emo Night. Me too. I love it.

And at first I didn't know what I was doing with the crowd that was there and the assignment that was in front of me. And let me tell you, a band like Good Charlotte saves me on those nights. Because it's a common ground where I'm like, yeah, like I get down with this song. I want to hear the anthem right now.

You want to hear the anthem right now. Let's have fun. Just throw it on in between. and you'll be all right. And there's slim pickings as far as that like, you know, where we can meet. You know, there's a lot of bands that I'm not familiar with that they really want to hear, but Good Charlotte is one where... That's really, really nice to hear because obviously you would feel the same way.

You give your youth to something. You give your whole life to it. You missed weddings and birthday parties and family things and you were gone for a decade and a half or more. And then you come home and your early 30s or mid-30s or mid-thirty. 30s and you go like, what happened? Yeah. Like, who am I? Yeah, it makes me happy to see that you're still the guy that I met at that amphitheater show. Me too, man. Same with you, man. It's really nice. But it's heartwarming to have had a really great interaction with someone to have that seared into your brain as like that's, I've always remembered you as that guy. And I had no clue

coming in today. I didn't do a deep dive on like, what's going on in your life, whatever, I've listened to your records. So I love your records. The latest record is great. Thank you, man. And it's got all the best of that stuff that you love. It's got all the best face-to-face lifetime, all those like cool, those bands I thought were cool. But they were a little out of reach for me. I can't explain it. Like, it's not that I listened to them, but like I didn't, I didn't feel like, I don't know. Because it's a different generation too. You know how sometimes when there's scenes that when you're a kid, like the hardcore scene or the this scene, where you kind of, you go to shows, but you didn't feel like you were in this, in it. I still feel like you were like

the guy like in the scene. Like you didn't know how everything worked. And like that's kind of how I came into music, whether it was a scene or even like the Warped Tour scene. I was holding it together. I was trying to like present well and like, but I just wanted everyone to like me and I wanted to be in the scene. And then you, you get these like cool drinks of water, someone like you, where you can feel total acceptance, everything, you can feel it. You can feel like there's a, there's a warmth, like MXPX guys. Yeah. I can name a list of bands. I could go down the long list. There's a lot of great bands out there. But it's like a cool drink of water when you feel uncomfortable or when you feel it's like, you're at a party, you know, no one. And then there's

someone you know and they come up to you. Yes. And then you're like, oh, okay, now I can stay here. because I was about to leave. I don't even know what to do with myself here. Absolutely. You know? Oh, my goodness. I want to be here, but I don't know where to fucking stand.

I'm just sitting here. You know what I mean? I still have that experience. Absolutely. Yeah, it really, I mean, that's a big part of,

and you know, like, I know I'm having a joking tone with it, like we're going to accept the offer thing. But like, honestly, there's a lot of like, taking it serious.

No, me too. And I'm so glad you are. Because there's so many bands that like are on this, you know, level of success, riding the punk thing, and sometimes the personalities are clashing. It can be a little dark.

Yeah. So, you know what I think it is, though? What's that? Self-esteem. Yeah. Unresolved issues and self-esteem. Mast and like a cool. Why would I work that out?

Yeah. Why would I go back and work that out? Who fuck cares? You know, a little bit of that. So there's a self-love thing going on there that they need to go back and I think deal with. I feel that. It's not fun. No, I really try to at all cost, like, detect the jade and stay away from it as much as possible

and really just have... Are you a therapy guy? No, never been. Wow. Yeah. You seem so, like, really worked out. Thank you. I'm trying to keep the waters calm enough that, you know.

Some people just... It's the weed. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's my therapist right there. Dr. Green. Yeah. I feel like there's maybe someday there's, like, things that... that would be good to address,

but also I have really good support in my life to be able to air those things out. And I feel relatively healthy as far as mentally goes. That's great, thanks. Have you ever dealt with like, I think everyone has a little anxiety. I think everyone has a little bit of stuff like that, but of course.

Have you ever dealt with like deep, heavy bouts of anxiety or things like that? I'm sure I have. And I think more so when I was a kid, I had really having anxiety, like when I was going to grade school stuff just over like homework and oh really yeah just things of that nature i would get so stressed out and i had all sort of colitis as a kid too which i think was just due to just like being stressed

and it was all over like homework yeah it was just like over just like dumb yeah just like kid obligations that really were inconsequential but like i would just had the ability to get myself really worked up over i was a procrastinator too like i just wouldn't do my homework until the last minute and it was probably a little ADHD though in there maybe yeah for sure for sure creative. Yeah, dyslexia is probably a thing too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are your parents together your whole life?

