Garza Podcast - 241 - Hellfest, Guitar Exercises & Fear of Heights
Episode Date: July 13, 2026Garza is back for a solo episode to talk about playing Hellfest, Warped Tour & finally gives a raccoon update.Check out the merch here: https://garzapodcast.myshopify.com00:00 - Noise Pedal Riff01...:40 - Garza’s Hot Take06:45 - Fear of Heights08:30 - Hellfest & Warped Tour D.C.14:20 - Racoon Attack Update21:35 - Devourment Show 23:46 - J Update, Kids & Pets27:04 - Photography29:08 - Q&A: Guitar Playing Exercises44:14 - Q&A: No Time to Bleed CD Card54:09 - Q&A: Getting Starstruck w/ Guests1:01:26 - Upcoming Shows
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hear that?
It's your money calling.
It wants a promotion.
Elevate your savings with the Scotia high-interest savings account.
Always earn high regular interest rates that grow the more you save and invest.
Conditions apply.
Visit scotiabank.com slash h-I-SA to learn more.
Scotia Bank.
You're richer than you think.
It sounds like shit.
I forgot my noise setting.
Oh, I ruined it. It's all right.
Sometimes you just ruin things, you know.
That's okay.
How are we doing, Jay?
Everything's cooking.
Oh, cooked up, dude.
Everyone heard my crappy noise pedal going.
I should have...
Sometimes, like, you have, like, a really cool setting on a pedal,
and then you mess with the knobs a little bit, and it's just gone.
And, uh, I never put down my favorite settings from noise pedal.
It's all right. Well, good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. We are back. Freaking
forget how to do this, dude. It's been a month.
It's got home from the East Coast. Pretty cool back in California.
I'm just going to open up with the... I experimented with this before. Just open up, open up with the hot take, you know.
obviously I'm in California so we
Suicide Silence
I played the last two shows and this past weekend was
a legendary
nostalgic you even
Say a festival called a Hellfest
In New Jersey pretty sick
You know on the way out there
This hot take
Let's just go straight into the hot take
Okay.
What is it?
Okay, first of all, I'm in the, we've all been there.
You're in line to go through security to actually enter the airport gates, correct?
So behind me is, I want to say it's a young couple, right?
And I want to see, you know, I don't know, 18, 19.
And the human talking is the female.
of the couple and
what's up with people that talk on a phone on speaker?
Is it just me?
Is it just me?
That's my hot take.
Talking on the phone on speaker phone
when you're right next to people.
I'm sorry.
Jot.
And I'm sorry to open up
as just pure heat.
I mean, I'm wearing the hot heat shirts.
I figured I just got to live it.
and I'm trying to just zone out
and she's right behind me
and my God God, just
why can't you just keep the conversation private?
So that's my hot take
speakerphone. It's just
Remember when
they were trying to, it was a quick trend
but it was here and gone
they tried to do it with the iPad. Remember that?
I'm like yo dude
this is
but luckily that
never caught on
it's like what do you put the iPad
like you can't
you can't fit that in your back pocket
you know
but that was a quick
trend in and out
but people were still using
the
speaker phone
on their phones
and it's just
oh man I feel bad
try to zone out
and it's just like
just gibberish
yeah we'll fucking hang out
yeah you go
are you go in a pool
but first put on your makeup
and yeah
But then make sure we're at the pole and at pole.
I'm like, oh, God.
Just nonsense into my cranium.
But I'm older, so just stay calm and just look forward, just forward in life.
But it was cool.
Got the security.
Security is way, it's so much easier.
It's just so much easier.
It's why I keep talking about technology and, you know, got, you got, you got, you,
the bag with your underwear and your chosen pants you want to wear out there wherever your
destination is and uh just just the quad boom and just put it so far it's been uh three flights
i've had with the quad and nothing just put it through goes through nothing man we'll
always get stopped because we have it's either like like like a like a razz
or we put all these cables in a large luggage that has like the wireless um like the power
conditioner and always get stopped especially like it's five of us so i mean i'm just saying dude again
we're a hot heat dude like i'm just going to open up this heat if i was a terrorist i said i said
the t word i would stink something in behind the metal ban because we're the ones that we're the
ones that always get fucked with.
Because I mean, I
don't know. I understand. They have a
tough job. And especially
post-September
11th.
If we, you know, okay, they look
pretty suspect. So we're going to stop
them. It looks good on paper.
You stop the five guys. It looked like
they're drug dealers. I have
more jobs. I get it.
And I also appreciate it in the end.
So I want to feel safe on the airplane.
So that's my hot heat.
We're only in five minutes in.
Flight's good.
And then one more thing about flying, and then we'll move on.
What is it about, I'm terrified of heights.
Like when you're at like, like, a ledge and like you look over, you know, like, that just, that's just, it's scary, man.
