Garza Podcast - 108 - CRYSTAL LAKE: OG Japanese Metalcore

Episode Date: December 11, 2023

Garza sits down in-person with Japanese metalcore band CRYSTAL LAKE. https://www.linktr.ee/crystallakedigitalplatforms SPONSORS: Click this link to purchase from Sweetwater & help support the podcast: imp.i114863.net/rnrmVB CRYSTAL LAKE is: John Robert C. - Vocals Yudai "YD" Miyamoto - Guitar Mitsuru - Bass Gaku Taura - Drums Hisatsugu "TJ" Taji - Guitar CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Six Feet Under is Sick 01:46 - 2002 03:28 - John Joining the Band 06:07 - Reaction to John’s Audition Video 11:03 - Audition Process 18:40 - Yudai Miyamoto Being the OG in the Band & Keeping It Going 24:37 - Band Chemistry is Vital 27:21 - John’s New York Upbringing 29:34 - Japanese vs American Culture 33:29 - Crystal Lake is the Japanese Motley Crüe 35:08 - Cannabis Restrictions in Japan, Drinking Culture 41:14 - YD’s Inspirations 48:49 - What Did YD’s Parents Think About His Career? 51:27 - John Learning Japanese 56:31 - Making John Eat Raw Chicken 59:06 - Tour Drivers are Crazy 1:01:39 - Tokyo and New York Are Similar 1:03:25 - Always Learning, Dealing with Embarrassment 1:08:01 - Balancing Relationships and Career 1:13:29 - Touring with August Burns Red, Brand of Sacrifice & Spite

That's exactly what he did to us. That's what the OGs do. I picked up on it super early. I realized how drunk everyone was getting. And then I realized that all the conversations were getting super serious. And I was like, I see this motherfucker. I was like, I see what's happening here. That's smart.

How are they going to be like when you're in a middle of nowhere in a foreign country at 3 a.m. And you miss their girlfriend and family. In China. Yeah. How are they going to react? Hang out for a day. Get blacked out drunk. Yeah, yeah.

See how we are. Whenever I need music gear, I always go to sweetwater.com. If it's mics, headphones, or studio and recording gear, Sweetwater has you covered. Next time you need any music gear, support the podcast by using the link in the description and comment section below. I'm going to go join six feet under. Dude, that would be sick gig. I mean, they probably make pretty good money, honestly. That'd be great, dude.

I've seen him a few times. They're fucking awesome. Their music is pretty fucking heavy. It's heavy, dude. Like it is heavy. Like, it's like it can't sing. Dude, I forgot the amount of times we've gotten drunk and just listen to six feet under. That's awesome.

It's just perfect. You want sometimes in death metal, dude, you just want some simple riffs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You want a drink. You don't want, I don't want any solos. Don't do a fucking solo. I don't want any solos. If I hear one solo, but I'm hammered, dude, I'm going to be pissed.

Yeah, that's funny, actually. I don't want to pray difficult to reef. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't want to. No, no, no. I want four or four. Four or four. I'm on six feet under riffs. Oh, yeah.

Slam riffs all day. Dude, shout out to Chris Barnes. He is an OG. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. And speaking of OG, we have OGs here. We have Crystal Lake. Can we do a quick intro?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My name is John. I'm the singer. I'm Y.D., playing the guitar. My name is Mitsulu playing bass. I'm honored to meet you guys. Thank you, dude. Yeah, thank you.

You're from, well, you're from across the country. You're from across the world. Yeah. It's crazy. We're all like different points of the planet and we're at one table. Yeah. That's sick, dude. Yeah.

Why? Why? Because of heavy music. Yes. Yeah, yeah. That's right. That is nuts. Yeah.

Yeah, before I never imagined that. Yeah. And you, why do you? I mean, you're, as we're saying outside, you are the OG. Yeah. I mean, you've been in the band since 2002. Yeah. Over 20 years.

Over 20 years. Yeah, I've been playing the guitar for Crystal Lake life. Actually, I have another project, but mainly I working for Crystal Lake. Nice. So we had that in common. We both started our bands in 2002. Yeah. You know?

Oh, sherry, yeah. And I didn't, I did not know that about Crystal Lake. The band's been around that long. I did not know. Oh, yeah, I didn't realize that until I started the audition. Yeah. And they were like, oh, yeah, 2002. And I was like, 2002.

Shit, dude. I was like, had to like double check and like, is this cool move? Let me check the Wikipedia. Like, is this okay? Like, should I do this? Yeah, it was, it was wild to see how long they've been around to the super OG band. How did you find out that they needed a new vocalist? I forget exactly how, but it was just through the internet, basically.

I think somebody hit me up officially. my friend Keith, I think it was, and was like, hey, Crystal Lake needs a vocalist. And I just kind of, you know, eventually warmed up to the idea of like, I'm going to do this. At first I kind of was going through it a little personally. You know what I mean? I had just left my last band's a couple months prior. A couple months? That recent?

It was like a little, it was like six months. So I was still going through it. It's still recent. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like that feeling of like feeling doubt. You're like, what am I doing with myself?

So when it came around, I was like, and I had to like warm up to it. But when it did happen, I dove in head first for sure. Mm. 100%. Did you have, I remember you did mention self-doubt up before. Do you bring that self-out over to? No. Good.

No, man. I literally, I decided before I even really submitted the first video or even did the first video, I decided with myself, like, whatever happens with this is supposed to happen. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because something like this happening after what I just went through is kind of like the universe talking to me. That's how it felt.

Just other aspects involved. And I just kind of felt like, you know, whether this winds up being my gig or not, this is going to be good for my career. You know what I mean? Because if I do well, I'll wind up in Tokyo and that'll be sick. So I was just calm the whole time in the sense of I didn't want to fill my head with what if, what if, what if, what if, what if. Because you don't panic. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, to kill a whole vibe. You don't destroy you.

So I would rather just do my thing, have fun, pretend like I already. got the gig and then whatever happens I just go home like you know I was happy with my home life at the time so if I got sent home I was like it is where it is at least I gave it a shot right you know what I mean exactly yeah and I

and you said that you had like a calling to the band and the and the place yeah it's crazy huh it's crazy how the world works fucked up sometimes it is yeah yeah it can be super fickle but other times it can be super good you know yeah but it

It really did. It felt like when I would listen to the songs or really read the lyrics of even older songs or watch what he had done on stage, the old singer and stuff, it felt very familiar. It felt like something I could pick up and do or something that I was already kind of doing. So I felt really comfortable to go into it and it felt like, all right, I could do this. This is, you know what I mean? This is lining up the right time right now for me. This is good. The vocals felt right. Everything felt good. I was. I was ready to take the plunge into it

So you sent a video Audition first So who's the first one to see that? So first one So first impression Yes It sucked Scary

Scary Is that just face? A scary face A man ugly Dude Like a monster Like a monster Where is he from New York

What the fuck is that place? It's kind of joke But his voice was screaming was amazing. It was lasting forever. Completely perfect. Melody, scream, pitch. We all were surprised at his potential. And Sheldby.

Was it more of like a professional video? Or did you sound like kind of like a raw? This is fucking. It was actually pretty straight raw through. Yeah. It was like a live take. I didn't even have, because I had Austin Coupe do the, do the production for me. Okay, cool.