Yes. Yeah. My mom passed away about five years ago. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, thank you. I'd say that that was probably in my adulthood, probably the most that I've wrestled with, like, depression. Yeah, grief.

Yeah, yeah, it's tough. And I just took it to music. Like, I'd purposefully made a record around that time and just put one foot in front of the other and just tried to finish a song a month. And it was something for my brain to latch on to that was felt constructive and still grieving. That's tough, dude.

Yeah. I've lost enough people to go through loss, but I think when my dad died, it was six years ago. So sorry. That's okay. It was sudden too, so it wasn't like we could prepare,

which also, I don't know which is better. If you know it's coming and you have to watch someone go through that, which sounds awful to me. And then there's the sudden one where it's gone. You didn't even get.

to talk to him and he called me the day before and I was at my kids game and some fucking dad was talking to me and there was like stuff. It was like all, you know, you're in like dad mode. And I was like, I'll call him back. And it was really tough. And that was one of the things I had to like make peace with because I, I think I attached my grief to that moment as like something that I maybe could have changed. Maybe there was something if I had answered the phone. it would have been different. And I had, yeah, it's not the truth. That's like when I talk about therapy to be able to work out some of that stuff,

I had to go talk to someone about it. Yeah. Because also the grief was, was tangled up in all this. Like we had a very complicated relationship. And then we had like 10 really good years together. Yeah. We were estranged for longer than that. So there's a bunch of stuff when you're estranged from someone that you don't want to be

estranged from, really. Yes. And then you get back together and you have to. So like there's a therapeutic process in all of it. Loss, though, is probably a certain kind of trauma we can understand because we have a natural understanding of it. For sure. Yeah.

It doesn't really end as far as I can tell. Yeah. At least at this stage. But it's at least now more of a memory than a morning. Yeah. It feels more like a presence than, you know, like a depression or something like that. And also, I think that the less. and the message that I've got from it is still spilling over into the music now.

And it actually is very cathartic putting it into punk music. Because like when you really just want to have a guttural let it out, like if you attach it to a line that's really meaningful concerning that stuff, it can be powerful. Yeah, you kind of just vomit it up. Yeah. It just comes out when you're making these records. It still does for me.

And it's all over our last records just still came out and like songs. Which sounds great, man. Thank you. Yeah. I could tell, are we both? listening to Joy Division? I'm getting the sense. You a Joy Division guy? I am a Joy Division guy in Depeche Mode. Yeah. And The Cure. I sense it. Yeah. Hell yeah. You love Joy Division? Love them. Top like 10 band. I go through stages where I seem to have like a favorite band for like five

years at a time and it seems to be Joy Division right now. A lot of it is. Can't mess with the classics, baby. He can't. I mean, they have so many dope songs. I mean, I've already said it in one of my songs, but I think that Love Voltaire's a part is like one of the greatest songs of it all time. And one of the greatest lines and one of the greatest titles. And so cool. The tempo of it, the pulse of it.

It's almost, I'd say it's like the God Only Knows of punk music. Yeah. It's just so perfect. I love the Beach Boys. Oh yeah, me too. One other thing about Joy Division, though, the bass lines, Peter Hook, playing his lines up so high.

Like, I've really identified that as something I love and has sort of borrowed from my own style. is like you can hear the bass more when it's a higher. And then if you get a really tasty lick up there, it's an earworm. And everyone's allowed to do it. Yeah, for sure. That's what I say. Yeah.

You know? I think even he said there was an interview that he said that he wasn't a good bass player when he first joined the band. Then he just started playing some high stuff and they were like, that sounds good. And he just kept doing it. There can't only be one basketball player on the court. True. Gotta be more to play the game.

And I'm drilling. That's how I feel about music. If you hear something cool that I did, do it for sure. You know what I mean? That's the beautiful thing about it. Any of us, you know? There's a lot.

There's a lot of obvious influences that I'm borrowing from on this record. I think that, you know, people don't need to listen closely to hear the title fight influence on a new record. That was another big one. And that's a big reason. You love title fight, huh? Love title fight. And that's another man recently probably in the last five years that have only even become aware of to this extent. Like around 2010 when they released Hyperview, I heard it.

