Garza Podcast - 68 - FIT FOR A KING: Guitar Spins, Aliens, & the Power of Instagram DMs

Episode Date: March 6, 2023

Fit for a King is an American metalcore band from Tyler, Texas. https://fitforakingband.com SPONSORS: Click this link to purchase from Sweetwater & help support the podcast: imp.i114863.net/rnrmVB FFAK is: Ryan Kirby, Bobby Lynge, Ryan "Tuck" O'Leary, Daniel Gailey & Trey Celaya TIME CODES: 00:00 - The Power of DMs & Long Form Interview 03:29 - Fit For a Burger King 06:40 - On Tour w/ Northlane, Alphawolf & Kingdom of Giants 09:44 - Northlane Signature Jackson Guitars 15:04 - Aliens, Agartha & Flat Earth 19:27 - Selling Your Videogames & Going All In On Music 25:25 - Solid State Records Being the Best Home for FFAK 31:54 - Tuck Joining in 2014 35:20 - Band Nicknames 38:08 - Recording Dark Skies (2018) w/ Drew Fulk A.K.A. WZRD BLD 50:00 - Dan & Trey Joining FFAK 57:40 - Sound Design & Live Production 01:02:53 - Guitar Spins, Saosin & Story of the Year Energy 01:08:48 - New Record, The Hell We Create (2022) 01:11:11 - Re-Recording Descendants (Taylor Swift & Thrice Doing the Same)

a guy volunteered to do a music video for free. That video went, got a million views, like, in six months, which back then it was early YouTube, so it was still like... That's a big deal. It was a big deal. And then labels started reaching out and stuff like that. And, yeah, it seemed like just going all in on that full length was the right decision. Whenever I need music gear, I always go to sweetwater.com.

If it's mics, headphones, or studio and recording gear, Sweetwater has you covered. Next time you need any music gear, support the podcast by using the link in a description and comment section below. Hello to the internet and the world. Today we have FitForIt King live here. Appreciate you. Appreciate you guys being here, man. Yeah, of course, man.

Thanks for having us. We appreciate it. Thank you guys. It's amazing what you do with the IG DM. I hit up YouvTuck and was like thankful you guys said, yeah, and I made time. to be here so appreciate it man dude of course they yeah we were all very excited when that came through that was definitely one of those you know i mean you get it uh a lot of you know when you're out on the road and stuff like that making time for interviews can be like a hit or miss kind

of thing everyone was trying to have their day and do their shit but this was definitely one of those where i was like oh boys come on rally the truth yeah let's go do this this will be great so let's go hang yeah yeah you know yeah it's uh yeah it's a sad thing where like you don't get the hear from the whole band a lot of times you know yeah you know like we were just you know talking about before we started man i just love that you've been doing long form whole band like letting everybody actually have a voice rather than just like seeing the lead singer every time for the 10th interview in a row and like no offense rind yeah yeah i'll be on vocal wrist yeah they always want to talk to the singer yeah and that's yeah of course that's the

perspective of a bass player on a base but go on i want some attention please Look at me. I'm doing flips. Come on. Come on. It's not easy answering how the inspiration for the record was for the 50th time. Yeah. It's hard.

And you get like the same questions and stuff. It's a relief whenever it's a different format too. Yeah, a lot of times it's rapid fire, ten questions. How was the studio? How is this? How is that? And it's just kind of, I'm happy to answer it. How tall are you?

It's like we don't talk about that. Where did your band name come from? Something like that. I don't know, man. That Kia commercial with LeBron. I'm seeing on commercial. It's a few years back they did like a Kia commercial with LeBron where it said like Fit for a King. And one of the few, it's, yeah, our band name luckily gets added it.

There was like a Burger King one that was like Fit for a King. Oh, the condom one I think. Yeah, there's a condom one. Yeah. Sort of find that, Jay. Magnum. It just gets thrown in all the time, which I love. I think it's hilarious.

Good free advertising. So basically we've found out that here first that Burger King named your band. Absolutely. Fuck yeah, dude. You're here here first. That's the clip. Fuck yeah. Well, just to do a quick intro, we got Ryan here.

Yep. Vocalus. Other Ryan probably name you tuck. Yes. Right? Thanks. Daniel and Tray. Yep.

Yep. Thank you guys for a bean. Oh, what is this? The Burger King rebrand. Design fit for a King. Oh, my goodness. It's amazing. Is that the album cover?

Speaking of the new record, you guys. Okay, this is a great cover. Thank you. It's good to see you guys. We advocate for Burger King over all of their brands. Which I'll point out last night was the first night of the tour, and apparently it was a thing to bring a Burger King crown. and mark out Burger and put Fit4A.

There was like 30 people. I posted a picture of, our photographer took a picture of a group of people wearing them. Yeah, that was pretty nice. But it was, I thought it was cool. He's like, we need to make that viral so people just show up in Burger King crowns. Yeah, we're hoping it becomes a thing where everyone's just showing up on crowns. I ended up wearing one. Oh, he's got it up here.

It's pretty sick. It's that second picture on that first post. Proopjee? Nice. There they are. Oh my goodness, dude. That's genius. Yeah, I guess they have like a group chat or something and go to shows together regularly.

And someone suggested we thought it would be funny if we all were Burger King. That's probably not even half of them. There were like a lot of them. There was like 30 plus of those. That's a lot. One guy is passing them out. I think the best. double cheeseburger of all time

is from Burger King. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. I guess. I'm trying to think when last time I even ate. I'm a big, I'm a big double stacker me.

There you go. I haven't had Burger King in a fucking minute. But. But because they're fucking closing down. What? I mean, a lot of, I'm not sure like in permanently,

but like around, I mean, Daniel, you'll probably know, around here, do you like, they're just dropping like flies. Chicken fries.

Yeah, there aren't a ton, I guess. It's hard now when you can do, like, you know, chick-fil-A or some shit, you know. Hey, you know, I think it looks nice. Yeah, handsome man, dude.

Honestly, oh, thank you. Trey, but it sounds like you wanted to challenge. No, I was thinking about what you said. Like, if we're just like, not a wopper or anything, but just like a, just the small double cheeseburger, is that what you mean? Yes. I think those are good. Yeah. Yeah.

You needed a clarification that we're just talking about it. We should later just get a spread of double cheeseburgers and just to have a taste testing. That's a dream. I would love that. That'd be very American. He used to be pretty cheap to do that.

Now they're all like $2. He used to be a dollar. That gross one on the right there. That one just looks good. Yeah, that one's going to fuck you. I want the one that looks like shit. Trey likes some nasty looking. Yeah, that's just a lot about...

I love how I want to say, overuse the bacon, too. Tons of bacon. And I love it. Nasty burgers for nasty blast piece. Dude, come on. Oh, yeah. Now I'm going to be hungry. So, yeah, you guys are out on tour right now.

You guys got Northlands on it. Yes. Alfa wolf, which has been blowing up the past few years. It's been really cool seeing those guys, too. Last night was psychotic. How was it? Their set was ignorant. Really?

Very stupid. Like, just people going off, and it's not just that they're singing along to Akudama. It's like every song. Really? crowd is so fucking loud it's like actual like big band big band it's yeah it's sick to see what do you think it was or like how great record great band their live show is very energetic like when you you know it's one of those

while back we did this uh we were on a tour us silent playing a hollow front of void and then polaris had a tour polaris like mods of flames alpha wolf and invent anime all of us met up at the Pladium and Worcester for one day and played together. We headlined. My wife and I left, and she was like, yeah, that was really great, but I'll be honest. Maybe an awful wolf today, you know. And I was just like, babe, hey, you know, blasph me. But it's the truth, man, like, it's one of those shows they bring the hype.

And the fans are not just, like, moshing and advocating. They're singing along, man. Like, they're in it. So, big band. Yeah, big band out. Also, I don't want to leave out Kingdom of Giants. Yes. They're also on the tour.