Yeah, and I told him, I was like, I don't want this to be super overproduced like we're recording it. I wanted to feel like a live mix so they can kind of feel how I would feel. Just when I'm truck. You? I think it's only one tip. Did you edit it? No, no, no. Yeah, yeah.

He might have edited it a little bit, but I didn't, it's one take through. And that, that video is, I think that's even the first time. I don't even think I did it twice. I think I just like the video on YouTube is like him being like all right let's go like number one and that's that's it okay did you wear those did you wear these headphones yes yeah so Austin had a friend who made them like months prior and I was like dog I am wearing them in that video like 100% he's like oh you have to so it's it the only headphones I have so is it says something similar to what you sent oh yes yeah this is a little bit more done I had uh Mike Monocca took a swing at this making some of the video edits and whatnot Cool. This has a little bit of like doubling in the chorus and stuff like that. So I went back in and like dove into it and whatnot.

But with Lost and Forever, it is straight one track, one through like live take, you know. That's the way to do it. It seems like people just overthink their tryout and audition. It's like just send the rawest thing you can. People, do you send these overproduced like over like it's, they don't want to know what you sound like or who you are? I was just going to say that. You know? Yeah, it's a lot about knowing what to send, you know, because a lot of bands,

they can make you sound like whatever they want when we're going to mix you. You know what I mean? But how do you actually sound? You know, and I figured anybody who was going to send a recording was going to send something super done. Fucking perfect. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I didn't want it to be like that. I wanted it to be as good as I could possibly make it so they could get the real vibe of who I was, you know.

It's great. Yeah, it was fun. It was a lot of scary, but it was a lot of fun. Yeah, it's weird like a. how music just travels and frequency. Yeah. You know, like, it may, like, sound, some part of some things might not sound the best,

but there's something about it that kind of draws you in. Yes. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's how I felt with this band. Even that song, the lyrics of that song kind of felt like, you know, what I was going throughout the time, you know, not being in my old band,

but I'm trying to figure out what am I going to do with my life, you know? Like, I was just a moving man at the time. Really? Yeah, I went from touring six months to eight months out of the year to just being home, regular job and just moving houses and uh i just felt like what am i going to do you know like it was felt good to leave the band because i didn't want to be a part of it but you know then once i got home and i didn't have you know i kept trying to start bands and they kept falling apart and i would

write ridiculous songs and people would just like you know flake like they do oh dude it's so tough and it sucks yeah it's like super kicking the balls like the whole year like so this this was good like that's a pretty yeah that's a rough six months man yeah it was super rough I had a gig going with some dudes I won't name drop any bands I don't like put any one on the spot but like I had some gigs going with a couple of guitar texts

from other bands that we know and uh wrote some insane songs uh and then they just didn't work out they like flake super hard they like all of a sudden

they didn't um all of a sudden we just didn't vibe it was weird it was very weird and then that just didn't you know we're still friends you know but that kind of fell apart

and that was a bummer because those songs were sick But I still use some of that for this now, which is great. Once like the work aspect will start to creep in, people start to realize real quick. It's like, oh, wait, I thought I wanted to do this, but actually I don't. Yes, that's exactly what happened. That's people will fucking fall off quick, dude. And they approached me.

They came to me like, yeah, we want to do this with you. And I was like, sick, great. I was like, I have, you know, XYZ ready to go. We can produce it and put it out. And then once I started putting all that together, they were like, I don't know. And I was like, okay, great, sick, fuck me. That's awesome. So how was the vibe like, like how was that transition going from the last 10 seconds of life to Crystal Lake?

How was like the... Insane. Because there's so much more to do at this level or in general just in this band where they are in Japan. Like last 10 is your very average band when it comes to what we do internally. You know what I mean? So like transitioning into Crystal Lake, there was so much more like stage presence. just behind the scenes of gear and just getting things prepped and just the they're a little bit more in the spotlight so like you have to be a little bit more careful of what you're doing or

things like that it was just a whole ton of different learning experiences and just you know realizing this is going to be very different and you you walked into a crazy situation yeah yeah it's a little worse than my last one yeah in a way so okay so so you see uh the video so at what it's okay like he's the one did you fly John out first and then confirm or what was that process like process yes okay at first

the audition was none to know yeah hard to manage by ourselves because it was very first time to try We got over 200 offers from over 200? Yes. 200 auditions?

Yeah. Wow. 200s. Especially Canada, American guys are almost. Yeah. Then, then we never expect like the situation. They're mainly Japanese guys are offering every time. But last one was completely different.

Especially John, the other guys are super amazing, screaming, performing. Video was perfect because they... Can you follow me? Can you follow me? Can you follow me? The situation, what they're trying to say is that there was a big, there was a huge process to everything that we did. and it was a lot it was hard to make a decision just based on the videos so what they did was

they had everybody do a second video and we did it like live streaming and they had me wake up at like two in the morning on a Zoom call yo yeah yeah yeah

it felt like the end of tour like singing at the end of tour you mean like waking up like yo it's time to get on and you're like okay after two months that's exactly how it felt that was dead motherfucking tired but yeah they did Two auditions like that and then they flew us out to Japan and then we did two shows

one of which started at like two in the fucking morning. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so we had a two section. Our first section is just online one, the conversation, the documents, paper something. The last one is kind of just music with video. The live shows. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone covered all songs. We judged

for who is better, who is about, blah, blah, blah, like that. The next one, second season is face-to-face communication. Yes. We had a

tour. Yeah, yeah. Three shows, yeah. A little weekend excursion of Crystal Lake. Touring, writing, some songs. Yes, and we wrote, I think we wrote,

two songs. Well, we wrote one before we showed up, and that's actually, that's dystopia. And then we wrote another one while we were in the audition, and that one comes out later. That one was a lot of fun. We're still working on that. Kind of meldick one. That one is super melodic. Yeah, yeah. The one that's going to come out that we wrote in the audition is not heavy at all. It's very devil cry, which is a song of ours that's very melodic and not very angry at all. So this song is more along the lines of that. Sick. Yeah, yeah, I'm actually excited about that. We're still playing with that one. So out of the 200 video submissions, what did you bring it down to? Like 20, 10?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's top question. So we did it. Especially we have, we had a priority to energy scale, humanity. or just only video. How do you do that? You just picked? Like, oh, this, what, best five, best ten? What was... They made us get super drunk and eat crazy food with them for a couple of days, basically is what happened.

Basically, like, what they did. They were like, here's Rocha, I can eat this. It's funny. Like, that's how, like, an audition or tryout process is. It's like... Yeah. Because what you're doing is you want to get someone... I'm not advocating this behavior,

even though I do this. Don't do it. You get your band members drunk as fuck. Borderline blackout because how are they going to be? Who are they? Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what he did to us. That's what the OGs do.

I picked up on it super early. I realized how drunk everyone was getting. And then I realized that all the conversations were getting super serious. And I was like, I see this motherfucker. I was like, I see what's happening here. That's smart. That's smart. Because, you know, how are they?

going to be like when you're in a middle of nowhere in a foreign country at 3 a.m. And they miss their girlfriend and family in China. Yeah. How are they going to react? A good way to kind of, what was the word, make that process faster, hang out for a day, get blacked out drunk. Yeah, yeah, yeah, see how we are. Yeah, and we did that in three days. And we had a lot of fun.

