WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:15.119 Alexa play tap Root, My passage isn't here, I gotta go, and 2 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:21.760 I'm Dave and you were listening to Life Is Peachey, a nostalgia field podcast 3 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:26.600 that allows me to sit here and waffle on about the bands and the albums 4 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:31.000 that became the soundtrack to my life growing up in the nineties the early two 5 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:35.200 thousands, and while we're at it, sharing a few memories from her Name 6 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:53.039 is Murdered Productions. Hey, Hey, and welcome insert dad joke here. 7 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:59.399 Well, this is too serendipitous to be true and the best life is peachy 8 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.640 segue to date because we are here to look back on tap Roots sophomore. 9 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:10.519 Welcome with bassist Phil lipscom whatever your name is good, Ready for the big 10 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:15.040 surprise and before the end of twenty twenty three catches up with us. Let's 11 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:21.680 jump straight into that wondrous time machine and deep dive dissect this amazing album and 12 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:47.359 period of life and existence found Ray found Phil, Thank you for your time 13 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:51.799 and energy, and welcome to the Life is peag podcast. Anthor Man, 14 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:56.439 how you doing, I'm good. I'm good. Sorry if my voice is 15 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.480 a little raspy. It's four thirty am. Where I am but I have 16 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:07.479 my coffee and banana and oo infinity and are I'm good to go? Where 17 00:02:07.479 --> 00:02:12.199 are you at? Originally from Australia, but at the time of this recording, 18 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:16.520 happily living in the Netherlands with my wife. And I only say at 19 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:21.800 the time because when this episode sees the light of day, my wife and 20 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:25.439 I will have moved out of the Netherlands and who knows where it will be. 21 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:30.520 Right. We just married earlier this year and the plan is to spend 22 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:37.000 a little time in Australia soon. Congratulations, Yeah, thanks man. We 23 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.039 married at the end of April, so yeah, it's all very lovely and 24 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:46.680 fresh and feels amazing. Okay, wow, very fresh, yeah, very 25 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:53.000 fresh, very fresh. And speaking of fresh, Taproots celebrated new music in 26 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:58.400 twenty twenty three, and this marks the longest gap between releases for the music 27 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:15.599 because I don't know the lyrics are missing. The moment I first heard favorite 28 00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:21.120 song, I was taken to a very special place, and if I'm being 29 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:25.159 completely honest, it's a place only Tapero take me. It felt like catching 30 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:31.080 up all reconnecting with an old friend, that familiar, comforting feeling, you 31 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:37.439 know. Yeah, man, connection never went away. I don't even know 32 00:03:37.520 --> 00:04:15.360 the missing seems my free treeful. I'm all about celebrating tap Root and anything 33 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:20.959 from your back catalworld. Your music really means a lot to me and comes 34 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:26.480 from such a special time in my life, and it's most likely the same 35 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:31.240 for many listening right now. There it can be only one, but some 36 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:38.120 listening may also find themselves thinking, why are we here somewhat randomly deep diving 37 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:44.000 welcome when the twentieth anniversary was actually in twenty twenty two. But to do 38 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.959 is a gift? Well, I didn't have a chance to make that happen 39 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:53.319 last year, so here I am doing it now because I just couldn't let 40 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:58.519 this one slide. And beyond that, I don't think there ever needs to 41 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:03.800 be any reason to celebrate tap Root's highly unique sophomore and that special feeling your 42 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:23.000 music gives so many of us. No one doesn't like tap Root. You 43 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:26.199 love a bang Bam, I get that again, drenching my bans in an 44 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:29.680 hour, I'll be okay, I way, that's bang, We'll go why 45 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:36.839 boman and list I'm bad ly fa then shin and so. Amongst the whirlwind 46 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:42.000 of everything that's going on right now, in the tap Root camp. If 47 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:46.360 we pump the brakes for a second, take a deep breath, and allow 48 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:50.319 someone like me to come up to you and say welcome. What are some 49 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:56.639 of the first thoughts or feelings that come swirling to mind? I'm olgasy. 50 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:00.560 Welcome is our second album, possibly most popular album, and it's the one 51 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:06.079 that's got Pullem on it, which pretty much solidified our career. Right. 52 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:13.519 I love that album with my second favorite, probably out of our albums, 53 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:17.120 with Blue Fair Research being my first. What did we just become best friends? 54 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:23.120 Yep? Yes, man, Blue Sky Research is my favorite Type Root 55 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:26.040 album. Too awesome, man, lots of good memories of that album. 56 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.839 I might can go on and on about that album. Yeah, it's a 57 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:34.720 real special one and definitely deserves its own episode in twenty twenty five, that 58 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:48.360 one hits the big two. Oh, just saying where the way right? 59 00:06:51.639 --> 00:07:09.800 Thanks? I remember first coming across tap Root thanks to an Australian music video 60 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:15.279 program called Rage which in the hours of Friday Saturday morning it would play new 61 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:18.959 released music from some of the heavier bands. And it was thanks to this 62 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:25.680 I first saw Gift's debut single again and again on TV. This song ticked 63 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:30.519 all the boxes for high school Dave and what I was into and definitely paved 64 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:41.319 the way towards a lifelong love for tap Root. Amongst that explosion of Gift, 65 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:46.439 a very exciting time for music, the scene and Pandemonius fanfare. What 66 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:51.040 would you say were some of the main lessons you learned about yourself, whether 67 00:07:51.560 --> 00:08:00.079 let's see personally or creatively Following its release and this subsequent touring cycle, Yeah, 68 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:03.199 it was a whirlwind. Let me try to take us through it. 69 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:07.399 So lead up to Gift, the whole getting signed thing was pretty wild because 70 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:11.079 we're just a band from Michigan, you know, and getting all that attention 71 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:16.120 pretty quickly. Let's see, we played a show with System of a Down 72 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:20.000 to kind of get our management solidified under us, which was Velvet Hammer. 73 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:22.839 They got us an opening game with the System, who they managed, and 74 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.399 about a month later they had us flying out to LA to showcase for Rick 75 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:35.559 Rubin and American Records. And then after that Fred Durs thing hit, Hey 76 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.440 man, he fucked up. You don't ever bite the hand the seeds in 77 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:46.679 this business bill and you're fucking managers of its a fucking idiot, loser, 78 00:08:46.759 --> 00:08:50.919 motherfucker going nowhere. He just chosen that parent, took you under my wing. 79 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.960 What you don't want to have fucking talk about your excellent radio on per 80 00:08:56.600 --> 00:09:01.320 He embarrassed like me and interscoll family association. When the buss does maybe three 81 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:05.039 man interesting and name around, he's going to be blackballed and probably be really 82 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:09.960 and he will too. He's a fucking idiot. You're gonna fucking learn from 83 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:13.960 this time. Right here, he'll be what you're band now. You just 84 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.679 s fucked yourself. You need to be associated with somebody in this business. 85 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:20.399 He needs something to get you out there and put you out there and believe 86 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:24.039 that's what pissed off bred Durrist is that he thought we were going behind his 87 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:26.720 back, but we were just looking at our options. I think we could 88 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:28.639 have communicated better about the whole thing with him, like say, hey man, 89 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:31.080 this is what we're looking at. It's not that we're trying to do 90 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.399 anything behind your back, but we're just trying to explore our options as a 91 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:37.879 businessman. You should understand that. But we're young and dumb and we just 92 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:41.600 did it and was like, well, let's hopefully he doesn't get mad about 93 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:45.720 this or hopefully it's okay. Without actually asking him, we're being upfront about 94 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:48.759 it. Now, you're a real Blue Flames special, aren't you so young? 