Garza Podcast - 119 - SKELETAL REMAINS

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

Garza sits down in-person with Los Angeles, CA death metal band SKELETAL REMAINS. Their new album FRAGMENTS OF THE AGELESS is out now! https://www.linktr.ee/skeletalremains SPONSORS: Click this link to purchase from Sweetwater & help support the podcast: imp.i114863.net/rnrmVB SKELETAL REMAINS is: Chris Monroy - Guitar & Vocals Mike De La O - Guitar Bryan Rush - Bass Pierce Williams - Drums CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Tired & Hungover After a Great Record Release Party 01:45 - Vinyl Pressing Delays 05:07 - Skeletal Remains is Death Metal AF 08:04 - New Album, Fragments of the Ageless / Writing Process 12:43 - The Riff is Key 14:42 - Writing “To Conquer the Devout” 16:26 - Pierce Listened to Classical Music & Hip Hop 20:19 - Starting Out in Whittier / Los Angeles, CA 23:15 - Skeletal Remains & Suicide Silence Used to Rehearse at the Same Place 26:10 - Skeletal Remains knew Ex-Suicide Silence Drummer, Alex Lopez’ Mom in High School 28:50 - Tales From the Pico Rivera Rehearsal Space, Early Days 37:30 - Illegal Bootleg Merch  39:28 - Bringing Back Skeletal Remains, Mike Re-Joining 42:46 - Pierce Joining in 2020 45:29 - Brian Joining as Bassist in 2021 46:23 - Making a Great Death Metal Record 49:08 - Drinking Before or After a Show 51:13 - The Pressure of Opening on Tour 56:38 - Playing with Cannibal Corpse 58:07 - Chris Singing and Playing Guitar at the Same Time 1:05:04 - Touring with Morbid Angel, Meeting Trey Azagthoth 1:07:22 - Narrowly Escaping a Tornado Before Playing 1:13:47 - Support and Check Out the New Record, Fragments of the Ageless, Out Now!

Who's hungover? Not hungover. Just fucking lack of sleep. Last past few days. No. I woke up pretty hungover, but I'm doing better now. Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah.

Yeah, it's my fault. I saw it's my fault. I saw it like, I saw the schedule. I told you again, I saw the schedule. I'm like, oh, wait. Like, they released their record on literally yesterday and a hometown show. And I'm, it was a big ask for me to expect you to be here in the morning. And so I,

apologize. I didn't put too new together. I was like, oh shit, they're gonna be, they're gonna be hung over. That's all right. And then I did generalize your ban and like, okay, they'll definitely be late. You know, definitely ban, local, the part, the part be late. You were 20 minutes early. I was wrong. Yeah. So, how was your show? It was good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good turn out. Very good turn. Yeah, it was fun, man. probably one of my favorite

I mean yeah it had a really good bill a lot of good bands on it so I think that helped a lot but yeah it was sick yeah we're stoked that everybody's enjoying the new record and stuff

I've been getting a lot of positive feedback so it just came out yesterday yesterday yeah how are you guys feeling about it good we're fucking we're tired of waiting six months

for it to come out so we're stuck that it's finally out and yeah so far everybody seems to be stoked on it so I wonder there's a way to make a record come out sooner like six months so Why is it six months?

Yeah. Right? By the time it comes out, I'm tired of listening. Yeah. Yeah. We're tired of it ourselves. Yeah. Yeah, we've got to ask Mike Gitter.

Why? Why six months? Why not, like, three months? Is that possible? Well, first of all, the, like, the vinyl issue is the thing. Yeah. So you had to wait for a vinyl. Wait.

How long? I don't even know this. Years. I don't, after so many years, but we had eight records? I don't know how long takes to press a record. record like a like a CD yeah I don't I don't I don't even know I can imagine CDs are quite quick but I think it's the vinyl's that are they take a while and

what's happening is the the big companies are repressing their like greatest hits albums and so the smaller labels are like you know underground metal labels they usually get pushed to the back because there's only a few plants in the whole world that do the vinyl manufacturing yeah and so if you know if some huge, like, you know, Taylor Swift made that vinyl, and I think that, that was like when we could see a lot of things being pushed back for underground metal bands, I think. What exactly happened? Well, that was just a symptom of, like, the industry, I think, at the time, post-COVID,

there was a lot of things going on, and then there was that, like, the plant that made the wax in Japan burnt down or something like that. and so it was like resource strain and then also you know that whatever label these huge stars are a part of are able to you know they're they're the ones putting in the massive orders for these small plants that can only do so much and you know they kind of I think they kind of give priority to those and so then for you know metal bands underground metal

VIMs in general punk whatever They just get pushed to the back and So it just takes a lot longer I wonder if they paid them more I wonder I'm not sure Artist hey hey we'll We'll fucking print

Like a thousand a thousand people And we'll fucking pay you on top Maybe I wonder That dude that would be fucked up With like like Taylor Swift just Fucking let's just Pay like over

A cost You know because Because then, you know, what, I mean, what do you do, you know? Yeah, I wouldn't doubt it. It's, you know, fucking money talks. Money does talk. I mean, you're talking like a major label, one of the biggest fucking artists on the planet, you know. But, you know, yeah, we all got hit, you know.

I mean, the backup was, I mean, it went over a year at some point. Yeah. You know, it just changed. I found out from actually chat out to Mike Gator, I know for sure he's listening or watching this. it just now the wait time is four months so so now so now like that that that huge backup is now over yeah that's that's pretty decent that's the way it was um before covid i think yeah i think covid was when it got really like really bad right yeah it was bad down yeah so i think around when we released in two minute they were saying something about well there might be an issue with

pressing the record or something like it might be delayed but it worked out so i think we got in right before all that started to happen. I want to say. I'm not 100% sure, but I think so. I remember something like that being mentioned. Mm-hmm. But it seems like everything's good back to normal, so. That's great.

Yeah. Straight up, skeletal remains is straight up death metal. That's like, if you want to, like, hear it, that's exactly how you want to hear it. Yeah. It's fucking dope. That, that riff on the new record, on Conquering, that might be one of my, one of my favorite death.

roads I heard in a long time. Thanks, man. It was like a ton like, dun, like, dun, I was like, I was like, oh,

oh, hey! I was like, damn, sick. Yeah, that comes from a, just morbid angel worship. A lot of domination era,

I think. Yeah. Yeah, thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Yeah. Yeah, we try to,

I think we're trying to do, obviously there's like a, um, a big death metal scene right now at the moment. And I feel like, there's a lot of bands that are doing a lot of more like they come from a different background I guess like more hardcore side so we're trying to do a little bit

something a little bit more different and just try to like stick to just the straightforwardness of you know what we grew up listening to because that's what we that's kind of our roots you know where we came from so we just try to yeah just kind of keep it straightforward you know as brutal as possible just like all the shit that you know we like Yeah, basically just continue on for many of the grates left off, you know?

Yeah. Just keep that flame going. And keep it fresh. Yeah. Yeah, try to at least. You're always trying. We're always trying. I'm still trying.

