Greg and Rory catch up and after the holiday season and review their favorite record releases and shows from 2025. The two also discuss high points from the first year of Common Thread Podcast.

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Foreign, If that makes sense.

I know we've.

We've talked about it a little bit, especially in the.

Talking about.

With books in general, is there is this, like, spirit of wanting more connection rather than the passing through of streaming.

You know, basically you're taking like a streaming mentality and like, actually sitting down and having, like, newsletters.

Like some physical.

Even if it's not physical, but there's like a.

Intentional aspect to it.

Yeah.

The physical becomes more real and it's.

I think it leaves a bigger impression on you.

Like the streaming digital stuff, it's just consumed and immediately forgotten.

Yeah.

It's so easy.

Easy.

Like even putting together, like, a best of whatever.

Yeah.

It's like, oh, did that come out this year or did I just find that this year?

You know, like, how far back do we go to, like, find new things?

Yeah, I was thinking about that today.

Honestly, I was thinking, oh, like, so much stuff is out there.

Like, how do we keep up and what part of ourselves want to keep up with the new, but then also just like, let things come to us when we find them.

I struggle with that quite a bit because I. I have, like, terrible fomo.

And with the multitude of choices you have on the Internet for music or movies, it just makes it so hard to, like, zero in on one thing.

Like, I kind of gave up on Stranger Things.

Like, I watched the first three seasons, and now that I see that it's ended, I'm like, oh, shit, I should have.

Should have been keeping up on that.

I mean, maybe I'll go back and watch it, you know, but, you know, you feel a sense of like, oh, geez, I got distracted by something.

Like, what was I watching before?

Reruns of, like, the Simpsons and Star Trek?

Could have been watching a new thing.

Yeah, I mean.

Yeah, it's just.

I thought about that similarly with, I guess, TV and movies.

Yeah.

It's like we have this connection to the movies and TV that we grew up with.

Right.

And so we'll rewatch that and we'll want people to be connected to that.

Yeah.

But then folks that are younger than us, how can we get them excited about a thing that's like, oh, well, you know, like, how far back do we.

Well, and there's like a. I think that just to put a finer point on it, for me, there's like a lack of preciousness with the digital because it's just always there.

You can find it so easily.

Whereas, like, when you're younger, somebody shows you a movie and, like, if it's not available Blockbuster, you're never seeing it again.

You know, same with the record.

I remember buying CDs, like used CDs at record stores for bands like hardcore bands.

Didn't even really like them, but I wanted to have them because I'm like, well, if I ever want this again in the future, I'm never going to find it.

Yeah.

And there's value even to a record you don't even like the music of because you look in the liner notes and it's like, okay, well here's all the bands they thank and here's the bands that influenced them.

I'm going to go check these bands out.

That was like, probably the number one way I found found new music back in the day.

Yeah.

And then, then catalogs of those records.

Like, I remember going to shows and there was, when you buy a record, there was always like a distribution, one sheet of like, these are the records that came out.

But even they just, like the, the distros that were there, shows had a sheet that you could take with you and be like, oh, these are whatever records that are coming out.

Yeah.

And that always gave you, like, there was like, very much label loyalty.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, I think there probably is.

Is there, I don't know.

I don't know if there is as much.

I know there's like the nostalgic aspect.

Yeah.

I think labels nowadays do a better job putting together, like, a consistent sound across the entire label.

Like, the bands are all influenced by, by similar, you know, similar bands, similar sound.

Which is cool because you find, you find your niche and you stick with it.

Which I guess is how you, how you manage the overwhelming amount of information and options that are out there on streaming services.

You just find what you like and stick with it.

But yeah, I don't know.

I, I, I do.

Like, you know, back in the day, you'd have record labels, you know, Revelation or Victory or something.

They would, they would have a pretty eclectic mix of, of sounds and, and this is actually a pretty appropriate segue because we're going to be interviewing someone on Sunday who runs a record label.

And they've got hardcore, but they also have like, metal and ska.

And I really think there's probably other labels that did that too.

But victory with like, catch 22, I mean, hi Fi and the Road Burners, like, those are not bands you would find on, on a lot of record labels with bands like Earth Crisis and, you know, Snap Case today.

Yeah, but I mean, even Revelation did it, right?

Yeah, because, I mean, they had some, they, they transitioned to, I guess what is modern day emo or Midwest.

I don't know, you know, like, you know, they went from that youth crew sound to having, you know, bands like Texas is the reason because they came out of that group.

Right.

So it's like they morphed.

And even Jade Tree, which, you know.

Jade Tree is a good example of an eclectic label.

