Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY 24 Feat. Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors)

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

An Exclusive Interview with Spin Doctors' Aaron Comess on Good News York In this special episode of Good News York, hosts Matt and Mike welcome Aaron Comess, drummer of the iconic 90s band Spin Doctors. Aaron discusses the band's new album 'Face Full of Cake,' their upcoming tour, including dates at the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino, and their summertime tour with Blues Traveler and the Gin Blossoms. Aaron shares his personal journey as a musician, his love for New York, and the creative process behind their new album which began during the COVID-19 lockdown. The interview also delves into Aaron's solo career, his musical inspirations, and his thoughts on the evolution of the music industry over the years. The episode wraps up with some light-hearted banter about sports and a mutual admiration for the Buffalo Bills. 00:00 Introduction and Special Guest Announcement 00:50 Welcoming Aaron Comas 01:24 Aaron's Background and Love for New York 01:43 Football Fandom and Team Loyalty 05:06 New York's Appeal and Upstate Life 08:22 Spin Doctors' Tour and New Album 10:07 Creating 'Face Full of Cake' During the Pandemic 12:45 The Story Behind 'Still a Gorilla' 15:33 Reflecting on Musical Evolution 16:37 The Creative Process Behind 'Turmoil in My Mind' 17:14 Discussing the Music Industry's Transformation 21:20 Touring with Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms 24:52 Recording in Asbury Park 25:53 Aaron's Solo Career and Musical Versatility 30:10 The Timelessness of Rock and Roll 30:57 Concluding Remarks and Upcoming Shows

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free today at rss.com. Hey guys, welcome to Good News, York. This is a super special episode. I'm very excited because this is, and hats off to our man, Mike, our super producer here. I don't know about that. This is a phenomenal get. We've got an incredible guest.

I am so excited as a 90s kid, you know, and a musician. This is a band from the 90s and the drummer, Mr. Mr. Aaron Comus is joining us willfully. I'm not even talking. We, like, we begged. Yeah. I asked if any in the band could do an interview, and they got back to me and said,

Aaron would like to do this interview, which I made our day. Welcome to Good News York, Aaron. We are. Thanks for having me. Nice to meet you guys. Absolutely. You as well, Aaron.

And by the way, I don't know if I even mentioned. My name is Matt, by the way. I know you've been interacting with Mike a little bit, but we're really excited to have you. And, you know, we're going to talk about a few things. including your tour, you got a new album, and of course you've been an absolute rock star for as long as we can all remember,

and we're going to want to hear some stories about that. But before we get to the music, I want to know a little bit about Aaron. Like who are you just as a human? What are you into aside from the stuff that we know you for? Well, you know, let's say, I've been in New York City. I moved here in 1988.

I'm actually in Buffalo right now because we're playing here tomorrow. But I grew up in Dallas, Texas. So I spent like my high school years, years in Dallas, so I'm a long time. I probably shouldn't say this if this is like Aaron in the Buffalo area, but I'm a long time Dallas Cowboys fan. I'm a diehard Bill's fan, Aaron. Come on. They'll give you a pass for the day. But you know, I got to tell you, I'm always rooting for the bills now because it's a great team and they just seem to get screwed over every time. Aaron, it is, it is at this point in my lifetime, it is beyond. I mean, it's like this,

this franchise is cursed. I'm not sure I believe in curses, but I don't know how to, they don't lose. They find ways to lose in these epic fashions that they're almost impressive, you know? I mean, what happy at this last year? What was it? It was that crazy game. Oh, please, which wasn't? That was horrible. There was wide right. I was totally rooting for you. I was totally rooting for you guys. Well, we, I mean, I'm happy about my Cowboys wins in the 90s, but, you know, it's been, it's been a long 25 years since we've done anything. They've been, they've been very dormant. And what I mean by that is in the off season, they're just not, you know, remember the days of Dion and all these big stars and it gets

to free agency and it's like the Cowboys are just doing nothing. I don't understand. I don't get it. I don't get it. Listen, I, you know how it is. You grow up with a team as a child. I was, I'm old enough to have been around in the Roger Stalbuck era. And then in the 90s, you know, Tom Landry, I even remember that. And like, you know, I stick with my team, but I got to tell you, it's getting harder and harder. And if it wasn't from Dallas, because there's a lot of things I don't like about the Cowboys. Yeah.