Trying to failing. Trying to failing. Yeah. And then if people poke at your, oh, but you're like this one like success. But then all, all the time you've fucked up to finally get there. You know, it's crazy. Yeah. We get a lot of.

every now and then we'll get like these comments like all you know not these guys aren't bringing anything new or reinventing the wheel and it's like yeah you know of course like we've never we've never claimed that we're you know groundbreaking or fucking doing anything new is like you know just continuing on and um people who get it get it you know people don't don't but what people don't really understand which is what your band is doing is that it is you have a i was talking about this about like metal core but it is a we'll say it's a very generic genre of the music but when a band just fucking executes that sound you're talking only like a handful of bands like a like as a adelaide kill's for which parkway drive come like when

come to my brain I was like when it's executed though when it's just like that it's executing a sound a simple sound is extremely difficult damn they're impossible so so so when you do like that like fucking that straight up death metal sound

it sounds easy it sounds easy to say but it's actually accomplished that sound is yeah you got you guys did it it sounds thanks man thank you thank you man that's cool yeah this one was uh this one was definitely a bitch to fucking right um the last record we wrote it in what

fucking like about six weeks yeah and this one literally took like fucking three and a half years it was just getting back to it was just trying to get to that point where we're trying to push ourselves you know just get better as musicians and because because this was the first record since the second one that you actually all got in like a room? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So, yeah, since condemned, we... How did that feel? It was great. I mean, it was definitely, like, I felt like it was... For me, personally, like, it definitely helped with having, you know, all of them around to, like, get feedback. Because a lot of the, like, the third and the fourth record, half of the fourth record in two-minute was mostly just me. in my, you know, in my room writing shit with a drum machine on my computer.

So, you know, I tend, yeah, just like, when I'm writing shit by myself, I tend to, like, overthink things. And now I'm just like, I don't know if I like this or I'll just keep coming back to it. Like, it's just, I'll just, yeah. So having their feedback on stuff, like, I'll send them stuff and they're like, no, that sounds good or, like, try something like this. Like, it definitely helped a lot. And then, yeah, just like, having their input was definitely like, I just felt like I,

I felt more comfortable writing this record. You know, it's not as stressful, I guess, if that makes sense. You didn't want to blow your head off? Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's a good sign. But yeah, I'm stoked on how it came out. And, yeah, I think definitely it gave it a different vibe with all of us being in a room together and, you know, writing shit together and amongst each other and, like, kind of just

bouncing ideas off each other instead of just me doing it by myself in the room to a fucking computer, you know. Which worked out great. But I think it just gives it a different vibe overall. Yeah. Like you can hear this record in the last two. It's just, yeah, I guess a different vibe is the best way to put it. Do you think that that made the record and music better?

I think so, yeah. Having like a, as opposed to you, like, overthinking a riff, you have like, you have your, maybe I assume that you have like your riff that you like, but then you kind of bring it to everybody else. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Did that, did that, you think that overall, once you now, now, fast forward to yesterday, fast forward, but also back in time and day. Like the record's out.

I mean, do you feel like, okay, wait, that made, this made the music? Yeah, I think so, yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah, I feel really good about how everything came out. All the songs on this one are really, like, distinct from each other. And I think that had to do with, like, just sort of different, like, like, uh, combinations of people writing things like, you know, there was a lot of heavy touring.

We did this past few years, and that's what made it so difficult to actually find the time to sit back and start writing again. And even before I joined, these guys had already written a couple songs, and then, you know, there were some days, like, it was just maybe me and Mike at the studio, and then we came up with something you know, sort of totally different.

And then, you know, Pierce had written a song, and then we all sat down with it. And by the end of it, it became a totally different. Yeah, it was a totally different piece by the end of it. But it's just having those just sort of different situations to write in or different situations that you're, yeah, Yeah, just coming from for each song, really, I think makes each song on this record in particular stand out from one another. Yeah, just having everybody's input as well, it kind of helps with the self-doubt.

You know, because sometimes, like, I'll play by, dude. You know, like, I'll have a fucking riff, and it's like, this is cool, but I'm like, I don't know if I'm really digging it yet. And, you know, I'm kind of like just like, I don't know if this is going to fit the record. and like you know once I show these guys like they kind of like no no give it a shot give it a shot like we'll see where we can go with it and you know there's there's quite a few riffs on this record that actually kind of turned out that way and thankfully worked out for the better you know I'm pretty sick I would say or sometimes like a shitty riff will lead you to like yeah oh yeah you never know you got you got to hash it out yeah yeah yeah and with deckman all you're

talking a lot of rips yeah yeah those are a lot of riffs yeah that's we try to that's the main thing when we're writing music, we try to make a really good fucking riff and a catchy riff. And I think that's definitely something that's missing right now in death metal. Like, just a lot of bands that are great, but I just feel like, I don't know, the

whole aspect of a good riff is kind of not really there. At least not for me when I've listened to a lot of, like, the new stuff going, like happening right now. So we try, that's something that we always try to do, like try to write something very memorable and catchy and something that's going to stick with you, you know?

Like just like the shit that we grew up listening to, like, you know, altruism madness or any like, you know, morbid angel record, like those fucking riffs are just fucking sick. And that's, we just, we just try to write shit that's kind of on par with that, you know? Yeah. It's hard to write a catchy riff.

It's funny. Like, you brought up two things that I didn't really like realize until you actually said the words where people take like, death metal and then they like they're adding other elements like you know like hardcore is of I mean we're kind of in a category but no one's really honing in on on the sound that combined with people are just making people are making things way too fucking complicated you know it's like

how many fucking notes can you put into like yeah like like like 120 seconds dude you know just that this you just need that fucking you know because I I mean, I come from like the, like the skinless, uh, territory, uh, eternal suffering. This little simple, simple fucking riff. And still like, I'm 38 now. I started gold. I just look back to those, those bands. Yeah.

You always go back to like, you know, at the end I, I think like what, like what brought you back? Like what? I mean, that, that simple riff. Yeah. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Who, who came up with the riff for a, for a, for a,

conquering. The opening roof? Yeah. That was me and Mike. Yeah, both of us together. Just kind of like bouncing ideas off each other. And then I think we came up with that new garage. Yeah.

There was like at least five, six different versions that we're kind of fucking around with. And then we finally landed on that one. And it was like, oh. Yeah, it worked out. It's pretty cool. It's so fucking sick, dude. Thank you. Thank you.

And then I'm like, here's comes when like, when you hit the tombs, it's like, oh, that's exactly what I want. Yeah. I think you guys were like stuck on that riff when you first wrote it, right? You guys couldn't come up with a drumbeat for it and then you said it. Oh yeah, yeah, I think so. I think we had like a jet. Yeah, because that was a tricky riff to write a drum beat for. Yeah, I don't think you guys had anything.

Yeah, we have something like, yeah, we have some ideas and we just sent it to him. I think he just kind of sent back what he had. I was like, oh, yeah, that works. That's probably my favorite song to play. Yeah, it's a cool. Yeah, she's fine. It's catchy as fuck. I don't know, man.

Something about that second half of the song is just like, I get a fucking drummer's high from it. Really? Yeah, just the melodies like gets me in this zone that like, I don't know, I just kind of drift off and I just go in my own world. I fucking love playing that song live. Well, at drummers high, I never heard about that. It's kind of like a runner's high.

Yeah, like that same thing. Oh, wow, a drummer's high, huh? Yeah, yeah, it's just like I get in this very, this good zone that I feel like super confident and like whatever comes out just comes out without any thinking best yeah yeah I'm fucking love playing that song what's fucking cool about you Pierce is that just watching you play drums to classical music what the fuck what are you doing it's but it's sick oh man uh it's sick thanks man uh I don't know I'm influenced by a bunch of different shit and classical jazz you know funk all that shit i just i don't know i've always

been curious like what would it sound like with percussion behind it you know like actual drums and i don't know i just go to the studio get baked and then just fuck around like that's it okay sick dude speaking of getting baked you guys wanted you guys get more baked if you want No, I'm good I'm pretty stung right now Okay Fuck yeah dude That's cool

So yeah we So that's the That's the thought process on Just go in your room Yeah man I just try to have fun Like Yeah I play the playing that classical shit And also like

I was always like a big hip hop fan And like I don't know Some of the hip hop songs from like The early 90s and early 2000s Like kind of just go fucking hard Yeah And, like, I was a big fan of Jedi Mindtricks growing up, and they had a lot of classical samples.

