Garza Podcast - 46: Aaron Stechauner

Episode Date: September 19, 2022

Aaron Stechauner is a musician & drummer. We talk about playing for The Faceless, Rings of Saturn & D.R.U.G.S. Learning from your mistakes in life & much more! SPONSORS: distrokid.com/vip/garza 30% OFF! emgpickups.com Promo Code: Heavy 15% OFF! 00:00 - Intro 01:20 - Travis Baker & Blink-182 06:00 - Growing up listening to Mike Portnoy, Opeth & progressive music 07:50 - Writers block & knowing when to step away 11:03 - Filling in for Born of Osiris 16:58 - Improvising & being a showman 22:00 - First big gig, tour & living in a closet 26:00 - Pros & cons of living in FL 28:47 - Saying sorry, learning from life mistakes, & ego 34:37 - Suicide Silence stealing gear & karma 38:12 - Getting the call from Rings of Saturn 44:15 - Suicide Silence touring w Slipknot & Korn 49:50 - Posting on YouTube & doing it yourself 59:06 - Intuition & bands jamming in the same room together 01:03:05 - Sacrifice during lows in a career 01:09:55 - Spiritbox being sic & buying merch during a band 01:19:27 - Listening to Korn on DMT 01:24:00 - Future in D.R.U.G.S.

Like the best musicians are people who can impress other musicians without confusing or distracting the audience, right? That's insane, dude. Yeah. From Southern California to fucking deep in Florida. I know, bro, clear across the other side. It was actually funny. To a closet. Yeah, to a closet.

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No. It's off of American Idiot. You're definitely, you come off as like a Green Day guy. A Green Day guy? Yeah. I mean, I don't know that I would say that. Really? I mean, I like Green Day, but I don't think that I would

say I'm a green day. I like blink more. Nice. Yeah, blink. They're legends. You're so heavy. Yeah, heavy. And just like, I don't know,

Travis made that band so sick because of just like the way he plays drums. You know what I mean? Totally. Yeah. I mean, Blink must be a completely different band for you because the drumming

of those songs are just phenomenal. It's like only match it for you. It's like a different, it's a whole different band, you know? Yeah, yeah. And I mean, I like, I like, I, I dove pretty deep for a little while

a few years ago just because I don't know I just like I would read things in interviews and what not that the other guys in the band would talk about

regarding Travis and they'd say we'd come up with parts of the song and then Travis would write his drum parts to it and that would make us change the entire way that we wrote the song and I feel like the reason that like Blink really stood out from like that punk punk era

is because of like the way he wrote drums he just like forced the songs to be more interesting so I take a lot of inspiration from him as just like like a songwriter you know the way he writes drums is just like so musical so creative very very into it I'm a switch he's around I realize yeah sure

Aaron's O'Connor dude I'm pumped for you to be here dude thank you man I'm really excited to be here too yeah it's so fun in here like I could sit here and talk for hours I also love, like, listening to my voice through, like, a really nice rig. You know what I mean? Through, like, a good microphone and, like, headphones.

It, uh, it just feels good. Should we do a shot now or later? Later. Later, got you. I'm going, I'm trying to pick the proper pace. Yeah, well, should we smoke this joint now or later? How about, like, halfway through the podcast or something, we just, like, go all in? Let's make the first half good, and then if it goes off the rails for the second half, it's fine.

I mean, it'll, it'll definitely. be better once we get something in our system you know so got to save the best for last okay for for those listening and watching can you give everyone like a quick rundown of like a bands that you played for and bands that you're in currently yeah yeah sure so um bands I've played for in the past there's been a bunch but the more notable ones in the metal world would be rings of Saturn the faceless. I've filled in for Born of Osiris just when Cam was out with an injury. I've been playing with the band Drugs this year, Destroy Rebuild. I'm about to go out on tour with Light the Torch in like two weeks. Yeah, there's been other bands, but those are the bigger

ones. Oh, and then Interloper has been my band for years now, but I'm not really doing that as much anymore either these days. Is there a reason for that? Yeah, honestly, I just have wanted to step away from extreme metal drumming. And, you know, like once my time ended with Rings of Saturn, both Miles and I left at the same time. It was kind of like a mutual between us and the main guy in rings as far as just, you know, getting out of the band. Anyway, that was our main focus for a long time. and I was happy to be doing that because, you know, less blast beats, less crazy, quick, double bass. You know, I just wanted to get away from, like, the techy stuff.

But as time went on, I've, like, still realized that interloper is still a little more, you know, far down that path than I want to be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To you, your style, it sounds very progressive. Yeah. Yeah.

So it kind of sounds like you like the, I want to say simple. but you want like a progressive creative like like like like like a Travis Parker maybe but you want that like it's not not as many blast beats yeah yeah so like definitely definitely not as much blast beat not as much athleticism in general but um I mean you nailed it on the head when you said progressive because I grew up like my my first favorite drummer was Mike Portnoy I grew up on a ton of OPETH a ton of OPEC and And then I really liked porcupine tree, but more so for their drummer, Gavin Harrison. So like between the two Martins that played in Opet, Martin Lopez, Martin, Axon Rot,

and then Gavin Harrison, those are probably my main influences growing up. So that's where the progressive edge comes in. But these days, kind of like you said, you know, Travis is playing like simply, you know, playing like simple song structure, X, Y, and Z, but like adding just enough space. spice to make it interesting. And that's kind of where where my style lies, for sure. I definitely see that and hear it. It's like it could be like, you know, a simple, more simple song structure,

but you'll add like that right amount of spice in there. Yeah. You know? Yeah. My thing always, like whether it's drumming or songwriting or whatever, to me, I always say like my favorite musician, and in my opinion, like the best musicians are people who can impress, other musicians without confusing or distracting the audience, right? So, like, the most important thing is for the audience to just keep bopping their head and

keep singing along, you know? So if I can play along to the song and make them keep doing that, but throw in this little thing that, like, makes, you know, my homie or some other musician and another band on the festival that's watching side stage, turn their head and go, like, whoa, what the fuck was that? That was sick, you know? But not mess with the flow of the song at all. Like, that's what I'm about.

That's the balance, dude. Yeah, exactly. And it's tough, huh? Yeah, for sure. It's tough. You know, you get used to it. Sometimes you strike gold, and sometimes you get Riders Block. What do you do when you're not inspired or you do get Riders Block?

A lot of people struggle with that? Yeah, I try to just, you know, like when you're taking a test and they say if you spend, you know, two or three minutes too long on one of the questions, just move on to the next one. That's kind of what I do. I just leave things for a second, and then I'll circle back around to it. Yeah. I do that in a lot of different facets. Like when I learn songs, for example, from bands. Like right now I've been learning the light the torch set to go out on this tour.

I will listen to the song that I need to learn and play it over and over. But I'll hit a point where I feel like I'm not absorbing too much anymore. So I'll just move on to another song. And I'm like, okay, I'm going to come back tomorrow. having let my brain, you know, rest and then digest all of this material that I'm, you know, trying to put inside of it. And tomorrow I'll be fresher and I'll have a better, like, approach to the song. And that works that really well. So I like to give myself breaks.

Breaks are important, huh? Yeah, super important. So it seems like, which I didn't really know, like, you definitely touch on it where if you step away, you get absorbed a bit better when you come back to it, it seems. Oh, yeah, for sure. I don't know like exactly how to put it perfectly, but this is something that I learned from an athlete years ago. Not somebody that I know, just something that I saw online. This athlete was talking about the concept of how much like the muscle in your brain affects what you're able to do. So athletes that leave the court, right, and they are constantly thinking about,

what's going on or athletes that are always talking shit, you know, and getting in the heads of other athletes and like kind of stroking their own ego and talking themselves up. As narcissistic as that can seem, like sometimes it's for the better because it like actually helps you like brain. Like the area in your brain that like is used to make these things happen, like to be a great athlete or to do this or to do that, you know, or for me to like play these drum parts, um, letting your brain rest.

It's like growing and healing and regenerating in the same way that like if I go to the gym and I tear my biceps, right? And then I let it rest for a couple days and then it like rebuilds and repairs itself stronger. The same kind of thing happens in your brain on like a physical level. Oh wow. Yeah. I'm not a doctor.

Right. I'm not accredited. So I can't like exactly tell you what's going on. Um, you know, but it's worth looking into because it's interesting. In fact, I would like to look into it more So I could You know, like factuate the things I'm saying

A little bit better Yeah But yeah, that's the gist It's funny how like You have like your worth ethic Which you do and you want to just kind of Like hammer through it But you gotta know when to stop

And kind of step outside Yeah And that's tough sometimes Because you don't only know And I swear with that like Should I take a break right now And kind of go outside And sometimes you know

sometimes you're right or sometimes you're just lazy because your brain's your brain's fucked up and you got drums are fucked up too so you guys just have this you guys have a different brain dude i have come i have come to realize that yeah over the years yeah i never really thought about it that way but now that i've gotten older and you know just have more experience i drummers don't think the same way like like if you're you know a drummer and not just somebody who plays drums but you're like a drummer through and through, your mind just works in like really similar ways and it bleeds into other facets of life. I've noticed when I talked to the drummers about non-music related things. We just, a lot of times around that same wavelength. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What do you guys talk about?