And I was like, oh, this is what that band sounds? like. And then I realized their stuff before that was a little bit more edgy and punk rooted and then found floral green and had already been working with Will Yip a little bit to that point. But then once I found that record

I just attached to him like a leech and I'm just like... I love Will. He's the best man. He's so good and he's just like so able to make a record that sounds natural and big. And like you. Oh yeah. He's got a great You know, he really does get you on the record.

Yeah. When he works with bands, he's very good at capturing the band. And he's a pure force. Absolutely. Yeah, he's great, man. He is such a chameleon, too. If you give him the assignment of what you want your record to sound like, he will work at impossible lengths to get there.

Did he do this latest record? He did. Yep. Oh, so. Yeah. That's great. It's a dream man. His studio was like 15 minutes.

from my house. Yeah. You know, it was Kismet. And were you guys friends before that? We were. Yeah, we had actually, I don't even think we'd met at that point, but he recorded our live record back in 2007. It was like one of his first engineering credits.

And then we had done a seven-inch together. Once we had become aware of him working at Studio 4 and that he was so close by, it had began to blossom the relationship. And then is this the... first record you did together? With Will? Yeah. Yeah, the first full link. Yep. You're happy with it?

So happy, man. Sounds really good. Thank you. The band sounds tight. Thanks, man. I can't believe it. I mean, there was a lot of wishful thinking going into it as far as, man, it'd be cool if we could put it out on our own label. It'd be cool if we could work with Will. And then Will was like, hey, I think we should get Rich Costi to mix it.

And for those who don't know, Rich Costi is a legend in the rock mixing business, Muse, Mars, Volta. can go on and on. Yeah, Jimmy World. And deaf tones, come on. So, like, he was like, we should get Rich to mix it. And I was like, sure. Like, but, you know, like, who's going to pay for it?

And then we told Rich that we were doing it independently. He gave us the bro price. That's awesome. Yeah, and it was able to come together. God bless him. Thank you. And so what we're trying to achieve on the record is not rocket science. Like, we're really just trying to recreate the magic of big choice and journey.

Jersey's best dancers, records like that that just have very simple fundamentals to them, but we just wanted it to hit us the same way that those records hit us. And Will understood that. I think there's a lot of producers out there that might have the tendency to overdo it a little bit, and Will, I know, can just keep something true to form

and just brutally honest, if you ask him to. When I was listening to the record, I also notice the vocals feel like they're like almost like one pass and it feels like live where you get a real emotion and it's not over punched. Thank you. You know what I mean? Like it's not over it. It doesn't feel copy paste, which is something that when I hear on a record, it soothes me because I think we've all been, you know, just by the nature of music and the world that we live in, the real world when we're going through our day. we're basically hearing 90% of what other people,

when we're in the store and we're there and we're there and we're there and we're like, we don't realize this, but everything's going in. Yeah. And 90% of it is, for the last 15 years has been this algorithmic in the box kind of copy paste thing that it works for some things. So I'm not hating on it.

I'm saying that we're not choosing that and that those frequencies. And so when you hear an almost like a, when you hear a live performance, there's something different that's rich. Thank you, man. That's refreshing and like, I love it when bands make these choices, right? And for me, when I heard the record,

it was one of the things I really liked was the vocal performances felt like they were almost like one pass through. Thanks, man. You know what I mean? Yeah, well, it was a definite, like, line in the sand right away. I was like, listen,

even before I could finish my sentence, I said, Will, vocal tuning. And he just looked at me and said, it's not even a thing. Cool. And so, like, right away, we had the understanding. that we're not going to touch it and like we'll just let my chips fall as they may like my

let my ability get to wherever it can get which i think is the charm of punk music i love imperfections i actually like seeing a band mess up on stage me too it's it's humbling and to see a band that can like sort of laugh it off and just roll with the punches and then keep it going and not even really you know in its character yeah that i think that that is like such a beauty and it's like one of the real appeal to punk music for me. And it's also like you don't have to do too much. Like it's, it made it very simple and attainable for us to get these takes. And yeah, like you said, like I would just sing it. I would sing like a verse, sing the second verse, sing the chorus. But then at the end, we would always have a bunch of fun runs, we would call it. And it's just from the front to the,

to the back. Like if you mess up, just keep going, whatever, but just have fun. I would honestly like be like pulling out the headphones because I'm like pacing. back and forth, like jumping around. I was really just trying to have my fun. Yeah, I can hear it. I can hear a verse and whatever he comped or whatever, it doesn't matter. The fact that there's a, like, for me, if you can just do a single pass on the verse and go, I like that one.