Yeah. It's been great. Great lineup. Yeah. You know, it's always, it gets me stoked when I see, like, okay, like, a band actually got a sick tour package. Yeah. And it gets out because, I mean, booking a tour fucking sucks. And just, the line of you want, it depends out, the schedules, but to see, like, your guys' package is line up.

Yeah. Yeah. Every band on there is awesome. Yeah. Yeah, we took our time on it and, you know, we really, it's nice when you get to pick the bands and stuff. And, you know, luckily everybody agreed. And kind of just, this is one of those that kind of went our way. You know, we had ideas and got really, really lucky.

Having North Lane with us is ridiculous. And they're good buddies of ours and very much appreciate having them out on the tour with us. Yeah. How has Northland been? Ridiculous. Sick. It's just so talented. It's gross.

Plus, like, where they come from, too, like, they're such a big band in their country, too. Like, the show that they put on is beautiful. Just an incredible, like, Marcus doesn't just sing the parts from the record. He sings harder parts. Like, he just flexes. It's ridiculous. I think he's got perfect pitch.

It's gross. Yeah. You're like, you're better than me. That's fine. Oh, dude. Not even. Not even close. It's like, yeah, I'm like a kindergartner

versus like a savant. Maybe some of the... Been the many times, man, it happens. Maybe some of the coolest guitars in the game, too. Yeah, best sit guitars, I think. Like, very... Have you seen Josh's signature Jackson? The pictures, yeah, but I want to see it in person.

Dude, it's gross. And he's got it in. He's got this teal. He's got a cream one in. He's got this new crackle. Looks psycho. And then... John's, too.

He's got that, like... Dude, he's got a... Nice. Yeah. Congrats Josh. That's a big deal, man. And then that's John's on the right. It looks like a Fender Jag, but it's an ESP custom 28-inch.

Oh, wow. And they both have bare knuckles in them. But it's Josh's signature bear knuckles. Yeah. And if anyone's looking to pick up, pickups. Pick-up, pick-up. Yeah. Bear-knuckle.

I forget what the name of them are, but Josh's sick. They're called impulses. Cool. They're psycho. Yeah, they're psycho. But they're just. Even back 2015, we toured with them. It was Marcus' first tour.

That was the... There it is, right? Yeah, there. And then also, the telecaster is another version of it. We're fucking horned up right now. Yeah, he has that one, and he has the telecaster version of it, and they're both ridiculous. There we go. Oh, my goodness.

It's ESP. They're just always kind of ahead of the game with their setups and their gear and how it sounds like. They were always bands that we kind of looked at as like, what are you guys doing? Like, because they, I remember the first time we played with them, just their pedal board setups were so intense. It was literally each guitar player had two boards. And it was, I was just like, what? Kimper on the board. What are you doing?

Yeah, like. Big spaceship, a bunch of lights on it. Just crazy stuff. And, but they sound insane. That's great. Yeah. Brilliant, brilliant guys. Love them.

And it's also cool to see that happening now because I think what bands didn't realize, you know, you know, back in our day, but like that just adds to you guys. That just makes your show that much sicker. You know, when like, you kind of, you know, like some conscious pump up. You're like, oh, shit, I need to like. You get like, you put it, you put out a little something more. I can't put like a word to it. You have to step your game up or else they're going to show you up. Yeah.

So it's kind of nice to have crazy bands like. Alpha Wolf King of the Giants in North Lane because if you don't go wild everybody's going to be like oh the openers all stole the ship like easy. It's like damn Ryan it's how they're fucking looking old up there you know you don't want that

we don't want that yeah we got to keep the energy up especially after bands like that but it's the show itself isn't you're not getting one flavor the whole time which is really nice that's true too. King of Giants like they are kind of in between Alpha Wolf and North Lane with

You know, they've got a little bit of the space gent, you know, metalcore style, but also really upbeat, fun breakdowns, big choruses. And so just a really fun night. It was really, we watched the whole thing yesterday. I will say it too, like, despite the, you know, the feeling of, like, needing to kind of compete or make sure you don't get blown out of the water. Like, everyone showed up yesterday ready to, like, everyone was there at the beginning of the show. for Kingdom of Giants and was just ready to, like, party is what it felt like. And just went off for the whole set and stayed all the way through. And it just felt like what I was talking with them yesterday.

And it felt less like, and it's also a headliner, it feels special. But it felt yesterday, usually my mindset going into a set is like, okay, I got to get prepared. I got to perform and play a show, I don't know. And then, like, I'm in my head about it. But yesterday felt like, okay, we get to go celebrate. Like, it feels like we get to just go have fun and enjoy, like, what's happening and be a part of it. So it felt really special yesterday. I think we all had, like, a moment.

I think we talked about it because when you support a show that does really well, it's like you have fun, but you, it's not your show. It's the other, whoever's headlining show. But you enjoy it and you love playing in front of their crowd and stuff like that. But we don't headline very. much so it definitely is different like you said it's like it's like a milestone so you're kind of celebrating a milestone when you have a good headline you see hard work pay off you know and when you get to see it it's it is a very special feeling yeah yeah last time that we got to do it you know

we did the same thing like took our time really put together a lineup that was sick and it was alpha wolf's first u.s tour crystal lake chelsea grin us dark skies tour then five days in the pandemic happened. Oh, no. Yeah. Like, so, you know, that really took wind out of our sales and we just have had to wait patiently. And then, you know, that's why I think why we put so much into this lineup and like into doing this tour is we need to kind of redeem ourselves from that, you know.

And then we saw alien invasions are happening and, man, if our tour gets canceled because of an alien invasion, I'm not. I'm not playing music anymore. Okay, let's establish something for this conversation. We'll make this 60 seconds and then we'll go on until you guys a story. But, okay, do you think it's aliens or is it a fucking just a balloon? Is it? UFOs are real and the Earth is flat.

God. We just got to monetize. There you go. You can cut that out. No, no, no, we're in. No. They got that out. Wait, if I bring up my awesome beliefs on,

Gartha and how the earth is flat and there's like in earth and stuff. Will you actually get demonetized on this episode? Possibly. Possibly, but I don't want to stop that from happening. I want to go. I want to bring it out. Oh, they're not real. I just did it's a bit.

I do. Okay. Yeah, it's okay. We don't have to. I don't want to demonetize the show. It's not worth my fake beliefs. No, let's demonetize it on purpose. So wait, you don't believe in aliens.

No, I do believe in aliens. You do? Okay, okay. I was like, oh, shit. Yeah, I do believe in aliens, but I don't believe in flat Earth. Okay. Yeah, I think it's fucking around, man. Okay, who here believes in Flat Earth?

Trey? I can't say. Okay, but are there giant troll people inside Flat Earth in Agartha? Maybe. Have you been to Antarctica? No. Are there ice walls? Possibly.

Why is the sky blue? Water, firmament. It's in the Bible. There you go. guys. Done. So what, what is this?

Dude, I'm teaching you, bro. I never heard of this in my life. Agartha? The inner world of the year. That's where the giant troll people at. I thought this was a made-up word. No, dude, I ain't playing. That was a death core band.

It should be. It should be. It's like Tactosa. Tactosa, shout out. Tactosa, shout out. It's a lighter. It's great scene Tactosa, fucking doing cool shit, man.

I love that band. Ridulously good. Honestly, that would be sick. Yeah, it's a hollah. is hollow earth. So what people think is, in theory, at the polls, and that's why you can't go there and you can't go to Antarctica because there's actually a perfect world inside the earth

where that's where the UFOs and the aliens are actually coming from. Dude. And, yeah, because they're way ahead of us technologically on the inside of the earth. And this is Agartha. Oh, my goodness. How do you remember all this, but then not the venue we played two months ago? This is more interesting. Wow.

I will say, like, I don't believe in, like, a lot of conspiracies or have any strongly held beliefs. But when I hear about conspiracies or whatever, I'm just like, yeah, I mean, could be. Like, anything could be true. Yeah. Even Agartha. Earth could be flat. I'm ready for them, though. Honestly, I want to make some fun.

