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And for those of you that will get the reference
to Judge, an old New York hardcore band that had
a big influenced on me when I was a kid,
still does to this day. Mike was actually a guest
on the show. I don't know the number off hand,
but you can go back and check that out. So
check that out. It's it's a rat design, it's a
it's an homage to the Judge logo, and yeah, that's
about it. This one is uh. We got my man
John A. Nastas, who was an old Boston original Boston
crew guy from the early eighties, was in the well.
It's still in the band. Uy S was your original
bass player for slap Shot. It's a good one, gonna
get into some punk rock history. So without further ado,
check it out now, why.
Speaker 2: We have a left.
Speaker 4: Yes, once again we have lyft off and I want
to thank you guys for tuning into this episode of
The Big Truth Podcast. And I'm stoked today to be
joined by my man, John A. Nastas, who you might
know from the Mighty dys Old original Boston Hardcore. He
was also the initial the og bass player of slap
Shot and also has had a illustrious career and marketing,
advertising and video game industry and crazy stuff like that.
So so he's a man that covers all bases here.
So also in the cool cool bikes and cars and stuff.
So we'll have a ton to talk about. And John Man,
thanks for coming on today.
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me. I've been wanting to do this
for a long time, so I really appreciate it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I know, I know we've I'm glad we finally
got it together.
Speaker 4: I'm only laughing because I know you're in sunny California
and I'm like looking right above you out the window,
and we got our first snow storm of the season.
Speaker 5: So I'm like, God, damn, I'm just watching it.
Speaker 4: And I'm like, I just shoveled, and I'm like, when
I leave here today, I'm gonna have to shovel again.
And I'm sure that amuses you very much, as you're
gonna probably wearing T shirts and shorts and going out
on a sunny day.
Speaker 6: I don't miss Boston winters, that's for sure. I missed
the change in seasons, yeah, but I don't miss the winters,
you know. Like I drove a you know, a fifty
year old car to the gym today, which I wouldn't
have you know, if I'd lived in Boston that would
have been tucked away until next summer.
Speaker 3: So I'm very fortunate.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 4: I was in my fore Runner this morning, not the
Impala because of that exact thing. So so, so what's
going on?
Speaker 5: Man? Like why don't we you know?
Speaker 4: Because uh d US is such like a like a
mighty influence on Boston and also just hardcore in general,
you know, for you know, like that early eighties stuff.
Like I'm always jealous because I I got into it
like when I was like in middle school and like
eighty five and in eighty six and stuff like that.
And I first started going shows like I I saw
your lineup of Slapshot, like some of the original shows
and stuff at the Living Room in Providence and the
Rat and all that. But what did even you know, like,
kids growing up today have like a forty something year
history of hardcore, but when you guys got into it,
you know, it was it was brand new, like in
punk and stuff. Punk was only around a couple of
years and stuff like what even got you on that path?
Like how did you even find your way into punk
and hardcore?
Speaker 3: So it's interesting.
Speaker 6: I would say there's sort of two pads in one path.
Is I used to go to this summer camp in Maine,
And you say, how do you discover punk rock in
a summer camp in Maine. This summer camp had disproportionately,
for whatever reason, kids from Manhattan, and you know, I
grew up on the Northshia of Boston. I lived in Cambridge,
right next door to Boston. I think we thought we
were reasonably sophisticated and we lived in a real city.
And when I got to the summer camp, these kids
were all like that were my age, all.
Speaker 3: Felt like ten years older, and they just knew stuff.
Speaker 6: They just knew stuff that we didn't know in Boston, right,
it was like pre Internet when anybody could know anything.
And you know, as I'm becoming twelve, thirteen, fourteen, they
start showing up with records, right, or showing up with
like tattered copies of Cream magazine, or they'd like seen
the Ramones at CBGB's because they had a fake ID
or like whatever, and all that stuff started seeping in.
Speaker 3: So that was like the first thing.
Speaker 6: And because of that summer camp, I missed the first
Black Flag show at the Paradise in Boston. But so
summer's over, I come back to Boston, I'm, you know, struggling.
I'm going to Ringing Latin and Cambridge. I'm kind of
If I'm into a subject, I'm super into it. If
I'm not into a subject, I'm not into it. And this,
you know, I'm sort of struggling with school, and this
guidance counselor sees how important music.
Speaker 3: Is to me.
Speaker 6: And you know, it's actually another guy who was sort
of crucial, Richard's dad, Punky Richards. It's his dad who's
my guidance counselor. And he gets me this high school
internship at Newberry Comics. And so a couple of days
a week, I take the bus across the river.
Speaker 3: I you know, file.
Speaker 6: Records, you know, put pricing labels on records, et cetera.
And I start meeting people right because everybody's coming in
and it turns into Saturday mornings, and Saturday mornings, I
think I'm on shoplifting duty, and I think they like
I was like placed on a milk crate by the
front door, and I was just supposed to see like
stealing records and try to stop them.
Speaker 3: And that's when I start.
Speaker 6: Meeting Alan, Jamie and everybody else. And I'm exposed to
the records themselves. You know, if you think about Discord
would ship like five soa seven inches in there, and
I get one right because I was there when they
unpacked them.
Speaker 3: I was there when.
Speaker 5: They yeah, first pick yeah.
Speaker 3: And that is what got me into it initially.
Speaker 4: Now is that that was the original one. There was
the only the one Newberry Comics. Right before it turned
into a local chain.
Speaker 3: There was only the one.
Speaker 6: The first prototype of reopening is at some point it
started as just a comic store, hence the name they
moved comic books across the street to give all the
square footage. I think it was two sixty seven Newbery
into Records. So the first expansion was just like dead
across the street. They moved comic books.
Speaker 3: But that was it.
Speaker 6: And you know, it was interesting. I worked there with
Amy Mann from till tuesday. I just saw her at
a wedding in la I hadn't seen her in a
super long time. It was great to catch up with her.
But you know, a whole number of people worked their
way through that store. Rich Richie Parsons famously worked at
that store forever. I think he had a twenty five
year career there or something.
Speaker 5: But yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 4: And I mean, you know, for any you know, we're
talking local stuff, but anyone that's been anywhere near Massachusetts
knows what Newberry Comics is. It's like the spot like
that probably is more responsible for the growing of punk
rock and hardcore and metal and stuff in Massachusetts than
any other store there. It was like even when I
was a kid, I grew up in New Bedford, but
it was like we would take the pilgrimage right like,
get on the bus, get up there.
Speaker 5: So that we could buy records.
Speaker 4: We'd hit there second, come in you know, all this
all the spot and uh, you know, or go to
the show and hopefully have enough money to get a
seven inch or something or whatever while we're at the show. Yeah,
I mean, it's it's weird because I haven't thought about sounds. Weird.
I haven't thought about numeric comics and so long I
haven't been in the last time I've been in it.
It's kind of morphed into like what Spencer Gifts was.
Speaker 6: Because obviously, yeah, because record sales are down, right, So
now it's now it's the vinyl figure, the T shirt.
Speaker 5: And the comics are heavy again.
Speaker 6: Yeah stuff and the comics are heavy again, right because
physical products just isn't products sort of like physical product
has become the T shirt for you know a large
number of genres in essence right where you know, where
Taylor Swift does to top the charts now is actually
an old rocket you know, punk rock play, which is like,
you know, seven different colors of the vinyl and the
super fan buys all seven of them. Like that's the
Taylor Swift fan now. But when we were growing up,
that was the punk rock model, right, like, yeah, kiss
wasn't putting out seven different colors of vinyl, right, it
was like.