You know, they had, you know, Turning Point and then they had like, you know, all of Kid Dynamite and Trial by Fire and all these bands and they what they kind of had.

Damnation was Damnation.

Jade Tree.

Didn't they have.

Might have been.

They might have, I don't know.

Was Elliot's the Cathedrals album, was that on Rev?

What label was that on?

Rev.

Okay.

Yeah, boss.

Cathedrals.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

I mean Elliot wasn't one of my favorite bands, but they stand out as like a good example of that era.

Yeah.

Which is why I don't remember the name of the album.

We were just talking about them at Eli Fagan.

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah.

With the Weaker Than.

But yeah, that's really, I mean, I don't know, I just had a really, I was just thinking back, thinking on how I guess getting older and you can't put the weight of all of your experiences onto newer folks that are getting into all of this to keep up and do the history.

Yeah.

You know.

Yeah, I mean I, I get that better with hardcore.

Like just letting somebody have like kind of an off the wall mix of tastes, you know, that don't really, don't really make sense to me.

Like I, I, I'm pretty good at just accepting people as they are for what they like.

And with my own kids I find that challenging.

Like I want certain episodes of TV shows that were like really meaningful to me or movies and I want it to mean the same thing to them, but it doesn't always mean the same thing to them.

Coming from a different place and having different experiences.

What do connect with?

How do I connect with things?

It's a similar intention is what I always fall back to in the music that I connect with the most.

And I look back over the years of like what kind of music I'm into.

As I was like thinking about what I really like, enjoyed that came out this year, I was like, man, this is similar to all the other years.

Just newer bands like pulling from similar influences.

I guess I Don't know.

It's interesting when you're.

For me, when I, like, had to go back and look at what actually came out, because a year is nothing now.

Like, the older you get, man, you know, four years goes by and it's just like, what was that?

It barely felt like anything.

But when you're, you know, when you're 14 and four years goes by, you're like a kid to an adult overnight.

You don't appreciate.

You don't appreciate how quick a year goes by.

But every time, because I've done a couple of these types of episodes now where I look back on the year, usually half my list of stuff I liked are old bands that have either reformed or maybe re.

Released something or, you know, songs they hadn't had out before are now available or they're back together and they're writing new material.

Catharsis and dead Guy.

Do you have either of those on your list?

All right, perfect, Perfect.

This will be a short episode of the same list.

I'm certain you probably don't have the other.

Some of the other bands on that I have on my list.

But Catharsis, especially lyrically, that.

That was a band that was influential to me when I was younger.

You know, I think we talked when we had Tom from Seisha on about how, like, Unbroken really kind of had that tough edge to it, but it also had, like, an emotional awareness that you wouldn't necessarily think you might find in, like, heavier, harder, more aggressive music.

And I think a catharsis is kind of like that.

Catharsis, I think, gets a little bit more political in their stance, which.

Which is what's.

What I was hungry for when I was younger and still resonates.

And then, of course, living through the times that we're in right now.

I mean, holy.

We're recording this, like, a couple days after, you know, that Ice officer shot the woman, you know, and it just.

It's more relevant now than I ever thought it would be.

You know, lyrics from bands like Catharsis.

And then I know they're kind of a.

Affiliated with Catharsis, but Sect is another band that.

That I've been into for a while.

Did they put out a new record this year?

I can't recall.

I couldn't tell.

I know they put out one.

I forget.

Yeah, but we need bands like that, like, right now.

Like, we need more bands like that.

And it's funny because, like, I remember during, like, when Bush was president and that wasn't great, it was not good, it was bad, but it wasn't.

It didn't feel like this.

It feels like, oh, God, this is gonna go on forever.

This is.

There's just gonna be all this conflict and animosity in.

In a lot of our social circles.

And communities, the stripping of resources and all of these things that are just piling on top of each other left and right.

It's devastating to see in real time.

For sure.

Yeah.

Didn't mean to bring the.

Bring the vibe down.

No, no.

But I mean, you think about, like the Reagan era, hardcore punk bands, right?

Yeah.

Like, that's defined by an influential era.

Like, the sentiment of that was pushed by, you know, the presidential landscape.

And we're in a. I don't.

There has to be a reflection because of those times by bands.

Yeah.

And the people in the world that we're living in that.

That want to connect those dots.

And Catharsis has always been that band, you know, like, I mean, I remember when Arsonist Prayer came out, it was like, holy shit.

What?

You know, like a band writing metal, hardcore punk, 8 minute, 12 minute long songs, you know, and it was more than just a message.

It was almost like a spiritual, like, movement.

Yeah.

You know, and the sharing of ideas as well as this, like, connection of community, you know.

I mean, I think both of us connect to a lot of those bands.