So, like, I always... That was what... Because I found two songs, and one, I want to say you type that, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, it was, uh... I don't know, I was just always, I always loved classical music and the idea of putting a solid, groove behind it, you know. Because it's, it's challenging music, but it also allows me as an artist and

creator to, like, just create something different, you know what I mean? Yeah. I don't specifically want to do death metal only. I want to do as much as I can. Yeah. Yeah. What gave you that idea? Just my own thoughts.

Really? What would it sound like, you know? Shit. I wish we could pull it up, but to be honest, I, I, I have. had to stock you guys because it was very uh finding you which i may be this is what you're going for but finding you personally uh it's the first time where i failed at it i couldn't find you guys yeah like because you that's a good thing because i mean i don't want to tell my i want to put my process out like like so far out there but i mean this is the first time i think i really

couldn't find but i found you though and uh so you might want to fix that or i don't know Like, I went, I was like, damn, he's fucking, dude, jamming. It was, it was, uh, it was like a beautiful orchestra. It was, it was, it was two of them. It was like, one, you're talking about drum samples. And then the other one was like a orchestra. God, it was so fucking cool, man. Thanks, sir.

Thank you, man. Now, it makes it even cool right now to know that you were high. Crazy, man. Thank you, man. No, I just go and then try to have fun. You know, like... It looks fun. Yeah, it is, man.

I generally do that if I'm not, like, really working on anything. I get hit up a lot for session work. So, I mean, I got to play almost daily to keep chops up, you know? So that all just comes when I have the time to do it, you know? Totally. And right now I don't have the time, so that's why I'm not doing it. Yeah, yeah. Conviered your passion in a

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Okay, so you guys are based out of Whittier? The band originally started in Whittier. Me and Mike are from Whittier. Yeah. And some of the old members were also. based out of Woodard. I mean, we all went to high school together. So, yeah, that's where the band originated, but now

it's kind of all over the place. I'm the only one that's local now here in L.A. Everybody else kind of all over, like, Pearson Brian or Portland, Washington area. Yeah. I grew up in Portland. I live there now. Okay. Going to Hawthorne is fucking seen. Yeah, yeah. All the time, dude. Sick-ass drummers. Yeah, yeah, all the time growing up. Nice.

Yeah, so we're kind of all over the place now. I'm the only one that's local. But yeah, I mean, we still say we're from Whittier, because that's where it started, you know? Always claim it. Yeah, because you and Mark started a ban in 2011, correct? It was, it's kind of weird. Like, I think that's...

I want to say, like, maybe like late 2010 is like, yeah, we just say 2011 because we don't remember when I started. But I think the demo was... Yeah, the demo dropped like in 2011. So maybe that's why we picked 2000. I don't fucking, but it was around that time. You guys who are just big 2011. It's walking up and down, fucking uptown Whittier.

Yeah, I mean, we don't know. Actually, we spent a lot of time at this was bad. Like, every day, you know, after school we'd go there, weekends we'd go there, just always fucking kicking it, you know. Or we go to shows, local shows. Yeah. I lived in front of the high school that we went to, so that's why. What was that like? So.

Come on. Yeah. I was never there on time. My mom hated me. Across the street, and you still couldn't make it on time. Wow. Yeah. School wasn't for me, man.

I don't know. I just couldn't. I dropped out. I dropped out and started touring. When did you drop out? Sophomoree? Oh, you're early. Oh, you're early?

Yeah, I started touring when I was 17, I think. I went to Europe for the first time, and yeah, it was sick. A whole different world. Yeah, it is. Yeah. So, yeah, so I was pretty busy with. the different band and I was touring with them and when I was home um we'd obviously hang out us and friends and so I think the idea just came about when we were just you know because we

jam for sure like when I was home and stuff and we were just playing covers and stuff and then I think at one point we're just like hey we should try to write our own shit and that's kind of how it all started yeah it wasn't even meant to be anything seriously they were just kind of like I was see what fucking happens you know just have have fun you know yeah It's like, hey, Mike, you know, I dropped out of high school. We have all this free time. I don't want to walk across street. Too long.

Across the street, dude? Yeah. It's funny. Well, it's funny. We'll get back to when the band started. So our paths crossed. Okay. And it wasn't until my other bandmates told me who we were.

Because I mentioned, you know, we were all tired as fuck. because it's coming home from from Europe. And I said, yeah, a, uh, skills for remains is going to be on a podcast. I'm pretty stoked. I mean their records are fucking insane. Like,

oh, dude, do you remember that band from a Pico? I was like, no, what the fuck you're talking about? So did you guys, your band rehearsed, uh,

and Pico Rivera, correct? Oh, at the same lockout. Yeah. At that, at that lockout. Yeah. Were you guys there too?

You were the band. Right? And we, no, you know? Were we the band Were you guys that high? We all talked

Did we? Oh shit Maybe at some point I remember I remember seeing you guys Like kind of crossing paths But I don't know I've ever fucking talked

Yeah I don't I'm not sure Oh my God Yeah I know we're I mean we're still at Jocko yeah But we moved Yeah we moved to the new

Building now Thank God So we're at We're not at the old building anymore, but yeah, that place is awesome. We're still there. Are you guys still there? No, no. Okay.

I mean, wait, we just saw each other, right? Yeah. Yeah, we've been there for the past four years, as I haven't seen guys. It's rare because, I mean, there's so, there's so many different kinds of music in, like, a lockout space. There's everyone's doing something different. Yeah. Obviously, we were there. We're writing the last record that came out terrible.

and then you guys are there because when a good band goes to the lockout you're like who is that playing like perfect death my own was like who is that and then we all found out

it was your band oh shit because you know lockout the bands are just they suck it's like you're just surrounded by this oh dude

yeah we would write well we wrote in two men there yeah and there's times where it's like the band's who to rehearse

and we're like it's just one song over and over and over again for like two to three hours or the same part the same like five seconds over and over for two hours it's like shit we're trying to come up with a riff and then keep we keep getting distracted we still we ended up learning their shit just playing yeah yeah can be a bit distracting but we figured out the good times to go you know when people are usually at work yeah so yeah you guys were the sick band

there cool thanks man thank you thank you thanks you you only a member at all how I'm honestly I'm shocked. Yeah. Remember that one decent deathcore band that was in there? I think that, I think that Suza sounds. No,

nothing? No. Oh my goodness, dude. Yeah. Okay, and how about this? Do you know our previous drummer, Alex? Yeah.

Okay, so cool story about this. His mom was... She works at school, correct? I don't know. School, yeah. Yeah, yeah. His mom was, um, a teacher at her school.

Yeah, she was my teacher. And I think they... Oh, wow, really? Yeah. And I think they didn't, did they... Wasn't there something? Did they play out like... By thinking about a different bad?

No, they didn't play. There was some other, some other... I think they were like also teachers. Oh, they would play. Yeah, maybe I'm confusing it for someone else, but... But, um... I don't know him personally, but I know of him because of our school. Yeah.

And, um, his teacher, which is his mom, I believe. Yes. Yeah. So... Wasn't my teacher, but I just know that his mom teach there. And I guess you had her as a teacher. Yeah. Yeah.