They need to wait for our tour to figure. Yeah, wait. Okay, wait, okay, the aliens, wait a month, but when they invade, I wouldn't join your band. That would be so cool. Imagine those bricks. Wait, but what if one of us is actually a reptile person? I thought we all we are, no? Yeah.

Okay. I'm a shapeshifter. Daniel, do you believe the earth is flat? I do not. I feel like, you know, when you're on a plane, you know, and you can see like a little curvature going. That's all I really have to go off of. But I also don't fucking care. So I'm just like, could be.

I'm on the same too. I think it could be. Like, it's not going to change my life in any way, you know? Yeah. Okay, see, that picture, a second row to the right. That one. Yeah. That, I mean, that looks round.

That looks fucking round. You know what I mean? You ever been to space, bro. That looks round. Is it a fish eye lens, that's a question? Oh, my goodness. Exactly. I do it.

I don't think the burden. of evidence is on the people thinking that the earth is round. Okay. All right. Well, you know what guys, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's not flat, I guess. Yeah, it's like if it is flat,

it's being kept from me by the powers that be, and it's like... And that's fine. I'm just excited by the idea of people see this podcast. It goes viral. They say, fit for the kings is a flat earth band. That hasn't been said yet. That would be pretty cool.

This is the clip. There you go. Appreciate that, man. Yeah. Clip it. So, hey, Brian, so you were in a band with Bobby prior to this band, correct? Oh, yeah. Dang, going way back.

Was that, were you from or based at a Fort? Yeah, like the Dallas, Fort Worth. Okay. Dallas-Fort Worth area. Okay. Started playing with Bobbin. And I was 19. And here I am, 32.

Bodies awake, yeah. Yeah, bodies awake. No one should know that. I'm surprised you know that. You do your research. He dig deep. So that's about, like, I say two hours away from Tyler, which is where the original drummer was.

Yeah. He's gone to country now. I heard. Bad ass. Yeah. It is badass. Dude, Co. Wetzel, it's ridiculous.

He gets pyro. Yeah. Can't say that about myself, you know. Not yet. You guys are on that road, though. He gets L-D. I'll tell you what we can't say about ourselves is that he gets to play with like Snoop Dog and shit

That's probably not gonna happen for us Yeah they played a Snoop Dog 420 show Them and Co-Wetzel co-headlining So sick That's sick Yeah, he got dapped up by Snoop Dog bro Wow, that's kind of dream That probably gives you some sort of like power

Like if you know If Snoop Dog If he daps he up If I could just smoke in the presence of Snoop Dog I think I would like that would that would be incredible. Yeah. Like you're just smoking and you see him walk by. Yeah, you're just like best joint ever dude.

Like. Does Snoop dog even get high anymore? Does he feel it? I don't know. Good question. He says his first time ever tapping out in his life was from Willie Nelson. So apparently he's the goat. Wow.

That makes sense. Apparently he's like the goat goat of a smoking weed. Yeah. Wow. That's safe. William Nelson. So again, Ryan, so you and Bobby first joined the band in 2010, correct? Yes. So the first record, which was independent, that came out like the 2011.

Yeah, 2011. So do you guys go straight into writing that first record or what? So like three or four of the songs were written before I joined with Bob by the old vocalist. And then we re-recorded those. But we had written a couple songs like as, try part of us trying out for the band just to show us what we could show them what we could do and then yeah we went straight into writing because at that stage we were all like 21 years old and yeah it's funny because that sounds so young but at the time i was like hey i got to figure out if this is

like what i'm gonna do so let's just go all in and do like a full length record even if we're independent and then see what happens it's like you never know until you try fully like paid a publicist out of pocket did all that stuff really yeah i'd have mentioned by Cameron Meiselt, which was pretty sick at the time. So it was expensive at the time because we didn't have a label or anything. But we were like, you know, we won't know if this is what we're meant to do or supposed to do unless you go all in to the best of our ability. And that seemed to be the right choice because we did a guy volunteered to do a music video for free.

That video got a million views like in six months, which back then it was early YouTube. So it was still like that's a big deal. It was a big deal. And then labels started reaching out and stuff like that. And yeah, it seemed like just going all in on that full length was the right decision. Because if we didn't, I probably would have just kept going to school or working.

And because it never makes, like, makes sense if you're just a local band to, like, quit everything unless you're willing to go all in and pursue it. And I tell people that. They're like, should I, like, I want to play music for a living. I'm like, then you're going to have to go all in. and see if it works out. Like, you can't passively play music on the side. It's like you got to devote time and effort to it.

I didn't know that. And then so, yeah, you really put everything on the line and paid money that you probably didn't have. Yeah. And then it's like, it's just going to pay off. And you're probably thinking about quitting the band. Yeah, it's like quitting the band or like, I'll just go do some local stuff and just play once a month

and have fun with it or something like that. we sold stuff we were selling stuff whether it was gear game consoles whatever we could to like pay for the record and stuff like that so it paid off yeah because it's like if you want it to work and i wanted to leave music if i left music knowing i tried and because it would really eat at me if i never like went all in and then gave up and then wondering well what if i had tried harder yeah that what if would eat away at you as you get older and older yeah dude you don't you do not want a what-if yeah so if it didn't work I wouldn't have that what-if I'd be like well we tried we gave everything we did a full length and nothing happened yeah

well as goes to show you got to sell you you got to sell your video games I know that hurt yeah it hurts to sell an Xbox dude I'll never sell my magic cards though I'd sell an Xbox I ain't gonna sell my magic cards not for you guys not for nothing well at least don't it The rules are established. That kind of sucks, dude. I sold my first Nintendo and the first Sega. I wish I still had them.

Yeah. You know, sold my first guitar. Could be over in the lobby over there. You're right. Probably worth a lot. My goodness, dude. Well, I mean, I'm glad. It's good show, man.

You guys. Oh, honestly. Yeah, we've got some good stuff up there. Oh, no. No. Stop look at the TV. We have them about it. We have cards.

Hey, if you come and do a show, bring me and Kirby magic cards. Magic cards. Magic cards. Fyrexio in one set, Dominaria remastered set. Hit us with those. I'm trying to pull some vampiric tutors.

All right, we'll get back to the music really. Yeah, so it's great that you guys went all in, and then that obviously got attention from like, you know, solid state. And what a legendary label to be a part of it, man. Yeah, it's honestly cool working with them because they're a very small team. Nice.

It's one of those things like we can hit them up and just say, hey, we need this. and there's not a bunch of red tape. They're just like, okay. And it just happens, like, within a day. Like, if we're like, hey, we need some help with this. It's just, you can talk straight to the owner. And just, you guys the best.

Yeah, and I hear, I'm not going to say they're the best label you can be on. They're not the worst. But I like how easy it is to, like, if we, we were talking about, we want videos for every song on the new record. And there's like, all right. And then that's the end of it. There's no, there's no bullshit. I've talked to other labels, and it takes a few weeks minimum to, like, get approval

because they got to go talk to accounting and then they got to talk to marketing, and then they got to see, make sure this is a wise decision financially. And the way the owner Solstates always put it is because he, it's independent, truly. It's not attached to a major or anything. Oh, yeah. Good point. His goal is like, he's like, I don't care if it takes a few years for something to recoup. where a lot of labels, they want it recouped in like six months.