I mean, you can.

You can parcel it out to like, you know, Catharsis, Earth Crisis, Trial, you know, like in so many different ways.

These.

These bands are speaking on such, like, a bigger level than.

Yeah, Just My Friend Stabbed Me in the Back kind of.

Yeah, yeah.

Mantras, right?

Yeah.

Undying, I think, fits in that category lyrically for me too.

Where it is.

It is overtly political, it's social commentary.

But there's an acknowledgment, maybe like an implicit acknowledgment that, like, this has an emotional effect and impact on you.

Yeah.

And I feel that more now with, like, politics than I.

Than I ever have.

And I felt it before, you know, pot in positive ways, but usually mostly in negative ways.

And it is, you know, at the end of the day, you can take all the politics out of it.

And the thing that I find the most distressing and unfortunate is like, you got like a handful of people who've set the tone for a lot of the communal life that we're having.

A lot of the Conflicts in the community seem to stem from the rhetoric and, and the attitudes of, you know, the leaders at the, like, federal level.

And it's, you know, like a white straight guy.

I'm not oppressed in the same way that, you know, like a woman who can't get an abortion now or get certain kinds of birth control or contraceptives or an immigrant or a person of a, you know, a different race.

But it is, you know, you do feel a sense of oppression with.

You.

Know, just the way that all of these sensitive matters are just dismissed so callously.

You know, you see the pain in the.

In the, in the lives of the people around you and I.

And I think that bands like Catharsis and Undying, that is somehow reflected in the music or in the lyrics as opposed to, like, you know, like the Dead Kennedys where it's.

It's political.

They're singing about a lot of the same types of stuff, but it's more matter of fact and like, policy based.

Then this is how the politics of the day affect my interpersonal relationships and me on a deeper, personal, emotional level.

That's a really interesting.

I mean, I. I absolutely agree.

It's almost like the concept of change is.

Dead Kennedys were, like, pointing out a problem and yelling about that problem.

And, you know, a band like Catharsis was maybe taking more of a emotional connection to that, you know, problem and making it on that personal level, which I think is important and also matters a lot in all of our journeys of, like, growing and figuring out who we are and how we can connect those dots and pieces.

And I think that's a really cool way to cascade and be a complete human, you know, living in this, like, messed up world that we are, you know.

Yeah.

Like, finding that little bit of beauty throughout the chaotic world that a lot of us are struggling through.

Well, in the silver lining for me is it's.

It's forced me.

It's obliterated my comfort zone.

There's no comfort zone left.

It's forced me to be vulnerable with people.

It's forced me to give back to my relationships and my community because I need to take support from it.

Yeah.

At times, you know, even this podcast, you know, if.

If we were living in perfectly fine times where everybody's making more than enough money and we can all afford extra things and, you know, do I need to reach out to have conversations like the one we're having and the ones we've had so many times?

I don't know that I have that same need yeah.

So you know, that's a reiterated point.

But that's.

That's, I think what Catharsis and an undying, you know, and bands.

Bands of that ilk kind of get at.

Yeah.

I mean, another band similarly to them that I have on my list and I could be not saying the band correctly, but Habakk, I don't know if you're familiar with.

No.

Sound wise.

They almost kind of like create like the same.

What drew me in is like the same like moment that Catharsis does.

They have these like almost like metallic opuses.

Yeah.

Like rooted in hardcore and punk and like these like beautiful like kind of like scapey creations of music but then like obliterating, like heavy, like doominess to them and they wrap it up into like visually it's like a really cool.

Yeah.

Kind of thing.

But you know, I would encourage anyone to check them out.

They're from Mexico, I think.

I don't have all the information, but the record is called Mil or Cuetos and Medio del Desierto.

I think Happy to be wrong, but that record came out and it's really good.

They have a bunch of other stuff out too.

Yeah.

So I think I've seen them tour like Southern California.

So I think they're from around Mexico City maybe.

Yeah.

But band is really cool.

It's almost like that catharsis energy.

So if you're into that Catharsis record, it definitely hits that.

Yeah, I've checked out some bands from.

From.

From Mexico, which was like a country I never really had a strong association with hardcore, you know, years ago.

Indonesia is another country that lately they've been putting out a lot of, you know, producing a lot of hardcore bands.

And it's really wild to see, you know, people from a different culture living in a differently.

Radically different environment.

Yeah.

Different way of life.

Sometimes, you know, it's apparent that people are, you know, dealing with much greater poverty than we see on a regular basis here.

And yet still the music fits.

Like they could come here and play a show in Rochester or wherever and.

And it would go down well.

People would like it.

And the vibe and the atmosphere at the shows, you know, look every bit like you'd expect to find in a show around here.

