Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - GOOD CHARLOTTE Can't Get Enough of Australia

Episode Date: September 2, 2025

Seth and Josh welcome another set of brothers to the pod this week, only this time they’re twins…and they happened to sing some pretty iconic songs in the early 2000’s. Joel and Benji Madden, AKA Good Charlotte, are on the podcast! They talk all about what it was like growing up in Waldorf, Maryland, summers spent in King’s Dominion, their first experiencing flying on an airplane at 19 years old, what it was like touring all over the world, life with their other siblings, their amazing fan base in Australia, how their wives influence their fashion choices, and so much more! Their new album Motel Du Cap is out now! Support our sponsors: HexcladFind your forever cookware @hexclad and get 10% off at hexclad.com/trips #hexcladpartnerSoulRight now, Soul is offering our audience 30% off your entire order! Go to GetSoul.com and use the code TRIPS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, Bashi. Hey, Sufi. I'm on the road. Yeah, I can see that. I'm looking at something very cool right now. Is it the Space Needle? It is the Space Needle. Oh, yeah.

Do you remember the children's book we used to have about the Space Needle? The Weedle and the Needle. The Weedle on the Needle. Yeah. And I'm just a big fan of the Space Needle. And in general, I'm a fan of Seattle. Yeah. And I am doing a stand-up show at a zoo tonight.

Huh. It's an outdoor venue. It's like a concert venue. It was definitely at a zoo. For animals or for people? I guess for people, but I do think, you know, I was like, maybe it's not, maybe it's more a concert venue than a zoo, but then I saw that I had to get dropped off at the otter lot. I think it's definitely a zoo. Outdoor comedy can break either way, so I'll report back.

Yeah. You know, a lot of people on a lawn. I feel like you definitely want a ceiling for comedy because you want to, you know, you want to catch those laughs. Yeah. But, you know, it's a beautiful, beautiful night in Seattle, Friday night in Seattle. So hopefully people are ready to laugh. You know, there's a chance that there are going to be some like some chimpanzees or some howler monkeys or hyenas or something who could be sort of almost like mock laughing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Throughout. Hopefully you don't have to contend with that. Well, you know, and again, if there's anybody who's thinking about coming to the show tonight, obviously already too late if you're listening to this. But like, don't come if you've got what people. describe as a hyena laugh because that'll just be confusing. No, but I'm saying an actual hyena. That's what I mean, though. If a person has a hyena laugh as well,

like the last place you should come to see comedy as a zoo. Because you might rile up the other hyenas? Yeah, or just throw the performer who the whole time's going to be like, well, the hyenas are out. Yeah. Like, usually when I'm doing a show,

I'm not worried about wildlife rushing the stage. Yeah. But today, that's going to be the back of my mind, obviously. We're just putting safety first. Do you think after the show, you might ask to go look at a couple animals? You might be like, hey, could I just take a quick spin through the monkey house or whatever? They offered show up early come see the private tour.

Gotcha, which you probably are too stressed out, right? Yeah. Also, I don't want to name names, but I am doing a podcast right now. It's a life of having a podcast, you know? Like every time you're like, oh, should I go see a new city or talk to the person I've seen the most in my entire life? Yeah, but also, you've often said that you're not very good at taking advantage of... I am. I am a little stressed out right now.

Sure. Because also, you, you know, you had your special Dadman Walking that came out last year. Emmy nominated? No, Golden Globe nominated. Golden Globe nominated, special. I'll take it. And so now you're, I'm guessing you're doing all new material. New stuff, yeah.

Yeah, I'm excited to see you out again with some new stuff. Yeah, it's, I'm very excited for you to see. Yeah, you got a little, you took a couple strays for your veganism in the last one. Oh, sure. You are currently not in it. Mom and dad are in it. Mm-hmm. Not sure if they're going to super dig it.

Yeah, well. Yeah. That's what you get. That's what you get. Get used to it. That's such a get-for-raising comedians. They're going to come back around on you. I'm very excited as we're recording this.

It's Friday and tomorrow I go to Vegas and I'm going to get my second trip to the sphere for the backstreet boys. Oh, that's great. Yeah. And then who have, for the record, added dates. They're doing like New Year's. Then they added...

All sphere dates? All sphere dates. I feel like maybe it's like the 20s. They could be doing Christmas for all I know. But I, and then they're doing more dates they just added yesterday in, like, February. And I was, I had an appointment at 9 a.m. the other day when the sort of like the New Year'sy tickets had gone on sale. And that's when the tickets went on sale. And I, like, I opened Ticketmaster to buy more tickets, but I was like, what am I doing?

Like, I've seen them, seen them once. Like, when did you turn? How fast you turned into this person. on Sunday. Yeah. And then I was like, should I, should I just buy them for New Year's in case? I don't know. We don't know what our New Year's plans are yet.

Somebody posted a video, you know, on one of the social media platforms. And it feels like the opening of the show, like, they just, like, explode onto the stage. I mean, sure, I don't want to give anything away, but. Is that a spoiler? Yeah, I've been telling McKenzie, don't watch anything. like don't oh really so it is oh you believe this can be spoiled i mean you there's no way to spoil it right but still you're like you you have a lot of integrity for the surprises they've built in and you're not yeah you're not you know me i sort of for a long time i wouldn't watch any trailers to

any movies because yes the only thing you were okay spoiling was the experience for the people you were with you know because you want to go to the movies and sit next to somebody who's covering their eyes and ears like they're weirdo. No, I would cover my ears with my palms and I would drum on the back of my head with my fingers. That really... Yeah, you know, that's a cool vibe. That's a cool vibe.

Oh, yeah. All right, well, I'm very glad you guys are going back to the sphere. Yeah, I'm excited because now I'll be going with McKenzie and our friends, Molly and Devin, are coming as well. And yeah, we're going to get our Vegas on. I'm really looking forward to it. Well, have a wonderful time. Thank you.

Break a leg tonight. Thank you very much. And although I think, you know, once again, though, like if you break a leg, I don't think you're allowed to say that at a zoo. I think you say that at a theater. I think when you say break a leg at a zoo, that just means you're prey. I think in a zoo you're supposed to say have a good show. And then in a theater, you're supposed to say break a leg. well have a good show and you can say

you can say Mcbeth at a zoo all right okay hey these are brothers these are brothers these are brothers who have have been at it for a while yeah lovely

rocking stages new album out yeah good Charlotte it's been a while since they've had a new album but they got a new one Motel du cap out now I feel like we didn't, and I feel like I should have asked them, would you recommend Charlotte as a vacation destination? Yeah.

So that was a missed opportunity. Yeah, it's good. It's good. All right. Have fun in Vegas. I don't know. I just said that, but I really want you to. Yeah.