And so if they look at it from that time frame, like if we give them this money to do this right now, are they going to make it back in six months? Where he's like, I don't care, as long as one day it recoupes, we're good. And that's kind of like a great, I think, thing to have. He's willing to take a chance and he doesn't necessarily. The team in general, we get to kind of come at them with our ideas

in our vision and what we're looking to do and we very rarely if never have been told no uh you know at times they may be like we don't you know think this may be the wisest thing but generally that's coming from a place of experience yeah so and that's the thing that is uh you know i guess could be a a positive thing and a negative thing right if you get to do whatever you want whenever you want uh because maybe you'd do some stupid stuff at times but uh you know i think we've been good over the years at like you know figuring out what works for us and also how to push the envelope but not in a way that's like too extreme that we you know bastardize the band or you know quote unquote kind of you know so yeah they're they're the best team to work with for us and it's been really

really enjoyable over the years yeah it sounds like they really helped build like a solid foundation because you did your past me have obviously you have summer records but that was your first that was your last six records. And really, so obviously if you're still with them, it says, yeah, as,

you know, a lot, probably, you know, Bob, where you, yeah, I assume there's a way

talks, probably resigning, you know, we just did an extension. Really? Before this record. Yeah. That's,

that's a big deal. Yeah. Yeah. Well, every time that we have been at the end of our contract, you know, it's kind of like in sports

with, they get the first dibs before the last album, they can come at you and renegotiate, right? So, and then that album

would be the first album on your new contract. So each time they've come forward and wanted to renegotiate and we get it where we want it to be. We get what we want. And I would say we've got one of the better contracts in Metal Corps, you know. We've been able to work with them for a long time. And Brandon has been very willing to do what it takes to keep us.

Sounds like a cool dude, man. Yeah, I mean, you know, we're very lucky to work with him. And it's one of those things that a lot of bands, you know, they maybe are, like, hesitant to sign there because they think that the label is Christian and from everything that we all, like, grew up around, right? But they're not. It just, that was a thing in a moment of time. And they are very willing and looking at a lot of bands that do not come from that world. And if it's something you're looking at. good place to be, you know, you're going to get what you want.

You don't have to deal with a ton of people. And it's been very fruitful for us. So, you know. It's great. I mean, especially the older you get, the more you realize, like, man, I wish, like, I had, like, a smaller team. And then you're just kind of making things more simple. Yeah. And then when, yeah, I mean, the less people you're involved with, the better, you know.

And, you guys are a perfect example, too, because, I mean, you're, the music has, I mean, you had so many style, like, style of, changes you know it's the fact that they like kind of you know stuck by you it's fucking badass yeah we just you know we've always wanted to be able to try new things and and be ourselves and you know they just never really told us no because it's not one of those things that we have to like give them the record and then they have to approve in well we're just what we do is what we do they've never given any input i know dan's been on solid state with other bands too and solid state does not i've been a part of I'd say for like, gosh, close to 15 years now.

Really? Yeah. So, yeah, dating back from, yeah, gosh, like 2009 or something crazy. But, so yeah, that's, like, the only label I've been on, like, my whole career, and they've always taken care of the bands that I've been a part of. So it's been great. You know, actually it makes a lot of sense because they, I mean, I mean, they're obviously, they have, like, the legendary band Zeo.

And that, if you, I was just jamming them yesterday, and I was like, damn. I'm like, those, those records are all over the place. Yeah. Yeah. They have like those heavy, legendary songs, but they'd be listening to like the album front to the back, all those, just like, there's interludes, there's a ton of interludes and jammy songs. Like, damn, like, so I guess they kind of had a foundation just letting the band be the band.

Under oath is like that too, man. I mean, you never know what Under oath was going to do. They just came out of pocket. Like to find the great line and all that was, they just did whatever they wanted. And coming from their only choosing safety into that, vastly different records. And then, you know, yeah. Yeah, so, you know, I think that they have learned to have a key, you know, a nice ability to let the artist be an artist, which is nice.

You know, and, Tuck, I gotta say, I mean, you're, you know, a great addition to the band. I mean, you joined, what, 2014? Yes, sir. Wow. How did you guys meet up? I had a buddy who, my friend Chris, shout out Chris Aitken. He at the time was tour managing, sworn in, and Iard is murder. Sick.

And met the boys. A guy that had done descendants and creation destruction decided to not tour. And Chris just put in a word where he was like, yo, if you are interested, like, I got a guy. He's from New York. And, you know, he's down to tour and whatever. So I just started sending in videos to them. I took just like raw iPhone videos, me singing the songs. Wow.

I did pre-pro to a song called a breakaway that's on the record, Slave to Nothing. And then I had sent in this song called Selfish Eyes that I wrote with my buddy Max, who was in this band called That's Outrageous on Rise at the time. And that song ended up being on Slave to Nothing too. And after like three months of chatting with Jared and just texting, they just called me one day. And they were like, yes, so you want to do this? And I was like, yeah, man, absolutely. And I'm just in the bathroom at work.

Like, been waiting for like 10 minutes for this call because he's, he had texted me and he was just like yeah like how soon can you be here and i was like how soon do you want me and he's like three days okay moved out of my apartment took my car off the road and bounced and just left and went to texas and tried out for the band like i had no guarantees i had to like i learned nine songs in like a week and then went on a two-week run with them kubai khan and sirens and sailors and then at the albany show which was right before uh what was that festival where jersey festival was a, oh, skating surf. We were playing in Albany, my mom and dad,

we were there, and small little crowd pieceship venue, and right before the encore, they were like, yeah, we're going to have them join the band like in front of my family and stuff. So it was very sweet, very sentimental. Still, like, gets me, you know. So we've had a nice bond since day one, and they've always treated me like family.

So, you know, we've tried to keep that sentiment going like as we brought these guys into the band, too. you know, make it like more than just being in a band, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So you went, you left, but you didn't have a guaranteed spot. Nah, no, I just quit. Like my job had said they were like, yeah, if you don't get it, you can come back and, you know, we'll take you.

But I would have had to just, like, come back and find a new apartment and do the whole thing over again. But you bring the boats. That's sick. Yeah, and I was 25, too. I wasn't like a kid, you know what I mean? Like, you know, I was living in a house. a house with seven other people, having a lot of fun, partying a lot. And I just was like, needed that life change, man, you know? And it happened on them. And that's why I slaved

to nothing record. Like, it was an interesting album for, for all of us at the time, because, like, I feel like we were just trying to get to know each other. But I had technically joined the band like three days before we started working on it. Really? Yeah. So. Holy moly. Yeah, it's a lot. That's, that is a lot. Yeah, you know, because you're, like, getting to know them and trying to, like, write together when you don't even really, like, know each other that well yet. And it was a very interesting experience for all of us. But a beautiful one with that, so. You're part of, like, you know, who's his psycho joint, joining the band.

We were just trying to figure out what to call each other because his name's Ryan. Even though nobody calls me Ryan. What did you call me, like, fish and scab. Fish, scab. We were just. Called the bass player of the scab? Jeez. Yeah, I had some fucked-up nicknames for a while.

And then, yeah. We went with tuck and he tucked in his shirt before going out for the night. And then they just start, now it's just tucked. Yeah. I used to tuck in my shirt all the time. I'm getting a couple, you know, and I'm not doing it as often. But he had stuck with. So now when I order coffee, I'm Tucker and he's Ryan.

Oh, wow. Yeah. I assume people call you Kirby then. Yeah. Okay. Got it. People either call you like the first. seem we're lasting because people call me in Garza.

Yeah, that's... Okay, got it's weird. There's, like, certain names that just... Yeah. People gravitate towards calling you. Whether it's Garza or Kirby, but you don't hear, like, Salia. Nobody's just like, hey, Salia over here.

Or Gayle. I'm gonna start to, though. Unless you're a high school coach or something like that. Yeah, it feels like a very sporty thing to do. Yeah, I got called Gayley a lot in, like, wrestling. Really? Yeah. Got called me.

Get over here, Gaily. I think Dan's a cool name, Dan. Thanks. Straight to the point. I was always, I've been a Daniel, like, my whole life, and it wasn't until I started touring that people just from other places in the country started calling me Dan, and I was just like, that's fine. You know.

Trey has a good name journey, too. Yeah, my real name by birth is Alfonso. So my full name is Alfonso Salaia the third. Like I have a three, like a Roman numeral three suffix. Okay. Classy. But since I'm the third, I go by Trey. If, you know, that probably, that doesn't make sense to some people, but it's like a thing.