95 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:50.879 Dumb and full of comb I know, I guess we just must have 96 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:54.200 ourselves an asshole short of John. So it turned into what it turned into. 97 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:58.639 It is what it is now. You got enemies and you're fucking yourself 98 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:01.279 already. Don't fucking show up my show if you do any gift. Fuck 99 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:09.600 all right, you fucking punk. You're fucking dumb, motherfucker. You're learning 100 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:16.000 right now exactly how to ruin your career before it gets started. Fuck you. 101 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:20.480 We ended applying to LA and New York several times the showcase with the 102 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.879 various labels, which was just I don't know, man, I've traveled a 103 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:31.240 lot with doing it like that. I remember flying into Lax and have a 104 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:35.799 limo driver holding the sign that says tap root on it, and just like 105 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:39.879 what is going on here and this game to play for these different labels and 106 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:45.080 feeling all this movement about the band going on was again just a wild time 107 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:50.799 and eventually signed to Atlantic Records and from there it was record Gift and we've 108 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.919 done recordings but all of our recordings were like save up about seventy hundred bucks, 109 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:58.600 go in the studio for a weekend and record three tracks as fast as 110 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:03.919 we can. So doing Gift was just such a different experience, and that 111 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:07.360 we had a little bit of time, not a lot of time, but 112 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:11.039 we had a little bit of time to focus on drums only, and then 113 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:15.440 bass and then guitars and then vocals and really flesh the songs out a little 114 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.799 bit. I don't even know what I learned in that first session. Man, 115 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:22.559 it was just such a whirlwind of just go and play the songs the 116 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:26.720 best you can and play them again and then he ended, and again, 117 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:43.320 and just trusting the producer Lerick Wilde at the time and to see where he 118 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:48.200 goes. And I think we did a good job of capturing who we were 119 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:54.399 because the first album was essentially a culmination of the past three years from when 120 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:56.960 the band started. When we did the first album, the songs we'd played 121 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.279 live a bunch of times. For the most part, I think Now was 122 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:05.440 the only song that was written specifically. I don't believe we ever played that 123 00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:09.440 one live before we recorded it. But everything else was stuff that we played 124 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:13.080 live and played over and over again, and we're familiar with one of the 125 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:16.279 things. I still find crazy because like one of our first days in the 126 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:18.519 studio, MTV came in and did one of these like you Hear It First 127 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:24.159 things for us, and that aired, and all of a sudden people knew 128 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:26.759 who were so many people saw that. Years and years later, I hear 129 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.919 the story over and over again. That was the first thing that people heard 130 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:35.159 on us. And for that little clip of us playing to have had such 131 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.799 an influence on people, like actually wanted to check us out. It just 132 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:41.200 shows the power that MTV used to have. It's like a five minute clip 133 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:46.279 or something. If I remember I MTV News You Hear It First. And 134 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:52.600 on the topic of tap Root's debut gift over on my second podcast channel, 135 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:58.120 the Life Is Peachy Mixtape Sessions, I go track by track through tap Root's 136 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:03.159 debut with the amazing gents of the New Breed podcast. I'll link that in 137 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:09.559 the description of this episode. That are a stack of other tracks waiting for 138 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:13.240 you too, so after this episode, don't forget to go check that out. 139 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:28.879 And the following is an excerpt from track eleven of the mixtape sessions. 140 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:33.000 The link to the second podcast channel can be found in the description for this 141 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:37.919 episode. So I want to start with you, David. Were you aware 142 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:41.159 of these guys before you actually picked up the album, Like, had you 143 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.639 heard anything or was this like a blind purchase for you? The music video 144 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:48.799 Again and Again was my first introduction. I probably had Red Hype because you 145 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.679 know, there was Korng, there was Metal Hammer. There was so many 146 00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:54.639 magazines and they were my bibles. That's how I discovered everything, particularly in 147 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:58.759 Australia as well. When a lot of these bands before they were signed. 148 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:03.639 Obviously we're playing in a Marria on the independent circuit. Unsigned, we didn't 149 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:07.480 get them over to Australia, so it was all magazine education for me. 150 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:11.480 I was aware of Taproot, and then I saw the music video, and 151 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.440 then the album came out and I got the album. Back in the day, 152 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:18.120 I would go to the music store, put the headphones on, listen 153 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:20.759 to the album and if the opening riff got me, you know, it 154 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:24.360 had to be such a good opening riff, and then I would follow through 155 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:26.919 with the rest of the song, and if I enjoyed that first song, 156 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.240 I would just buy the album. The opening riff of Smile, I mean, 157 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:35.879 it's huge. It's amazing. That song ticks all the boxes. I 158 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:41.960 think it's a perfect example of Mike de Wolfe's signature sound, huge, crunchy 159 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:46.480 guitar tones and the vocals got a bit of everything vocal wise as well, 160 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:50.799 and the end of the song it's just an amazing, perfect Defton esque ending 161 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:56.519 riff. So yeah, I was hooked man after hearing this song. Yeah, 162 00:14:56.519 --> 00:14:58.960 I mean it's a hell of a way to start the record. Alexa 163 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:15.200 tap root smile. How would you describe what it was like for you during 164 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:20.080 the Gift during cycle going from this somewhat green band from Michigan to then doing 165 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:26.039 some pretty heavy hitting tours and festivals in front of, yeah, thousands of 166 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:30.960 people. Was that a natural adjustment for you? We played a bunch of 167 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.799 shows at home and built up a really solid following, but our first actual 168 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:41.519 tour was with popa Roach and I get it. Yeah, we felt we 169 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:45.879 were a pretty good live band, and then those first shows with them just 170 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:50.960 really made us go, wow, we need to step up our game because 171 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.759 those guys were so solid and so good and so energetic and they still are 172 00:15:56.120 --> 00:16:00.399 and they made us step up what we were doing. Our energy on stage 173 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:06.080 and I remember, I actually remember there was probably five shows in and we 174 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:15.000 were playing I think LA My back was hurting so bad. I was trying 175 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:18.360 to push and just move more and my lower back was just dying. I 176 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:22.759 remember leaning on my legs. Guys, you know, like I'm just getting 177 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:26.159 down, but I'm just tired. I was. My back was just giving 178 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:29.879 out on me. That's so funny. Yeah, dude, those guys were 179 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:33.000 great. We got really lucky on that touring cycle. We got to tour 180 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:37.000 with Depth Tones, we got to store with Incubus, Lincoln Park, Alien, 181 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:41.320 m Farm, Dpe, Papa Roach, Disturbed, Who's who of bands 182 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:47.279 you know, mud Baine, Slip Knot, Faticac. I remember playing this 183 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.519 short run. It ended up one of the guys got sick, Clown got 184 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:52.600 sick. It was five shows and we end up only getting to play like 185 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:56.960 two I think maybe three. Mud Bain was just coming out, and you 186 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.080 know, it was seeing them sound check. This is the man, you 187 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:03.360 know, obviously we're fans of. And also we're seeing these guys sound check 188 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:06.279 without their masks. No one saw them without their masks, and we're like, 189 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:07.200 oh my god, we get to see them without their masks. How 190 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:11.799 cool a wild man, Yeah, wild times Man. Even as I'm thinking 191 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:15.240 about it, the names just keep coming. Osbest two thousand and two thousand 192 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:21.960 and one, that seemed like an amazing time right there. That traveling Circus. 