And then we're like, okay, that's a good one. Let's do it again. Oh, yeah. And then, or a single pass into the chorus and sing the chorus. Even if you run out of steam on the chorus. Yeah. You're like getting little things and the result. to me is something that feels like more personality, more character,

and a little bit of extra effort to make the song feel like it's special. I totally agree. It's closer to what it's going to be on stage too when you can do it like that. Yeah. That was a big thing for me was understanding what we do on stage and having what we do in the studio translate as closely as possible. Yeah. How's it going live with the record?

Great. Good. You like playing it live? Yeah, people are keyed into it. Cool. Yeah. Are you guys playing tonight? Yeah, I play the Nova.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Great. Yeah. I'm sure you're busy, but if you want to come, I got to say. I would come, but my daughter is dancing and I have to go. I can't miss it. I'm looking into my future, man.

I can't wait to watch my daughter dance. She's going to graduate this year. Oh, man. I'm good too many more of these like things. It's like killing me, but otherwise I'd be there. Nova's great. Say less, man, for sure. Who are you guys touring with?

Right now, we're out with Finch is direct support. Good old friends. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also shout out to Finch. Like, we were super late because the bus broke yesterday and they helped us get on stage. Thanks, guys. And so you don't actually have a lot of time here. I don't.

God. I know. I'm having too much time, man. I know, dude. Yeah. But you know what? I love it when people come here and it's exactly how it should be. Like, you have a ton of things to do today.

You're going. You're playing a show. You got to get ready for that. and you still came here to sit here and talk to me. I really appreciate it. Oh, it's my pleasure, man. I was really excited to reconnect with you. And this is one of the most anticipated, you know, sit downs that I've gotten to do

in the whole circuit of this record. Oh, good. Appreciate you having me, man. We've always been your guys as fans. So we'll definitely have to tour together. There was, like, so many ways I was, like, joking about how I was going to approach you about the tour. Oh, no.

Can I give you one? Also just say, yeah, like, hey, we want a tour. Can we just tour together? Please save us. Yeah, but I love it. Funny story. This was, I was going to bring a prop to try to, like, have a fake blackmail with you. Yeah.

I had, in 1998, I was in a band called Smash Adams in, like, middle school or like earlier as a high school. And we recorded one single cassette at that time in 1998. And the song was called the Loser Anthem. And he even has a little copyright. Yeah. And I was going to just like, shoot. I just was going to say, hey, read that for me.

And then I was going to be like, we don't need to get the lawyers in this, man. Yeah, yeah. We can just settle out right here. This could be a retroactive lawsuit right here. Yeah. We can cut this all out. This footage goes away. Or the words similar.

Well, loser anthem was. We do say another loser anthem. So I don't know where you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know where you got a hold of that. cassette. It's yours. Okay. So the story with the anthem, which is a movie had asked for a song from us. And they were like, you know, just write another one of your like loser anthems. And that was the like, that was the prompt. They were like, we need a theme song. And we wrote that

song and they turned it down. Oh, man. And we were like, it says another loser. What you said in the prompt was like another one of your like good Charlotte like loser anthems. Like they were talking like little things. Because it was like, I think in their mind, that's like, dude, where's my car? The song was in that. And it did well. And it was a moment. And then another movie similar of some kind was like, we want another one of your songs, another, like another one of your loser anthem. So we were like, uh, okay. First of all, thanks. Yeah. And then we wrote it and they turned it down. We were like, oh, that's going on the record. Oh, man. So it was right at the beginning of Young and Hopeless when we were starting to write. And we were excited to try and have

another movie song. And it ended up being in a lot of movies. But anyways, you got the last laugh on that one. One more compliment I got to give you. Please. Get your hands off my girl. Keep your hands off my girl. Keep your hands off my girl. Kind of sounds cooler. So I love your take on it. Actually, if you had been in the studio, we might have called it that. It's real. I mean, the song is so, the bass line is what, you know, yeah. I came for the name of the song and then stayed for the baseline. Yeah, yeah. You like the bass. That's the, That's my favor. Right there.

Okay, with the little time we have left, because I had so much to talk about, and then I sit down and I like lose my cool. And I wrote some stuff down, but... Oh, you guys have had 152 million streams on Spotify. That's great. I'm gonna, and like my music, my hair changed with me and has to be able to be able to see my rhythm.