There's a world where people call you Al. And that's weird. That's more of my, like, my grandpa and my dad were Al. But, like, I've just always been Trey. Like they called me Trey But Trey's not like legally in my name It's technically a nickname Okay

If that makes sense It does. Yeah Holy moly Yeah So we all kind of have nicknangs I guess except for Dan Yeah

I like Dan That's a good hearty name Yeah You know you're pure Good guy Dan I'll tell my parents That you're stoked on it

You know a guy named Dan's always down To help you out If you did it. That is true. That is true. Chicken noodle soup of names. Just the hearty, solid. I like it.

So I really want to talk about the fifth record. Dark Skies, it came out of 2018. Yeah. What was the difference with that record? Like your whole, like, the whole approach to it. Because, I mean, sonically, it sounds different, sicker. Obviously, you have, like, the, I mean, your biggest song on there. What was like the process like?

It was way different because we started going to Drew Folk. And I think that was the first time we had like a producer really be involved. And no offense to any producer before that. Because I think some of it is. Yeah, in a different way. Just like the songwriting aspect. Yeah. I don't, some producers I don't think we're as interested as in our band as we were in them.

It seemed like you only like had engineers before. Yeah. That's the first time Drew was like writing with us. It was like a member of the band really hands-on. And he reached out to us wanting to work with us. It wasn't like we were deciding where we wanted to go. And Drew reached out wanting to work with us. So he definitely had this like hunger to do the record.

And I think that was something that was different. We're in the past. We chose where we were going. And obviously we still chose Drew, but we were the ones reaching out to the. producers to gauge if they were interested, whereas we knew it was mutual with Drew. And I think that really, and obviously Drew has turned into one of the biggest rock metal producers in the genre.

I mean, he just did the last disturbed record and stuff like that. Oh, nice. So he's like, he does like Ice 9, motionless and white. Wow. And the new wee car, like, he's killing it. And he's just very motivated and we actually worked less but got more done. Because he takes weekends off. And somehow that felt, like, we liked his workflow.

Because some producers like working until 2 or 3 a.m. And that's not our. And we also became very close. Like, you know, now we've done three records with Drew. And each time has been, like, an evolution in our relationship. And he just, he doesn't want to just work with a band to work with a band. Like, if he's not interested in, like, getting to know you as people. I don't think because he can kind of just do what he wants at this point but at that time the most you know amazing

thing about I think that chunk of time when dark skies came out was it was that he did the amyure comeback record he did Chelsea Grint hostage he did like all this motionless ice nines blow up record all in that year and there's a little peep and stuff yeah he's respectful time so he just has done there he is our fucking boy. Probably to see him tomorrow. He's up in L.A. Yeah.

And he is the person that, yeah, he changed our lives, man. Yeah. So when you're like, when you're working on,

like, you know, when everything means nothing, I think when everything means nothing is a great title because it's like simple, effective,

but it's the hardest things to come up with. Yeah. You know, that simple, boom, everything means not yet. Oh, Ryan,

named that song. Yeah, the, yeah, just kind of went along with the theme that was being written. Tuck came up with the premise and the line on the chorus and a good amount of the whole beginning. It's an interesting song because at that time,

we were like transitioning into Ryan, like, Ryan had really been like working on learning to sing and like being the lead singer of the band, not doing good cop, bad cop with like screamer guy and bass guy singing. And I have a pretty big ego, and I had a really hard time transitioning in, like, taking a step back. And so that's kind of where that comes from because the like ones and zeros fill my eyes, all this stuff is just thinking about like when slave to nothing came out and like all these people just tearing you up. And they don't even know what you're fucking writing about.

and the whole album's about like my best buddies that fucking died and all this shit. And I'm joining this new band. I'm totally vulnerable. And that kind of stuff sticks with you, man. You know, so then when you're doing that transition and working it out, it was something that we were figuring out. And it was just very raw. Like I wrote like this whole chunk of lyrics.

And then Bobby was like, this line, this line, this line. And that's what became the beginning part of the song. song. And then when we were working on it, we just were stuck for a second sitting in the room. And Kirby had done the first line that I tried to smile, try to fight, just say I'm okay. And then I was like, but every day feels like hurricane. And then we just like, it just clicked. And we just did it. And then yeah. And then I had the line. Yeah, I was born in the rain. And we just worked on it. And it just kind of came. Like it's kind of a blink of an eye. And when we did it, we didn't even think it was going to be a huge song.

We were just like, oh, it's a cool song. And I think that's what's funny is, same with Price of Agony. Death Crip was even like that on the movie. Yeah, Death Crip wasn't even a single. It was just the last track of a record. But it's weird because it's almost like when you're trying the least to write your biggest song, that's where the biggest song comes from. What the fuck? Yeah.

And it really was, it wasn't like all these changes and alterations and changes and reworking. It just happened. and it was done that was it so it didn't really go to any like extremely reworking phase like once you had the chord a song that was pretty much a song

yeah whoa yeah this is just it so it was a special one but yeah like price was like that price of agony was legit just you know blasted through that song pretty easy like Drew that's part of his specialty

is you know there's some magic he gets in that room Like, by making people vulnerable and getting them to express things that maybe like we haven't communicated, not just on a record, but to each other, stuff like that, you know. And it's great. Like, you hear stories about even, you know, him working on the state champ's record and them all sitting together working on lyrics and, you know, putting words together. And, you know, he just, he cares. He cares in a way that a lot of people don't care. and I think that his goals are different.

He doesn't care about the coolest guitar tone in the world. He's like, I want to write the most badass song ever. That's it. Every time. It's all that matters. Yeah, we're not playing with a bunch of gear. And I love that shit. Don't get me wrong.

You heard me talking about my buddies, guitars on stuff. We love that stuff. He would say that he is a... And there's Jeff, too. He would say that he's a big picture guy, I'm not a parts guy. He's thinking about full scope, whereas some of us can tend to be like,

oh, well, like, especially myself, like I'm always focused on like, little intricacies of, you know, what's happening in the song. And he's just like, I don't, you guys figure all that out. He's like, you can work on that after hours,

like if you want to change the riff up. But he's worried about the structure and how catchy the song and chorus is and stuff like that. Whoa. So the song's done. You put the least, like, reworking into it. They didn't even know it's going to be a single, and then it...

So you say that you didn't really realize it was going to be a single, but when it's done, obviously, you get, like, you know, like the mix and the master's back, and you know, you're hearing it in her car. It's like, okay, is this... Okay, well, we're going to make a video for this song? Is that what's going on? Yeah. Yeah, I think some songs where, like, this song needs a video

to, like, properly portray the emotion in it and stuff like that. Because we've done plenty of videos where it's, like, performance. and it just doesn't hit. And it's like how effective our performance videos at a certain point versus like if you have a really emotional song or like look at like Lorna Shore even with some of their like pain remains songs and stuff like that. The video adds so much emotion to the track that you might not have picked up

if the video wasn't there. So I think videos need to be treated almost as like a way to amplify the message of the song more than just like, here's us playing in a really cool room, which we've done that a lot of times. Of course. And we've noticed our biggest videos are the ones that have visuals or a story that amplifies the meaning of the song. Yeah, it's like you establish like a deeper connection

with whoever may be watching it. Yeah. And then it turned out that'll transfer over to obviously Spotify and a stream. So that one is just connected, man. Yeah, we got really lucky with that song. It's all luck, right? It is, honestly, right place, right time with a lot of stuff. Yeah, I mean, you can, you know, learn every song and, you know, everyone knows is like,

gee, so you do, like, you know, major pop chords and stuff, and you can shoot for the bag. But, like, I think that the realist stuff works, you know. And that's one of the things I think that's, you know, been so nice about, you know, being with someone like Drew and just the evolution of our band is, like, I think the most, the newest record, the hell we create is the most vulnerable thing we've ever created. You know, if you listen to that record and you don't feel like you know Ryan better or know the band better, then you didn't pick up on it, you know. So, you know, I think it's songs like when everything have helped us to learn to open up,

which has been really nice. Yeah, I mean, with Dark Skies and how was like the reaction like? Because, I mean, that single is kind of different. Like, did you expect like a backlash or something? I don't know. I feel like dark skies, our expectations were still not crazy high. Like our band was not huge. We were drawn like 300 people if we played a headline show maybe.

