The Downbeat - Courtney LaPlante - Spiritbox

Episode Date: June 14, 2021

My guest this week is Courtney LaPlante, singer of Spiritbox. Spiritbox is a metal band from Canada, and they are really, really good, possibly my favourite new band right now. As it turns out, Spiritbox are a fan of my dumb content too so we were basically just really nice to each other for 2 hours. Spiritbox's new album Eternal Blue is available for pre-order now!

Do you want a mattress or underwear or the other thing, the podcast, oh, the penis pills? Is your dick fucking broken on your mattress in your underwear? Then use the discount code. Fuck me, twat, dickhead, 99.9% off at... Bah. ah, black sheep.com. Have you any wool? Yes, sir.

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I'm saying no to the fucking manscape. I'm saying no to all the other shit. but it's burning me out guys I need a lamo I deserve a lamo by now surely this content is Lamborghini worthy I'll just take rent to be honest somewhere between rent and Lamborghini would be nice

I would say there's merchandise maybe if you're listening to this in the future there's merchandise currently there isn't any wwww.combee dot the downbbye dot a t so it's past downbeat I've got nothing in me guys I'm a bit fucking depressed if I'm honest with you. Five times I've had to re-record this because it just is too downbeat.

My guest this week was interviewed. It's not an interview. I spoke to her when I wasn't feeling this fucking miserable. So it's a really good conversation. So you should continue to be here. It's Courtney LaPlante from Spirit Box. Canadian, I would say metal, but I fucking hate metalcore

and they're a great band, one of my favorite new bands. But I guess it's Metalcore. She's the singer. She's also got her own podcast, Good for a Girl. You get it? It's like when people say,

oh yeah, she's good for a girl. Sexism. Sexism and that. Yeah, Spirit Box just announced their new album, smash hit album. It's not even out yet, but I know it's going to be

a fucking smash. If I could buy stonks in a band, I would piss all of my earnings that I don't have any because you haven't signed up the fucking Patreon yet. But if I had, I'd put them all into SpiritBox stonks, particularly for their debut album, Eternal Blue, which would be coming out in September. Look at this. I'm a professional now. I've got a new song, Secret Garden. We talk about that. The new song, we talk about loads of shit.

It's really fucking good. It's Courtney from Spiritbox on the Downbeat podcast. How are you? Good. I feel like Michael bought me like one of those cameos, and I'm just watching the cameo of you. This is actually where I do the cameos as well. Production quality, with a light in the background.

Yeah, it's awesome, because we watch a lot of your stuff that's like our little unwind at the end of the day or what we're driving around. We listen to your podcast, and we watch all of your drum stuff on YouTube. So I know. That's cool. Guess what?

I listen to your band all the time. I know. That's why I'm stressed out. I'm stressed out for you to get to ask me about the band and you might not like it anymore. I don't know. Why? Are you Nazis? Well, I think, well, almost as bad as that, we don't have any real drums.

So. I mean, that was up there on my questions. Yeah, it's all fake. We'll get to that. But you've got a guy. We'll get to that. What I want to talk about is you're in a hotel room where? In Glendale, California.

Like, you know, Los Angeles. Yeah. What are you doing? What was going on? Well, I did the classic, like, you know, the rules are a little, they're a little relaxed down here for the pandemic. And so I did the classic musician thing where I intended to just come here for a month. And we just went to Joshua Tree, which. we didn't leave the house at all.

Like, it was extremely remote just to record our album. And then we just did the classic like, oh, stay a couple other, say a few more weeks. Stay a few more weeks. We can get this done. We can get that done. And finally, we're leaving next week, but we've been here unintentionally for like four months. It's cool. Fucking hell.

Four months? Yeah. How long do the actual tracking take? A month. Wait, and there's no drums on the album, no real drums? No, but, you know, I track really slow. No, that's fine, I was just, I mean, we take a month, we take a month in there. I was just, I thought maybe, I thought maybe you'd do drums.

No. I don't care. I didn't, it was too risky because our album needed to be, you know, needed, like for us to plan our intended lives this year. It needed to be done by the beginning of April. And if we had tried to, we didn't go to a studio, you know, we just, we literally just rented a house so that we could all be together because we all are, you know, living in different countries. So that's why we haven't tracked the album because we wanted to do it all together rather than the two songs we have put out, Holy Roller and Constance, were like all a cart, you know. We track those remotely. and it wasn't quite it wasn't very you know it turned out good but it's just I don't know if you

ever done that but it's hard to to do that over the internet like have someone in your ears telling you please try this again they're not in the same country as you I would I simply would not do it there's no way no it stinks it um and then sorry go ahead I was just gonna say no it's I've forgotten what I was going to say it doesn't matter you go Well, I'm fucking, I'm so unprofessional and I'm tired. Go. Me too. I was going to say that we, this just wasn't the time for us to experiment with attempting to record drums and then hoping our drummer could get someone to do it where he lives and then hoping we liked it and then hoping everything was fine. And we did the, we already, the drums were already written when we were in the studio.

We just tracked guitars and bass and singing. Right. Okay. And now I remember what I was going to say, thank you for just bringing us back on track there. So it's, the best thing about program drums and like, especially demoing or if you're still writing, you've got stuff left to write for the album is you can go, hey, this doesn't work. let's move that whole chorus to the end and you can just cut it and whack it on the end. Whereas if the drum has already taken, like done all their takes and it's all edited,

you're kind of fucked. That's why when we record, we record the drums last. So we track the entire album to program drums and then right at the end I track. Which I guess if you didn't have a pandemic going on, that would probably be the same sort of route you could go if you wanted to. But like Tesseract is one of my favorite bands. They've never recorded a single drum on their albums. I wouldn't have guessed that.

But I guess they write similar to us, I guess, where they kind of demo, the guys writing the songs kind of demo out drums. And then who writes drums in that band? Does the drummer write them? Ackle writes it all and then the drummer sort of humanizes it later on. Yeah. We're kind of in the same boat where, you know, Michael presents us with full songs. He tracks all the instruments and then, you know, Zev, our drummer, he just takes it from like us who are old and decrepit and we haven't played drums physically in a long time to, you know, humanizing it and a little more, you know, he has the.

the spice and just makes it more professional sounding and like has his own flare on it. There's only one. There's only one. See, I wouldn't have guessed if there wasn't there was. There's one set of ghost notes. I think on Holy Roller, there's one set of ghost notes which a drummer wouldn't play. And I heard it and I went, oh, programmed. But if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't guess because metal production and program drums are almost the same.

fucking thing at the moment. Well, we, you know, we'd prefer to have real drums just because it just, I find that more fun. I kind of like the challenge of making it sound good. But, you know, I can't wait to tell the guys that there was a section that you found in there because they take it very seriously and they are going to be so pissed. Like, they're going to, they're going to never speak again. They're probably going to leave us. It's just that a drama wouldn't do. it. Yeah, yeah. I can, I can tell you exactly what it is. It's like, it's the, it's the tail of, of the chorus.

And it's just, yeah, yeah. There's two snares in a row before, two ghost notes in a row before a backbeat, and that's quite hard to play well. So most drummers would have taken one of them out. And then I was like, oh, this might be programmed. You know what? There's no shade.

But do you remember when you were, like, that's the one thing. Anything that Zev has written for drums is always a lot more flashy than what we're writing because he has the strength and the passion of a 20-year-old man. And then we're all old and shot. So, and in our 30s. How old are you? I'm 32. Are you?

Is everyone else 32 and then you got baby drummer? I'm not even the oldest one. Our bass player is 35. I'm 32 and then Michael, my husband, he is turning 30 this week. So, Zev is our... Nice. You got him young. You got him young. Nice. Yeah, I mean, that's the only way that...

That's literally the only way that you could possibly find someone who's willing to drop everything and go, hey, do you want to go to Europe and make $100 a night and open this tour, even though you've never met us before? and that's why we met Zev last year. So that, you know. Yeah, the fire. I am rapidly losing my fire. The financial freedom as well, being 20. Oh, yeah.

Just in general, like, hey, we might have to sleep on a floor this night. Like, it's not that I'm above that. It's that I'm old and I've been doing that for 16 years. I am never, there was one last time where we stayed at a promoter's house. And it was quite recently, I'm not going to name the promoter. But everyone was like, yeah, you got to stay at the promoter's house. It's amazing. So we were like, okay, let's just stay at the promoter's house.

Like you would when you are like in an up and coming band, which has no shade. There's nothing wrong with doing that. But then we got there, me and Drew had to share his kid's bed. His kid wasn't there, thankfully. Fuck knows where the kid was. But me and Drew shared one little, tiny little, te towel looking blanket on this child's bed and it was just like okay this is this is not this is not happening no we're too old our joints are too achy and it's just I I wish my life would be easier if

I could still do that I'd make a lot more money if I could still do that because I could save so much money but like I can't sleep in a van you know do drives five-day drives to get to this show you how it is in the States, just like these wild drives to get to your first show this way or that way, routing shows, all that. I don't want to do that anymore. Where are you based? We all, we all live in Canada. In the same part or all over? Michael and I live on Vancouver Island in this place called Victoria. And then Bill lives in Vancouver, which sounds like we live close together. And technically we do, but since we live on an island, you know, you know how it is. I'm about saying, a real-life island.

So to start a tour, not only do you have to fucking, like, drive to L.A. or whatever, but you have to get a boat first. Yeah, a boat or a plane. There's no road. There's no road that takes you off. So I can't even ever comprehend us at this point in this band, ever, like, starting a tour locally and then making our way in a vehicle. I think we're just going to meet up wherever a tour happens.

And then our drummer lives in the States. He lives in Pennsylvania. So, you know, we never get to see him. I've seen him like two times in my life. Once on tour and then he came to do a music video. And, you know, hopefully I see him this summer when we do shows. This summer, 2021 summer. Yeah, well, we're doing ready.

And we're supposed to be playing in the... Yeah, do you want to come? Is that too far away? I mean, here's the thing about Redding. That's where I grew up. That's where I was born. Yeah, because you live in Glasgow, right? I live in Glasgow now, but, yeah, stick me on your list.

I mean... I don't know if I have a list. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I haven't played a festival in six or seven years. I don't know. Maybe I get three.

You've got ten. You've got ten. Yeah, you can... Yeah, you're the ten, dude. Come on. Fuck, yeah. Honestly, it's good. You should come.

and assert your dominance over our young drummer, and that will, like, really, you know, intimidate him. You know, we'll be like, wow, that Craig, he sure, I bet he wouldn't have, I bet he would have caught that ghost note, you know, and Holy Roller, he would have caught it, Zev. And Zev, and I'll be like, wow, you know. Do you bully him? It sounds like there's a bullying dynamic here.