And enjoy this conversation. Bye, everybody. Family chips With the mildest brothers Here we go Yeah Yeah There we go

So nice to see you You know everybody said It's insane to do a podcast With your brother Where nobody can tell your voices apart And we said we're going to do you one worse Oh, we're going to do you guys Even better here

Yeah We're going to just, everybody listening is going to at no point know if there are four or two people on this podcast. In some ways, there are only two and in some ways there are only four. Yeah, yeah. Maybe by the end of it, maybe we're just going to be one. Yeah, maybe we can find our way into the singularity. Nice to see you both. I think we have to be in person together to do that.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we'll figure that out. This is just the first step. This is like just to get to know each other. How are you, fellas? And nice to meet you guys. You too.

meeting. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. It's really cool. We did, I, you guys were on, you played SNL when I was there, but I would not say, other than maybe a good night hug, I would not, I would confirm that we have not met. I actually just walked right off, right off from the, yeah. Yeah. You were like, you walked up, you're like, I did not care for this and, and you will not, yeah. No, yeah. Tasteless, tasteless. Tasteless. Yeah, this comedy. You call this comedy? Yeah. I have it before we start. I have a question, and both you guys, I can answer this, but I feel like, Joel, you might have more. All right.

So when you have, what is your treatment for a sore throat if you have to perform? Because I feel like you're the guy I want to go to as I'm drinking hot tea on a day like today. Sore throat or you actually don't have a voice. So it depends on what level of. I guess it's like I had a sore throat and now I feel like my voice is going to be raspy. There's a spray you can get. You can spray it and numb it. Okay.

You can also just take prednisone All right Just get your doctor to give you a couple Prednisone pills Little steroids Take them like six hours Before you have to perform And you'll be like money

So steroids in the end Have earned their reputation Yeah Performance enhancing drugs Yeah But then we'll look out for the rage, Suef Yeah yeah yeah Well I'm already a little angry

You know, prednisone doesn't make you angry, but it does kind of like energize you when you take it for, you know, the wrong reason. So if you just take it for your voice, which is probably not a, not the right reason to take it. But I definitely do it when if I have no voice and I got to go on stage, I will take prednisone. Yeah. I don't care who knows it. How often, career-wise, how often have you had to cancel for a health-related reason? never for never cancel the show for for me um and i don't know how many shows we've ever canceled but um for the vocals if i lose my voice i either just push through it or now i you know now i'm

like i'll just take a prednisone and i'll just like it's not actually healthy if you do that all the time but right i don't know i get it i feel like that's allowed there's worse things yeah there's worse things that's true for rock and rollers you know there's i feel like behind the music, there was never one about Pregnizone. Well, if you asked me if I did drugs, I don't. I never have, but

I've taken prednisone every time my voice goes out. Yeah. I think that your fans would appreciate that loophole that you've allowed. Yeah. All right, so you guys, twins, you got one older, one younger sibling? Yeah, we have an older brother named Josh.

Nice. Good call. Well done. Good to have a Josh. Yeah. Yeah. And a younger sister named Sarah. And where do they fall? How much older? How much younger? 18 months. We're all 18 months apart. Oh, that's nice.

How would you say they would reflect on life with twins as siblings? What do you think, Bench? Probably... That's a good question. I think there's... They'd probably say there's pros and cons. We've had a lot of... I mean, I think now that we're all a bit older, it's... super easy when we were kids though you know i mean there was four of us crammed into you know whatever space and uh you know me and joel were always a team so right you know you always have an advantage if you have a team you know yeah yeah so would the other two sort of would

they naturally team up to sort of try and balance those those scales maybe it might have been they might have been like you know maybe in some of the scenarios where someone needed to get blamed for something. Right. Yeah. You know? Yeah. And then I definitely, I think me and Joel would take the fall for each other at certain

times if it was strategic, you know? Yeah. I definitely took a few whoopings for Joel. That's really nice. And at the time you were taking him was the expectation that you were taking them out of love or out of knowing that one day he would take one for you? It's always strategic, I think. We have always been strategic.

Yeah. Gotcha. Yeah. How interchangeable, I'm assuming at home everybody knew who you were. How interchangeable were you at school? Or was that something where right away people sort of knew the difference between the two of you? Not really. We definitely switched it up at school sometimes. And actually have kind of done that our whole life. We still do it. Yeah. It's great. We still do. Like there's definitely interviews that you can read out there that are me that really Joel did. And there's definitely. interviews out there that are Joel that I did and um they do it I mean people still do it all the time you know you'll they'll they'll they'll like you know um whatever music outlet or whatever we'll have like you know uh you know Joel Madden you know uh or you know and it'll be a picture of

me and vice versa like it happens all the time yeah and um when we were kids we definitely did did did a little bit, I mean, I think the whole like, you know, switching classes or like, you know, that kind of stuff. We, we didn't really do that too much because I think we were, we were having too much fun with it. So we sort of gave ourselves up like, ha ha, I'm, I'm not Joel, you know, like somewhere in the middle of the day or something, you know. But when we've needed to stand in for one another. Like, you know, there's been, I mean, so many times, it can't even count. Like, the amount of times, like, where it was either like a thing where one of us,

you know, either, you know, got sick or there was a, you know, we had a family commitment or something. And instead of just like making a whole thing about it, like, Joel just like, dude, I'll do it. No, no. Or I'll, I'll. It's a phone or I'll do it. Yeah, especially.

But now with Zoom. A lot of times if you plan something with Benj and I show up, it's not to, it's a quick little three minute like, ah, yes, you get me instead or whatever. Right, right. But, yeah, we've definitely been doing that for years all our life. Did you, you guys have a similar style, but did you ever dress identically? I mean, we dress pretty similar. Yeah, but would you ever, like, go, like, when you're kids in particular, like sometimes, you know, Like, same outfit, same shirt, same.

Our mom did that until we were old enough to stop it. Right. So until about seven, probably, we were dressed the same. It was ridiculous. It was. Sailor suits. It was like the shining. Listen, the sailor suits is not far off from.

Oh, that's amazing. They probably only made those four twins. They were like, the one kid's going to get wailed on if he's the only sailor at the party, but if there's two, there's a chance. Yeah, because then there might be a ship out at port and it could be full of them. It was humbling.

It was like, what are we on the gilded age? Like, where are we? Yeah. I feel like there's a picture of us, Josh, and some real, like, sailor. Like blue shorts, like red bowtie kind of look. Yeah, with like those almost those, you know, blue striped shirt that

one of those artists wore all the time. The problem with women who are dressing boys alone with no input from the father is you get these Victorian-looking these fucking great.

To this day, why it's 2025? Why I said the other day it's like, you know, where are we? Are we you know, is this Edwardian, you know, you know, France or something? It's crazy. I was like looking at my son the first two years of his life and my wife gets like some outfit.

She's like, doesn't he look cute? He looks like a baby doll from like back in 1934. Like a haunted baby doll that somebody forgot at a vacation rental. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So you were. raised by a single mother, and it is very funny that, obviously, like, I can only imagine how hard that it was for her. Well, we weren't raised by a single mom.

Actually, I have to say, but my dad was always working, so always, like, always working. He worked, like, three jobs. All right. But he was cool, though. Like, he would come home and be, like, it was like the Christmas story, like the pink bunny suit. He's like, do you want to take that off? You're like, yeah, I do.