And it was like our thinking was still pretty small on like goals where we were just trying to write records we liked. And we just wanted the band to get bigger. But to get bigger than that's not like a massive like breakthrough success type thing. and then so we weren't I feel like we hadn't I feel like we hadn't settled on a sound yet

because we were like clearly what we're doing now it's like we're enjoying it it's fun but it's not pushing it far out so we felt like we still had the freedom to kind of experiment because I feel like the larger your band gets the harder it is to like deviate

from what made you successful because at the time I think and it's not the best gauge but it's just, it is a gauge. Like, our band had like 200,000 monthly listeners and stuff whenever we were in the studio doing dark skies. So it was, like, looking back, we're like, dang, that's like, like, Kingdom of Giants has 300,000 monthly listeners,

and they're the opener on the tour. And it's like, our band wouldn't even be big enough to be there. And it's cool. So I think when we put out the song and it blew up, that album got us up to, like, 600,000. And it was like, cool. So it's like triple. Yeah.

And it really set up for the next records. That's what you call a great response. Yeah. Oh, my goodness, man. Holy crap. Yeah, that's pretty cool. So then obviously that leads you to the path. And then so during the dark sky's part of Torrent Cycle, I mean, Daniel, is this where you joined?

Yeah. So I had met the guys through playing another band called Phil. Benius and we had done some tours together. Just became friends and everything. And yeah, when Bob, who is still in the band, just not actively touring, you know, kind of decided to stop touring. Just kind of asked me if it was something that I'd be interested in.

And I was like, yeah, yeah, you know, like I'll do like some tours and stuff, hadn't really like committed to much other than, and just filling in. And it just works so well and everything. You know, and it was a good fit. We all got along really well. We were all excited about, you know,

just kind of bringing in a new tool to the band, so to speak. So, yeah, the path was my first record. And big, big learning experience for me. Also. With just, like, I have always kind of, like, produced my own records, like the guy in the chair and stuff. So, like, working with another producer. who was, you know, I mentioned earlier, like,

I'm thinking about parts, and this is like this big picture guy, like really had to figure out how to work together. So that was, like, a pretty hard process for me, that first record. But the record, you know, turned out great, still doing really well. And through that, Drew and I really, like, kind of figured out how to work with one another. And now we have, like, this really great system down of, you know, just like, we're just kind of kind of throw in parts or whatever. and then I engineer like all of our records.

So like I've kind of worked in my like little like flashy stuff just in like the engineering stage and you know things that I like want to like include in there. So like going off what Dan said like it'll be we'll get done with the day with a song right and like have it all fleshed out and then he'll be like okay Dan like now you get in the chair and then they'll actually sit and track guitars and stuff and Dan will track the record alongside like Drew and they work together. So it's become like a team project since Stan joined the band. Just because he's so meticulous, it just adds a lot of flavor to the guitars

and allows it to just get a little riffier, a little crazier. Because between just guitar riffs and like his ability to like super shred and his voice when it comes to harmonies is bonkers. Like dude has crazy. Of course, dude's got crazy pitch and he can sing super, super high. do all these like Sam Carter pitch yells and stuff so when it came to like adding a tool to the band he plays a different style of guitar than Bob does and had all those vocal abilities where it just made so much sense yeah so we got lucky yeah thank you buddy it's a family now yeah you know it you know it

and that funny thing Trey actually tried out like well we asked Trey and Dan both had like filled in on guitar yeah because it was like what it was like what it was like what It was like a point where he came in for a tour, right? What was that? Was it Prada headliner? Even before that, I think Fitz's first headliner. The one with Norma Jean? No, it was...

Like moths. Like moths. Yeah. It was basically whatever I was doing, any, like, Finiath stuff... Trey would come and play guitar on, like, whenever I was not... So they were both swapping off filling in. Yeah. I don't know if it was me first or...

I don't know if Dane had already done. I might have done the first thing, but yeah, I... I played guitar during the kind of, it was right, as Dark Skies was kind of like in the album rollout. So I've kind of been playing with the band since 2018. And I was playing guitar for a while, and we were swapping tours, like they said. And I'm from another band called Invent Animate. So it's kind of the same situation as Bob now where I'm like, I don't actively tour with them now, but I still am like a writing member. So that's how we know each other just from playing shows and both being from Texas and stuff like that.

But yeah, so I've been, I don't know, I've considered that, like, you know, once you tour with the band a few times, you have that, like, kind of brotherly thing with them. And so I've kind of considered them family for like a while. And I've just joined recently, so I've been in the band. I guess it's like a year in five months or something. Yeah. So. But definitely feels like longer. Yeah, we have more of a history than that, so it feels like more.

But yeah, I came in, my first official album was this recent one the hell would create. Yeah, do you guys lock yourselves in like an Airbnb? We live in one, but we did that this last record. The previous two, we lived it in the studio. He had like a bunk room. But we switched over to an Airbnb. It was like a three-minute drive. And honestly, we loved the Airbnb.

and be much more enjoyable yeah yeah we like in in general doing that kind of stuff just because everyone has like kind of their roles and we we live together well yeah we need to we're all married so we're good at me yeah yeah you guys are married we got our shit together good roommates yeah yeah yeah yeah keeping it clean yeah how was that experience for you because like obviously there was like a history and that you have like the deep texas route like okay like you're it seems like you just officially joined a band and we went straight into an album? Yeah, pretty much. Similar to talk?

Yeah. You guys are crazy. For me, it's pretty psycho. We really wanted him. He's probably going to say something similar about wanting his drums on it because he's the one who's going to be playing the drums. Yeah, I pretty meticulously like, because the way, you know, they very much have like a formula. you know it's like Bob and Drew in the chair a lot of the time and they're just like laying parts down and Drew's a drummer so he'll kind of just he'll map out parts and you know here's a skeleton and here's just

here's a feel that gets the job done and so like it'll um you know when I listen back to it I'm all I can hear is like uh that drum sounds like cheesy or something you know so I pretty meticulously went back through all the drums and just try to kind of put my own, I don't know, stylized them the way that I would. And it's like they work through MIDI because it's just quicker. And so we just did that. But yeah, for like my, like I said, they very much have a formula down. And so it's kind of coming into a new space where it's like, okay, these guys have a thing going.

And I don't, I'm not going to try to come in and like step on. on anyone's toes or interject too hard. Of course, if anyone has an idea that they really feel passionate about, it's like you can say it and your voice can be heard. So I was trying to like, I was trying to figure out just like my role the best way I knew how. And so it kind of took like a couple weeks of being there. But after a while, I was like, I think the best way that I can contribute right now since they have such a strong

writing relationship that I don't want to like impede on was to try to just start doing like sound design stuff and I've gotten like over the pandemic I learned how to use like logic and just got pretty savvy with like recording and making demos and stuff like that

so I just tried to I was like okay while they're doing everything else I can wait for some drums to come back to me, and I'll rework drums, and I'll also try to, like, add some, like, atmosphere to the songs that they're pumping out.

Just for layers and textures and whatever, and for me, that's, like, so far has been one of the best ways that I can contribute. And even for this headliner that we're doing right now, I tried to do a lot of that stuff, too, like sound design, where, like, in between every song, there's really never a dead one.

moment. Like, it's, there's always something happening or I, like, I took themes and motifs from existing songs and tried to create, like, really cinematic or maybe moody pieces that feel like, and it's all working with the lights and everything. And it makes it feel more experiential and, like, rather than just like, okay, here's the next song. Yeah. We're going to, we're going to roll into the song.