Which was funny because, you know, obviously at the time, all I would ever take to school is my fucking guitar, I wouldn't take backpacks. I wouldn't take shit. Yeah. You were the guy. I'd wake up playing guitar before I'd go to school. Go to school. Just play guitar during class. Get home.

You were the guy, dude. I'm like, there was two gigs in my high school that I carried around a guitar. I'm like, you were. Was it a two-stick or electric, though? both oh man we would usually oh man

that's cool though yeah yeah yeah but uh loved it um I forgot what the fucking project

we had to go up on uh because she had she was also like a I want to say a drama teacher so in her classroom she had like a stage

and I think we had to do some kind of fucking um presentation or whatever and I didn't do it because you know I didn't give a fuck so I just went to

with my guitar I was like I was gonna play a song and started playing and she was not about it She was like, get off the stage. Get out of here.

I was like, I thought you would appreciate it. Whatever. It was all good. We're probably trying to play death metal up there. No, I mean, at the time,

I mean, I was kind of fucking out with everything. There was this local band. They were also kind of like metal core. They were called an antagonist. I don't know if you were antagonist. Yeah, we grew up watching them.

We would go to all their shows back in the day. Rest in peace. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I just covered one of their songs. And I wasn't even like halfway through it. And she was like, are you going to present anything at all?

I'm like, no. She's like, get up stage. But it was, I didn't even fuck. I was, I was having a good time. I was up there. That's sick. Well, I mean, you know, you're one of the road ones. So you turn out to be a cool guy.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Sometimes. Sometimes. Yeah. I get pretty grumpy. We all, do we all do. Just fucking crammed in corners.

Yeah. Fucking three or four guys. That's not. It's not ideal. You know. remember uh well now i don't even know we should tell tell the story anymore because we barely remember us being there but uh yeah we wrote uh become the hunter there our six record and i did sometimes you have a feeling uh so uh so there is there is the parking lot and i always every

time i left that fucking place dude i was i was always i was always sketched out pulling out of that parking lot for some reason because they always parked like uh because they parked the semis yeah on each So like you never really knew who was I was always sketched out. Yeah. Yeah. And by halfway through I hit a homeless guy. Oh no reset. He hit me. I know I'm pulling out and out of nowhere a homeless guy in a bike hits my fucking oh car. Oh, I hear it's a, oh, it's a fucking noise. It's like, oh no. Oh shit. His bike was pretty, well, it probably wasn't his bike, but the bike he was on was pretty fucked up.

And I have a close family member in my hometown Corona that I always see because he's homeless. So I kind of have a soft spot. I've changed now about homeless people. But at that time, I was still like, oh, shit, are you all right? Are you cool? I mean, you mean to drive you anywhere? And so I drove him down the street to who knows? Like it was another group of homeless people.

I was like, if this way you want to go, okay. You probably went out and found some other bike. Probably. Probably. Who knows? They probably all got together and just fix it up for them. They're with their magic.

My family member that's homeless, dude. I'll see him this around town either on a new bike. Pants better than mine. Nice to mine. It's like, where did, I'm never surprised. I'll see him like homeless. You just see him when you're out driving around in your hometown. You see him home.

You see people all the time. Like, damn, where do you get that bike? where do you get that skateboard? Where do you get those shoes? I mean, so I didn't feel too bad. Mike, the bike, you're going to find another one quickly. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there was this, sorry to cut you off,

there was this trailer that would always park outside of the parking I remember, and it was like, there was always something shady going on there. Like, I don't know if he was living in his trailer, but. Yeah, there was some weird stuff going on outside Jocko for a little bit. One time we were leaving, and we're just kind of like, you know, lingering in the parking lot area. And I'm just hearing, like, just water falling. Like, what the fuck?

I'd turn around. And the dude, he's just sitting, like, in the driver, he's got the door open. He just sitting there butt-ass naked just pissing out the door. I was like, oh, all right. Cool. But, uh. Yeah. I mean, we've seen plenty of things out there.

But thankfully, you know, nothing ever, uh, nothing ever, you know, we didn't ever have. We didn't ever have anybody Falk with our vehicles or anything at that we never got hassled By anybody so thank God Yeah I'm not sure you're there But someone had a fight in front of the room Yeah we heard about that Yeah Alan told us about that

The dude that runs that he's also a good friend of ours From high school And he kind of runs a place now and So you showed me like the video of like the cameras Oh is that video? Yeah there's video of it yeah Oh shit Yeah and there's just like blood everywhere on the walls

And I think he made them clean He made all of them clean that up Yeah I'm not sure if like they were Because when I didn't like that But that place also This randos were just kind of Yeah there was a

I think there was some people living there too I saw like People were just come out like Yeah that was weird Yeah now it's more legit It's like mostly like it's all bands But at some point When we first went

When we first Because we've been there for years So when we first got there It was somebody I was running it And When Alan got the gig to like take care of the place, he told us that there was some shady shit that dude was doing. So he was probably just, I think there was even like drug dealers.

Like there was 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, it's cool. Now it's just bands now from what I've seen.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we were there. There is, there is a commotion outside. Like, yeah.

It was outside of your room. Damn. I, oh, fuck. I wish. I wish I saw the video. That would have been badass. Yeah. But you still have it?

He might, yeah, I mean, he showed it to me when it just had happened. That was a while back. But, yeah,

he told me there was like, blood all over the laws and he just made them. They were all fucked. I think they were all drunk, so made them all, clean all that whole fucking thing. Did you know James?

I think he ran, he ran the place, like, the first year for that. No, I don't think I, no, James.

Or maybe, actually, because we've been there, when did you guys handsome man uh 2019 yeah we've been there since before then so yeah

maybe we didn't know him I think yeah I'm not sure maybe maybe that's a guy that they got rid of for Ellen probably yeah I like I like it because he

he gave me a he gave me a boss uh HM2 oh really yeah so I have like a sauce spot for him nice he's like I had this pedal one I didn't know what I didn't know the hype with that pedal.

Apparently, it's like a big, massive pedal for the Teffmental community. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like a cheap-o pedal. Now it's became this thing. Damn. Ridicously pressed now. Yeah. I know it's insane.

It's hard to find, too. Especially, like, the actual Japanese version. Yeah. I got one. Because there's like a Korean version. There's like a Japanese one. Is there? I think a Japanese one's supposed to be like the good one, right?

That's what I've heard. That's what I've heard. But, I mean, you know, that's all fucking, you know. Yeah. If you can dial it in that tone. Yeah, I'm sure. How can you tell it different? If you know what you're doing, I guess.

I've never, never used one. I mean, I have used one. I had one for a bit, but I wasn't too stoked on it. But, I mean, obviously, if you're trying to do that whole Swedish sound, like... Oh, I do. It's like, this is, like, rotten sound. Yeah, yeah. It was like, I mean, it's just one setting.

Like, you put the four knobs, this boom home. That's, there it is. Yeah. It's that fucking chainsaw. Mm-hmm. Fucking sound. Yeah. It's fucking sick.

Yeah, yeah. Remember, what's that store called? Uptown 2000? Yeah. It's still there. Yeah. I'm surprised that shop is still there. So there's,

I don't know you guys want to explain it, but there's a, there's a shop that sells like a bunch of sick banters there. Mm-hmm. And I've got this shirt there. Nice. Uptown 2000, man. Me and our previous drummer Alex would always go there.