193 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:26.720 Yeah, that really again just solidified us as a band that people knew, 194 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:29.519 especially in that genre. Again, the power of them to be the 195 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:33.839 power of Ozbest. It didn't necessarily make everybody blow up by any means, 196 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.480 but it at least puts your name as a forerunner, you know, something 197 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:41.839 that people remembered because everyone was going to Asbest back then. Aspes was the 198 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:44.880 concert of the summer. You go to ospest, you knew all the bands, 199 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.359 You at least knew their names, You remember them, you saw them 200 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:52.440 if you could. Yeah, being from Australia, I've vicariously lived out was 201 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:56.680 first through the music magazines. Yeah, that was definitely a great way for 202 00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:00.640 me to hone in on what was going on, what was worth looking into. 203 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:26.000 I read about it in a book. But yeah, teenage Dave would 204 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:30.559 have probably done many questionable things back then for a chance to experience all's first. 205 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:45.880 Just once, I don't love someone, you gotta be a stranger when 206 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:55.000 I look into you. Help Me. Joy's just help Me to your Famselephants 207 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:04.799 of Everything Day. Was there a natural, conscious or subconscious moment where it 208 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:11.119 felt like ideas were starting to take shape and form and it was time to 209 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:17.000 begin writing new material or was that timeframe decided for you guys from any outside 210 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:22.000 factors. I think it was always happening if you looked at I guess the 211 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:26.000 timeline of the songs we wrote on Gift. We kind of went this progression 212 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:32.200 from the very rap rock elements and then started moving away to more just the 213 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:36.759 heavier and then also more melodic type stuff that we are pretty much known for, 214 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:41.680 and just that songwriting growth of trying new things. I just kind of 215 00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.000 our entire career. One things I've always found funny because we're the same group 216 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:48.680 of guys. What we find is a song that was like, oh my 217 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.839 god, this is such a different song for us, This is such a 218 00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:55.440 step away from what we normally do, and then we play it for people 219 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:57.440 and be like, yeah, yeah, this is you guys in a bad 220 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:00.119 way or good It just was what it was. It sounded like us, 221 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.680 even if we felt we were stepping outside of the box. I mean, 222 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:07.240 we're like all of a sudden doing some salsa or something. But for us, 223 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:10.559 we were still within our genre but still stepping and doing other things. 224 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:15.519 But by just pushing those boundaries and working with the different producers we work with, 225 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:21.000 we're able to craft our songwriting into what it became because I think at 226 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:23.640 the beginning, you know, you're young and you're just trying to figure out 227 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:27.400 what songwriting human is, and a lot of the stuff we would do early 228 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:30.759 on would be just trying to kind of mess with our crowds, you know, 229 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:36.839 like weird time changes, throwing extra beat here and there, just what 230 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.359 we found fun, right, And I think that stuff's still cool, but 231 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:45.480 it can take away from the actual song itself. And so we started more 232 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.200 writing for the song instead of just for these weird moments. And we said 233 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:52.720 those weird moments because that's just kind of what we do. But I guess 234 00:20:52.720 --> 00:21:07.119 we just smoothed out some of that that makes sense. I'm a big fan 235 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:12.920 of each tap Root album predominantly because they all stand alone, and you guys 236 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:19.079 are the kings of progressing your craft and songwriting between albums while still maintaining that 237 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:23.880 core substance that fans fell in love with in the very first place, you 238 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:48.319 know, not losing your identity along the way. Guys, and I've always 239 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:55.079 thought that's quite a difficult thing for a band to pull off and execute well, 240 00:21:55.279 --> 00:22:00.200 to have a back catalogue of progressive albums evolving one after the other. 241 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.640 But in the same instance, you always know, you always can feel it's 242 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:23.119 that same band that not a lot of bands can do that, let alone 243 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:30.799 do it as seamlessly and impressively as Tap Root and Welcome has always particularly interested 244 00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:37.599 me. It's quite a strange record in terms of its writing, its approach, 245 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:45.279 and delivery. And if we go back and use that overarching label known 246 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.640 as the new metal umbrella, which essentially every band was somewhat lumped under for 247 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:55.559 a period of time, then I would happily call your sophomore avante gode new 248 00:22:55.599 --> 00:23:00.240 metal. I'm committing to that. Well, first, let me address new 249 00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:06.200 metal thing. Yes, let's do it. Is it the ehant in the 250 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:10.160 room? So new metal in and of itself? I mean for a while 251 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.160 there, you know, I'm guilty of feeling this way too. It sort 252 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:21.599 of got a bad rap pun intended, and looking back on it, though, 253 00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:25.039 with the nostalgia we have now of that time, period. To me, 254 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:30.079 new metal isn't about the rapping and the DJ and all that stuff that 255 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:33.920 it was known for at the time, because when you look at the bands 256 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:37.200 that are considered new metal, most of them don't even have that. New 257 00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:41.000 metal to me is more just that time period, that generation of music that 258 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:45.920 just had that vibe from when Corn and Deftones and those bands just changed the 259 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:51.400 landscape of music, and everything that came out after that just had this different 260 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:53.599 feel to it for me. I mean I say Corn because that was the 261 00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:57.759 band that changed the way I even thought about music, because before that, 262 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:03.359 metal was like like and Slayer and Pantera, you know, that's metal that's 263 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:07.359 heavy, and then Corn comes out and it's just this whole other animal, 264 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:11.240 and I'm like, what is going on here? And I just loved it. 265 00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:15.079 That first one record, I wore the crap out of it, man, 266 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:18.640 that was one of my favorite records of all time. And from there 267 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:19.880 finding you know, bands like Depthtones and It's Monny. I didn't even like 268 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:22.559 depth Zones at first because it didn't sound enough like Corn. I wanted that 269 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:26.319 exact thing. It took me a while to warm up to them because I 270 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.519 had such expectations from here and the Oh yeah, they're similar to corn even 271 00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:30.200 though they are in the art, you know, I mean, they're really 272 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:34.119 not looking back again. Just that time period of music. It just had 273 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:40.240 a certain angst and feel and vibe to it that music before and after it 274 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:52.920 didn't quite have that. To me, is new metal if life was a 275 00:24:56.839 --> 00:25:02.160 just looking back, you can see it more clear really than when you're in 276 00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:03.240 the midst of it. And then for us, in a lot of the 277 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:07.960 bands that were like us, where we're trying to distance ourselves from it because 278 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:11.000 we didn't want to be pigeonholed in this one genre, we're not like that. 279 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:14.440 We're trying to do something different. But then looking back, it's like, 280 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:17.200 no, that's our generation of music. Now. I embrace it. 281 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:21.480 I think it's great. Anything you have to comment on that, well, 282 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:26.720 it definitely feels more like a term of endearment in twenty twenty three, right, 283 00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:30.440 it really is. It really is, man, and I think it's 284 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:33.200 cool again to become what it was where it was kind of a joke to 285 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:37.039 now it's just this thing that we have all this nostalgia for and we miss 286 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:40.839 the same way I did. I missed hair metal when like I loved it 287 00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:41.680 at the time, and then it became cheesy, and now I'm like, 288 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:45.799 dude, I love that stuff. I still love that stuff. Just because 289 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:48.759 you like rock and roll doesn't make you stupid or any significant I think that's 290 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:52.480 what every maybe generation of music goes through to a degree. I don't know. 291 00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:56.279 I didn't go through the other stuff, so I can't say, right. 292 00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:00.519 So would you then say that when maybe you and other bands were trying 293 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:06.839 to alienate or distance yourselves from the new metal label, was that in itself 294 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:11.720 an influence and did that have an impact with regards to the writing of Welcome. 