It just, it's.

I don't know, illustrates to me that there's something deeper about humanity.

That we all have some need, that we all have some unresolved conflict that hardcore soothes or, or, or intersects with in some.

In some way, regardless of where you're from.

And what you're born and what your, you know, culture of origin and religion are.

It's.

It's pretty wild.

So I guess another.

I'm curious if this one's on your list also, because this one might be up your alley, but the.

The new end it Wrong side of Heaven.

I enjoy it and I like it.

It's not on my list, so.

Okay.

Thank you for bringing it up.

Good.

Yeah, we got it.

And I know they're kind of like, they're one of the bigger bands and they certainly deserve the success that they're having.

I haven't seen them live, but their live shows look so fun.

And Nate Golia has seen them a couple times in the last year, and they all seem super humble.

Like, they're all older dudes and they're all like, oh, wow, I can't believe this is finally happening for me in a way where.

Where it sounds like they're very appreciative and grateful of the success that they have.

Yeah, the record's awesome.

Pat Martin, who plays bass, you know, he has a Rochester connection.

He played in that band game.

Winner.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

There was that connection.

Yeah.

Many other bands and Rad.

Rad guy and so super psyched for them.

Yeah.

And it's funny.

And I don't know if you made this connection, but there's a song on there.

I forget the name of the song, but it reminded me of, like.

And some people can take.

Will take this as a compliment.

Some people won't.

Or hear it as a compliment.

And some people won't.

There's a song on there that reminds me of Michael Graves era Misfits.

Oh, really?

And other people, like.

Oh, it's like a pop punk song or whatever.

It's like the most melodical one.

Yeah.

I think another one.

I don't remember the title, but I think it's great.

Yeah.

I. Michael Graves era Misfits are a guilty pleasure.

Like, his politics are problematic.

And of course, you know, it's.

It is a different band than the Dancing Misfits.

It totally sounds different.

Like it's the same guys, same logo and everything, but it's a different band.

But it's.

It was fun for what it.

What it was.

And he's not a bad singer.

No.

You know, and if.

And you can make it work.

Yeah.

I think that this track that stands out for me on.

On the Wrong side of Heaven is Pale Horse.

And the reason I like that is.

Is totally selfish and exclusive to drumming.

It's got the fast hardcore.

You Know it's fast hardcore.

You can't deny that.

But they pepper in the double bass, and I'm like, all right, perfect, Perfect.

That's what you need in the breakdown.

You have two feet.

Use them both.

I know that there's, like, purists who don't like the double bass in.

In a fast hardcore song, but I don't know.

To me, not doing a roll on the bass drum is.

Is, you know, like, I don't know that you would listen to a kind of music where they're just like, well, we're never gonna do a roll on any other drum.

And it's so heavy.

And it indicates this is.

This is the time to let it all out.

So love that there's a double bass in.

In a fast hardcore band.

No, that's great.

No, I. Yeah.

I mean, if you're listening to this podcast, you probably already are clued into that band and have listened to that record.

If you haven't, check it out.

Good, honest hardcore punk band, which is.

And it's cool.

They played Blink 182, which is crazy.

I know.

Just crazy.

I know.

Cool.

I mean, but I think it speaks to their authenticity.

Yeah.

Right.

And.

And people crave that.

Yeah.

And the folks that really see it are, like, connect with it.

And that's amazing.

Drain.

Did Drain play with Blink on a couple dates or something.

That seems like maybe I'm imagining that.

I know Drug Church did.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That maybe that's the band I'm confusing them with.

But it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

They also.

One cool thing that they did.

But they had that band, like, they parody.

They parodied that viral video that's like, what the.

What the.

Up Denny's.

You know, the hardcore band playing in Denny's.

Okay.

You know, have you.

You seen that clip?

I've seen a band playing in Denny's.

Okay.

In real life or not in real.

Life, surprisingly, there's a viral clip of.

Like, and it got taken out of context, and people who are not into hardcore probably sort of like, what the.

Is this?

Yeah.

You know, just.

But the.

The hardcore band, you know, the pit call.

What the Up Denny's.

Show me what you got.

And then Blink, like, that was like.

I don't know.

It's like 10 or 15 years ago that video originated.

And they.

I guess that band is still around because when they blew through Texas, I think where the band was from, they had that band open for them because they copied that video for their music video for one of their.

Their songs off their albums.

And people were kind of like, this is kind of lame.

They're, like, ripping off this tiny band that no one's ever heard of that, you know, like, probably never did anything more than regional shows.

But then I guess they made it up to them.

So that was super cool for them for keeping it real.

I'll forgive the Kardashian stuff for Blink 182.