What do we talk about? Yeah. It's not so much like what we're talking about, right? It's more like the way that we approach things in life or just the way that our brain brain. Yeah. um we'll work through problem solving or um how we just like process and interpret things that happen i can't think of like any specific examples but i've definitely like you know been out like with ernie for example you know um probably like i probably have the best examples with him just because like out the drummers that i know and like the touring scene and whatever uh him and i hang out the most outside of tour just because you know he lives so close you know so like parties at my house beach days you know hanging out at the bar and you know that he

worked at and whatnot like we'd have a lot of moments where we are just uh on that same page so yeah i mean i don't really thought about that way like you could go to drummers that are on that same wavelength as as you're talking about and get a a more personal perspective because because you know they understand how how you're wired yeah and that and that well as you said it's very true like i mean you're your love and your passion bleeds into your personal life I mean all over so you need like a drummer to kind of give you like a perspective with your personal life

yeah exactly exactly it's cool um the brains yeah we just got some wires and in different places especially like um like memory and pattern recognition you know which like boils down to rhythm you know and math like a lot of times when I'm learning patterns I I'm just, I mean, I know music theory, so I think naturally my brain is putting it in note values, you know, like on a grid or whatever. But beyond that, like, when I'm learning patterns, say I'm just like learning like a 4-4 groove over like a kick syncopation, you know? I will see like, okay, here's like a group of two kicks and then three and then two and then one, you know, like see these patterns like that. And I think, I don't know, there's just like a certain kind of memory aspect of my brain.

Even like outside of music, there's just, my memory is like really, really specific and kind of wild. And I think it just, that like lends itself, you know, to go hand in hand with learning music and playing for other bands. Because I've had to learn so many bands music. Like one time, and this isn't even like trying to be a flex, but like I, when I filled it in for Born of Osiris, I had five days to learn. 15 other songs. And they're like complicated songs. And I think it's just like the fact that my brain for some reason is able to like retain that kind of information so quickly.

Very like math related. I think that's kind of like just how it works. And I was like like a mathy, sciencey kid in school anyway. So it makes sense to me. Yeah. I mean you kind of built your, the way you play and the way you process in your mind. You were already getting ready for those moments your whole life. Like you started playing drums when you were 10, correct?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. And Kirby, remember wrong, but you also went straight into jazz. Is that true? Straight in? I don't know about like straight in, but I played jazz for a long time. Like, if I started when I was 10, I think I started playing jazz at like 13 or 14. That's insane.

Yeah. It all really started when I, when my family moved. We moved house and I went to a new school. and I got into the band program and that band director his name is John Schutza is just the way he approached teaching and music class

was so foundational to me as a musician I owe him a lot and we did after school music program with him as well as like summer music program and like doing all that in middle school led me

to go into OSHA that performing arts school in Santa Ana Yeah, so they're at OSHA And a little bit in college And then in middle school Yeah, I played jazz a lot And I'm like forever grateful to have that experience How do you think that affected

Like you're able to retain so many notes You know, I don't I've never thought about that About jazz affecting that specifically I don't really know How it did or if it did I mean it would make sense that it did But jazz was

I mean, it was so different than almost anything that I have done in the past. Like now I have like a lot more improvisation and a lot more like just kind of feeling the music and like doing whatever I feel like. But in the past, especially playing for takeier bands like the faceless and rings of Saturn and whatnot. It's like, you know, the same thing every day. You're just playing along to a click, playing along to a track. Jazz was so much more just like open and following just like the feel of the music, you know, And like the loose structure that it has, just like head and then solo forever and then head again. So, wow, that, I mean, that taught you how to improvise.

Yeah, for sure. Which is, I think it's the hardest doing music. To be real, I think doing things simple and improvising are very difficult things to do. Playing simple, yeah, for sure. Difficult. Yeah, I definitely like subscribe to the thought that, what is it? the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Yes.

Right? Yeah. I care about the music being good more than people looking at me on stage as a drummer. Yes. Yeah. Same dude. Yeah. What can make this most badass as possible?

Yeah. And it's cool because at least like as a drummer. So I'm a huge attention whore, right? Like realistically I should have been a singer. And I'm a singer, but not as good as drums, right? Like I should have been like a professional singer, but I didn't. really pursue that till like way way later but just you know being the

fucking diva that I am you know and then I have to load my drums I'm like this isn't I wasn't made for this no I'm just kidding no but um what was it going with this though I don't even remember now because you you uh

you should have been a singer should have been a singer drummer oh yeah okay so I like I said I'm like a huge attention whore right so um which I guess makes for a good performance But on stage, the simpler the music and the easier it is and the more space and the less notes, the more I'm able to be a showman, right? Like I like to stand up a lot. I'll stand on my throne. I like put my arms in the air all the time, you know, like doing like minimal stick tricks, like tasteful ones I would like to think. You know, I'm not stick flipping the entire set. But, you know, just making the set fun and, you know, like being dramatic and exaggerating my hits and whatnot.

And like to me, that's a way better way of drawing attention to yourself than being busy or trying to shred and show off on the kit. Yeah, it's like, I mean, yeah, it sounds like you're, which we had that in common, like you're more of a showman. And you can't really do that when there's a certain, when like the music, you're playing kind of surpasses a certain threshold of being technical. There is like, it's like, it's like you just can't like, do we're like, I mean, we're SS. We're fucking chug, chug on one, two, one, two, well, but I mean, it may not be technical, but you could, you could rock out and have a great time and fucking this head bang, hard as fuck. Yeah. So with drugs, I'm sure you could be like, oh, wow, I'm not, I don't got a blast every fucking five, five seconds. Oh, yeah, for sure.

So far, so far it's like the most fun that I've ever had playing for a band. That's cool. Yeah, and it's like, you know, I went through a big sort of identity crisis. for a while just being like I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing like I don't know

what kind of drummer I am you know I don't view myself as a metal drummer I don't view myself as a rock drummer and you know

took a couple of twists and turns and I came back around to the realization that like I definitely am like a heavy music drummer

a metal drummer a rock drummer I love playing other shit too like pop R&B hip pop I played a lot of that but I'm still

finding my way in that you know place in that niche I don't have anything on know these cats like Eric Moore, Aaron Spears, you know, Tony Roossey Jr., all those guys that just like have that unlock. But I digress. The point is that I didn't really think that I was a metal drummer for a while.

I was like, I don't really fit here. And that was because I was just playing tech metal. I was playing blast beats. I was playing a double bass. Sorry, a ton of double bass. And once I sort of took a departure from that and, you know, went away. way and then circled back around to heavy music and just like find out oh no like i i still belong here just not like here you know it's like kind of adjacent to it but i don't i don't want to be

shredding all the time but like playing heavy music is like i think what i'm best at yeah it's sounds that way yeah thanks it's it's a hard a hard line of hit man it's a hard band's a hard bands to find that that way well what was what was your first big gig where like you like got like the text the phone called the email you're like oh shit i'm going toward this ban or like i'm doing this record. Well, I mean, it's all about perception, right? So like when I was 18, so I was going to college, I graduated 2012. So I was going to college in the fall and I was also working the job and I was trying to like balance local bands that I had and just playing drums in general, right? And I didn't really know like exactly what to do. You know, my time was spread thin. I

couldn't quit my job because my family was struggling. You know, so I had to like help support when I was young too. So I just stopped going to school and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. And I was like about to re-register for classes sometime in like the spring of 2013. And then you know that band Abiotic? No. Do you know John Motos at all? Uh-uh.

Okay. So this band from Florida, from South Florida, they were on Metal Blade for like two records, I think. two or three he hits me up out of the blue online he was like hey some homie of yours online recommended that I hit you up to join our band I saw some videos of you online

you shred and so they were on Metal Blade and you know like to me at the time they were like a big band like they were currently on tour with the faces which was like my favorite band when I was a kid one of them anyway that's like what

got me into blasting and like extreme metal and then you know they had tours book with diaphetus and it's just you know i'm 18 i've never toured i've never done anything like that um so i moved to miami and like just you know couch surfed i live in my friends walk in closet one time but i was there just because i was like this is my first big gig this is it like i started touring wow um you know and then after that you just network and you know like i join risa saturn and then shortly after that I played for the facelist, you know, filled in for boo. And then everything just kept, you know, coming and coming and coming. But that was like my intro to the music industry.

