Garza Podcast - 157 - BEST of 2024: Nu-Metal History, Guitar, Slam, Black Metal, Demons & 2025 Goals

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

Happy Nu-Year everybody! Garza talks what happened in 2024, goals for 2025 & much more! SPONSORS: https://distrokid.com/vip/garza 30% OFF! Sweetwater - https://imp.i114863.net/rnrmVB CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Garza's Goals for 2025 18:06 - Crying with BRUJERIA 24:48 - Playing Guitar with VITRIOL 31:18 - Nu-Metal History with COAL CHAMBER & SPINESHANK 40:33 - Talking Black Metal with DARK FUNERAL 44:36 - Where Slam Came From with INTERNAL BLEEDING 53:29 - Facing Demons & Mitch's Death 1:07:54 - Weight Loss Challenge with Ernie 1:23:25 - What the Podcast Has Done For Garza. THANK YOU

What's up everybody? Merry Christmas. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy New Year. Oh man, I turned, uh, it's been a year. So we're just going to wrap up. 24. Um, Jay's here. He's sick. He's killing it. Uh, let's see. I turned 39. This month, it's, uh, man, less than a year away from 40. I'm going to be 40 man Oh my goodness But it's pretty cool Almost 40

Um Still chugging away 39 is still chugging I could be 39 and not chugging And I would uh That would suck yeah But uh So we're gonna share

Our uh Our favorite moments From this past year We got quite a few of them Um This year really flew by A lot of ups, a lot of downs, as life does. But, oh, no, it's been a pretty good year.

It's been a very, what's better than good, but not great? It's been like a... Exceptional. Wouldn't exceptional be better than good? Oh, yeah. Or better than great? Satisfactory. Yeah.

How was your year, Jay? It was kind of crazy. A lot of ups and downs. Yeah. We're talking about our ups and downs here. A long journey to get here. Yeah. But yeah.

It's feeling sick right now. To the studio upgraded and all that. Pretty tight. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I mean, uh, Jimmy J, you've been here for pretty much exactly two years.

You know, I think we recorded the episode with you. Literally, it was right before a new year. And, um, Man, we just, man, we just worked. It felt like we're just going. We're going. But I think that's what, that's what we're all doing.

I was driving here on a, I was driving here on Christmas. The best part about the holidays in California is, uh, the, uh, less traffic. And, uh, on Christmas, I was driving here morning around, uh, 10 a.m. to my right on the freeway to my right there was an accident just happened and the car was like beginning to

uh like you can see in a distance that that there's smoke so you all shit there's there's a fire there and then I was and the clouds were getting darker as I was getting

closer to to what was happening and uh right to my god the clouds were black and there's a car just on fire

and I was like dang this that was um that's their Christmas that is that person that family who know I'm not sure who was in the car but uh

man that was their Christmas things things could always get worse it was uh if you're from California it's like right when you're driving on the 91 and if you're gonna go to Chino there's the 71 that goes over to the right and uh so if you're on the 91 you look over you can't really see the car is going to set to the 71 and uh they were i don't know i go only i i assume that uh jay's trying to

find the uh so it's definitely on that 71 on christmas in the morning uh some it it literally happens like Christmas accents. Don't put San Anana because it's not San Nana. This is Chino. You'll be going towards you're going towards. What? Uh, 20204. See now I'm curious. Christmas. Can't, and we can't find anything. But, um, man, that was their that was their Christmas, you know. I tried to do these things because I'm on the camera and there's people listening and watching this and I get curious and just want to like find out things like quickly, but I don't think we're going to

find that because we're just going to waste time. But yeah, on the way here, I saw the accident, my man, I'm very lucky, even though, I think we talked about this prior to. Like,

sometimes we like, for those of you that pray, sometimes you like, you like ask for something and without knowing it actually happens. And, you know,

there's, you know, the podcast is still going. The band's good. My cat, Lila, has been in and out of the,

uh, bet this year today he's doing good kind of going day by day but it was Christmas and um he was outside being a cat is alive so I'm lucky that uh that that he's doing well at least right now my mom and dad are alive they're they're doing good ladies doing good uh the band hasn't broken up yet which he should have a lot of times uh Definitely not excluding, or just this year. So things are good. I prayed for, I prayed for this.

For things to get crazier and busier. So when there's stress and pressure, I'm like, well, no, this is careful what you wish for because you just might get it. So this year was crazy. Trying to think what, so we're recording this on the 28th year. on Monday, which is the 30th. So literally New Year's Eve and New Year's is the following days. And I guess right now I'm thinking in real time. I'm thinking in real time what the New Year is going to bring and what do we want.

What do I want to do? Yeah, what do we want to do this year? What's, uh, do I have any goals? Do I, should, I, um, should I make any goals? I think, uh, yeah, I'm doing this in real time right now because that's kind of how I like to do things for better or, or for worse. But, uh, I've, I definitely have some goals, some private goals. Um, you know, we're, we're going to be here in this location, uh, for another year. and I have a goal mid this year going towards the fall to get a new spot.

And once that happens, I can actually say what we're trying to do that. That's my personal goal. Another goal, a very universal goal I think we all have is I would like to drop a few pounds. um this year was definitely ate like crap um especially now it was like when you go to Thanksgiving and then the Christmas and New Year it's just like you're just like you're just

jamming food into your body at the same time you want a six package it's not going to happen so I think yeah this is like cliche stuff but it would be nice to lose a couple pounds. I'm pretty happy where I'm at, but just knowing what I've been doing the past year,

you know, maybe a little bit too many heavy beers. I think I like to drink less this upcoming year. Maybe lay off like the heavy ones. Like the I like triples. I like triple and like double IPAs.

I like the way they taste and I like the way they feel in some of my body. But I don't like what they do to my So I think that's what we all kind of struggle with when we consume certain types of alcohol. But I think this year I definitely want to focus on drinking a little less of certain kinds of beer. Maybe tighten up the abdomen, especially, you know, approaching 40 now. 40 next year. It's crazy. But, you know, I think that's goals that we all have.

But I kind of just, man, I kind of just drop a couple pounds, which also this also ties into one of my favorite moments, one of our favorite moments that happened this past year with Ernie. But, yeah, this year is over. This year is over. I think if you're older, you kind of understand where I'm coming from. But this year definitely flew by the fastest. This was by far the fastest year.

and okay this is my closing thought I was thinking about this the past month but it's popping up right now in my brain so I'm just going to say it uh I for people that I look up to in a in a comedic world or the podcast world um sorry I feel like I'm rambling I haven't done like a solo kind of thing in a while so this feels feels kind of new but uh I'm starting to understand what uh what it means when when people say uh it's very lonely at the top of the mountain or on the roads the mountain and uh i am lucky i have a great family and uh friends the band's always i'm hanging out my the band all the time it's cool but man definitely uh i don't see definitely don't see a lot of people i want too often and then you lose uh you kind of lose touch and that's definitely sucked the past year so i think that's an other goal i have is to really rebuild the relationships and uh just make they take advantage of at the time okay so i'm thinking i'm thinking in real time so okay so goals this year not a new year's resolution this is this going to be a way of life

and breathing let's see i'm going to do my best to lay off the heavy beer no promises just step back a little bit. Get a new spot by the end of the year because the least will be up and to, I guess I can't trying to say not too much, but try to get a new spot by the end of the year. We lose a couple pounds in the midsection.