295 00:26:12.839 --> 00:26:18.119 Probably to say that it wasn't would be probably disingenuous to a degree. 296 00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:23.039 But songs like again and Again One night Stand impact. These are like the 297 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:27.400 later songs in our gift cycle and then we talked about with Welcome. Welcome 298 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:32.359 doesn't really have hardly any of those elements to us of just a natural progression 299 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.279 of just we tried it out and then we're moving away from it. And 300 00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:37.759 I don't know if that didn't become such a big thing, if we would 301 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:41.799 have moved away in the same way, or if we would have ended up 302 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:44.039 here anyway. But I feel like we kind of would have ended up where 303 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:48.039 we ended up anyway. To a degree, that was our trajectory as it 304 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:59.039 was already, so to figure it out because I've got no doubt that when 305 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:03.920 my dream's gone, Jill, it's because of you. Writing Welcome was a 306 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:42.160 processes. We were fortunate in that we had our hit song right away. 307 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:48.240 Steve actually wrote poem on his own in like I want to say, early 308 00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:51.920 two thousand and one or late two thousand. Yeah, I remember the song 309 00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:57.480 floating around prior to Welcome under the title poem to soph Yeah, funny brother 310 00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:02.240 song. We were playing at ausgest and it got one of the biggest reactions 311 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:04.920 and no one even knew the song. It just had a certain feel to 312 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:07.759 it, and so we knew right away like this is our single. We 313 00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:11.079 weren't writing as to be a single. It's just a song that just came 314 00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:15.720 out and this is it. And so from there it was just write what 315 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.400 we wanted to write and see what came out. And we had a lot 316 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:32.640 more time. The first record, like I said, was the culmination of 317 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:36.279 the three years before that, and now we're in a situation where we've got 318 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:40.400 maybe six months to write a new record, and that's what we get, 319 00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:42.039 you know. I mean, there's no playing live and seeing what people think 320 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:45.599 of it. There's none of that. It's just you just sit in here 321 00:28:45.079 --> 00:29:15.599 and work on writing. You are the one. Therefore me tear they trains 322 00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:22.079 and dance up, boorns and men, thrill, dmic and the fan. 323 00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:49.000 I'm you're al brand, thanks Jill me. Which isn't what we were used 324 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:53.240 to doing either. And so a lot of long days, boring days. 325 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:56.680 Some days come up with something, some days you don't. I believe we 326 00:29:56.759 --> 00:30:03.319 wrote like eighty ideas what during that time period that obviously most of that on 327 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:07.039 the cutting room floor just didn't quite make it into being anything. Some really 328 00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:10.319 cool songs, and I was still listen to some of myself. We would 329 00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:14.279 just released pressed the B sides that had some of that early stuff and our 330 00:30:14.359 --> 00:30:18.119 actual the B side thing with like one hundred and forty semi tracks, which 331 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:22.279 is absolute madness, by the way, Yeah it is. That's one of 332 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:25.960 those things that we discarded and I still listen. I was like, man, 333 00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:29.599 what would have that happened with Toby Wright helping us develop that into like 334 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:32.799 a full on song. Some of these songs I think could have been something 335 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:36.519 more right, Yeah, I mean even a B side from Gift. That 336 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:40.599 track day by Day is one of my favorite tap roots songs, and it 337 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:45.160 luckily turned up on the Dracula two thousand soundtrack back in the day. But 338 00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:49.759 until B sides was released, there were obviously countless tape root songs up to 339 00:30:51.240 --> 00:30:56.279 one hundred and forty to be exact, Wow, that never saw the light 340 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:00.880 of day and could easily have not only been partial fan favorites, but a 341 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:06.119 favorite for you too, perhaps for sure? You know it is what it 342 00:31:06.160 --> 00:31:08.279 is. I mean, our album Welcome is a great album. I'm very 343 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:11.920 proud of it. And so what did we learned? A few things? 344 00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:15.519 We usually write altogether, and one of the things we did on that album 345 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.279 was there's a few songs Steve would be doing something else, like working on 346 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:22.640 his vocals with somebody or something, or work with Toby on lyrics. And 347 00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:38.720 Steve's a really good songwriter. Like when we have trouble I can't figure out 348 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:41.519 something, we kind of lean on Steve a lot, like, Hey, 349 00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:44.599 Steve, what do you think we can do here? Kind of thing, 350 00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:48.359 and not having him there made us depend on ourselves and figure it out. 351 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:52.440 On our own and just dig in a little harder instead of having this sort 352 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:55.160 of crutch, as it were, of what we can do in certain parts. 353 00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:59.799 And I remember mine being one of the first songs that we wrote without 354 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:02.960 We were all all the instrumentation without him being there, and then he came 355 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.680 in and if I remember righting, the lyrics kind of came out of that 356 00:32:06.839 --> 00:32:09.480 feeling of like him coming in and hearing a song that we did without him, 357 00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:14.000 and he just got inspired to write those lyrics just from hearing the song 358 00:32:14.039 --> 00:32:31.400 that we came up with, which is pretty cool. Yeah, one of 359 00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:36.559 my favorite songs from Welcome to Be Fair. It's a very unique way to 360 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:39.039 open the album. Yeah, it's a fun one. I mean, just 361 00:32:39.079 --> 00:33:04.720 straight in with those hits and everything. I see myself, But it's not 362 00:33:04.839 --> 00:33:17.880 random. How could I and I am may? I guess maybe when doing 363 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:22.079 an album, you have working titles, right. And Spacey is another one 364 00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:25.240 I like to talk about, even though it didn't make the record. The 365 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:31.079 greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And 366 00:33:31.079 --> 00:33:35.559 then it became Kevin Spacey just because Kevin Spacey was an actor that we you 367 00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:37.359 know, just ought to be funny to call it Kevin Spacey, well before 368 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:43.799 all the controversy around Kevin Spacey that is around now. But that's also a 369 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:47.880 song that stands out to me because it is the only song that we just 370 00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:53.640 organically just straight up jamming. Someone started something and we all start playing, 371 00:33:53.799 --> 00:33:58.200 and then the next part comes out just organically, and then the next part, 372 00:33:58.200 --> 00:34:01.759 and it just kind of flowed and the arrangement changed for all of those 373 00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:07.880 parts to that song pretty much as is came about just from no communication other 374 00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:13.880 than just playing NonStop for about fifteen minutes of just letting this vibe happen throughout 375 00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:17.159 the room. And I mean that was still really the way of the world 376 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:22.760 back then, right, four guys in a room jamming and vibing, opposed 377 00:34:22.760 --> 00:34:25.960 to say now where members obviously don't even need to live in the same town, 378 00:34:27.320 --> 00:34:31.559 let alone in the same state or country to essentially run together. Yeah, 379 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:35.400 exactly. And that was just such a cool feeling to that have that 380 00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:37.800 come out like that, and then to arrange it afterwards into the song that 381 00:34:37.880 --> 00:34:44.639 it became. And it didn't quite go because of the trategy of Lane, 382 00:34:44.679 --> 00:34:47.199 Stali and Steve just never had anything that he loved that he did with it, 383 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:52.480 and then we had the chance rather for Lane Staley to potentially record on 384 00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:57.559 it, and then he ended up passing away instead. It was just like, 385 00:34:57.719 --> 00:35:00.719 we just don't want to do anything more with it other than keep it 386 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:07.039 as an instrumental at this point, man the what if hey Yeah yeah, 387 00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:13.639 wow, I'd never heard that story before. Yeah, So just to flesh 388 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:16.159 out that story a little more. We'd written the song, recorded the song, 389 00:35:16.239 --> 00:35:20.519 but just there was no lyrics to it. There's a couple of things 390 00:35:20.519 --> 00:35:22.599 Steve had done melodically and kind of like more sounds that I'd heard him do, 391 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:25.920 and it just wasn't quite coming together. And so we're talking about who 392 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:30.360 could possibly record on it, who could possibly be a guest vocalist or something. 