And that was really exciting. Yeah, that's an exciting time when you find out you're going to go on tour. Yeah, for the first time. I know. It's like, I'm 18. Like, oh, my God. Like, I'm going on tour with this sign band. Like, what the fuck?

I'm in, I'm in a closet right now. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Nothing mattered, bro. I didn't care. Like, I was working my ass off out in Miami. working at Starbucks, I was waking up at like four every day, like working at five, and then I'd get off at like one or two,

and then I would drive like half an hour to our rehearsal studio and just practice for hours and then go home, and I did that like every day. So you moved to Florida. Yeah. When? 2013. Shit, so was that, I mean, obviously, that was after, like the offer? So do you move there because of that band?

Yep. Whoa, you made. You moved clear across the fucking country. Dude, I was hungry, bro. I didn't give shit. Like, I wanted it so bad. That's all I wanted to do. I remember, like, a couple of years ago,

I saw an old email that I sent somebody in a different band that I was auditioning for when I was, like, 17. And I saw in the email how many times I just emphasized that my main goal was to just tour as much as possible. So, yeah, I just, whatever I'm sorry. I could take I took it you know as long as it was a good opportunity Damn that's insane dude yeah From southern California till fucking deep in Florida I know bro clear across the other side it was actually funny

Yeah to a closet dude so it was it was funny So I moved there and everybody in the band except me were Hispanic Either like Cuban or Colombian I think one of the guys was born in Columbia, I think the old drummer. Anyway, so I got there and the guy John, he sees me. And at the time, I'm 18, like stick thin, long blonde hair, right? Like, down to my waist. And we're in the car and he's like, yeah, bro, I think this is going to be like kind of a weird culture shock for you.

And I was like, what do you mean? And I said, oh, you know, because we're in Miami, there's like a heavy Hispanic culture here. I'm like, dog, I'm from Costa Mesa. Like, I'm from Southern California. you're like there's a huge Mexican culture there like I think I'm gonna feel right at home you know and I did I loved it there damn how is like if you were to compare it like to being around here because we're very close to Costa Mesa currently like how would you like what are the like what are like the pros and cons of Florida of Florida compared to here I mean con is just the

humidity it's pretty brutal and then aside from that I mean in Miami's specifically the roads and like the way everything is set up is like a little fucked um it's not horrible but it's like definitely kind of kind of a cluster yeah but um yeah i mean i don't really have anything bad to say about it you know aside from like those things yeah i loved it i mean a lot of similarities and like you know little differences in this in the similarities between here and miami um but you know i mean i went from one beach city to a another, you know, like, instead of, you know, Mexican food and burritos and tacos, I was having, like, Arapas and empanadas, you know what I mean? So, like, I was still right at home, you know? And,

like, Hispanic food is my favorite. I'm kind of, like, infatuated with, like, Latin American culture in general. So I was, like, kind of in heaven. Yeah, what's your nationality? Um, mostly German. Yeah, because with that last name, like, that has to be a German last name. Yeah. Holy shit. Do you know how to pronounce my last name? Is it Staconor? Yeah. Damn, I don't know if you've heard it before or you've heard me say it, but yeah, that's it. I heard you say it.

Oh, okay word. Yeah, a lot of people struggle with it for sure. Wow. And in order to help me, I wrote it down a certain way. Oh, yeah. Stac Connor. Stacconer, yeah, like stuck on her or just like Stun and Connor. Katie Perry says it in hot and cold.

Really? Yeah. I mean, she doesn't say my last name, but like. Aaron Stacon. Would that be so cool? No, the lyric is stuck on a roller coaster, but like the way she pronoun roller coaster and it's like, yeah, I mean, it sounds the same. So I tell people that me and Katie go back.

You're a roller coaster, dude. Yeah. Ask the girls I've dated about that. Oh, my, I can only, it's already bad enough to be a female and date a man in the band. It's probably even worse, a date a drummer. What? I went on a date one time with a girl, like a few months ago. And we were just talking about, you know, our lives.

And she asked me about drumming. And then she said, yeah, well, you know, my friend told me that drummers are like rare and special. And that if I ever find one, I can't let him go. And I was like, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'll humor you. Sure, yeah, I'm great. No, I don't know. Oh, my goodness. No, I don't think I'm that much of a piece of shit, you know.

No. I mean, I've done my fair share of shitty things, but we all are supposed to grow, right? Yes. Yeah. We all have anyone that says that they haven't, and I don't trust them. No. No. No, not at all, bro.

Not at all. I don't trust anyone like that. Yeah. Nobody like that. I've talked to people, you know, like about things. I'm trying to think about how to, like, word this so that, you know, I don't, like, absolutely give it away. but basically like people who don't really accept accountability for like their past actions and just kind of like I don't know what I mean is like for me I try to just be aware and like apologize and like accept you know and atone for the things that I've done in the past and whenever somebody like you know years later like years following some kind of like negative incident that they were involved in or were the cause of or something and they still are finding ways to try to justify it you know or like you know or like like excuse it.

I'm just like, bro, it's been so long. Like, I'm here with you now. Like, clearly I don't hold it against you, but I would really appreciate like honesty and accountability. Yes. Yeah. And the older you get, the more like, some people just don't say sorry.

I'm sorry. Those two words, man, are massive. And a lot of people don't know how to say, I'm sorry. Or take accountability. It's, for people that say it, you're like, oh, you say, you know, I'm sorry. And then you move on your life. But people don't say that shit, dude.

Yeah. It's shocking. It's, um, you know, sometimes it's hard. It is. It sucks. It sucks. I remember, I was even, it's so silly the other day I was driving, um, up to go to the mountains. And I was with my sister and my homie who's basically my brother.

Actually, you met him, um, briefly at the Spirit Box show. Uh, he's like my height, um, curly black hair, black guy. Oh yeah. Indie. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. It doesn't matter.

So we were in the car. and just like I did something like super small that pissed my sister off and like I was frustrated that she was frustrated about the situation because I didn't think it was a big deal you know and it took me like three four minutes you know of like driving and just like listening to music to finally like you know grab her leg and be like hey I'm sorry like that wasn't cool you know but it's it's funny how how tough it can be sometimes even for like such inconsequential things yes but it's uh it's really big when people apologize and own up for the things they do that like really makes a man or a woman for whatever you identify

yeah yeah that that that's uh that's what you call a character yeah and it's funny when like you know for i mean you you you said a perfect example uh where you'll someone say hey they'll get upset and you'll get upset they're getting upset right yeah yeah yeah and then you finally play it in in your mind and it's funny how like uh like your heart tells you shit like you part you did that like differently and you should say you're sorry this whole other part of your mind comes in says no no like you're like that like don't like don't i don't say sorry yeah it's that it's so fucked up it's that pride and that ego that's like that's like basically trying to say hey your perspective is the only perspective you know yes and just like letting that down and just stepping outside of yourself and thinking okay well

even if i think this person's wrong or shouldn't have reacted this way like there's a reason they feel the way that they do you know like something that happened caused them to like like have these emotions and yeah you have to handle that accordingly it's true man it's it's i mean i get why people don't say sorry it's not an excuse but it's so tough it's so tough dude yeah but long story short anybody who just doesn't own up and can't apologize for things i don't trust it yeah it's just a huge red flag red flag massive massive and you take that for it for your whole like dude i should that shit does not go away it will it will manifest into something else you know like yeah if you don't say sorry you don't

You're not taking into accountable what happened or what you've done. It's just going to manifest and it's something. I know from experience, if I'm a piece of shit sometime and I don't fix it, it'll manifest into something else. It's so weird. Karma. Dude, I have, I have like, oh my God, bro. I mean, it's, that idea has made me a better person, which, you know, it's kind of like the idea of, of consequence, you know. People say, oh, well, yeah, sure, this person didn't do this or that or X, Y, and Z.

Did they do it because they thought it was the right thing or did they do it because they feared consequences, right? Wow. You know, I mean, having a balance, I think is important. Like, I can't lie and say that there aren't things that I would do if there were no consequences. But, again, I'm a big believer in karma and just, like, everything that you do shapes who you are. Like, I'll give an example. I was in this store the other day, this Patagonia store in Costa Mesa. and they had a ring

it was like a hundred bucks or something and I was just like wearing it throughout the store just like you know considering if I wanted it and I was like you know what this is like a big company if I steal this nobody's gonna care it's not gonna harm anybody right it's not like stealing from like a small business it's like a big business you know it's like stealing from Walmart like who gives a fuck

but then I was just like why would I do that you know like why would I be a thief like even if it's not going to harm anybody like that just you know is telling of the kind of person that I am am, you know, and that just, like, karma, like, affected my decision. Which sounds funny, you know, like, why, you know, at 27 years old, am I going to think to, like, steal a ring from a store? That's so stupid, you know?