We don't have anyone else to bully, so we have to bully him. He's the youngest. Bullying the youngest one. Yeah, you know. So, right, I want to touch on something before we go any further. For people that don't know, what did you do before Spirit Box? Band-wise. I was going to say, before that, I worked at a, I was a barista and a payroll clerk, but,

and a receptionist. But then before that, I was in this band called I wrestled a bear once. I was the replacement vocalist, which, as we all know, the, it's the, worst thing you could possibly do. It's like being the second wife, you know, the stepkids, they're not going to like you. But also our band stunk, you know, like

we, you know, there's just a couple of us that are like relics from the past and you wonder how did they ever get that far and I think it's just because you know, it was a band it came from just like purely liking to make crazy music. There was no other ulterior motive

and it just was right place, the right time and you know all one word that in 2000 a full one word name in 2007 is was the hot ticket item and then we just kept going t-shirt and we just kept going how long did you do that for three years like from 20 well yeah 2012 and then then my husband michael joined in 2013 and then is that how you met no he's from the same place as me we were already together I just... Are you sweethearts? Are you childhood sweethearts? High school sweethearts, that's the word. Well, now I'm old enough that like, yeah, because we're, I mean, we've been together for nine years, but we didn't start dating until he was 21 and I was 23. And then I started, I joined Iwabo and then

have you ever, have you ever gone into a band and you can just tell that, like, there's other members that are about to age out? So you're like, already, you have like, your, on speed dial being like, hey, you should probably learn these songs. Yeah, I had like, I've been in a couple of bands that were just revolving door situations. And those bands never, never end up making it properly, do they? It's just, there's something, something smells bad in the dynamic. You can't figure out what it is. Yeah.

But it just, it never quite gets. The only band I can think of that's done it is counterparts. Yeah. The only band that's had an insane amount of members, but because Brendan's still there, it doesn't really matter. It's fucking Brendan, is it? Yeah, and he's always getting actually good people. So, you know, we were like that too.

We got Michael and it was so great to have him go from, like, being my long-distance man to getting to be in the band with me and get to make music together again because we were in our old local band together. briefly. But then we decided that we kind of got like it's like we woke up, you know, we were just like, this isn't really working well. You know, there's a, our, the main guitar player was, he took a couple tours off because he had a really awesome production job. And we're like up on stage and I'm like, I have, we're all, we're all, none of us wrote this song, you know, like there's not an original member up here because the original member wasn't

there. And I was like, this sucks. sucks. Yeah, I've been in bands like that. Yeah. It's just not motivating. So what did you do in the fucking interim then? Because there's like a fucking what, seven year gap, six year gap? Yeah, well, we immediately decided to, you know, make music. Like, that's the first thing we did.

We were like, this is our two weeks of tour left. So we were like, this are our two weeks notice. And we then were like, all right, let's make a new band. and we don't really quite know what it's going to sound like or what it's going to be, but we went home and got normal jobs and, you know, just, I think Michael was delivering pizza and I was working at a cafe and just whatever, you know, it was really hard to get a job after, especially with that gap in your resume of not, you know, in the normie's mind, you're, you haven't done anything in like six years.

So, yeah, I haven't had to do it yet, luckily. It's humbling. So what have you been doing for 12 years? Yeah. Just go on the internet, bro. I'm there. Well, you know how it is. There's a lot of people like us who really just should have already had a supplemental income other than the band.

And we should have been at the time, you know, not having, not knowing about maybe other opportunities that we could have gotten for ourselves. we definitely should have had jobs, you know, and tried to make that work. Yeah, but I don't know. I kind of disagree because I feel like back what we're talking about, the 20-year-old fire, like you need the fire so much in your belly that you just block out all the other jobs or whatever, and then it finally ends up working. Because I reckon if I'd have had a job, like a serious job,

you know, I had part-time jobs or whatever, then I feel like there would have been some moments where it's like, okay, can you do this or you have a double shift book that weekend? That's good money or this opportunity to come up. You can't afford to do it and then I wouldn't have done it and then it would have been fucked. That would have been good for us. Blinders on. For that situation that would have been better for us,

we'd have been like, yeah, we should probably not tour so much and invest all our time in this band. It's not making us any money. in our parents' basement and I can't afford pants. I need a new pants and I had to patch them up. Yeah, but now you don't realize it, but that is what fucking makes you. And now all of that is practice for now. And now you've got a new band that rocks

and you're going to be smarter about it because of the past trauma. Yeah, I think it's, I think it's good. I never thought that I would be happy about the age in which I'm starting to get to do all the things I want to do in my music career. I always figured I'd be stressed out and I would have wanted to do that at age 22, not age 32, but I kind of like it because I'm just older and confident and I have more experience and so I have a bit more wisdom. And I already did all the stuff I wasn't supposed to do that like

was a complete disaster so we've learned a lot from all that yeah and you can appreciate it more now the only thing I sometimes just get pangs of like I want to do this forever but realistically in 20 years time I'm going to be 50 fucking 54 so this can't last

forever and the pandemic I don't know about you now it's opening up I don't really care that much but I was really worried about like wasting the best year like the last of the best years of my life like I should be on tour how long can I be touring for more like seeing places or what before I'm fucking like legit too old to do it because I'm not in tool I can't just go hang on guys I'm going to take 13 years to record this next that one yeah yeah yeah so the pandemic like freak me out the pandemic freaked me out like that like I'm wasting I'm wasting my musical hot years. That's what I was thinking. Yeah, that's a I've I've been feeling like that for

for six years. Um, really stressed out about that because I, I, I, you know, I started writing music for this band when we were 26 and now I'm 32 and I'm like, I'm wasting all this time. But the, the pandemic times, the stressful time for you guys and all the other hardworking touring bands. This is like, we're back in our comfort zone. We ventured out. of our comfort zone for the one tour that we were on ever and that got of course the one tour that we go on was the beginning of the pandemic we were in europe when it got canceled oh who were you out with after the burial and make them suffer in polar and we are the opening band and we finally got someone to take us on tour like that was so hard to get that tour and we have the same management

and we were just like you know we'll do whatever you want just we just want someone to take us so that way you've co-signed us and people start letting us on their doors. Please, for the love of God, please. And they were nice enough to take us. But, you know, so we're back in our comfort zone. This is all we've been doing. We haven't had to buy gear and worry about who's going to be the driver and all that logistical stuff. We've just been able to sit here and focus on making music and making music videos.

And that's it. for four years. It's almost like the fucking stars are all aligning for you to just come out the gate. There's been no stress here. I mean, obviously there's been stress, but not like, not like, oh my God, what are we going to do? We just quit all our jobs to do this. Oh, yeah, we still have our jobs. What are you doing?

Well, I haven't worked in a while because I've been down here, but we work in like data payroll stuff for hospitals. So Michael and I just sit there all day and just entered data in to like this person worked over time. This person has this special skill that they did. We just make sure the nurses get paid right. And then Bill is a barber and a mental health worker. So he's either like cutting hair or he is overseeing people at like safe injection sites. And then Bill's the, or Zev, he's the smart one. I want to fuck Bill now.

You just sold me on Bill. You have no idea. This guy's the fucking best. And then you just said that and I'm like, okay. You have no idea. You have no clue. Soon the stars will align and you will just, you and Bill will get to interact. And it's going to be one of my favorite moments to watch the two of you interacting.

It's going to be. Fuck, yeah. Great. But Zev's smart. He lives with his parents still because he's 20. He quit school. got it. I feel really bad. Last year, he was in school. And then after he went on tour with us, he was just like, I don't want to be in school anymore. I want to just do this band stuff.

And so we, you know, we were a bad influence on him. But he was in school for like session drummers at this fancy school in Brooklyn, you know, just to do something. You did him a favor because that he would be paying for that right now and not being able to go. Yeah. Also, you got your whole life to go back to school. I think about this a lot. Like, I mean, I'm glad I went when I went, but I did exactly what Zev's doing. I did go and be a musician, and

it was bullshit, and I just did it to feel like I was doing something. I learned a lot or whatever, but I see friends who dropped out to tour who have, have, and are having an amazing careers because they dropped out, they had the bollocks

to do it. And then now they're like, hey, I'm going to that political science degree. And they're doing it and they are way more enthusiastic about it because they're older and they're wiser and they're not just fucking doing it to go to college, if you know what I mean. Oh yeah, we all dropped. Michael never went to college. Bill never went to college.

He went, he was in an old band and he kind of, he retired and then went to school for barbering, which is expensive. But I dropped out of school back in like when I was. when I was like 20. But Zev, he had a cool thing he was doing where he was just learning a lot about, like, specifically being a session hired studio drummer. The one thing I do appreciate from his school

that I didn't know when I was his age is they really taught them a lot about, like, the business side of things, which I appreciate because, surprisingly, I don't have to explain a lot of that stuff to him, even though he hasn't really done a lot of that kind of stuff because he's already been coached in that regard.

But the cool thing is, you know, now during the pandemic times when he can't tour, he gets a lot of session work from all sorts of genres of bands. So he's very self-sufficient, which is good. That's cool. I followed him on Instagram the other day. He's fucking good. He's really good. Good content for a 20-year-old kid as well.

Nice. He's learning a lot. And, you know, I think that he, I'm just happy to get to. to kind of watch him develop his drum sound. You know, he's, he's, when I was 20, I didn't know what the fuck I was doing and none of us did. So it's kind of cool working with someone who has known what they want to do with their life since they knew what that meant.

So he's, you know, I mean, he's only been alive for 20 years. Don't get to say, I was going to say when you were 20, you thought that as well. He's known that he wanted to be a drummer, a professional. professional drummer since he was three he's been drumming three which you know it's so gross that was in 2003 we call him y2k man because he was born in the year 2000 so that's his name in our band how gross is that why 2k man is two thousand two thousand two no that should no no no he's too young I remember that the year 2000 parties,

the New Year's Eve's and loads of fucking, oh, what, all the computers are going to attack us. Nothing happened. He wasn't even born. What was that even about? The Y2K bug. Maybe he's the Y2K bug. I don't know, but I remember, I was like,

I'm staying up for this. Like, just in case everything, so I had never stayed up late before. And I was like, let's do this. I was like, I guess I was like, or nine and I ripped you know I stayed up to like 1230 just to make sure everything was okay Check everything clocks look weird but okay. Let's go. Yeah, so it's you know what? You know, I feel like it's I'm always gonna be Indebted to Zev because he proved before any cool stuff ever happened for my band that he was down You know like he he he came in there when we needed someone. We didn't have any we took this tour with

having a drummer, unbeknownst to our management and after the burial. Wow. Yeah. So we, because we had, we had someone that was drumming with us, but then once we got this tour, you know, he was like, I can't do that. I can't take off work and I can't do that for you guys. So I was like, okay, well, still say yes to the tour and hopefully we find someone in the next couple months to drum for us.

Unfortunately, he was from another country, so we didn't get to practice until. He flew up here and we did one practice and then we started doing shows. I mean, that's what I did with Stray. Baptism and fire. That's the way to do it. Yeah, it's good. Did you lose money on that tour? Like, big money.

Well, I didn't because we had a factor grant from Canada. Like, do you have anything like that? Yeah. No, but you guys fucking rule for this shit. We only did the tour because of that. That's why we hadn't gone on tour because there wasn't an opportunity that had presented itself that I felt comfortable losing like $20,000 on. So that one, you know, before everything went bad though, like things were going awesome. We were barely making any money in our guarantee, obviously.