393 00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:35.679 And Toby Wright was our producer who'd worked with Alison Chains previously, so 394 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:38.639 he had sent it to Lane and he was actually on his way up to 395 00:35:38.679 --> 00:35:45.039 see Lane and talk about it more in depth when we found out that Lane 396 00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:49.360 passed away. The rock world lost one of its more honest voices this weekend 397 00:35:49.360 --> 00:35:52.360 when Alison Chains front man Lane Staley was found dead in his Seattle home on 398 00:35:52.480 --> 00:36:04.880 Friday. He was thirty four long, and I guess his mom had told 399 00:36:04.920 --> 00:36:10.239 Toby that our CD was in his CD player. Wow. I don't know 400 00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:13.880 if you had any ideas. It's just one of those big like what ifs. 401 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:16.440 It's daily quote was a sweet man with a keen sense of humor and 402 00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:21.400 a deep sense of humanity. He was an amazing musician on inspiration and comfort 403 00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:46.719 to so many. Following on from mentioning Toby, just now, how did 404 00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:51.920 the band come to work with producer Toby Ryan? When we've did our first 405 00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:53.800 record, our top two choices were all work in Toby, you know, 406 00:36:53.920 --> 00:36:58.480 like some guys know all of the producers and who produced what and all that, 407 00:36:58.519 --> 00:37:00.440 and we weren't as big into that aspect of it, you know. 408 00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:05.360 We do. Ross Robinson, That's one of the guys that we're very familiar 409 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:07.599 with because he was just doing so many cool albums at the time. I 410 00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:15.719 can't stress hard enough how important it is to shine something beyond your fucking body. 411 00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:21.360 Okay, you got to conjure the thing that's just screaming to come out 412 00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:23.800 of you, screaming, dying to come out of you. This is it. 413 00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:29.519 Everything that you ever loved has to come through, right now this is 414 00:37:29.559 --> 00:37:32.480 all we have. This is all we have. We have nothing else. 415 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:37.960 We don't even get to keep our fucking bodies. But this lasts and inspires 416 00:37:45.719 --> 00:38:04.840 jealous I know, losing scenting Scar. But we left it to the label 417 00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:07.719 and our management to find and introduce us to people. And we'd go on 418 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:10.440 these lunch meetings with these guys and see how we vibed. And Toby and 419 00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:14.559 Alric were the two, and I think Toby was more expensive, so label 420 00:38:14.599 --> 00:38:17.599 went with Alric, which works for that record though, right because that record 421 00:38:17.719 --> 00:38:22.960 was more like we just needed a good engineer. We weren't really developing the 422 00:38:22.039 --> 00:38:25.119 songs too much further than where they were at. We just needed it to 423 00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:30.119 sound better than our demos before that. And then so for the second record, 424 00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:34.000 we wanted Toby, and we got Toby because our label was willing to 425 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:37.400 put a little bit more money behind us. And yeah, we clicked with 426 00:38:37.480 --> 00:38:40.239 him really well, and working with him was fantastic. And I remember when 427 00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:44.960 I was doing Breathe, it's the only song I played fretless on front to 428 00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:46.159 back. So there's a couple of little parts I do on a couple other 429 00:38:46.199 --> 00:38:50.679 songs. That's a song I played front to back. It's just stuff and 430 00:38:50.760 --> 00:38:53.440 it was standard tuning. I'm playing it and I'm just not quite getting a 431 00:38:53.480 --> 00:39:07.239 couple of things on it. Flass coming back down me, I know. 432 00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:12.159 And I don't know if this is true or just told me just mess with 433 00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.519 me, or if it was legit. But apparently he took a phone call 434 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:21.320 while I was taking a little break and it was Less Playpaul, and he 435 00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:23.000 kind of said, hey, I just talked to Less But I forget exactly 436 00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:25.840 what told me. Saif just kind of gave me some words from less plap 437 00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:29.840 or just saying basically some words of encouragement from less stapable, And I was 438 00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:32.760 like, all right, let's do this, you know, like you know, 439 00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:37.800 let's just keep plugging away and nailing this. On the Wikipedia page for 440 00:39:37.880 --> 00:39:42.599 Welcome, it states that during the early development of Welcome, Taproot had given 441 00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:47.480 producer Toby Wright roughly forty complete songs. Wright said that while they were good, 442 00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:51.800 the songs were not up to the band's potential, and he forced you 443 00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:57.199 guys to start from scratch. What did you take from working with Toby and 444 00:39:57.599 --> 00:40:00.599 what would you say was some of the things he brought to the Welcome experience, 445 00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:06.639 so having worked with Alison Chains, I know he worked with Steve a 446 00:40:06.639 --> 00:40:10.280 lot on the harmonies and just kind of getting those a little bit more dialed 447 00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:15.760 in and developing that style of vocals that Steve was already kind of doing and 448 00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:29.679 just making it more so. This guy's methonical sacting and most of all patient. 449 00:40:30.519 --> 00:40:51.280 He's a nutbags comming. Toby, you had this way of hearing what 450 00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:54.199 we were doing and just making us here a little differently. Several times I 451 00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:58.280 remember we'd have a song and you'd be like, why don't you take what 452 00:40:58.320 --> 00:41:00.239 you have in the verse and try to make at the chorus and take what 453 00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:02.679 you have in the chorus and put that as the verse and try that as 454 00:41:02.679 --> 00:41:07.000 the bridge. You're kind of moving our parts around with the orchestration and to 455 00:41:07.079 --> 00:41:09.400 seeing what will come out. And there were definitely a few that that worked 456 00:41:09.480 --> 00:41:13.719 really well, and it's just like, wow, how did you hear that? 457 00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:29.719 Dad? I was lucky enough to have Toby join the podcast with forty 458 00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:34.400 below Summers, Max and Joey to celebrate their major label debut Invitation to the 459 00:41:34.519 --> 00:41:46.840 Dance, as he was the mixer on that release, Gaslas. The following 460 00:41:46.920 --> 00:41:52.280 is an excerpt from episode fourteen of the Life Is Peachy Podcast with Toby Wright. 461 00:41:52.599 --> 00:41:55.719 Oh, that was an extremely amazing time in life. I feel that 462 00:41:57.480 --> 00:42:02.000 this is a time and place in music, and today's music doesn't mean as 463 00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:07.559 much as it did that back then, and I think that's especially true for 464 00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:10.280 people your age, people a little bit younger than you. And I don't 465 00:42:10.320 --> 00:42:15.119 know whether it's the bands and their music now or whether it's just my attachment 466 00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:20.159 to the past and all the great music that I was a part of for 467 00:42:20.199 --> 00:42:22.920 so long, you know what I mean. I'm still part of a great 468 00:42:22.039 --> 00:42:24.880 number of musical ventures, but at the same time, I don't feel like 469 00:42:25.239 --> 00:42:30.079 it's as important as it used to be. Of course, don't know him 470 00:42:30.079 --> 00:42:34.400 on a personal level by any means, but my impression is that he has 471 00:42:34.599 --> 00:42:40.280 quite a unique connection or relationship with music and its energy and impact. Would 472 00:42:40.280 --> 00:42:45.480 you say there's any merit to that observation or did you pick up on anything 473 00:42:45.559 --> 00:42:49.239 interesting while working with him? Toby was great to us, man, it 474 00:42:49.320 --> 00:42:52.239 was such a fun time working with him. I mean, he's very into 475 00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:59.480 musicianship though right like he wants bands to play live. He's very about the 476 00:42:59.519 --> 00:43:02.920 live experience of music as opposed to just programming it in or any of that 477 00:43:02.920 --> 00:43:07.440 stuff. He wants live drums. He wants as live a feeling as you 478 00:43:07.440 --> 00:43:12.280 can get helives. Musicians should be able to play their instruments. Crazy thought, 479 00:43:12.320 --> 00:43:15.400 right, And we practiced a lot. He had us practicing a lot. 480 00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:20.519 And I actually just finished Jared's book True rock Stars about a month or 481 00:43:20.519 --> 00:43:23.320 two months ago, Jared being our drummer, and I kind of realized this 482 00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:25.639 at the time, but I wasn't paying as much attention. I was just 483 00:43:25.679 --> 00:43:30.840 kind of in my own world. I did not have the I guess empathy 484 00:43:31.079 --> 00:43:35.920 that I have now for the situation. Toby wanted a different drummer at one 485 00:43:35.920 --> 00:43:37.679 point, like He's like, man, I don't know if Jared can do 486 00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:39.199 this. I don't know if Jared's good enough to be doing the record that 487 00:43:39.239 --> 00:43:43.280 I want to hear. And Jared talks about this in the book. He 488 00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:45.920 ended up buying a practice kit, bringing it to the apartments where we lived 489 00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:49.880 at, like one of these mesh heads and all that stuff, so he 490 00:43:49.920 --> 00:43:53.079 can practice and work on his techniques and work on his writing and work on 491 00:43:53.119 --> 00:44:07.760 everything. Love in missing thing, he was just plug away at it. 492 00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:09.400 I remember him doing it. I just thought that's just what he wanted to 493 00:44:09.440 --> 00:44:13.320 do. I didn't realize he was making a point to step up his game 494 00:44:14.079 --> 00:44:16.199 so that he can make sure to be on the record. And so again 495 00:44:16.199 --> 00:44:19.400 that's this kind of guy Tolb he is. Toby was always like, if 496 00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:22.119 you can't hack it, we'll find someone that can. Now that Jared would 497 00:44:22.119 --> 00:44:23.920 have been out of the band, but just some might not record on the 498 00:44:23.960 --> 00:44:27.440 record. I guess other bands may or may not do that. I don't 499 00:44:27.480 --> 00:44:30.400 know, but that's kind of what his feeling was, and Jared stepped up 500 00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:32.239 and he nailed it. Jared got to the point where Toby was happy with 501 00:44:32.320 --> 00:44:37.400 what he did. I feel in many ways, all four of you stepped 502 00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:40.239 up on that album and took things to a whole of a level. Yeah. 503 00:44:40.320 --> 00:44:50.960 Yeah, we're kind of had to. Yeah, it sounds like it 504 00:44:51.000 --> 00:45:37.840 on my side. Yeah. The other crazy thing was work with Toby or 505 00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:40.239 anytime