We had, there were a lot of crazy, funny moments. There were a lot of insane moments. I had one of the most ridiculous moments ever happened to me on stage. What happened? We I forget why exactly But I was off beat for two I think it was two beats

On the intro part of this song And it's only two words Right and then afterwards Obviously it comes back in And the click is fine And you can continue the song But I kept missing the vocal part And they literally restarted the song

Four fucking times In a live show There's like 300 people there Over five Yeah yeah yeah We restarted this shit like mad times And I'm trying to figure out What is going on

because I think it's them. Sorry, I don't realize it's me because I think I don't realize that I'm the one fucking up because I think that it's on point. I'm like, oh, everything is okay. So at one point I step off stage and I forget who I said it to,

I think it was Sejido, and I was like, yo, what is happening? He was like, you're fucking up. And I was like, oh, it's me? Like, I was like, oh, I didn't realize it was me. And then Gaku was like, Johnson, and like, call me over it. He was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, it was wrong.

Yeah, actually, I did mistake twice. Oh, yeah, yeah, thank you. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. At one point, there was definitely one where it was not me and it confused me and I was like, why, wait, why are we stopping it? It ate me. And then they were like, no, it's John and they blame me, you jerks. That's awesome. When, uh, kind of, uh, I want to ask your permission first. Can I just call you the OG? What? Can I call you the OG? Oh, yeah. You are the OG. It's crazy. It's okay. Because over here, sometimes people call, I, I feel weird talking about myself right now. People call me the OG.

OG. So if we're here in the States, when you're OG, you're like the first band member. Like, you've been around for a long time. Yeah. It makes you feel good here. So I want to ask your permission. Oh, shit. I'm the very first time.

You are the OG. Oh, stop it. G money. G money. YD OG T-shirt, dude. Very old. Right. So I mean, so you've been in a band for 21 going on 22 years.

So when you're going through like this process, of finding like a new singer that's that it's a it's a crazy process like as far as uh okay you know at any point where like

maybe we're done maybe we should stop or or let's try to find a new singer but what was your thought process like yeah a hundred times I saw that I I I was like I shouldn't

quick to play or I I stopped to, I stopped Crystal Lake 100 times, but just I love music. I love it to play the guitar for Crystal Lake. Now, and I want one more things. All my friends every time, uh, 19 know, caring. Everyone. Yeah, your friends care.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Supporting. Supporting me. Supporting me. there was like don't stop believe in myself believe yourself

believe yourself like that so every time my friends supporting me one thing is I love music just only music so

I want to keep on Nintendo working for Crystal Lake so just want to play so

I started to look for a brand new Bogorist Wow you understand It's a drift card Just not for Money not for Someone

Something Just For my Satisfaction Yeah I love music You love music you love playing the guitar Which you've been doing for Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Well over 22 years And so So like at that thought they creep in your head like over over a hundred times maybe i should stop the band maybe i should but it's great it shows like we really we really need support of our friends sometimes kind of sometimes you need someone to tell you to like your face yeah like you like you should keep going like you like you love doing this things that like you are obviously are so obvious but you need someone to kind of like tell you you you know it's cool that you have you know very supportive friends

and then you actually made like the choice. Hey, like, let's just, I fucking love playing riffs. I love playing four or four riffs. Let's just keep going. It's awesome, man. Thank you. But it was very hard to keep playing music. But Maxwell, Gak, Matijer.

They joined on Crystal Lake. Three years ago? Three or four years ago. but they supported me. That's cool. They changed me. It was very important to keep them playing. Finally, we decided to look for a brand new vocalist for Crystal Lake.

We don't care Japanese, Chinese, American, Canadian, no border. Nah, no Canadians. I'm kidding I'm kidding But anyway We don't care They're too nice Yeah

detail Because We want to play With Unknown amazing guy Finally Finally we started to have an audition

It was so excited To have Such a bunch of Offers Nantes No so or so

that's in there you guys are so cute on the spot look at this usually they got so much to say and they're all great this is great I'm loving this so like when we all did this

it was really stressful for everyone like you could tell that they didn't really want to open up you know like you would try to like talk to people like we'd try to talk to each other

but like they're more open now than we were when we first met so you can could just tell when we when i showed up like even the other guys showed up like everyone was exhausted with the situation you know there was a lot that had gone on they were running really full speed when that whole situation fell apart yeah for multiple reasons through covid and then through the hiatus and then the you know then the the separation so like it was really stressful for them to

figure out you know are we going to stay a band you know they they really didn't know what to do Like they talk about it all the time, you know, how like, you know, they're happy that they were able to keep it going because they were really, they were pretty sure like it's a rap, you know? That's fucking crazy. What was the, again, that was also one of my questions, but goes to both the, what was, what was the hardest part of keeping the band going? What was like the hardest part? More to understand personality, each other. it's very important important

quality to play is probably we can resolve just practice just practice just practice the Bible group

is not very important because practice can change everything but I have a priority to the band that Humanity, how do you just want good people?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Humanity and one more things, what we love music. Sometimes it's, yeah. For example, if we join on young young people, suddenly he, oh, I want to change job. Yeah, I want to do another thing like that. So I think it's important thing is so sharing the our emotion. Lifetime.

Yeah, happy and so sad and angry. Yeah. So we every time sharing is a very important thing. So for band. So you're always, you're always communicating each other. You have to. Yeah, we don't, what's really nice about this band is like even when things do go wrong. Like no one, I haven't seen them yell at each other. I've been in it for a year. No one yells. Someone will just tell you that something happened. Yeah, it's crazy, right? Someone will just

tell you that something happens. What do you? I say, I say my bed. Like, I just try not to do it again. You know what I mean? Like, but everyone's cool about stuff, which makes it really easy to have a good time because you're not constantly worried about, oh, am I going to piss somebody off? You know what I mean? Like, it's not in the back of your head. Like, so you just, they rage and we have a good time. We do funny stuff. We do crazy stuff. We do, you know, we eat tons of of food. How old are you guys? I'm 35.

Saudi 5. Yeah, same. 41. 41. Okay, that explains it. Yeah. When you hit that 30 or 35, that yelling stuff kind of needs... It's over, yeah.

It kind of need to like... It's a rap. You can't pull that Staten Island fucking Brooklyn shit. Yeah. Yeah. No, that is. You're real. You're real.

You're totally real. I went from a band and an ex-relationship that was like just all yelling and screaming. So then when I got to this, I was just like, I really don't want to do it anymore. Like, I'm super over yelling. Because you were born in Staten Island, correct? Yes, yeah.

Okay. So I could only imagine, what was like your family dynamic like? Because obviously, I'm West Coast. So you just imagine East Coast just like, like the cliche that's yelling at each other. So my family is Italian, but everyone on both sides is from Brooklyn. So in my house, even though we were on Staten Island, like, in my house, it was Brooklyn. Like, they used to talk shit about Staten Island all the time and be like, yo, don't be like these people. You know what I mean?

Like, don't you ever be like these motherfuckers out here? Like, you know, but they were, you know, just your typical Italian, like Brooklyn family. Like, you know, just like they would yell and scream about everything. Like, the way I yell at the crowd is how my father used to yell at me. 100%. It's not even a joke. It's like, you motherfucker! That's my father.

A hundred dead ass. Like, you know what I mean? Like, they were crazy. My dad's still a crazy Italian guy. He's 65. He thinks he could fight. He's older than that, I think. He thinks he can fight everybody.