And he's like, go take it off. You can go take that off. That is nice. That is a great moment from that movie. Where he just realized it's how sad his kid is. Yeah. We have, it's interesting. Do you both have two kids?

Yeah. Yes. Have they developed a fashion style at this point? Yeah, mine are teenagers, so they have their own thing going on. Got it. It's a wild house over here. There's not a lot of fashion. Right.

It's all function over here, I think. Got it, got it. You're in the function years? Just all function. Function years. I got three, and it's funny, because my nine-year-old dresses like he never wants anybody to comment on his clothes. Like, he's just, like, the most basic look. If you could wear the same sort of, like, Normie outfit every day, he would.

And then my middle one dresses, like, somebody said the other day he always looks like Chris Martin when he was wearing that, like, super colorful jacket, like that era. It's like that era cold play. and uh yeah he pieces it just pieces it together it's very he's like a wizard one day and he's like you know and robin hoods band of thieves the next that's uh that's cool yeah that's cool yeah i i like that you got a little bit you know you got one that's just utility yeah it's like you know

steve jobs just like you know his closet just gonna all look the same and you got one that's Yeah. That was the way we were. I mean, Josh was the peacock and I was the, I feel like the normal. Not normal, Posh. I didn't mean it that way. Yeah. No, that's okay. Did you guys, do you feel like your style developed from the kind of music you liked? Or do you feel like people dress like you because they like your music? Like I can't decide. Like did you? I'm like, did you? Because you have such a specific look. I'm like, did that predate? Yeah. But I think, I feel like we always, if you think about like the sort of genre and the bands we were. touring with a lot of punk bands and like i mean we definitely had our moments but i feel like we always looked a bit like odd ones out like i mean i think joel always had like more swagger in terms of like how he was dressing um i think we were younger but like i don't know i think i feel like we were more influenced by like probably growing up there was like we had a couple really cool uncles who were like bikers and like we had a couple you know guys around that

were just like I think like we were like oh that's how a man's supposed to look right and you just kind of model after that more so than coming into sort of I always I think in entertainment like we've never been able to use a stylist like we tried a few times like they'll say oh you need a stylist for this is big shoot and then we always just end up wearing our clothes like we go and we try to be nice we try to but like yeah it's always a little funny it's just funny it's just like uh okay you try a couple things on and you go yeah i think i just wear what i wore in here today um yeah thank you thank you though you're both married to very stylish women are they the ones who say like you know what a stylist might be helpful or is that

didn't you know yeah okay gotcha my wife it is very um Nicole's very much like just like how i show up um and occasionally uh uh we'll say like dress up a little bit more like I have a I the older I get the less I want to dress up I just I yeah I want to wear a hat and a hoodie or whatever um but occasionally she'll be like Joel we're going somewhere you need to like put something on and I'll do it and happy I did usually because I would have been completely underdressed and felt even more awkward so um but yeah she's always been cool with whatever I wear yeah our our style hasn't changed much over the years.

I think that's how it is sometimes. I think that's nice. I do, for the record, thank that, especially, I don't know, with bands, when their style changes drastically, it's a little jarring. Yeah, you do want some consistency. Yeah, I guess you can, like, do the album cycle where you all, like, wear suits or something. Right. I feel like that, like, there's, like, or, like, maybe you can do, like, the thing where, like,

everyone wears like the like garage jumpsuits or something like or like the all white era or something like that but um also you know when we we came you know out in the early 2000s we were kids so now we're grown middle-aged guys that's jarring enough for people when they're like they're fucking older you know what I mean they're like what the fuck so you can't change that much about us we already changing up just in yeah it would be it would be too depressing for everybody to realize the passage of time if you were also wearing, like, khakis and, like, golf shirts? Yeah, just pleaded, pleaded, you know, dockers.

They were great. They still rock, but the pleats really threw me. We're in our dockers era. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support for family trips comes from Airbnb. Hey, Buzi. Hey, Sufi. You know, we're going to take another Airbnb trip to Pittsburgh this year. We're so excited. And I just want to shout out the people who realize They have a home that could be special for people like us who are on vacation.

Their family gets to make a little bit of money, and our family gets to stay there. Yeah. And, I mean, think about it. For a lot of you, you've probably put a lot of work into your homes, making it feel comfortable, cozy, cool, relaxed. Whatever vibe you've created, it's probably a vibe that other people might enjoy as well. So when you're out of town, you could think about your own place as a place. a place that could be an Airbnb. And don't just think about the experience

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I applied right for my iPhone, got approved in minutes, and now I can get daily cashback on everything travel-related. I saw it in action when you picked up the bill last time I was in L.A. Well, you didn't have your wallet or your phone. No, my phone was in my pocket. But you love your Apple card, right? Huh. Well, yes, because when I use Apple Card with Apple Pay, I can just tap to pay, and I'm done. I can track my purchases in the wallet app, get up to 3% back,

and even stash it in a high-yield Apple Savings account that I opened through Apple Card. Subject to credit approval. Savings available to Apple Card owners, subject to eligibility, savings at Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank, USA, member FDIC terms, and more at applecard.com. So where, so you're Waldorf, Maryland? What parts of Maryland is at that you guys grew up? Southern Maryland is kind of a part of the state.

It's down there, and it's kind of like, it kind of starts in PG County, but goes to Charles County, St. Mary's County. So we grew up down there in like Charles in St. Mary's County. So it's a little bit away from D.C. And it's probably been an hour and a half or ish more of hour 45 maybe from D.C. Where we grew up. So there was kind of access. Our grandparents lived in D.C.

So we did go to D.C. a little bit. But it's down there. It's beautiful. A lot of farms. a lot of, there's water everywhere. So everybody's on the water somewhere. It's a beautiful place. Maryland is gorgeous. It's a really, it's a really pretty place. I remember I took my wife there for the first time and she was just blown away at how beautiful it was. It's like a place you never really heard of because it's just you hear about Maryland, but, you know, if you live

there, especially we didn't leave, I mean, until we were probably 18, 19. So, and I I mean, really, when I say we didn't leave, we didn't leave our town, which, you know, it's a little bit further down there than Waldorf. Like, Waldorf was, like, where the mall it was. So if you needed, like, if you wanted to find, like, a alternative press magazine so you could find out what the bands were or you wanted to find, like, you know, you would go up to Waldorf. But that was a good 40-minute drive, 45-minute drive to where we grew up. And, you know, you're down there for months and months, right, without leaving.

And it's out there. And when I remember when I took her there for the first time, she was blown away just how pretty, it's really pretty down there. And it's really sweet, too. Everybody's really, there's a sweet place to grow up. And I think very, like, classic American, too, like, when you watch, like, the, like, movies about, like, just like, like, football and like you know baseball and like those like you know stuff like that but um but i remember taking her there for the first time and she was just like oh i kind of get you a little bit more now yeah which i think goes back to the style thing of like it's another thing

i think we both appreciated it by our wives is if we we have to go somewhere or something and you go can i just wear this and and my wife's like most of the time mine's like Perfect, honey. That's perfect, honey. That's great. My wife does this thing where I'll try really hard to dress exactly the way she wants me to dress. So I'm the opposite of you guys. And then I'll come downstairs.