But just off merch, I was like, you know, doing my math and figuring out like bus costs and all that stuff. And I was like, we're making great, we're making money. but we did we did break even after a little while even despite having to spend like 20 grand to get home um nice you know because of the the pandemic you had to just take whatever flight there was dramatic tom manages that band unit ETX and they were like really nearly just stuck in europe it was last minute shit yeah it sucked but it made us all i think made us all go okay if we can handle this we can handle whatever else is thrown on at us when we start touring again because we all we made it through you know i feel like everything's gonna get

everything's going to be super easy for everyone now in terms of like they know what's coming what to prepare for and mentally like i feel like i'm going to be way better because i know The tour isn't the end of my world, like having to take something that maybe we wouldn't have taken, that we would have taken, oh, the guarantees a shit, but it's great exposure. Like, I feel like now we'll just be like, no. Yeah.

No, sorry. Like, learning to say no, because the unknown, which is not being on tour, isn't actually that bad now. Don't be wrong. I had a year of fucking mental panic attack. Yeah, it's like an existential crisis for every band. And I think there's going to be a lot of bands that don't make it out of this

because they realize that they're just going through the motions and just taking shitty guarantees just to be on tour to get away from their shitty lives. That's why I was touring. So I didn't have to deal with my life. Yeah, so I think that all, that's good, though, for people to figure that out. But I think a lot of us, like, you know, you guys, before I was in I wrestled O'Barran's actually I think I wrestled O'Barran's

went on one of Stray from the Path's first ever tours back when they did like sounded really different it was more like Death Corps or something. It was like their very first stuff and they went on tour with that band O-Tep. Oh that's the worst tour they've ever done there's a lot of stories about that tour.

I've been lucky enough to hear many of them from my old bandmates and then also from the stray guys I did, I used to see them at shows sometimes, you know, because they knew my band, so we'd go hang out. Or we did, you know, the All-Stars tour? Did you ever that one? Yeah. Yeah, they did All-Stars tour with my band in 2013, so it was cool.

I got to, like, meet those guys after hearing stories of them from my bandmates for a long time. So, yeah, they've told me some amazing stories. They're, they are, I feel like most of the bands that we all know, the people and the bands are all very entertaining. fun to talk to people so they I had to sometimes like leave hanging out with them early because they they'd make me laugh so hard that I'd have to excuse myself because it was starting to damage my voice before I went on stage so I just leave yeah Tom's always saying you're a fucking fucking legend so we need to sort some some sort of fucking tour out that was to a oh that'd be so fun I need to meet bill I need to watch your band all the time you'd like Michael a lot too make that happen

You'd like Michael a lot too, a lot. I feel like you guys would get along because he is, he just loves you. Like, do you. See, I love everyone that loves me. That's fine. I know. It's going to be really great for your morale and self-esteem to have us just, we'll just stand there, we'll just punish you the entire time about your awesome podcast and your Twitch

channel and all that stuff. Like, we love it. I'm going to, I'll punish you about your music. This is very good. And Anne can punish you about. your blue hair color. Yeah. She tries and fails.

I actually have a photo with a Courtney. How do I say your second name? LaPlante. LePlante. So, see, because I'm English, I would say LePlant. No, that's cool too. That's your way. That's the proper way.

Yeah. I'm not at all, but it is French. If I said plant, La plant. La plant. There. Lapland. Which one?

One, LaPlante. Is that one right? That's right. Okay. Courtney LaPlante. I'm just happy, yeah, any way you say it's fine. I don't, I don't care. I'm from, I was raised in Alabama. So everyone there is like LaPlantee, Courtney LaPlantey before I moved to Canada. Oh my God, that voice is incredible. That's what I used to sound like. You got a good, really? What have you done? You've got rid of it? I guess, yeah. I mean, I lived in Canada longer than I've lived in America now. I've lived there. I moved there when I was 15 and I've lived there for 17. Give me some real fucking southern. Give me some southern. Well, you know, they're all very, they're all very different. The one where I'm from is more like twangy like a player. It's, you know. It's so American. It's more like, I don't know, I don't know where are you all

going like that like, hey y'all, I need to go get me a vanilla sweet cream cold brew from Starbucks if you don't mind. So that's the one I, that's the one I have. The Alabama one's more twangy, but, so I have a weird accent because I also, I lived in Canada a long time and, you know, they sound, they just sound like they're always, like doing, like a shrug. They're always going, oh, oh, yeah, fuck a no. I've never thought of it like a shrug, but yeah, you're right.

They're always just going, oh, I always think of Bill, Bill has the most Canadian accent, and he. Really? Yeah, so I just imagine him cutting someone, someone. hair and you know when like you have a client who's really boring and they just keep talking and you're not even really interacting anymore you're just going oh crazy oh so i was just like have pretend he has the scissors up and going oh yeah yeah for sure fuck yeah crazy that's the canadian west coast canadian accent but i don't want to be you know i'm very i'm self-conscious because

i don't ever i don't want to make fun of my bandmates because that's like all i do in normal life that's really mean to do it on on air but so they're all perfect no it's gentle ribbing gentle ribbing it's fine they're all perfect and have never done anything wrong and i'll die for them and i'll use that clip that'll be the clip that i use um right so if if you're from alabama like i i love your band right but i don't know fucking anything i don't know anything about lyrics i don't know anything about anything i sort of know a bit about some some little things You got some Christian? You got some Christian in you?

I mean, no, I just love Christian imagery because it's so dramatic, you know. So I, no, I, you know, God stinks. No, I don't like, I'm not Christian. Okay, so you got the opposite. What's, what's, what is, uh, holy roller about? Well, it's, you know, holy roller is not a, uh, not a, it's a derogatory term, uh, for, you know, a Bible thumper, you know, someone who just is profiting off of that stuff. And I guess that song is kind of like the devil talking to the, um, the subject, you know? It's like just someone who's

really temptation and everything that the devil stands for, which is kind of, um, what's the, what's the word? Freedom. Yeah. Free. No, like the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the. Just, you know, temptation, you know, the things, whether that's a good or a bad thing. It's kind of, I always, I always, whenever I write, you know, not as myself, I'm usually writing as, like, the temptate things that would be tempting me, whether it's compromising who I am or just, you know, all the bad things about my personality, like, that want to come out. And I just love, I grew up in, in the church, and I love. I love all the imagery from the Bible.

There's some awesome imagery in there. So I use it a lot, and a lot of people, a lot of people think that we're a Christian band, but we're not. I think it's just good. You have a name, Spirit in our name, and we have a song called Blessed Bee. I wasn't, yeah, it was, honestly, it wasn't,

I didn't get Christian vibes. The minute you mentioned Alabama, and then you just touched it in there, like you grew up in church, I wasn't sure if it was like a rebelling, against a childhood Christianity I guess so. I guess most of what I do is if I think about it.

You know, you can't help it. Yeah, that's why I was getting that there. You can't help it. You don't give me big Christian energy. You give me the opposite, but I was wondering if it came from a place. BCE, big Christian energy. Yeah, BCE.

Yeah. Yeah, I just, I've always written about imagery that I've gotten from, you know, the Holly Bibli. I can't help it. The Holly Bibli. Hey, the album, the Straight from the Path album, Only Death is Real, comes from, there is also a fucking Hellhammer album called Only Death Is Real,

which is probably my fault by accident. I didn't do it on purpose. But that comes from, my signature move was I would go to, when we were staying in hotels, I would open the Bible at the part of Revelation where it is in capitals and says like, oh Babylon, the destroyer of worlds,

the horlets, all that fucking shit. And I would circle it and I would write, Only Death is Real on it, and I would leave it open on the bed in hotels. And I'd do it, like maybe, maybe like 30, 40 times a tour, just to try and freak someone out.

Like, do a little pentagram, circle that, and then write only death is real. They're like, oh my God. I got to get out of here. From the first time, Tom was like, what the fuck are you doing? I was like, yeah, it's a little calling card. I'd tell you what, I wouldn't draw on the Bible

because I didn't want to get the band in trouble, but that little notepad that they give you with the pen. I would draw it all on the pen, and then I would put it in the Bible at that page because it's weird it's like all capitals in that part of revelation and then i just leave it on the bed but with the the note poking out so it was like creepy resident evil style that's so creepy i like it 30 30 to 40 times at all just for fun because i'm a fucking psychopath i love that though you probably you know what i'm sure there's people that that happen to them and

they still talk that's like their little story they tell their friends they're like Honey, I went to this hotel and there was a... The devil obviously was in the room, so I checked out. It was in the room. You joked, though. Once, I was just lying on the floor stretching in one of our hotels, and I looked under the bed, and there was so much blood. We had to change room.

There was like, I've been murdered amounts of blood. How was it, like, dried blood or fresh blood? It was dried. It was dried. I just said drud. It was drud. Oh my god. I wonder what it... I wonder what that was...

I know. I think about it all the time. Like, someone killed in there? It seems like maybe it was like... It's usually a sex thing. You know? It's probably a sex thing. No, but it... No, it wasn't enough to be like an anal accident or a lady time situation. It was like I've had my head cut off amounts.

But it was all under the bed. Yeah, as if maybe someone had been slain atop the bed and it dribbled down. Oh, that stinks. I don't like that. Yeah. I don't like that. You should follow up. I can't remember the hotel.

Sorry, remember that time it's of the blood? Even just Googling it, because it might have come out by now. Some sort of fucking, some sort of demon shit. Okay, right. Let me get on, let me get on subject before I derail everything. That's not how, that's, don't worry, that's not how, there's a reason why I was like, I got to start talking at 10, not 12, because I talk. You're a big, big talker. Yeah, I just, I just, you know, it's, I think it's like, I think it's, we're all like this.

I think all musicians that, like, tour, we're just so used to just sitting with a bunch of random people we've never met and then having, like, four hours to kill. And we just talk about shit. I, honestly, I fucking love it. I love it and I need it. That's why I love streaming, because I just need to talk. Partly because I just don't want to be alone with my own thoughts. But also partly just because I need to do it. I need to exercise my tongue and my brain at the same time.

I think a lot of musicians, it's like all, a lot of musicians secretly want to be comedians, and then a lot of comedians secretly want to be like rock star people. I think that's all right. there's such a big connection there because it's just a bunch of people that just sit around and talk to each other killing time. It's like one of the few things where you do that.

I wish I was a comedian. I have a stand-up set pretty much finished. I was going to do it in 2020. It was my New Year's resolution. I was just going to go and do it somewhere without telling anyone. But now, I don't know when that would be.

I can tell you, I could see you doing that. I think you'd be great. Thank you. I would, I just want to try it for the sake of it. Just see, see what happens. Because Twitch is fine and it's like, I get, I get a lot of my like, I need to be funny. Please massage my ego out on there. But you don't get the real time laughter from a human. You get joke and then watch what. Ah, someone said ha ha in the chat. Good. That's cool. Yeah, you have to watch it. Thank God. Yeah, I think that, um, I don't know. I, I, I, I think it's, I think that comedians probably like, it's got to be the hardest

entertainment job as far as like the, like on stage. Because it's the one thing where you can't just, like imagine if we couldn't just play the same songs over and over and we had to kind of tune them to the cater to the audience drastically every night and we weren't just playing a song that was already written and we were like constantly trying out new material and all that stuff. That'd be hard. Yeah, but like, just like, jazz musicians do that though, don't they?