I don't know, like, there's like a mental block where it's like, I feel like the,
like the guard rail or whatever you want to call it it could be like a hotel room or could be like
something i just feel like it's the moment you put your hands on it's this is going to break and you're just
going to fall down to your fucking death but but we're on an airplane that you don't you're not
afraid of the heights it's so weird it's so weird um but yeah every once in a while you get a
very bumpy ride this one and this flight in particular um it was very bumpy and um and um
I was maintaining my sober composure
because I like aisle seats
because I don't like
the moment you got to piss
I like the freedom getting up and going
or or number two
and so the female next to me
like right literally right across
was kind of freaking out
and I was holding back a lap
because she was like sitting on like her side
like awkward just trying to like
it was pretty bumpy
I will I will get that to her
but uh
it's like
she sort of
hitting like the seat in front of her
like for fuck's sake
I just held back a laugh
I was like oh she she's freaking out
I understand
so I'm gonna maintain my composure
to uh hopefully
I want to make her feel more safe
I don't know but yeah
landed
um
Lennon an old
New Jersey.
Beautiful place.
The show is awesome.
Hellfest is sick.
Dude, I remember, like,
first getting into
hardcore.
Like, I mean, I'm just getting
into, like, the bleeding throughs, like
the throwdowns, the 18 visions.
And
hate breed was the, I guess,
didn't hit me into right now.
Hey, breed, this was my
gateway hardcore band.
I didn't realize out to right now.
and I just seen the videos of like New York.
There's like this festival.
And it's crazy a festival like 2,000, 3,000 people.
And it's a trip to fast forward.
Hey, Jay, can we look up the years?
I want to say, so you're pulling up, yeah, 2003.
I'm curious on the year.
So yeah, I want to say 2003, which checks out because I'm at that point.
I'm a sophomore.
And so you're talking 22, 23 years later.
I'm actually playing it.
And I remember like just sitting around or going out and watching the bands.
Oh, wow, I'm pretty, uh, there's one in 97, really?
I didn't know that.
Holy crap.
Yeah, I, I remember, like, feeling really honored to be a part of the festival, not only playing it, but headlining.
With legendary bands, dude, legendary.
It was disembodied.
I saw it disembodied.
I was watching Earth Crisis.
Dude, it was, I was like, man, I just felt a lot of gratitude.
being a part of it.
Slightly nervous because everybody was just killing it.
I'm like, do we even belong here?
Do I even belong here?
Because like this, the way they have like the barrier is pretty sick.
I mean, no barrier.
Like the way they kind of let people kind of chill.
Everyone kind of understands the assignment.
Security understands the assignment.
Very cool.
It was also like a third venue change shows everyone was kind of worried about the turnout.
it was fine and it was sick dude it was sick also my second show not drinking and uh three week three weeks
prior we played the play warped tour and man i played like play like shit also i had the worst spot at the
stage like there's the way the sun was hitting the stage was like just fucking
God was just like
burning my freaking soul dude
it was just
no stamina no cardio
um still
first suicide show with
no alcohol in the system
haven't done that in uh
over 10 years
yeah you guys actually see here
they could like the other guys have like a
they could just move back a little bit
and they got shade
I had no shade to go to
That shit sucked
But uh
And I played like crap
I felt bad
So Health Fest was at the time
To redeem myself
I practiced a lot
Um
Jamming some
Which I'll talk about later too
I think it actually ties into a question
Which I think might help
Um some
Guitar players
Or anyone that wants to improve
Jamming some
Ramones for a minute
Really got the blood flowing
and
anyway
I helped as stunn
I thought okay I played
not like great
but I played good
I played really good
so as opposed to
warp toward walking off
I play like shit
I'm like when like you're trying to do something
and the wrist
is just not
doing what you're wanting it to do
it's just like not
fucking like
and like the right
and the left hand was it
oh no
but everything was working
the uh like the limbs
and the fingers
and the blood was blown, so it felt nice to play it well.
You know, I like, I like planning well.
So shout out to Hellfest.
Thank you for having us.
Thank you to Trustkill.
Again, a name I've been seen since I was a child,
just getting into this genre music that would end up changing my life.
Even though, like, there was a lot of people on the stage.
was still very like respectful felt right again i just felt like god of gratitude like wow this is
fucking sick dude i can't believe we're still doing this we're still doing and still getting a
good reaction and uh it felt good it felt good um if you are i mean while we're in july i want to say
I want to say
the first solo episode
was last August, I think.
The first time we did a solo,
it might have hit September.
It might have hit September?
It might have September? We're August.
It was definitely like a year ago.
But if you remember,
or if you actually listened
to quite a few of these solo episodes,
oh yeah, it's one year ago.
Holy crap is fucking crazy.
I'm curious on the date.
August 12th, okay, so almost a year ago.
So there's been a few of these solos where, you know, I'll give like a raccoon update
because around like summertime where it gets hot, like we have like a raccoon issue.
Or, you know, again, I would talk about it.
It could have been like a family.
It could have been two.
Well, the raccoon is back.