By the way, everything I'm wearing, she has bought, right? I have no agency other than trying to put together an outfit. That's kind of nice, though. It's kind of nice, but then I'll come down. I'll be like, how's this? And she'll say, I don't love that shirt, but it's fine. And I'm like, well, then don't plant the seed. You know, drop out the, you know, if it's fine, just say it's fine.

But now I'm walking around being like, what's wrong with the shirt that you bought that I never would have picked out in a million years? Yeah, you know, when you walk in, you're ready, you walk in and she goes, are you, are you dressed yet? Yeah. And you're like, yeah, I just, I'm ready to go. See, I feel like you guys have done it. You guys have laid down like a decades-long base coat. So if you just do a little bit, I bet people are like, oh, they really did a button-up shirt. They really made an effort.

Well, you know, we're lucky because when we dress up, all we throw on is a black button down and a black jacket. I wear black jeans anyways. Yeah, I wear black vans or black slip on whatever, black shoes, and I'll throw a fedora on so I don't have to do my hair and go and I'll be dressed up. It's very easy dress up situation. Yeah. Has anyone ever given you for a birthday or Christmas an item of clothing that's not? not black. Do you own things that aren't black?

Well, the funny thing I always try to do every now and then, every now and then, right? I don't even know why. It's in my head, right? Like, because I always, I always, like, um, want, of course, you know, you want your wife to be like, oh, you look handsome,

you know? And, and it's always nice when that happens. And, um, and so I'll always like, try to find like some sort of like preppy, like thing or like something every now and then, every now and then, like every now and then, like, Every probably, I do this probably once every like two or three years. And I'll go out on a limb and I'll like buy like a nice shirt that's like not something I would wear. And then I'll just like if we're going to like dinner or with, you know, friends or we're going somewhere, then I'll come out and I'll be like, you know, I'll be like, okay, I hope she likes this.

Feeling yourself a little? Well, just like hoping that like this preppy new look will like just like, you know, transform. me from being like, you know, dusty tattooed guy into, like, you know, refined gentlemen. And it, and then I'll wear it and come out and she's like, oh, oh, that's, that's new. Oh, oh, you know, honey, you look handsome. And then I'll be like, okay, and then I'll be about two seconds before we leave. I'll go take it off and I'll be like, sorry. I can't wear it.

But I definitely have a couple different other colors in my wardrobe. I could pull off khaki pretty good, more like garage khaki probably is a bit more. I can pull off dark browns and things like that. You have incredible range. Nobody appreciates the range. All the way from black to garage khaki. Yeah, yeah, exactly. A navy blue, a dark gray, a navy blue.

Those colors work. over the years though if you Google me and look at some of the shit I tried to pull off I think in the late 2000s of probably around then I was trying to maybe grow up a little bit or something be taken more seriously in my head maybe so I was trying different things and there's some awkward pictures in there of me trying some different looks you know so we all have our we'll have our moments of trying to figure out and and you usually land right back where you started where you're like you know what what I'm comfortable in and what fits me.

My wife suggested, she said, hey, for your show, let me just pick out an outfit one day because I feel like, you know, you're just kind of sticking with one look, and I'm casual on the show now, so it's a lot of like jeans and buttonups, and she picked out a pair of, like, navy green pants and sort of a purple sweater.

And by the time the show was over and I walked back, my producer had printed out all these pictures of me side by side with, like, the super friends Lex Luthor. And I was like, son of a man. bitch. This is what I get. Didn't she also pick out something for you? And then dad texted you, lose the sweater.

Yeah, no. I wore it. She picked out a shirt for me to go on Kelly Clarkson and by the time I walked off, he said, lose the shirt. That's what I. I'm kidding it from all sides, guys. It just means you love your wife, dude. I do love my wife. That is, somewhere between love and fear lies

where it's a nice It's a nice management, yeah. What were summer vacations like When you were out of school in Waldorf, what would you guys do to occupy your time? Were you just playing music or were you getting out on the water? Yeah, so there's lots of rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes around. So you're always kind of in a creek somewhere. Like, we were running around barefoot in the woods all the time.

When we were younger, my mom would just kind of lock us out. She'd be like, okay, here's a picture of Kool-Aid, come back later. We would just be outside all day. And then as we got older. We're playing in the woods. Yeah. Were there other, like, neighborhood kids around in there? Would you, with your other siblings?

There was a lot of fun stuff to do, but we would either be maybe playing with, like, some of our cousins or just the four of us, you know. But we also had, like, through the years, you know, and there's a lot of, like, sort of country roads down there. So my dad had brought home this old, like, Honda, like, I think he, honestly, I think he got it for like 25 bucks and he like got it running. And the rule was if you go out to the main road, you have to wear shoes and a shirt. And so we were, we were just two of us at a time riding that around.

There was a little general store out there where you can go and get like, you know, penny candy and like, you know, like a soda or something. So we would ride up there. And there was all places, fields and stuff. And then also we had this little, remember the little trucks? Like, remember those little dots in like Toyota trucks?

Like they don't make them that small anymore. Remember the old? Yep. So he had one of those too and we could drive it around. I'd say like once we got to a certain age. Like 13 or something, 14. Yeah. Yeah. And then, and we were just like, yeah, there was always a river or a creek or, you know, so you were, you were fishing, you were crabbing.

There was, you know, like, we played Little League, so there was that. I'm trying to think what else. You know, we never really took family vacations. I want to say in our lifetime, we once we went and visited my uncle in Alabama, and that was a vacation. We drove. But every summer we would go to this place called King's Dominion. It's in Virginia. You drive, it's about an hour and a half over there.

Anyways, we would drive there every summer for like... That was a big deal. Yeah, we'd go there. The whole family would go there once a year. And I always remember that being like... What would you get up to at King's Dominion? Roller coasters. Yeah, that was like...

Yeah, that was the theme park. Yeah, theme park. So a day trip to Kings Dominion? Dominion? Yeah. Great trip. Yeah. Yeah.

It was pretty simple. Pretty chill. Yeah. That thing you said about going to the like country store, which very much I feel like was a part of our summer, like how much your summer was just thinking to the point where you would get soda and candy. Ice cream. Yeah.

It's just like what? Like it's just some aiming towards that moment and then just the slow come down until like dinner. That like ultimately was enough to make a summer day. If you were on a bike and you were with a couple friends and you had a little bit of a cash in your pocket and you knew you weren't going to need like a parent to help you make the transaction. That was a really nice level of freedom. But I think that that childhood ultimately led us to what we did, what we do for a living is, you know, my dad left when we were

like 13. He was gone out of the picture after that. That's when we started the band. We were pissed off. We wanted to like, you know, so it's interesting. The childhood of being down there then getting into the band. And then when we hit the road, we'd never seen anywhere. We'd We'd never been on a plane until we were probably, like, until we got a record deal. We were 19 or, wow, or 20. So, we were ready to go. And so traveling and touring was nothing. We were doing 300 shows a year.