He push his ass over now. You know what I mean? But he's like, he was a tough dude. And back in the day, they were like, they were not people to fuck with, you know? It would get crazy. I've seen my dad. I watched my dad shake a dude out of his t-shirt at McDonald's. No.

Shake a dude out of his T-East. The dude gave my dad the finger. And my dad was like, fuck me. I remember my grandfather being like, no, John. And just like giving up and holding me. And my dad shook this dude like a cherry tree out of his clothes. Like, and just kept the fucking, and kept the shirt and left. Like white crying and everything.

So it was rough. They never hurt me or anything like that, but like just living in New York, like, you know, it's a little, it's a little different. You know, my dad is the shit. I love my father. Shout out to my dad. He looks and we are the same person. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we look exactly alike.

Except my dad looks more like Tony Soprano than I do. Okay. Right, it's fucked up. They all this. They are actually the same person. If anyone has ever watched the Sopranos, my dad is. Is this, is your dad here? Yo, they looked exactly alike.

They look exactly alike. I'm going to try to find a photo. Seems a very slightly different than the Japanese culture, correct? Yes. Yeah, you would just a chattel, chato. Dude, I would love to see YD to start yelling. That would be funny. Were you guys ever that way?

Like, when early days of, like, Crystal Lake a few years ago, like, ever, like, do you ever raise your voice at each other? Ever, like, yell names? Oh, my goodness. Yo, dead ass, check this out. Wow. That is crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's my pops, bro. Tony Soprano. And he's got a temper just like that motherfucker. Yeah, actually, we have it. Sometimes we have a big gap between Japanese and American culture, right? Oh, yeah. I'm in trouble all the time. No, no, no.

It's more, we all are enjoying it. Because it completely different, right? Yeah. You, yeah, yeah. You were right, yeah, born, born in Brooklyn, right? I was born in Tokyo, rising Tokyo. Yeah, yeah.

Wow. They're very polite, they don't throw things on the ground. Yeah, especially Japan is very weird things. We have a lot of, yeah. I love Japan, no. Just, basically, we don't care that. But, so one more gang, the, is the, what we are.

priority is just respecting each other. Yeah. It's nice. Yeah, long as, yeah. It is. It is. It is. It is. A little bit of different. They don't have to be like that.

Like, bands that are, like bigger bands, like, like, the way that they are in Asia and stuff like that. Like, they don't have to be nice to anybody. You know what I mean? Like, in the fact that they're super respectful and just chill and that they're not even to each other. You know, like, when people mess up, like, there's not. arguing there's just a talk about it and we just fix it like every single night after the show we do a play by play we do a like football team really we record every single set and then after the set we sit down on the bus and I said no 100% wow they got their drinks I got my rig you know

I mean and I'm just like we're sitting there and we watch it and we watch the whole set and nip it well YD has even been like I don't like how you walk during this part like we get literally really down and dirty it dude they told TJ to stop showing his nipples I mean? Like, he needs to wear, he needs to cut his shirt differently. Like, we get into it. And no one argues. No one fights.

You know, everyone's just like, okay. And I kind of love it because, uh, just, you know, the next time you watch it, it's cool, you know? And then when they don't have it to say back to you, it's like, yeah, dare you. Got you. Yeah, motherfucker. What do you think when someone tells you, I don't like how you walk? I just, I, I, so being from New York, my initial reaction is like,

oh really like yeah you your brain says something right yeah yeah so like but me when it's like you don't like how I walk I was like okay and I was just thinking of myself I'm like all right well what he's describing is I guess a little bit because he said he's like you're walking like a bear and I was like that's kind of like the idea like in my head and I'm like that's kind of the point he was like I don't think it's like a bear I was like that's kind of like the deal like till you know the walk like you know like with purpose and he was like it doesn't look good during this part and I was like okay he's like you should he's like you should like move for this part with a little bit more bounce and I was like okay so like we go through

different parts of that like uh you know I'll complain that I uh I I want like certain things to sound the same every single night like you know we go we each have everyone has their own little thing that they go through that they want you know to to be different like and it's it's good it just makes the sets better you know it totally makes the sets better that is very mature. It's insane. Most bands could not do this. It's cool.

Yeah, they would lose their shit. You'd be like, motherfucker fucking fuck I want. Especially you have alcohols in the mix. Oh my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We are sake mafia, bro.

That is real. Yeah, what are you guys drinking? Everything. Bro, yeah, this is Motley crew. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's insane, bro. Chrysillick is the Japanese motley crew. Real?

No, that's not a joke. Like, yo, this is real. Yeah, it's insane. They are, I watch them like I'm watching jackass. It's insane. They're like sniffing lines of coffee and crying. Like, they're squirting lemon juice up this dude's nose and shit like that. Like, they were squeezing oranges and homie's eyes.

Like, the dude is naked on the wall. I woke up one morning. We were in Okinawa. I woke up. All the windows were open. Every light was on. The music is blasting. Stuff is everywhere.

Tables are turned upside down. They're gone. J.J. Jajaj. Why do we do like a thing? Do you know? Because it's awesome. For Crystal Lake.

Yeah. Yeah. For Crystal Lake. Assocchi Mafia and Crystal Lake. Yeah, it's sick. It's a lot of fun. Like there, and I don't really drink. I like to smoke.

So there's not really any weed in Asia. You know what I mean? So like I just kind of. Very strict. Yeah. So I don't even try. So I just kind of sit back and watch, you know, but it's crazy. If we had a TikTok, we'd be viral immediately.

You guys have one? No, no, no. Some of the members are a little worried to like put it out there because they don't want to like. We got the social media. We got to get that on. TikTok. That's what I'm saying, dude. Yo, it's wild.

I will show you some afterwards. It's, because I have it on my phone. It's insane. They make T.J. puk all the time. Poor bastard. The poor bastard. Like, they make him throw up all the time, dude. Like, he's the, he's the chugging mule because we do Wachian rouletto, which is where YD will pretend he's a roulette machine and he'll pick someone to chug.

What are the actually, uh, what are the, the weed laws? Don't do it or die. Basically. What are the, what are the restrictions? So like, it's not, from what I've read, it's not illegal to have it in your system because farmers are still farming it, but not, and it's possible that the dust can get into your system, something of that nature, like hemp plants and whatnot. So having it in your system isn't illegal, but having it in your possession or selling it

and whatnot. It's super, super, super illegal. You can go to jail for like eight to ten years. There's like a $20,000 fine that you can get. There's like, there's. Hey, Zach, can we, uh, blood it up? Yeah. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't see that. There's like a deportation limitation and stuff like that.

So if you type in marijuana laws in Japan, this is what comes up. It's illegal to sell or possess cannabis in Japan. But it's legal. It's legal to get high on it. It's all, dude. Here's what. Lou Paul, do it's all, bro. That doesn't mean any sense.

Hook up your boy and I'll lie for you. Stupid. Wait, what? It's because of farming. Because farming, so people that are certain crops that have hemp in them and the dust will get into your system because you're breathing it in all day. So you can't. So you get high.

Right. So not even if you get high, it just gets into your bloodstream. So there's no way for them to prove, what, are you actually smoking weed or are you actually a farmer? Interesting. So it's legal to get high and here's why in Japan he could be jailed for up to seven years for possessing cannabis. But you get high. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that is that, is that, is that pretty accurate?

Accurate. Yeah. Is that, is that real? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of, kind of bored. First time to have, if police, punish, probably we arrest, will we be arrest. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And two weeks, two weeks at first.