They keep doing.

You know, they keep doing stuff like that.

All right, so another band that I had, and I wanted to get your take on this.

I've never discussed this band with you, but they're from a city that I know you have a lot of personal connections with, which is Louisville in the Kentucky area.

So two Witnesses.

I'm not familiar with them.

It's like kind of beat down.

Maybe beat down adjacent.

Total gym bro music.

You know, like, that's.

That's.

That's the vibe I'm going for when I put it on.

I'm not trying to lift and.

Yeah, I'm not trying to contemplate my problems and come out with a, you know, a nuanced perspective on some.

Some problem I have that I can't change or resolve right away.

This is just, you know, like, pure obliteration music.

They have an EP that they put out last year.

You know, definitely would appeal to anyone that likes the.

The heavier variety, the.

You know, the Pure Blisses and the Missing Links.

So I'm surprised.

I wasn't sure if they.

They seem.

They seem like they're probably adjacent to a lot of the bands that come from that region that had an affinity with Rochester, but maybe not necessarily always playing the same shows together because it is like two slightly different varieties of hardcore.

I would, you know.

Do they have two singers?

I think they do.

Okay.

So maybe in passing.

I've heard them, but I. I'm not.

Not to stay up.

That's definitely not my lane.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Of music.

It's not even really my lane.

I mean, it's a guilty pleasure lane, but not, you know, not the primary thing I go for.

Yeah, it's.

I like obliteration music.

Yeah.

Totally understand what you mean.

Sometimes you just need to, like, have something that's just like, this is what it is.

Yeah.

And I don't need anything else from this.

And this is what I'm here for.

Yeah.

They have weird, clean singing parts every once in a while too, to kind of bring it back to Michael Graves, which does change it up a little bit.

I don't know how that goes over live or if they do that live.

But I mean, if they have two singers that could.

Yeah, yeah, definitely work.

Maybe they have someone else, you know, that's also a good singer.

Yeah, I'm not familiar.

I'll have to.

I'll have to check it out now to see if it.

Yeah, they have an EP that I think I like a little bit better.

You know, it's.

It is what it is, is what it is.

So speaking of Louisville, I have a Louisville band on my list, which is Young Widows.

Okay.

Put out a new record this past year called Power Sucker.

If you like Young Widows, you'll like it.

I think it's a little bit more.

I would say it's got lungfish vibes from like dc, like really artistic, weird heavy parts, leanings.

And I dig that kind of stuff.

So if folks are into.

Into that, it's still got heaviness to it.

Yeah.

And it's rhythmically really neat.

I think, just the way those song structures, they seem simple, but there's something about them that's moody and catchy and artistically, like, hits a spot for me.

Yeah.

That I enjoy.

But that's the other side of that Louisville world.

Right.

Like.

Like we have.

You have like the.

I guess probably like the Knocked Loose era.

Yeah.

And before that was, you know, the Coliseums and the Breather Resists and that era.

And then before that was like the.

By the Grace of Gods.

Yeah.

End points and stuff.

Yeah.

It's an interesting city because like you would, you would not, you.

You would not expect, you know, a place like that maybe to have such a thriving, long lasting scene.

But.

But there it is.

Yeah.

And I, you know, probably, you know, speaking not for them, but from an outside perspective, it's waves like all of us, you know, like.

But although I, you know, from what I understand, like, Endpoint was one of the biggest hardcore bands of that era.

They were just in Louisville instead of on the east coast or west coast.

You know, they would play like all those big shows in that or tour bands would tour to Louisville to play with them and have those big shows.

From what I would have heard stories about anyway.

And that Endpoint era too is like kind of an interesting one because that was like post all the youth crew craze and then like, you know, integrity and Earth Crisis and Raid were kind of all doing their thing, but it hadn't really broken, you know, in a big way.

And you, like, look back on what the actual output in hardcore was of that era, it, like, kind of dips, you know, in the early 90s, before the.

You know, the mid-90s, metal core takes off.

And it.

It.

To me, like, I remember, I read, I don't know, a zine somewhere where.

Where folks who are into hardcore were like, oh, maybe this is it.

Maybe, like, hardcore is just this blip on the radar that only lasts, like, you know, 10 years or something.

But, yeah, I'm.

I'm.

Yeah, I like Endpoint.

Like, I like Turning Point 2 is another band.

Roughly, that era, Four Walls Falling Kind of comes in a little bit later.

I think I'm probably getting the chronology.

All these bands.

Well, Outspoken, like, you had those, like, bands tinkering with more melody.

Right.

You had that, like, influence, and then you, you know, almost like.