The real musicians. Zev can probably do that. Yeah. Man, when he first, when he came to us, like I said, I've barely gotten to spend any time with this guy. Our relationship building was cut tragically short by the pandemic. And because we, like, I saw him a couple months ago for a music video, but I

hadn't seen him in over a year before that. And, you know how, of course, you know exactly how that feels with you being away from your band. But, you know, he, it was so crazy to me as someone who doesn't know how to read music and doesn't know any music theory. Like, when we were going to our first little warm-up show that we did, Zev just was sitting there. We were on the ferry. You know, we had to drive over to Vancouver. And he was just sitting there, just reading his handwritten drum charts of our song, just reading it, just being like, okay, because he had, you know, he practiced. And so he changed a couple things to to make it more realistic and practical.

And it was just so crazy to be watching this guy. I'm like, he's speaking a language right now that I can't speak. I know what it sounds like, but I can't speak it. Yeah, he's going to go far. I like, I've had a couple of jobs happen. Not that I'm like the scale of going far, but I've had a couple of jobs that I wouldn't have been able to do unless I could cite read music. like two oh our drummers wife's had a kid and we got a festival like in two days and you need to write

the confidence 20 songs the confidence that would give is just amazing then you can just focus on playing your best not remembering i you know i joined my old band i was i was at work i was working at yoga store loo lemon and they called me and were like hey we need can you join warp tour tomorrow our singer quit and i didn't have it man, if I could read music and memorize all the notes that I was having to sing and all the patterns I was having to scream, that would have been life-changing. I didn't have that at all. Why did the other sing it quit? She was like, well, obviously the real reason is because she was very unhappy in the band.

But she also, I think the thing that made her go, holy shit, I need to do something different is she was there in the town where she lived. Dallas and she went home. It's like, hey, I'm going to go do my laundry. And she was like, she, you know how some bands like their singers don't show up all the time? Like they just play instrumental all the time. They were like that. They, they're, they played instrumental a lot. And so then, you know, she didn't show up and they were about to go on stage and she emailed them. And she was like, guys, I'm not doing this anymore. I just went home and I'm pregnant. So like, fuck this. You know, it made her realize her priorities and was like, fuck this shit. I'm not

doing this. So she, so she, she bowed out. Yeah. The playing without a singer thing. Why, why is that ever allowed?

Like, obviously, if somebody, we almost got kicked off the tour. Yeah. Yeah. If someone goes, like,

if someone has to go away, funeral, something with their health or whatever, yeah, yeah, fine. But there's bands like, especially in like the prog,

the gent bands, like, it's, the singer's like, oh, guys, I've got a sore throat. And then everyone's like, it's fine. We'll do an instrumental set. And they do it for like three fucking days.

And no one cares. I would care so much. Me too. There was one band. Remember, I think it was monuments. And the guy was like, hey, I'm just going to play a saxophone tonight because my voice is fucked. Now, that was sick. That's, because he's still on stage.

That's actually kind of cool. I kind of like that. He fucking played the vocal lines on a saxophone. because his throat was shot, but obviously he can still use his lungs. I've never heard anything like that in my life. That's one of the craziest sentences in regards to Prague,

Gentie metal that I've ever heard. Imagine bring it up. Guys, I got really sore throat. I ain't going to be able to sing tonight. But... I can blow that horn, baby. I got this sax. Yeah.

I got this saxophone. With him. It was just with him. He just had it. Must have been. He brought it with him on tour in a flight case. But that's the bar, though. If you're like, oh, I've got a sore fucking,

because I've seen, you know, Sam Architects with a sore fucking throat, he'll still go up there and he'll fucking kill it. I don't want to see, oh, I'm not doing it. I've got a sore throat. I want to see saxophone or you're up there. That's it.

Yeah. Well, you know how it is. It's like, by the time someone quits a band or a relationship, like, they should have broken up many times before that. and it was just the hope and trying that keeps you together for a little bit longer past your expiry date. Someone told me what that was called the other day. The sunken cost fallacy where you've sunk all of...

That's it. Yeah. That's what my... that literally is anytime I'm with any of my friends that are in bands that are starting out, that's what ends up happening. Like, I start drinking and then I just start like ranting to them about the sunken cost sunken time fallacy. where I'm like, just because you spent all this, rant me, rent to me. I say just because you've spent all this time with these people or like trying to make it work with this drummer or trying to make it work with this person

or recording an album with a producer or, you know, an engineer that's bad and your product is bad. It doesn't mean that you now have to put it out just because you've sunk in all this time in it. You don't have to stick with people that are dragging you down just because you've sunk in time into it, and you don't have to continue being a specific local band

that is just trying to make it just because you've sunk in so many years into it. You could literally, like I tell my friends, I'm like, you could literally never play any of these songs ever again, and whoever the audiences that you're talking to or playing for doesn't care, and there's a lot of freedom in that that you should enjoy, because trust me,

once you start having all these pre-consum, conceived expectations from your audience because you actually have a real audience. It's very different and you have a different thing to navigate. You know, you're in a band where some people would be really sad if you didn't play certain songs. You know, like, and you're going to do what you're going to do, but, you know, and your fans will appreciate it no matter what. They'll be so happy to see you. But you know, there's a few songs that they'd be a little, you know, after the show, they'd be like, man, I wish they had played that song. You know, a majority of the ones. of them. So there's freedom in being new and just being able to be like, fuck it. I'm not playing

any of these songs that I've written ever. I'm playing all new songs and no one cares because you're new. Hey, I saw, actually played a festival, subtle flex here. I played a festival with the cure and Bjork. Rockin. And, uh, Bjork came on stage. She played her brand new album from start to finish. on a headline set, didn't address the crowd once, played this brand new fucking album, no one's heard any of it, start to finish,

and then she just goes up to the microphone and goes, my manager said I shouldn't have done that, but fuck him. And then she played the classics afterwards. But like, an hour had gone by, and I was just, honestly, I wanted to mosh. I was just like,

that is the sickest fucking thing ever. You are an artist, always. I love her. I feel like there's such, a line of like you can almost see this line that connects heavy music to to Bjork's music because she's always been she's always been drawn to like some really dark music and I just feel like there's all these little nods to like industrial stuff and Mike Patton and like there's so she she has she she she knows like she she she's in I bet she listens to cool

weird heavy music for inspiration so I love I've just I love her, even though I don't sing like her, um, her music's really inspiring to me. There's, it's really dark. It doesn't inspire me for making like structured stuff, but just like being able to go off on a tangent within your song.

Um, and it's just more about the vocal and the emotion and then happening to have really cool words and imagery. She's like, she's one of my favorite singers. I really love her music. Yeah, she fucking rips. I honestly didn't know that before bringing it up.

It just made me think of it when you said about like, I don't want to fucking, I don't want to play the fucking old songs. Yeah. That was one of the sickest things I've ever seen like a massive artist do. Wow.

I think, I think if it was anyone other than her, I'd have probably cringed, but she can do fucking anything she wants. Yeah. She's, that's my dream. Like,

I just want to be able to control my, I wish that, you know, once a song goes out into the world, it's like not your song anymore. fan song but I like the control of feeling like I can just do whatever I want I think that slowly can start to slip away from you as your band gets bigger I don't know I but I'm trying to like hold on to it and not get caught up and just do it like I remember

when I was drum-tecking for architects um after hollow crown so only one there was ruin and nightmares before hollow crown but then there was holo crown and there was daybreaker so I was on the daybreaker cycle so there's only two albums worth of material before the ones that they stopped playing and on that tour

they were like we're never playing anything off ruin we're never playing anything off nightmares and it was like doing that on your fourth album just writing off the first two was like a power move and it was just like we just don't like the songs we don't like to play them. It's not how the band is anymore. We're just not doing it.

Oh man. That's, that's fucking sick. I love that band. Do you know of the connection between my band and the architects? I do not. Please tell me. So, guess who Bill in Spirit Box went to school with and is his best friend since the age of six years old? Guess which member of the band? It's got to be the completely shaven aerodynamic Ottoman

himself Adam Christensen Adam. Adam Yeah. So Bill and Adam have grown up together for their entire lives. They played in a band together

that was called a textbook tragedy. Bill was in a text he was the bass player for it. That's why that's why Michael and I know Bill because we grew up listening to their music. You know, we were a little younger than them. They were like the cool band in our scene. And then Bill went and he then joined the band Living with Lions, which is like a

cool pop punk band that we also really liked. And then Adam went off to join architects. So textbook and architects have toured together for, you know, since the both of the bands began. So he's known those guys for a long time. And I got to meet the, them when they came to Vancouver to play a show. We made the trip over on the ferry. And then we felt really cool because we got to go backstage because Bill was cutting all of their hair. So we were just like, hey, guys, it's really nice to meet you.

Oh, sure, gee. And you know what's cool? And then I'm so excited to tell someone because this will be out soon. So when we were recording, you know, who was like, hey, I want to be on your album. Yeah, I know. Samuel.

Yeah, I know. And then, so now we have, like, it's so weird because it's like, one of my favorite vocalists of all time. The song sounds the way it does because of their band, because we love their band, and are influenced by them. And then he's on the song. And it's a song that I purposely gave him the weirdest song so that no one would ever pressure me into putting it out as a single because I was a song.

I didn't want to use his fame, you know, in my band. But then he did it. And it's so good that it's like the best song on our album now because his voice is on it. Hey, first world problem child. Yeah. It's the biggest fucking stray song. And you can't like, yeah, it's so good. You can get other people to do it live.

But when Sam does it, it's just unreal. Yeah. So I'm very honored to have, especially also. I wasn't going to have any guest spots on the album because I have a lot of, I have a lot of friends who I'd love to be on it, but there just wasn't time. So it's like, it's all or nothing. I want all my friends on it or none of my friends on it. But, you know, I didn't expect, I don't really know him very well. I didn't expect him to be like, I'll do it, you know?

So what am I going to say no? No, we talk about your band all the time. He told me when he was doing it. I already knew this. This is fucking old news to me. Well, I don't get to tell anyone. Give me some new news. Give me some new news.

Have you got anyone else on there? Who else? No, just Sam. I didn't ask, I didn't ask anybody else because I didn't want anybody else. I wanted to be like, I was like, I want to be like Jay Cole, album, no features, you know? Like, I want to show that I don't want to use my cool fancy friends. I want them to just, I don't want to feel like I'm using them, you know, but he just. I don't think anyone, at our level, no one really thinks like that.

Do they? They do. I can think of some. I can think of some. Yeah. You know. We don't know. We always think of like, who fits this song?