Yeah. But after the term is expanding. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It gets longer and longer, depending on how bad it was. Yeah, it can get serious. And then they have legal THC stuff over there, which is unrecommended. Because it's absolutely ridiculous. Like, yeah, I've never been, yeah, yeah, I can't even get into that, man.

I smoke some of the fake stuff, and it was never again. I will never do it again. It was insane. What, what, you got, like, super high from it? What was, uh... It felt like I did, like, 10 hits at MDMA. It was fucking insane. I'll never...

Super chemical. Yeah, yo, I'll never... Never again, bro. Like, blew my head off. Like, I was like... And I only hit the vape twice, bro, and it fucking... It put me to the moon. It was like...

T.H... T.HC. O.P. or something like that. Yo, rough. Yo, yeah, I felt... I immediately was like... I have to go home. I walked home like an hour. because I just I was trying to walk it off but bro it was it felt like tons of drugs I hated it was not good it did not feel like weed at all as soon as it hit me it just started to go up and up and up and it kept going and by 10 minutes in I was like this is going to be really bad this is not going to go like this is not pie anymore like and it got really bad it was sick

but actually it was kind of sick no so since since there's weed restrictions and laws does that um is that is that Does that kind of influence the drinking culture? Yeah. Right? Okay, so that might explain why you're just drinking everything. All the time. But that makes sick rips, though. It does, it does, it does.

But they're a lot of fun. They're not like, they're not the type of people that drink and like, they're like miserable to be around. They're pleasant. You know what I mean? They're like your grandma. You know what I mean? She's drunk, but she's happy.

Like, it's like that. So in Japan? Yeah. So you can drink. Outside. Outside. Yeah, yeah. Oh, sick.

Yeah, in Japan, we can drink outside openly everywhere, even though park. That's so, yeah. A street. Yeah, you could walk into a restaurant with your bigger cracked already. We can do. We can do. But still now, really is super illegal. Crazy illegal.

Recently, smoking is pretty strict. Yeah, you can't even smoke cigarettes on the street. There's like a special place to smoke cigarettes. Like you can't smoke them on the street. It's so bizarre. Yeah, it's crazy. What the fuck? Right, you can't smoke weed, but then you will 100% step over people like puking between their legs.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, and cops are patting them on the back. Like, it's okay, don't worry. Good job. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, drinking is easy way to enjoy it in Japan. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Easy, easy drinking.

I guess you guys think about, wow, it's kind of weird. yeah yeah that was one of the first things that I noticed when I went there is uh they like to party but they're not like miserable people who party like you can run into people in America who party that like August they're a bummer yeah you know I mean like very very common these guys are like these guys are awesome you know they're they're so much fun to be around they're not annoying in the slightest like I have not once in the year that I've been playing with this band have been like oh my fucking god they're drunk like never once because they're never annoying when they're drunk.

Even when they are drunk, they're cool. They're not breaking stuff. They might get completely naked and do some assaults on each other. We need it on TikTok for sure. Bro, you have no idea. I say it all the time.

It's own it. Bro, yeah, yeah, just be it. Saki Mafia. And then it's so interesting to cancel, you just come on here and talk about it. That's what I'm saying. I got your back. No, but then we can't be canceled

because then it's our persona. You can't be canceled when it's your persona. You know what I'm saying? That's why Manson and Eminem still have jobs like like oh my gosh dude i was listening to m&m this morning uh what's that song lose yourself oh yeah yeah that that first riff oh my goodness don't dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun and and why do you uh i heard you talk about how you're you're trying to incorporate hip hop uh edem yeah uh pop and metal and too more and too like your melodies it's cool thank you know it's

Yeah, but everything is just my white is a rift. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not for special hip-hop, not for special pop, just I'm writing with my original. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love hip-hop, but pop is idiom, but I don't care the quality, that perfect or not, but just enjoying. Right, right, right, right. Add my character into some music.

Yeah, yeah. He really does love all music. Like we were going around the room one day. We were like, oh, what's your favorite band? And then we X, Y, D.

And he was like, what? I don't know. I have no idea. He like, he like, couldn't answer the question. He was like,

I have no idea. I have no idea. I don't know. I don't have a favorite band. Yeah, we are, uh, yeah,

we all have the other project, kind of, uh, you, animation song I'm making song for idol and band and YouTuber

I'm now making anime song yeah it's like an anime thing like pretty much yeah so like what he does is like he makes he makes like bass tracks for like they're like they're like avatars

basically that's awesome yeah yeah and so Mitsudo exists exists in the metaverse like it's crazy a band that I was trying to find I think I found them on Spotify Shield

Shield Is shield? Shield Am I saying that right? Shield From Sweden? Yes The band

Very old school New School band From Sweden I love They influenced me Probably 20 years ago Yeah Yeah because

Because we were talking about Like the culture differences. I mean, we don't even think about simple things like tattoos. Like that, you know, that's so different. And then it kind of makes you think, okay, like, how do

you find, because you're talking about 2002 and also prior to that, once you find you find something and you're playing guitar. I mean, what, I was like, how did you like, how did you find music? I mean, I assume you're one of the only people like looking for this

type of music. Yeah. Luckily, I have lots of friends for like American old school music or heavy

like European New School hardcore Swedish Melor Swedish New School hardcore I have

my I used to have my local group called Blood Axe right now Now, Bloodax is still alive, alive, but pretty different from recent one. But they told me what's hardcore, what's new school hardcore?

Then over 20 years ago, I dig it's American New School hardcore. By eBay or by email directory. Email? No, no, no, no, no. Letter. Letter? Tell me you're writing letters to people. Written letter? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I could find lots of EP, or demo tapes. Hmm. That I dig a local fan, lots of fun, Jin, right? I could find lots of information from Jing, local digger. Like that. Finally, at first, we played very new school style. You know the word? Yes.

Yes. Yes. Especially like early 1990 Syracuse hardcore. Syracuse. Syracuse. Syracuse hardcore. Yeah, very hardcore. But slowly, we changed the style.

New school, new school, new school, new school. pretty melchord I I love Massachusetts hardcore Massachusetts milk or is another guy I forgot the name sorry sorry I'm very famous annauz of course another one after shock for after show there another one kiss which before before no no no no no no no no other van for Shadows Fall Before Overcast

Overcast Overcast All the old G metalcore bands Yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah, they changed me Just slowly I

We changed the style I I was in first But lots of music Hipop Well even though Cameron You know the rough

Camero Yeah Yeah Cameron changed me. That's funny. Now he's crazy for ethnic music. Yeah. Yeah.

Like traditional Japanese or traditional music he is crazy for. Yeah, it's like like super strings and flu. like traditional Japanese music. Yeah. Yeah, it's sick. It's very peaceful. Yeah. At first, I pick up very American hardcore with or American stuff at first.

But recently, I can accept Japanese melody slowly. You know the word, Minio or Enka? No. You don't know? No. Very Japanese melody. Japanese melody they have. That's kind of like where we get the idea for the end of rebirth.

Zach, can we play this? Yeah. You can louder? He's gonna shredding? Yeah, kind of. This is traditional instruments in Japan. At the same time, another Japanese animation soundtrack influenced me, especially gibbry.

Yeah. They are ripping right now. Yeah, yeah. It's like a giant angel. Melody is very weird, right? Yeah. But this is our very traditional one. I'm just curious what your family thought.