I'll be honest. But I stick with them. Well, you should stick with them. Are you in the Jerry Jones? I don't want to get you in trouble. Are you in the Jerry Jones needs to go camp? Oh, absolutely. Good.

Me too. I think pretty much everybody is in Dallas now at this point. He's right. Come on. Go ahead. Sorry. Once he's done in the last 30 years, he's made millions of billions of dollars.

but like you said, I mean, he has these opportunities to get to do things and it's just, what is he doing? He did. Like, they should have totally gotten Dion, man, to coach. I mean, how come he was out of that? I thought that's exactly what was going to happen. But, you know, the thing with Jerry Jones is he's riding off of, you know, he came in with a bang, brings in this coach from Arkansas.

Nobody knows why are you bringing in this Jimmy Johnson? And they win and they win big. And so because of that, because of that, I think is the only reason why he's been able, you know, they've been able to hang on because they just have. done much since. And, and I feel... They got that name brand and they make all that money on the merch. I mean, what?

They still like the, I think the richest sports team in the world, right? I think they are still, I think they surpassed. Once they built the new stadium, I think they're worth surpassed the Yankees, which is like wild. Wow. It's pretty wild. It is wild. Considering they haven't been in a Super Bowl in 30 years.

I know. Look, I'm from the camp of owners should own, coaches should coach players play. And I think if Jerry relinquishes that that strongholds, over the whole organization, I think everyone benefits from it. I agree. Well, just to know, unless the cowboys are playing the bills, I do root for the bills, 100%. You know what? You guys deserve a Super Bowl.

Oh, man. You get me all choked up over here. I wish I could say the same. I don't always root for the Cowboys. I feel bad. I wish I could return the favor of. Maybe I will now. You shouldn't.

If I were you, I wouldn't let the Cowboys either. I mean, we didn't beat you three times. Terrorized. Two times in a row in the Super Bowl. Was it out? What a team that was. Anyway, we turn into a sports show. This is great.

Yeah. This is my wheelhouse. I'm in. Music and sports. Aaron, you said you've been in New York since the late 80s. What, you know, our show is good news, York. So one of the things that we really like to promote is just the things that are awesome about our state and all over the place. Yeah.

If you could, just real quick, what are one of the reasons that you've kind of stuck around? What do you like about the Empire State? I love New York. I mean, when I was younger, I always knew I wanted to be a professional. musician. So I kind of got into my head from an early age that I was either going to move to New York City or to Los Angeles. Sure. Because those were, you know, especially at the time, the big music capital. That's where you had to be. Yeah. You know, all my favorite musicians were lived in one of those two cities. And, you know, I visited in New York. My dad took me up here, you know, looking at colleges.

And I just loved it. It just, you know, a lot of my favorite music came from up here. So ultimately, I ended up coming up here and going, first I did a year at Berkeley and Boston. And then I moved back to Dallas for a year. And when I was at Boston, I would come visit some friends in New York. So after one year back in Dallas, I decided I'm going to move to New York. And I went to the new school for a couple years, which is where the band met up, actually. Wow. But I've been, you know, I've seen, you know, I've seen so many people move.

And I get it. I mean, New York's a, it'll suck you in, spit you out kind of place. So it's a, you know, I definitely, you know, you kind of got to get to a certain level, I think, career-wise. or you're just going to be like roughing it your whole life you know yeah and a lot of people a lot of people do because a lot of people put up with that just because the city is so cool you know so i mean i just love the people there and i love all the culture and i'm a big foodie and it's by far the i think it's the best food city in the entire world and i've been all over the world and new york city is great and the state too you know i have a place up state in the in the cat skills and

oh wow i just love the whole state such a beautiful stay i think a lot of people don't know know how beautiful New York State is unless you get out of the city. I'm, you know, I mean, it's incredible, man. Yeah, we deal with, you know, whenever we, when I would travel outside of New York State, if I said I was from New York, they'd be like, oh, you're from the city. And then I'd go down to the city. And any time I'm visiting people in the city, they'd say, where you're from, I'd say upstate. And they'd be like, oh, like Newburgh or the Catskills.