It's more of just like everything's just building and flowing in and out. of it so it just it feels a lot more cohesive and kind of like cinematic that way and that's kind of like kirby mentioned earlier with like you know some songs need like a video or need something to kind of like properly express like the emotion whatever and i that's been very gratifying in like the sound design aspect of things for me whereas like it like kind of hearing it back and feeling how it feels in the room when we're when we're playing those songs now it feels bit like it feels like it feels like it amplifies. Yeah, I agree.

Speaking of, like, you know, clips in certain songs, but like the one that he has that Trey created, like going into when everything, it's like just the perfect, it's like fucking see in heaven right before you play the song. It's like, it just gets you in this place. It's perfect.

And since on this tour, we got to do LED walls and all this stuff. Sick. The media person that we have with us on this tour, His name is Anthony Tran. And absolutely mind-blowing. He was out with Pierce the Vale on the previous door we did. And he designed all the videos that are in the LED wall.

So also having him here doing the pictures and video while his show that he helped create, you know, really is going to be like a cool tool to utilize. But so since he made that, what we did first was have tray, just like lay out the set and make all his interludes and stuff like that. And then we got to put all these pieces into it. to bring it out. So it feels like a show. You know, so it's not just like, hey, we're going to play 10, you know,

12 singles for you or whatever. It's just feels like a little mini movie, you know. You guys put a lot of time into, like the small details. Yeah. Try and. Trying to do that more and more. I would say that that's definitely a thing in the past, like, couple years, especially,

like just, you know, I think the way that you guys did things in the past, it was just, like, only a few tracks. and, you know, we started doing things like adding, like, like vocal references in our ears and just, like, having, you know, just like way more detailed, like, track sessions and stuff that had just only made the band sound.

Dan made the best trick ever for me. He did the coolest thing where, and since we used Kempers, we have our Kemper's hooked up to the computer in MIDI. Yeah. So all the times, if there's a breakdown where it goes, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun it cuts in the midi that's why i can spin my guitar so much

and not have it making noise oh my god literally and i don't have to touch them up it it would be like you know because in the past or like um yeah i'll be like climb in the fence or something and you just hear slamming against it and brian would just be like dude our sound guys of course dude you're off like this sucks and uh so dan when he came in he just like pulled that out and made this trick and I was like because people you know they will be like how do you how are you silent during those parts because that's that's that's dad and I are both from like our band backgrounds are more like technical shreddy stuff and so I think we both have the brains that are like we're the detail guys like we're gonna we're gonna like really fixate everything is

gonna be perfect yeah that no one else cares about but we care so much that we just have to do and like spend hours on it. So that's kind of our, you know, where we're selling in. And it's helped so much with like between all that kind of stuff and, you know, having his style. And now he's also doing like a drum solo on this tour and stuff. Like I said, with, you know, Dan adding it not just the shred and the vocals. It's definitely helped to, I think, elevate the show and have it be, you know, you know, throwing, not a ton of metal bands. We're throwing in three-part harmonies and shit like that.

Yeah. So we're just trying to do that. while also being like story of the year energetic. Like it's got to be balls out entertaining the whole time. Dude, I see it. I mean, it's kind of why we're here is how I found out about you guys. Literally, dude, I'm fucking, I'm at home. I'm about to eat some pancakes or some pizza.

I've got up my Instagram. And literally, kid you not, about 90% of time, I see you. Yeah. Literally, dude. Pretty cool. Thanks. I was like, who is? Because at that point, I didn't know who fit for a king was.

And then I explored, like, you know, your band and then like your social media presence. I thought, like, these guys are doing it right. I think this is sick, dude. I always see them, but it's not overbearing. And then it's funny, we had a joke before you guys come in here. I'm like, man, I didn't realize how big of a band they are. You know, until I did the research. Thank you.

I was like, damn, these guys are, they are a massive band right now, man. They've been through a lot and really made a name, you know? I think that's the, since we haven't, you know, headlined a lot, like Ryan said before, like this tour right now is kind of us kind of trying to put our stamp on it. You know what I mean? And having people finally maybe see where we're at and what we've been doing. And thank you for saying that. Yeah.

No, you guys already have your stamp and no one's ever going to take that away away from you. Don't try. But you guys have a permanent stamp still. Well, thank you, man. He's fucking badass. It's really cool. You know? I was like, damn, you know, I'm, we're a little bit jaded.

And I was like, you know, we need, like, I'll see you guys. I'll tell the other guys, like, we need like a social media presence. What the fuck? The video's going viral, though, was a total fluke, man, where like, you know, we've tried stuff like that in the past, and I just got lucky where, you know, I posted that video. And then like a week or two after it took a little bit, like it started doing okay. And then it caught the algorithm. And that one video doubled my Instagram following. Whoa.

Yeah, it just, it stayed in the algorithm for like five weeks. And it hit three million plays. That's so. And then because of that, other videos of mine started going. And I started like checking, you know, I think these hashtags are working and, you know, all this stuff. And, you know, the guy that was working media for us at the time, Trevor, like, he really was super involved and learned, you know, what works for our. our band too and he caught some really cool moments one of the things that we've noticed too like you put all this effort into all these crazy videos and then you just get that one iPhone video

and it just pops that blows me away some time but like you put all the effort into all this and like put the one like you know post it and then it's fucking it takes off yeah it's so mind blowing dude it's weird because like even now that one video has been made into all these like compilations where it's like expectation fail and it's been shared in so many languages and stuff where like, there's a ton that go out. There's a ton that go out. I'm not tagged in them or whatever, but I don't care. Like, you know, occasionally it's

cool or nice, you know. If they, some people start tagging me in it, like, I wouldn't be like... That's the one, dude. And some people who have even tagged in and be like, yo, I'm the guitar player in the fail or whatever. We have all been hit by either him or his bass

multiple times, though. Because it has mine, too. I There's one that. I'm a little bit shielded. His symbols aren't safe. And there's one at Warp Tour 2017. I threw my guitar. Like, it's happened three times, but my strap breaks, and I throw it, and I hit a security guard in the nuts.

And, you know, that was, yeah, like, my first video that ever, like, kind of went viral. But, yeah, man, I straight up got lucky, dude. Like, I didn't, I don't know what happened. The guy's infertile now. Is it going to be done? But yeah, I guess just, you know, in terms of the bass player thing, I just, I don't know, man, a lot in a metal in general, not a lot of people think about bass players, no bass players or whatever. And, you know, I grew up loving the chariot and Story of the Year and, like, you know, all these bands that put on these crazy entertaining shows bleeding through fucking, like, you know, watching those spin kicks and shit. I was like, yeah, that's like, that's what I want to do.

And when I was a kid in high school, I had this homie, Steveo, who was in a band that he was older than me and just had crazy stage presence and just been ripping him off for 20 years. Dude, they're the shit, man. You don't want to talk about, like, good guitar spins and shit?

Like, this band was goaded and, like, they just, they put on the most wild show, but, and, like, Seosen, like, dude, there's this one video of Justin Shikoski where he does the OG, like, I'm going to throw it 10 times around him. and you know

he's been tagged in my video so much where he even like you know we DM'd each other and I was just like... He blocked to you He was so tired of fucking seeing this Yeah Yo this video yeah yeah

Check the shit out It's so sick But I told him I was like yo man Like you're the whole reason Why I do this And that you know I definitely just ripping you off

And he was like Yo man every time I see it It makes me smile And I was like That's the cool shit Because I just I love Seyosen man here we go

with a Les Paul, bro oh my goodness sick oh this is so vertical that's a that is a less Paul

well he's a much bigger guy too he's like six two that's a heavy especially in oh you know that what 2007 or something so that that guitar is

heavy my goodness yeah amazing great bands great bands who sailor since shout out yeah thanks

how long is the your new record been been out since October so So about four or five months. How's it, how does it be a reaction been? Honestly, seeing in this European tour, we just did,

and then the first show of this tour, it seems like it's going really, really well. It was kind of hard to gauge at first because when it came out, we were on that I Preveil Pierce the Vale tour, and we didn't have a lot of fans at those. Every show's like massive, you're like, awful fucking killing it. Yeah, you're just there absorbing. Yeah, we were just there absorbing. We were leaching fans from them.