Everything else is fine. It's just, you know, when you wake up and look at a mirror, you're just hit with reality and failure. So it'd be nice to tighten up a little bit. And I think this might be the most important one of all. I need to really make time for family more and close friends and stay connected with people that matter. I think that's my 2025.

To wrap this one up, Jay, you have any goals this year? You have any things that you want to do? Yeah, I have a couple little artistic projects I'm working on. Yeah, just want to grow this too. and get that money. Yeah. Yeah, we had this weird thing where, you know, we, we enjoyed doing this. This is great.

You're listening and watching. Appreciate it. But there is a reality. You know, how do we, you know, how do we, you know, how do we, you know, pay the live bill? How do we pay for rent here? And we are in California. I'm sure Jay would love a new pair of shoes, a new, a new car. Jay, I'll say publicly, Jay definitely deserves a,

raise. So we need to provide that. Hence I'm wearing the podcast hoodies. So check that out. So that's also another goal. Definitely growing this, not only for myself, but for, you know, Jay and our families, our wives, our girlfriends.

Because everything we do affects everybody. And also something sick for all you to watch and listen. Yeah. Bigger guests. Um, definitely, you know, growing it. We'll open the door for, for the big, the big gas. You know, you know what? You know what hit me?

I, we, we, we, we, oh, yeah. Oh, another goal. Me and Jay need to cut back on the cigarettes a little bit because it's becoming a little, it's a little habit. So we didn't cut back on that little bit. We never had a big guest here. We just been going, talking to all, all the bands and the ones that popped off for just kind of, I mean, just.

Surprising. Yeah, it's very surprising. We never had, like, other podcasts. They all had these massive guests, and we still, we're still here in the, in the conversation. So that's really cool. And, oh, another goal.

I'm sorry, it's coming to me in real time. This feels very new. We don't do this for a little bit, but the engine's going. I do love doing this. I'm very lucky to be. doing this but you know there is a work aspect involved and learning new things constantly learning me and jay don't really have anywhere to go as far as to get like advice or help because kind of like we're

kind of like a like island you know so my brain if i always have put my brain on a scale i'm i've been running at 60 percent with like being a host and having like listening to like the guests and all the band so like in the goal is to get this brain up to 100% you know and I definitely feel very definitely feel like being closer that probably all ties everything in that probably

ties into the less drinking the tightening of the abdomen and get massive muscles and yeah anything else Jay no just it's been a cool year

thanks to you thanks to everyone who's worked here, you know, collaborated here and all the guests that have come through and been cool

and everyone who comments and, you know, gets the noise out there. It's been cool. It's been cool. Definitely excited for the next year. Same. Yeah, we're going to make a lot of noise

next year. Fuck everybody. I'm going to bring back that healthy competition. Fuck everybody. Um, yeah, so what this episode is, we're just going to play these, uh, our favorite moments, but I'll be coming in and out and just doing intros for each clip, kind of give like a behind scenes, uh, things have been happening with us to, to make these, uh, podcast happens.

So, um, so yeah, the first one that we're going to do. Um, so there's been a goal. There, we have reasons why we do this and goals. And, uh, One of the reasons why I do this, I want to do podcasts. Unfortunately, one of these, it came true this year. So that's definitely something to happen this year was I want conversations that the artist can die with. The bands. If you know the history of Sousa Sons, you could probably put two and two together. You know, we didn't have that.

I didn't have that. So put our heart and soul to make the best conversation happen for the guest because you just don't know when you're going to go. We are brought to you by Distro Kid, the easiest way to get your music on all streaming platforms. Get your songs onto iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube music, and more. Check it out at distrokid.com slash BIP slash Garza to get 30. percent off your membership. That's justjoquid.com slash VIP slash Garza to get

30% off. Yeah. We are brought to you by Sweetwater, the number one online retailer for pro audio and music instruments. Whenever the band on myself need anything for a tour, we always go to Sweetwater. The customer service is the best and fastest.

If you need any music gear and want to support the podcast, click the link in the description below so they know that you came from here. And that's it. Back to the best moments of 2024. And that happened this year with the singer of Bahia. Juan Bruho passed away this year.

That conversation literally happened exactly a year ago. And he was the first episode that dropped. Did it drop January 1st or something crazy? I think it was on January 1st or 2nd. Remember I see the date right there, Jay. Top. Oh, yeah. The first?

January 1st, 2020, 4. So, yeah, I've been trying to track him down. And the Hideo played Glass House in, I think it was December. And literally, I was, like, stalking him a little bit. Like, I watched the whole set, drinking some heavy beers and waited until he came out. At the backstage area, I saw him. I talked him for it a little bit, gave him some on FaceTime. um

asking me to do the podcast and uh you said yeah yeah uh well we'll see what happens i had like kind of like a in between person helping which was very helpful and um obviously a legendary band a legendary guy and uh he had like uh yeah so yeah he he was down and do it he came from uh i believe he came from palm spring so from there to here it's like it's over two hour drive maybe even three hours it was a long trial for him but uh he made the trek he he was really gracious with with this time and it was a great conversation everything that i like about doing this kind of unpredictable stuff i do you know when people get emotional which is why we're playing it you know that's this it's kind of what we do here and uh again like the

goal of this of this podcasting man is to want a conversation that the artist cannot die with or when they die, the one conversation they're going to play is this podcast. And it came true this year, unfortunately. I remember I was sitting right here. I was just like, I don't know why. What was I looking at? I was looking at, I think I saw a comment. And it was a rest in peace.

I was like, you know, you know when you read something? You're like, no. No. So I kind of got up from here I rushed to the computer So I guess it just happened It just happened I happened to see a comment

And I was like, I couldn't find anything That finally I went to The band's Instagram And I saw their Their post about Juan It's very sad I'm like man we're just hanging out with them We're just

Taking photos And he was like He got a brand new bandana He had like a pair of scissors he was like cutting it like right like right for the podcast i was like i was like this is fucking sick that we're just around him and um so yeah that's a really cool moment for uh for us the conversation was very fun it was all over the place so um rest in peace man so uh hope you enjoy this clip what did you think when you were hearing those songs they were fat and they were they were it was

just brew here i was like okay that one works that one's good by then we were just like Okay, good. It's either... All right, here's the test. The Bruhidia test, if the songs are good. It didn't matter what me and Dino said. Didn't matter. What we do, we mix, you know, get a rough mix in and this and that, get it down pretty good.

We call in Raymond. Raymond, we got like six songs. You got to hear him. You know, let's know what you think. So he'd come in there and he'd be all... You know, he was all a serious guy. You know, he comes in long hair, and he's sitting there like this.

Like, all right, play it. And we start playing it, and he was like this. Like, huh? Huh? Did you? Did he... Yeah, you start laughing. He'd fall out of the chair.