I'm like, no, no, no. I mean, upstate. I don't think they know that there's life up here. I think they think it's just woods and animals. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, in Canada. Everything north of Poughkeepsie is Canada.

That's right. I mean, it's interesting up here. I mean, I was reading something the other day. I think that Buffalo was like one of the most desirable places to buy a home right now or something. Yeah. This city is really, it's really like kind of turning around a lot. It is. It's on the mend.

And so Syracuse as well. This whole region, really, from Syracuse to Buffalo. And honestly, Albany even is, but it's become, which is crazy because we've been notorious for people leave it. And now it's exactly the other directions. It's good to hear because it's funny how like a lot of these killer cities, you know, like you just mentioned, Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester. They never could like kind of even get to like Cleveland status. Right. And Cleveland's a fucking shithole.

Yeah. I'm really happy to see these cities like, you know, sort of grow up in a good way. People are moving here. It's because they're great, you know? Yeah. Appreciate that. Yeah. So let's, I think that's a great sort of segue into why you're in town, why you're in Buffalo currently.

you're on tour and you're playing at the casino, if I'm not mistaken, right? You guys, Spin Doctors playing at the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino tomorrow night, April 18th and Saturday, April 19th. And you are promoting your new album, Face Full of Cake, which I checked out. I already have my favorite songs off the record. This is exciting. Spin Doctors are going to be performing at the Seneca Niagara Resort Casino tomorrow night, 418, and Saturday, 419. promoting your new record, face full of cake. And I listened to it.

I have three favorites off the record. Can I ask one question before you get into your detailed research? I just got to ask, how much cake was consumed in the making of this record? That's a great good. To make you want to name it that. Actually, there was no cake consumed. What? You know what we consumed a lot of during the making this record?

It was chili. Oh, I love chili. Maybe we should have caught it a face full of chili. This is placed by the studio we worked out in. Nasbury Park called Cardinal Provisions, and they just made the best chili. So, like, every day at around two, we would reward ourselves after we got to take a good song we liked, and we'd order a bunch of chili. We'd literally had chili every day. That's wild. That is, I could eat chili every day. My wife thinks it's disgusting. I love it. And I'll tell you what, a little,

tidbit. So my hometown, the small town I was from, the people of our town were known as cake eaters. That's true. So, you know, when I just hear, I don't know, that's all I can think of is back in the day being the cake eaters. But anyway, proceed with actual questions about the music. I like talking about chili. So face full of cake, this is your first return since 2013. And the creative genesis began after being locked down in COVID. And what I love about that is that you guys came together.

And I know this as a musician myself. and it was almost like it seems like it was a fresh start for you. And there was no pressure. And it was almost like that time away from you guys. It gave you, it reinvigorated you. And to me, like this is an example of what I talked about with people during the pandemic, which was like there was a lot of bad during the pandemic, but there was a lot of good that came from the pandemic too.

And this is what I feel like this is an example. Am I right? Yeah. I mean, you know, we were, we have been talking about making a record. for a while because they had been a long time. And sort of during the lockdown, we sort of started talking about, well, let's, you know,

once this thing blows over a little bit, let's get together and do some writing sessions. Because it's been a while since we got, we always sort of break off in different groups and write songs. And so finally after like, you know, the things were really bad. Everybody started for a little more comfortable getting out. Eric and Chris got together up at Mike Gordon.

He's a studio up in Vermont. Yeah, from Fish. Go ahead. Yeah, so they went up there and met and wrote a couple songs. And then me and Chris got together and wrote some songs. And then me and Eric got together. We just get together in these different groups. And we did that a few times.

And after like, you know, three or four of those writing sessions, we had a nice selection of material. And we just made some really crappy demos. Like a lot of the stuff was just like on our phones. Sure. We did a few songs on my studio. But we weren't trying to make it good. We're just like, let's just get it down. And then finally it came time to, we were like, well, let's go in in the studio and make some like really good demos.