the studio actually, but this time in the studio was where it affected 506 00:45:40.239 --> 00:45:44.719 me the most. I think just with the concentration and the focus of working 507 00:45:44.719 --> 00:45:47.239 on a song is we would have lunch and then work on the song a 508 00:45:47.280 --> 00:45:51.599 little bit, and then you're taking a break and next thing, you know, 509 00:45:51.760 --> 00:45:52.519 it's like, hey, what do you guys want for dinner? I'm 510 00:45:52.519 --> 00:45:55.719 like dinner? What time is it? And it'd be like six hours later 511 00:45:55.800 --> 00:46:01.480 and your dinner time and you're like I just time just takes on this whole 512 00:46:02.159 --> 00:46:07.239 different feel when you're just in the studio listening to the song and just trying 513 00:46:07.239 --> 00:46:09.239 to play to it and trying to get it just right, and they're punching 514 00:46:09.280 --> 00:46:12.840 you in and trying to clean up some things that you were doing, or 515 00:46:12.880 --> 00:46:15.880 you're trying to rehash a part that you had written it wasn't quite fitting in 516 00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:30.320 like we thought it were an hour on my side, time of the studio 517 00:46:30.440 --> 00:46:35.199 is just this whole another thing. It just flows fast, feels slow, 518 00:46:35.239 --> 00:46:45.639 but it goes by fast. I like to play looking Back as a Welcomes 519 00:46:45.719 --> 00:46:50.360 track list. What are some of your favorite songs or ones that have stood 520 00:46:50.519 --> 00:46:53.639 the test of time for you? Breathe as one of them. Reade's one 521 00:46:53.639 --> 00:46:58.079 of my favorite songs on that album. Art Art is one of those ones 522 00:46:58.119 --> 00:47:02.320 that just turned into so much more than what it started as myself, that 523 00:47:02.360 --> 00:47:07.400 little scream slash harmony. Steve, doesn't that chorus so good? Yeah? 524 00:47:07.480 --> 00:47:12.199 Right, so good? So good. That's such a cool song. Time 525 00:47:12.360 --> 00:47:16.239 was cool. That's when we don't play enough live. Dreams is another highlight 526 00:47:16.280 --> 00:47:20.599 for me. Yeah, Dreams Man Dreams is a cool one. I love 527 00:47:20.639 --> 00:47:23.760 that one. Yeah, say it again. It's just a very interesting, 528 00:47:24.079 --> 00:47:30.360 intricate album. Did the songs translate live? I think so. We still 529 00:47:30.400 --> 00:47:37.159 play myself all the time mine obviously poem Dreams was one I wanted to play 530 00:47:37.159 --> 00:47:39.719 more. Steve for some reason, didn't love it as much live, but 531 00:47:39.800 --> 00:47:43.599 we did play it quite a few times. I thought it did well art. 532 00:47:43.639 --> 00:47:45.599 We used to do a lot time. We did it for a small 533 00:47:45.639 --> 00:47:49.840 stint. Everything's a song we did for a while live a lot. That 534 00:47:49.960 --> 00:47:52.480 was a cool one. It's just an album. A thing is really Yeah, 535 00:47:52.480 --> 00:47:54.199 that's a name, like, oh yeah, that is that album. 536 00:47:54.719 --> 00:47:59.400 Yeah, it's kind of like, huh, this song's on this album. 537 00:47:59.639 --> 00:48:02.519 Wait, this one's on this album too. This is a good album, 538 00:48:02.599 --> 00:48:15.280 isn't it. It's science. What I excesest is my excess adness, so 539 00:48:15.719 --> 00:48:28.000 deprecasion. I hate myself sometime some songs. When with one of the ones 540 00:48:28.320 --> 00:48:32.199 that was not fun to play live. It just has such a weird deal 541 00:48:32.239 --> 00:48:36.519 to it when you try to play it live. It's hard, not harder 542 00:48:36.559 --> 00:48:39.920 than technical, but just not fun to groove to. It's a cool song 543 00:48:39.960 --> 00:48:43.119 to listen to, but not a cool song to play live. We did 544 00:48:43.159 --> 00:48:45.559 that a few times and we put the plug on that. To be, 545 00:48:47.159 --> 00:48:52.960 Oh, not to be, not to be. Do you have any particular 546 00:48:53.039 --> 00:48:58.519 moments or memories that come back to you when looking back on the actual recording 547 00:48:58.559 --> 00:49:06.360 experience of Welcome And let's see what do I got that moment with less paple 548 00:49:06.480 --> 00:49:09.079 or you know, not with less payple. I was recording Breathe was a 549 00:49:09.079 --> 00:49:14.079 big one for me. See I'm mixing because we worked with Blue Sky Research 550 00:49:14.320 --> 00:49:19.719 and Welcome with Toby, we kind of melding my head and I think I 551 00:49:19.760 --> 00:49:22.559 remember Blue Sky Research a little bit more as far as some of the goofy 552 00:49:22.559 --> 00:49:44.760 stuff we were doing. It's been a long time. Sometimes sometimes okay, 553 00:49:45.159 --> 00:49:47.800 well, digg in on something more specific, then I'd love to wreck your 554 00:49:47.840 --> 00:49:53.039 brains about the mind music video directed by Chavo from System of a Down. 555 00:49:53.480 --> 00:49:58.880 Very cool video, but I had no idea he was a director at the 556 00:49:58.920 --> 00:50:02.280 time, or if maybe that was even just one off for him. So 557 00:50:02.760 --> 00:50:09.760 how did that whole collaboration come together? Chavo's cool sharing the same management. 558 00:50:09.960 --> 00:50:13.599 He gave us an inside scoop into what each other was doing to a degree, 559 00:50:13.639 --> 00:50:16.960 and so Chago, if memory served, he was trying to get out 560 00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:20.719 there and wanted to direct more. He try his hand at different things. 561 00:50:21.119 --> 00:50:22.280 And so when it was brought to us, like, hey, Havo is 562 00:50:22.320 --> 00:50:25.159 interested in this, he's got a treatment, he's got an idea. Would 563 00:50:25.159 --> 00:50:28.679 you guys be interested, it was like, of course. I mean they 564 00:50:28.679 --> 00:50:30.599 were one of our favorite bands and they were always cool to us. So 565 00:50:30.679 --> 00:50:34.800 him wanting to do that, it's sort of like a mutual benefit, you 566 00:50:34.840 --> 00:50:36.960 know, we get to have him, he has to have us. It 567 00:50:37.039 --> 00:50:39.800 just worked out really nicely. And then the concept I don't know if that 568 00:50:39.880 --> 00:50:44.679 was his or some treatment someone else wrote and he just took it and turned 569 00:50:44.719 --> 00:50:46.320 into what it did. But I love that video. It was such a 570 00:50:46.360 --> 00:50:51.199 cool video. We have that idea of like that little special effect of the 571 00:50:51.840 --> 00:50:54.320 aura would stay behind or whatever's going on in there. They actually built those 572 00:50:54.400 --> 00:50:59.400 rooms, wrote all the lyrics all over it. And what's funny, I 573 00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:01.519 don't think of to see this if you actually just watched the video, but 574 00:51:01.800 --> 00:51:06.199 we started looking at it and certain words would be changed, and people were 575 00:51:06.239 --> 00:51:08.000 kind of having fun with it along the way, like they would change some 576 00:51:08.119 --> 00:51:12.440 the lyrics a little bit, or some of the spellings, and that was 577 00:51:12.480 --> 00:51:15.119 kind of a neat little thing. We have these two rooms of the like 578 00:51:15.159 --> 00:51:17.559 silverish blue room and then the red room. It was just a fun, 579 00:51:17.960 --> 00:51:22.760 quirky little video. And then we took to people from the poem video Cooper 580 00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:25.599 and I want to say her name, Jessica. I could be wrong, 581 00:51:27.039 --> 00:51:29.599 but I remember Cooper because Cooper we actually hung out with outside of there a 582 00:51:29.599 --> 00:51:31.079 few times and he became kind of a friend of ours. And the male 583 00:51:31.480 --> 00:51:35.480 lead, so we brought them into that video too, which I thought was 584 00:51:35.519 --> 00:51:38.239 nice. And it's always cool to tie in from previous things. Yeah, 585 00:51:38.480 --> 00:51:45.559 I'm a big fan of that interlinking and creating universe within your own body of 586 00:51:45.639 --> 00:52:10.440 work. Not in my movie, yeah, but music videos, honestly, 587 00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:15.960 they are pain in the ass, oh man. A lot of work, 588 00:52:15.239 --> 00:52:19.920 A lot of work, yeah, because you're not actually playing, but you 589 00:52:19.960 --> 00:52:22.880 gotta pretend to play, pretend to go crazy, and it's like a lot 590 00:52:22.880 --> 00:52:24.440 of waiting around and then all right, everyone out here, and then you 591 00:52:24.559 --> 00:52:29.639 just try to go crazy for a bit and then play a bunch of times, 592 00:52:29.639 --> 00:52:31.079 and then you sit around for a while again, you eat too much 593 00:52:31.079 --> 00:52:37.280 food because there's craft services and long days, man, long days. Honestly, 594 00:52:37.320 --> 00:52:40.280 my least favorite thing about being a band. I thought I recalled reading 595 00:52:40.320 --> 00:52:45.039 back in the day there was a third music video plan for art. Is 596 00:52:45.079 --> 00:52:49.559 there any merit to that? I don't think it ever got to the point 597 00:52:49.599 --> 00:52:52.039 where there was almost gonna be a video. I think it had been talked 598 00:52:52.039 --> 00:53:00.639 about, but my recollection never got that far. People only do things because 599 00:53:00.679 --> 00:53:05.679 they get paid, and that's just really sad. There's often a lot of 600 00:53:05.679 --> 00:53:09.360 pressure when it comes to the sophomore follow up. So at that point in 601 00:53:09.480 --> 00:53:15.480 time, did any of that ween on you guys either placed on the situation 602 00:53:15.639 --> 00:53:20.760 from yourselves or the label to follow up Gift? Well, we didn't write 603 00:53:20.760 --> 00:53:25.519 eighty songs for fun, but to that end, and I think we're very 604 00:53:25.559 --> 00:53:29.960 fortunate on this, and maybe so we had already a poem in the bag, 605 00:53:30.039 --> 00:53:32.039 right. We kind of knew what our single was gonna be, so 606 00:53:32.079 --> 00:53:35.639 we didn't get much pressure from the label. We never got much pressure from 607 00:53:35.679 --> 00:53:38.440 our label in that sense, because we wrote melodic songs, we wrote catchy 608 00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:43.719 stuff, we'd like that anyway. So we never got a lot of pressure 609 00:53:43.760 --> 00:53:47.119 from our label to specifically write a song like this band or that band, 610 00:53:47.239 --> 00:53:51.320 or do this or do that. It gave us a lot of freedom to 611 00:53:51.440 --> 00:53:54.880 do whatever we wanted. But I'm sure also if we went completely left field, 612 00:53:54.920 --> 00:53:58.880 they might be like, get back over here. We're gonna give you 613 00:53:58.920 --> 00:54:04.000 freedom, but not too much freedom. You have freedom as long as you 614 00:54:04.119 --> 00:54:07.119 play in the area that you're supposed to play in, as long as you 615 00:54:07.119 --> 00:54:37.039 don't test that freedom too much. That's interesting to hear though, because I 616 00:54:37.199 --> 00:54:42.559 actually consider welcome to be quite left field. So father to that point, 617 00:54:42.679 --> 00:54:45.880 and going a little deeper into what you just touched on this point in time, 618 00:54:46.280 --> 00:54:52.159 how did Tabroot feel on the roster of Atlantic Records and what elements of 619 00:54:52.159 --> 00:54:58.960 a relationship with a major label factors in or impacts on the creative process if 620 00:54:59.000 --> 00:55:04.639 at all. Let's see good and bad. To be honest, I think 621 00:55:04.719 --> 00:55:08.559 one of the things where Atlantic could have done better is they seem to have 622 00:55:08.639 --> 00:55:13.400 this idea of like we have our bands, we have our pod, we 623 00:55:13.440 --> 00:55:15.519 have our kid rock, we have jewel, we have whatever right they have. 624 00:55:15.599 --> 00:55:20.559 These people that they know is are going to do well and that's their 625 00:55:20.599 --> 00:55:24.920 main focus, and then everyone else they kind of give a half assed effort. 