Wow. It was no problem. Because we just loved to see shit. Yeah. We had never been anywhere. Before you started seeing shit, did you know that was a hole in your life? Were you, do you feel like as kids, you were like, oh, my God, I want to see the world? Or it wasn't until you started seeing the world that you were like, oh, my God,

show me more. I don't know if it was sort of almost like, and there was actually down where we live, there's Amish community, where I feel like we were almost Amish. Yeah. True. Like we've never been, never been anywhere.

There was a lot of rules. We didn't watch MTV until we were teenagers and we've got to other people's houses. You are, are you saying you were Amish-ish-ish? Like, religious. Yes. Isish. Isish-amish-ish. Yeah.

But I don't know if we knew there was a hole there. I think, like, you know what I mean? I remember the first time we, I remember the first time we flew on plane. It was right before we got a record deal because we had an aunt that lived in California. And that was the first time we ever went on plane is we were 19 years old. And I remember saving the barf bag because I was like, and the ticket, I think I still have the ticket somewhere. I swear, because we were blown away, just going to the airport. It was, I know that sounds crazy.

But like, no, it makes total sense. And we were just so green, but I think it set us up in a nice way because we did come out into the world and do our first record. And we were really excited and we were trying our hardest. And I think there's something sweet about that. Like we weren't jaded at all. We were very green. And so every single person, I remember the first time we ever saw, the first famous person we ever saw when we first went to L.A. was Marlon Wayans.

And he was really nice. And we told him that story, by the way. Like, now we're friendly. Like, we told him that story. And it was just like, it was, I think it was a sweet way to come into the world. But then also you get your ass handed to you. And then you grow up a little bit. Like, you know, as you get older and you do a couple records, you know.

But I think that we somehow managed to preserve a little bit of that. excitement and curiosity and like, you know, that still to this day, I think we, it makes us appreciate how we do it now and where we get to go and all the places, you know, we get to see, I think we've always kind of made friends everywhere we go. And I think that's a function of that whole, you know, experience, you know. And I think that that's, that's never a bad thing when you when you um are going maybe more into it with a with that attitude than um being jaded i guess you know i'm happy to hear like making friends because you know i sometimes assume like part of the touring life is there's not much time to actually be a human being it's a lot of

just like the travel and then the being a stage persona do you feel like you guys just were getting the most out of every place you went i think so we've always been that way um and we have each other so we have a built-in friend and so I think we're more set up to be friends with people quicker because I think that we have a we we have that kind of relationship with each other so you know I think being close to people isn't hard for us because we've just grown up with you know being close to one another but I definitely feel like it it set us up to really enjoy everything we do every restaurant every hotel every place big and small, every country, we were always excited to be there and we thought it was cool and we were

into, you know, experiencing shit. So I do think that set us up in a nice way. And to this day, I still enjoy every time I'm anywhere in the world. I really enjoy it. I get a lot out of it. Are you, so are you the kind of people? Because sometimes I went, you know, and I don't do that often, but I'm on a stand up to it. Like sometimes I have a, I don't know, a capacity to just like sit in my hotel room for like five hours before the show. Are you like, all right, we're here. We're not going to be here long. Let's like get out and do like one thing before the show. Well, we had to learn how to do that, right? Because, um, a lot of times, especially if you haven't traveled. And I think our families have taught us how to do this. Our wives have

taught us a bit how to live a bit. Like, like, like, because especially too, we were broke. We were so, we, you know, so that's another thing is like learning that you actually can go and do stuff. Like, I think like trying restaurants and experiences. are important, but like you don't really know how to do that, right? So I think that we would before when we first started, right, you might go to a hotel and you only go like within like a one block radius of the hotel, you know, and you'll be like, oh yeah, they got a chick filet right there, cool, all right. And then you didn't know like two blocks away was like the one restaurant that everybody goes from around the world to go and try. So I think as we got older,

we got a little bit better about that. And I probably definitely with the help of our wives, I think. But I think all of our friends kind of laugh at me and Joel sometimes because when we do try something, right, we're like, that's the most amazing, that's the most amazing burger I've ever had in my life. That's crazy. That's crazy how good that is. And we'll just talk about it and we'll just you know and our friends or our wives be like

oh my God when you try something like it's literally like your mind is blown you know but I don't know like people are people allow themselves to you know have their minds blown like that's what gets you out of the bed and like

I'm going to go try something new like it's a great way to experience things you guys I know you have is it safe to say you have a really fervent fan base in Australia I know you have it everywhere but like it

seem to have a unique relationship. Is that something that, like, how did that, how quickly did that happen? And, and, uh, because I know you guys were even over there, uh, working on the, was it the Australian voice? Was that one? Yeah. Yeah. We did the voice.

Um, I actually think that our relationship with Australia is, is a really special one. Um, it, it started in 2000. That was the first place we'd ever, we ever went to internationally. So I think there was something about that that was special. Also, there, there was the first place. we ever had like mainstream success because here we were touring with a lot of punk bands and on our first album it wasn't it wasn't like kind of mainstream um in australia it was like the first song we put out on like all over the place you know on the on the mainstream radio

mainstream tv everything that was the first experience we had with that and i think did anybody ever explained to you why they thought it happened there in a way that was different from the States? Was it just the alchemy of whatever they were looking for at the time? Because Australia just loves some real motherfuckers. Yeah, that's what I thought. I was wondering if that was it. Could you feel it on stage? Did you know right away

that this is a way? Right when you got when you got off the plane it was like oh damn they know who we are here. That's crazy and then also but I think Joel we've talked about this something about Australia there's a through line with

where we grew up. yeah there's something something closer than you maybe culturally closer than what you will find in like New York or L.A. where you go and you made you made your records and you know met with the label and all this stuff um I think Australia is a little bit closer to like middle America in a lot of ways

like uh with like the with a lot of like the mindset and or like how I don't know like I feel like there was something when I think about us if I saw a movie that took place in Australia and the dad's rule was like you have to put a shirt on if you got to the road. I'd be like, that sounds right. Yeah. You know, you guys are basically like talking. Your upbringing sounded a little mad maxi with just like weird little cars and scooters. Yeah, yeah, like little junkyards and shit like that hanging out and going to place like that. But, but Australia, I think,

remember we used to actually go to this junkyard for fun. There was a junkyard of the road. We love the junkyard. We love the junkyard. I mean, there's so much fun to be had. But Australia, I think, was just that they embraced us first, maybe it, of anywhere in the world. And I think it was just a unique thing that happened where we just had this great relationship. Our whole career, we've had this, like, really, like, really truly, it's like home away from home when we go there. And it, like, we've had a really great, like, standing in Australia with everything we do. And even just going around there, it's just a different experience than what I hear maybe someone else has there. Like, it does feel like very home-ish, you know, like it feels like home.

So I think we've been lucky We just have this like unique relationship with Australia That's great It's very cool Have you, when you go to you How many different cities do you hit When you're going on an Australian tour?