And so we have a new bass player, Jack Daly, who he's got a really great studio in Asbury Park. So we decided to go down there and just very chill. It was like you said, there was absolutely no pressure, no label involved. We weren't even really thinking of it as a record. We're like, let's just go record these songs and see how they come out. And I think just because there was no pressure, we were just. in a really good vibe. You know, we hadn't seen each other in a while.

It just was kind of effortless. And the songs, just, everything just came together. And like after about, you know, three or four days, we're listening back to a couple songs. We're like, you know, this is like, this is cool. I mean, I think this might actually be the record, you know. Forget about the demos, you know. And that's kind of what happened, you know.

And two weeks later, we had a record, you know. One of my favorite stories about, that I've read about during this time is that you guys have a song on the, record. I believe it's, is it still a gorilla? Is that the right name? Yeah. Yeah. Yes. And I totally connect with this. I read that you had had that piece of music for a long time. And Chris had been writing lyrics and it just, it just wasn't happening. And then something happened during this process and you guys like wrote it in an hour. And I get that because I had a band and I had a piece of music that I had had for years. And then one day my bass player was in rehearsal and he was playing something and I said that almost fits the

riff I have and sure enough it fit and boom it happened. Isn't that just the best feeling when something like that comes together? Oh, totally. I mean I had this music laying around I have my own instrumental group, it's sort of jazz, rock, whatever you want to call it. And I had the song called Gorilla, which was this piece of music. And I played it in my group. You know, I always saw how, you know, for an instrumental track, it just would really get a good reaction. So I kind of had it in the back of my mind for years, like, this might be a cool song for the spin doctors, you know. And about seven or eight years ago, I went over to Chris's house,

and we were doing a writing session, and nothing really came of it, you know. Hello. And nothing came of it. And I think, you know, a lot of it, I know, I think with our band in particular, you know, with writing, everybody's got to be in the same frame of mind. You know, like we've had periods through our career where we were just spit out songs, was effortless. And other times it was kind of a struggle.

And so that was the end of this song. And then when we started doing these other writing sessions, I brought it back in. And it still was like, out of all the songs, like every other song we brought in, it just,

we'd have a song in like an hour. It was just so effortless, you know? And with this one, that even when I brought it back, it was like, okay, it was cool, but it wasn't quite there. And I remember being kind of bummed about it.

I think I've got to save this song. I know I can save this song. saved this song, you know. And I came up with this other side. I was like, it really needs a stronger chorus. So I came up with some chords that I thought would be nice for chorus. I sent him over for Chris and he

came over the next day and I figured out how to write with Chris. I just invite him over for dinner. Yeah. Come over, we'll write some music. That's the way to get everything done. Your wife dinner. Chili. You got to invite him over for chili. Charm. So he came by and it just, like he said, you know, within an hour, it was, we had

it. And it was, you know, it was, I'm glad that I, like, kind of, like, stuck with it, you know, because it was really the only song on the record that was sort of troublesome. And I, it ended up being one of the cooler tracks, you know. Yeah. And it's a great track. I, I have a couple favorites. Um, while you're holding the moon over me, uh, that just makes me want to lay on the front lawn on like a summer day and smoke a joint. It's phenomenal. Okay. Thank you. And then there's a, a really, an interesting review. No, that's great. She stands alone.

I've got, you know, real driving guitars. But the one that hooked me was the last track. When you get, what is it, when you get turmoil on your mind, it's very like, it's darker, it's blusier, like a Hendrix and Black. You're listening to a podcast right now, driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own podcast is free and easy. upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads just like this.

If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start your new podcast for free today at RSS.com. Keys type vibe. Okay. And the reason I'm bringing this up is you can hear how much, you know, just kind of the way you guys have grown over the year. is you can tell that this record was done with a different approach creatively than the other records. And we kind of talked about that. It was the whole reuniting after COVID.

But I feel like the sound is reflected on the record, that, you know, that growth and that kind of like, hey, let's just fucking do this thing. And you can hear it, man. Oh, that's good to hear. And, like, you know, turmoil in my mind was a song that Eric and Chris wrote that first session when they met up at Mike's house. And it came from, I think Chris just had like a poem. It wasn't any kind of melody or lyrics. And he read it to Eric and Eric came up with that music and that riff and they sort of like put it together. And then it's great.