Yes. Or we write, like, what were you just done? Like, when we wrote Double Down, I think we wrote it and it was like, this sounds like Kubla Khan. Oh, you should get a honeycutting. Yeah, yeah. So I'd love to do that someday, like a more, you know, the Kanye West collab style where it's like, it's not even credited it. I don't, you know, I don't really even like traditional features. So that's what was cool about this song because Sam was like, where would you like me to

sing. The song is called Yellow Jacket and I was like the whole thing. I was like I want, it's like kind of more of a duet than a feature. Is it? Well, because I don't, I like collabs. I like real

I was. That is different. I envision. That is hip hop. I envision us both on stage the whole time. You know, like I am tagging in and out not just like an awkward stand there for a second and then running away. I like us to sing together. You know, I don't think people do that enough in metal songs.

Yeah, that's cool as fuck. Yeah, so, you know, I know people will like that one. But I don't know what people are going to think of, I don't know if they're thinking of the album. It's called Eternal Blue, the album. And it's going to come out in September. And it's just one of those things where, like, none of our songs really sound quite the same as one another yet.

So it's like every, because we're new, you know, like we're still figuring it out. So every time we put a song out, you know, I feel like people are just really trained. Like, remember on Twitter I was asking about that? I feel like people are really trained to like whatever song a metal band puts out that single represents the band's project and the product that you're going to buy. I hate everyone. What is with that? What is with that? I, I.

I cannot stand. Do you know what it is? You know what it is? It's, Amazon Prime. That is what's created this. Streaming and Amazon Prime, everyone can get whatever they want,

whenever they want it, so for some reason they feel entitled to it. It's a mixture of boomer mentality, but with today's technology, where boomer mentality of being like, you deserve this, you deserve everything, because back then you really couldn't have everything

and that the subtext is you deserve to go out and get it and if you you know if you go out and get this then you deserve it yeah customer is always right blah blah blah yeah that shit whereas now we've got fast food culture meets that

which is just I deserve this song to be a instantly downloadable and be exactly what I want and if not, I shall be reporting to the manager. Yeah. Like that, and it's, you can't, I can't really blame anyone. It's a society culture thing.

I think, sorry to go on a rant about this, but I think honestly the pandemic might have woken some people up when, when like talk of small businesses being affected, when they've ordered something and it's taken forever and they've been like, they've had, they've ordered everything. Everything is taken forever and they thought, oh, hang on. At the other end of this is an actual human being. It was trying.

Like, I think that's slowly, because of the pandemic, people are realizing that with music as well. Like, I should just be thankful this is happening. Yeah. The old music still exists. The old sound still exists. One fucking song. I know you made that tweet because of the single, because you sent me the single. Yeah, because I'm really...

And the single is different. It's different. It's not really, I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's a metal song, I don't know, but it's so annoying. I don't think you need to worry though. I think you're over worrying. I didn't listen to it and go, wow, that's really different. It's just very, it's very earnest, you know, has a very earnest, upbeat chorus.

That's like, the song's sad, but it's... That's different. I just really... It's almost like a two-step chorus. Yeah, this song is like, I wanted, I'm like, I was like, what would the story so far sound like if they were in a kind of proggy metal band so like i don't i don't know i feel like all the metal all people that listen to metal it seems like they and i got a lot of really good questions back from the tweet that i asked about that and a lot of people were like it's because we're so used to

bands being a certain way and then changing and you guys unfortunately you kind of like represent a part of our identities and so it's almost like you're abandoning you know our identity which makes so much sense because that's why this music genre is so awesome because the fans don't it's not this flippant thing like they truly are passionate about it but at the same time i think it's kind of our you know metal band's faults as well because we just we accept very mediocre full-length albums that truly i don't think need to exist as a full-length album you know it's like we all know know the band that wrote five songs and then they're like all right well i guess we better write five more songs because we have to

we're contractually obligated. But that's the label. Yeah, that's the labels. That's the system's fault. It's not the band's fault. But you know, just making the same stuff. Just making the same like when I listen to a lot of albums, you know, a lot of the time, sometimes I can't

figure out where the one song ends and the one song begins because sounds very similar. And I, so I don't know if that's like just we all do that because it's a body of work. It's one body of work meant to listen to all at once. So it's going to be from that time

of when you wanted to create music like that and maybe that's why. But yeah, it's also, you're right. It's like the obligation of the 10 to 12 songs makes people feel like they have to put out, you know, a bunch of quantity. But also, I guess your metal core in particular, like, I can't fucking stand it.

There's very few bands. that I like for those reasons. Yeah, me too. There's no... Everything sounds exactly the fucking same. We all sound... We all sound insecure. There's architects that are now shifting

slightly, which interests me. Me too. And then there is every other band, obviously not every other band, but for the most part, every other band that sounds like architects three years ago. Well, yeah, we're... And I'm just like, I'm done with it.

We're, we're, for some reason, we are willingly have chosen and we are all compelled as adults in our mid-30s to continue making music in a genre that's really been dead for like 10 years. But we just can't, we're, you know, it's stupid, but here we are. We just love it. Now, but you guys are doing something different. I'm talking about like the, okay. let's move da da da da da da da da da kh fuck

fuck just fucking fucking just fucking can I tell you you know how we all all bands have like a bit that they all do you know we all have like a bit

one of our bits is the metal core is I am the one that does the stuff to you you are the one that does the things to me we are the ones that do the stuff. Love it. Love it. You. Is that like, that's your

metal core fucking muscle. I am the one that does this thing to you. You are the one that didn't do the thing. We are the ones. Didn't, didn't, didn't, didn't, didn't, didn't, didn't, didn't, didn't. I love it. But I think it's because, I think it's because we're all, like, metalcore genre, we're insecure as fuck.

We all are like. And we were there at the beginning. Yeah, we're insecure. We're insecure and we all, and by we, I don't mean, I don't mean me I mean we as a genre we're like really insecure and we want to make music that's like more successful and so it's like a bunch of people that never cared about putting singing in their music just thrusting a a soaring uplifting chorus uh do you think that's where you did no not me but like that's the genre why i don't sound like yeah yeah yeah the why i don't really like a lot of it because it's just like a bunch of it doesn't really feel like uh it doesn't really feel like uh it

It doesn't feel like people are making that stuff because they like it. I almost feel like they're so insecure that they want to like figure out who they are and make a more, you know, add some singing there to reach more audiences. But it doesn't really feel like they're people that, you know, have ever sang before. Enjoy singing. Yeah, it's this. It's the formula. Like, this is the verse. This is the verse.

Oh, yeah. This is the verse. Something in college font. Yeah. Yeah. And then I dance. Yeah. Where it's always like, why are all these people always rising?

Like, why the fuck is every song about rising and overcoming? Like, what have you overcome? To explain yourself, you know, stop telling me that you're rising and overcoming. I'd like to know what you rose and overcame from, please. Like, I don't need to keep being uplifted. Ideally, in some sort of literary allegory, please, not as direct as you're telling. telling me, I've overcome the bad time, terrible time, yeah. I want a little bit of fucking art in there.

Can I have a little bit of art, please? I like a little, I like a little bit of, you know, a teeny pretentiousness. I need a teeny little bit of... Oh, I need fucking so much pretentiousness. I think pretentious mix with self-awareness, you know? I need maximum pretent. And that's why all the metalcore bands have always baffled me, because I feel like they're all the most self-aware people off the stage.

They're very self-aware and very, what's the word? Like, everyone's very self-deprecating, we self-deprecating humor to cope with our shitty situations. And they're some of the best, most hardworking, self-aware people. So I want the genre to breathe again because I think it's a great mix of heaviness and musicianship that could really be something. so, you know, let's, I don't think it's dead. It's not dead yet.

It's just on, you know, it's on life support, though. We have to all figure out. I don't, I don't even think it is. I think I'm on fucking life support. Yeah, maybe, yeah, it's us on life support. These bands come out and they're fucking the same shit, and then they're fucking huge. And then I'm like, what?

But I guess it's because it's a childish. It's a child. I'm not talking about your band. No, but it is a child. It's mature. It's a child. It's a child. It's a child.

It's a child. It's a child. It's a child. childish genre. It's basically pop punk, but heavy. Yeah. In terms of like, yeah. The context it's just fucking heavy pop punk. And then, so you're always going to get kids. You're always going to get kids whose parents only listen to singing music. And then they go, wait a minute. There's a song with that, raw, raw, but also with the yeah. Yeah. And then they get into it. And then they get into the, the formulation.

Vocally, when you're always turned up to an 11, like there's nowhere else to go. So if you're always doing a scream, that's very intense. And then you have singing that's always just ripping, just ripping at the top of the, of the, of your register, you know, there's nowhere to go. You're at the top. That's why I feel like I love your band for this reason, because I think we're on the same wavelength with, what we're done with and what we want to hear more of. Like, I think of your band as, and it doesn't sound anything like this, but in terms of the way they're approaching their genre and why it interests me,

the 1975 of metal. That would be quite the compliment. I love that band. As in this, they draw so much from so many other genres and so many different periods of music and they bring that to something new with authenticity without it seeming like they're copying or whatever and I feel like you're like the metal version of that which is why I'm into it well thank you it's it's really awesome that's like my favorite thing about being down here is I've gotten to meet other music people that are doing what I'm doing and it's so nice to

it's just so nice to like not have to explain yourself to someone for once you know like everyone I meet down here they're all are everyone's an artist or they're an actor so it's just nice to like you know I'm not with you in real life but I kind of get to look where I think your eyes are on the face time screen and just like you understand me without me having to like explain why I'm doing this you know why I yeah I fully fucking get it yeah it's great and And also just getting to be around other musicians that understand like the little milestones, you know, if I say like, oh, we did this many streams, you know, like I have a friend who's a music person who can go, I understand what that means. Good job. You know, or like, oh, we're getting to play at this festival with these bands. And my friends, music friends are like, I know who those bands are. That's very cool for your first festival, you know. So. Thank you. Little things like that.

Playing Reading and Leeds is like the biggest thing you could do as a heavy band in the UK. I am so scared. I am so, so scared. Are you on the tent? I don't know. The pit stage. You'll be fine. It's not like massive, massive, but it will be amazing.

But it will be like, it won't be the big stage, but for me, it will be the biggest stage I've probably ever played and I'm and I'm really scared because I didn't intend for it to be this you know this thing like I didn't I didn't intend for my first show in the UK to be at Reading and Leeds festival where there's going to be gnarly direct-in recordings and you know all these people watching you know I just say I want to check where you're playing I don't know if it's even out yet let's see like what stage I'm sure whatever it is it's gonna be it's definitely the rocker stage you know like yeah Daniel P. Carter stage it's gonna yeah it's gonna be the rocker the the the Daniel P. Carter rocker stage

stage so I'm just looking mine now it will be if I can find it it will definitely be a you know like there's like the I'll be under a tent that's what I always say when someone's like oh what festival you're all you're playing that huge festival I'm like yeah but I'm like one of the tent bands you know I Is it announced? Have we just accidentally announced it? Is it definitely announced? Yeah, no, it's out.

I just don't know, I don't know where we're playing because all I hate it. Oh, there you are, there you are. Yeah, you're on the pit. Yeah. You're on the same day as fever, creeper horror. Fever, creeper horror. Yeah. A fever, a creeper, ha, ha, ha, yeah.

That sounded like Italian. A fever de creeper horror. So there'll be other cool rockers there. There'll be other cool rockers playing at that time. So, you know, will, it will be fun. Like, it's gonna be really fun. Post Malone same day.