Speaker 3: Only punk rock bands.
Speaker 4: Well they didn't need to back then, right, Like yeah,
like you if you assigned on a major label, there
was no they didn't even need that, you know, that
is true.
Speaker 6: And then also, by the way, it was worth pointing
out the Cars opened to recording studio a block up
the street, and so like that was the thing, right.
I remember when The Bad Brains recorded their album with
the Cars studio.
Speaker 3: It's like that.
Speaker 6: It just those couple of blocks in Newberry Street just
had an alternative vibe.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 6: There was like secondhand clothing stores that also sold like
studded wristbands and you know, punk rock gear.
Speaker 5: So you made the.
Speaker 6: Pilgrimage from New Bedford. I made the pilgrimage from across
the river in Cambridge. People would just you know it
Saturday between like ten and four, that's where people were,
and then you know at five o'clock they'd moved to
Kenmore Square, right, But that was just what we did.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And then uh, it's funny too because yeah, because uh,
you know, rick A Cask and the guys from the
Cars had a lot to do, like helped punkin and
stuff a lot too in those days. And I the drummer,
and I feel bad because I forget his name because
he's a really good dude. Because we were talking for
a while. He wanted us to build him a triumph
because he's a he's into super into triumphs and stuff,
and I always thought it would be cool, but we
just never got it together. But but yeah, man, there
was Boston music gets I feel it's very underrated, like
you know what I mean, because because we're such in
the shadow of New York even though even though, like
you know, especially even like in the eighties and stuff,
not now because everything's more global now, but back then,
like a lot of hits and a lot of you know,
comedy and music were big in Boston, but we just
got so overshadowed by the by New York City, and
you know, we contributed a lot, you know.
Speaker 6: Totally if you think about that time a hardcore show
peaked at the Channel, which is what fifteen hundred cap right, like,
and you you know, and SSD would make a pilgrimage
to play Santa Monica Civic Center in La right, which
is like three times the size it yes, you know,
the entire record business was in New York, and you know,
the scale was in LA.
Speaker 3: And you know, we we had our thing.
Speaker 6: But I think as we started going to those other cities,
and I think that's why so many of us ended
up being drawn to those cities, right Like, so many
people ended up moving to New York, moving to LA
for the scale, for the opportunity, for all that stuff, you.
Speaker 4: Know, yeah, oh yeah, yeah. And you know it's also
in order to escape the people La, to escape the weather,
right or yes, where are you? Were you in San Diego?
Speaker 3: No, I'm in La proper. I'm just east of Hollywood.
Speaker 5: Okay, all right, nice house things going out there. Now.
I know, post COVID, the world a very different place.
Speaker 3: LA is a very different place. So you know, everything
works in cycles.
Speaker 6: I moved to LA in the mid nineties, mid late nineties,
and La was rough, right like, you know, if you
think about that opening scene from Pretty Woman, right like,
it was literally like that, right, pimps and hookers walking
the streets and it wasn't safe. And I used to
box at Mickey Rourke's boxing gym, and one day I'd
show up there and they'd be like nine bullet holes
in the door. You know, I was leaving there one
day and like some tweaked out, like you know, white
dude tries to get in my car to stop late.
Speaker 3: Right like it was, it.
Speaker 6: Was bad, and La got a lot better, and COVID
kind of turned it back again. Sadly, you know, it
feels like the nineties again. You know, I in the
thick of COVID. I'm driving my son to preschool in Hollywood,
like literally in Hollywood, and I'm ever in here.
Speaker 3: It's like, Daddy, why are those two guys fighting? Daddy?
Why is that lady naked? Daddy? Why is that guy
pooping on the street. I mean, it was like literally wild, yeah, you.
Speaker 6: Know, and then unfortunately, you know, we've got the Hollywood layoffs,
We've got you know, we had the fires.
Speaker 3: So you know, Elis had a string of bad luck
for sure.
Speaker 6: Like I travel a lot, and I'm always interested in
like what cities are gaining energy and losing energy, you know,
and at the worst of it, it sort of felt
like San Francisco was last, and now it kind of
feels like La is last.
Speaker 4: Sadly, yeah, yeah, no, That's that's why I was asking
what the climate's like that, you know. And the unfortunate
thing too, is that it's like reverting in that way,
but the prices are still crazy.
Speaker 3: Oh dude, it's because I.
Speaker 4: Consider moving La years ago, because I remember you can
get apartments in Hollywood like fairly cheap, like compts to Boston,
and then all of a sudden I went back and
I was like, They're like, nah, no, it's like two grand,
three grand.
Speaker 5: I was like, that problem was like six hundred.
Speaker 6: Bucks, dude, when I so the old thing that you
used to have to do in New York and you
probably do. It's like when I first moved to New
York right after college, you ended up splitting a one
bedroom with somebody because prices were like that, right, So
you know, somebody took the living room, somebody took the bedroom,
and the only common space was the bathroom in the kitchen.
Speaker 3: And I remember being so excited that when.
Speaker 6: I first moved to La, a whole apartment that was
like just mine was the same price as my half
a New York one bedroom.
Speaker 3: Yeah, those days are over right.
Speaker 6: I mean, I think technically La is still a little
cheaper than New York with the gap isn't what it
was in the height of COVID, San Francisco got cheaper
than LA but now because of all the AI money,
that's changed radically. But I feel for anybody trying to
like build a life here, you know, like I've been
very fortunate in life, but like it feels harder for
me than it did ten years.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think everyone's feeling the pinch no matter where
they are, So do U. I ask, man, like what
made you pick up a bass? And like how did
you find your way into like getting doing a band?
Speaker 5: You know what I mean?
Speaker 4: Like we'll jump around a little bit. I know you're
on a timetable, but but yeah, man, like what what? What?
Speaker 5: What made you decide? You're like, hey, man, I want
to pick up the bass.
Speaker 6: And then what made me pick up the basses? I
didn't think I'd be good enough for guitar or guitar
seemed too daunting. And what made me do punk rock
is like it was like I've told this story too much,
so I should stop telling it. But like I'm super
an aerosmith because every kid in Boston of that era
wants to be either Steven Tyler or Joe Perry or
both right, and like the thought of like figuring out
how to play Seasons of Wither when you're like twelve
and you're me is like impossible. And I think I
bought There's the Ramones Live in London record, and I
think for the first time, like over the course of
the weekend, I learned like half the record. I was like, oh,
maybe this isn't totally impossible, Maybe this isn't totally unreachable,
you know, And that's what started, is like finding a
group of friends and like being able to like bang out,
like you know, Sheena is a punk rocker, right, because
it was like accessible and the energy was great and
all that stuff. And I'm glad I stuck with bass
because you know, I get better, but I'm still not, like,
you know, you play with Craig Silverman, who you know,
I think is like one of.
Speaker 3: The great journeymen.
Speaker 6: Like he may be I'm gonna go out on a
limb here, he may be considered in his time the
Steve Jones of hardcore. And what I mean by that
is like Steve Jones is considered the greatest underrated meat
and Potatoes kind of like and I mean meat and
potatoes good way guitar player. And I think Craig is
going to be the Steve Jones of hardcore, where people
are going to look back and be like, dude, you're
in the pocket always right, like you're like your strumming
hand is on point.
Speaker 4: And beyond that, like his writing, Like if he's writing,
if he's writing a Blood for Blood song, it sounds
like a Blood for Blood song. Agnostic Front song sounds
like a Gnostic front. A wom Machine sounds like wol machine.