It's a really cool song. And then Moon, holding the Moon, that was another one where I invited Chris over for dinner, you know? Yeah. And I showed him that music and he, you know, again, in an hour he had lyrics. And then I cooked him a nice steak, you know. That's amazing. Aaron, let me ask you a question about that. As Mike talked about kind of the evolution of your music, you know, you had massive hits starting in the early 90s that are still in regular rotation on the radio.

And that's got to be an awesome feeling, right? But one of the things that I'm interested in is your perspective of having being into the industry so long. Where do you feel like sort of music in general has gone over these years that you've been in the industry? And do you like where it's at today? I mean, I think music is as good as ever. I mean, there's so much, I see so much talent, like, just from, like, the individual, you know, musicians and bands and artists. And, you know, there's so much different types of music. I feel like, I feel like in general, like musicians and music lovers are more open than they ever were because there's just so much stuff now.

And things don't seem to be put in as much of a box anymore, probably because, you know, there's not labels and radio stations to put. them such a box, you know? And so I think I think artistically it's in a great shape. But from a business point of view and from like a, you know, a young artist, musician, songwriter, band trying to make a living, it's really difficult. Because because there's so much out there, it's like everything's oversaturated and, you know, it's, you know, it's just hard. I mean, I've always believed the cream rises at the top, but it's harder than ever now, man, because, you know, think about how much Every day, I mean, like, I forgot the number, but the amount of, like, songs that come out every day is, like, in the thousand. Yeah.

It's just stupid. And back, you know, back when we were growing up, Matt, you know, there were only a couple places you went to find new music, right? So it would be like MTV. It would be the radio. Maybe it would be Rolling Stone magazine. And when the internet came out, it wasn't as, you know, hot as it is now. But you could find stuff. And now it's the labels and society would kind of tell you, hey, this is the new hot.

band this is the new thing now people you know Betsy from North Carolina can find a band and posted on her account and suddenly they blow up I mean it's yeah but there's so much of it exactly so there's a I think this you know there's a positive side and a negative side to it you know absolutely like like you said that we were kind of spoon fed like what to hear in a way but like even with that said like think about it like you know in order to make a record you had to get a label whether it was an independent label or a major label or maybe you had rich parents but you needed a label really and like, you know,

people like to say, oh, they pay, you know, it was whatever, but I think like the cream rises at the top. Sure. It's hard to get a label. You know, you had to like have a good thing going. You had to have a good band, good songs, and then for as hard as it was, even at that point, to get success, you know,

but there wasn't easier formula. I mean, I think about us, you know, coming out in the early 90s, I mean, it was really in some ways the in a lot of ways, I think it was the peak of the record industry because you had, you know, you had just the CDs were just coming out. So labels were making so much money because everybody was re-bying

all their favorite records on CD and, you know, you had MTV and people were just buying CDs by the truckloads, you know, and so you know, for us, I felt really fortunate and we, you know, we had to really work those couple years to get any attention out of our label, but once we got it,

you know, it was kind of like, yeah, if you got on MTV, you got on the radio, you know, you were going to sell a lot of records. You know, so. Aaron, you're absolutely right. I have this argument all the time with friends and family where I say, you know, look, my parents always told me the 60s and 70s was the best for music. Everyone has their point of view. But I'm telling you, I said that growing up, I think the 90s was the absolute best decade

for music because every genre was in its peak. Rock, I mean, even in pop, you had Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey. In country, you had Garth Brooks. I just feel like. The biggest names you can. think of are all that was and I preach it and then and then people go well that's because you were a 90s kid and I go no but I'm telling you if you listen I mean I love the 60s and 70s stuff but for me I just and in speaking of some of that as we as we pull it back to your tour here

you're actually on tour with another one of my most favorite 90s artist yeah it's uh blues traveler and the gym blossoms you guys are on tour with them now um I saw not now not yet in July and August We're going on. Okay. Okay. Yeah. And I didn't realize that John Popper, before spin doctors became spin doctors,

I forget the name of the band I got to hear somewhere, but they, you guys had. Yeah, yeah, the trucking company. You guys go way back with John Popper. John Popper. That's awesome. John Popper was in the band.