I guess you had, like, Underdog, and then you had, like, the later era, you had these bands tinkering with, like, rock.

Yeah.

Like, these movements that were different than just, like, outside of, like, hardcore.

Like, you had.

The musicianship was, like, forming in some.

Some capacity, at least from my perspective.

Yeah.

You know, I'm sure there's.

There's bands still doing it now.

Right.

Yeah.

Well, to bring it back to, like, Texas Is the Reasoning and Quicksand, that was kind of like the era, too, where a lot of the, like, guys that were involved with Gorilla Biscuits and Youth in Today started, like, stepping away and getting more experimental and getting more, you know, influences from, like, college rock bands.

You get, like, some of the Shelter albums of that era, too, are, you know, much more experimental and less.

Less just straightforward hardcore.

Yeah.

I have two others.

It's a. I had five, but then I had an honorable mention.

But my.

My fifth one is a local band, which is Heard no More.

Nate and I were discussing Heard no More.

We.

We World Purge recently played with them.

And that, like, checks all the.

Right.

Like, Heard no More, checks all the boxes for me.

It's got the fast parts, it's got heaviness.

It's not so heavy that it's just straight up, deep down, there's nuance to it.

There's new.

There's, you know, a variety of different vocal styles going on in there.

Skyler's vocals are so good.

Yeah.

So good.

Like, in that band, they're just.

They just sound so crisp.

Well, it's different, you know, it's different than like, who decides too, like for a totally different thing.

And it and it and it and it and it shows some, you know, just how versatile, you know, a vocalist can be.

And he in particular can be in hardcore because you get some of the, you know, they're not like hip hop parts, but, you know, you get.

You get the parts where, yeah, there's more of a groove to it.

And that was something when I was younger, I did not want.

I think I had like this aversion to new metal, you know, in like the 90s.

And I'm like, I don't want this showing up in my music.

But now I'm like, you know, I'm much more open to it.

And I'm like, okay, I can.

I can get down with this.

You know, it, you know, so it fits, it works, it's great.

A lot of fun.

Same with, Same with End it too.

Like, they've got some of the Burn style vocal patterns, which I don't know if, if.

If Burn was the first band to really do that.

And then orange 9 millimeter really, really played into it.

But no, it's definitely a good thing to draw upon in hardcore to bring in every once in a while.

Yeah, I mean, I think they're great.

It's exciting to see that rhythm.

Yeah.

You know, groove is rhythm, but like, at the same time, like, there's.

There's a play on that that doesn't always have to be a breakdown.

It can be something else.

Right.

And they can play off of each other.

But that demo is great for me.

I have.

Speaking of groove, I'm gonna recommend a record by a band called Method of Doubt.

Okay.

It's an EP that came out.

It's called Total Soul Ignition.

And this record for me reminds me of like, Rites of Spring Energy, but mixed with like a hardcore band.

Like, it has these like, ghee singing moments in it and it's like, emotionally driven.

It feels like connected to me.

But it has like these musical elements of like DC Hardcore as well.

Like maybe Dagnasty.

Like, has that melodicness to it, has groove to it.

And it.

I think it's just really done well and it's just a fun listen for anyone looking to like, just have that emotional connection, I think, to a record.

Yeah, there's something special about it.

So then my honorable mention goes to a compilation, which I felt like.

It comes from within Envision Statement of Pride are the two bands on that that really mean a lot to me.

Envision, I think, is probably my favorite.

One of my favorite bands, you know, that.

That started within, I don't know, probably the last 10 years.

Maybe they're 10 years old at this point now.

And I know I've spoken to how much I like them before, but they got the definite shy Hulud influence, the Van Halen, Randy Rhodes kind of guitar tone influence in there.

And then the lyrics touch upon, you know, the Eastern religions, Eastern philosophies every once in a while.

So excellent.

Two excellent Envision songs and a couple excellent Statement of Pride songs.

And really, all the songs on that Copper are fantastic.

Florida, really?

They have, like, a cool thing going on down there right now.

They seem like they got some cool bands going on in, like, central Florida and South Florida.

Florida is big.

Like, I just remember touring and getting to Miami was so tough.

It's out there because it's so south.

Yeah.

And, like, you had to make, like, a really concerted effort to do it because it's.

Yeah.

Getting from Atlanta to Miami was just like, what are we doing?

Why are we doing this?

My sister lived in Miami for a while.

I've been to so many cities in Florida.

I don't even like Florida, but, like, basically every city.

Jacksonville, Miami, Key West, Pensacola, Orlando.

Like, I guess it's the sun, but, man, it's out there.

It's like a weird little.

I mean, it's a big city, obviously.

It's a weird little isolated community where it's like, you want to go something other than Miami?