It's one.
everything's fine
it's cool
I'm going to open up the story
that it's everything's cool
when I was out
in DC
for Warp Tour
fluent Sunday
my parents watch
Leo the cat
when I'm away
which I really appreciate
get in Sunday
go straight from the airport
Sundays are typically
are my
date night with the lady straight in the airport shower date night boom done bed um but i'll
before bed my parents mentioned um yeah leo got into got into it with with with with with with
with with with with with with with with with with the raccoon i didn't really think in in the oven
until i saw him the next morning i got up pretty early like around 530 or uh or six and uh i noticed
that when i was petting him he was
fine but then I got I got to his
his tailbone
he would kind of freak out he like meow
and I noticed like his
tailbone was inflamed
a little bit
then when he would walk around
because tail wouldn't move it's just like like this
down flat it's just flat
it won't move and you couldn't touch your tail at all
it's like he'll kind of freak out
so it didn't waste any time
called the vet
luckily they had an appointment the next day
thankfully
So we
You know I don't want to prolong these things
You don't know
It could be nothing but it could be serious
You don't know so it's good
It's good to make sure
Took him to the vet
Which he hates
Dr. Tuttle
Very very sweet lady
Got some x-rays
She went straight to x-rays
And then they shaved
The lower part of his back
And a tail to see
like the extent of the
injury and
there was a
fucking uh
like a
like a four five inch
long scratch down down his back
that that was still bleeding
and kind of like a poke at the
base that was also bleeding and it was like
oh shit
and then looking at the x-ray it looked
as if like Leo
was trying to get away and the raccoon
probably just pulled his tail and probably
went like a try to try to grab him but it's kind of what like like it looked like i was like
like oh shit dude and then uh he got worrisome a little bit because they're like he's not in the
clear yet it looks like he'll make a recovery but we don't know the extent of his injury on his
tail and the main issue is we don't know it like the raccoon has rabies i was like oh no good god um
So we got him a rabies shot, gave him orally's something for the inflammation and the pain.
And we're off.
And they told me that we won't really know until it weakened if your cat has rabies or not.
But hopefully you got in time.
Luckily, you're on it.
And yeah, that was three weeks ago.
So luckily, everything's fine.
He's normal.
The tail is a full recovery.
A few days.
So, yeah, I always, I remember, if you recall, I kept bringing up, like, I don't know how I feel about raccoons.
Like, is it cool to hang around them?
Are they, like, they look nice.
And yeah, I'm definitely, like, yeah, finally after a year, made my stance.
I'm like, I'm not saying fuck all raccoons.
I don't want to generalize, but, yeah, don't fuck with them.
don't um
just sucks that i wasn't there
because normally
they would kind of poke around the backyard
don't take Leo inside but unfortunately
I wasn't there
uh to separate him
and Leo's he's a cat
so cats are so curious
um
and ignorant
in a way
I wonder what I would have done though
I don't know I would
fuck I don't know
I don't even want to know what I would have done if I was there
so yeah take the lesson from
me. Don't fuck
raccoons. I understand. I've seen people
have them as pets and they're fine,
but I don't know.
I'm anti-like
if they're
in the wild, you don't know.
They have rabies. I should have known this.
I know I brought up the past year.
But
so yeah, that's
my update
with the raccoons
and Leo.
Luckily,
it was best case scenario.
Not seriously.
injury. The cut's almost pretty,
the cut on his back is pretty much gone.
Tail is
full on.
Full on being a tail.
Yeah, I don't know why I even think about
that. Like raccoons have fucking rabies, dude.
You don't even, here I am
being curious. Oh, they're, like,
they look cute and they have a little
families. They like room around, the back yard
little family. You don't know to fuck with them.
And we have a pool, so obviously, it's probably why they're around to get like,
I like watch them. They're like, I like watch them.
wash like their little hands, little dirty, fucking rabid hands.
But, uh, and they'll like swim too in there.
But yeah, lesson learned.
Uh, take the lesson from me.
Keep your pets away from you do not know.
I didn't know until something, unfortunately, actually happened.
But Leo's cool.
Like the next morning, uh, because I like get up, have coffee.
and I'll let him, I'll open up the back door so he could go around the backyard.
He chills there the whole day.
And he, like, just, I opened the door and he's kind of stood there.
So he was, like, too scared to, like, go back outside.
So he's a little bit traumatized, but, uh, all good.
What else do we do?
Oh, dude, a lot has happened.
Oh, my goodness, dude.
As I mentioned, the last one, I went to, I just want to give an appreciation.
Shout out to, uh, I went to the devour.
show in LA.
Dude.
I went to 1720.
7020, you're an awesome venue.
Sounds awesome.
The vibe is cool.
Besides outside.
But I might not be the target market,
but I was very disappointed
when I went to the bar
and there's no non-uncoholic beer.
I think there's two bars there
I went to both
and I was like shit
I was just craving of fucking
IPA just to watch some fucking slams
but again
I might not be the target market
but it'll be I would really appreciate it
if you throw in some
some NAs in there
and said I got some Diet Coke
and then I bought other people beers
that's kind of been my
my thing. I'm living through other people drinking, I guess.
But dude, man, they sound like their record. It was sick as fuck. And I just got reminded, like,
what, um, what a goat. Their singer Ruben is. Sounded just like exactly how you want it.
It sounded like, oh, it was fucking sick. Ruben sounded great. They're, uh, their singer. I was like,
damn, dude. I always say this, but you just,
You just forget, dude.