They were called the Trucking Company. He went to high school in Princeton with the singer. He played the Utica Brewery many years ago, and it was on my birthday. And one of the reasons I love to that show so much as a friend bought me tickets for my birthday. And what a great show. I mean, to have all three of you on one ticket

is going to be an awesome. The last show I ever played with my band, my keyboard player and I opened for John Popper in Ithaca. He's an amazing guy. I mean, just amazing. John is one of the first guys I met in New York because, you know, spin doctors all met at the new school. Sorry.

Hello. Spin doctors all met at the new school and the guys from blue a lot of the guys from blues traveler were gone there too. And the very first day of school, they threw a bunch of musicians on stage and the auditorium just to play. And I'm there, you know, I'm on the drums. And I look at my left and there's this guy, this big guy with the harmonica, just playing like, I never heard anybody play a harmonic like that.

Unbelievable. Who the hell is this guy? Right. And then it turned out that like him and Chris grew up together. And you know, and Eric knew him. And they had that band Trucking Company. So once the spin doctors formed, our very first gig was at a fraternity house in Columbia University called Delta Phi. Heck yeah.

And then who's there to my left again, John Popper. He played our first gig with us. And he's always been like an honorer member of the band. For sure. He always sits in with us. We have a really great history with those guys. So to go out on the road with them this summer is going to be so much fun. And Jim Blossoms too.

We toured together back in 94. You know, we've done a lot of shows. So I think it's going to be a real. They're old pals. You got any crazy stories that you guys are going to kind of reminisce about, hey, you guys remember in 94 when we were here and we burned a hotel room down or something? You got any crazy stories like that from those? Yeah, but I can't tell them.

That's the right answer. Statue of limitations, I think. And that's correct me if I'm wrong, Aaron, but that's the show. You guys have got a real special sort of meet-and-greet opportunity happening, too, right? Yeah. Like a VIP package for folks? Yeah, we're doing like that VIP thing. you can come back and meet the band

I think you get like some I don't know exactly what it did I think you get like a signed record I actually can tell you you get a if you are going to see Spin Doctors this well tomorrow night April 18th and Saturday night

April 19th is the VIP for this weekend or for the whole tour Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino you are going to get if you do the VIP meet and greet package on the summer tour it includes concert ticket meet and greet

photo op sign poster commemorative VIP Laminate. They're going to make Aaron work hard for this. They are going to make him very hard. And a bowl full of chili. No. The album is a face full of cake. A face full of cake available for purchase at spindoctors.com

and of course on all streaming platforms. Now, I got to ask you, before we get you out of here, now you recorded this in Asbury Park, New Jersey, with Jack Daly, who's from Troy, New York, by the way, fun fact. And all these New Yorkers This guy worked with Rob Thomas, Beyonce, Jostone, Fiver Fighting, Avrilavine, Lenny Kravitz.

He is also your bass player. So what was that like in the creative process to have a member of the band also kind of produce it? How do you navigate that? Jack didn't produce it, but we did it at his studio. Okay, okay. He's also a great producer, but he, Jack, he has a recorded studio

called Doug D. Productions, in Asbury Park, and we went to his studio and recorded it. But we had a guy named Roman Kloon, engineer, and mix it, and we basically self-produced the record. I mean, all four of us basically produced the record together. We didn't have an outside producer on this one. It's so great that you can do that. That can go either way, you know, and again, the vibes were just right. You know, one of the- That's awesome, man.

One of the things that impresses me about you, you have a great solo career as well, and you have a instrumental record called Catskills Cry, as well as a bunch of other records. So you're brilliant as obviously the drummer of Spin Doctors, but you have a great solo career. But I've also read you have produced over 200 albums. And I don't know if that's a typo or if that's true. I've played on over 200. You've played.

I've done a lot of producing as well. That's amazing. And on top of it, there was a time in the band while members were kind of interchanging, where You did the bass lines on one of the records. Why is it that drummers always seem to be able to just pick up any other instrument and play it? It's always the drummer. How many instruments can you play? Well, you know, I mean, I have kind of an answer for that, I think.