You're driving, buddy.

Yeah.

No, it's.

It was crazy.

It's crazy.

That statement in Pride Band is cool.

I haven't checked out this comp, but I'll have to look it up.

Yeah, check it out.

Check it out.

And when it ends, the comp ends on an Envision song.

And then if you're listening to it on your phone, which everyone does.

Yeah.

It loops right back to the beginning of the Statement of Pride song.

And it sounds like they put those two songs together.

It just flows so perfectly.

Like, it was a perfect transition.

Yeah, it probably wasn't, because they would have put them right next to each other on the comp instead of one at the beginning and one at the end.

So another band that stems from kind of the same cloth as Method of Doubt, different band, but just energy wise is a band called Mil Spec.

Okay.

Which has zero, like, social media presence, which I appreciate.

Yeah.

I almost put.

I almost put Them down.

Put them down too.

I think they're great.

The records are melodic and people could maybe.

Maybe like, push them more of into, like, this rock element.

But I think they're just like a melodic hardcore band that's a generic description pulling from that DC energy, being creative with melody, three guitar players, which is insane.

But I really enjoy them.

I think they're great.

The last.

The time I went to go see them in Syracuse, one of their members got popped in the nose before they played, and they didn't end up playing the show, which is a bummer, but what can you do?

You know, they were.

They were looking out for each other, but they're great if.

I mean, I think they're on Locking out records.

I think put out their stuff and they.

They just.

They're artistic and putting out really creative, like, punk hardcore music, which I appreciate.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And they're, like, kind of given a shot in the arm to Locking out too.

Yeah.

Because that was like, the Hype label, however many years ago.

Yeah.

I feel like they're almost like, on that, like, side of things where, like, they don't even promote or put themselves out there a ton.

And, yeah, they probably release stuff more than we realize.

I forget why I associate these two things, but Locking out and Grillo's Pickles.

No, yeah, I know.

It's a thing.

I can't remember why, but I know Grillo's is, like, owned by a dude who goes to shows and, like, you know, helps bands out and stuff.

I think it's similarly to.

From what I remember how Bridge 9 got started.

You know, Grillo's did the, like.

Like, on the street, we're doing, like, a food cart kind of thing and, like, had that element of, like, DIY thing.

And I.

It wouldn't surprise me if some of the Locking out folks worked for Grillos and, like, vice versa.

They were just part of that same crew of, like, hey, we're gonna just grind it out, figure these things out and work, play.

Well, do I vaguely remember, like, a Lockin out shirt with that logo with pickles?

That definitely strikes in my head.

I think.

I think that.

I think that was the thing.

And it's wild now seeing Grillos at Wegmans.

I know, I know.

Crazy.

I love the.

I like the hot ones with the jalapenos in it.

The Crispies, man, they're.

They're crisp.

It's good stuff.

Lots of sodium.

Shout out to Grillos.

Another record I have on my list, too.

I feel like you would be into this record, if you haven't checked it out yet, is a step by step.

Okay.

It's.

It's a. Indecision Records put it out.

It's called New Worldview.

It has, like, count me Out.

Okay.

Vibes to it.

So it has that, like, energy, but it's updated.

Yeah, it just feels, like, refreshing and new and just has, like, a good energy to it.

I think I've seen them on, like, flyers on social media and stuff, but I haven't checked them out.

I'll have to check them out because Count Me out was.

Was a.

Was a.

That was an important band when I was younger.

Also great that Indecision is still around.

They kind of, like, went through a lull.

Yeah.

For a period.

And it seems like they're back now promoting stuff in California.

Dude.

I feel like I've been following them more and have been, like, into a lot of the bands that they put in, putting out.

Like, they just released a single from a new band called Chopping Block, which I'm looking forward to that record coming out.

But, yeah, this record is cool.

I think if.

If you, like, Count Me out or any kind of, like, exciting, energetic, straightforward hardcore, you're gonna be interested in this record and it artistically, like, how they.

The COVID of the record is really cool.

It's just, like, kind of wild and goofy, but also, like, not.

Not goofy, but, like, just not derivative.

Yeah.

I guess is a better way of putting it.

Yeah, it's.

It's more just, like, kind of fun, but good fun.

I don't know.

I dig it.

All right.

That's on my list.

It's.

What?

I had a couple shows that I wanted to talk about.

You got shows?

You've been.

I didn't have any shows, but I do have a couple more bands.

I just want to shout.

Let's do it.

Let's do it.

I don't watch things along.

There's another ind.

Was it Indecision Records?

I have to.

Hold on.

Let me check.

I think it is.

Yeah.

Yes.

Fading Signal.