For so, Potion Nine, of Sebastian Professional, has all what my hair needs. Nutrition Profunda, protection contraband, 99% less of rotura and punas

under control new potion 9 of Sebastian Professional the secret professional of who not see

tendences but of who they're and you got name check by Taylor Swift Oh my God That's pretty

fucking cool man shit name check me oh man and you love the Phillies here's the thing I wanted to say

next time you come we're going to rip some cards some baseball cards yeah yeah Okay, that's a world where... Okay, we're gonna rip the... We're not old.

We're gonna rip like new. We're gonna chase Phillies. We're gonna chase cards that, or, you know... Is that your thing? You're a card guy? I do collect. You and my son. My son's 16.

We've been collecting for 10 years together. So are you Orioles or are you Dodgers? Okay, cool. I mean, I am Dodgers as well. Got it. My son grew up in L.A., so he's a Dodger fan. Understood. I support the Dodgers big time.

We go to games, but he supports the Orioles. And because they're national and American League, it kind of works. They could meet in the World Series one day. That would be cool. I would love to see. I am a big Orioles fan. First and foremost, like, I have pain when the Orioles lose. Dodgers, I have pain for my son because he is a big time Dodger fan.

But it's nice because we get to watch so much baseball. For sure. But next time you're here, we'll rip baseball cards. Let's rip, bro. And then how's independent life? I really, I'm so glad that the proof of concept with us making a record without A&R neck breathing is successful. You don't even need it.

Yeah, you don't. And I was, you know, at the time when we were making it, I was like, I hope that this connects and I hope that people appreciate this for what it is and that it doesn't need any of that other part of the process that were, yeah, that were. You are the A&R guy. You're all the things. Yeah. It's finding partners who understand that and that work with you so that your back office is organized.

For sure. But like I say to every artist, you're your best manager. You're your best A&R guy. Work with partners who understand that. And you can build an organization of people that all play to their strengths. Yeah. Artistically speaking, you're not going to let someone dress you. No.

So why would you let them pick your songs? That's it, man. Like I feel like my department is what's coming out of those speakers. and I've always been very clear about that with my intention. This is like, listen, a lot of this other stuff, yeah, like I can give it up to delegation. Yeah, yeah. But when it comes to what's coming out of those speakers in the studio, all that matters is the people that are in that studio. And that leads the way for everything else.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, if you trust your gut and really are a fan of what's coming out of those, then I don't think you can go wrong. And then I think you take that and you apply it in life. Yeah. That's so cool that you're doing that too because I feel the same way about you guys. I feel like there's been no quality drop in the music that your band has been putting out. And that's so reassuring to know that you're doing it independently as well. You just got to toil.

Yeah. Toil over the details. And I find that when I take the record mine back to life, if I keep that same trust and I toil over the details of this show, of that thing that I'm doing. Everything will go better if we just block out anyone trying to rush it, anyone trying to steer it,

and like, no, just trust the feeling of like every part of your life like it's a record. Definitely. You know? There's something to be said

for how long your members have been together. You know, so many your core members have remained together. Yeah, like we feel the same way. You know, it's been the same five guys

since we've joined the band. And I think that like there's a level of trust that grows between the members after being with each other for a long time. I mean, we've been, the four of us, we call it like the core four, because we've always had rotating drummers, like every few years. It's like, and that's just like the person out, like that's kind of just been the way Good Charlotte is. Yeah. But all great guys, the guys,

we've gotten to work with drummers over the years. But the core four, we started in high school. And it's like family. Like, their wives, their kids, the whole, it's a family band. Like, and we're really lucky that that's the experience we get to have now when we go out. It feels like family. I 100% know what you're talking about. People throw that word around, but I think until you're in a band, yeah, we're like pushing 30 years together now. So it really is truly family dynamic. Congratulations. Thank you.

I'm going to be watching. And when you come back, we'll rip cards and we got a tour together. It's a date, man. We have a list of things we got to do. We got a lot of business. I'm looking over here and I'm like, okay, we got people. Is the band waiting? They are, I think.

But I'd stay here all day if I could, believe me. This is a great one, man. Thank you. Thank you for watching Artist Friendly. If you liked this episode, please make sure you hit the like button. You follow the channel and please share it with your friends. We appreciate the support. That is why this show exists because you listen to it.

Thank you guys and we'll see you next time.