But, yeah, it seems like it's, going really, really well, like between this tour, the first show of it, at least, and then the European tour, people seem to really like it. It's great, yeah, fans seem stoked. You know, if you, if you put out a record and one

song hits your fucking top five, you're like, success. Yes. Yeah, you know, now that we've, you've got a whole rotation of stuff going into it, it is, you know, always interesting seeing how people take to your new album and stuff like that, but I think things have been

going great for us. I'm really happy with it. You guys earn it. You guys fucking earned it. It's fucking seven records. You guys put your stamp and you guys have a solid spot in a scene and a genre. Now you guys have literally, it's so fucking crazy when we have like you, without even trying,

you built your own, you built your whole career. And should we have all these songs to play? Yeah. And the people that have bought tickets are going to know all these songs. That's just like... Wild feeling. It's. It's so wild to be able to, you guys built your career and you have, I mean, hearing your story now

that that's a solid foundation and it explains a lot why you guys are here and why you guys have, have the name, you know, and not a lot of bands have that. It's dope. We're doing something fun for the, you know, fans that are down to come to VIP and stuff too, where we let

them all vote on throwback songs, so we're playing some songs from the first three, three songs from the first three records. Yeah. Just for the fans, like, at the VIP. So that's been a really cool experience. too. It's like playing some songs that we haven't played in seven, eight years, you know. Nice.

It's cool. That's fucking badass. Yeah. If I do research on a band or guest, lately, I've been, like, listening to the whole, I'll start with album one and just go to see, kind of feel like, you know. Yeah. Yeah. And there's a, you're the second band.

I've seen this. But your first record that was independent was you put it out again later. Yeah. Right? And I saw this where. I'm like, what does Redux? Redux? I don't know why it was called that, honestly. What does that mean? We just, they, so the money from the streaming that was starting to kind of dry up. And at the time, our band was really small. So we needed all the money we could get to like for van and trailer and all that. And then our label was like, hey, if you want to re-record it and make a re-recorded.

release kind of, then we'll, uh, you know, we'll cover that. We'll do a 50-50 split on it. And we'll, so it kind of like, and they gave some money up front because obviously buying the rights to the music. So it really helped like at the time because that album when it was doing well, the independent, we were making like two, three grand a month on like streaming. That's, and then it started drying up to like 600 as the new records started coming out and it got older. And we were like, you know, we want to upgrade our gear and stuff like that. So when they're like, hey, we'll give X amount of money up front to buy the rights and do a

50-50 split. We were just like, but you just have to re-record it, re-release it to kind of reintroduce it to the world. That's a good option for a lot of band. I mean, one, we were just talking about it on the car right here. Thrice just redid artist in the ambulance and re-recorded the whole thing. What? Yeah, re-recorded the whole record.

How recent is that? Huh? How recent is that? Week or two? Oh, yeah, really recently. Just put it out. But the other thing is, it's like the Taylor Swift situation. So, like, you have a record, you put it out. Somebody else owns the Masters, but it's been, like, I forget legally,

if it's like eight years post recoup or something like that, you can retain rights or you can re-record it. And you can just put out your own version of it. So that's why there's the Taylor version of everything is because she can just push the streams of that, and then she owns all of those masters. And sure, you, the label, own the original ones, but when you have the power to get fans to be influenced by, which artist in the ambulance came out on Island Def Jam, I assume that they... Did it really? Yeah.

Came on a Def Jam? Island Def Jam. Yeah. That man, Thursday. At that time, we're signed to Island Def Jam, and War all the time came out by Thursday, and Artists in the Ambulance came out by Thrice. See, label, Islander Records. I don't play. Wow.

Wow. Yeah. I didn't know that. Yes, sir. That was when they were taking a chance on the scene. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't know that was a major label fucking record. Oh, sir.

That's the record, holy moly. So they re-recorded this album. Yes, sir. And they have, like, guest vocals on a lot of the songs, like, same Carter's on a song, and there's some other features. Yeah. That's dope. He was saying it sounds great.

I haven't listened to it yet, but Trace said it sounds awesome. Sounds cool. Like, it's, like, more of their... I don't know, Dustin's voice is so much more seasoned now. So it's just got the extra flavor in it now

and everything's kind of more their modern recording style. It sounds cool. That's great. Yeah, they're playing around here pretty soon. So the timing of that's pretty, that's very well thought out.

Yeah. It's, Thrice, what a fucking legendary band, dude. One of my faves. We watched them play in the rain at Blue Ridge. I cried like a bitch. Yeah, first we're on stage

and we're side stage and they're playing Black Honey and I started crying. I was like, man. Black Honey. Fuck. And we go out and we go out to like right in front of the soundboard

and it starts hitting with the rain and they play Hurricane. And I... It's going to ride. It's going to run. Oh, it was the best man. They sounded so good. They did.

It is, you know, they're just one of the most amazing bands. For me, they're just stylistically so unique. Dustin's voice is so unique. Plus, Tepe making his own guitars now and playing them. But just one of my favorites. Love that band to death. Tepe was like perfect. Yeah.

He literally, like his guitar was so clear and he literally did not do anything. wrong. Yeah. He's not playing like the most technical stuff. Some of it's like pretty tough though. There was some like tap slidy things and stuff like that and he was. And he was doing that shit when people were not. Like you had like minus the bear and like some bands getting real weird

with tapping stuff but he was one of the band, one of the guitar players that popularized that for sure. It's pretty sick. Well I mean, uh, I don't want to keep you guys for too long. I know guys got to go back in sound check. But man, I appreciate the fuck out of you guys.

guys, thank you for making that drive. And I'm making time. I know you guys are only on day two, which is day two is 10. Tends to be harder than day one sometimes. You don't have your schedule yet, but now I got to go to fucking do his podcast. Your neck is sore. You're older. You're feeling it.

It's like, I got to do my yoga. Yeah. We surprisingly had a very easy day one yesterday. Really? Yeah. It's been really good. So hopefully today we'll continue that trend. What?

I'm telling you guys, what a fucking sick lineup, man. fucking North plane Dude, it's crazy, bro Yeah, if you're, if you're chilling, man You want to come see the show tonight I'll be there As fun as fuck, man I am

Yeah, it's a good time It's very metalcore If you love metalcore This is the show to see Holy moly It's selling out pretty good We're doing okay To be sold out shows

That are fucking massive venues Oh my goodness Dude, you guys You guys were everywhere Yeah, Texas So with Dallas be All hometown show of you guys Yes sir

Okay. Nice. Yeah, we got Houston, San Antonio. You guys go to Florida, Atlanta. Houston, you see how you don't got a low ticket warning? That's how it be. Get on it. Houston is actually, I think, one of the hardest markets too.

It is. Oh, yeah. It's kind of a running joke at this point. Like, you'll see who was it that had their whole tour sold out? Counterparts. Or, like, Lorna Shore or something. And Houston's the only fucking... Oh, yeah, Brandon pointed it out.

He was like, oh, and look, Which city isn't sold out. Well, Houston, you're a fucking badass. All right, we're one more. Check out FitFor a King. They're on tour literally right now with Northland, Apple Wolf, and Kingdom of Giants. They're a Cali band.

You've never heard of them, man. Are they really? Sacramento. Sack. Oh, right on. Well, shit, where can people find you guys? All over. Just type in FitFor a King on Google.

You got Instagram, Facebook, the MySpace. Come on. Even down to the TikTok. We've got a friendster. We've got it all. Chronically online. Well, fuck, yeah, guys. Chris.

Good seeing you guys, man. Pleasure. Yeah. Thank you very much for having us, man. Thank you. Anytime. All right, everyone. That's it.

Later.