626 00:55:30.119 --> 00:55:52.519 Canna make it lotchuna take it. And I say that because even though 627 00:55:52.559 --> 00:55:57.599 it ended up being a hit on every radio station across the country, poem 628 00:55:58.199 --> 00:56:02.119 didn't have what they called buzzworthy time feel to it where every station's playing at 629 00:56:02.119 --> 00:56:07.440 the same time, because it didn't have that big push from Atlantic to say, 630 00:56:07.840 --> 00:56:09.559 hey, this is what we're doing, this is what you guys need 631 00:56:09.599 --> 00:56:13.920 to play, this is what we're pushing. Let's make this into something, 632 00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:17.320 because it obviously had that appeal. It was more like these five radio stations 633 00:56:17.400 --> 00:56:21.239 liked it and they start playing it right away, and then a month later, 634 00:56:21.760 --> 00:56:24.519 these other stations are playing, and then another few weeks these stations are 635 00:56:24.519 --> 00:56:28.320 playing. By that time, those first stations are trying to play the next 636 00:56:28.320 --> 00:56:30.679 single because they've had it for two months, while these other stations that's brand 637 00:56:30.719 --> 00:56:36.320 new to them. So it eventually became a hit again across the country, 638 00:56:36.639 --> 00:56:40.599 but it never turned into this big like millions of records, sold, millions 639 00:56:40.639 --> 00:56:45.000 of dollars in my bank account, any of that stuff. Their early work 640 00:56:45.119 --> 00:56:54.280 was a little too a way for my chage made some money on it, 641 00:56:54.320 --> 00:56:59.039 for sure, but I mean the record even go gold. You know, 642 00:57:00.280 --> 00:57:01.920 as big as that song is, I mean it still gets played on radio 643 00:57:01.960 --> 00:57:06.679 today. As big as that song got on radio stations, it just never 644 00:57:07.119 --> 00:57:10.480 turned into that because it never got that national at the same time appeal, 645 00:57:21.079 --> 00:57:24.599 which I was upset about it at the time, But looking back, I 646 00:57:24.639 --> 00:57:30.159 think it's helped our longevity of our career. Now we have a certain amount 647 00:57:30.199 --> 00:57:36.119 of credibility because we never were that one hit and done. We've had to 648 00:57:36.119 --> 00:57:37.400 work hard. We've had to plug away and plug away and plug away, 649 00:57:37.400 --> 00:57:42.760 and we've had songs that have been modest hits, but never this runaway thing 650 00:57:42.800 --> 00:57:45.239 that people got sick of because they heard it so much or anything like that. 651 00:57:49.079 --> 00:58:22.920 To do this, I still function, Yeah, why did Jones side 652 00:58:22.320 --> 00:58:27.239 line? How go on that Gerones side? My body and my soul mind 653 00:58:27.360 --> 00:58:34.519 right now, I can't make you go out right. So I think that's 654 00:58:34.519 --> 00:58:37.320 helped us at this point because we've kind of kept this what I call you 655 00:58:37.360 --> 00:58:42.239 know, when you have that band that you like that no one's really heard 656 00:58:42.280 --> 00:58:45.679 of yet, they're still kind of close to you. They just stay that 657 00:58:45.719 --> 00:58:47.039 way and you can kind of keep them close the whole time, or they 658 00:58:47.039 --> 00:58:50.519 blow up real big. And when they blow up real big, if they 659 00:58:50.599 --> 00:58:53.960 end up in everybody CD player, it loses something of that feeling of like 660 00:58:54.000 --> 00:58:57.760 I feel like I'm part of this, right It's like now everyone's got it 661 00:58:57.800 --> 00:59:01.480 and it's just not as special anymore. Exactly what you're talking about. I 662 00:59:01.519 --> 00:59:05.679 had that back in the day was system of a down. Oh love them 663 00:59:05.719 --> 00:59:12.039 when their debut came out, but then they just became so big and too 664 00:59:12.239 --> 00:59:15.239 known, and good for them. Of course that's amazing, and you want 665 00:59:15.679 --> 00:59:22.920 bands to experience success, but it definitely felt like I had lost my personal 666 00:59:22.920 --> 00:59:27.159 connection with them as a result. And that does happen. It's just a 667 00:59:27.280 --> 00:59:37.880 very interesting concept. I can tell you. That's not I can tell you 668 00:59:38.079 --> 00:59:44.920 right now. Yeah, it just is what it is, like, you 669 00:59:44.960 --> 00:59:46.639 can't deny it. It just is what it is. It's something about human 670 00:59:46.719 --> 00:59:51.239 nature and the way we are with music. But by not having blown up 671 00:59:51.360 --> 00:59:53.320 like some of these other bands, I think to a degree, we've been 672 00:59:53.360 --> 00:59:58.320 able to keep that with our fan base, and our fan base has been 673 00:59:58.440 --> 01:00:00.920 very loyal. Even through this period where we you stop playing shows and weren't 674 01:00:00.960 --> 01:00:06.360 doing much. You have this not very strong social media presence, and we 675 01:00:06.360 --> 01:00:09.679 write weird albums like the Episodes that kind of take fans in a different direction. 676 01:00:10.039 --> 01:00:14.480 And we have Our Long Road Home. Funny thing about that album, 677 01:00:14.559 --> 01:00:17.480 I'm jumping ahead a bit, but Our Long Road Home was a pretty good 678 01:00:17.559 --> 01:00:22.559 selling record in its first week, but because it was so different than what 679 01:00:22.639 --> 01:00:25.320 we've done, it was the most returned album the next week after that. 680 01:00:27.079 --> 01:00:31.079 But then years and years later it's one of our most requested albums because even 681 01:00:31.119 --> 01:00:35.159 though it was unexpected at the time, when you look back on it, 682 01:00:35.039 --> 01:00:37.800 it's a really solid album. Oh yeah, definitely, dude. Like I 683 01:00:37.880 --> 01:00:43.880 keep mentioning, I consider tap Root as masters of progression. Whether one hopes 684 01:00:43.920 --> 01:00:49.280 for more or this or less of this between album releases, I don't really 685 01:00:49.360 --> 01:00:52.679 care about that when it comes to listening to new music from you, because 686 01:00:52.719 --> 01:00:58.559 it always just feels authentic. It never feels forced or contrived or following the 687 01:00:58.639 --> 01:01:21.320 new gimmick you guys. It just always talked with I can tell you you 688 01:01:21.360 --> 01:01:23.880 either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. 689 01:01:24.679 --> 01:01:28.480 I'm a fan of my band to a degree, I can see it 690 01:01:28.559 --> 01:01:30.639 from an outsider's point of view. In addition to being an insider, I 691 01:01:30.679 --> 01:01:34.239 don't know what it is about that. You know, Steve byte the lyrics. 692 01:01:34.360 --> 01:01:37.320 I can see where the main songwriters. So I would contribute my parts 693 01:01:37.320 --> 01:01:39.360 and stuff, But some of these songs came out without me, you hardly 694 01:01:39.400 --> 01:01:43.440 having a part. And to be honest, Paul, for instance, poem 695 01:01:43.480 --> 01:01:46.199 was literated by Steve. We just played it and kind of made it our 696 01:01:46.199 --> 01:01:49.480 own to a degree. But I mean, if you hear that first demo, 697 01:01:49.800 --> 01:01:52.039 it's like, yeah, that's the same song. Because of that, 698 01:01:52.119 --> 01:01:54.159 I can kind of have both viewpoints. A fan of Steve and Mike and 699 01:01:54.199 --> 01:01:58.360 their old bands before I was even in the band with them, So I've 700 01:01:58.360 --> 01:02:00.440 always been a fan of Steve. I've always been a fan of the things 701 01:02:00.480 --> 01:02:02.760 he does and the way he writes and all that. So when I look 702 01:02:02.760 --> 01:02:07.679 at our albums, I think each one and I think you've alluded to this 703 01:02:07.000 --> 01:02:10.639 has its own feel, its own voice's own vibe. Yeah. To me, 704 01:02:10.719 --> 01:02:15.679 it's that moment in time for where we were, and that's why it 705 01:02:15.719 --> 01:02:17.360 sounds like it does. Our Along Road Home, I mean, that's the 706 01:02:17.360 --> 01:02:22.440 first album we recorded at home, and we did three records out in LA 707 01:02:22.599 --> 01:02:24.400 and all that time spent, and you know, months and months away from 708 01:02:24.400 --> 01:02:28.480 family, and we're just like, we're done with that. We're gonna spend 709 01:02:28.480 --> 01:02:30.480 this time at home. We just traveled to the studio every day, went 710 01:02:30.519 --> 01:02:34.960 back home, fleshed out this record, a lot of it just in the 711 01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:39.800 studio that didn't write everything beforehand, and then you know, rehearsed a bunch 712 01:02:40.199 --> 01:02:44.920 and then going to the student record because we didn't have that luxury. But 713 01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:47.400 we also now had the luxury of just going to the studio fleshing out parts 714 01:02:47.760 --> 01:02:52.880 and fleshing out the songs as we wrote them. And so that album is 715 01:02:52.880 --> 01:02:58.239 actually one of the albums that I can play the least, right, some 716 01:02:58.360 --> 01:03:00.519 of those parts. That time I played it is the only time I ever 717 01:03:00.559 --> 01:03:02.920 played it. We didn't play it live again later. I never had to 718 01:03:02.920 --> 01:03:06.880 relearn it, and that particular take was the one that worked, and I 719 01:03:06.920 --> 01:03:08.920 might have written something completely different or that's the first I ever played it like 720 01:03:08.960 --> 01:03:12.519 that, and then we moved on and then that's what was there, and 721 01:03:12.559 --> 01:03:22.800 that's it. Wow, that's really interesting. Yeah, do you remember how 722 01:03:22.800 --> 01:03:27.480 you were feeling on the eve of the album's release. M M, Yeah, 723 01:03:27.559 --> 01:03:30.760 definitely proud the album release was cool. I think we made a point 724 01:03:30.880 --> 01:03:35.079 on almost every album to go buy it in the record store. That's cool, 725 01:03:35.400 --> 01:03:38.159 And we'd always grabbed the records and put them up front, right of 726 01:03:38.159 --> 01:03:44.000 course. But what always made me just really excited was whenever I heard the 727 01:03:44.039 --> 01:03:45.920 song on the radio. That to me, it was the culmination. It's 728 01:03:46.000 --> 01:03:49.719 like, oh my god, I can't believe we're on the radio right now. 729 01:03:49.760 --> 01:03:52.280 This is just crazy. Yeah, man, I can imagine what a 730 01:03:52.320 --> 01:03:58.400 trip. It sounds the same from a Vivio or something. Every once in 731 01:03:58.440 --> 01:04:00.960 a while it would just come on or get an I'm just listening to the 732 01:04:00.039 --> 01:04:02.079 radio and boom, there it is. It's like, oh, that's so 733 01:04:02.199 --> 01:04:12.840 cool. Do you know what sucks about being a Baldwin? Have bomb myselfla 734 01:04:16.320 --> 01:04:30.039 black glass and tire. Youre going browning effect and drenching my very night. 735 01:04:30.119 --> 01:04:35.119 All building Okay some day so I can say that, Jill Moodmin's the right 736 01:04:35.239 --> 01:04:41.679 way way same. You and Steven have spent so much of your life together 737 01:04:42.239 --> 01:04:46.760 decades long as friends, bend maids, business partners, whatever it may be. 738 01:04:47.000 --> 01:04:54.199 I'm sure over time that's an extremely nuanced relationship. How would you describe 739 01:04:54.239 --> 01:04:58.800 where you and Steven are at these days with each other and within Tap Root. 740 01:05:00.079 --> 01:05:01.880 It's interesting. I mean, the thing with Steve is when you're in 741 01:05:01.880 --> 01:05:06.280 a band with somebody and in just thinking happens because we're friends really before we 742 01:05:06.360 --> 01:05:10.639 were in the band, and then we obviously became better friends because of the 743 01:05:10.679 --> 01:05:14.000 band. But then when you spend so much time with somebody on the road, 744 01:05:14.079 --> 01:05:15.679 when you get off the road, you generally don't see them at all. 745 01:05:15.840 --> 01:05:18.840 You're just like I am doing my own thing and you do your own 746 01:05:18.880 --> 01:05:23.360 thing, like we don't need to hang out. And it's always fun though, 747 01:05:23.840 --> 01:05:26.159 So there's these cycles of like I went and talk to them for months, 748 01:05:26.599 --> 01:05:30.039 and then we'd get together and it would just be so much fun getting 749 01:05:30.079 --> 01:05:32.960 back together, you know, like we never lost a beat. And that's 750 01:05:32.960 --> 01:05:35.159 what I love about it. That's what I love about Steve, That's what 751 01:05:35.199 --> 01:05:39.440 I love about Jared. These guys that I've been with for so long, 752 01:05:39.519 --> 01:05:42.400 it's like you see them again even if you haven't talked to them for months, 753 01:05:42.760 --> 01:05:46.159 and it's just boom, You've got this connection that's deeper. You've experienced 754 01:05:46.199 --> 01:05:54.920 things together that most people have not gotten to do. So to myself, 755 01:05:55.559 --> 01:06:11.280 it helps me Jesus, Sam literally travel the world together. So when we 756 01:06:11.400 --> 01:06:14.960 get together, it's just like finding your brother again, seeing your brother again. 