And he fucking, like, throw his arms, like the shades on the window. He knocked him off. Like, boom, oh, fuck. And he's just laughing. Like, ah, ah. And we're, I mean, you know, it's a good thing. Okay, that one works. That one works.

Okay. So next one. This is a keeper. Next one, he was thinking, oh, that was killing me. The migra, he's like, it's like, the migra's killing me. And then, or play the next one. Huh? What?

Ah, did the point. The hook. comes in. One of the one of them killed him was the mecos. Bec-go, girls singing meckos. Boom. I didn't see the guy hit so hard, hit the floor so hard laughing, kicking chairs and shit.

He'd go nuts. And that's the reaction we had to have from Raymond and the no, the song was good. Didn't matter what me, Dino said. Didn't matter. Raymond had to be, some songs he was like this. What? Is that it? Okay, Dino's like, hit it, stop it, you know.

Next. He would like go in. like about 10 seconds and he was like, all right, that didn't work next, next, next. If he didn't laugh, it didn't go out. And every single one he laughed at him was big, monster

songs. Bruhidesmo, that's a monster hit. How did you... First of all, that's a crazy process. It's great. That's just the way that... Because, you know what? It doesn't matter what we say. If he don't like it, it's not... You know, he's going to tell us if he likes it. And then he...

He couldn't tell us because he was laughing so hard. I've never seen a guy. That big guy like that laughing so hard where, you know, having a seizure. Knock him, sit the blinds off the window. Blan, they go flying. I'm like, guess fuck. I guess he likes it. You know, and, yeah, that was great.

You know, doing that, it's like, you can't have more fun than that making music. That sounds like so much fucking fun. You know, now I can't get Dino and Raymond together for my life. You know, if we did that, you know. What are you? If we did that, it'd be all over. You guys probably haven't talked in the same room in a long time. Oh, sorry.

No, you're fine, man. Yeah, I don't know what happened to Dino, but he just fucking cut away and left us for Dino. I'm still the same guy, dude. I'm having fun. You know, Raymond could use some fun shit. I don't know where he's at, but fucking you can't get him, you know, they would shit riffs.

But anyways. That one got pretty heavy. The next moment that was the favorite of ours is, is this something that I've been trying to do since the podcast started, which were almost in the four-year mark, actually. I've been wanting to play guitar in a pod since it started, like since the inception and kind of spent all the money on like the cameras and stuff, so I didn't have anything for amps or anything.

And they didn't know how we were going to do it. I hit up a few amp companies, but no luck. I was pretty much ignored or no, a hard no, which is fine. Well, fast forward, you know, three and a half years, finally, thanks to positive grid, they supplied the amps here. And I started talking to Kyle from Fitzville, and I kind of, I'm very lucky that he kind of trusted. say you want to play guitar on the podcast this is what I think

this is kind of what I'm thinking and he said yeah I'm very very lucky it really started our new path of playing I definitely want to play guitar a lot more it just depends on the guest and their gear and timing

and what have you but this is cool and then it hit me during the conversation it's like oh this is why you know life life's been in life and it knows when you're not ready and also knows when you are ready.

So once the conversation was going on, I was like, oh, there was no way I could do this three years ago. Like having that kind of split brain worth to play, but also go right into segue into the next question. I was like, oh, this is like, we kind of been building our muscle to like do this.

So it sounded cool. The have his guitar, it was also on stereo. They have his guitar in my headphones. Like, it was like this. you'll hear the riff but it was like it was like oh no it was like

it was stereo and him playing like like Alito was like all this is this is cool I felt like I was kind of like a little

looking into his soul into the person across from me which is really really cool so yeah for obvious reasons that's why it's one of my favorite moments where it's kind of

started our new journey to having more guitar players here jamming. Trust me, I see those comments. We are trying. Obviously, I play guitar. So I love talking to other players. But yeah, anyway, enough for me.

Again, thank you publicly. Thank you, Kyle, for taking a risk and jamming. So, yeah, hope we enjoy this clip from Kyle from Vitrual. This riff, dude. Oh, I hope I know. Oh, cool. This sounds like you were really high. And like... I was very high when I was writing this album.

Were you really? Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. Okay. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because the next part that comes in, you're like, what is he doing, dude? Yeah, what, yeah, what... Yeah, so when it kicks in, what are you doing there?

So I am, have the volume kind of low from my guitar. Because you're doing like the way, like you're tapping and you have the whammy bar going? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm, it's these notes. Okay. Let's, uh, let's get a sick. My fucking, that's sick. It was fun of.

Yeah. So, uh, it's basically, um, I'm just doing this while working the, the whammy bar. So for the intro, I just did that slightly rolled off in the volume. So it kind of has that frail, kind of, you know, not gaff, fully gassed sound. And then, uh, I'm using a. what did I use to get that kind of bro? I told, I think Dave maybe found the filter for that,

but I, Dave Otero, who did our record. I was like I wanted to sound like an old broken jewelry box. That was the idea, you know, like a little ballerina

twirling around with the fucking, you know. That's a good, a good analogy. That was kind of the vibe. What's the, what's the open part? Which,

open part uh like uh what what's like adam ringing out on him oh shit dude it's like it's like it sounds like deep flat it's whatever you want whatever you whatever sounds good that part is really cool yep we're riffing we're chugging and we're still a chugging um if you know anything about me you know it's no secrets that i'm a my new middle guy i actually i actually don't even have shoes on if you're just listening have slippers. Thank you to Joe Lange and Ben from Inditas. I got some corn slip-ons, dude. We ain't fucking around over here.

But, uh, so this conversation was, how do you say this? Some are just like, I do enjoy talking to everybody from every scene. Singers, guitar players, bass players, drummers, you name it. But when it's like directly for me, like, you're talking new metal. I'm talking to guitar players. that I've, you know, respected my entire career, even before the band was even a thing, I was listening to these guys of bands.

It's kind of one of those moments, like, oh, shit, like, I'm in the seat right now. I'm literally in the seat. I'm literally like the fan. I'm literally like the 12-year-old kid, literally. And it was just cool, man, just to go into deep, deep new mental history that I didn't even know.

And hearing, like, the backstories of, like, New Metal became a thing from people that were actually there, literally walking the streets, playing the shows, having the conversations, being in the same studio with corn during, like, when they're recording this record that will literally change the world and heavy music as we know it today. It's cool to get like those stories, and obviously I respect both of them. And just being good.

guitar players was uh was really cool and uh so the story that i i i share that uh i asked megs to be my guitar teacher and i what i wasn't kidding obviously we're just kind of joking when he says no but uh it's not like it's not like sit down you know what chords or what what uh scales i'll ask some questions of like this this mindset and Man, attitude. How'd you write this song? You know, it's just so much. When you get into like the realm of like guitars, dude, like it's just, it's endless.

And there's different ways to do it, you know. So it's kind of cool. One rhythm guitar player myself talking to other rhythm players. I was like, it was, yeah, it was just awesome. And so yeah, if you don't know much about the, uh, uh, numeral scene or of your new metal person like myself, uh, you will, went a lot with this next clip. So yeah, yeah, thank you to Meigs from Cole Chamber and Mike from Spine Shank.