I mean, you started playing East Coast, Sweden, European hardcore. When you're 41 now. That's a great question. 21. I mean, you're in teens, right? Yeah. What were your parents thinking? Parents?

Yeah. I assume it's a very traditional Japanese family and you're playing East Coast hardcore. How did your parents feel about you playing Eastern music or Western music? They don't care because my mother and the father loves very American black culture. Like blues and jazz and old school jazz. There was, uh, what I don't know, hip hop. Oh, so they're okay. When I was...

They're hip, dude. He had cool parents. When I was, uh, elementary school, my age was 11. I was just, I watched the television. It was Jimmy Hendrix. Oh, sick, yeah, yeah. Hendrix is the man. Then after that, uh, okay, I can play.

I was like, I was like, I can play like that easily. Tlllll l l l lh. Of course, I sang with my mouse. Yeah, yeah. One year later, I board one guitar, very cheap one. Kind of beginner's stuff sets, cheapest guitar with the smallest mini amp.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then I never could play. play like that. Well, quickly, I could to play the guitar. But one years later, my friends played extremely extreme. Yeah. Yeah, you were telling me this story. Yeah, yeah. Well, he changed me. I started to play again. There recently, then I played, I played the the guitar like Steve By. Oh wow. Okay. Gain Moore, Steve Moore's

CV-Lave-on. I learned lots of melody from them. Interesting. Yeah. So you're already listening to Hendricks and Steve I? Yeah, yeah.

It's just ripping. Yeah. Wow. Interesting. Yeah. What's very fascinating about you, John? You, you studied

the Japanese text first. as opposed to learning the language first. Yeah, yeah. Even, like, the text looks more daunting. It actually does look a little intimidating. For me, it's the first language that I've ever actually, like, really tried to learn. So, yeah, it was weird, man.

And I wanted to just learn how to speak it, but everyone was like, you need to learn how to write it, dude. Because if you learn how to write it, speaking it will come so much easier. And it actually does. I'm still, like, super rusty on it. But like when I was learning how to speak it and learning what all the sounds are and everything, like the kanji and the hiragana would really, really. There's Katakana and Hiragana were really very helpful because they don't have an alphabet.

They have what's called like what's a syllabary or something like that. So like there instead of ABC, they have like kaer, you know what I mean? Like ghee, da. So and that's kind of how it works. So like that one in the middle right there, that's Japan. That just means that's Nihon. That one on the left, I kind of recognize, but I'm not really sure what that is 100%. But I recognize that one on the bottom of that.

I think that's drink, right? Isn't that? What is that? Which one? What is that? What is it? This? Left, right?

Yes, sorry. The kanji in the middle to the left. Next to New Hong. Ah, Hirakana? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, to the left. No, no, no, left of Nihon. Kanji.

Yeah, what, what, what is it say? Type of character. No, what does it say, what does mean, meaning? Meaning. It's like a character of kanji. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so, so, but what is the character of what? Of what? It means kanji.

Oh, it means kanji, okay. Goh, dude. What's good, bro? Just can't. I think... That's that language barrier thing we were just talking about before. It's difficult. It means kanji.

It's such a fuck you, bro. We Japanese have three types of characters. Yeah, yeah, yeah. One, hiragana. Irgagana, katakana. Second one is katakana. The last one is kanji. Yeah, yeah.

It means kanji. Yeah, kanji is difficult for Japanese. Yeah. Apparently it's difficult for English too. Yeah. Yeah. Very difficult for me. Is it?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because there's thousands of them. Okay, so maybe you shouldn't feel bad. No, I feel, I mean. You already feel bad. I don't feel terrible.

I live my whole life like this. I'm in constant moments of this. Like, oh, dude, my bad, man. How is this Japanese improved since he's joined? Oh. they're serious they're serious it's not easy

so anyway so I'm trying to speak English so I can only but English

but now he's the same situation so he's only so a few Japanese word So same so yeah we are the same situation

I am the Japanese Mitsuru Yeah yeah yeah yeah I can not speak English But he can not speak Japanese So we are trying to Yeah yeah like eh Yeah what? What? What? But conversation is very difficult But now we can connect

Yeah yeah way better Yeah yeah way with that yes It's good It's a that's probably my favorite Japanese. It's not even a word. It's like an inflection almost like like as a person on the on the west, you'd be like, oh, huh? Yeah, word, word.

Like, you know, whatever you would say. And then over there, like, eh? That's my favorite in the entire thing. My favorite. I swear to God, I love it. People are like, what's your favorite Japanese words? And I'm like, eh, it's not a word. And I'm like, I know, dude.

That's my shit. Well, yeah, actually, John is very positive to try brand new things. Before, I never expect like these things. Lots of the American people reject. No, no, no, no. I can do that. No. Stop it.

That's not mine. Like that. But John is accepting all. Okay. Let's try it. Yeah, yeah, always. Oh, you guys. They made me raw chicken.

Raw chicken. Remember you guys made me raw chicken? Ro chicken, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. Good memory. Wow, sick. It was your first clip in Japan. Yeah, it was delicious. You hated it.

It was banging. Yeah, chicken sashimie, yeah. Whoa, that's sick. A lot chicken. Chicken sashimi? Yeah, yeah, sashim, very nice. Have you tried it? No, never.

Really? I don't think so, because obviously, so I assume you don't order a plate. You order, like, one kind of big family style. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're trying everything at once. Exactly, yeah. Very fresh, flesh and safe, safe. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But they did this during that night we were talking about earlier where, like, he got us all drunk and he wanted to know who he were. He did this. This is one of the first things he brought out. But my father being who my dad was, you weren't allowed to say that you didn't want to try food in the house because we're a food family. So, like, if he wanted you to try something and you didn't want it, it was a problem. So now as an adult when I was in Japan and YD was like, try this and I'm going to try this. a different country and I got to you know like trying to show them that I'm

one of the guys and they were like you know eat this I was like you first and then when they ate it I was like all right and I ate it so like and I am very open to trying new stuff all the time why they is always trying to show me new food or just new things you know in general and I'm always

open to trying it because I don't believe I'm right all the time like people have this complex of like their idea is correct and I don't think that my idea is people do, man. Yeah. Fucked. And I'm just not one of those dudes.

Like, you know, so like if you have an idea, let's try it. You know what I mean? And if it's amazing and I love it, fantastic. You know what I mean? If not, then whatever. That's actually my favorite part about this band. We're very, everything is like that. When we're writing, there's no such thing as like,

we don't really do that. I don't know if I want to do that. You know that? Like, so like they, all ideas are cool ideas. They want to try everything. And if you have an idea, no one is shooting it down. when they hear it. Like, just verbally, people want you to go try it.

They're like, go try it. It's not like, I've been in a lot of American situations where you have an idea and you tell someone and they're like, I don't really know if that would work out. I'm good on that. Like, you don't even get a chance to try it out. You got to try it out. You know what I mean?