Usually in Australia you do Sydney, Brisbane Melbourne Adelaide, Perth Maybe Canberra But then But then on some tours You know you'll hit some like

In Between markets And depending they'll You know There's a little mini festival or there's, you know, things. But the other thing about Australia, too, is that Australia does as, as like down home and as nice as it is, it has a bit of an edge, too, which I think we do as well. Like, we, I think we're, we have, we have the friendly, curious and fun side.

But then we add a little bit of an edge, you know. I mean, we can be a bit protective and a bit, like, you know, for people we love. And so I think Australia's got a little bit of an edge, too, which I think we enjoy a bit. They'll tell you exactly. they'll tell you what's up. They'll tell you what they think. And we like, you know, we like that. It feels, it feels honest, you know.

I've never been. Josh's never been. Nope. Kind of crazy in all our travels. And now, you know, job kids. I mean, I know I'd like it. But when you guys go, like, what if you, you know, I mean, again, I know you go to do shows. But like, if you were going not to do shows, how many days do you think you have to stay in Australia for the travel to be worth it?

Oh, I think a really good. Well, it depends on which cities you want to go to and how many and whatever. But I think if you're going to go to Sydney, or I would say, like, for me, my two choices would be Sydney and Melbourne. But Perth is really cool, too, because you're like on the edge of the edge of the earth in Perth. It's just, like, really special. I can't explain it. But, like, if you're going to do Sydney and Melbourne, you want to do, like, three or four days in each place, at least, you know. But if you're just doing Sydney, five, six, seven days is great.

that's awesome i think i but i i think like a good like uh what depends on if you got your family with you or not because it's a you know it's hard to be away too long you know but um i think a good two three week run in australia is what is good but minimum minimum five six days a lot of nice shit there though a lot of like luxury and shit there in sydney it's just beautiful city right on the you know the water everything it's it's really nice hey we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors Support comes from Seoul. I still have a good night out, but I'm not always in the mood to drink.

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Go to getsold.com and use the code trips. That's getsold.com promo code trips for 30% off. The Conjuring Left Rights. On September 5th. I come down here with you in your house. Array! Hooray! Hooray!

Hooray! The Conjuring Last Rites. Only in theater, September 5th. Here we go. You said you didn't travel much skids. Once you started meeting with success, would your family,

would your brother, your sister, your mom, would they ever travel, come see you do shows? Yeah. Yeah. We bring them out. I'm trying to think of where. I'm trying to think of where in the world, though.

Definitely my brother and my sister came all over the world at some point. They were, my mom, I'm trying to think if she ever went international. She definitely did U.S. all over the U.S., but yeah, yeah, everybody was traveling a little bit. I know it's, this is a weird question, but are you aware, because I'm so aware when my parents are in the crowd for a show? Yes. Are you, like, my mom's here tonight, and I hope it's a good show. Do you ever think that way? It's a little bit stressful, to be honest with you.

Yeah. Also, you want them to have a great experience, even more so than the show. Like, you want them to, like, have a good experience. So still, to this day, I'll be more stressed out if my mom's there. And then I have to remember that she just wants to see us. Of course. Right. We're, you know, do our thing and have, you know, see people, you know.

But also, your mom will get caught up, like, talk. to every like she'll go and she'll start talking to fans and then she'll start trying to help them you know like like you don't understand she came all the way here from here and you're like okay of course if i know it i'm gonna stop and take i'm gonna bring someone backstage take a picture with them give them whatever they want but everybody in the crowd has has a as a story of why they need to come backstage so your mom my mom would be like taking people back and forth all night long because they would be she's like talking to everyone sweet and you're They're like, yeah.

It's very sweet. That is the best. It's so funny. Your mom's like, you're not going to believe this. They're also big, good Charlotte fans. Yeah,

and you're like, mom, we're going on stage in five minutes. And, you know, so she's like coming back and forth and she's like connecting with people and talking to them.

And it's very sweet. I love it. But also makes it really hard to like function at work. Yeah. I told this story, but my dad, uh,

the amount my assistant would be like, because at this point, which makes perfect sense. Like my dad just like communicates with my assistant, like, directly. And she'll be like, hey, friends of your dad are at the show tonight. And he wants you to say hi afterwards. And I'm like, of course.

And then I'll go back and I'll, like, talk to them. And at some point I'll be like, how do you know my dad? And they're like, oh, I was wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers hat. And he came over and talked to me because my dad's from Pittsburgh. And then he told me that you're his son. And then he asked if I ever wanted to see the show. And I'm like, so she just kind of bullied you. Also, maybe he just bullied you into coming.

That's kind of how it goes. That's kind of how it is with parents. We're very lucky to have parents who are promoting us and are proud. I mean, I think also it speaks to your mom. She must know that you guys, she has an expectation of politeness when she brings people to you. And that's a really special thing, too. Politeness is definitely a thing. And manners are a thing.

And I think we were absolutely one of the greatest things my parents gave me was a respect for manners and being polite to people. period, which is why, of course, if your mom is bringing, or anyone she sends your way, which is the same thing. We met on a plane. And I told her, and her daughter's best friend grew up and she, this is, you know, and they said some story and you're like, this is great. I'm happy. But it's just funny because it's always like that.

You'll be in some situation. You'll be in some situation. And, you know, like, that's what parents are great about. That's what I think when you're an entertainer and you're like. in the entertainment and you've been doing it for long enough, you can get jaded on how interesting other people think it is what you do. It's not that you don't think what you do is interesting, but you've been doing it along as long enough that there's no novelty in it for you.

It becomes more of like a craft thing. Yeah. And I think that people, there's a lot of novelty for people in entertainment and seeing like, what is that like to do that for a living? And I totally get it. But, you know, our moms and dads will, will, they'd have a whole ass meet and greet, I think, everywhere with us. Also, they're proud of you. And, like, I totally get it.

But I think as you get older, you're, your middle age, you're like, this is just, it's not that I don't love my job, but it is my job. It's just a job. Like, I go, I'm more excited to get home and hang out with my kids and, you know, hang out with my wife. That's true. That's how I feel. Do you guys ever wrap up a tour? and sort of tack a vacation on to the end of it to sort of decompress and have everybody out?

Absolutely, if you're ending somewhere cool, you know, and like, if you can, if it works out, we're like, Europe's pretty cool for that where you could go. Like, let's, like, jump over here for a few days and hang out. We, we, we, it always comes down to family logistics. Right.

Yeah. And school and that sort of thing. I mean, for, well, and we just took, you know, we just, we just, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, it was. just put a record out and it's our first record in seven years and even the the the kind of two records we put out before that we we sort of only halfway put them out we weren't really we didn't really tour them that much or you know um do it like we're doing it you know on this one um uh i think we've had like 10 years off really like from real right yeah from like really doing what we

were doing you know the first 15 years um um so um i think um i think that we've now I think we do it all a little bit different because we're just 10 years later like you know what I mean like Joel your kids are grown I now have two kids like it now I think we'll do it a little bit differently and I think that just comes down to like you know honey what's your schedule you know and how far apart do you guys live um like from each other opposite coasts yeah oh wow yeah I'm L.A he's New York what about you guys are you guys super close we we moved up to be closer to them. So we moved out of the city.