But, you know, shout out to the environment.
I want to gave you a stink peek of what's to come in the future.
But yeah, sick show.
It's like an hour, 10 away from my house.
So I had to leap early because you got, you got to go to bed.
So yeah, that was sick.
What else?
I think it's time for a fucking, time for a J update, dude.
He's fucking just horned up over there.
Just working, man.
Working, dude.
Working.
Excited?
Working.
Dating.
Oh, yeah.
Hanging out with the wife, the dogs.
The cats.
Fuck, dude.
It's a lot.
How many pets do you have again?
I got two dogs and two cats.
Oh, my goodness.
And, yeah, they always need food.
Then you go to the vet.
It's like, too much.
It's full of time, dude.
Yeah, it's like, I told me,
wife's like we may as well have kids like all this fucking responsibility it's like
and she's like nah and i'm like yeah you're right now
nah because then we could just you know hang out dude a lot of people our age aren't
having kids i wonder what it is i'm the only i mean i'm the only one that's like
thinking about it everyone's just like hard no like damn it's just a lot man i wonder what i wonder
what it is dude a little bit of
A little bit of uncertainty about the future of the world.
This AI shit is crazy.
Yeah.
Job market.
Education's expensive.
Diapers.
I need to hold on to every dollar I get, dude.
Oh, of course, dude.
So I could buy more cameras.
Dude, that advice we got with the last guest saying that I look at every dollar is $10.
I was like, oh, shit.
It's pretty cool to say it.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's like, you got a kid, dude?
That's not your dollar.
Oh, yeah.
I'm bringing up all the time.
Like, when I see people, it's like, oh, yeah, you want, oh, no, man, you want,
you trying to have any kids.
You're like, nah.
It's like, it's so common now.
I'm like, I'm like the only idiot.
It's like, I'm thinking about, the kid would be really nice, man, maybe.
But yeah, everyone says on the.
I'm 50-50.
I know I'd be a sick dad just because, I mean, I got to be better than,
my dad. Oh, yeah. It's a low bar, but I think I'd be sick. You would. Yeah. You would be a great
dad, man. Yeah, I think you would too, man. Thank you. Yeah. Responsible. Fun.
If you want a $3,000 a month payday for life, what would you feel free to do? Maybe take a long
weekend, every weekend, or try a bunch of new hobbies. Would you feel free to upgrade and listen ad-free?
Don't worry. We get it.
ticket can win you $3,000 a month for life and supports life-saving cancer research at the Princess
Margaret. Feel free to buy your payday for life ticket today. Raffle number 155-2194. Please play responsibly.
This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync,
everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales,
Using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business.
The result?
Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most.
Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify.
Try it be responsible.
That's all it is.
Yeah.
Just be good, you know, good person.
That's all we're trying to do is like trying to improve from your parents.
yeah you're like okay i don't want to do that how to like better better the bloodline you know
yeah i'm i'm on the fence but mostly no but i don't know who knows who knows i mean you're
just one cream pie away just one failed fucking one accidental this is a great idea
just two seconds of a failure that's all it is two seconds two seconds
like a split like second and like
Decision
And then how did this happen?
You fucking know what you've been doing dude
You fucking know
But yeah dude we're gonna get into the photo game
Photos are sick dude
People forget
Yeah everything's so a 4K video now
It's like dude
Just bring back the video dude
There's a power and like stopping a moment
Bring back the photo
I really love the photos we got the past couple episodes
But I can't really obviously
they haven't been released so
y'all gonna have to wait next week
but it's fun it's really cool
it's very candid it has a different vibe
to it yeah totally
yeah I've been talking about it
photos are popping on Facebook dude
like they're just
like they tend to do better than the videos
and I've seen people post
photos on TikTok I'm like dude
because photos capture moments
if you get a good photo
it just captures
I mean
You guys got tons of
Oh yeah I mean all the photos
Amish dude
It's like it just captures like a moment
Like how did you fucking take that photo man
Holy shit
It's like a little snapshot
Yeah it's like literally like a snapshot in time
It's pretty sick
Wow
It's as happy as far
Oh shit I can't believe I'm here
Just getting money
I'm making money
I'm making money
I'm making money
money holy shit i'm like shit at this point you i'm like
happy to be alive man holy shit
i think you're ready to hop into some questions
i try to make this one focus you know what i'm gonna do a hot take
type of the show and then this is close for any questions dude yeah sorry about my updue
oh no dude i'm chilling that's all i'm just literally oh i just been working out that's it
it's fasting fasting and that's been like my main thing right now working at your chest and
working out your dick yeah that's it
The two main muscles.
Chast and cardio.
Yeah.
Hell yes.
It's freaking hop in to some questions.
First one is off our
Patreon Discord community.
We got 5-stringer
underscore, right?
5-stringer underscore Reaper.
Garzo, what are some exercises
that took your plane to the next level?
Technical
and creatively.
stacking that with songs as well if that helps.
That's actually really precise as good.
Trying to get my rhythm better on guitar.
Do we all are?
I'm still trying to get better at rhythm.