Oh, okay, cool, cool. I'm not sure this is a, it is a bootleg or not probably probably is yeah I bought a couple of shirts there like back in high school I haven't been there in a while actually

I still I live like two minutes from there so I don't like well here and there I try to walk it like but so I still see it like when I walk down with my kids or whatever to get food

but I haven't been in there in quite some time it's been since like high school days yeah I haven't actually been in there in a while dude that's a place to buy shirt man yeah they have a lot of cool shirt for sure they have everything patches and everything

leather jackets and shit yeah they have a lot of cool stuff so if you're around the Whittier area check out this spot uptown 2000 they have deaf metal new model you fucking name patches posters yeah I think that's the only thing

we have in Whittier for metal like that's not really many I mean I mean general I mean I don't know a place that close that has those kind of shirts well dark realm you know dark realm

dark realm yeah yeah dark realm is uh where's that again it's in down here yeah it's moved to it's moved around I think like locations but that's definitely the yeah they have the really good underground stuff for sure shout out to sadistic I haven't looked up dark realm in years I so remember like the first up was really small I went I was in high school also you probably went to like their old location I remember like it being like super small yeah that place is fucking sick dude they got

all the fucking like a lot of shit you don't find at normal you know metal stores a lot of the underground stuff I still haven't visited yet yeah they've moved around

quite a few times so they're still on Downey but I think it's just a different location I wonder how it's legal to sell fruit legs at at a store yeah that's kind of weird how's that how's that legal

I don't think it is I don't think it is I'm just like shit I know some of those I mean obviously most of those shirts are licensed. Yeah. I don't know how it works, dude. I wonder.

How's that shit work? Yeah. No idea. Yeah, there's some bands out there that really take that shit seriously. Like the bootleg game thing like I remember we toured with Hypocrisy. Yeah. With a different band that I was in and

we played somewhere in I want to say it was either Spain or Italy. And there was like a bunch of fucking bootleggers outside. And they were just pissed, you know? Like they had more merch than the actual band. Yeah, yeah. They just had so many fucking, like, yeah.

And I think one of them went out. They're super pissed. Like, get the fuck out. You guys got to get out of here and shit. So there's some bands that take that really seriously. Yeah, I don't really fucking care. Bootling our shit. I don't go, fuck.

Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. It can't really control it. You know, it's like people are going to do it. Like, I've seen a lot of who are patches. Like, because I'm the one that usually like makes the designs and figures out like, you know, the layout. The merch stuff.

So there's times where I see. Fuck. I've never seen that bad. Where'd that come from? So yeah, there's people out there definitely bootlegging some, some of our stuff. But sometimes the bootlegs are pretty sick too. Yeah. Like, damn, I want.

Sometimes the bootlegs have influenced like the design. Like, I'll see a bootleg. I was like, oh, that looks fucking sick. I'm going to make that. Or I'll take from it, you know, like, obviously not make it exactly. about take the idea. Like, what are you going to do? What are you going to say?

Free design. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That's fucking sick. And Michael, I was curious because I know that Chris mentioned that it was nice to have you back in a band. So you guys started a band together in 2010-ish. Ten-ish. Yeah.

Yeah. What made you take off? Girls. I knew it. Girls. Ruin my life. I'm just kidding. Yeah, I just tried to do the normal life thing for a bit.

It didn't work out. So I'm back. Back for good. Yeah. Yeah. It was just, I mean, it was, you know, I was happy for a while. And then shit just hit the fan and fucking my ex and I just kind of went separate ways. Yeah.

You know, it happens. But it just worked out. Like the timing of it, as I was going through that, some of the other members were leaving as well. So like my schedule was open. And then, yeah, Chris reached out. He's like, hey, I mean, want to give it another? the shot. I was like, fuck yeah, you know, and here we are. I think it also had to do with, like we said, when we started

the band, it wasn't supposed to be serious. So like when things started to get serious and like, like, hey, people want us to fucking release a demo and under the record label and there was possibility about actually doing something with the band and touring, I think that's where like, you're like, I'm not really prepared for that. So, you know, it's just didn't work out. But now, now everything seems to be working out pretty good. Yeah.

Were you pissed? Oh, yeah, I was pissed. So why the fuck did you ready to start this bad? Now you're going to leave? No, I worked out for the best. I mean, we, yeah. Like I said, most of the previous lineup, like around the time he left, were also just friends that we grew up with in high school.

So we were all just, you know, it's not like I just got like some random people to join. So, yeah, no, it was cool. And then, you know, obviously when they left, you know, position opened up and I just asked them like, hey, would you be down, you know, to fucking write a record and, you know, possibly to work. And he's like, yeah, fuck, let's give it a shot. You know, work out. Now we're here. Yeah. For anything, at least for me, like, it kind of worked out in my favor because when we started the band, like, I never felt like I was a strong fucking guitar player, you know, and her.

Chris's fucking level is just fucking amazing. So I was just like, man, as much as I want to do this, like I just do not feel like I'm strong enough. And even coming back when we were writing in Tumen, I was still kind of feeling that like where I hadn't really been jamming as much as I used to. And I had a whole lot of self-doubt. You know, like you could kind of hear it in some of my solo work and in Tumman where you could just tell I'm not very sure of what I'm doing.

and like it's not very not very fluent but um yeah once we put out that record like it gave me a little more confidence because people were like you know coming up like hey you know music came out good we did this and whatever because uh when i when i rejoined i felt like i had some big shoes to fill you know because the band had already established to a point where you know the music's getting fucking more technical more more more out there and i didn't feel like i was at that level yet you know but you know he he was right there he's like you can do it dude you got it you got it and uh i was like fuck all right you know, if you say so, and, you know, fucking worked out. Yeah.

Yeah. Timing, man. Yeah. Yeah. They really did. And then, uh, Pierce, you join a 2020, right? Mm-hmm. Okay.

Yeah. Cool. Um, I think Chris hit me up, uh, like, right before COVID. Uh, good time. For some festivals in Europe, uh, I, I want to say it was roughly around, like, right before COVID was when I got, like, like, uh, yeah. like hit up. Charlie Corrin recommended me.

He's a good friend of mine. And yeah, he just sent me a message. He was like, hey, just like expect a message from Chris for an opportunity to tour and wherever. And I think at the time it was, yeah, Chris hit me up to do some European tours and festivals. And then COVID hit. And I think at the time Charlie was tracking drums for the record.

and by that point I already had the set list so I was kind of just working on it by myself I think I flew down there probably a few months after the shutdown and then because I think at that point everything was still kind of up in the air because nobody really knew what was happening

you know so yeah I flew down I want to say shortly after Charlie tracked drums for the record because I remember listening to some of the mixes while we were driving around in town so yeah it was maybe a few weeks or a couple months after Charlie tracked drums

and we got to jamming all that shit we were running through the set and then yeah then the rest is history after that I think it was after the first jam or first two jams Chris was like so do you want to be in our band

I was like yeah man fuck yeah we knew each other from we played Maryland Death Fest together. He played in his other project with his other project. Yeah, we, we played right before you guys.

And then I remember just fucking partying and hanging out. Dick. So I already knew he was a good dude. And like, yeah, we just had a good time at MDF. And then some, when you guys came through Portland again.

Yeah, we just. Yeah, so kind of just, yeah. Just saw each other in passing every now and then. And, uh, yeah, man. stuck to join, dude. Stoked to have played all these festivals and shows. And yeah, it's been a good opportunity for sure.

It's Fred. And then he found Brian. Yeah, yeah. Really rounded the whole package. Big Ball Brian. Oh, man. That was, yeah. Is that a real nickname?