Yeah. Because we were in LA for 20 years and then we finally moved out of the city, which I really wanted to do a long time ago. But Nicole grew up in L.A. It's her whole life. Her parents are 10 minutes away, you know. So that was a big move for her. And it's turned out to be great.

But we did one of the big things was we were too far away from them. Yeah. Yeah. We're lucky. It's funny you talked about how like it was easy. for you guys to make friends places because you were brothers. And Josh and I had a similar experience where we went to college together. And so we have this one big group of college friends that were, you know, both in.

Then we had our first job together as we worked at a theater overseas. And so we have a second whole group of people. And it is so nice to have that, you know, because otherwise, like, you don't get as you get older and you have these more responsibilities. Like, if your brother's not your friend, you still have to find time to see your brother. So it's so much nicer because you're like, I don't have room for a friend and a brother. I got to, like, lump it all together. We, you know, our brother's name is Josh as well. We actually, we've worked together pretty much.

We've worked together for a long time, and now we work, you know, we have a few different companies and all of us work together on everything. And we love it. I mean, definitely we started to learn how to communicate better in our 30s, you know. I'd say we would fight a little bit in our 20s. And now I can't even remember if we've had an argument in the last 10 years, really. Seven years between albums, but how long would you start working on the one that just came out? Is it a year?

I want to say we started working on it about, what, Joel, a year and a half ago? Yeah, about a year and a half. And was it a situation where you just kind of both knew it was time to start working on one? Yeah, that was pretty much it. I mean, we couldn't force it. It was just, it really like, and I think it comes down to Joel more than me. Like, I feel like got to have something to write about. And you got to want to go on stage.

You got to want to go on stage to go on stage. You can't phone it in. So it took me a long time to kind of want to get back on stage. I don't know why. I just didn't feel, I don't know, I don't know what it was. And then it all just kind of hit. In like 20, 23, we played my little sister's wedding. And it was like the first time we were together as a band in five years.

And it was really, really nice. And I was really happy. I had such a good time. And then that was the first, that was where that's the story with the record. That's why it's called Motel de Cap. We're at Hotel DeCap. And it's like this beautiful, big, fancy wedding, really nice with this girl that I've been raising since he was seven, my wife's

little sister, and I love her more than anything in the world. She's one of my favorite people and her husband, who's now one of my best friends, they asked us to play the wedding. We went and did it, and it was fucking awesome. We had such a good time, and the band was back together, and I was like, this would be fun if we could do this

again. Eventually, like, we can. Let's make a record. And then out of that, we went back home, and we started piecing it together and figuring out, and two years later, we have a record out. So it's a nice story. it's literally the first act of a screenplay that an old punk band gets together

to play at a wedding Yeah, yeah, yeah And I'm like, we gotta do it again The guests at that wedding Must have been pretty psyched Were you a surprise or did people know it was gonna happen? It was a surprise for the guests I don't think they knew

Oh my God, our family was really nice Yeah, that's great And then I know you guys have dates Sort of coming up Have you already been touring with the new album Or is it all about to We decided this year we were just mainly going to do festivals and sort of looks like that. And then, but we're going to do serious, you know, we're going to do serious tours, you know, next year.

And, you know, actually weirdly excited about it. Great. Which I didn't know if we would be again. Not because we don't like it. I think it goes back to like we were talking about, like, you know, the whole thing, how you dress, all this stuff. Like, I really enjoy not having to look in the mirror. You know, I really like not really having to think about what wearing. And then, and then, you know, so you're kind of approaching this thing going like, okay, like, what it, you know, we came out and we were 20, 20 years old, 21, I'm 46.

Like, I don't want to be 21. I like where I'm at right now. This is my favorite part of my whole life. I love it. And I think just relating to like how we relate to the world. And I think once we sort of like made peace with that. we're just going to be ourselves and and but also but also step you i know you would know like what we do is what we love to do so we want to do it but then you go to promote it and you're on like

you're on kelly clarkson great show great great uh she's great but you're there and there's like these other guests and you just are self-conscious you're like what the fuck am i like i don't know what i say what do i'm just here to promote my record i want to do it i'm i'm trying my my best and you show up and you're trying to get with it and be there and like match the energy and promote your shit and it because you have to you have if you you got to if you love this thing and you want people to check it out you got to go do the promotion and the fact that they've invited you to come on their show and you respect the platform you got to show up and you got to like give it your best but it's awkward and weird and it's like it's it's not like

I'm not too good for it. And I'm also, like, not jaded where I'm like, fuck that. Not at all. It's just you're at home with your fucking kids. And you're like, you're like, you're level at home. You're just like, I can, I have to look in the mirror. I just get dressed and go take the kid to fucking baseball and go do the. And then you go out and through the world.

You know, like, oh, shit, I haven't checked in in a while. And you're looking around. And it's just like a, it's kind of bizarre. It's not that I can't do it. I do it all the time when we have to promote something. I think there's a silliness that comes to the industry that's just funny. You know what I mean? It's like, it's like, hey, do you guys have a coffee?

Could I have a coffee? He wants a coffee. Oh, there's a coffee. Oh, yeah. Yes, radio to so-and-so. They want a coffee. When somebody holding in the Airbnb, we can have the coffee in three minutes. And you're like, all of this makes me regret that I ask for the coffee.

Yeah. So there's a part of that you just have to get comfortable with. And I think that, like, you know, you're going back into what people are, you know, everybody's trying their best. It's like, no one's trying to be, be, you know, no one's really trying to overdo it. Everyone wants to their job. But like, there's a part of it you got to make peace with. And so going back into it is like, I think you enjoy 10 years away from having to deal with anything and just kind of like moving at your own pace. And, you know, we started our own companies that have thankfully done well.

And like, we just live in a world where like, it's all just. pretty low key and chill. And then, um, and you know, you're going back into that and you say, like, okay, are we really going to do it? Because if we're going to do it, we, we really got to sign up for it. And, um, so I think we, it took us a couple of years. I think that's why we made the record slowly. Like, we would do, we would work for like, uh, three, four, five days at a time. And then we would go back to it like a month, two, three months later. And we would do a few more songs. And, um, I think that was a nice way to do it. Um, and I think the whole time we were just sort of like actually asking ourselves like do we do we do we do we have it

in the tank do we really want to go and like really um you know really do it and um and the answer was like yeah i think we are old enough now and have enough experience to do it our way to do it our way and still cater to you know to understand the way the world works and everything it's funny because you know obviously i host one of these shows but every now and then I'm a guest on one of them. I'll go and do Kimmel or I'll go and do Fallon. And it's so much harder, you know, to speak what you're saying, Joel, to, like, be a guest on these shows.