We try everything in Crystal Lake, which is cool. So all the food, all the drinks, all the rifts. We're trying it all, man. All the riffs, all the drinks, dude. Yeah, yeah. Our driver tries all the speeds. You know what I mean? Like, see, drives like a fucking.

bullet. Yeah. Is he a sleep driver? Yeah, sure. Oh, I feel you, dude. I feel you. You're just,

you're just fucking laying down at 4 a.m. He can't sleep. Oh, dude. That feeling has gotten worse since I got up and older. It's weird. It's like that initial fear. Yeah, the exit turn fear.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, coming off the exit turn and that's that feeling of like you're just sliding out of the bed. I thought out of the bunk on, on his last run. who came out of the bunk yeah I fell out oh that sucks he hit uh he was doing

he was going into a pilot or a flying jay but this particular driveway was a dirt road and he didn't uh notice also also one of the best drives we ever had but he happened to get into this weird

driveway where it was a dirt road and he hit like some pothole yeah yeah and when you're in a bandwagon it feels like the tip yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it's gonna tip over I was like oh shit I fell out I fucking spray my toes and I thought

And ever since that day, I was just, like, laying there. Every, every bump, every, was like, did not sleep very well. Yeah. I was that middle one. You know, the middle bunk? And then I fell out and I hit that table. At that table right there, I fucking hit it on my chest. I got a little bruise like that big.

That's a hell of a leap, bro. It was like three feet. It sucks. Wake up, dude. Yeah, yeah. That's rough. That's rough. That's super rough.

It's what, it's just what we do, though. It's weird. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I love our driver. He's a really cool guy and he's, uh, he gets us everywhere we got to go. It's just sometimes so like he'll hit an exit turn and everything goes flying. I know. We lost a rig over that shit, man.

I'd buy a new rig over that motherfucker because he fucking, because he hit like a turn and the, the dab rig went like, boom. Oh, it's dab rig. It went flying across the RV. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it had wings or some shit. You got, you guys, you know, those dab bricks, huh? The dabs? I'm a huge.

Yeah, I have a gloves. I can't do it, dude. I am a glove. I am a globsnob, America. Let's so you guys know. Yeah, I can't really do flour. What? Yeah, yeah, you want to hear that shit?

I really can't. If I smoke flour, it's super harsh on my throat. I'm all like, eh. Why? It's just super hot. It's hot? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like super harsh.

The smoke is too harsh from me. Oh, harsh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When I do dabs, I do like a cold starter or something like really low temp, and I'll get like, you know, I'll rip it hard. I'm out there chilling. Well, obviously, your tolerance is extremely high. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, at all times. Yeah.

Yeah. Fuck, dude. Yeah, I am a... My house is a Cypress Hill concert, for sure. Good. So, okay, so you're dabbing. They're drinking everything, and that's pretty much... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I am the exact... I am the smoking version of them drinking. Oh, my. It makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Except... They say the opposites attract. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's funny. And they're very... They're very... Even though they're from Tokyo, they're very much like New York people. Tokyo and New York are very... very, very similar. Not only that they look a lot of like,

but the people are very the same. How so? Well, just like, in New York, if you walk into, if you walk into someplace, like someone might say hello to you, but no one's going to bother the shit out of you, but like, what do you need to happen to help you? That is not a thing in Japan.

You know, you walk into a store in Japan, someone says hello, and then if you don't ask for help, you could wander around the store for 15 minutes. No one's really going to say anything. Unless you look suspicious, like if you're standing someplace, like just standing there,

someone will come up to you, like, do you need help? Like, you know, but they're very, uh, they mind their business. That's pretty much what I mean. It's very, it's very much like New York and the fact that everyone minds their business. Like, imagine if New York was like super polite and super clean. That'd be weird. That's exactly what it is.

I remember I was at Chippla in New York City and I said, good morning. How was your day going? And they looked up at me. That was a fucking idiot. Are I sure? You asked me how my day was? They looked at me. Like, I was like, it was, again, in Chappalo's patched a big line.

And I'm up there and she looks up. I'm like, oh shit, I guess not. Burrito or a bowl, bro. I was like, oh, shit, I'm going to ask how my day is. What do you want to eat, bro? I was like, oh, my God. I deal with that with my girl because she's from San Diego. So, like, when I go to places with her, like on the East Coast and stuff, she'll be like,

hi, how are you? And I'm just like, babe, just sit down. See, that's also, John, which I really respect to you. Like you really took on like a whole new to take on a new language is it's a it has to humble you. Because you're constantly learning. Yeah. You're constantly this fucking. Yes.

Failing and I'm trying to try and trying just to learn. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I took on a whole new life really, man. I went from being in last time, which is like a very negative persona. I'm not going to call the band nugget it negative. How long? How long we?

Six or seven years. Something like that. Obviously East Coast band. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Pennsylvania band. Okay, Pennsylvania, okay. And, you know, the whole idea of that band is to just be angry, and it just gets in your head. For me, it did anyway.

You know what I mean? Like, and I had a message that I wanted to portray, and it just came out wrong. You know what I mean? And it's just, it's different with these guys. You know, it feels a lot better. It feels better. Yeah, yeah, it comes out a lot better. Like, and it's great.

You know, you take on this new idea of thinking about things in a better light. Like, I, like, I don't, I still get upset. about things. You know what I mean? I'm still the same guy that I used to be. You know what I mean? I'm still an aggressive dude, but I always will be. Yeah, I always will be. But I don't want to be upset all the time now. You know what I mean? I don't want to constantly be mad. Like if you want to argue about things, like good, go fight. You know what I mean? Like I'm good on that. I'm not going to do it anymore. I mean, I did six years of arguing in a band and an ex-relationship like the whole time like meh, ma-ma-ma-ma-a-like in both places on tour and at my house, I'm over it, man. Fight with yourself. It drag you down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When people and, you know, kids out there, when people get mad, like, Let them keep it. That's what I learned.

That's the best thing. Let them keep it. When someone gets mad at you and they start yelling at you, don't shout back. Just let them happen. Yeah. I also refer that as let them eat their own poison. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because when you don't shout back, it's got nowhere to go. And it stays with them. You know what I mean? They have to chase out their own poison, dude. Yeah, yeah. Think about the last time you tried to get mad at somebody and they just didn't give you a reaction. You kind of kind of felt like a little dirty inside. It's just because it doesn't go anywhere.

It sticks with you, you, you know? So like, you know, just don't be, when you want to be mad, take a deep breath, go smoke a blunt. You know what I mean? Do a dab. Do a shot. Take a deep breath. Don't do any of those things to calm down. I'm sorry. What I mean is what I mean is to just like relax. You know what I mean? Relax. Everyone would fucking relax. Did you, when you're talking in Japanese or doing your best at it, do you ever get embarrassed? Yeah, all the time, especially when I'm in the middle of trying and YD's like, oh, you sound great. Talk more. And I'm like, and then I can't say anything. Yeah, yeah. time I was embarrassed was here. There is a Mexican spot down the street, and Ernie, our drummer, taught me how to order

a bean and cheese breedo in Spanish. And one day, he wasn't here with me this time, so I went. I tried. And the cooks stop what they're doing, and look up at me. And they started talking to Spanish, obviously, talking shit on me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I never, I mean, it's been a long time since I genuinely felt embarrassed. I was like, I tried to order, I said, uh, Burro, for Holitz and Koso.

and he stopped what they're doing and looked up and started talking shit on me. It's awesome. I was like, okay, pay as soon as possible. Give me the fuck out of here. I am never, ever again until I know that language. Yo, I was on stage one time and YD was talking to the crowd and YD was telling them how I'm learning Japanese. And he was like, tell them something new you learned. And we're in the middle of playing.