Yeah, Big Ball Brian, bro. Yeah, that was like. You were not? They were kind of just looking for a fill in. at the time and you know Pierce and I jamming this other band in Portland in I'matum and I think they were

just putting out feelers and Pierce just messaged our group chat at the time was like as anyone want to take a stab at this and that was 2021 and you know my wife and I's

business took off kind of during COVID so I had some more free time and I kind of waited to see what the other guys said, and they couldn't do it. And I was like, yeah, I'll take a stab at it. And here we are. That's great, man.

Fifth record. Fifth record, yes. Best one. Thank you. Thanks, man. That's cool, man. Again, we're talking about, you know, just straight death metal. It's hard to, for me, my beef with death metal is always,

like, they have, like, the one or two phenomenal records, and then it drops. Like this is like missing that that thing that like you're just coasting like up And finding the sound it's cool it's rare I think I think this record like I think honestly I was a fan of the band before and like I I feel like every record is just like a step up from the last you know what I mean like From the beginning to this one you could you could just hear the evolution and you know the growth as as as me throughout the whole discography.

Yeah, I noticed that too. Like, I had seen skeletal, like, probably four times, I think, since, you know, before ever joining, you know, and it's just like, yeah, each show was just sort of the next... Really? Next step up, yeah. I mean, I could hear it in the music, like, the way I hear it is, like, you know, devouring mortality is, like, you could just hear. the growth from condemned in, you know, previous works.

And then, like, I feel like Intumment of Chaos really picked up, like, right where devouring left off with, I think the ending track is, fuck, what's the ending track for that record? Internal. Internal detestation. Yeah. So that one's, like, super fast blasting. It's probably one of the, like, more intense songs on the record.

And then, you know, with Intummit, you could just, it kind of picks up that pace. and then it just keeps going up, you know what I mean? And then I feel like this record is on the same level where it just picks right up where that, where the last song left off and then just keeps going up, you know? How do you do that? Practice, patience, I don't know.

I think we just try to push ourselves, you know? That's one of like, yeah. Sometimes when I'm recording this shit, I'm like, fuck, I'm going to play this live. half of this new record is like that like fuck this is tough this is really fucking hard and it's fucking did it to yourselves man

yeah yeah I definitely felt it yesterday after having a few drinks it's our shit to play live I'm like fuck this is intense there's a lot of shit going on especially with this newer stuff and like yeah dude

like sometimes I'm like kind of dreading some parts because I'm like fuck yeah yeah You guys are all rippers. Thanks, I'm like you. Thank you. Okay, so you have a few beers before or during the show?

Before, unfortunately. Yeah. Unfortunately. We had a couple friends and, you know, travel and release shows. Oh, yeah. The home shows are different. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I couldn't help it. So we got a couple shots in. At the time I was on stage, I was. How much total? I don't know. Honestly, this is a table of our.

honesty. I think I did like five shots before going on stage. Five? Yeah. That's how much I do so I can't talk. So don't. Cool. Don't watch the live videos that they'll put on YouTube because they're going to be sloppy.

But no, it was a good time, man. Yeah, definitely. You know, hometown shows, family coming out, friends and shit. It's like, yeah, you can't help it. You know, people want to hang out. I know. It's just time. It was a great show last night, man.

Yeah, it was dope. Good vibe. Yeah, yeah. Fucking sick. I feel good. The people running sound were on it too, and they knew what the fuck they were doing. I think Jen was her name. She was really good.

Yeah, that place, it was her first time playing that, but the diagram. Have you played there? No. It's a cool spot. Only one. Yeah. Yeah, it's a cool spot. Good.

It was good sound and good. They had a good team there for sure. They knew what they were doing. So, yeah, we're still. That's always a big thing, too, when you get people that are like, they don't really give a shit. We'll just do whatever the, yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of times where we got on the stage and we're just like standing there waiting for something.

You guys are good. And I'm like, wait, what? We haven't checked anything. That happened in like New York, didn't it? I was like, start the show. Like, what the fuck? That was fucked up. We just got up there and then we didn't even do a sound check or anything.

Line check or anything. Yeah, line check or anything. Obviously, if we're not headlining, you know, we don't have time to sound check. So he just put up, set up the mics and it was like, you guys are good. It's like, I don't think so I don't think we're ready But whatever We'll make it work

Yeah It's hard to find people that care Yeah It's also like kind of the shitty Not shitty thing but like It's kind of like The unfortunate thing about Like if you're on tour

And you're the first or second act It's like You know like You have this pressure to like Get on Get off Like It's just like

bang, bang, bang. And, like, yeah, we get a decent line check. But I feel like, you know, a lot of times it's just get up and play. You know? Yeah. Get up and get the fuck off. But last night was awesome because we had a full sound check and, like, made sure everything was working. And it just helped improve the show that much better because you can actually hear what the fuck is going on.

Yeah. Yeah. There have been some tours we've done where. I don't know it's been like if it was every night or every other night but it just seemed like we always had, we just needed

a couple more minutes to sound check but then they would and it was important, you know? Like it was like we wanted to sound good and but I guess that would eat into our set time and so we'd end up having to like cut like one or two songs every night

yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's unfortunate because, I mean, we rehearsed for that set, you know what I mean? Yeah. To be able to cut a song, like, through the tour is just like, well, we just wasted time practicing this song. If, you know what I mean? It's just like. But, I mean, ultimately, I have fun up there, so it's like whatever.

As long as the crowd's into it, I'm stoked, you know. But, yeah, it's having a line check or a sound check is, I think, like, crucial. and it doesn't always work out like that, you know, on tour. It's crucial, too, yeah, because it's death metal, dude. Yeah. That shit needs to sound good. Yeah. You kind of need to know what hell's, like, he was going on.

There was, like, a few, there's been a few times where, like, just, like, the monitors weren't working. Like, I think a bunch of times in New York and, like, just a bunch of technical difficulties. And, like, you're, like, I guess, like, we're just playing in the dark right now. So, you know, what happens, happens, and just leave it at that, you know, I guess. Like, what else can you do if the equipment's not working, you know, or somebody isn't, like, really on top of it, you know? Yeah, it's tough. Yeah. But it's still fun to play, you know.

It's part of it. It's all part of it, which is kind of like the... I like it, yeah. Not every show is supposed to be perfect, you know what I mean? No. Sometimes the shitty ones that just turn out great. Yeah. Yeah.

You never really know. You never know the outcome of, I mean, of anything, really. You know, it's kind of one of the I learned of my... in my life, don't expect the outcome. Yeah, yeah. It's a dumb way. Especially for music, like shows. Like, some of the best shows I've played have been, like,

really small shows where everybody was just actually into it. To me, I'd rather play a show in a smaller club with less people and everybody's into it rather than, like, a huge festival with thousands of people and everybody just. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Just standing there.

Like, I'd rather see some movement and people, head banging rather than just people looking up at you. If they're not really into it, then like, that doesn't motivate me to play harder, faster, better. You know what I mean? It's just like, ah, they don't give a shit. I don't give a shit. Yeah, yeah.

Just makes us want to get off the stage that much quicker. Cut the song. We've had some of those. Yeah, sometimes you've got to go deep in your own world, like deep sometimes. Yeah. And sometimes it shows great and that you just, something's off. Like, if you didn't want you ate for fucking breakfast or something, like, you're just not. Yeah, you're just not feeling it.

Then you gotta be all, I'll think about some crazy shit, dude. Like shit that happens when you're like a child. So fucking, just a fucking dig deep and get that emotion out, you know? And it's like a switch. It's a, I mean, you're in your own, you're in, you're not even on a stage at that point. You're just playing from, from the heart crazy. Yeah. But that, but that's only when like shit is going wrong.