When I go and do it, I'm like, oh, my God, this is so awkward. And to have this, like, little bit of time. And I'm like, I can't believe I make people do this every day. And it's not awkward because it's a bad experience. It's awkward because you're just, you're going in and you're like, you're presenting yourself. You know what I mean? Kind of.

You're just like, here I am. It's not, right, especially when it's like, it's not the work. It's a projection of the work. Yeah, and everybody's cool as shit. Like, balance, cool. He's, you've got to go do. I also appreciate it. Like, it's a big look.

It's a great look. People watch. You get texts from your aunt or your mom or your best friend's mom or, like, it's really, like, we did Good Morning America. You have to be there at 4 a.m., 4.30 a.m. to play rock music. and but you do it because your mom is watching your aunt is watching your friends and and you also they're all really nice they're fucking so nice they're welcoming everything's great it's not that you don't want to be there it's just different than like

maybe the reality of like touring or or even just being home so i i it i have to be careful talking about it from the experience of it because i don't want people to think i'm like fuck this I'm not I want to be there I said yes to it it's just it's just a strange kind of experience you know also you have the wisdom you know how of having done this for a long time since you were very young of knowing exactly what you're getting into so I think that ultimately like probably builds in the hesitation of are we going to do another album is you know everything that has to go into it not just making the music but also then that whole promotion arm that I think that's the part people don't understand yeah the promo that's the part that's the

part you get paid for yeah but you know you you do everything movie stars are they're badass is the way they go promote their shit but also I will say this it's really nice

as well to go into someone else's shop so like all the people working on Good Morning America they're all get up super early

every day and you get to talk a chat with them in between whatever and you get a sense of like these are real professionals getting up and grinding

and doing this like this job that is like a platform for people like us to promote and for our moms to watch and all of her friends to watch. And it's like a, it's a, it's a nice thing. But I think that like you, you do get like a sense of like, um, we're all kind of working. You know, we're all just, we're all just kind of like showing up to work. And this is what we happen to do for, um, for a living. And we all have kids and we're just trying to like, I have a question about your life. I know, um,

One of yours is too young, probably, Benji, but of the other kids, do they think what you do is cool? And are they excited about the fact that you're going on tour? My kids were on tour with us the first, like, probably like seven years of their life, Benz, would you say? Yep, yeah. So they have fully there, got it. Yeah, they have like very kind of vivid memories about, like, they were on tour, on a tour bus, on planes, you know. So they have a relationship with it that I think is sweet. like they think it's cool

they don't necessarily like love my music in the sense of like what they listen to because they're like more I'd say like hip hop and pop and stuff and well some rock stuff but more modern like they're into the new shit that's all they care about but they think it's cool

they're like they they think it's cool that I do this they don't necessarily want to come to shows anymore like when I'm like hey I've had my daughter's going to be a senior in high school and my son's a sophomore and I always invite them like hey we're going to do this festival sometimes they'll come sometimes but then like stagecoach my daughter wanted to bring all her friends and we went we did a performance with Luke Combs and my daughter and all her friends came and they ran around all day and they had a great time so it's just hit or miss with what they want to do was your daughter like dad just know we're here for Luke Combs yes she was like she was like Like, I'll see you at the end. Yeah. She's like, we're going to go.

We'll see you at the end. But those festivals, that's like, they have, it's like being at the olive garden in terms of the menu that, uh, different bands that they could see. So I feel like that's a good way to bring them in. Yeah, it's great. It's great. Yeah. They were really cool. They were very cool, too, Joel.

Because like afterwards they were, it was, it's interesting. I remember they were just like, that was great. That was really great. Good job, guys. And then they were like, it was almost like, they were, they were, they were trying. to be nice. So funny. I said I just did a fundraiser that my son was in the audience for.

He's nine. And it was over. He's like, God, it raised a lot of money. I'm like, it did. He's like,

so how much of that do you get? I'm like, get any hunt for charity. You can tell I. He was just like, he just saw it as a manager. He's like, we got to stop throwing away your time.

It was like, what, you don't get a 10% bump for raising the money? You tell me the auctioneers walking out of there with empty pockets? You guys, entrepreneur. He's an entrepreneur. You guys have been amazing.

Thank you so much for your time. But before you go, Josh is going to ask you a speed round, lightning round questions. All right, here we go. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation, relaxing, adventurous, or educational? Relaxing. Educational. What is your favorite means of transportation?

Classic car. A big truck. Great. If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, other than your own family what family would you like to take a vacation with oh this is so fucking good this is such a good question god any family i've had a really tough one probably the um was it um i'd probably go with duck dynasty duck dynasty and married with children buried the bundies the bundies all right yeah um if you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your

family who would it be which family Like my nuclear family or my, if I was going to be stranded on the island. Yeah. I was going to say my wife probably because how long are we stranded? Are we talking about? Very, very. I like that you're thinking ahead. Yeah.

Yeah. Very good, good answer. Benji, are you matching wife? Oh, yeah. I got to go with my wife. Yeah, you certainly do now. Especially, yeah. You sort of forced your hand.

You guys are from, would you say, from Waldorf, Maryland? Is that the... Would you recommend Waldorf as a vacation destination? Absolutely. I mean, it sounds great. How long of a vacation are we talking here?

I don't know. I mean, it sounds like Australia. You could do like three days. You could do five days. You could do three weeks. Yeah, there's a lot to see... There's a lot to do down there. There's a lot of...

And you can go to D.C. if you want to go to the city for a day. And you can go back down there for the beauty and the people and the... food and it's nice great nice rental car you're seeing everything uh and then set has our final questions uh have you gentlemen been to the grand canyon like in a tourist way never i mean obviously like flown over it but never been to the grand canyon no do you want to go uh i'd go with you great okay so a soft yes well i would say with benj you be careful what you wish for because i don't i also don't have that into it yeah yeah if you were if you were like hey guys i love

I love doing the podcast with you. Do you want to go see the... Maybe we might do... We might get together a trip of reluctant Canyonites. I'll lead it because I'm into it. I probably wouldn't. I probably would say yes and then I'd bail.

All right. Well, that's good to know. Three days before. When you RSVP, yes, we'll keep that in mind. Motel du Kopp is out now. It's very exciting to have any music from you guys. And it was lovely talking about. Thank you so much for your time.

Great hanging with you guys. Thanks, Seth. Thanks, Josh. Thank you guys. All right. Thanks. grew up in Waldof, an hour and a half south of D.C. In the woods on the water. Twin brothers, Joel and Benji, dad bought a little scooter, riding around, getting scratched and bruised.

If you go out to the main road, just be sure. wear shirt and shoes Went to King's Dominion A day trip that they could drive Go on roller coasters Ride some of the other rides 300 shows in a year Enjoyed the travel it was not a drag

Everything was new to them Then she kept that first barf back When they need an outfit They got a look goes way way back Dabble with preppy and khaki But it's always safe for two bed on black There were times when they tried stylists To pick out their clothes

Never said yes only said no And when they asked their wives They were always told we trust you guys Ben G and Joe Have a style that just works for them And on the whole All they ever really had to do was be themselves, be themselves, be themselves, be themselves.