Posty loves stray. Posty follows me on Twitter. Let's get the beer pong going. Okay, see, I'm, I'm, on the back of my head, in the back of my mind, there's always all these little, um, these little like secret fantasies of that, oh, oh, look, he stumbled up.

Maybe I, I wear my cool band guy shirt. And then on his way to the stage, old post Malone's like, hey, I like that shirt. And then I'm like, hey, we should become best friends. No, I have the inn. I have the inn. We're good. We're good for that.

Austin. I know, I'm a big fan, so I know his name is Austin. And he, uh, he, I have some friends that know him too because, um, he, he lives here. And so eventually there'll be like too many. They'll be you. They'll be my other friend. They'll be, um, we'll play festivals more. with him and then eventually like he won't be able to help it he'll just be like another another

alternative lifestyle person i see come over here watch me in my watch me leave in my jet would you like to be a crew member and then there it goes wow they really took a turn there yeah and then you work you're a crew member on post malone's jet yeah i want so i can be a flight attendant on the jet and then i can fund my my my my rock and roll lifestyle that way So that's like, there's all the, that's what I'm waiting for. So yeah, if you could just kind of... I can do it. Well, he invited straight to his, like, complex when we played Reading and he played Reading,

to play Beer Pong. Okay, well, you know, I'm just going to be cool, but, but I'm going to be ready. Like, I'll practice, I'll practice beer pong just to be in case, just in case. I mean, it's not difficult. I'm actually very good at it, so we can maybe get warm up. We could warm up. Well, I hope you could fly. My also dream, my other dream is that Sam comes and then I get him, you know, we make him, like, perform with us.

I'd also really like that to have him come out, like, secretly. You've made him have a fucking 11 minute long feature or whatever it is, so that's on you. Yeah. If he doesn't do that. Yeah, I know. I can't do that song. Have you ever, imagine having to sing a song that that guy sings and by your son. What do you guys do when you play that song?

You don't like having to compare myself to that guy. Are you kidding me? Drew does it, but then also if there's like a band on tour with a cool singer, then we get them to do it. I can't sing like that guy. Actually, you would be doing it if we're on doing it. It would 100% be you. Yeah, you'd make, you guys would make me do it. I would be like, all right, guys, I got one minute left in me before I must go to sleep.

I'll do it. yes but as the last song you could sleep before yeah that's true that's true right what else can you tell me about your fucking album what else do i need to have done because let's see uh it's well yeah it's it's call eternal blue and it is something that we've been working on for way longer than we wanted to but we just had like an extra year to marinate it from the pandemic and i really hope people like it because we didn't intend to not put an album out for this long and And now everyone has all these really crazy high expectations for this thing. So I really don't want to let anyone down.

But I'm at that point right now where, you know, when you've just completed something and you have this crazy, like, superhuman confidence and you're like, this is going to change music. We're going to change the world. This is the best thing in the whole world. And then it's followed by, like, crippling insecurity that it's the worst thing you've ever made. But I have a good feeling. And here's why.

We put out our song circle with me We were very nervous to put that out It's one of the most structured Metalcore songs we've ever made The video is amazing Thank you, thank you But amazing And here's why I think the album's gonna do okay

Because I've looked at every comment The people have to say negative positive But don't tell them that No no I do And I like downvote the bad ones And I vote the good ones Yeah, I'm sick And I'm

And I Because it's a focus group right now I don't have to a crowd that I can look out at and see what they're doing. I don't I can't I only have comments. It's all I have right now. So again, I take I I don't let them I don't let them have that much power over me but I'm fascinated by it because I look at it like a focus group thing. Like I'm getting to see what the test group says and I haven't seen anything that has anything to do with a negativity about how the mix sounds which means that the mix is so good that

no one's, you know, being hypercritical of that. They're just enjoying the songs. And I think if you can have that, if you can have that, then you're good. Like the, I'm feeling really confident about it. The mix is definitely a huge thing. The mix is fucking great. The mix on all your shit's good.

No, the mix on all your recent stuff's good. Yeah. Now we finally spent all our money on that before we were just like, excuse me, sir, do you have a spare? A crumb of VST plugin. Please, sir. Please may have the Chris Lord algae plug-in, sir, a crumb of the Chris Lord algae. A crumb of CLA drums on every single drum.

And CLA vocals on the, oh, I know. Yeah, so now, pretty much since 2019, we've been able to invest time and care and money. So wait, did you mix it? No, but we have the same guy, Dan Bronsty, that's always mixed our stuff. And then from our song Rule of Nines onward, he has been there with us, producing with us, and really putting all his time and effort into, you know, cranking out. When was Rule of Nines?

That was in the fall of 2019. When was Holy Rol-Rol-Ruller? And that one was in the summer of 2020. In July of 2020. Okay, so it is from that point when it got really fucking sick. Yeah. And so Rule of Nines and Blessed B, we did in person. with Dan because it was back we didn't have a record deal or anything we were just like okay

let's put these songs out as like our you know just to have something we recorded all this music and developed it all at the same time um and started building what we figured our sound would be and named the album and anything this album's been named eternal blue since before the songs were made um and it's just i need that like um what's the word it's like my mantra you know like i have it there to visualize the album. Like, that's what it's called. What does it mean? I don't know.

And I think that... So the other, Constance and Holy Roller were done remotely because we just really wanted to put music out, but they were never intended to, like, be singles. You know, we just were like, we know these songs are what we want to put out now. We know this song.

Are they all on the album? Constance and Holy Roller are, and Reu of Nines and Blessed Be aren't, because I'm just like, I just didn't want to put them on there. Okay. that's good though because otherwise you've got four fucking singles already for an album yeah but no that's cool we just put them on because we weren't going to and then we were like because they're old and then we were like you know what like we made these to be with this album

and it didn't feel right it didn't everyone does it like we made them all at the same time so it didn't feel right rule and they're fucking bops yeah they they're you know they're ripping they're ripping and they're already setting the album up to do well so i want them there they need to be in the party Rule of Nines and Blessed B got cut, but Constance and Holy Roller, they deserve to be... Constance, we made it to be the final song on the album. Like, that's why we made that song.

We were like, this one comes at the end of the album. What's that song about? That song is about my grandma passing away. My grandma died last year. Yeah, I know this. The sadness... The sadness of the song predates that. The song was made in 2019,

but the lyrics were made. after my grandma passed away. So that song's extra special to me now, even more so than it was, but I, you know, I've got to have that song on there. Gotta have it. And then, and then... That's my favorite song.

Oh, that's awesome. Thank you. And that's like, quote, unquote, your lightest song. Yeah. But it's different. It doesn't have, like, a poppiness to it for me. Like, so I feel like we can get away with it. Secret Garden is very, like, you know, it has like the,

and about to be an anthemic chorus, there it is. So I really don't know. You just sold it like a metal core. The fire in the sky. I am the destroyer. Is that someone's actual lyric? 100%. I don't know who it is, but someone did that.

And we know we... Definitely, as are they dying. Every single one that we've done today is as are they dying. My art, Dan, our producer, he has this thing where when we're making a part, he's like, he calls it the jingling keys part. And it's when there's like a kind of a cut out before the breakdown happens and it's like, dun, dun, to dun.

And then when you're out, you can hear the audience getting ready to start moving and they're all, so their carabinas are jangling off their shorts. And then you always hear someone off time go, right before the breakdown comes in. Like someone's just, they're like smoked. They're like, woo. And then so.

I'm in Europe right now, a Euro festival. He jingles his keys and yells woo, and that means that we're doing a good job if we're making something. Fuck, yeah. Yeah, so I don't know. I really hope people like it because, I don't know, it's good.

It was music that was, like, created in a vacuum, you know, like without any outside me worrying about money or anything. Yeah, you can have it. I don't even have it. Thank you. I purport. Give it to anyone. I know. No, I have one of those things where, you know, it's like the watermarked thing so you can't, like, send it.

Yeah, the stream thing. Yeah. Do you know what? I get put on those lists because for some reason I'm on the circle of like, press. Yeah. You got to do the downbeat kid. But I say no to everyone because I don't like anyone's bands and I can't be insincere. Like, can't, oh, do you want fucking X from fucking X metalcore band? And then they come on and I'm like, I couldn't have the conversation that we had about how much I hate metalcore.

I have to be like, so you're seeing as uncanneled now? Or what's the, you know, I can't even do that. Honestly. Like, all I want is I want them all in.

And I can go, I want fucking, I want to get Tim Lambises on here. Dude. And I want to go, why the fuck? Did you try and kill your fucking wife? Dude,

what's up with the wife killing? that's what I want to do because no one's done it no one's had him on and just been everyone's had him on and been like oh man so prison reform must have been difficult and all this shit no one's gone on and got like dude how fucked up have you got to be on steroids to do that like I would what I think I would feel better about his

second chance if he was just completely fucking open and like tell me the story about how you fucking tried to kill your fucking wife because that sucks. I feel like that guy would have probably, that guy seems like a real piece of work anyway, you know,

like aside from that. He tried to kill his wife, so you probably quite, you know, like you probably over all in general stink if you do that, you know, so I feel like he probably sucks anyway and you probably wouldn't want to talk to him. I feel like maybe there's a,

there's a wall. I feel like maybe it's not allowed because I get the weirdest request when if I do like I've been offered people that I am interested in because of a specific part of their life

and I will say in the reply like hey thanks pretty interested in doing this for these reasons and then nine times out of ten the press agent comes back and says oh they won't talk about that please we will not be doing any of that talking and I'm like well I don't

want you on the fucking podcast then I don't want to talk about fucking as I lay dying I don't give a goddamn shit but I'd really like to know what kind of steroids you want like it's fascinating. Even to like for him to defend himself. And come back any yeah there would be no come back to the stage. I'd be like hey finally I'm going to go work at Trader Joe's now and and live quietly. That's what I'd do. I wouldn't be like, hey, here's my.

chance time to be a fucking rock star again i would not do that's what that's what i want to do i want to question it yeah but i don't think it would ever be allowed but i think it would do him favors me too i do too there's people there's people who definitely don't like him for you know on account of trying to kill his fucking wife metalcore is wheel metalcore is so weird it's like it's weird fake positivity it's like we're also very fragile that we can't just be like yeah that sucks like your band You know, I wouldn't say, I wouldn't want to ever be rude to anyone and do that, but it's like, you know, if someone, if, have you ever seen, like, a bad review of a metalcore album? Not really. You know what I mean?

It's very positive. Everything is so positive. Like, everyone's like, they try, like, the review will be like, they played the guitar and they played the drums. There was singing, and they sure did sing. 10 out of 10. You know? At the very least a 7. Yeah.

It's never like a fucking stink But a part of that is though Like magazine shit I don't know if it's the same With music magazines But I used to do some stuff For like drum magazines And it's

Whoever like In terms of like gear reviews Whoever bought the most ads That month gets the highest Mark And if you bought an ad Which is all of the fucking companies You don't get less than a four

Yeah That's why I like You're not giving like That's why I like podcasts. That's why I like podcasts. Often. Because I feel like there's no pressure for the,

you know, technically, you know, you're the journalist and there's no pressure on you from an outside financial thing to speak to someone a certain way. The worst case scenario is just that they don't do your podcast. That's the worst case scenario.