The you know, the flap shot sounds like slapshot. When
he can he can write full of the bands like
and carry the sound. And that's that's a whole other talent.
You know that That is like a gift, you know
what I mean? I think you know more than something
you can learn, you know, right.
Speaker 6: But my point is that is I am not the
Craig Silverman of her right, and what I was ended
up being great about bass is and I'm probably giving
myself too much credit. Even in this way, I could
become the flavor flav of hardcore, right, like my thing
became performing more than playing yeah yeah, and also became
a lost me in my career, like marketing more than
playing right, Like I was always the guy like what
order should we play the songs? You know, like what
should the backline look like? What should the tour poster
look like? What what should the records look like?
Speaker 5: Like?
Speaker 3: That kind of became my contribution.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 6: If you think about like a band, somebody's the writer,
you know, somebody's good at Like that ended up being
what I was good at, or at least I think.
Speaker 4: Someone's the book an agent, someone someone's the uh, the
the art director or the marketing man, you.
Speaker 3: Know, labels and I had.
Speaker 6: I did a kind of solo friend project that I
released in twenty twenty four called Disbanded.
Speaker 3: We're Way More rock and roll, and.
Speaker 6: I get to play guitar for the first time because
it was my thing and straight up rhythm guitar if
you lead on there is somebody else. But it was
it was fun this many years later to be like, Okay,
I can play semi credible rock and roll.
Speaker 4: Rhythm guitar, so so, but yeah, all right, but like,
how did how did dys Like how did go from
you picking up a bass and in your room and
learning the Ramones records to like getting dys going, And like,
how did how did DYS form or how did you
get in that?
Speaker 5: And tell the story?
Speaker 6: Is that sure, it became just like SSD is the nucleus,
and then all these bands just sort of like organically
splintered off it.
Speaker 3: Right, It was like last Rites Negative Effects.
Speaker 6: DYS were like very clear splinters off like Boston Crew,
you know, like I had met Dave Smalley through the
SSD guys. We both started showing up at SSD shows
and we started doing stuff together. And then it was
Al Burrill suggests, and then Andy Strahan played guitar, right,
and like Andy was part of the Boston Crew and
he said, Andy, you should play with uys. They're looking
for guitar player. So that very much became the nucleus
of it. And then since then, because we had this
whole second bite of an apple, there's been you know,
this number of different people in the band, all with
roots the old score, old hardcore and like Boston. And
it's interesting, right because you sort of like, you know,
if you watch like again, I'm not comparing us this,
but when Metallica had to replace Jason, right, like they
knew the bass player, right, like he had a shared
set of values, right, they they knew trio, you know,
like and it's sort of been that. Like I moved,
you know, moved to LA and you know, we ended
up doing more shows than I needed an LA based lineup.
Speaker 3: And who's around me?
Speaker 6: Fronstall from Scream is a neighbor, right, lives half a
mile away.
Speaker 3: You know, he's also in the Food Fighters.
Speaker 6: Alpahanish came to Boston to go to Berkeley, was in
Powerman five thousand.
Speaker 3: I met him in LA. Like he's around.
Speaker 6: So you're still just always trying to surround yourself with
like shared values, shared influences, shared ideas, some connectivity to Boston,
you know, Like I just had Johnny Rock from the
Boston band Halfcock that was signed to like Powerman five
thousand label, for a minute, do something for me, Like
we're just always trying to like, you know, keep some version.
Speaker 3: There's just a shared language, right you drop into.
Speaker 6: A studio and you just pick up three quarters of
the way through it if you have that shared piece
of it, you know, like like I look at like
what war machine like you obviously you guys all came
to the table with this shared thing before he I'm
sure before he even got in a room together.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, it was it was that started. That was
a joke from like Blood.
Speaker 4: For Blood's last tour in Europe, I went out with
them and we were you know, it's a long story.
I'll tell you sometime, but uh, but we're here to
talk about you today.
Speaker 3: Now we're talking about both of us.
Speaker 4: I know I don't but but yeah, so you know,
like but like as I said, as a kid, getting in,
you know, like the I was so mad, you know,
you know I was. I was grateful that I got in.
When I got in, I got to see like the
last FU show before they were straw Dogs and stuff
like that. I get to see Jerry's kids with Suicide.
I got to see the tail end of everything of
the first wave there.
Speaker 5: But I was so mad that.
Speaker 4: I missed like you know, ss D, the Impact Unit,
you know, like see y'all like the stuff that came before.
Speaker 5: Do you ask me?
Speaker 4: And I'm glad that I've gotten to see most of
those bands by now, because Yeah, the good thing about
hardcore is that if it's like no matter what you
do in life, like when you came up with this,
I feel like if this was really in it, like
people they might go but they all come back, you
know what I mean, Like I feel like you can't
really kick it because it's become such an integral party.
So you know, I got to see all the bands
that I that I missed for the most pot except
for SSD. But I've seen that triggering around doing stuff,
So that's true.
Speaker 6: But I'll tell you it's some way I might say
you came in for the best of it, Like arguably
to your point about it being proto, it's probably less.
The stuff you missed is probably less good than you remember,
Like there was a level of experience and professionalism by
the time you got in that wasn't there. Like I
loved SSD more than anybody, but they were famous for
like something always happened and there was like ten minutes
in between songs and like shit would rate right or
like you know, venues were only this big, and I
sort of feel by the time I was doing slap Shot,
you know, like what you could be was bigger, right,
Like you could sell a Irving Plaza, you can get
signed to road Runner, you could get signed.
Speaker 3: A Metal Blade, Like you'd go on a tour.
Speaker 6: Opening for Motorhead, Like you know, you look at all
the things the Chromags did, like what was possible by
like eighty five, eighty six, eighty seven was just a
whole other level that we missed out on.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well that's how it always goes, right. The people
that lay the founder lay the foundation, you know, you know,
the next people like build up for that. You know,
you laid the foundation, and then the next people were
making the first floor, and then then it went to
the second floor, third floor, whatever, you know, like people,
it just got bigger and crazier.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but now I see Slapshot playing in front of
you know, fifty thousand people at Hellfest.
Speaker 3: You know, it's like a whole different world.
Speaker 4: Sure, yeah, yeah, no, but no, I just mean, like
I miss I regret that I didn't get to see
some of the shows, you know what I mean, some
of the things. But but yeah, you know what would
those days like though, because you know, a kid getting
into punk a hardcore now it's a whole different experience.
Like I remember when I got into it, it wasn't popular.
You know, I'm not gonna I literally got to fistfight
at least weekly because of it, you know what I mean.
Because it wasn't cool, and it wasn't whatever, but like
eighty one, you know what I mean, or you know,
you know that timeframe is it was even different. The
world was a different place too, Like you know, was
it a lot harder getting like kind of the what
you just said, Like, was it a lot harder getting
shows and getting things together and trying because like you
had to no one even knew what it was, Like, Hey,
we're gonna be here and there's a bunch of kids
gonna be running around and jumping off the stage and
blah blah blah. You know, like trying to convince someon
of that like in nineteen eighty two or something is
a lot different than nowadays.
Speaker 6: Totally, it was harder getting shows. They were afraid of
the violence. Because everybody was insistent on doing all ages shows,
or most people were insisted by doing all ages shows.
The FEUs were like the only band I remember that
would regularly play over twenty ones. The venues felt like
they were going to make less money, right because they
don't bar.