But it's just, like, I don't know. She goes through my mind. Like, when I was younger, like, 18, 19, I was kind of, like, a little klepto, you know, I would still do things a lot. But, you know, now that, like, I firmly believe that any kind of, like, deception or whatever like that is going to get me back at some point in a big way. I 100% agree with you. Karma, I'm a big believer in karma.

Massive. Good. One time, the band, which is we just got, we put ourselves on my space. We're getting that first initial buzz. And one day, I was suicide? Yes. And then one day I walk in the garage when we were jammed. And then my half stack and marks were gone.

and I was I sat there in a garage like what happened then you I was like did someone come in and borrow it like you know like so oh shit I just got jacked holy shit so I'm just stole my stole our stuff and then we we put up a message on my space saying you know this was like before like the crowdfunding and asking fans for money like we I think we asked for it for money I think and we got like 500 bucks or something yeah but we put it towards new gear we got new half stacks and and life went on but I'm not going to say who it was I'm not going to say who it was I'm not going to say who it was I'm not going to say who it was us but sewn in our band stole and we just fucking repeated the cycle like we archie got jack and then to have gear for us sewn in a band stole a mace ahead from their block that they grew up on and uh oh to give back to the band yeah for oh i see yeah so we have amps to use an eye for an eye bro not good not good so horrible and then um that amp ended up blowing up A brand new head I am getting and blew up and like I look back and like well I blew up and we're on tour like the worst possible time. Yeah, it's like well This is karma. We we stole that amp and therefore it affected the rest of our gear, you know

Yeah, yeah, yeah, like well karma's I'm like you know I'm not gonna steal a gear ever again dude. Fuck that. Oh my god Bro, I have a homie. He told me the story one time so he went on A vacation I think he was in Vegas or something or New Orleans doesn't matter he was gone for like a three-day weekend or something. Yeah. And like the last day of the trip, his card was stolen. And then like there were like $1,000 charges on his card or something like that. So he calls his credit card company.

And they're like, okay, so, you know, like we're going to take care of this. You know, we're going to return all the charges and cancel your card. Your card was stolen on Thursday, right? Yeah. Thursday was like the day that he left to go out of town. right and the card wasn't stolen until the last day you know so the hotels and like the drinks and the eating out and like all all the things that he used his card for on that vacation they just credited it all back to his account because he lied and said that his card was stolen before the

trip and not at the end and you know me and my buddies are laughing about it we're like damn that's dope blah blah and then i was the asshole and i was like oh damn but i bet karma got you real bad And it was like, oh yeah, a month later, I totaled my car. You know what I mean? Oh my goodness. Even that, like, okay, a credit card company, like, honestly, I wouldn't give a fuck if I ripped off a credit card company for a couple thousand dollars. Yeah.

You know, like they're all crooks or, I don't know, whatever. But it's just like, it's not always about that, you know, it's about yourself. It's about your own personal accountability and who you are. Dude, that is a month later, I totaled on my car. Yeah. That sums up that story perfectly, dude. Yeah, exactly. My God, it's karma, dude.

Yeah. I don't know what else to say that. Yeah, and just, you know, reflections on yourself is huge. It's huge, man. Yeah. So just curious, so you're in Florida in the closet. So I assumed that the next call you got was from rings, correct? Yeah.

So when I was 17. I was still in high school. Rings to Saturn put out a Facebook post that they were looking for a drummer. So I was in an audition process with Rings

like a year before I even joined Abiotic and I didn't end up making the audition somebody else got it. And then like a year later I joined Abiotic and then

things started falling apart with that band really fast like two or three days after I left. landed in Miami and moved, the singer quit of a biotic. So we had to find a fill in, you know. And then later on we got another singer.

And then we're on tour and we find out that our booking agent drops us. And then our second singer quits. And then the studio time that we had booked for the album that I had been writing with them gets canceled, you know, because we don't have a singer. So it's just all these things are happening. And, you know, I'm living in Miami. I had been living in a house and even though I was like in the closet or on the couch it was like a dope, nice, big house

like with my homies and you know they ended up moving out of that house so I had to like live on my friend's couch my co-worker's couch and you know the place was just like very dirty you know what I mean like small

I'm very grateful that they let me stay but you know it wasn't ideal so the point is that all those things started to add up and then it was around that time that I got to call asking if I wanted to play for rings and I was like dude like the band's way bigger

I'm actually gonna make money in this band I get to go home you know and like move back home because the band was based in California bands getting you know better opportunities yeah so that's what I did I was like hey guys sorry but I got a dip and I moved I played for rings of Saturn

for like four and a half years how's that time in Lawrence? A lot of good and a lot of bad but I'm grateful for the experience and I'm grateful for everything that it brought me. There were a lot of tough times, just tough dynamics in the band. You know, nothing that, like, I really care to get into at this point because it's old news.

You know, I don't care that with me anymore. But it was tough. Like, it was mentally taxing for a long time. But also great, you know? I mean, living like a fucking rock star, you know, at 19, 20, 21 years old, like doing the shit that we were doing. like, you know, it wasn't the craziest things, but to me, you know, so young, traveling all around the country and all over the world, like playing shows, I was fucking all top of the world in my head, dude.

I was so stoked. Man, you were young, 21? Yeah. And rings? I joined rings when I was 19. That's insane. Yeah, it was fun. What, you were in that band for three or four years?

Like four and a half years. Oh, shit. Yeah, like January 2014 until, uh, Like springtime, 2018. So you're out when you're 23. Early 20s. Let's see, 2018, 27. What's the year now?

Four years ago, so like 23, I think. You were right? Yeah, you were right. Uh-huh. Math, that's the only thing I had to see in schools. Yeah. I got a see in biology and in chemistry. Oh, you're smart, dude.

Holy shit. Chemistry? Chemistry was hard, dude. And then I got to see in Calc 2 in college because that class was fucked up. I had this teacher. He was Chinese and he had a very, very thick accent. And he just spoke very bluntly and plainly. And I remember I was like sick and so I had to like make up a test and I took the test.

And I gave it to him and then like a few days later he emailed me and he was like, hey Aaron, I have your test results, you did very bad. That's like what he said in the email. And it was like, I got like a D on the test or something. Oh, shit. Here's your test. You did very bad. That was it.

Nothing to soften the blow. Just telling me how it is. Oh my goodness, dude. Well, we're already 45 minutes in. You wanted to do the shot or what's up? We're 45 minutes in right now? Yeah. Yeah, let's do it.

That's like impossible. No, dude, we're fucking flowing. That's crazy. Cheers, Aaron. Cheers, brother. Good to see you, man. Yeah, you too. Metallica whiskey. They nailed it, dude.

I don't know who they teamed up with. This is Metallica whiskey? Yes, I don't know who they teamed up with, but they did a fucking phenomenal job. Got that Bevmo. Shout out to Bev-Moh. Oh, blackened. Yeah, okay. I see.

Very cool. Should we... I try to hit him up. Should we smoke or what? Sure, yeah. Oh, does that have a tobacco in it? No. You're going to try to kill him?

I'll do A. Oh, that's right. Yeah, you just said that you smoke. I can't get blasted, dude. I can't get, I can't get blasted. Right, right, right. Okay, that's fair. That's fine.

But if you want to smoke, it's fun, I don't care. I'll do one little fucking poof-boop. Yeah, I won't go crazy. I got to go to the studio after this, so playing a little boozy and high. Yeah, that's fun. Yeah, I don't know exactly what will happen, but it's fun. That's great. Do you have a lighter or no?

If not, then I guess fate has, uh, oh, look at it. this. I have an actual fucking straight-up lighter. This is the one I used to light up Jimmy, so. Jimmy? Yeah. Oh, yeah. St. Jimmy's lit up, dude. Good luck. For those of you listening, every episode, I light the candle here that has a picture

of Jimmy Hendricks on it for a good luck. Now we got the Slipknot ashtray. Have you have you toured with Slipknot? The first Mayhamp Festival, 2008, that was when we did that tour with him. That was our first massive tour. That was really

That was a lot Going that's sick going from bars to like to that was pretty It's pretty insane Wait, that was like your first big tour? Yeah, or like first tour ever? That was our first big big tour Oh, so you were like playing bars and clubs and then you went to that that that's so cool Yeah, the tour before that was with Nile and they treat us like shit and then they go from that to like it was great guys too Oh shit be careful I'm scared

it's pineapple express no I'm just kidding I don't know what it is I don't even know you know exactly thank you pineapple express does yeah for sure

what is um what's like one of the favorite tours you've done is there like a standout I mean you've been touring a lot longer than me and you've been doing like

you've done way bigger things than me so like I imagine that there's like hopefully like some kind of landmark like that was it honestly that tour and then that corn tour 2015 that was a big moment

for us yeah direct support the corn it was nuts it was the US tour that did the fucking whole first record so it was a 20 year

anniversary of the first record oh of corn's first record yeah and they took us out it was insane dude that's so fucking cool bro I was just walking around the whole time

with my head down I'll look up and see John Davis I'm like oh shit there he is oh my goodness I'm gonna have a heart attack Did you make comies with any of them? Yeah, not really.