It's the best case. Yeah, in some cases, it's the best case scenario. So that's why I like them. And I feel like also people are more comfortable in being themselves, whereas sometimes I'm talking to someone and I realize that like, I'm not really me. I'm just like, I'm like Courtney being interviewed. Press robot. I hate it. That's why I don't want to be it.

And that's why actually, other than bands like yourselves or bands that I actually enjoy the music, I don't want to do them on press cycles. I'd rather do people outside of press cycles. but when you know it's got 40,000 monthly listeners, it's valid press. So when it's either a friend or someone whose music I like, like, I want to help with the fucking album. So I will do it. But before I forget, you have a podcast.

Yeah. Speaking of you having, you liking podcasts, you have a podcast. I do. What's your podcast? Good for a girl. I only ever did five episodes, but I'm going to do some more. I just, I just didn't want to like do all the, I just haven't been in the mood to do like the, you know, intros and outros and the production part of it. I just, I just want to, I just want to, I hate it.

No, I just always am worried I'm going to mess that part up and I like not record the audio properly or, or whatever. And so, um, I have some dream guests and I'm going to hopefully reach out to some of them and I'm going to do more. I really like it because like I really enjoy, I enjoy getting attention. I enjoy people giving me attention I love it I love it Sometimes I dress like a woman To get the attention

It gives me even more I know I love it I know Just give me all of the attention I know Antifa needs to Nets to rip on the

On Good for a girl About the most Draged out drummer In heavy music That's her That's gonna be her slogan Fuck yeah

I'm down So right Give me the fucking You didn't sell your podcast that well Good for a girl Is that based? that based on the sexist, she's good for a girl terminology. Yeah, that's the story of my life is people just telling me I'm really good at something

for a girl, you know? So, and I think all of us, and no matter what industry we're in, if we're good at it, the chances are that we've been told that, you know, the, hey, you know, for a girl, whether it's being a mechanic or playing music, you know, so. We all have that in common, and it's all really affected our lives in such a way that we are a little bit different than our male counterparts and how we have navigated our professions. But it truly is an excuse for me to get to talk to these people that normally would give me two hours of their time. And I get to learn from them because I'm out of the game, and I've never really had access to talking to people like that that have, you know, whether. they're like corporate like on the label side of stuff or they are a tour manager or something

like that like I've learned a lot and it's each person I've talked to has really helped me so it's you know it's just like one of those selfish things where I get to I get to talk to whoever I want about whatever we want to talk about and sometimes we talk about sexism and misogyny and sometimes they just give me really good business advice so or marketing advice or touring advice. So I really like it. I love talking and all these people and getting their take. And I just love the podcast format because it can go wherever you want it to go.

You don't have to hit all your points, you know. Yeah, it's talk radio, but for young people. Yeah. I mean, for everyone, but the talk radio is generally considered old people shit. What you just mentioned, though, like sometimes we talk about sexism, sometimes we talk about other stuff. what I realized I was doing like I have some episodes that haven't been released

and some episodes that won't get released um there's not been that many girls on the downbeat and that's not because I haven't tried it's been because a lot of people said no that I'm scared boys and girls yeah but um like I did a couple of episodes with girls

and then I found myself asking far too much about the sexism in the industry which then became a weird type of, it felt like an extra type of sexism. Like, hey, so what's your story? So there must be sexism, right? Yeah. Like, almost like a fucking compounded sexism.

Like, you can't possibly be here to talk about anything else other than the sexism. Yeah. I know, it's weird. And then I freaked myself out. And I was like, you know what? I'm just never, I'm never going to mention it unless it gets brought up. And that's the cool thing about the podcast.

It will probably, it will reveal itself. And if it doesn't, then it's fine. But I was like, honestly, I was in my own head about it. Yeah, that's totally fair. You know, honestly, the one thing that I think, if I may speak on behalf of the entire population of women in the entire world, I don't know if I have qualified. The one thing as a singer that I always find, I didn't even realize that it was. kind of sexist is that everyone asks me how I'm 32 and I've been doing this for over 10 years in a band and I have people ask me how did I get into this type of music always and I didn't

and then I realized because I started listening to my friends interviews that I can't think of I can't think of any um any of my male friends. friends that that was brought up in a non-organic way. Like, it's brought up in an organic way where you just like, what kind of... How did you start playing fucking drums or whatever? Yeah, yeah, or just it happens naturally. You should have been playing with dolls. Yeah, like, people are fascinated that I, why do I, you know, so in a nice way, they're

kind of asking me like, why did you start doing screaming vocals and blah, blah, and I'm just like, I don't know, this, it's not an interesting. story. It's the same way that everyone else started doing screaming vocals. They heard screaming music and then they created screaming music and then they just wailed over a PA and their shitty microphone until they learned

how to do it right. It's not an interesting story at all. It's the least interesting thing about me, you know, is liking that music. They were expecting you to turn around. They were expecting you to turn around and go, well, I was in a completely pink room once. Yes. And I

I was just there with my Barbies and then someone suddenly screamed. And then Nurgle was in the room next door, just screaming. And I left this pink room and I went into the blue room and there was screaming happening. And I thought, my hair is going to be blue now. And I want the boys to like me. I sure know how to get the boys to like me. I'll start just riffing a guttural vocal while listening to despise icons. I can't, you know.

But I guess I never thought about that being a shitty comment until recently because I always wasn't outsider in metal. I didn't, I didn't listen. I was not exposed. I didn't know who August Burns Red was until they had, you know, 2012 or something. Like I didn't know who any of those bands were. I didn't listen to that kind of music. I listened to weird music, but I didn't consider that music to be weird music. You know, like that was like, like I was kind of a more pretentious like, oh, you know,

oh, the metal core will have you heard of a little band called gangestron, you know, like I, like I liked weird. It was almost like I liked it for the sake of like putting it on and looking at someone while while they were watching it. Gangestron, daughters. Yeah. And like, or then like really, you know, I really liked the locust. Yeah, yeah.

I'm like, hey, these guys throw hot dogs at people while they perform. You want to check it out. So I was more into that. And I considered all this other stuff to be like a little bit more commercial. And then I started realizing that I was more drawn to technical ability, you know. And I started liking bands like animals as leaders and all these. Protest the Hero. I really liked Protest the Hero when I was a kid growing up in Canada.

It's like a right of passage if you're a metal core band. you know like you always are influenced by them and I loved like despised icon another Canadian band and fuck yeah and um and Alexis on fire and just more disciplined bands you know I started and I and that's when I started listening to you know the the old and timey boys like after the burial and Vail of Maya and um and born of Osiris and all and that kind of stuff and I started getting really fascinated by like like playability and like musicianship and that part and I started really appreciating technical drumming and and guitar playing. You know, and it was something.

Progressive. Yeah, like it was the, I was always more vocal driven in the music I consumed. And then I started really shock value stuff. And then I really enjoyed listening to things progressed like that. And I think the first heavy band that I just, you know, other than like Musuga that I just loved and adored. And I'm, you know, I call it a band where you're like, it's the shut the fuck up band, where it's playing on the radio or on someone's phone or whatever. And then everyone's talking. And then you're like, shut up, shut up.

What the fuck is this? Was Tesseract is the first band that I heard that I was like, I need to know who this is. I need you to stop talking so I can shazam this and figure out, like, you know. Tesseract. Yeah. Tesserac's like the first band that I, you know, I, in recent memory. And I didn't hear about them until like probably 2014 or 2015. 2015, you know, 2013 is when I heard of them.

And I didn't even hear their first stuff. I only heard, like, their, their stuff with their second singer first. Old State. Yeah, and that's the thing that I heard that I was like, I need to know what this is. I love every single album they've ever done. I like to say our old music, I used to call us Depressor Act. It was like, depressed Tesseract. Is our first.

Maybe that's why I like your band so much. Well, I'm depressed. And I like Tesseract. Yeah. And so. So then... Wait, why didn't you say depressoract, though? Depressoract.

Yeah, that's sort of been our band name. Depressoract. Yeah, that's what I call ourselves. Depressoract. Oh, I thought you said depress Tessera. Yeah, well, I was just explaining my new word. But, yeah, I love that band. Okay, sorry.

Love that band. And really, other than that, I loved to enter Shikari a lot when I was younger. I loved, I just like fluid bands that, like, flow back and forth through what do and of course I actually straight from the path as a band I really loved growing up because I love you know Rage Against the Machine was like the first band that I that's what my original band sounded like we sounded like Rage Against the Machine when we first started out with I didn't rap but I you know I was just ripping I was just singing sassy singing and I'm just drawn to that the feeling of like you know not a billion backtracks going on

and then just like there's one guitar. And when they're doing a lead, there's no rhythm playing sometimes. And that's cool. And it feels great and it feels more real. So I love. So nice to only have fucking four people as well. Love. Hell yeah, dude.

It rules. So I was, I was really happy to get to do that tour I did do with Stray because I got to watch them for free every night. Well, free technically for me. But, you know, it's expensive to tour. But I was like, I got to pay for them. and watch them every night is great.

Well, we'll do another one. Right, before we fucking wrap this up, I need your top five artists of all time, even though you've just given me a bunch of artists. Top five of all time? All time. Well, Beyonce is my favorite singer of all time and artists. That's good.

Yeah, I love every one of Beyonce's songs off her self-titled album, and I love every song off of Lemonade. and her new shit she just keeps getting better and better I love all her new shit she empowers me to show that like you can get if you work hard enough

and are at a certain point you can and I think someone like Rihanna is the same way where you can just start to make whatever you want and it becomes popular music so I that's my goal in my life

is to just whatever I create is popular music because I made it you know that's what I am trying to do with my life yeah guys I'm doing a new thing like it course you do okay yeah and I think that that's not me being arrogant it's just like I love that I love like I'm gonna try this new thing and I freak out about it for months and then I put it out and everyone's like yeah we're in and I'm like it's freeing it's really freeing and really liberating I that's why every time we put a song out you know I keep thinking I keep I keep worrying that

that people are going to start doing like Star Wars gifts at us of like Obi-Wan Kenobi being like, you are the chosen one and you fucked it up. I mean, you're going to prepare yourself because you're going to get some of that. Yeah. That's why we haven't made it yet. We haven't made it until that happens, until people start being like, fuck this band. I don't like, I only like their old stuff. Like they changed.

They sold out. Oh, that's what everyone says about everyone. Yeah. So until that happens, that's when I'll know that I'm really, I'm really, starting to get to where I want to get when I start seeing that. Right now we have, it's just, I feel like I'm living in a protective bubble of safe space, you know. Positive press.

Yeah. So. You're just getting positive press. Yeah. Give me more artists. Give me some more fucking artists. Well, I, I, I think, I think, my sugar. Yeah.