Speaker 3: Like you're a bar owner now, right, like.
Speaker 5: You can back the other slap shot basically.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so you know what it's like with like the
five dollars cover without you know, when you're selling diet
cokes versus the five dollars cover and alcohol, right or
whatever that. So there was that challenge, right because we
were all adamant about playing all ages shows, only.
Speaker 3: You know all of it.
Speaker 6: You know, there was no internet, Like literally, you were
like wheat pasting flyers around to try.
Speaker 3: To get seen.
Speaker 5: Like.
Speaker 6: It was all a lot harder, you know, but I
think that made it, like anything that's harder, more gratifying,
you know, to your point. I mean, you know, dude,
not only was I getting harassed for being in a
hardcore I mean I remember going to see Motley for
the first time, and you know, they look like girl
roles quote unquote, and like I remember the same people
that used to give me shit about liking hardcore. Like
I'd walk by, like you the hesher area at ringe
and I'd be wearing.
Speaker 3: A poison shit and they'd be like, who are those thuggots?
And then I'd see them all.
Speaker 6: Every one of those kids was a Motley opening for
Ozzie at the Garden a year later, every single one
of those kids.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: Well you know what though, and I know you mentioned like, uh,
you know, wheat paste and posters I put them up
at the pizza spot or whatever. I kind of missed
that because or just looking at like you know, like
the the free newspapers that would have the listenings for shows.
Speaker 5: I feel like it was easier because I.
Speaker 4: Feel like now I get lost in like the algorithm,
and I don't see a show until two days later
when someone I knew took a picture and posted it.
I was like, oh man, I forgot about that show
or I didn't even know that was coming. Whereas before,
when I felt it was easy when you can look
in like you know, the newspaper or like you know,
walk around to the spots like Little Stevie's Pizza or something,
you know there'd be the fly there, you know what
I mean. Like it, it seemed like that was a
little bit easier for building that, you.
Speaker 6: Know, totally fair, but I mean it's also different, like
you know, when we started playing again, which by the way,
I never thought it would happen, and we started doing
European festivals and you show up and there's like, you know,
four Marshall cabs and two SVTs on stage, like all
set for you, and you just got to like plug
in and roll yeah, that never existed the first time around.
Speaker 5: No, what's the first time you guys played again? Was it?
Speaker 4: Was it that Club Lido show and Revere a few
years ago, well not a few years, like twelve years
ago to fifteen.
Speaker 6: Yeah, the reunion show, the reunion show, that was absolutely
the first one.
Speaker 3: And by the way, that was supposed to be awesome,
thank you for coming.
Speaker 6: That was, by the way, it supposed to be the
only one. So the only reason I kind of convinced
myself and everybody else to do it, besides supporting Gallery East,
was so there were there was no HD back in
the day, right, So there's no like, there was never
any true multi camera footage, if do you so?
Speaker 3: I literally decided to do that show, literally.
Speaker 6: Just to have multi camera HD history of the band,
to like show my kid, you know whatever.
Speaker 3: I didn't even have a kid then, but I was
thinking about, like when.
Speaker 5: I might here, And that was the.
Speaker 6: Only reason we did it. We're supposed to do one
and done. And because I'm wired the way I'm wired,
I think I flew to Boston seven times, like we rehearsed,
like rehearsed, you know, I came, you know, so if
I came to Boston seven times. We did fourteen rehearsal days,
you know, teach everybody the songs, run the set at
least two times of rehearsal, like, took it very seriously.
Speaker 3: And then because I'd never.
Speaker 6: Done it before, like wan, I need every cheat possible
to not suck, right, So every cheat possible to not
suck means we're gonna have the best backline, right, Every
cheat possible that not suck means like we're hiring professional crew.
You know, I don't know how to sound good anymore,
you know, And so you know you were there, right,
We got six heads, six cabs, like rolling the whole thing,
and took it very seriously. I asked Dicky Barrett from
the Bostons to introduce us, and again I think this
is just.
Speaker 3: One and done.
Speaker 6: And afterwards we're like sitting backstage and Dicky's like, dude,
do you want to do the Hometown throw down with
us this year?
Speaker 3: Like it was like whatever it was, it was like
good enough.
Speaker 6: For him to think, you know, let's see, I want
to do the Hometown Throwdown. And so now on my
calculation is like, okay, we're going from one thousand people
to two thousand people, twenty five hundred people, let's roll,
let's do it. And then that happened, and I was like,
can we go to Europe? Can we do other festivals?
You know, I start thinking like what's possible, not as
a full time thing. And so I'm living in LA
and you know, we had great guys playing with us
for those two shows. There's no issue there. But like,
I'm in LA and I can't keep lying to Boston
seven times for every show. So we needed up an
LA based lineup. And that's where I was lucky enough
to convince Frontstall to do it, to convince Alpaghanish to
do it, and found this incredible kid, Adam, who is
interestingly is not from Boston but went to Berkeley School
for Music, so other Boston connection. He had done a short,
he's a multi talented musician. He's he's in guy kind
of a reggae ska bands signed to Tim Armstrong's Hellcat
Records called Calimatics. But you know that's I'm the only
hardcore he'd done. He had done Far from Finished. He'd
done a couple of European tours with Far from Finished,
and to me, he was like the punk rock version
of Billy Duffy, which is like always the sound I
hear in my head when I want like that guy,
like the guy who can just step up, throw a
foot of the monitor.
Speaker 3: Les Paul goes up and just shreds right. And he
was that dude.
Speaker 6: And I was lucky enough to find those guys, and
we you know, played fifty shows, festivals, went to Europe.
Speaker 3: We tried to go to Europe every summer, every other summer,
and it.
Speaker 6: Was like a second bite at the apple that I
and I never thought I was going to have, was
never even planned when.
Speaker 3: We did the Club Leado show.
Speaker 6: And I've been just so so so grateful to the fans,
to everybody that we had a shot to do that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, no, and it was great.
Speaker 4: The Uh well, let's let me ask this because because
we talked a little bit before anything coming up JO wise,
are you guys keeping the keeping the train rolling, like
or new music or anything on the horizon.
Speaker 5: Yes, anything that you can talk about.
Speaker 3: We had a pretty good cadence.
Speaker 6: I mean, you live this life, you knoww it is
like really the only thing that's that's viable.
Speaker 5: Sorry, that's right.
Speaker 3: I'll just start over and you'll cut it out so
you live this.
Speaker 6: So you know, this really the only cadence that's reasonably
viable you run a business. I run a business is
to kind of do the europe thing, right, Like, that's
where the scale is, and you can do kind of
mini American run. But even if you're agnostic front like
I watch him knocking out in like six to twelve's right,
They're not like playing two hundred and fifty shows in America.
Speaker 4: No, no, no, yeah, everyone's doing like two weeks and that's yeah.
Speaker 6: And so you know, we kind of built the machine
around that, and we were kind of doing it on
a regular basis, and we put out new music and
I know it's very hard for legacy bands to put
out any music. And I know the fans really just
came wanting to hear Brotherhood, Like dude, the hardest thing
for us is they didn't want to hear the second record,
right Like for me, the thing was my non negotiable
with Dave Smalley is I'm only going to do this
if I can do what I want to do, and
I don't want to go out and play like the
Brotherhood puppet show. You know, no offense to people came
to see the butterl their Hood puppet show or like.
But like I said, we got to put these two
records together, and so we ended up doing is slowing
down the Brotherhood stuff, speeding up the second record stuff.