757 01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:15.639 I have to not seeing them for a while. You don't have to 758 01:06:15.679 --> 01:06:18.000 talk to them all the time, but when you do and you see him 759 01:06:18.079 --> 01:06:39.679 or you talk to them, just all good again. We've been doing these 760 01:06:39.719 --> 01:06:43.719 weekly live streams that we call Taboo Tuesdays. That's really where I talked to 761 01:06:43.760 --> 01:06:46.400 Steve often during the week, but I get to see him. We'll do 762 01:06:46.639 --> 01:06:50.360 some interviews together sometimes, and it's funny. We've done some interviews lately and 763 01:06:50.679 --> 01:06:57.159 that's us talking for the first time in years. I'm really talking. We'll 764 01:06:57.199 --> 01:07:00.159 talk while being interviewed and then we'll just kind of share stories and all learn 765 01:07:00.159 --> 01:07:02.079 stuff about him that I didn't know because we're not talking that much. You 766 01:07:02.159 --> 01:07:11.800 know, it's more business when we're not actually in the same room. Song 767 01:07:14.000 --> 01:07:36.400 don't know girls. Just so over twenty years of fresh respect, where does 768 01:07:36.639 --> 01:07:43.360 Welcome sit with you personally and creatively? Within the back catalog of tap Root 769 01:07:43.519 --> 01:07:47.480 and your own life? So I'll summarize it like this. The first three 770 01:07:47.559 --> 01:07:53.199 albums, almost any song on there other than say something like like right, 771 01:07:53.239 --> 01:07:58.119 which we never played live, but almost every other song I can play having 772 01:07:58.239 --> 01:08:00.119 not played them in years. Some of those songs I haven't played since like 773 01:08:00.199 --> 01:08:03.639 two thousand and three or two, And when I went to just kind of 774 01:08:03.800 --> 01:08:09.239 play through it we're rehearsing for our tour, it was just back there, 775 01:08:09.719 --> 01:08:14.639 no problem. They sit in my memory so strongly because of all the time 776 01:08:14.679 --> 01:08:17.000 we spent on them in the studio and just playing them afterwards and listen to 777 01:08:17.039 --> 01:08:20.880 those albums over and over again. They're pretty strong in my head. Whereas 778 01:08:21.520 --> 01:08:26.800 I hit Fracture, which I've played hundreds of times from Plead the Fifth, 779 01:08:27.399 --> 01:08:30.159 I went to play that one and I'm like, what do I do here? 780 01:08:30.600 --> 01:08:34.119 What's going wrong? You know, there's something special about those first three 781 01:08:34.199 --> 01:08:39.039 records and the time and place and the time we spent and the touring we 782 01:08:39.119 --> 01:08:43.399 did on them and all that. There's a much stronger sense in me then 783 01:08:43.399 --> 01:08:45.720 the later albums. Again, I love our later it's just something about it. 784 01:08:46.079 --> 01:08:48.920 Those are the records to me right, Gift, Welcome, Blue Say, 785 01:08:49.000 --> 01:08:53.239 Research, our Atlantic records, those will hold the special place. I 786 01:08:53.279 --> 01:08:55.640 love our Long Road Home, I love Plead the Fifth, I love the 787 01:08:55.720 --> 01:08:59.720 episodes eight or each their own things, but when I think of really what 788 01:09:00.079 --> 01:09:06.000 pitomizes our band, it's onose first three records temperary. Then oh absolutely, 789 01:09:06.039 --> 01:09:09.239 I mean, you know, we're touring on tour busses, we're playing with 790 01:09:09.319 --> 01:09:12.800 all the bands, we're doing all the festivals. Everything was still real easy, 791 01:09:13.000 --> 01:09:15.880 you know, because after Bruce got researched, the music industry kind of 792 01:09:15.920 --> 01:09:18.479 took her this downturn. Our genre kind of took a downturn. Became a 793 01:09:18.520 --> 01:09:21.239 struggle for a while after that, which was well, honestly, where I 794 01:09:21.319 --> 01:09:26.279 learned the most about myself and the things I can do as far as our 795 01:09:26.399 --> 01:09:28.800 band cycle. That's some kind of where I had to step up. Jared 796 01:09:28.880 --> 01:09:30.079 left the band. I had become more responsible. I had to learn how 797 01:09:30.119 --> 01:09:31.880 to do budgets. I had to learn how to talk to people. I 798 01:09:31.920 --> 01:09:34.920 had to learn to bandage the band to a degree, dig into the business 799 01:09:35.000 --> 01:09:40.039 side, figure out the tax stuff, figure out so many things that were 800 01:09:40.159 --> 01:09:45.039 being done for us before that. A lot of new life skills prolonged from 801 01:09:45.760 --> 01:09:51.399 never completely growing up because being full time in a band from a young age, 802 01:09:58.399 --> 01:10:00.840 well without that that a good job. Now I've not learned to do 803 01:10:00.920 --> 01:10:04.159 spreadsheets by having to learn to do budgets. I learned to do so many 804 01:10:04.239 --> 01:10:08.960 things that help me and just talk to people and how to interact with people 805 01:10:09.239 --> 01:10:13.319 that help me In my job now, I'm a facility manager at a warehouse 806 01:10:13.520 --> 01:10:18.399 and I deal with so many different things and this ability that I've learned to 807 01:10:18.680 --> 01:10:23.880 kind of go with the flow and guide that flow certain directions and know how 808 01:10:23.920 --> 01:10:26.520 to talk to people, know how to not be a dick, you know, 809 01:10:26.880 --> 01:10:30.840 deal with somebody that's being a dick, but not be a dick back, 810 01:10:30.880 --> 01:10:33.199 because that's what I have to do. All that came from having to 811 01:10:33.600 --> 01:10:38.560 help manage the band for the second half of our career. And if you're 812 01:10:38.560 --> 01:10:42.840 still here with us, and we'd love to hear more about Phil's life beyond 813 01:10:42.880 --> 01:10:46.119 the band and coming back to the scene after a decade with a new Taproo 814 01:10:46.199 --> 01:10:50.680 guitarist in Taylor Roberts, and what that dynamic is like. It's just a 815 01:10:50.800 --> 01:10:56.439 hop and a skip over to patreon dot com. Slash Life is Peachy podcast 816 01:10:56.840 --> 01:11:01.359 Episode twenty nine's bonus interview is available right now under the Michael Bolton teer. 817 01:11:17.800 --> 01:11:23.560 But yeah, it's amazing man being able to take life skills, learn from 818 01:11:23.600 --> 01:11:29.520 the band and incorporate them into other aspects of your life. Bank goodness, 819 01:11:30.199 --> 01:11:33.439 I don't know what I would have done about it. Amazing. Well, 820 01:11:33.600 --> 01:11:38.399 on that note, Bill, thank you so much for taking the time to 821 01:11:38.520 --> 01:11:42.279 look back on Welcome. I appreciate it so much. Yeah, man, 822 01:11:42.359 --> 01:11:45.880 Yeah, it's got all over the place, but I hope it's really okay. 823 01:11:45.880 --> 01:11:49.680 Oh nah, it's great. Man. I love letting these interviews go 824 01:11:50.199 --> 01:11:55.960 wherever they like, and it's all relative and important, so I'm here for 825 01:11:56.159 --> 01:12:00.479 it. Definitely, no complaints from me. Man. I appreciate it. 826 01:12:00.560 --> 01:12:02.840 Man, Thank you so much. I appreciate the interview. This was fun. 827 01:12:03.159 --> 01:12:08.159 I'm always interested to see what direction interviews go, and I'm glad we 828 01:12:08.239 --> 01:12:11.079 got to go some different directions and where it usually goes. And thank you 829 01:12:11.199 --> 01:12:15.199 for being so in depth with the questions you want to hear about and the 830 01:12:15.279 --> 01:12:17.479 things you want to hear about, and letting me expand upon things and being 831 01:12:17.520 --> 01:12:20.479 interested. It's nice to talk about these things. And it's nice to kind 832 01:12:20.520 --> 01:12:24.520 of revisit this time in my life. Because I have kids now, I 833 01:12:24.560 --> 01:12:32.119 don't get to think about this anymore. That time it was just such a 834 01:12:32.199 --> 01:12:35.800 separate life. It's just other life. And as I do interviews like guys 835 01:12:35.840 --> 01:12:39.600 like you and other people. It's just like, oh, yeah, I 836 01:12:39.720 --> 01:12:42.520 remember that now, I remember there's some of this stuff, so I don't 837 01:12:42.560 --> 01:12:45.079 walk through this again. Man. In a few months after replay some shows 838 01:12:45.199 --> 01:13:19.840 or something fine about when we can bag do you want to hit me up 839 01:13:19.880 --> 01:13:24.239 again? We'll do something again and hopefully some more stuff comes to my as 840 01:13:24.239 --> 01:13:28.800 I'm back in the mix. Yes, man, I would love that because 841 01:13:29.319 --> 01:13:33.560 I could keep racking your brains for ages. So that would be great to 842 01:13:34.159 --> 01:13:36.960 Yeah, take you up on that offer if you still feel like it in 843 01:13:38.000 --> 01:13:42.239 the future, and of course yeah, definitely. Twenty twenty five Blue Sky 844 01:13:42.479 --> 01:14:16.760 Research that one hits the big two. Oh Arthur Van, They'll have and 845 01:14:16.880 --> 01:14:21.159 there we have an episode twenty nine of the Life Is Peachy Podcast, my 846 01:14:21.439 --> 01:14:28.800 chat with Phil Lipscoon looking back on taproots amazing sophomore Welcome. Next up in 847 01:14:28.880 --> 01:14:31.600 twenty twenty four, The who, the what, the where and Why is 848 01:14:31.760 --> 01:14:36.680 always revealed first up over on Patreon, where lip patreons find out early guest 849 01:14:36.720 --> 01:14:43.840 and album reveals exclusively via two of the available three tiers, and as mentioned 850 01:14:43.880 --> 01:14:48.439 before, additional episode content and interviews are waiting for you under the Michael Bolton 851 01:14:48.520 --> 01:14:55.920 tier at patreon dot com slash Life is Peachey Podcast Any Love over at Patreon 852 01:14:56.199 --> 01:15:00.560 really does help to make the necessary time that is required to write, record, 853 01:15:00.680 --> 01:15:02.880 and edit these episodes on top of my full time job with her name 854 01:15:03.000 --> 01:15:08.319 is Murder. It really does make a difference. More support means more time 855 01:15:08.520 --> 01:15:13.560 and the most important thing, more episodes for you And if you haven't already 856 01:15:13.840 --> 01:15:17.880 followed the link in this episode's description, a subscribe to my second podcast channel, 857 01:15:18.079 --> 01:15:21.760 the Mixtape Sessions, because there are a bunch of new tracks hitting the 858 01:15:21.880 --> 01:15:27.720 channel in twenty twenty four. Interviews already recorded with the likes of X Machine 859 01:15:27.760 --> 01:15:32.079 Heads Dave McLain, for example, the last thing didn't prove to be Ali 860 01:15:32.159 --> 01:15:36.039 and Gall of what we need to do. So the mindset was like we're 861 01:15:36.039 --> 01:15:40.640 going to go in, you know, bring in another producer, change our 862 01:15:40.920 --> 01:15:45.359 look and to get production sound that was more popular at the time. It 863 01:15:45.520 --> 01:15:50.079 was just going for something different and different at that time was Corn and that 864 01:15:50.239 --> 01:15:56.039 whole scene and Meannoin Ross. I think Ross would definitely produce the record. 865 01:15:56.119 --> 01:15:58.279 I'll give them a call, you know. So it was kind of like 866 01:15:58.399 --> 01:16:01.479 that easy if you interested in what I do with her name is murder. 867 01:16:01.680 --> 01:16:06.159 Head over to Life is Peachey Instagram, where you'll find photo and video content 868 01:16:06.319 --> 01:16:13.039 from my recent end of year Astray intour with Sepultur. That was an amazing 869 01:16:13.199 --> 01:16:16.079 time. Until we hang out again in twenty twenty four. I want to 870 01:16:16.119 --> 01:16:21.880 send everyone happy and amazing New Year and of course an amazing New Year's Day 871 01:16:23.399 --> 01:16:27.479 and beyond. I wish nothing but the best and brightest for you all. 872 01:16:27.960 --> 01:16:31.159 Thank you so much for your love and support. Stay safe, have fun, 873 01:16:31.680 --> 01:16:45.840 big love, See at the party. Rechter, Bye bye. You 874 01:16:45.920 --> 01:16:58.079 know I can eat a page for hours. This episode was written, edited 875 01:16:58.279 --> 01:17:02.760 and produced by myself, recorded from the comfort of my own home, door 876 01:17:03.000 --> 01:17:08.800 war style, with each guest calling in from wherever they happen to be around 877 01:17:08.840 --> 01:17:12.920 the world at that particular time. The Life is Peachy theme song is an 878 01:17:12.960 --> 01:17:17.560 original tune for this podcast, written by Tim Richardson. The Life Is Peachy 879 01:17:17.640 --> 01:17:23.520 Podcast is not monetized. All music rights and credits go to its rightful owners. 880 01:17:23.880 --> 01:17:28.439 Further details can be found in the description of the specific episode. All 881 01:17:28.560 --> 01:17:33.520 artwork is original and illustrated for The Life Is Peachy Podcast by Chris Lisa lifting 882 01:17:46.800 --> 01:17:48.960 Alexa. Play Tap root