Because I, I, because I just, I feel like we're just all, we've just all been trying to recreate, we've all been trying to just recreate our first time hearing me. Mushuga and that's like what like gent and metalcore and all this like really low tune stuff is just we're all just trying to do that and we we just can't do it like only they can't. Yeah. There's Musugah songs from 94. Yeah. Which are still being ripped off now whether or not people know it. It's fucking crazy. Yeah. So I just feel like they are the epitome of just perfect musicianship and perfect technical ability and then still somehow managing to keep a song like that engaging so i love that band i don't even listen like i don't even oh i know every musha song i just

that band is like my eternal reference of heavy music that i i continue to go back to and listen to um and god other than for other than that um i i love i love I love Erica Badu. I love Erica Badu. I love Bjork. I love... Everything would be from more of like my childhood. So like I love Outcast.

I think that's one of my favorite groups because I just love the fluidity. Anything like that that's really fluid. I would say most of my top 10 things that I love aren't metal. because it's not when I you know in that youth when you like discover your music taste like metal metal is my partner in my more elderly part of my life you know my youth was more commercial music so I and I have to I think I've already done five but I have to put Prince in there as well I think Prince is other than Beyonce I think Prince is like my favorite

artist I just again it's always like technically ability mixed with a unique song structure that I just love. And I love, I love like stream of consciousness vocals where they're just, like, it's okay if it doesn't keep returning back to the original intent of the song. So I love Prince. I think like 1999, like Purple Rain, like one of the best. I just had the weirdest deja vu. it was really strange

dude i have every i have that every day now i keep i keep my life is so weird like like being in this weird like i'm reading all this stuff about my life but my real life is me just sitting around not doing anything you know vanilla sky that's how i feel yeah i just had the weirdest

a javu you telling me about prince and then it was like at the same time i was experiencing this conversation somewhere else it was really weird probably because there's been several drunk women in your life that have cornered you of being like, I left Prince. No.

He speaks to me Raspberry Beret. You were telling me and we were on FaceTime but also I was in a different place. Like a weird linear time.

I've probably, you probably were at a show in the UK one day when I used to tour and then I, and then I just started probably drunkenly telling this guy that I love Prince

and then you were like, I got to get out of here. It was probably me. So I FaceTime someone else. And then that's why it... Oh, okay, we got it, we got it. So do you have the time for me to spread the good word about the prince? About the prince.

Is that your English accent? That's quite good. My English accent is more like... Okay, Michael's parents are British. Michael's dad's from Manchester. Oh, hey! Michael's dad's from Manchester and his mom's from Yorkshire. And so...

Ooh, northern. Yeah. But Barry is Michael's dad, and he... My accent is like pure fake news. Like, we just make him sound like, he's like, that's not how I sound. But we always go, oh. Like a fucking butler. I can't believe you done this.

I can't believe it, mine. I can't. It's terrible. No, like, our joke with Barry is like, if I was like, Barry, we're going to be on the cover of this magazine. Be like, is it, is that a digital cover? Is that print, mate? Yeah. All right.

It's funny because there's no way someone from Manchester is going to sound like that. You are doing fucking Russell brand in. Get him to the Greek. I know. So he has to just really, he has to just very patiently listen to me, do my horrible accent, and then he's just like, that is absolutely not what we sound like at all. But, and Michael's mom, I just go, oh, it's lovely. That's absolutely lovely.

Oh, isn't it lovely? And she's like, again, you've known me for 10 years. And that is not what I sound like. And it's very offensive. Oh, I bet they're excited for leads, though, because they'll be massive. for them. They are, they're so excited.

Having a kid playing Leeds Festival or Reading and Leeds is like, I hope they can come. The biggest thing, like from the city, if you're in any of those northern cities or if you're in Redding or London, when you're growing up and your parents probably, when you've grown up and you've left house and your parents like, yes,

they're still doing the music. Oh, if they play Reading and Leeds. Yeah. They'll be doing that next. And now it's like, well, actually, yes. Well, you know, like we have the,

we always have. the cheeky British digs all the time. So I'm sure Barry is going to be like, oh, it's on the, it's on the little stage, is it? I didn't realize, I didn't realize there was a little stage. That's what he's going to say. I'd be like, Barry pipe down. But I really hope they can come.

They are half vaccinated. So hopefully they can get their vaccinations. And then they live in Canada, but, you know, they're British. And then I'd love for them to be able to come over. But if they can't come, you know, the rest of Michael's family that still all lives in the UK, they can come rock out with us. But I sure hope they can come. There's nothing cooler than your family watching you play, which I haven't experienced very much.

My mom actually at Reading Festival, the first time I ever played Reading Festival, we had a bottle of Jack Daniels on the rider. My mom and dad drank the whole thing. Oh, hell yeah. My mom came onto the stage while we were playing at Reading Festival. in front of the drum riser and took a video of me and then walked back off the stage and I like I lost it while I was playing out of this is absolutely the most the funniest thing on fucking earth and then and then afterwards I was like what were you doing she was like I just came on stage to take a wee picture on mom's Scottish and then I was like we were playing a song

like it's fine but oh it was when I was in BWP oh louis was on stage yeah louis was Louis was singing. Well, Nick was there. Nick was playing guitar. You were the only person who was not in the band that came onto the stage. It was so fucking funny.

Man, I love that. That's so cool. There's so many parents that no matter what their kid does, they just never understand it because it's not the type of music they like. And therefore they think they can't comprehend

that there's like this whole ecosystem that they're not a part of that also loves that music. And so it's been so cool getting to watch my parents and Michael's parents start to kind of discover this music and learn all about all the other bands. So, you know, like, I'm sure Barry,

he'll probably listen to this, and then he will educate himself on the bands that you've been in to learn a little bit more about you. So I don't know if you have any messages for Barry Stringer. Barry, Barry, Barry Stringer, just listen to the two latest straight from the part albums. Yeah.

I wasn't on the other ones, so they don't count. Good. I'll make, I'll make sure that he only listens to the Craig one, the Craig Gears. Thank you. Yeah. Everyone should really. So yeah, it's cool. It's cool getting the, when the parents start to be very open to all that other type of music that they've never heard before, just to kind of get to know your band more, you know? Josh, Josh from Architects and Silosis. So Josh's dad is a fucking legend, but he, when Silozy's started, when Silo's started, getting bigger, he started buying the metal magazines that came with psilosis

and then his dad got super into like brutal death metal. That's so cool. His dad who's like fucking 60s, maybe even fucking 70 by now, was like Josh, have you heard the new and it would be like I can't even remember like a

he was just suddenly, Josh didn't even realize his dad was buying these magazines because silos were in it but then he was like listening to the CDs that would come with it. And he'd be like, Josh, I've just picked up the new psychoptic album. What do you think? Oh, my God. What the fuck? And it was like real technical, brutal death metal.

My dad's like that too. Like he, he, last year, I remember my dad, he started really researching all these bands that are in this genre. And he was like, all right. So here's who I think. He's like, you know who the poppin band is right now? Polaris. He was like, that's what I'd like you guys to get to by next year is to be.

be at the Polaris level. That's a good show. And I was just like, dad, that's very cool of you. I was like, that's like a very, like, that's, that's, good take. That's a really good take. I was like, that's a, that's perfect. So he really like is learning a lot about that

and all the different, like the festivals and the producers and stuff. And so, you know, it's so funny having, you know, your dad texts you to be like, hey, that new bring me the rise. An interesting take they did the EP. Do you feel like that song is giving it, like kind of like a black metal,

vibe, you know, there's some blast beats in there, like, that kind of stuff. That's so funny. Yeah. The parents, there's still, you know, you can teach the old dog's new tricks. I love it. All right. I'm fucking, I'm enjoying this, but I'm so hungry. I told you.

I told you I was going to keep you going. I have to go off for a lunch. I have to go to a lunch now. What are you having? I don't know. It's going to be a Mexican place. Jealous. So jealous.

It's the, it's the week before we leave. So we're doing all our like farewell. business lunches and it's awesome because then everyone then we just like go oh I insist and you take your card out and then they go no no no no no oh love it you've had um you've had fucking Fc Francesca on your podcast yeah love it love it when Unify I obviously I love her because she's the fucking best anyway but then it's like oh yeah we want to

she she took us to this like Breaking Bad um themed like pop-up restaurant and it was fucking amazing and it was like Breaking Bad cocktails, but then at the end, FC's like, nah, label's got this. Like, oh, I couldn't love you anymore, and then you drop that as well. Yeah, well, everything's so inexpensive here. We keep trying to, like, treat the nice people on our team, and we think that we're, like, doing some really amazing favor, and then we get the check, and it's, like, $60. So we're like, we were trying to impress everyone, but we, you know, we keep forgetting that

everything is so inexpensive here compared to where we live. So we haven't figured out the big fancy thing to impress our team. team, but if they want to keep buying us snacks, I'm good. It's fine. Get the snacks done. This has been amazing. Send me your file. Okay.

Tell me when I can release it. All right. Tell me what I can do. I will. I'll see you at Reading Festival. Yeah. Post Malone. Well, just, yeah, just, you know, get him ready.

Just be like, hey, wouldn't it be so cool if, like, there was his girl with blue hair, and she was, like, yelling and screaming, and then rocking and then also singing, and then he'll be like, yeah, Craig, let's go. And you're like, it's happening right now. Let's leave the helic, let's fly there in the helicopter. I mean, I don't think I'm on, I don't think I'm on that terms with him. But I could try and make it happen. Well, if you're not, let me know, because then I can confront him in person and, and I can be like, Craig sends his regards and like, you know. Oh, what was that? Acid. That's fucking, wow, you're coming in hot there. Right. Anything for controversy. This has been, that's it. It's very.

box fucking some serious fucking allegations in 2021 of attacks on post Malone. I'm going before either one of us gets cancelled. Thank you. Have a lovely day. It was really nice to get to meet you in real life.

Kind of real life, Craig. We love everything you're doing and we quote you all the time. Anytime I'm happy... What do you mean quote? What do you mean quote? Well, one thing I say all the time if I'm happy, I say the right. ride is, I go, the ride is dancing.

Because you said that one time when you're watching a Matzegovina video. Because the right, you know, like his symbol looks like this when he's playing. It's like, I don't even fucking know what I said. You said, the ride. The ride is dancing. And so I say that all the time. Like what I'm really stoked. You don't say it that theatrically.

The ride is dancing. Do you know what? Those fucking videos, the YouTube videos, I just do. them. I forget about them. I put them immediately on the internet. I have no idea what I've said or what I've done. Well, keep doing it because it's just, it's so great for us and it makes, you know, it's simulating the thing that I think all the musicians miss is the, watching your friends play shows, watching them just freaking rip and be in their element on their instrument. And, and then also just having self-deprecation and having jabs at each other and shooting the

shit. So I love your stuff. It's cool that the non-music people also, are so drawn to it. Like, everyone loves it. So we keep, we are so happy. Oh, you're too kind. And now I get to hear me. I'm supposed to be all digging you up. Now I get to hear me.

It's going to be a big fucking episode. Well, thank you. Just let me know when I can fucking release it. Awesome. I will, I will. I'm going to run now, but when I get home, I'm going to, I'll send you the audio for this. Yeah, it's fine. It's fine.

Okay. Okay. Have a lovely day. Thank you, Craig. Bye. Bye.