Yeah. Yeah. People pay money, dude. I mean, people, it's like, and that it's always shocking. It's still shocking to me where like, you hear, oh, this is like my first time seeing you guys. Like, damn, like, this was fuck. You got, you never know you, but you got to bring it every time. Yeah.

Like, shit. Yeah. You saw. Yo. Yeah. That's the shitty part about it. Especially when some of your fucking idols are out in the crowd too. Yeah.

It's just a shit show. I was like, oh, fuck. Yeah. That's nerve wrecking his head, man. we had a we played a show on camera world was in Canada and fucking one of my biggest my biggest influence is loop le ma from gorgut's and uh he was out in the crowd and it was just a shit show it happens i just fucking shit sound i was fucking up just because i'm in my own head like i'm hearing too much of myself and not enough of everybody else so i'm just like fucking up there i'm like

losing my place i'm like son of a bitch and luckily i didn't know luke was there until afterwards because I think I would have fucked up even more. Oh my God. But it was still shitty once we were like, oh yeah, Luke was here. Like, all right, whatever, you know. Hopefully he'll catch us next time when we're doing a little better. There was a really intimidating moment where when we were playing Costa Rica with Cannibal Corpse.

I was in my zone, you know, grooving out. And then I was like blasting on the ride. And I am like in the corner of my eye, just see fucking Eric Rutan just standing up there warming up on his guitar and just. like he's watching me. I'm like, oh, my God. Dude, like, don't fuck up. That was, yeah, shit like that's, like, really intimidating.

You're like, dude, like, this person is watching me. Yeah. And I'm blowing it. No, it's a humbling feeling. It's really cool. It's a humbling feeling. But, yeah, some of those shows when you realize who's in the crowd, you're like, oh, fuck, you were here, dude.

Did we sound good? I hope we did Yeah Or sometimes it might make you play a little better Yeah Yeah no absolutely did We were in Poland and bog From Decaptating came out

You know A decent show But I just put a little bit Practice a little bit more Behind the backstage Practice a little bit more I'm really dug in a little bit more During during the show

So that was a rare It is rare We're at It's okay that that was a good A good thing Yeah Yeah Play it good

sounded good. I felt, I felt good about it. I just bog. Yeah. Yeah. I can't play sloppy a day. I can't slop around, dude. Fuck. Yeah. I have a selfish question to ask you. Okay. Okay. So I'm on a journey to learn how to sing. Oh, God.

Okay. I know. I had the same thought. You're asking the wrong person, man. I'm not, yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead. Okay. Or maybe I'm asking the right person. We'll see. We'll see. But what's different about you, Chris, is that you play death metal.

And, like, how do you sing and play at the same time? How do you do that? I don't know. I wish I wasn't doing it, though. I'd rather just play guitar, man. I'd rather just, yeah. But, I don't know. I kind of just got stuck here and, I guess, just practicing.

I don't know how, especially with this new stuff, it's been fucking tricky. how do you but yeah I don't know you don't know yeah I don't know just just do it I just do it yeah um yeah I don't yeah it's it's definitely tricky um especially when there's so many fucking songs now because we have five records and it's like for the set list that we're doing right now we try to play some songs that we haven't played um in quite some time so we're learning that and then we're learning the newer stuff. Yeah, it's just, it's tricky, man.

But, yeah. I mean, I, I enjoy doing it, but it's just, I would prefer to be up there just in my guitar. But, you know, kind of just got stuck with singing, so now I'm just here doing it. But, yeah, I don't know. It's cool. I enjoy doing it, but it's just, yeah,

I really wish I was just up there playing guitar. But, yeah, I don't know, just to, I guess it's just, practicing I guess um it almost came naturally like um I know when we first started I think we were the plan was for both of us to sing right yeah because we couldn't find anybody then he left so I was only one that I pretty much ended up doing everything so yeah like I said I kind of just got stuck with singing but um yeah it's just like Even, like, as a vocalist, I guess, there's a lot of stuff that I'm still learning.

And, you know, like, before doing this project, I've never sang in my life. It was just playing guitar, you know, so I've definitely had to, like, learn the correct way to do it and how not to fuck it my fucking voice. Definitely have, like, I have to kind of just be a little bit more careful with not partying every night. So I'm fucking fucking my voice and like trying to stay hydrated and all that shit that comes with having to have to sing. But yeah, I don't know. Yeah, because I remember a lot of the early days like after a show, your voice would be so shot. Yeah. Yeah, my voice has definitely changed with each record.

And I think it's just like naturally. I don't know what's, I've kind of like kind of learned how to do it, I guess, or what works for me. I feel like in the beginning I was just kind of trying to sound like my idols and sure it worked out but I think I was just I wasn't doing it right

so a lot of the times after each show I would be like fucking like my voice would be done or I'll just be like super fucking lightheaded now I feel okay when I play so I don't know if it's just I'm kind of just getting

comfortable with what I'm doing now but yes my voice has definitely changed with each record and I've definitely definitely like learned from touring and stuff how to like do it correctly and what does what works on what doesn't work for me yeah but I don't know what the fuck I'm doing I'm just up there screening okay and yeah all right if you have a guitar question though I'll definitely

I'll probably I'll probably have a better answer for that yeah for vocals yeah man I don't know just I'm just fucking doing it I'm like I don't really I never took lessons or I don't yeah just started screaming and that's what came out interesting yeah I mean I feel like it's like that for a lot of vocalists too they're like you know they're just like friends like people that start bands and they're like well who's gonna sing and somebody's just like fuck it all saying you know so I've heard stories like that of people that just kind of just go for it and then just learn what time how to do it right and how like yeah how to not fuck up your voice because you're not doing it right or whatever i think i've definitely learned from touring and stuff what works and

doesn't work what what doesn't work what doesn't work trying to sound like someone trying to try to mimic uh like who i want to sound like so now it's just more of natural what comes out you know like i was before like the first records i was just trying to sound like my idols you know like martin van june or john tardy um now it's just naturally what comes out so i stopped trying to like instead of just trying to sound like someone it's just yeah what comes out and i feel like that helped a lot with not having to like lose my voice every night or um feeling like shit after a show you know definitely that i i fucking hate that getting off stage and just feeling all fucking lightheaded light hit it with a headache or something so yeah so so you you stop force you know a certain

voice to come out yeah i think so yeah no it's just what comes out i guess and that's just my natural voice I guess if that makes sense I don't know so in your head is this natural for you to say words and play and I feel it's natural to you uh yeah I guess you're fucking free

I yeah I was expecting to write some fucking cool like practice routine down I'm gonna get my pen out my no dude I don't I don't I don't really warm up um I probably should, but I don't warm up or I don't practice. Like I said, my main focus is my guitar and playing, making sure that the vocals obviously

come later, but like, especially when we write the music too. Like the vocals or the lyrics and all that stuff comes literally at the end. First, the music is like, well, you know, what will we write or whatever? And it's like the main thing that I attempt to focus on. And then, you know, the lyrics come in later. and we usually don't even have patterns until we're recording. Like, we're doing it on the spot, right? Yeah.

Like, we're usually figuring out, like, everything on the spot while we're in the studio. So, yeah. You guys are all fucking crazy. I don't even know where to go now. What was it like touring with what would Angel? What's, like, what's, what's, what's Trey like? Oh, have you met Trey? Yeah.

once. Trey's an interesting person. Trey's Trey. Yeah, Trey is the way. Trey is the way, dude. No, man, it was, it's fucking, yeah. That was still sick, touring with them. And just being able to, you know, watch them every night.