I thought that's a really cool question
because it fascinates me
because rhythm seems so simple,
but you could practice one or two things
over and over again
and still get better at it.
Like, I guess we'll open up this one with the boring side first.
So the technical, what helped me the past couple years was planning along to a click.
That's really helped me.
They have apps or you get like actual physical little thing.
And knowing what you want to do helps.
So for me, I'm okay.
What do I want to do?
Okay, I want to get better at downpicking.
Okay.
triplets,
speed picking,
and I call them the accountable pinky.
Like the little hammer-ons,
like the Pat O'Brien's, like fucking...
Okay, so just play to a click for 30 seconds
and just have like a couple warm-ups.
And then on the third try,
for example, I guess we'll go into downpicking first.
And then you got your two warm-up sets.
and then on a third one
I'll
put the click
slightly faster
than what you're actually able to do
and you'll barely get
until 30 seconds
maybe not even get there
and they'll bump it back
like 10 to 15
beats per minute
and then oh shit
this is okay this is actually easier
okay
I'll try I remember like when I was doing
it consistently. I was at like
when I was
killing it,
I was at like 2.15
down picking pretty
pretty solid.
And then when I'll drop it down to
200, I was like, oh shit, it's like
okay, like this is
pretty, I mean this
is working. And then
I noticed
after about three weeks of doing
that, I was like, oh shit, I'm a
different player already.
I'm known to be like kind of more on like the sloppy side
so for a player like myself
especially coming from like the rhythm side
when you're playing more assault you're like oh shit
you like notice and I notice the band
did get better just playing and click and then I apply
that same theory to each exercise
so the triplets
um
let the cannibal pinky
and let the suicide
picking the tremlo, as people call it
these days. And
yeah, to start, have two warmups,
go crazy fast.
Like,
I think
five to 10 BPM
more than what you're
actually capable of doing is
what personally helped me.
I maybe even give you a little
taster.
I do have the, if you're just
listening, I have the
OG Fender here
because this
will be the last time
this looks like this
so I just want to get it on camera
I'm taking a defender tomorrow
I'm trying to retire it
I'm not sure
just because I just don't want to break it
so I'm going to get relicked
by a hobby
Cuba
it's going to look basically
it's already beat up naturally
I was planning to play it forever
on tour but it says I don't know
it's too much
sentimental value to it
so I'm like I don't want to tour full time with it anymore
maybe once
a year
this ultra fucking
relicate
preumps new strings
and new nut
I noticed that the nuts
this is a bone one
I noticed like the
white one
whatever nut is on that
just keeps the tuning better
so I'm also like the string spacing
sound is good here
so before that goes full on
relic mode
I'll change it up
so I'm talking boring stuff
dude like
so if I'm warming up I want to say
was like the first warm-up is at 60 like you know 30 seconds dude then they'll go to like
I think I went to like 85 or 90 and it's like and then just hit that click dude
and get literally you're going literally going as fast as you fucking can do it's like
Just flop up a little bit.
And then you're fucking burning and then you crank it back, dude.
Actually, Jay, can we, can we get a click here?
Is that, is that possible?
Born stuff, dude.
But it really helps.
Let's, uh, I want to embarrass myself.
Can we go 2.15?
Yeah.
Shit.
It sucks!
Okay, so I'm burning, right?
Okay, so that was terrible.
Now let's go down to 200.
So that's easier.
Do that?
I mean, I think I was going like four days a week.
Then next week seemed pretty pointless.
I would just practice in my backyard chilling.
And then I noticed after three weeks of doing that shit, dude, I was like, oh shit, I'm like...
playing way more solid. So that's like the technical side of it.
And course, as I said earlier, like the other parts like the same concept.
The hardest one was the pinky one.
Even to the day, I still struggle with the,
those are my four. Those are my four chosen things I would practice on as far as the technical side.
And then I did notice, then we'll go more towards the, uh,
creative side is, uh,
I was subconsciously building a toolbox, and I didn't even know.
It's when I was writing, more risks were coming out.
And that was surprising.
But even though with that, I think it's fair.
I talk about it all the time here, but I think it's really important to just to play,
just to play guitar or just play your instrument.
So you
Which you are you actually already kind of
It's funny how what I'm doing
It's basically what your question is
Like I got a technical aspect of it
It helps you creatively
And then you stack it with songs
Um
Buzz Osborne was here and he talked about it
He's jamming songs and um
And uh
Playing guitar is so important
And like having just jamming some songs dude
And um
And um
And uh
We could take it back
Like said earlier, we could take it back to Hellfest.
I'm like, oh, I need to play fucking better, dude.
Like, I played like shit at the last show.
I really want to improve.
And a few guests have been here that's talked about, you know, just warm it up slow.
And it's very true.
And a song that's been in my arsenal for a while has been Ramon's surfing bird.
And it's just two fucking riffs, dude, the whole song.
There's two riffs.
And I'm probably going to play like crap right now, but, uh, so this helps out with like the down, not only the downpicking, but just getting the blood flowing to your wrist.
And just getting like your hand, it sounds just so silly and so simple, but just getting your hands on the instrument and getting the feel for it.