He's gone on to start a very successful Abaka company, which we actually have in the freezer and it's scary because it's really smooth. I believe it's called Doria, Dorier, I believe that's the, I believe that's the Abaka that we're actually drinking during the pot. But, yeah, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this clip talking numeral history with Miggs from Cold Chamber and Mike from Spine Shank. because like that whole scene was like

sort of starting out you know there was like Fear Factory there was machine head but they were like more on the metal end of things and weren't so caught right they were in North

Machinehead was yeah but they would play LA a lot and then corn's first record came out and it's not like corn came out and blew up like that you know I mean like people It was like a slow burn Yeah the people at the underground

knew him like me him you know whatever But, like, corn was like, I've seen corn at the troubadour. I've seen corn at the whiskey. You know, like, those sized places. Like, they didn't just go play in, you know, Santa Monica Civic or Palladium off the bat. So I've seen them in, like, those small clubs. And then, like, if corn was played or death tones that would come down and play, you know,

we would just be out there passing flyers out, bro. It was definitely a scene, you know. It was, like, it's crazy, bro. Like, the scene was just, like, it felt like it was a scene. It was a scene. Like, literally people were playing and they're sold out here, and the other band would be sold out here. Like, it was literally a scene.

Like, it was kind of like the, like, the 80s when people were just walking around and just, it was literally like that, but it was like new metal shit. Yeah. And people would, it's just around, and their band, like, it was just crazy. Static. Stott. Snott would come down and play. It was like a new metal scene before he was even a thing.

Yeah, it wasn't even called new metal. It was just rock or metal. So it was called, I remember they were calling it L.A. Metal. Because like, L.A. Metal. Oh, yeah. Because it was all like basically down-tuned. Like, that's literally, that's the only thing any of us had in common. Yeah.

Was we all tuned down. Yeah. And then what I think threw it in a, in a tailspin or like what fucked it all up, the name L.A. metal was either Libbiscuit, who were from Jacksonville, or a little later later on. Slipknot came out, who weren't from L.A. either. But Slipknot, like, blew the fuck up, obviously. And then it was like, okay, so you can't call it new metal, I mean, L.A. metal anymore.

And then I think, if I'm not mistaken, it was Kerrang, Kerrang magazine that, like, coined that term new metal. Yeah. Okay. Either it was them or metal hammer. It was like, it came from the U.K. Yeah. That term, new metal.

But it's all weird because, you know, I was like, okay, so, you know, called Cole Cull Chamber system of a down and Limbiscuit new metal. Those bands sound nothing alike. Like there's absolutely nothing in common other than they all play guitar, but, you know. Yeah, I feel like the only commonality was like, I feel everyone was just really trying to be original or trying to put a niche. Like, I mean, that's, I feel that's like sometimes lacking with like, like I feel, but LA was, I felt everyone was just. trying to be different. Yeah.

And now... Yeah, that was it. Everybody was trying to be different. Yeah. And the only thing, calming was that the tune down thing. Of course, when you go into that tempo

in the groups, of course, sometimes things, okay, they might touch on that bad. Of course, but I think everyone

was just trying to just have their own niche. Like, it was, if I could feel that, bro. Like, it was just like,

uh, that hunger to just like be... Different. Yeah, different. And not, and not even like, a stereotypical metal.

It was like, you could feel it with bad, like, look at system. Static. Like, it was just different. Everybody was just doing the shit and fucking shit up, you know? And that was awesome

because it's like, you could feel the camaraderie but also the competition. Yeah. It was healthy competition. It was healthy. But I'll tell you one thing, like, bro, everybody helped everybody out.

Yeah. Like bands, like dudes would just help each other out. Yeah. Like, what, uh, So for example, you gave like the Dino example. Like what was something else that bands were doing to help? We would just put shows together, man. You know, well, Coal Chamber is kind of a bad example

because when we came out, they already had a record deal and they had put their first record out. But like, you know, take, let's say, spy shank, static X, system of a down. Let's take those three bands. Yeah. Like Shava would put shows together at the whiskey. And then he would call me.

He'd be like, yo, bro, we're doing a show at the whiskey. You guys want to do it with us? Yeah. Holy shit. You know, like that's how it would work. And then, you know, shit would happen, you know, like fucking somebody's symbols would get stolen, let's just say, right? The other drummer would be like, yeah, bro, take mine. It's all good.

And I'm talking like these were all local bands. I mean, they all had label. interest for sure, but nobody really had a record deal but I mean, you're talking like we would sell out the whiskey, bro. Five, six hundred people. It was like this fucking is growing

scene. Yeah, it was, I mean, it was like literally a scene. But you know, like everyone was, like I said different that like you're like, it wasn't even trying to compete within the genre of, because it wasn't even a genre. It was so new. It was so fucking new, bro. Like everyone was just doing

shit and you're like, whoa. Everybody And you're like, oh, but you would help because it's like, oh, I'm not even trying to do that, but I'm doing my thing. So it wouldn't feel like you're competing in the same thing because there was no genre. They were just like people were just doing crazy shit. So everyone's like, oh, yeah, let's fucking play together, blah, blah, blah. Because I'll help you out or, you know, blah, blah, and it was a different kind of thing, you know, back then. Because things, it was so new, bro. It was so new that we were trying to take metal into a territory.

that was, you know, just... Uncharted waters, basically. So some people will call me a pose here for this, but luckily, I don't care. So this was our first... The Lord was our first black metal guests, and I don't know anything about black metal, straight up. It's funny, like, starting this whole thing, doing this,

I kind of hissed me how little I know about a lot of artists and bands, and I know a lot of other people are the same way. don't not vocal about it but uh i'll be very vocal about it i'm not ashamed of it and uh so he really doing research on him and dark funeral it really like oh like the black metal history is crazy is crazy and uh it's definitely intriguing me for future guests to go deeper into the history of a black metal and uh i learned a lot it was a lot of fun um also the lord is a og in his band it's his band um and him talking like the back and forth uh with like finland uh Norway like that like

competition but also rivalry like animals being I know like nailed to people's doors and like this crazy shit that was going on in that time and uh and also I do appreciate him because he was patient with me he hadn't known I didn't know anything about black metal so the fact that he kind of gave me a shot as well i think the uh it seems like fans of dark funeral also enjoyed it as well and it's kind of one of those things too was like oh shit like a black metal dude sitting across from me this is sick and uh nice dude he like he uh the podcast was over and we hung out here for a little bit just talking like dark funeral and uh just that mutual respect was uh was really cool

cool guy man and I am paying attention to other black metal artists currently and we'll see we'll see who gets here next I really don't know I'm looking at the calendar

but I say thank you to the Lord for for starting this other journey of going to a whole other genre that I don't know much about and yeah we will we will see

so hope you enjoy this clip from the Lord guitar play founder for a dark funeral. What do you think where's come from? I always said I'll look into myself

and you know, basically let my inner demon speak. That's it. It's you. It's my inner darkness that needs to come out. It's, uh, I keep telling this to my lady as like, if people only

knew, truly knew where songs rips come from because people get shocked and like someone's like like an asshole. I'm like do you know what writes those songs? Do you know where that comes from? It's not like a we're not thinking about heaven or anything. It's just like there's like this you know I'm trying to coin a term is put your demons in it. Yeah but it's something I learned over the years is people write music for different purposes and different ways. I can only speak for myself. and that's what I do then.