Dave is singing an octave lower on the second record
stuff now, so it all kind of sinks, right, But
so we had that together and like where do we
go from here? And we end up doing like a
series of digital singles that now were all of our
influences of the New Guys, and it's like punk rock
and roll, right, The rock and roll influence is much
bigger in it. The street plank influence is much more
bigger in it. What's happened in fifteen years is much
bigger in it. So we did all that and then
we Bridge nine was kind enough to do an anniversary
release of Brotherhood and we were going to play a
limited number of shows behind that, and Dave Smalley gets cancer,
and Dave almost dies of cancer twice. Not the actual cancer,
but like you know, when your immune system is totally
ground down here in hospitals, like bad shit happens, and
we almost lost Dave and we had to cancel you know,
our sort of you know, anniversary release shows, which was
a bummer, and I was super excited about the lineup.
I was excited about coming back to Boston, and we
had to put everything on hold until Dave kind of
made it through his treatment and he did. We still
have Dave Smallly. You know, he's back. He's playing the
occasional down By Law show. And so then I started
thinking about what to do if we can ramp it
back up, and so we went back in the studio
and we did Something's New, Something's.
Speaker 3: Old, some covers, and.
Speaker 6: You know, because it's twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six
almost and I don't think really anybody has heart for
a record anymore. I think I'm going to continue the
old strategy, which is the think I'm going to drop
them one at a.
Speaker 3: Time, and so we are.
Speaker 6: We we did a re record of wolf Pack, which
is probably going to be here seat to a lot
of people. But for a couple of reasons, a Wolfpack
was the first single we ever put out in terms
of being a radio tape when we were at our
most raw knew the least amount of what we were doing. Second,
it's our most streamed song, so it's the song people
are most interested in. Third just organically kind of coming
back the second time and thinking about things and knowing
more things about music and that songs need to tell stories.
Speaker 3: We need a beginning, a middle, and an end. It's
been a set.
Speaker 6: Closer for us, and we kind of moved into a
different arrangement from the original one, where it's like the
original one I think is like first chorus versus chorus
done right.
Speaker 3: It's like a lot of hardcore songs, right.
Speaker 6: Not even why, and just naturally we started playing it
live as the closer first chorus, verse chorus breakdown where
in a live setting, Smally kind of talks to the audience,
talks to the audience, thanks everybody.
Speaker 3: Then it's like.
Speaker 6: Chorus builds, chorus build out right, like much more traditional
arrangement that if we probably knew what we were doing,
you know, back in the day, a producer or an
A and R guy or somebody would have like we
would have ended up there anyway. But that's kind of
where we just organically ended up. And I was like,
I want to re record that. I want to put that,
you know, and there's some the arrangement is very different
from the ones anybody's even heard. There's some Boston surprises
on there that I'll leave for surprises, but that's dropping
right before the end of the year, and we'll see
what the response is. My thing about music doing music
now is I only do what I want to do,
and I try to make everything as good as I
can make it, and I don't care about what it was,
what people think about it, et cetera. So people might
love it, people might hate it, but it's reflective of
who we are, and it's frankly reflective of like the
last way we played it, like it's reflective of like
the last time we stood on stage and played the song.
This is mostly the way we played it. So that's
going to be dropping, and then if that goes reasonably well,
there's there's some other things to drop, some new things,
some covers. Again, I think the cover selection is really
going to surprise people. You know, the last, the only
cover cover we ever released officially was that Motorhead cover
road Crew.
Speaker 3: We tried to give it, you know, like ad our
own thing to it. You know.
Speaker 6: We did some other covers back in the day, but
never released them. We used to do blood in the
streets like that OI song, but so hopefully they'll be
more surprised, is you know. Thanks to Ryan and Jack,
I got this chance to kind of say goodbye to
Slapshot fans at the thirty fifth anniversary. It was like
the greatest thing on earth for like those guys to
allow the original lineup to come up and end the set.
Speaker 3: And it's like the easiest job in the world.
Speaker 6: Like Ry, you know, Packer and Jack and those guys
have wound up the crowd for ninety minutes to the
max and then Jack's like, we got it the bradsheet
and it's like the easiest thing in the world to
come up four songs and end it.
Speaker 3: And I was so grateful for that.
Speaker 6: That it really put in my head that I'd like
to have some sort of like do you you know,
like the first time we just petered out, like we
were just dumb, We didn't know what we were doing,
Like we were in over our head when that metal
record started to break.
Speaker 3: We just didn't know how to do the next things.
Speaker 6: And so I sort of felt like we never got
a goodbye the first time around.
Speaker 3: And if that.
Speaker 6: Lido show had been the last show, that would have
been a great goodbye. I would have been a fine goodbye.
So maybe it's my own risk for trying to put
a second ending on the.
Speaker 3: End of the second ending. But I would love to have.
Speaker 6: A chance to do something in twenty twenty six that
might be like a chance to say goodbye and thank you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, now, how so, well a couple of things. I
got like three other things I want to ask you about.
But yeah, there's also going to be like re recording
wolf Pack, It's also going to be interesting to hear
because you know, the original one came out. How old
were you guys when you when you made I was
a Brotherhood record?
Speaker 3: Fifteen? I was fifteen.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So re recording it, like recording something in the
early eighties and then recording something now sonically is going
to be vastly different. So you're going to be able
to hear what the song actually sounds like versus what
and I and I go like this all the time
because I had an old band, and like people sometimes like,
oh man, like those records, and I'm like, oh no,
those records. The recording is horrible, like but like but
in other people's heads, like they identify with it because
they heard it at a time, like I love Brotherhood,
but like I'm sure you hear it and you're like, oh, man,
I wish this. This isn't how it should really sound,
you know, or whatever it is. It is what it is,
but uh yeah, it's going to be interesting to hear,
like the new version with with modern recording and you
know what I mean, and like updated, uh yeah, probably
we better equipment and you know, like the whole new.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and we'd had, you know, with the reunion stuff,
we had a shot at modern recording. Like again, always
trying to pull in Boston guys. Do you know mud Rock?
Do you know who he is? So Andrew Murdoch, Boston dude.
He worked for New Alliance, who were the producers of
our first record back.
Speaker 3: In the day when we were a metal band. He
was our live sound guy. He was our go to
sound guy.
Speaker 6: Then mud Rock went on to He's got producing credit
and all those multi platinum Godsmack records, right, So, like
mud Rock like made an impact and he was the
new metal guy to go to for a long time.
And then that first Avenged sevenfold record mud Rock, Yeah,
and the first book Cherry record mud Rock and so
oh I've got this chance to work with a guy
now who I knew back in the day.
Speaker 3: But has taken this ride to eight platinum and gold records.
Speaker 6: You know, he did a lot of other stuff that
was cool that probably didn't go platinum, right, Like Riverboat Gamblers,
he had a number of their records, But like you know,
like that guys.
Speaker 5: He knows what he's doing.
Speaker 3: That guy's got a lot of plaques in his wall.
Speaker 6: And in heavy music, And to sort of go back
and be able to do a bunch of stuff with
him and learn from him and the way technology has moved.
He's a perfect mix of new and old, right, where
like we're kind of doing this thing where it's like
real drums and two damps, but you know it's going
under a hard drive, right, not onto tape, right, and
all the stuff.
Speaker 3: That you can do with that.
Speaker 6: But then even right, like going back, you're like Leo's
guitar tracks sound a little similar. Let's use the Freedman
brown eye plug in, right, so they're not both us
and you can just do.