Yeah, talk pretty often. Those guys, I always say, they're pure class. They really mastered, like, how to beat. You know, they're legends, but they're also down to earth. They just mastered that, like, rock star dynamic. They just mastered it. Okay, that makes sense because, like, you know, somebody that's so far off the deep end could be, like, an asshole.

Totally. But then other people, I feel like, aren't, like, don't have enough of an edge. They don't have enough of that rock star energy, you know, that like just otherworldly, you know, somebody that's not your next door neighbor on stage, you know, to steal the words of lemmy. Paraphrasing. But yeah, that's cool to have that balance to like have that star power and that energy, but still be like down to earth and like welcoming and friendly. That's super dope. It's dope, dude.

It's great. Were you born in Huntington Beach? I was born in Newport Beach. I was born at Hogue Hospital. Wow. Yeah. And 94. 94, yeah, November.

Do you know what was going around you in 94 in that area? Pulp Fiction came out. Yeah, that's, you're right, true, you're right. Yeah. You're right. Why? Do you have something else to tell me? Yes.

Okay, do it. Only because this actually comes from the Pure Factory conversation. We had a few nights ago. So, Corn is my favorite band. So they moved from Bakersfield to that era. in 93 and dropped their first record in 94 so so around where you were born like that that was happening in 93 94 I mean essentially created a genre of like new metal and obviously heavy music came back in a big way and I and you're and you're just born damn so you're saying you're just

born so you're saying heavy music like came back in a big way then um when when was the era previous that like heavy music was really thriving like good question like are you talking about like judas priest iron maiden type era or like sabbathy stuff too maybe it's just interesting you say that because even now i like there's a big resurgence of heavy music yes um i remember like you and we were at chain like a couple weeks ago and you were talking about how grateful you are that your band is like a part of this death core revival thing you know again because there's always all these peaks and valleys. It's so interesting how that works in the metal industry. And I mean, I'm assuming all facets of the music industry, but I don't have as much experience, you know,

in those other genres or whatever areas. But I think you have a lot. I think you have more to me actually because. Oh, sorry to interrupt. I mean like in other facets of music like the pop world. You know what I mean? Like everything. Like everything always kind of comes and goes. But continue. Yes. Yeah. I mean, you, you played in so many kinds of at bands and I dove into which is this for people listening to watch and this is for them because I dove

into your personal YouTube history and you were posting cover drum covers when you were 10 years ago yeah what you were 17? I think the first I think the first drum videos I put online were like when I was between

14 or 16 Wow like there's that's Crazy, dude. I think it's unlisted. I can't remember, but there's a video on my YouTube channel, whether or not it's public, of me playing Ghost of Prodition by OPEC, but I didn't know how to, like, sync audio with, like, the music yet. So it was just the drums. There's like no music behind it. So good. Dude, I'm like a baby. I think I was 16. I'm like, I'm so young looking. It's hilarious. But yeah, I've been doing it for a long time. I just, and I don't even know why either. Why did you start doing that? Well, see, that's, I don't think I've really thought about this until you bring that up right now. But, you know, I'm very fortunate that I did because, you know, like, social media and YouTube and video content is the way of the world.

And I'm like, I've told people this a lot, especially with the endorsements that I have. That's not just from, you know, the bands I've played for or, you know, touring a lot. Like, a lot of that goes hand in hand with, like, just the video content that I've been able to make, you know? like especially videos in the past when I was in rings made just like a ton of views like every time it was like shred stuff anyway so the point is I'm fortunate that I started that but

I didn't do it with the intention of you know networking or like finding bands I think I just wanted to make videos I think I looked up to people like Alex Ruedinger I think was

he was my biggest influence I think when I was really young and when I say influence like not necessarily drumming style but just like the fact that he made play throughs you know and he just made videos like I saw that and I was like oh I want to do that like I think I'm pretty good I want to put videos

online and just it was just fun it was like a really fun part of like the creation process for me I think too because I didn't play a melodic instrument I didn't write music you know like actual songs so I think being able to

create some form of media. And I haven't even thought about this. Like, I've never spoken these words out loud. So I think I'm kind of coming to like a cool revelation because you're asking this. Fuck yeah. But yeah, like I, I think that was just a big creative outlet for me, you know, just able to make it and release it. And just like, it's off my shoulders now.

That's, it's bizarre because you were so young. I know, dude. I don't, I, um, I don't know exactly like. what it was in me that compelled to me to do things at such a young age. But I'm definitely fortunate to have my parents' upbringing when it comes to music.

They were like a huge influence on me and just like huge supporters of like what I did musically. That and like a couple of key people in my life too. Like specifically my friend Greg who passed a few years ago but he was a lot older than me. He died when he was in his 50s

but he was like, an older brother and he was just a huge cheerleader and source of encouragement to me when I was really young just like always helping me get better and always telling me that I was the shit and telling me that I was going to do big things you know when I was 12 13 14 um so I have my environment to think in a big way for sure you touched on something big there it was like uh you have a lot of people telling you can't do something for some reason when you have one person tell you something positive about to you about you is it's it goes such a long way man dude it goes a long way positivity is something that i have been working on in my life like more recently

i mean i'm talking like the last six to 12 months um i have been working on just like kindness and positivity as as a human being um more so than ever like i wouldn't say that i've ever been like a mean person intentionally right but i just you know growing up i think and in my like early adult years like would kind of have like a negative outlook you know and be would kind of be like dry and sarcastic and you know i don't know sometimes like rude you know and like it was never a huge deal because it was always guys as like funny you know and like charismatic but um anyway my my my point is that you know some like the closer people to me in my life lately um close for friends and like family members have just you know i've i've just talked to them about the power of

positivity like for yourself and for others and for people around you and how powerful even like small little jokes you know of like attacking somebody's character like something that they do like how far those can go you know what i mean oh yeah and like i still love to roast and haze my friends and you know have fun don't get don't of course don't get me wrong yeah but there's a level right where you really want to be each other's support system. Yeah. And it's just, I don't know. It's a cool thing that I've, like, grown into over the last year.

I'm, like, still, you know, getting my bearings on, like, this new perspective I have on life. I don't know if that makes any sense because it's, like, kind of esoteric and I'm now, like, extremely stoned. Because I'm kind of a lightweight, but. Damn, that was a loud peek. I think I clipped the mic there, my bad. No, that was a beautiful, that was a beautiful saying, dude. Holy shit. Good.

That's the social media clip. Oh, yeah. Easy, bro. Easy. Thank you, Aaron. Dude, it'll be easy to find because it has the biggest peak. I see the region in logic right now. Well, that's why they invented limiters.

Yeah, yeah. Exactly. I personally don't know you know, but I personally mixed audio. Oh, yeah? Yeah. That's cool. So I learned about compressors. Limiters boring boring. Boring shit, fuck it. It's not boring dude actually at all because I mean

Most most Most of the videos that I've like posted on YouTube And then like the nicer ones that like are a clip from a YouTube video on Instagram and stuff Yeah, I've had other people mix but there are some things that I've mixed myself And I've like definitely dived kind of like deeper into just you know drum production like at my studio. I have all my own mics and all that shit. You know like everything you need to record and And like, it's, um, it's really fun to look back, you know, at just like that progression. And like learning to mix and learning how to engineer and like learning how to how to make your own shit better, you know, is really, really fun. I really like it a lot.

And I assume that you would too. Yes. Yeah. Or maybe you hate it because some people don't like that process. But no. I like it. No. I like it.

And it's, I mean, just to know how to do it is very satisfying. Just like you had that Any kind of any form of experience That you could throw into your arsenal of your plane That's behind your plane in your plane It's it's it's cool to know Yeah yeah yeah for sure And I mean I can tell like

You know you enjoying doing this Just like like you said Everything in your arsenal that adds to your craft You know Be love it Being able to say I was involved with this and this and this You know it's like when you see I don't know like a movie

And like the director was also like one of the lead actors and also was this and that, you know what I mean? Just people that are multifaceted are so cool. And that's, I noticed, like, when, as soon as I walked in here, I was like, oh, this guy really fucking cares about what he's doing. Like, he really loves what he's doing. Oh, yeah, of course. Thanks, man.