So it's like a just conscious, this, boom, demons. Yeah. Just follow your own inner demons and it's going to be all right. I think there's a little bit of black men on all of us. I think that's what I'm gathering here. Well, the problem is most people are afraid of the inner demons and try to, that's why they go to church. I try to become friend with them and take my strange from it.

That's always been what I do, you know, instead of letting it tear me down. Where did Slam come from? I know there's different opinions. And so I was honored to talk to Chris from Internal Bleeding. That's a band name I've been seen and hearing about ever since I've been going shows. I kept hearing about this band and for obvious reasons. Chris is a legend. And, um, again, like me sitting here across from another rhythm player that also chugs, you know,

it's pretty cool, you know, I felt like kind of at home. But not because it's death metal, obviously. And, you know, but that was a cool guy to say here, smoked a cigar talking man, man stuff, man shit. Uh, yeah, backstories of, uh, where slam came from. how they help create Slam or at least put it on the map. I know there's other opinions about that. But that's why this thing exists.

It's so people can be able to tell their story. What I don't kind of get is that people kind of pop in and say, why do you get this person a platform? This platform is for everybody. I don't care. I will talk. Someone said to me, I know you don't like to talk.

political on your podcast and I was like whoa whoa whoa that's not me that's not up to me I'll talk I'll talk about anything anything if you look behind me you don't see your logo there you don't see a radio station or any or like a website that I mean you know no one's gonna fire me you know basically whatever people want to talk about I mean it's it's really on them so I I'll push it sometimes but I won't I won't push it too hard you just whatever the artists or the band wants to talk about It's want to be political. If they want to talk about controversial stuff, they can do that.

It's really up to the guests if they want to, one, come on the podcast, two, talk about certain things. So it's literally my job to be a curious guy. And being curious does not take sides. So, you know, hopefully, I guess another goal for this upcoming years to have more guests. I am a fan of controversial guests. Just tell him, all right, tell your side and let the people choose. You know, that's literally what we do as well. But, you know, see, I was honored to talk to Chris, and I learned a lot of history about the,

about where Slam came from, and what have you. And you could tell he's really sad about his drummer that passed away in the, I believe he was a firefighter and a first responder, and he died in an accident. So I feel bad for him. Whenever he talked about it, you can tell that he's so very hurt by it. But, yeah, hopefully you enjoy this conversation

and clip Talking Slam. Enjoy. So there's a famous conversation that you and the band had. I say 91. like when when the word slam first came up right right right how did that conversation go okay so makes me a little sad because I think of Billy um we had we used to practice in a place in a town call Huntington and we finished practice and we went out for hamburgers to like this diner and um we're sitting around talking we're like you know so I'm I'm a marketing guy I at the time I was

creative director and an ad agency like that's what I do. Yeah, because you got out of school in 90, then you went, you got the job at 93, correct? Is that a? No, I got my job out. My first job at, I was working at an ad agency by 92. Okay. So I was an assistant creative director. So I would write, you know, I'd write copy and and design print ads and stuff for corporate clients and all that. So I was talking about marketing the band and what we should do and we were, we were using the word mosh. right you know um we used it a lot we would say barbaric moshing death vomit this that all that sure because that's we that's our our music we stripped away you know most of the blast beats

um we stripped away a lot of the speed and we said every song has to be groovy all the time non-stop even the fast parts your head has to go like this we're not going to play that that that that you know no no ping pong i love i love your uh your jokes like it's like a you don't want the song to sound like a fucking ping ball machine right like you're stuck in a ping ball machine right it's funny like I don't know why I got it it was like that's just it's funny yeah no I don't want we didn't want that listen I have nothing against it but that's not we wanted I'm wondering all the time non-stop just no waste no wasted space no filler no wasted space groove constantly so anyway we're talking about Mosh and and Billy got man he's like you know what

I can't stand anthrax. And they use the word mosh and it's like a joke. And we can't. We're a fucking slam band. That's what we do. And that's where it was born. I was like, holy shit, that's right. I'm like, that's a fucking, that's a hardcore term.

Yeah. You know, I'm like, I'm like, I used that term in the 80s when I was going to black flag shows. Nobody said mosh. Everybody said fucking slam. You know, I'm like, really? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Slam dance. You know, it got cut. It was slam dance, but it got caught to slam, you know? And I was like, oh, Billy, that's brilliant. Let's do that. So Billy came up with it, and we're like a full steam ahead. That's it. We're slam.

And then from now, then on, I mean, I think you pulled up an ad that said total fucking slam. Yeah. We had the actual flyer that that. Right. So that's that, that was everything said slam. Slam this, slam that. Total fucking slam, dude. When was this flyer made?

That was like, that was like, that's for perpetual degradation. So that's probably a flyer from 93. Wow. Late 93, middle 93. No, that's actually 94 because the thing came out. So that's, that's from 94. So, you know, people say, you know, talk about, oh, this band invented slam, blah, blah, I'm like, whatever, dude.

I'm like, as we call internal bleeding was calling it slam before anybody even thought of the word to use, as applied to death metal. Sure. You know, I'm not saying we invented some kind of. great thing, you know, but, but we came up with the term, we pushed the term. There was also a band called the Demonesty in New Jersey that used the term, but they didn't, they didn't push it as hard as us. I guess we were more aggressive as far as pushing that word into people's faces. That New York aggression. Right. And just constantly doing it, you know, and, and it didn't turn

into with, it never caught, I don't think it ever caught on until like, then I started noticing, I don't know, five years later, people started using the words. Slam and I was like, hey, wait a minute. That's our word. It was funny. It was really funny. And I mean, my vision of Slam is not what Slam is considered today. Yeah, because now it's a whole other.

It's a whole, it's a whole thing. Right. It's a whole thing. And it has nothing to do with what I think Slam is. Hmm. So, And that's no slight, that's no slight, that's just not, that's not my vision. Yeah.

You know, that's not, that wasn't the band's vision is that, you know, the speedy blast, stop, riff. Speed blast, stop, riff, you know, that's not, that's not our vision. Our vision was constant flow and constant hooky riff changes that, you know, of course we had parts where you stop and there's the big, slam riff and all that stuff, of course. But it's the grooves that it's the grooves that get people. That's what gets people moving is the grooves. It's not, I mean, people get into the slam riffs, of course, but it's that constant groove.

You can't sit still. It's like, yeah, it just awakens something. You like have to move. It's super primal, you know? And, you know, people who call it simplistic, and that's fine. I don't mind that term. It is.

But Black Sabbath was primal too. And they're my favorite band. and, you know, their riffs rule pretty much over everybody. So just a quick heads up. We got two more. This next one is literally heavy. But the one after is funny. So we're kind of having a nice dynamic.