Speaker 3: That stuff now, right.
Speaker 5: It's crazy.
Speaker 6: And even the most die hard gear guys I know,
like Brian Baker taking kempers on tour, right, Like all
that stuff you can do, and so you know, everything
that you will hear was played by real musicians in
real time, right. But it's taking advantage of technology that
we can take advantage of. And one of the guys
we're working now with now comes from like doing stuff
with Dwight Yoakam and like Chris Robinson band and just
like pull it like just you know, I want to
learn from anybody, you know, I want to learn from
anybody that's like expert at this stuff. And so it's
a whole different experience. And the funny thing is we're
spending more than we spent on like Brotherhood, but like
relative at what it costs to make a record today,
you know, like those days of like I was talking
to I'll leave the name out. I was talking to
a guy who was in a hardcore band that became
a metal band and they were broken for a long
time and they came back together, and he told me
what their recording budget.
Speaker 3: Was in like ninety five, and then he.
Speaker 6: Told me what his recording budget was in like twenty
twenty five. And you can imagine major label, major label
both times fraction of the first.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, that's.
Speaker 6: Travel was the biggest line item for the most recent
record because they don't live in the same city. Yeah,
where producer fee was the biggest line item on their
major label debut.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a different game now. And it is funny
thing too, because like everyone in bands, like no one
lives in the same city anymore. I mean, like every
band everyone lives, there's at least one guy that lives
on the other side of the country. And you know,
you know, it is what it is. But one thing,
you know, we talked to you know, we're talking a
little bit of hardcore and metal and stuff. Boston in
eighty one it almost sounded like it was just mayhem.
Like every every record that came out was just like
blistering blistering speeds, like you know, and then you know
you get the comp called unsafe at any speed and
all this right, but like everything blistering fast that was
the the Boston sound was just like insane insanity. And
then everyone's second record everyone went into everyone was a
c DC Like what happened with you with all of
you guys?
Speaker 5: Like what happened? Like when did when did it turn?
Speaker 4: From kids will have this say to how we rock
or like from from from Brotherhood to Fire and Ice,
so like what happened, And it's just very curious. I
always wanted to and I never I never got to
ask you that or anybody else.
Speaker 6: Right, well, well I've learned my lessons for speaking for
anybody else. I'm only going to speak for you. It's funny,
the great, the great Albarell we have lost like I
love Al, but like every time I would say something
about this with SSD, I'd have like a d M
within like an hour, Andy, and he'd like tell me
whatever I said was bullshit and it was made up fiction,
and he you know, it's his story, so I'm so yes,
I'm sure it was complete fiction. It was the story
in my head from like standing on stage.
Speaker 3: Left right, but yes, it was not the story in
his head. So I will speak for me.
Speaker 6: But remember I started with this podcast right where like
I probably wanted to be Joe Perry long before.
Speaker 3: I wanted to be Dee Ramone. And now it's possible.
Speaker 6: Right now you've played whatever many shows you've played and
how many rehearsals you played, So that's part of it.
Speaker 3: But the other part of it is again still no internet.
Speaker 6: If eighty percent of the Boston CRUI sees black Flag
at the Paradise and then starts writing like black Flag.
Now it happens in like eighty four, Metallica comes to
town and plays the Rat in support of kill them all, right,
like Anthrax comes and plays the Channel, right like all
these like proto all you know, alt metal bands or
whatever we're gonna call them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, like the early thrash and the early thrash.
Speaker 3: And it's the same thing, right if you think that, like.
Speaker 6: Five people left the Channel and formed a band that
sounded like black Flag. Five bands left the Rat after
Metallica and went to Daddy's and bought you know, a
JCM eight hundred US stack and put an ad out
to get a second guitar player, right, Like, it's just
the influences that you hear. And I will say seeing
Metallic alive was every bit is game changing, you know, even.
Speaker 3: If I didn't have those other influences. But the other
thing that people don't know is like, were you.
Speaker 5: At that Rat too? I was that's the when all
their equipment got stolen? Right? Or was that a different
one channel of them?
Speaker 3: I can't remember. I can't remember which one of those things.
Speaker 6: But and then also there's Anthrax's equipment got stolen a
lot of people because they were traveling with a lot
of gear.
Speaker 3: But so I was at those shows, and.
Speaker 6: Like it was as it was as life changing, you know,
you're just sort of like because the other thing people
don't remember is like I remember people your league so old.
Those guys were not making any more money. Like I
bet you in a eighty four Suicidals guarantee was probably
bigger than metallicas right, or like Social D's guarantee was
probably bigger than like metallicas tells other stories about living
on ten dollars day per diems, Like we were living
on ten dollars day per deems.
Speaker 3: We didn't look at Metallic at that point to be
like we're gonna get rich. We just looked at Metallic
and said, like this is fucking badass, you know.
Speaker 6: And so that's where those influences started coming to this combination.
But as I was saying, what I don't think people know.
The Boston crew used to go see Iron Maiden. The
Boston crew used to go see a CDC. The Boston
crew used to go see Van Halen. The Boston crew
would go see the specials. The Boston crew would go
see Bad Brains, Like we were never just like only
going to hardcore shows.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 6: The ridiculousness came later, like when Jamie Strappa and I
ordered matching explore Hamer bases with tremolos, like maybe.
Speaker 5: That far right?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was the next one. When did it get
too far right? Did U? When Boston nott La came out,
did that cause a lot of stir Like did it
did it cause a lot of animosity or did people
kind of take it for you know what I mean?
Speaker 6: I was so young then I didn't know because like
if you remember, my first band, Decadence was on that
and I was probably fourteen when I recorded that, And
I only managed to squeak on that because I think
because I worked at Newbury Comics and they didn't want to,
like they didn't have the heart to tell the fourteen
year old kids standing on the milk right that his
band couldn't.
Speaker 3: Be on it right. I mean the irony of that.
Speaker 6: Is Slam got an MTV sync for like Santa's Secret
Life of a Slam Dancer that ran for fifteen years.
So the weird thing is that song may have earned
more money in publishing, not that I got rich off
it than any song on that record.
Speaker 3: Because of that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah that's Liker.
Speaker 3: It ran for thirty days for fifteen years or something
on MTV.
Speaker 5: That's crazy. How did that happen?
Speaker 4: Like, because well, at that point, MTV was still invested
in music, and it wasn't making like sixteen and Pregnant whatever.
Speaker 3: And that, and at that point MTV was still sort
of punk.
Speaker 5: Rock, Like, yeah, I remember seeing punk rock victors like Crowd,
but I.
Speaker 6: Also been punk rock and how they operated like nobody
called and like, so we want to put it, we
want to put a syncty altogether for this.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they just did it.
Speaker 3: They did it.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, no, but yeah, yeah, it's it's it's been.
It's been a wild ride. Like so what how did
what made you? What was the thing that pulled you
out moving out to West Coast?
Speaker 3: So what pulled me out?
Speaker 6: A slap shot was like after t Uys broke up,
you know, you think about all the awful jobs you
have in your bands and like, they don't they don't
define you because you're always like, I'm a musician. So
after your band breaks up, now they define you right,
and you're going to your Like I was like a
line cook at some forest restaurant and like Fanuel Hall, right,
I was working at not Tower Records, Strawberry Records and
like Downtown crossing, you know, getting in fights with people
trying to steal records. By the way, funny story, So
Strawberries was owned by Morris.
Speaker 3: Levy, who was a made man.