But I love just seeing that, bro. I mean, even just like, you've got a purple lighter, the hair's purple, this is purple, you know? It's like the lights. It's like you really love this, it seems. Yes, I do. Which is so fucking cool, bro. You know what's funny is that the reason why I'm doing this because I'm a fucking idiot. What do you mean?

What do you mean? Because, I mean, I need to learn, dude. My brain's stupid. I need to learn from all kinds of people. Oh, okay. So, like, this is like, you're using this as a learning lesson. Yeah. Yes.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's really fucking cool, the absorbing information. I love that, though. That's great. Yeah. I love.

This is like another. reason why like I love doing interviews and and podcasts and things I just love talking to people yeah yeah it's cool it's so enriching to me yes yeah and what I notice about uh myself included being selfish for a second but also with other people like you'll know more about yourself you give opportunity to talk about it right have you ever done have you done like an interview and you sit it out loud and like oh shit yeah I don't know that bro that happened like 20 30 minutes ago here yeah remember yeah So cool.

Maybe that was five minutes ago. I don't know. Who knows? I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. Yeah, yeah. That's cool.

Got you. But yeah, you know, yeah, that for sure happens. I mean, that's a lot of what they say about therapy even, right? Is that sometimes it's just hearing yourself say it out loud and get those points out, which is like, yeah, man. I mean, I seek counsel in my daily life all the time. time with with so many decisions that I make ranging from all areas of my life. I'm always calling people and talking and just trying to seek counsel and get somebody else's perspective and advice.

I love it. It is so again just enriching. It just helps. I love I love walking through life not alone, you know, but with but with people beside me. Yes. Yeah, we all need someone beside us. We all need it. I mean,

in the hard way, you need a lot. You could take things only so far by yourself. And when you get to that point, you need someone else to fucking either bounce your feelings off of ideas or song ideas,

like, just anything. Like you need another perspective of another person to better you. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. It's nuts.

Two heads are better than one, three heads two, all that. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Sometimes there can be too many. You know?

Oh, yeah. Sometimes it's like you're getting way too many conflicting voices. But that's where intuition comes in. How do you feel about intuition? It's everything. Any work that you can do to enhance your

intuition is huge. That's kind of like the first call. Usually that's made even in songwriting. Like that kind of first idea kind of comes up, tends to be the best one. It's weird. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With ideas, with conversation,

like kind of go with the gut feeling. It's huge. So when you talk about, songwriting you said that like you know the the first one is usually the best one yeah so what's your songwriting process and like what I'm curious is like from the perspective of do you just write something and then you kind of like forget about it after some tweaks or do you like toil and toil endlessly you know like does this have to be perfect I made this you know thing just so like what is your process like is it kind of quick is it like really meticulous

it's kind of quick I like having a riff and I'm bringing it to the guys because we also jam in the same room yeah I can hear that in your music you can hear that it oh cool that is played before it's like you know flushed out

that's the goal yeah it's awesome yeah because I know that whatever they can help me with will be way cooler than my idea so either Mark will bring you a riff or I will and it's usually that first skeleton

if you kind of hash it out usually it's pretty close okay so what like because everyone's writing it once and it's very special like the riff is kind of taking his life of its own and you have four people in that room in the same time

Ernie being one of them that's kind of the riffs the riff has to say the riff the drum part and the song has to say and we're just kind of letting it happen dude what is so fucking cool about that that I feel like is very unique to

it's just not really what's happening nowadays it makes it so important who your band members are I'm high you get

your sorry why are you sorry I don't know no no it's good yeah we're supposed to be we spoke

okay but no it's chilling so like but it makes it so important who your band members are because that's who's writing the

And like kind of what I mean is a band where it's just like one guy making everything, you know, he can just hire people to play the music live and like the songs are, you know, generally going to sound like the band because it's just them, you know? And so they can kind of pick, you know, they can like be choosy with who they want to play the music live. But at the end of the day, like they can just find some musicians to perform the music. Yeah. But in a band like yours with how you're describing the writing process is, you want to make sure that your drummer is the kind of drummer that fits the vision you have, you know, with the music that you're writing because you're writing it altogether, you know? That's like very unique. I feel like a lot of bands don't jam together like that. Or maybe they do. And I don't, and I just assume that they don't. A lot of bands don't jam together.

Yeah. I know, I know, like, some backstories. When you present something live, who is your band? Uh-huh. And then you put the most amount of energy out there every fucking night. And that comes from guys like us. I mean, they're all the sacrifice and fucking all that, dude. And we try people, we obviously had a low in our career, but, you know, every, every night we throw it out there.

This is, we got five guys that are always there. Oh, dude. That's it. I know. Because I know about when your band had a low. And I also know that you guys never acted like it. You know, when people. Thank you for that.

that. Yeah. Thank you very much, Aaron. You know when people say things like, yeah, you know, there's this band I saw and, you know, at the small club in the middle of, you know, whatever. And, you know, there were only 50 people there, but they played like they were playing to 10,000, you know. When you hear that about bands, you know, like when somebody that I know tells me a story of a band they saw that did that, I'm just like, bro, that's like, that's exactly the fucking point. I just played we played this little last minute festival show

in Rhode Island a few weeks ago. Drugs did. We got asked to like headline like my ticket was booked like five or six days before the date like it was super last minute. Anyway, I don't know what happened. It just seemed like the promotion

was mismanaged. Something, whatever. It doesn't matter. That's not the point. The point is that the show there were like fucking 30 people watching maybe including like people in the bands maybe a little bit more but we played and it's just like I played the same I do every single night on tour I stood up I did this I did that you know what I mean and it's like people came up to us after and like said wow like that was one of the like best shows I've seen in you know the last recent while and it didn't matter who is in the audience like you guys fucking crushed it and that's exactly what I

I want to do every, every single time somebody sees me play drums or whatever. Like, I'm playing drums because I love playing drums. So it doesn't matter where you put me. Yes. You know, unless my mental health is in, you know, the dumps because of the position I'm in, but that is completely separate. Yeah. And even then, you could channel that for that 25 minutes for that hour. You, you, in a matter of low in your life, you could kind of channel it. And that, that moment you know um like like you're if you're in a in a slump with your with their mental health you can kind of channel it oh like to oh like into the performance or something i do i see yeah you know what i don't think i really have in the past oh unfortunately yeah and i think

okay let me let me figure about how to explain this here so like on stage i feel like i'm it like when I've been in like low states my energy is pretty low on stage and I don't really I mean you know it's been a long time since that's happened but um uh in the creative process I feel channeling like more negative weight that you're carrying more into the creative process yes yes yeah then the performative aspect you're right yeah yeah it's true yeah um yeah you're right you probably had a different uh touring experienced than I did. Yeah. You know, with that, you know, especially during those four years, you know.

Yeah, for sure. Definitely. Yeah. I mean, because when we were in our, you know, our low, there's a lot of mental, there's, you know, five different mental states, and then it will, it will affect yours, but you have, you have a lot experience with that. So now this is mental state will affect yours. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. You know, yeah. It's nuts, dude. It's cool, though. that you guys are like back on top it's really sick thankfully man holy shit yeah yeah getting to the uh you know getting through the shit yeah just like never stopping no it's like it's like what what you're saying earlier like you know you know you matter what show you play like you play like there's there's fucking 10 000 of people out there yeah you know yeah because it's gonna make all

those people in the audiences like people will remember that forever forever forever they'd be like dude, I remember I saw this band and they were incredible and nobody was there. It's like you'll never see the band in that environment again. You know, it's like kind of special if you do it right, you know? Which I don't know if that's like

me like a way of making ourselves feel better about playing you know, something that like isn't that sick. But I mean, but also I believe in the power of like your positive thoughts. So like just having that perspective kind of like makes the reality positive.

Yeah. Yeah. If you throw down out there, especially when you're a drummer. Yeah. Dude, like, there's something about drumming that's like, it's more like you could do a drum playthrough. There's something with their eyes. It's so pleasing to see a drummer, this drum. Dude. There's something about it. Yeah. I know. It's been a thing. No, I've actually talked to a lot of guitar players about this. And they're like, yeah, drum playthrus are better than guitar playthrues. Fuck. No doubt. He's like, I watch drum playthers. I don't watch guitar players. I don't watch guitar players. Playthrus. Okay. There is a thing about that. So I'm going to tell you something right now and it's going to make me seem

not a little silly, but a little silly. Let's get silly. But this whole subject. I just got super jazz the other day at that show at SpiritBox. So I had never met any of those guys in the band. I talked to the drummer Zev a little bit sometimes on Instagram, but I had never met him. Anyway, this just has to do with guitar players and drum playthroids. I was like standing side stage at the end of the set and then like they all started walking off

and then Mike their guitar player he like double take to me and then he walked him and he's like hey we haven't met but I know you you're an you're an incredible drummer and I was just like I love that band a lot you know what I mean so I was like dog what the fuck and I ended up talking to him later and he was like yeah no I've just like because I said are you a drummer like or like do I know you like have we met through like a mutual friend he's like oh no I've just been watching drum playthrus. I'm like, but you're a guitar player. But anyway, I was just like, dude, this band that I love so much and then the guitar player is like, hey, bro, you're a, you're a sick drummer. I'm just like, kind of melted a little bit at the show. You know what I mean? I was so

stoked. Hey, I didn't, I didn't punish anybody, okay? But I was really hyped. It was cool. That's cool. Dude, spirit box is fucking sick, dude. Yeah. They're a sick fucking band. That show was so fucking tight. That show was amazing. I bought an overpriced shirt. It's too small. but I still wore it, you know? It looks good, no. I'm insecure about it. I meant to mention, why are you insecure about it? It's too small, man.