This was the segment where, you know, I don't want to do it because I didn't want to do it. That's why I did it. And we had an episode just dedicated just for Mitch because in November it's been 12 years since he he passed away so uh yeah there's like a time where uh basically relived the um relived the moment that he passed away and that's the that's the clip that we're going to show unfortunately it was a moment now it wasn't like our favorite moment but it's one of the most intense ones if not the most intense moment of the year

if not the entire podcast. So we have to include it in this. A little back story in that, like we were, so that episode was only, it was almost two hours. And, you know, I like getting, like, especially for our solo episodes,

that are a little bit tough sometimes. Okay, so I'm like, what am I going to talk about? How long should it be? So I sort of made I was literally like the might even be in this notebook somewhere. But I was, I was writing down what I was going to talk about. And I wrote down the first sentence. I was like, this is not working. It didn't feel right at all.

So it's like the only way this is going to work, if I just literally just sit down with no time limit. Talk and then stop talking. That's literally, uh, that's literally the only way that it's going to happen is basically relive the emotions in real time. and share it. That's essentially what we did. Yeah, and it sucked. It sucked, but, yeah, since that episode aired, I definitely feel different.

So there is like a cathartic, cathartic feeling of kind of facing your demons, I guess you can say, but I did it publicly, which is, I don't even know what you even call that. But I appreciate you all watching that and kind of, how don't even, what do you even say? Thank you for watching that. I know it wasn't like, not all episodes can be fun and funny or even insightful.

It's kind of, sometimes you do got to be selfish. And I kind of went into it with a selfish mindset. I'm going to talk about my experience, my life with Mitch, and let the chips fall what they may. People like it. Great. People don't. It doesn't matter. That this episode has to come out and be this way for myself.

And then we could go from there. So, yeah, I appreciate you letting me be me. You know, yeah, we talked off script for almost two hours. I was like, all right, this is either going to be 40 minutes, three hours. It doesn't matter. This has to be what it is. You're going to open up the door, let everything come out, and then you're going to maybe even leave it open, I guess. Let the demon door open and keep it open.

But, yeah, to be honest, I don't know how to intro this, so we're just going to start playing it. Fast forward to Halloween. Oh, then he had a birthday. He had like this birthday gathering. It was like public. He didn't even make like a flyer for it. He had a big old party. and I didn't go.

I regret not going. But, yeah, and then Halloween for some reason. Yesterday was Halloween. I was here for a little bit. I went home and slept. It's always kind of a weird day.

I don't know. I don't know why. I still don't know why. I don't know why I didn't do anything. Didn't go out. Didn't go to Buffalo Wow. I wanted to get hammered. I didn't call anybody.

It was weird. It was weird. You know what? Stay home. I'm on drinking. I'm going to go to... I'm going to drive down the street to McGillis Jr., which is a Mexican spot in the Inland Empire.

It's one of my favorite burritos on a planet. You know, I'm going to get a bean and cheese burrito and get fatter. And that's what I'm going to do. And I got the burrito. And on my way home, it's like three miles away. from getting a burrito to the drive to my house our previous manager calls me

and saying that Mitch got in an accident and he's like yeah it happened you know we got a little backstory we just signed to nuclear blast and it gave us a pretty big signing bonus

so me Mitch did what what we do he got a Harley and I got a Cadillac CTS which I would end up associating negative

thoughts maybe that's why I never took care of it you know I thought I thought I was so fucking cool I bought the car for a wrong reason I bought it to look cool But also, I generally love the car.

I'm going to buy that car again. And we both did what we do. And, yeah, he got a, I get, so he just got a new bike. And, uh, I get the call. I want to say it was around like 6 p.m. It was definitely in the evening. It was definitely dark outside, dark, dark. And, I remember, you know, I was passing the church and turning right onto Mnoyo,

which is where I live, told my parents what happened, and I'm leaving, and I told my manager to stemming the address. I didn't think about if I'm going. Where is he? And so told my parents what happened.

In and out, in and out, dropped my bird off, and I fucking got back my car and drove. He was in Irvine, which from here, Irvine is, it's a neighboring town over. It's like the next, like, nice, Nice place from Corona.

It's like with no traffic, which in Halloween there's no traffic. It was like a under 30 minute drive. And I remember, man, I remember parking the car and was walking inside the hospital. Basically like a, it was like a big waiting area. It was like a big ceiling, like a tall ceiling. Like there wasn't like a room. It was like in like the, like we were sitting with like a middle of everything. super tall ceiling

and it was myself our manager and Mitch's dad Kip and then we were kind of texting him back and forth with the other guys in the band giving them updates

I was getting a little bit more information like such as you know he crashed in Huntington Beach which is where he was living at the time and um yeah just doing uh updates and remember it felt like we're there for a while we're there for so long it felt like i was taking naps it was there for a bit sitting is basically waiting for an update and basically what was happening is uh he was in surgery they were trying

to save his life anyone that has ever been in that kind of spot we probably have found a member or friend They can't really tell you exactly what's happening, but you want answers. It's a very tough spot for the people that work at the hospital to give you news. And he's hanging out with just dad and their manager. Some of the other guys are out of town. I don't want to speak for him. But, yeah, the bad one was when we got, like, one update was, I remember a doctor was talking to Kip.

And yeah, I was like, I was looking at it at a shoe and, uh, you see blood on the scrub. Oh, man, this is not good. That was kind of like, that was kind of like the hit of, of a reality. So, this is not good. And, uh, yeah, then, then, then more, more time passes and then, then finally we were able to go upstairs. Uh, was in surgery. And then, uh, yeah, then we're allowed. So, I, at this point, I believe.

they've done everything that they could they're trying to stop the bleeding and I believe he was bleeding it internally and yes we're now we're upstairs now we're in the same level and so they let us say hi to him

but so technically he was alive and I keep forgetting that like he was alive when I saw him when we saw him and man I just we're just hanging out. You were talking. Yeah, I didn't know what to say. I don't know if he could hear what's going on, but I assume that's what they mean for someone that's fighting for their life. Yeah, and these are like

the wee hours of the morning. It's probably already November 1st at this point. And yeah, I didn't know until like, until like it happened. So anyone that's unfortunate, have you ever been in spot unfortunately it's yeah it's kind of like you're kind of like allowed to kind of like allowed to be there and you see like the nurses kind of brushing like this is bed and the doctors and then out of nowhere i remember the doctor going up to kips and i'm sorry it was like oh sorry what and obviously he passed away and uh it's like a movie i did this doesn't yeah just the uh it just the uh I run away from that moment along with many others. And I would basically start the second half of my career.

Yeah, there's only been like twice in my life where there's a, like a thought entered in my head and literally it's that's just what's going to happen. And it's been true. Like when the band first started, like there was no division was there and I never wavered. And I'm fascinated like how I tried. I tried to do other things in my life like that. So everything that happened in the band was never really surprising. It was because it happened in my head already. And unfortunately, the second time that happened was literally the moment Mitch died.