Speaker 6: And because he was made the deal was you got
a two hundred dollars bonus every time you beat up
a shoplifter, which meant a.
Speaker 3: Lot to a struggling musician.
Speaker 6: If you rough them up, you got a cash bonus,
like taking him back. He ended up doing fed time,
But I was that was my greatest memory of working
in Strawberries, Right, It's like cash bonuses for being rough
on shoplifters.
Speaker 4: But so like let's not let's not just skip over that,
like did did uh?
Speaker 5: Did you? Did you? Did that?
Speaker 4: Make?
Speaker 5: Was that a pretty lucrative side hustle?
Speaker 6: No, because I'm small and not that tough. So let's
be really clear, I'm small and not that tough, and
I discovered it by accident the first time, right, Like
you know, somebody made it impossible for me not to
defend myself, and I did. There was a surprise in
my check that week, and I asked why, and so
it gave me a little more greed courage when it happened.
But like I'm not it's a good need for a man,
but I was not that lucrative. But at any rate,
so you are now defined by those jobs. And so
I went back to my parents, and my parents are
really highly educated, and the most hurtful thing I could
ever say to them and rebellious thing, was I'm not
going to college.
Speaker 3: And so of course that's what I said.
Speaker 6: And then I said, hey, you know, in the college thing,
and they were kind enough to put it back on
the table. And then I'm in slap shot and I'm
trying to do school and do slap shot. And then
I transferred to Amherst to finish up. And then to
your point about distances, before everybody lived in every city.
Now I'm a three hour card drive from practice, and
they were trying to do more, and I just couldn't
do two things. And so I finished college, and I
did a short stint in New York, and I started
going to LA because Christine McCarthy had moved to LA
to be an actress. Jamie and Angie Shirappa had moved
to LA. You know, bands that were starting to make
it move to LA, and so I would start going
out to LA to visit them.
Speaker 3: And it was like a pretty good.
Speaker 6: Life, you know, Like Christine was like made at that point,
you know, she was on like nine O two one oh,
and so like the life I would just be surrounded by.
It was not a normal La life. Like I kind
of thought it was normal La life, but I was like, oh,
this is life here, you know, and like weirdly, in
addition to those punk guys, there was an actor John
Enos who ended up in Melrose Place, and I'd known
him from this like hardcore steroid infested bodybuilding gym and
Salem where he used to sell steroids out of the
men's locker room. And then he became a huge model,
a huge male model, and he was like, I think
he's a Salem guy. And he was like dating Christy
Turlington and everybody. He was dating Madonna. He's a Madonna's
sex book. And I'd just known him from the gym.
He was just like, you know, how there is a
gym guy I'd seen him three hundred days a year for.
Speaker 3: Like five years or whatever.
Speaker 6: And I come out to LA and he's minority owner
at this club called the Roxbury at the time when
the Roxsberry was the hottest club in LA. And so
just through dumb luck, I'm like rolling into the Roxbury.
He's dating the porn star Tracy Lords at that point,
and so my life is becoming like if I go
to LA, I'm like in the Roxbury with like Mickey York,
John Enos and Tracy Lords, or I'm like hanging out.
Speaker 3: With Christine and like the cast of nine h two,
And I was like, this is the best.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I.
Speaker 6: Thought everything in LA was like that, And so I
was like I got to move here, and I figured
out how to get the biggest ad agency in the
world to give me a job in their LA office
and that was my That was my start in LA.
Speaker 5: Is that what you went to school for? Advertisements?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 6: The funny thing, so advertising people don't actually like people
that studied advertising.
Speaker 3: They actually people who started liberal arts.
Speaker 6: Their belief is like, if you take a liberal arts degree,
you learn how to think, will teach you how to
do the job. At least that I actually thought I
was going to be a music industry lawyer, Like I
didn't think I was going to go that far from
the you know, the apple wasn't going to fall that
far from the tree. And political science is a big
pre law undergrad thing to major in, but it's also
a big advertising thing that I didn't know. So I
ended up with sort of like the right undergrad degree,
and I still wanted to be creative, and I decided
law school wasn't for me, and so I was able
to get a job at a really big advertising agency
in New York.
Speaker 3: And then you want to talk about sort of punk
rock disruption, disruption, it's the.
Speaker 6: Very beginning of New York advertising, I mean of internet advertising.
And I rate this super arrogant, super rebellious punk rock
letter about how like you.
Speaker 3: Guys don't get this digital thing and this digital thing
is going.
Speaker 6: To be huge and if you don't care, I don't care,
because I'm just going to take your job in your clients,
like I think, literally that's what I And it got
published in like Adweek, right, it's like a letter to
the editor, right, but like I'm throwing the punk rock
attitude into it, and Sachi and Sachi La had been
asked by Toyota, the biggest client, to start an internet division,
and nobody knew anything like you could hire an expert.
Speaker 5: And it was because it wasn't it was just an emergency. Yeah,
you make an expert.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: And so the managing director of the Sachi office saw
this letter and like flew me out for an interview.
And I was looking for a way to like keep
living that La life. And so then I ended up
with this sort of I mean again, like I'm early
in my career. I'm not making like real money, but
like enough money to like have my own apartment, have
a car, like you know, roll with the crew, like
you know I I you know, if I if I
need to go to dinner with the bougie people, like
I can pay for my own dinner.
Speaker 3: And I'm making enough to do that, right.
Speaker 6: Like I'm not a drain on it, Like I'm making
enough of my corporate job then I'm not a drain
on anybody.
Speaker 3: And it was really important to me.
Speaker 6: Like there's so many people who like take take, take,
take take in Hollywood. I think like one of the
reasons I was able to do okay is like I
could carry my weight right, I wasn't asking anybody for anything,
if that makes sense.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: And also everyone I know that moved to LA or
moved out west somewhere out west from East like displays
of work ethic that yes, and also not even not
even in an attitude about things that like they they
appreciate like if the you know what I mean, Like
not everyone appreciates it, but people that are like hiring
employees and appreciate it but.
Speaker 3: Still appreciate it. I mean, you know, I got a
lot of like whoa whoa, whoa, whoa whoa.
Speaker 5: Yeah, pull this back.
Speaker 3: And it's funny.
Speaker 6: Because I've gone back and forth a lot, I get
this weird thing where like if I'm in New York,
Everyone's like, you're so LA, And when I'm in.
Speaker 3: LA, everyone's like, You're so New York. Right, It's like it's.
Speaker 6: Funny, but yes, so and then from I moved back
and forth between New York and LA at least three
times for jobs. I had lived in Singapore for two
and a half years. During COVID, I lived in San
Francisco and somehow I'm back here in LA.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well you're doing That's probably where you're meant to
land right, like maybe for now, yeah, but yeah, man,
I'm looking at the time here, I'm trying to do.
I know, you got to jump on a call. Where
can when? When are you guys dropping the new Duys
stuff or is it is it? Is there a date yet?
Speaker 6: Or is it just I'm just waiting, But like I've
submitted a date to the streaming services. The only gonna
being cagy is I don't want to say the date
and then it doesn't get approved for a day or
two days, but like it'll drop before the end of
the year.
Speaker 3: The other thing we have to talk about because we.
Speaker 6: Haven't been a dude is like you got on my
radar because you were building the sickest bikes and like
we've been going back and forth.
Speaker 3: We've never actually done a bike together.
Speaker 6: But like one of the things we got to commit
to is like, dude, we got to do a bike
together at some point. And when she hears this, we'll
be like, I know we won't And I was like,
I was like, it's gonna end up where we're gonna
build a living room bike.