I don't know. I think it looks good on you. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, it looks fine. I wouldn't be insecure. Appreciate that. Yeah, no, I noticed when we walked up here, you wearing the shirt, I was like, hey, Spirit Box Represent, dog. Dude, they're fucking so sick.

You said you bought an overpriced shirt. That's funny. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's fucking. It's band merch. House of Blues, but it's the tie-dye stuff that add add more bucks. So you buy me. Yeah, that makes sense. And in the entire day, it's like $5, $10 more.

Dude, their line for merch did not end the entire night. I know. I waited. I had to leave the show when they were playing. I'm like, I know if I don't go now, I'm not, I'm going to buy. Even then, I love this fucking five people online. There's people that bought a ticket. Even while they're playing.

People bought a ticket to sit in line for merch. That's fucking crazy, dude. That is so crazy. That is insane, man. It's wild to think about, just like being a musician and being in the music industry it's wild to think about how

just like the general public experiences shows versus the way we do sometimes like I think about that like I'll bring friends to shows and they're kind of like confused or like you know awestruck at like everything that's going on you know like going backstage and like all these things and I'm like oh yeah like

you don't usually get to do that at concerts yeah but like now I hate going to concerts if I like have to stand in Jen Pop I'm like the biggest diva how are you with that like I am not proud to say it I just I go to a show and I'm just like I have to love the band I have to love the band I have to have I have to have access yeah honestly straight up I have to have access but that backstage I have to be why only because I want to see the band In the form. So I want to go out and see them you know from the house or upstairs Yeah, I want to be able to go to go to the bar and buy overpriced fucking Margarito you know and drink it and down it and then watching spirit box

But I want to be able to go back there. It's like a talk to I mean it's different because we have friends back there Yeah, I mean I have people that like oh I haven't seen them either Yeah or five years. I that's that and especially being older like it's I'm killing two people is three search or one stone. I'm like, I go to shows for the purpose. I'm leaving my personal life. My girlfriend is understanding,

hey, you should go out, see the show. So I'm seeing the show while hanging out with, let's say, for example, Spirit Box. I can see Spirit Box. I can see Aaron. I could see Ernie. I could see people I haven't seen. I saw Mike Caputo, great drummer. Yeah.

He plays drones for Brandon's sacrifice. Shout out. And I, I, what can I do in my time that's condensed? Yeah. Because it has to be that way for me. I'm fucking busy.

dude yeah i'm busy as fuck lately i'm like how can i condense my time so a show for me is like i have to go backstage yeah you're hanging with everybody i have to hang with people you're networking and you're going to a show exactly i have to exactly and yeah it's funny you say that because i'll tell friends too unless it's a band i i really want to see you know and i'm down to just watch and like kick it with my homies um yeah like when i hit up my homies and i'm like yeah here's here's my name plus one AA and like I always like am that bitch that always emphasizes every time I'm like yeah just make sure it's AA because you know with this venue they can get weird about it or this venue is more lax but you got to do this and that you know because I'm just like I need to have

access I need to be able to go in and out you know I can't get stuck in the audience but other shows where you'll like buy a ticket to go see if it's like outside of the world you work in for example like you know most of my connections are in like the heavy music world you know I can't I can get tickets to like other shows sometimes, you know, because you just meet more and more and more people. But sometimes there's bands who I don't really have any connections to or if I do, like, you know, I don't know them that well. Anyway, so I'll buy tickets to like a show that I really want to see.

Do you find yourself doing that these days? If it's a show, I know I don't have a hook up and like, you know, I have no one to talk to you here. Yeah. I'm going here, which it's rare. It's so fucking rare when you play music and it's like when you go to a show for pure pleasure. I know. It is so rare, dude.

I mean, for me, it's definitely that way. Well, even. And then I will buy the ticket. Just go there in and out to the show. Boom, boom. I'm out. Yeah. But it's like, because for a while, it was like, you know, I, you know, like when I was

younger, when I was starting out, it was like I, I, um, can get tickets to just, you know, see the bands that have already toured with, you know, like my homies, whatever. Like, I don't, I don't really care about the music that much, but I'm, I'm going to kick it. But then I would buy tickets for shows that I really. really want to see, you know, bands that I love. And now it's getting to the point where bands that I really love or that I grew up listening to or that, like, I really want to see, I still like have some kind of hook up there.

And it's really, really weird. Like, when I was a teenager, like, one of my favorite bands. And it was a band that like me and my whole family, like, bonded over. Yeah. It's called The Deer Hunter. Do you know them at all? I've heard about that band. I've heard the band name.

Yeah. Like an indie rock, Prague indie rock kind of band. Sick. Anyway, been one of my favorite bands for years and years and years. And the last time they came through town, I actually had a homie that was doing their sound. And then I just had incidentally, like, made Instagram friends with their bass player, Nick. Anyway, so this band that was like my favorite band when I was a kid and I would always pay to go to the shows with my friends or family. No matter what, I didn't care like I was going to the show.

It's like, now I just have a hookup. And I'm like backstage kicking in with these guys. It's so weird. It's weird. It's so weird. I'm like, sometimes I'm kind of like, wish I could just have that separation. You know what I mean?

That's, yeah. And then I'm like, you get a hookup. You're like, man, no one knows I'm a fucking loser. What do you mean? They fucking let this loser in the years. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially if you don't like know a whole bunch of people for sure.

Yeah, I've been in those situations where, like, I go to, like, Somehow I get backstage at a show that's like outside of my scene or genre. And like I don't know anybody. And I'm like, all right, well, I'm just walking around here. Yeah. And you obviously you're very familiar with making sacrifices just for your love and passion of playing drums, which are chosen passions. But to me, one of the biggest sacrifices is the way you hear music.

Oh, yeah, dude. Because once you're in it, you can never. have that I think your innocence is gone. Yeah, I'm always, you never see a live show or hear a record ever again. Yeah, I'm always critical. I have a critical ear now. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, it sucks.

Yeah. That is the fucking worst. And to me, like, that's kind of one of like the biggest sacrifices of if you choose to do this, that innocence of your eyes and ears, they're gone. You know what? It's over. It's over. I feel like, um, when I get really high.

and I listen to music, I feel a little bit more childlike. Oh my God, that's right. That is right. But also, on top of that, I really love that you brought this up. So I, some of my favorite bands

are in completely different genres, completely different genres. And they make my top five. Nice. You know, top 10 albums or whatever. Yeah. Like, this band called Bad Sons. Do you know them?

Bad Sons, I've heard of them. Okay. They're like a kind of indie, but like, the 1975, kind of got that, like, 80s, washed out throwback, kind of poppy music. Anyway, them, Mac Miller, one of his albums is in my top five,

Amy Winehouse. Oh, wow. Yeah, this band, this, like, progressive metal band called Agent Fresco. Anyway, sorry, the point is that I was trying to figure out how I would define, like, my favorite bands or, like, the best bands to me. And I realized that my favorite band,

are the one who, when I listen to them, I don't think about it critically. I don't think about, you know, analyzing what they did and how they structured this song and, you know, oh, that snares too loud. Or I really wish that that guitar tone was a little, you know, darker or something, whatever, right? Like, I don't think about that when I hear, like, my favorite bands. I'm just in the music and that's it. You know, and not every band does that to me. Even, like, bands and songs that I love, you know, I'm still listening to it.

with like a critical ear but again my like top favorite bands are the ones that i just listen and that's all i'm doing is just experiencing the sounds dude yeah you ever heard like your favorite bands but later on in your life and it's like oh shit it's my first time hearing this my favorite record's a lot high or on oh yeah or on some kind of psychedelic you know like oh it's a whole different like oh you go back to like who you were yeah it's very rare yeah but it's only possible when you're under a substance. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I mean, I don't condone any doing anything. Don't listen to me with that. But like, for real, like, I heard corn on DMT. I was like, oh, that's why I love this band so much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, oh, my God, this is fucking heavy, dude. I've, um, I've been doing that lately, like, revisiting some old, old artists or bands or songs that I used to listen to.