The first thought that popped in my head was the band's not stopping. There's no way. On a lighter note, well, it's not even a lighter note because this is the last moment. a weight loss clip so yeah this this started

this other journey started where having Ernie come in do episodes with me have been very fun it be kind of turned into me and him talking a lot of

shit on each other which is fun and yeah people think I'm serious um how do I talk about this yeah people that obviously care about what kind of

you know tell me it's like you're kind of harder on him or people just don't get that sense of humor one i love ernie i love the guys we are we are close friends we could basically say whatever you want to each other there's no there's no uh excuse me there's no uh i guess line to be crossed i guess you can say and uh i don't why say this okay i'm gonna make this i'm gonna try to condense this i'm gonna try to make this very short but ever even before this band started drummers have pissed me off

it's uh it is a thing so we're going on 22 plus years of me being pissed off of drummers so this didn't come out of nowhere oh why is cars i hate drummer he should be nicer ernie shut up shut up oh my good it's literally before this band even started even pre-suiting it these drummers have been like what the fuck dude oh my But, you know, Ernie is a great guy and, you know, he does things throughout our time together that piss me off. So if I, and also just me as a person in general, whenever I do something or I say something or I talk shit on somebody, it's for a reason. I just don't, it seems like I just blur it out shit.

I get it now with the podcast. It just seems like I just get a mic and start talking smack. but it's for a reason it's for a reason I talked shit on their podcast before because I heard them say something that invoked it so I just don't it doesn't come out of nowhere

and with Ernie he'll do things I just fucking piss me off I know I know we probably you could probably all relate where you have family members or you have close friends siblings what have you

that they'll like do your pet peep. Not only do one pet peeve, but multiple pet peeves, Ernie definitely does that. So he knows. He's trying to be a good guy, which is why he's in the band. We're all just human. We're always trying to be a decent person before we die.

I think we're all, hopefully all trying to do the same thing. And that's just a very condensed version. I could go. This could start off a rant, but we'll say that for another time. So yeah, we were like a few months out. playing the Mayhem Festival

with Suicide Silence and we decided to have this like weight loss competition I mean I mean we all knew who was going to win we all knew that

but you know we didn't want to hurt Ernie's feelings and tell him that cars is going to crush you but yeah it was cool I think it was a month long

I think I lost five four and a half pounds five and a half pounds Ernie lost one and if

if I go to war I go to war and I'll literally be at Chary Action around here a venue around here and I'll see them and I'll see them

struggling and it's a part of me a dark part of me that took a lot of pleasure in that just being honest when it comes to competition and warfare

it just awakens a part of me that's very for me it's fun It's fun. I'm like, oh, you're, you're struggling. And when you're struggling, that's where I thrive. Just seeing him, like, try so hard at a reaction, either not to drink or not overindulge on things. And I'm just at home crushing it. So it was, it was, it was just cool to, you know, talk shit to each other and have this nice little competition for all you to enjoy and watch.

And, uh, I won. And, but let's see who wins. Let's see who wins the award. It might be Ernie. But yeah, this, like this kind of, this also started this whole thing with, me and Ernie doing episodes together,

which I think this year we'll probably do more of. I think right now we just been kind of, I don't know, how do you say this? Kind of get in our foundation here. My hands, if you're just watching or listening, my hands are, there's still a black paint. I paint in this table. Last night, I painted the wall a little bit.

And his paint won't fucking dry. I think I messed up something, but this paint won't dry. And then they put like a primer on it or a clear coat. But, yeah, trying to get our footing. And then once we get that going, we'll bring Ernie back in here. But yeah, anyway, Ernie, thank you for the laughs. And I hope you enjoy this clip of Ernie and us talking shit to each other about the Weight Challenge. Yay.

I think it's time. Is it? Okay, so who should wait first? Me? Yeah, he can go first. Okay. So I have a handheld mic. We're going to need help with the blanket.

Yeah, buddy. Woo! What is that? Is that a Carson podcast fucking flag? Of course it fucking is, dude. Yeah. All right. Hold on the other side.

Oh, you want me to? Oh, oh. Sorry, I was just like, wait. He's shot. Don't drop it. I'm going to get. No, no, no. Oh. Oh, you're dick. Okay. Okay. So from the start, I was 166 pounds, and I had to lose eight. So my goal was 150. 58 pounds.

So, so let's see how close I am. You can see, you can see the number up front, right? Yeah. Okay. Dude, I feel like a fucking U.S.C. fighter.

Just getting, just getting ready to fucking talk hell of shit, dude. Damn, your rig looks sick, dude. Right. This is the moment of fucking truth, boy. Let's go, dude. Let's go. Forward? I can't see the number now.

Can't see the number. 160.6 Will you see it? Yeah I got it now 160.6 Dude, all right

let me fucking print pants see you should have done the pro move like me I'm just not wearing any underwear dude I just put on

poly shorts bro they're lighter than my underwear I just got to take off my shoes and my socks and we're fucking rigging dude what do we say 160.6

16.6 so you lost a total of what I'm going to write this shit down Let's see now one Okay Ernie here You're next dude I'm still recording Cool

You want to use your Your skill I mean it doesn't fucking matter I mean I mean yeah you're gonna lose you anyway so just Yeah she's mine Okay so So uh

What did you What did you make? One I started at 160.6 No no no no Me or him Is that same? Oh

So I lost Uh yeah total of what? 6 pounds? 160.6.6. The first one. So I lost 5.4 pounds? 5.4 pounds.

Yeah. Okay. I'm pretty satisfied. Okay. Ernie was 291.4. So let's see if Elyss gets to... 290. Oh, are you serious?

Are you serious? That is not true. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Like my shirts are Oh my goodness This is Right

Wow That's what I'm saying Okay so you lost one pound I was one fucking pound dude You lost one pound dude Wow How do you feel dude I feel I mean the number

Makes me feel like shit but I feel fucking better My clothes fits me fucking better So I don't know if it's just like Because I was also lifting weights You got a muscle So like, but no, I mean, why you hold that more? Maybe, I mean, you know, I don't skip fucking leg day, not never, dude. Wow.

Yeah, but no, I mean, like I said, I lost a bet fair and square. I'm buying you guys fucking dinner and I'm going to keep going until Mayhem Festival. That's the fucking name of the game, dude. I'm a fucking winner, dude, Ernie. Let's go. Good job, man. Hey, we're not done, dude. Good fucking job.

Oh, I'm not, I'm talking. He said I'm talking hell of shit Fuck it I'm talking shit For the next 40 minutes dude That's it Can pass me my shoes Yeah I got you

Okay so yeah 60, wait it was You were 290 What does it say? You're 291.1 1 right At J Oh the after

After I lost Wow Yo I'm honestly not gonna lie I really thought you were going to lose more than eight pounds, to be honest. Like, not as a shot or anything, but, like, I figured you would. Ernie lost one fucking pound. One fucking pound.

Dude, that's fucking crazy, bro. You know what, dude? I can't say I'm shocked. You know what I'm saying, dude? Wow. Okay, well, so a few things happened, right? Yes. So, when it started, I predicted this.

I knew that we were going to start. And Ernest had come out, oh, yeah, I fucking lost, fucking six pounds in fucking one day, yeah. But I knew, okay, you know, I'll let the hair go by, and I'm going to be a tortoise. Oh, for sure, for sure. And he'll vouch. He'll say it. Did I not send you, like, two follow-up texts, like a few days later? I was like, fuck, look, I was fucking like, 288 or whatever.