It sounds silly, dude, but like it's, it's still a staple.
But what I did last time
That really helped
And I'm parking to do it more
Was
Okay, I'm starting up
Sitting down
Have headphones on
I'm gonna ignore the world around me
It's like
We have a busy dressing room
Tends to be like all these friends
And bands are in there hanging out
I'm like so I
Can my headphones on
Like I
This doesn't exist anymore
It's just like you're just honing in
On your instrument
I was like you know what dude
I'm not gonna
I'm not gonna
I'm not gonna downpick this. I'm gonna no ego. I'm just gonna fucking strum it and dude it helped me. I did it's I played it four times because it's a pretty short song and as opposed to
down picking it like John Ramon style. All right, I'm on I'm on warm up. Let's play the song and I just I was strumming it.
Like just filling the strings just building the neck. What's going to your wrist.
Did that about three times.
Just I noticed like, oh shit, like it felt it felt good.
I still struggle how to put this into words.
But there comes a point when you're practicing and playing for me, it's like 45 minutes in.
The strings like you, I don't know how to put it into words, but maybe some of you could, could help me with it.
It's like just something happens.
like the strings are bouncing off the neck like you like you really i guess you i
simply put you're just playing better you're just playing good like oh shit like landing
it's like it's easy it feels effortless and that takes a good like 45 minutes at least for
for me and uh that really helped that made the show i just strumming it sounds i mean it sounds
so silly and it seems silly but this is a simple concept really helped me just drum it
then once i was okay i feel warm though okay now now i'll play
like the record like straight up just johnny down picking dude so yeah stacking with songs um
again in my experience what's helped me might help you might not it helps you use it but doesn't
just uh forget everything i'm saying right now um yeah stacking songs i noticed um having songs
that you actually enjoy playing but i have a couple or few in there they're like oh this is pure
like and for me like
that that Ramon song is a combination of both
I enjoy playing it but also it's pure skill
this this is helping the right hand
this is going to improve everything
like all
this is going to like help me play better
this is going to help me get feeling
and then you know I'll play like a corn song or something
maybe like a Slipmont song
stuff that I enjoy playing
um
I play the
I'll play Master of Puppets, just pure skill.
Like, for me, it's not fun to play, but it's just pure skill.
Like, okay, if I play the Spirit, right, okay, this is, I'm going to have a good show.
And then to stack it with songs you love.
That don't do anything for his school.
I think it's really important.
Just, just fucking play.
For me, obviously, you have corn songs,
Slipnut songs, some Soulfly songs.
Stuff that's really easy.
just get just get your fingers on the fretboard but yeah that's what helped me uh i can talk about
this shit for a long time but uh hopefully that that helps uh close it off with uh
yeah 45 minutes of jamming songs really helps kind of feel like oh shit like i'm kind of
feeling i'm playing guitar right now and then um yeah just a warning with jamming to a click it really
seems boring sometimes and pointless
but if you keep at it, like it's changed
my
it's made me
it's taken me from a bad guitar player
to a not so bad guitar player
and
help me write, help me
sound better which I think
all other goals. Anyway, good luck with you
man. No secret
dude, you had to fucking practice, dude. Practice
playing, but play
more than in practice. I think that's a good way to end it.
Thanks dude.
And this next question is going to be interesting.
All right. Another Patreon slash Discord question.
Dalton 0-1-1-00.
What would your answers to these questions be nowadays?
So if you're just listening,
when we released No Time to Bleed,
the deluxe version had like these cards in it
and each member had their own card
and it had like I think I see like
eight nine questions on there eight questions
and we all had it we all answered them
so
Dalton here asked the question what my answer will be
and then he sent a picture of the card
and I was like wow
so
what would the
answers be nowadays.
Well, I guess we go from the top, top to the bottom.
Name Chris Garza, I hopefully, I'm still myself.
Birthday, December 3rd, 1985.
That's still my birthday, hopefully.
Sign.
Huh.
So during this time, I'll always, I'll walk around and go, huh.
Just, that's something I was doing back in the day.
Gear used.
Crank app.
crank amps ESP guitars both way different not even I still like the crank cabs still like those special move the warm bang
which is at the time was the only way I could describe the way we had bang it's kind of like you're a worm or gumby or something just like channeling your inner gumby or warm favorite album corn life is peachy
and that still checks out
I was just thinking about this
a couple days ago
just hearing those
wrists and all shit
this is still one of my
either my favorite album
or one of my favorites
favorite movie
Dark Knight
checks out
I would switch it
to
the original teenage mutant
Ninja Turtles
but for a while
I was going back and forth
with those two
so this answer still checks out
Um, this is, this is where it gets funny.
Uh, favorite way to get lifted because we're kind of doing like, that's a marketing thing where, um, the second song's lifted.
Um, really, uh, doubling down on the 420, you know, so that this, that's what kind of made this question here.
Um, favorite way to get lifted.
A bottle of Jack Daniels.
so I want to say when do we write these things
it released summer of 2009
we probably answered these
the top of the year
so
yeah that was the worst of my drinking
I was thinking about that when was I drinking the most
there was a time in 2009
where
I just started drinking
and then we
We did some tours in 2009, and then I got into a relationship the following year.