You know, one of the most important things about any music, I mean, you guys are musicians, is time, having a good feel and a good groove over, like, technical abilities or harmonic knowledge. And I think, you know, as a drummer, I'm able to pick up another instrument and just, you know, play it in time, you know. Sure. That's sort of the first step of a lot of things. So, you know, I've always sort of, I've studied music for a long time. You know, I've studied music theory. And I've never really taken guitar lessons, but I've played guitar for a long time. And so I can get around okay on other instruments, you know.

Yeah, it makes sense. You know, Dave Grohl has always said that he was able. to play guitar faster because he said he would play it like his drums, the strumming pattern. Exactly. I mean, think about it. It's all, so much of it is rhythm and time, you know, and, you know, I'm always telling other musicians like, you know, guitar players and whatever you're doing, standards, too, it's like, you know, the time is really just, in some ways, the most important thing, you know.

Sure. I think that's why drummers, you see often drummers playing other instruments quite well. It's true. I'm telling you. Every time I meet somebody. who's like, oh, yeah, I play guitar, I play bass, I play this, I play drums. And it's like these drummers, man, they just get it. Master of so many things.

Aaron, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you joined Good News York. Thank you so much for your time. We hope you have a phenomenal show up there at the casino this weekend. Yeah, let me plug it. We know it's going to be a blast. Let me plug it again. Go for it. It is Spin Doctors are going to be playing tomorrow night, April 18th, and Saturday, April 19th at

the Seneca, Niagara Resort and Casino in Niagara Falls, New York, promoting face full of cake. Their brand new album, it's fantastic. You can look for them this summer as well with Blues Traveler in the Gym Blossoms, and for the first time ever, they got a VIP meet-and-grreet package. If nothing else, go for the nostalgia.

I mean, just what a lineup. Listen, as you mentioned, it's, you know, this period of time, these artists are some of the best in all of music. So anytime that you can see high-quality, live music, I'm a big advocate for that. So, Aaron, thank you for all you do fans. All these bands really sound great.

It's certainly a lot of nostalgia there, but like it's not like we're out just trying to collect a check, you know. We're really playing at our best, you know, and I can say that for all three bands on this tour. And we, you know, we can see that with things like this new album like Mike Sen. We've been kind of playing it to prepare a little bit. And we can see that. And it's cool that you still have that passion for it.

You're not just showing up because it's, it's, the job. It's what I got to do to pay the rent. You know what you still have that love for it. What's crazy is there's so many bands out there. I went and saw Cinderella years ago. Like, I don't know, 10 years ago. How nice? No, not the princess, the band.

They were unbelievable. And the Tom Key for the guitar player was just like playing. I didn't know he could play that well. And then I realized in music, obviously the longer you play, the better you get. Some of these bands are playing for, yeah, But some of these bands you don't realize, you're like, oh, right, they've been touring for 30, 40 years, and they're better than they were.

You know, people always say back in their prime. It's like, no, their prime is now. Yeah, that's true. You know, I think even going back to like when we came out of the 90s, I mean, think about it, rock and roll didn't become a big thing until the 60s, really, you know? That's right. Back then it was like, oh, if you're over 30, you're over the hair.

You're old, man. But now the music's growing up. I mean, you got a big Jagger kicking ass at 81 or whatever. So it's like Jacker. or blues, nobody ever said, like, you get too old playing that. And I think rock has grown up. We've all grown up with rock and roll. Absolutely.

And it's not about the age anymore. And like you said, man, you're right. You see some of these bands you think, and they sound better than ever. Ever. They just been playing together so long. I mean, it makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. There's also sometimes you do see bands that it's just like, wow.

Well, yeah, some you go out. Time to hang it up, fair. Hang it up, pal. Aaron, thank you again. much for your time and we look forward to yeah Aaron Comus of the Spin Doctors Spind Doctors.com go see him at Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino tomorrow and Saturday. Hey man thank you so much really appreciate you guys yeah go Bill take care about this how about this Bill's Cowboys Super Bowl oh I don't know if I can handle that again he might I don't know if I can

handle you have to get a medication I don't think you'll have to because the Cowboys won't be there Well, I mean, good luck. Yeah, well. Good talking to Aaron. All right, Aaron. Thank you so much. You're listening to a podcast right now, driving, working out, walking the dog.

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