And I was like, sick. Like, all right, cool. It's fucking going. So I'm not going to sit around and say it was a fucking fluke. I know I lost that fucking weight. Whether it came back on his fucking muscle or fat, like I said, my close fits fucking better. Which is also, like, I'm not going to let it discourage me because I know, like, I always said, I've always been the guy that's like the number bums me out a lot of the times. Help.

What does it say? Help. Yeah, we're pinky toes are fucking beat, dude. What the fuck? Sorry to whoever this feet those are. Look at your toes, dude. Don't fucking talk shit. Yo, for playing fucking drums, my feet are actually not busted the way most people

would fucking think they were, dude. Like, I take care of them shits, all right? No, Derek. They're busted, dude. No, I mean, yeah. I'm taking the fucking L on the chin, and I'm just going to keep fucking going. We're going to have a nice fucking dinner. And then now the next fucking challenge begins,

you know, it's really hilarious. We can actually mark it today or tomorrow. Because tomorrow is the 12th. Tomorrow will be officially three months till Mayhem. You serious? 100%. Oh, that's scary. Yeah.

We are exactly three months away from Mayhem. Wow. And I want to see where we're at then. Like, I definitely have, some fucking reprogramming I need to do. One of those is definitely a not have... Okay, so what happened?

I know people were thinking about that. How did Ernie Luz so bad? So what happened? I mean, look, I don't know. No, no, I don't mean like that, but it's just like... Also, leading another thing that I was kind of thinking about when I got on the scale this morning, I was like, what the fuck? Like, that doesn't seem right, but, you know, whatever.

everything leading up into you being like, hey, let's do this 28-day challenge. Because I started at 321. Okay. That was 321 fucking pounds. So I lost all that fucking weight leading up to this. And what I didn't take into account for was plateauing. And I didn't change up anything during this whole time. You know what I mean?

And I think that's what happened. I hit a fucking plateau, didn't change anything up in the fucking regimen. And so it just kind of like a little bit of weight came off. But I didn't change up enough to take more off. And I'm just like, fuck. And I think I, that. And then like I said, I know that it's already been a week and a half, two weeks. But those two blackout nights probably did not contribute to this at all either.

Alcohol never does. I don't know if I would call that a plateau. People are listening to Washington. Wait, the guy got blacked out fucking drunk. Twice. I'm not sure that's called a plateau. No, no, no. That's what I'm saying.

I'm saying it contributed to it. But getting fucking absolutely obliterated blackout wasted fucking twice also did not help. Pedantly, this is episode 157. It still feels very new. That's one thing about the solo episodes. It does take me right back to square one. Or like, man, this feels new every time we do it. This is our last episode of the year.

We are officially done. with the year. Even last year, we put episode out on or around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. We've been in here. New Year's Eve, New Year's on Christmas. I was here on Christmas. This year as well, and I wouldn't have any other way. You know, I'll see people out in the open and I'll get asked questions.

you know, what's your schedule? You know, how do you, how do you do this? And like, I just start laughing inside. I'm like, you think this is a schedule? You're in a music industry. There is no schedule. And what I should have said was 24-7. The moment I wake up, the moment I go to bed.

That's when I'm working on the podcast. Literally, I love it. Also, balance everything. You wake up, either do this or do something for the band, play guitar, write. also this year December we started writing our new record that's what I forgot to bring up earlier but oh we're gonna outro it

so it's been cool to kind of with the year being so crazy and up and down for good good ways and bad ways it's been unfortunately really cool to access feelings

emotions that I previously ran away from so that's been a really cool part of this year just playing guitar accessing the child again

and I think about it now I don't think I would have been able to do that without this thing without the podcast it's really helped me this I mean

this thing definitely helps me process thoughts and kind of open up some doors so it's been kind of cool the past year more so the past month or two

kind of I don't know I'm not going to sit here to say it's better or it's heavier or it's more melodic or it's I don't know

but it's definitely I'm playing different I'm playing different and it's definitely something I've been trying to do since two of the

2017. That's when we put out that self-title record and it's been pretty much hell ever since. And it really feels like things are back to back to me. Back to us. There's no more bullshit. There's no, it's just nice.

I guess you can say nice. The right word is fucking cut open your heart. Take out of the bullshit and let the soul come out. It's been really, uh, it's been really cool. I guess I couldn't, I don't guess what I'm trying to say is I couldn't do without this podcast or all you listen to watching. So, yeah, I guess this is a good time to say thank you for supporting the podcast, for listening, watching.

Some of you have bought merch. Thank you. Some of you have become YouTube members. I appreciate that. So you want to get these episodes a date earlier even sooner. Join our membership. So thank you to our members. Thank you for people that support Sweetwater, our sponsors.

Distro kid, all that stuff. They've been really helping Keep the Literally, quite literally keep the lights on Literally keep this gear In this This box, this room That literally helps pay for that stuff

And also helps pay for Jay So So thank you for supporting a podcast I guess yeah, thank you for helping me be me and thank you for helping me not give a fuck even more

I mean it's just you hear people say it but really feel it is definitely another thing and that's uh you know it's really cool you know you guys are giving me another life another dream

you don't know how many people get to live out one dream I'm living two it's pretty wild it's it's pretty wild so um so when things got all you know

there's a lot of stress this year a lot of pressure which we're all experiencing we're all out there grinding we're all working our ass off some of us are working up early it sucks ass um

but uh but it's worth it and um you know I'm lucky to be in the spot so yeah thank you for helping me not give up up it's pretty uh it's pretty cool to

uh I guess have your own platform. It's pretty nutty. It's like, technically I could, technically I could promote our own record. That's kind of crazy. Promote our own shows.

It's pretty fucking sick, you know? And, um, this podcast definitely, uh, this past year really has really reflected my life. Um, even on like a surface level. This surface level stuff, it's like, I could tell looking at, I could tell by looking at the videos lined up on YouTube, I could tell where I was at my life.

Lows, highs, when I was more focused, when the stress and pressure was really, really getting to me, I could tell. I was like, I could look at it. I could see it on my face. It actually shows up on the views, which is kind of weird. Like if I'm stressed, the views don't really do well, which is kind of, it's a crazy, it's a weird connection there. You know, we all think we all do with that. You know, life can kind of catch up with us and pressure and all that stuff.

But what's, what do people say, you know, this year is from me my year. I definitely don't feel that way, but I do feel, um, I do feel that this year is leading up to something that we've been working for. And that kind of ties into my personal life with my family. The band, see what that sounds. We did some pretty big shit this year. Close a lot of doors, open new ones. Didn't break up, as I said earlier.

It was pretty cool. And with the podcast, we definitely, I feel, I feel what we've been working for will manifest. I do have faith. I believe in this putting in time and grinding in faith. Not blind faith. I think people have blind faith. But I have legit faith that this year going to pan out the way we wanted to.

Anyway, again, happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas. Happy New Year by the time it comes out. We're probably already in 2025. And then the goal, the last goal is to trying to slow. trying to just slow down this year because this year flew by and I don't like that. I'm going to try to really just hone in on just slowing things down. And yeah, anyway, thank you for listening and watching and I will see you next week.