So that little period was like, just in 21.
I haven't drank or smoked my whole life until 21, if you don't know.
And, you know, it's my classic drinking course light.
Let's get some Jack Daniels, some Yeager Meister, just all the stupid stuff.
one of my first drinks on my birthday
was a double Jack and Coke
because this is what I kept hearing about
so I wanted to try one
man did I
it's so weird to think back at
like I would drink Yeager Meister
and Jack Daniels and enjoy it
it's such a weird
you ever look back at things you used to do
like why how did I do that
how did I like that
It's a different fucking person.
I was talking to Jay earlier here.
Like, it's such a trip.
Like, doing a show, flying home, and then being home and then working or just having energy.
It's like, wow.
Because normally, all right, I'll fly home.
I'll probably have, like, a glass of wine or something.
A couple of small glasses.
little mini pint
you know
come home maybe
you know
celebrating the shows
with the lady
okay I'll probably have two beers there
we're talking
within 48 hours
I'm at
40 drinks without even trying
money comes along
not hungover but not as productive as I can be
um
just the idea of
It's like wow
Just a short amount of time
I can't imagine
It's weird
I can't put it in
Into words yet
I am struggling right now
It's
It's very new
It's like wow
I just have just a couple beers
But that was not just to fucking
Oh man
Make you tired
Then you had a couple drinks
You're like you know what's a great idea
A pizza
Two drinks in
pizza or burrito or just
overdose on sugar
like right before you go to bed
you wake up your full of fucking beans and alcohol
you know so
it's it's a trip seeing
seeing that answer a bottle of Jack Daniels
and I I answer this confidently
this was a confident answer back then
was I think I just turned 22
I probably just turned 22
either 21 or 22.
Different time, man.
Different time, different time, different person.
So I think it was an interesting time to answer this question.
It's a perfect time given the past four months.
Let's see.
First concert, Rock Is Dead Tour, 1998 with Corn and Rob Zombie.
To this day, the best show I have ever been to.
checks out still that show is this
top rob zombie
just fucking just dropped his first record
it's just the production
oh my god it was crazy
that's why I'm here that show made me want to play guitar
that's why I'm here
um
okay and last one
where I'll be
in 10 years
working at Walmart hopefully
um no hit on
Walmart, but why did I put that?
Wow.
Maybe I thought the band was it going to work out.
I don't know.
The band, why would I put that?
Interesting.
Interesting answer.
Again, no disrespect if you work there.
But man, if I'm trying to rock and follow the dream, I put working at Walmart in 10 years,
especially 10 years of music or 10 years following your chosen path or dream,
10 years is nothing, dude.
we're six years into this thing almost six years nothing that's like you're not even started yet um
i wonder where i was mentally when i uh i answered that it's a very weird answer
because i'm pretty like uh pretty uh forward thinking i want the band and work out i don't know why
but maybe maybe i was joking oh no you ever see pictures of of yourself from back in a day or see
like you're like who's that that's holy crap that was me why why did i wear that i wore that
and thought that was cool my holy crap it's always a trip seeing your past self um more older
photos of yourself interesting answer walking on walmart hopefully hmm i don't know why that's
trip threw me out so much well as i've gotten older i definitely
treat everything as it's my last
right this is my last record
the last song
last tour
it's no guarantee especially unfortunately
where our career
has taken ups and downs
people die you know
you don't I've been treating everything
as like the last
well it could be the last record I don't know
it's no guarantee
um
I was just thinking about that
this week
never know or last time you might see somebody
never know
but yeah
appreciate your question man
it's really cool to go down
memory lane
to trip
I think we'll do one more
Sarsruck guest
I'm gonna sip this coffee real quick
I apologize
okay
oh my goodness
Skank Hunt
Skank Hunt
053
Um, do you find yourself getting Starstruck with certain guests?
So this is interesting because, uh, uh, each guest I tend to learn something from.
Maybe not, uh, good things, uh, being like, oh shit, I fuck it up.
I shouldn't do that again. Hopefully I could, okay, learn. Um, so answer is, I want to say Star-Stra.
Strzruck.
It was more so, oh shit, I don't realize how much I respect this person.
And I expect myself the fanboy so hard over this person and was happening in real time.
And I was like, fuck, I'm fucking this up.
And that was Adam D.
Again, not Starstruck.
We're talking.
And I was fanboying.
I was like, oh, I didn't realize what a fan I was of him.
until we're in the moment.
And unfortunately at the time,
I didn't have the tools
to kind of
navigate that.
Because once the cameras are on, they're on.
They're on. I just don't like, hey,
let's do it again. So
it still happens all the time where like something
happens in real time and it's, I got to figure it out.
It's not like he could pause and
but that's part of the gig
and that's part of what makes this fun
and then
so I'm fan-boying in real time
with no toolbox
and I was trying to
force a beat
and I learned in that conversation
oh like nothing was hitting
my jokes weren't hitting nothing was like
landing on was like oh my God
dude what the fuck
and I just couldn't get
I was trying to force a beat
And I realized with that one, like, oh, you can't, the conversation needs to be what it is.