And I love distinguishing, at least, obviously, it's just like my opinion. my perspective but I love distinguishing what I believe songs or albums or bands that I just kind of liked because it was nostalgic but I don't really feel like it's that good anymore like it didn't really stand the test of time and in my opinion distinguishing between those and between the songs that I listened to when I was young but I'm like oh these are still bangers like these hooks are still fucking fire like nothing about this corny this age like fine wine you know it's cool to find those old gems and be like oh man like yeah there was a reason i loved this song because it was fucking sick and then some songs it's like oh i liked it i get why i liked it

but not anymore interesting yeah for me that's a cold chamber where like i listen to those records now i'm like oh man it's it's still sick yeah yeah i never listened to them oh my god oh my goodness harran i do this so much music that musicians get so mad at me for not knowing i think you should, I mean, especially you being a drummer. Like, I think you would love, like, the drumming in New Metal. And that whole 90s, late 90s, maybe in the early 2000, like, time,

I think you would love the drumming. The band's like cold chamber, corn, fear factory. I think you would, like, you know, appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah, I think so too, for sure. I, for some reason, I just never dove deep into, like, new metal, that kind

of stuff. I was, I was raised on progressive metal. From my dad. Yeah, right, right, right. And so it took me a long time. It's actually funny because I mean, I was like a huge, like elitist asshole snob when I was young, honestly. I was like a dick when it came to music. And I just, you know, if it wasn't like so technically proficient, you know, and, you know, oh, well, what about the musicianship?

What about this? You know, but like how good can they play, you know? And I was listening to just a lot of Prague, you know? Symphony X and Dream Theater and like Power Metal bands. And I was just like, yeah, you know, if it's not this, it's dumb. It's too simple. It's too easy. It's too whatever, you know?

So it took me a while to just like understand and appreciate music that was just like simple and like more emotive than technical. You know what I mean? that's actually why I got the Blinkwynny2 tat on my knee A tattoo Yeah A Plinquin too Yeah I have an OPEC tattoo as well

But Of course you do But I have the Blink one because It wasn't because I loved Blink Like I do but it wasn't like Oh my God, they're my favorite band or something But I just Blink was the band that

You know when I was like in my later teenage years maybe like 18 or 19 or maybe 20 or something i just listened to them for like the first time in a while and i used to you know clown on bands like that and you know make fun of simple silly bands like that were like the musician sucked you know what i mean um and uh i heard it and i was like wow this shit's good and it was just it kind of was my like it was my turning point as a musician you know in understanding music and understanding like what matters in music and stepping away from the whole just it has to be technical It has to be fast.

It has to be this. It has to be that. It was just like the... And, you know, they're the antithesis of all of that. They're silly. And, you know, like, some of it's kind of sloppy. And, you know, like, it's just not serious at all. And it's just, like, it's great.

It's so great, you know. So I was like, okay, the opposite of this, you know. And which is kind of why I like that I had, like, the OPETH one and then, like, the blink one, you know? That's cool. It's just like a lot of dichotomy, a lot of dichotomy. That's you, though. That's me for sure. Wow.

Like, my favorite genres are like pop, R&B, like rap, hip hop, and metal. Wow. Yeah. Where do you see your drumming going and your career going with drugs? Did you want to play with him for like a while? I don't really know. I don't really know exactly what I want right now For a long time I thought that I wanted to play

Like in the pop world, like be a drummer in that world For a long time I wanted to just like You know have my own band which was interloper you know And then lately because I sing too I've been singing for like four years as far as like you know Taking lessons like actively trying to you know get better For like four years years and I just started writing music recently that I'm like singing over I actually have been writing it with with Andrew Veretta oh cool um anyway

so that's another avenue that I'd like to go down further as well just like getting you know deeper into songwriting getting that creative outlet goes and like you know the idea of being like a solo musician having some like solo act um I really like too but I just don't really know um exactly where I'm heading right now. Like I know I'm like content with where I'm going, you know, and like the momentum. Like I just, things feel right. But I don't know exactly where I'm going to end up

as a drummer or musician. Wow. Yeah. Does that scare you? A little bit. It's good. But, you know, just enough to keep me hungry and on my toes and sharp and working and productive, you know, I don't ever, I don't ever want

to be complacent. But also, I'm enjoying the ride right now. You know, like I said, I mean, I'm going out on tour with Light the Torch soon. You know, that was like a real last minute call. And just, you know, everything, just like things like, you know, what I was describing at the Spirit Box show, where Mike, the guitar player was like, oh, like, I know you're drumming, you're great, you know? And, like, bumping into other people like that I really respect as musicians.

you know, that are like, oh yeah, bro, like somebody hit me up for this gig and I threw your name in the hat. And it's like, dude, you're an incredible musician. You're like a big time guy. People take what you have to say seriously and you're like recommending me, you know, like for a job. I just, I feel like I'm really happy with the image of myself that I've tried to present, you know, like who I am as a drummer. and what I mean is I was scared and I felt like I was getting pigeonholed as like a death metal extreme, you know, tech metal drummer. And all throughout the years, I've like sprinkled, you know, like what I think my identity actually is on the drums. I've sprinkled that in between all of the other drums that people really wanted me to see doing when I was playing in those tech bands.

But since taking a departure from it completely and not playing music like that at all, it was a little scared. because I was like, you know, how good am I at this style versus the textile or how many people are going to know about me as a drummer to get me the gigs that I want to get? But, you know, it's things like what happened with Mike that night, you know, or like my other homie, he played in issues. He's a crazy bass player. He plays for 21 pilots now. Knowing that those people are like recognizing, you know, me as a drummer and like wanting to recommend me. me to like the kind of gigs that I want to play just tells me that like even though I don't have like a one you know 100% secure plan like I'm doing things right I'm following my gut yeah and it feels good you got you got to follow your gut man and and you I think you have that

natural thing already you're gonna follow your gut and you take their risk I mean I'm talking about coming from California to Florida into a closet I mean that's the kind of you can you kind of have a good you have one of the main ingredients yeah yeah intuition yeah yeah intuition yeah yeah Yeah, for sure. And I never really understood that that's what it was, you know? I never really gave like any credit to intuition. I was always more of like a logic over, you know, intuition kind of like minded person. Yeah.

But when I think about it, I wasn't. You know, my actions weren't representing that. That's just kind of what was going on in my head. Interesting. Yeah. Well, now you know which one's first and which one's second. Yeah, absolutely, man. Absolutely.

It's cool. Well, Aaron, it was fucking fun to talk to you, man. Yeah, dude. This has been great. I've had such a fun time. Dude, I told you before we started, I definitely needed this for sure. It's for, yeah.

Kit back in his chat and bullshit and drink. I love it. I love it, dude. And smoke and, yeah, it's cool. Yeah, just sitting back talking. It's great, bro. Yeah, it's cool. Yeah, thank you so much for having me on.

Seriously. Any times, you're like down the street. I am. So cool. Yeah, so hit me up if you would like to do it again. Please, yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah. So where can people find you?

Where can people find me? If you just look at my name, Aaron's the Connor. you'll find me. That's S-T-E-C-H-A-U-N-E-R, but I guess it'll probably be like on the podcast title to you. So yeah, that's it. It's a pretty unique name, so it's easy to find. Sick, and you got some tours coming up? Yeah, just one. Playing with Light the Torch, it's a Guar headliner. Oh, that's sick as fuck. Really? You didn't tell me that. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah. It's like a two, no, sorry, it's like seven or eight weeks.

That's a long, dude, that's a long. Necro Gobble. Yeah, I know. I know, bro. Necro goblin' on the tour. They're homies of mine, so they'd be a good time. I have one more thing to show you. Who's that? Oh, my God. Why did you cut the hair, dude?

Who's that? I'm bringing this up because, to me, some people are just, you are a short hair to me. I think you look at, I think you're a handsome man with short hair. Thank you. So what makes you credit, though, you know? It's so funny to look at how long my hair was, dude

I... Yeah, long motherfuggin' hair, dude, that's a... I got tired of just looking at my face in the mirror with long hair. I had it... Dude, I had it from 10 years old to 26 years old, right? Oh, shit. So I had it... Yeah, so I had it for 16 years, you know?

And I just had wanted to cut it for a while, yeah. It's a while, man. well dude i think i think you followed your intuition right yeah bro i came back from a bar one night and put it in a ponytail and just cut it oh my gosh really because i knew that i had like i wouldn't follow through with driving to a barber and do it you know like i had to just follow that gut instinct and just do it or i never would wow yeah damn you really had that natural gut instinct dude yeah i guess so huh Aaron it's great seeing you man yeah man all right everyone that's it thank you so next time

later.