And I was like, I said something that he knows that I know. And he was like, no, not that. He was like, no, I'm not that one's something new. And I was like, fucking swim, dude. Something new. Like, I want to look at it. Like, hold the mic out to the crowd. Like, teach me something, bro.

Like, what do you mean? Like, fuck. You did not purpose, huh? He does it all the time. Yeah. He gets me. But I'm constantly learning new languages in this band. Because every time we go someplace, they know a new language.

I have to learn how to say hello and thank you in the language. Like, our drummer, Gakou, pretty much knows how to say hello and thank you, like, everywhere. It's insane. You know, so I try to do the same thing. Sometimes I have to write it down on gaff tape and put it on the monitor. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I have bad ADD. And because I can't smoke over there, it just eats me alive when I'm there. Swallows me whole, bro.

Yeah, nightmares and all. Let's go. It's crazy. So sometimes I have to write down instructions on white gaf tape on the states that I know what the hell I'm doing because it'll just like, it'll just go. Like, you'll tell me the name of where we are and I'll be like sick. It's gone. Yeah. Like it's gone.

You're in a constant state Yeah, yeah It's, I've been in Japan for almost a year now Like I went home for January July and August I've been there since Thanksgiving of last year Are you serious? Yeah, yeah, yeah

It's pretty fucking It's wild My girl's gonna leave me How do you balance your Your relationship? It's super hard Yeah, dude I'm a really good list

Why he's laughing? Oh my goodness Bro, how much time do I have spend on the phone. I'm on the phone. We don't fight though. We're not a fighting couple. We don't argue like that, but we spend lots of time on the phone. Like, if I'm not doing band stuff I try to be on the phone my girl.

Like, it's really, really hard. But we, again, we're not fighters, you know what I mean? And I'm a, I think I'm a really good listener. So, I try my best to just always be there for her and have my heart open to her. Like, I try to

be as financially supportive as I possibly can, so I'm not out here on tour being like give me half you know what i mean like i pay them all the bills you know what i mean so the balance is just trying to take care of her as best as i can from here you know i'll send flowers randomly you know like or something of that nature like you know you want to just try to do what you can it's hard you know that's a hard balance dude but she was already a tough balance yeah yeah yeah it was hard you know so she moved from san diego to my house in florida uh a week before I left for this entire thing.

Oh, perfect. Yeah, absolutely, right? Great timing. Absolutely perfect. Like, what a great way for us to start this excursion of our relationship. We went from being long distance to being very long distance. But I love her to death. And I just got to see her recently.

And, like, we have a lot of fun together. And it's, like, picking up where we left off when we hang out. You know what I mean? It's not like this weird reconnecting thing. Like, so it's just, It's a constant struggle. The idea, like, I've learned in a relationship, at least in my relationships, is I'd rather be happy than be right.

And in this kind of situation, being happy makes way more sense. Because I could be right all the time, because I'm not home. And, you know, I mean, she's doing whatever she wants in my house and, like, rearranging things and, like, you know, taking down photos and getting new couches and all this stuff. Like, you know, and I don't have a say in any of that, but like, I want to. But I'm just like, yeah, do whatever you want. So like letting people feel like they have a life still is how you could do something like this. It's just it's a constant struggle, dude.

I don't even know how to explain it. You can't. No, I can't. Just ramble about it forever. Yeah, man, thank you for balancing it. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, you're welcome.

I love you guys and, you know, I love my girl. My girl is the same name as the band. I date a girl named Crystal. I'm in a band named Crystal. Oh. It's wild. Yeah, yeah. That is.

Dude, sometimes not a lot, like, things choose. you, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't have a say, man. It just kind of chooses you and just go with it. That is real. That is very real. What the fuck is that?

It's crazy. They have the same amount of letters in their last name. Like, they have the same letters in the last name. Like, it's a little weird. Like, damn. Stop it. Like it's crazy. That's his God is fucking with you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He loves the fuck of me, man. It's crazy. Yeah. It's real. That's another weird thing that's happened with this entire thing. I've learned how to talk to the universe more. That's helped me through the peace.

Like, there's a lot of, a lot of kids in the metal industry or just in the metal scene that, like, they don't talk to the universe. They're just like, you know, like, they're like devil horns all day, straight, you know, straight, like atheist or satanic or whatever. And they don't have any sort of like, you got to talk to the universe, dude. You don't have to believe in God. But you know, totally. You have to talk to the universe. Like, these things are very separated, like, religion, being spiritual, God, universe. I'm sure you have also, like, your own feelings.

Like, it's just, it's, it's very, very separate, but some might interconnect, sure. Right. But, you know, they're all, they're all separate, you know? Absolutely. Yeah. And I honestly found once I could accept the peace of the universe, it made things a lot more calm in my life. That's cool. Such a weird-ass thing to say.

It is. I feel you, man. But yeah, it's been nice. Yeah, just asking God for help. There's a piece in that. Dude, it's crazy. Yeah. I can't explain it.

It's weird. No, agreed. It really is. I asked for this. I'd asked for this. I was like talking to the universe and I was like, I want this, help me get this.

I need this. Wow. This is what I want. Like, no matter what happens, I want this. Like, I will do anything I need to do to do this.

And I will always be positive about what I have to do after this if you give me this. Wow. And I promise that that shit works. Like, and I heard everybody else that I look up to talk about it in the same way. Like, I promise you what works. Like,

just talk to the universe and be like positive about it and speak with it truthfully. manifestation is real like do it yeah and then put in the work yeah yeah obviously put in the work because nothing is given to but put in the work and put in the faith like it comes it's crazy like doesn't have to be god but you have to have faith agreed like it's real that's what's up any uh closing thoughts for chrysal lake closing thoughts stay in school smoke smoke dabs yeah do dabs stay in school uh if you if you do start a band start a pop band for damn sure. Oh yeah, you guys are on tour right now.

Sick. I'll see you guys tonight. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Branden's sacrifice and spite. It's been really fun hanging out with those dudes. I know all the brand guys. It's nice. I've told her it spite before,

so that's been cool, like, re-meeting them and stuff. Do you know what? I was just thinking today. Like, did I see Chris Blake before? Maybe. Dude, sometimes you, I mean, I mean, I love doing this,

but I just seen so many fucking bands, dude. It is kind of becoming like a, like a, like a, what we call overflowing trash can I go the only way I explain it I was like because I remember I think he was grass pop festival I got I got high as fuck with the

Crossbade guys Word So it's in my notes Shout out crossbade They got me high as fuck And I'm on exactly a smoker Word word word I was like how do these guys find

Wheat and Belgium And there is Walking around with joints Shout out man Great great guys Well Chris Lake You're awesome Thank you for being here.

Thank you for sharing your story. Yeah, Chris, thanks for happiness, man. This is super cool. I respect the fuck out of you. Same, same. Why do you OG? Thank you. Thank you so much.

That's cool. All right. Well, we're, we can be upon you guys. I'm sorry? Where can people find you? You guys can find us on Spotify. You can find us on Apple Music. You can find us on Instagram.

You can find us on Facebook. We have all platforms digging and enjoy. Sick. All right, I don't want. Appreciate it. it. All right. That's a new one. Stay in school. Stay in school. Smunk dabbs. That's right.

Later. Later. Thank you. Thank you. ...divorke. will be a super-exit to Shopify. And, and a period of a period of a month

on Shopify. coms.