And they're all super cool people, you know, so. That's another thing, too, about, I think, touring with bands, sometimes we, we've toured with some bands where, like, I don't know if it's just, like, like, the way they, are but it almost seems like they didn't like us. Like we did. Like there's some like there's some tours that we've done that like where we won't talk to the band like this tour we did. We literally saw, we talked to the band members the first day and the last day of the tour and that was it.

So I don't know if maybe they were just really to themselves or what, but it just kind of, I don't know, it seemed kind of weird. But like tour with the Morbid Angel for example, they were like super chill, you know. uh we yeah we'd be hanging out trade trade would always want to fucking hang out i can i couldn't keep up with him he always wanted to like shots take shots and he's like you want to go hang out in the bus and drinking game yeah do some drink you know play some video games and um yeah i couldn't keep up with him but but now it was sick man touring touring was more ban was really fun i mean anyone that listens to the band i'm sure you can tell that that's one of our biggest influences so being able to actually play with him.

They had a killer set too. Yeah. It was a good set. Yeah, it was dope. And it was super cool that Charlie, who played on our fourth record was drumming for a morbid angel on that tour. So that was super dope. That's great. It almost seemed like a family and shit.

Yeah, everybody was super chill during that tour. Yeah, it was all good vibe. Yeah, that was a good tour. That's dope. No drama, you know what I mean? Nobody was like beefing with anybody else. Everybody was super friendly, super helpful. Yeah.

It's good. You guys did half the tour, right? Yeah, yes, yeah. Do you guys take off right before that fucking tornado hit? No, we were on stage. We were on stage. Oh, it was you guys. We were setting up.

Yeah. What happened? I mean, we'd be getting alerts all day. but I guess a lot of the locals were saying A tornado hasn't hit in over like 50, 60 years, something like that And they're like, it's not gonna hit. Yeah, they pretty much told us that we should. There's nothing we should be worried about.

And then, yeah, we're up there. We just finished sound checking. We're about to start. Yeah, we're like two minutes. And somebody, I think maybe Brett from revocation. Brett from revocation came running in from outside. He's like, everybody's got to get downstairs right fucking now. It's about to hit.

And I like I'm like all our gears up there. So I'm like, what do I take what I said? I just fucking grab my guitars thankfully because like later on we we went back Upstage a part of the roof had come and like landed right where my shit was at. It hit Tray's amp and then like fucking went to my area. So I probably would have taken me out. I don't know what the fuck would have happened. But yeah, we're pretty lucky that we didn't play it because we would have played a lot of shit would have landed on us.

Yeah. Yeah. Like there was a lot of the fucking roof. on the stage and also obviously the majority hit the actual the crowd the crowd it was brutal yeah that's not that's not something

yeah that was a very traumatizing moment for yeah now I mean you know not not like in light of it of course but uh we were we're kind of at this like point where we all kind of have like PTSD where we're setting up in a venue and if we hear any kind of

noise like a fire alarm or something we all kind of just like everybody freezes and we're just kind of what the fuck you know yeah there was one venue we played on the last door the last door and it was just the green room was below where the audience was standing and but it was just really loud so it's just people's footsteps or dragging equipment across just sounded like that rumbling that we heard I remember seeing the ceiling kind of bounced too yeah and I was just like man I got to get out of here yeah the ceiling's bouncing when we were down in the green room yeah like I think most venues are kind of built that way to absorb like

impact you know um but yeah I like saw it like kind of dip in like when people were like moshing and moving around and shit and I was like I'm getting the fuck upstairs and out of this building yeah yeah it was yeah it was an interesting time to be touring after that like yeah it was it was it was It was all kind of like, what the fuck do we do now? Like, what's going to happen?

I mean, obviously, we had to finish what we started, but, uh, yeah, there was a moment in time after that happened where I, I wasn't really sure if I really wanted to, like, continue doing music at all. Really? Yeah. Fuck. Yeah, that was pretty. At least, at least, like, the, you know, the touring aspect of it.

I was like, I don't know if I could do this anymore because, I mean, you, yeah, if you, really think about it, like, you're taking a huge risk every day being on the road. Like, driving all the time, you know, anything could happen. Yeah. But, yeah, shit, that incident in particular was, like, like, maybe take a step back and be like, is this, like, really, like, worth it? And obviously it is because I'm here still, you know. But, yeah, that was definitely a time that I took to, like, have a couple of times.

conversation with myself, you know. But yeah, man, that was a, that was, that was really hard to finish the tour, honestly, after that, because it was just kind of so unmotivating, you know? Yeah, because I think even days after that, we were still getting alerts that, uh, different areas were driving through. There were still, like, tornado warnings. Oh my gosh. And I was just like, I don't even want to fucking drive through this shit.

Like, I don't, like, I was fucking scared. I was really scared. I didn't want to, I was just, I didn't know what the fuck. Because obviously we knew, like, we've got to finish. But it's like, it's like, it's like, I don't. at what cost, you know, at that point. Yeah. I think we only had like three or four shows left.

Yeah, it was, I mean, but the rest of the shows we played were sick. The last show we did was fucking awesome. The Forge in Illinois. Yeah, that was a great show. It was cool. It was a good show to go out on, you know what I mean, on a high note, because I think we sounded fucking awesome, and the room was packed. I think it was sold out.

Yeah. I think they honored tickets from people who were at the Belvedere show at that show as well. And then our boys for Vitriol came out Because they were gonna pick up I think the next day Yeah they were doing a second house That was just cool to see them And you know say goodbye to everybody

It was a good show to go out on for sure Yeah Nice yeah Yeah it's fucking It's crazy when it gets real Yeah man Yeah It like makes you like really think about like

I mean You're flying somewhere You're driving somewhere Like anything can happen Yeah Unpredictable weather patterns Like, yeah, man, that shit's just like, anybody who's constantly touring this is,

I have nothing but respect for it, you know? Totally. If I'm not, like, too into the band, I still respect the grind, you know, because it is not an easy lifestyle. No. You're away from family, people you love, like. But in the end, it is worth it.

It is. At least I think. Yeah, it is. I love playing. music on stage, you know. Yeah. And then, you know, whenever somebody comes up at you at the end of the show and, like, dude, that was fucking awesome.

I've had a few people like, you know, say like, oh, you're a favorite band. And I was like, dude, like, that was me 10 years ago, like 15 years ago, you know, like if I were to meet, you know, one of my idols, be like, dude, love your band. It's like, it's cool how it comes, like full circle, you know what I mean? It does. It's all, life's all one big full circle, man. Yeah, yeah. Even when we get older, it's just like, wow.

It's like still going Well shit Any I don't want to keep you guys too long Any closing thoughts That's been my new question By the record Thanks for anybody who's support of the record Thank you very much

I had a lot of fun Recording it and play it And I love playing all the songs live Yeah It's been really fun playing some of the new shit I've been eager to play a lot of the new shit live It's just And now what we're doing is like

Yeah You know I'm stoked It's funny too playing the new shit live because there's some of the songs like from Intuement where I was like not really dreading it but I was like oh this is going to be a hard one to pull off live and now that we're playing this new stuff all that stuff I was worried about from the previous material it's like it's the breeze is it's actually like a lot easier to play now you know what I mean well sick everyone listening and watching the new records out now came out let's see

This is a word dropping this on Monday Okay So it's gonna come out like You know In a couple days That just The record is a day or too old It's badass

Cool man Skelet for your Thank you for your Thank you for your time Thanks for having you Thanks for stories And I want to go to show tonight So yeah

Yeah I'm talking And drink some beers Yeah yeah All right guys Thank you Thanks so much Thanks for having

That's it That's it later Thank you guys Thank you Thank you