And so that was, and that was a, this month in particular too was an interesting month because
we had our best, worst, and hardest podcast back to back to back.
Because right before Adam D, we had Chris Barnes.
And that was the first time we're like, oh, shit, like, when I'm trying to,
trying to do is working. Oh shit. Like, oh shit, it landed. So I was feeling good. And then,
I was trying to apply the same thing that Adam D. This didn't work. It is terrible. And I won't
say who it is, but to that conversation taught me, oh, shit, do not force it be. Let the conversation
be what it is. Like, whatever it is, that's what it is. Um, which in turn, um, that, that has helped
me with so many future guests where we had a guest where uh it was hard it was hard getting
information out and like five 10 minutes in the adam d thing just happened i just sat there
and i'm like it's bombing i don't know but you know what i'm going to sit in a bomb and have fun
and that's saved the podcast and it ended up being fun and no one even no one even has said anything
about uh i might even say the name uh um
So again, like being
Sarstruck
No, just really
I just really fanboyed
And unfortunately
Everything
Everything comes with the price
Um
I learned
To kind of control the fanboy
I'm still working on it
Um
But unfortunately
There is a job to do
And you're all listening and watching
And it has to be
Somewhat
presentable
Um
I do ask selfish questions
and do navigate it in a selfish way sometimes
I'm just asking things I want to ask
but it does seem to be somewhat
presentable
so unfortunately
like a good example
of Zach Wilde
you know
you can't really
you can't really cross that line
or it's like oh shit like
I'm starstruck like dude no
we're about to sit in front of camera
in two minutes
like you can't
you can't really do that
so uh
and I've learned
through past
encounters with bands
we met on tour
that being a fan board
just being a star truck
it's just weird
so unfortunately I learned
you gotta be
professional
I still do it
it's just like
it's crazy sometimes
oh shit
it's that person
holy fuck
but this
in a day man
it's just other person
you know
and um so uh i've chosen the path of just being professional and uh i just want this going to be good
so can't really and zach taught me too like he actually said it here like yeah it's just
another just another show just another podcast just another guest i'm like it's true
and you all get the same treatment and um mchk uh
You can't be like, oh shit, it's a fucking celebrity.
Like you can't, it's just, that's, it's just, it's, it's just, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's just, it's, it's just, it's talking to a homie.
You're just talking to a friend.
You're just having, trying to have a nice, uh, in-depth, heartfelt conversation.
And that's the most important part.
So, uh, yeah, I just don't allow myself, I guess, to be starstruck anymore.
It just does, it's just weird energy.
Um, and that makes for a bad conversation.
and so yeah
so yeah in short
Adam D
but it was more so like
fanboy and like just a lot of respect
oh shit dude
you wrote those fucking million dollar riffs man
those million dollar metalcore riffs dude
so talented man such a fucking legend
you know but uh yeah
we live and we learn
um
all right I think we're
shout out to Adam D.
Great guy though.
Great guy.
Phenominal guitar player.
Phenomenal, dude.
He showed me the riff for,
what was it?
My curse.
Because I was playing it wrong.
And he was like, no, it's actually like this.
And I was like, oh, that's sick.
Yeah.
On the, on the strat.
So sick, dude.
It wasn't all bad.
It was like.
It was still fun, dude.
It was still fun.
All right.
I think we got it.
These are...
First of all, thank you for listening and watching.
Some shows that I'll be at.
In case you want to see me out there,
come say what's up.
Well, I'll be at slash suicide sounds.
We'll be playing the advanced warp tour in Long Beach, California.
Saturday, July 25th.
So I will obviously be there.
I'll do my best to walk around.
Be honest, it depends on the weather.
DC was hot as fuck
I was walking around dude
I was like dude
I'm sorry dude
I'm gonna find some AC
so if weather permits
I'll be walking around
warp toward
Long Beach
on 25th
um
July 30th
Thursday
I'll be at the Flyleaf show
at the House of Blues in Anaheim
I never seen Fly Leaf
I just kind of one of those
like legendary band names I keep seeing it around
and so I'm going to check them out
I'll be there
and last
I'll be at the
speaking of Lorna Shore
I'll be at the
Motionless and White
Lorna Shore show
at the Keog Forum
Saturday July 31st
I'll be there
I'll be at the bar
I'll probably buy you a drink
I'll be drinking some
non-accoholic beer
hopefully
And
Yeah, those are the three shows
I'll be at this month
Until the next solo check-in
That's gonna be a sick show, dude
The forum, the forum is sick
Dude, last time I was there
Was with my lady
We saw Manaa
It was so good, dude
Some arenas just have this vibe
The forum has it
The Hana Center here in Anaheim has it
It's literally down the street
It has that energy
That's a really cool
energy to it
but
so yeah
thank you for listening
watching
check out the Patreon
if you don't like ads
you also get episodes
really there
merch some hot heat merch
and I will see you next week
we have
the legendary band
Devarmit
love you guys
I'll see you there
later