Speaker 4: It's like, we can build a living room bike that
can easily go outside when it needs to go outside.
Speaker 5: Yeah, like I know we started talking about it. I'm down.
Speaker 4: Whatever, man, just let me know when you are ready
to pull the trigger and we'll we'll.
Speaker 3: You're like a renaissance man.
Speaker 6: When we met, I didn't know about your musical background,
and I just thought you were this like badause bike
builder and I was like, he's a musician, he's a writer.
Speaker 3: Like it's interesting, Like.
Speaker 6: I'm really realizing as they get older, it is like
you're either born with this creative fire or you're not,
and it manifests itself in so many different ways.
Speaker 3: Like you're you're a real builder. I'm a fake builder.
Speaker 6: What I mean by that is like I'm a creative
director of things with engines, right, Like I've creative directed
a lot of things with engines, but I've not like
tork wrenched them and you've like torquereunched them. But like
there's a there's a common thread between like are you
you know the bass player from Bold does cabinry work
and finished work and like the finest collectible houses in
La right, like these crazy mid century modern houses that
people hold as trophies, and it's like the woodwork that
makes them amazing is like done by a hardcore guy right.
Speaker 4: Like, yeah, it seems like I don't know what it
is about people that grew up in the scenes, especially
in the times like you know, early earlier times. And
I'm sure it's still going on. I just don't know
as many of the young kids. But I don't know
what it is. I don't know if it attracts a
certain person with a certain mentality and then that you know,
but everyone seems to do good, you know what I mean,
if they like the people like it's the diy ethic,
I think for once, and then I don't know what else,
but it drives people to just go like do like
I don't know, I can't explain it. And just everyone
I know that does stuff like does you know is
doing well in their areas you know what I mean?
Or like exceeding or excelling you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: It's crazy, Yeah, and they picked creative areas, Like there's
a bunch of old Boston hardcore guys that are like
set builders and set designers in LA right, because that's
what that's how they're applying their creative energy here, you know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's what you know, And even even Jake,
like you know, back from the old Boston everyone thrashing magazine,
but they don't know, you know, dude from Boston, you
know what I mean? Like you know, like like I
love like how like and especially like you know, obviously
you got a hometown pride. I love how like Boston's like,
you know, creeps out across the world, you know what
I mean. And we got our fingers and everything, you know,
and uh yeah, but uh but yeah, dude. And it's
funny because like I used to go to La a
lot and I had friends that like worked in the industries,
you know, the Hollywood industry, And every time I go
out to LA I can see like I was falling victim.
I'm like, I'm moving out here, like every time. It's
just but Nan, It's like the situations you get into
are just crazy. And it's like you come home and everyone's.
Speaker 5: Like what and I'm like, dude, it's and I'm like.
Speaker 4: I'm calling people the early days. I'm like, I'm in
Pam Anderson's bathroom. Don't you know what do I do?
But you know, like.
Speaker 6: Stuff like that, And it's funny, like he's long gone
and you probably don't know him. But like when I
was having bikes built in LA back in the day.
It was a guy from Maldon, this guy Alan Wood
who had this place, wood Cycle, right, and he's.
Speaker 5: Like, I know wood Cycles. I don't know him, but
I know that.
Speaker 3: So he was like building bikes for me, building bikes
for Maddie Sorem, building bikes for the Vogos, right. Like.
Speaker 6: It was like and I was boxing with Freddie Roach,
right like, I'm surrounded by these Boston people out here.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah, but yeah, no, I know, and but
just you know, but just all the funniness, like you said,
like you go to like me at this club and
now these people are around and this is how I'm
rolling around with and it's just like it is what
it is, like, you know, and it's just and I think,
you know, I think we're you know, coming from punk rock,
but also coming from Boston, we're not very starstruck.
Speaker 5: So we just approach him like people.
Speaker 4: So I think those people like glom to us because
we don't give a shit that you know, like I
don't care what you're doing.
Speaker 3: It's funny. I'll tell you a funny story about that.
Speaker 6: So I was at my kids kindergarten orientation like four
years ago. He's in third grade and all these parishing
going around, and I hear Boston accent, like a hard
Boston accent. So I'm looking around, of course, and I
see it coming out of like a black man, which
is not particularly common, especially in La right, And so
I was like, I'm gonna walk over there. And it
turns out we went to ringing Latin together, you know,
like me, yeah, yeah, yeah, And like he owned Sergio Tuccini,
the fashion line, you know, like another Boston guy like
out here, and like who would have thought, like thirty
years later, you know, three thousand miles away, I was
gonna end up kindergarten orientation with.
Speaker 3: Like another hardworking, creative Boston dude.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, we're We're in it.
Speaker 4: We're in it. But yeah, where can people It's going
to be on all the streaming services.
Speaker 6: To be on all the streaming services, all usual Spot,
Usual Spot, all the streaming services.
Speaker 4: And if people want to find out is it is
it just is it just remake of wolf Pack or
is or other?
Speaker 6: Is it now it's just a remake of wolf Pack
around you know, also with all the catalog and you know,
the socials.
Speaker 3: To your point about the algoes.
Speaker 6: The socials will keep people posted about like what's happening
and times of a week, and put together at twenty
twenty six, thank you set a small set of shows.
We can't go crazy because of Dave's health stuff. You
can want to do so many, so many shows in
a row, which I think he's been pretty open about.
Speaker 5: But yeah, and then where can people find?
Speaker 4: What are?
Speaker 6: They?
Speaker 4: Just list out the socials and I'll put it in
the show notes as well so people can find thank you.
Speaker 6: So I'm going to get it wrong, but I think
it's Duys underline. Boston Underline Official is like the IG,
which is like the biggest footprint.
Speaker 5: Okay, oh yep, I mean yeah.
Speaker 4: It just it literally just glitched out right there, just
paused right there. So I was like, all right, well
at least it was right at the end, yea, So
do ys on to go a Boston Official. I'll put
it in the show notes. I'll look it up and
I'm sure I already followed it anyway. And what do
you want to put yours out?
Speaker 3: Or I'm fine you can find me, you can not
find me. I keep capitulating between being public and private.
It's funny but dude, thank you.
Speaker 6: Want to have this conversation with you for a long time.
I'm mad respect for all the things that you do.
Speaker 4: You too, Bud, you too, and uh, you know, and
then when at one of these shows, when you guys
do these, uh, we'll we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll talk further, man,
And if you guys want to come on and we
do it in person, sometimes it's a lot of easier totally,
and then we'll promote that stuff.
Speaker 5: And you know what I mean, the shows and everything.
Speaker 3: All right, thanks dude.
Speaker 5: And now you have another one in the books.
Speaker 4: So if you didn't listen to my ramblings at the beginning, uh,
just make sure we got a new Instagram page, give
us a follow at the Big Truth Podcast. That way
I can separate it out from my personal one. On Facebook,
it's just facebook dot com slash Big Truth Podcast, and
on YouTube YouTube dot com at the Big Truth Podcast.
Thank you for your sport for hanging in all the
way to the end.
Speaker 5: You guys.
Speaker 4: We got we got an M four coming up. We're
recording it. Uh, actually we're recording it. Uh as I
say here, we're recording it Thursday night, So tomorrow's two
nights from now. Just trying to get my liver fortified
before that, and so you can check that one out.
I'm gonna squeak that out before the end of the
s so you get a bonus episode this month Big
Truth podcast dot com.
Speaker 5: Check it out.
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