Okay.

Is another band.

Carolina Band, I think.

But they're.

They have that, like, energy of newer hardcore bands.

I feel like they have some of that double bass that you're looking for.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Another record that came out this year is a split record, Dry Socket Valencia Split.

Okay.

Record.

Yeah.

Dry Socket is just pummeling.

Yeah, I checked that out fast.

I checked that out, too.

Borderline power violency.

Yeah.

Just, like, intense.

I really enjoyed that.

Those are.

Those are the records I had on my list.

The dry second one.

Where are they from?

Are they from Portland?

Portland.

That's why.

Because I make me think of a Destiny Bond, which is another band that put out an album last year that was pretty good.

That.

That kind of stands out to me.

Didn't.

Didn't necessarily make.

Make the list that I wrote down with pen on paper, but, you know, I'll give them a shout out too, because that was.

That was important's.

Got a cool scene, too.

Yeah, they've got.

They've got, like, a lot of cool stuff going on in the Pacific Northwest right now.

Yeah.

Shows, you know, it didn't go to any huge shows.

I guess the Haywire show was probably the biggest one.

And that.

That delivered, like, the footage of their live set always looks so bonkers, you know, playing, like, random, like a bridge in Brooklyn or something.

Yeah.

You know, speaking of playing Denny's Bridge in Brooklyn, automotive shops.

I've seen pop up, like, just like.

Yeah, yeah.

There's that Buried Alive show that was like, in a corporate boardroom.

And like, that was like.

That was like, right after the pandemic.

Oh, really?

I didn't go to it.

I almost went to it.

And I wish I had because it just.

Oh, I remember.

I didn't know.

I didn't know where it was, but, yeah, I remember seeing videos of that.

It looks like it was just like in some corporate boardroom in an office part that is, you know, only has like a third of the.

The units leased or something.

But yeah, they delivered.

They delivered.

That was.

That was.

That was a wild, fun show.

I would definitely recommend people checking them out live because the videos don't even really do it justice.

And the videos are big, you know, blow you away.

I feel like having someone capture those elements for, like, bands that are touring so much.

Yeah.

Is just almost as important.

Yeah.

Of a member of a team.

Yeah.

And when.

And when they came to Rochester, they, like, after the show, they had, like, this video edited together.

There's probably an app that'll do it.

But of, like, all the stuff that they were.

Not just footage of the show, but the stuff they went to in Rochester.

Oh, cool.

And it was like kind of a cool little just slice of life of what their tour was like on that particular day.

Stuff like that is really cool also, you know, they.

They're pretty upfront just about, like, mental illness, addiction, you know, the.

The.

The vocalist's own struggles with those things.

And I just love it when people put that out there, you know, because to some extent, we're all going through that, you know, whether we, we verbalize it or not, or whether we think it affects us or not.

You know, we all have delusions about our own life and, and how we're being received and what our effect on things is.

And it's just so helpful.

It creates an environment where, you know, like, I and other people feel comfortable speaking about, you know, their own struggle in life and their own personal history.

So I like that they're upfront about that too.

I also like that, like, you know, his like, recovery isn't perfect because, like, sometimes I meet people and it's like, oh, I decided to give up alcohol and I gave it up on day one and I never went back.

And it's like, well, not everybody has like such a clean trajectory to a healthy life.

You know, he talks about how he's like relapsed and stuff.

And that, I think, makes it easier for other people to pick up after, like they have a slip up and kind of get back headed in the right direction when other people acknowledge that too.

And I do think there's like a reluctance to, you know, sometimes acknowledge stuff like that just because it's, it's unflattering and embarrassing at times.

Well, and not for nothing, there needs to be a space where folks are allowed to make mistakes in ways that aren't damning all the time or ending your.

Whatever it is, your friendships or your career or your.

Yeah, yeah, we want to be accountable to ourselves, but in order for us to be accountable, sometimes you're.

You have to be allowed to make mistakes.

Yeah.

And know that you can move forward in a capacity of.

And that's it.

That's a huge thing for me because over the last 10 years, you know, I've really tried to become more accepting of imperfections in others when other people make mistakes or let me down.

Not to judge them or completely write them off.

Because I think I had a problem doing that when I was younger.

But in doing that, in accepting imperfection in others, I'm building a skill set where I can then accept imperfection in myself.

Because ultimately that's what it was about.

My aversion to other people's imperfection is because I don't want to acknowledge my own.

Yeah.

You know, and so when I do experience imperfection in myself, when I do something selfish or, you know, inconsiderate, even if I don't know it at the time, when I become aware of it, you know, the older version of me would want to find a way to blame someone else.

For that.

Yeah.

Instead of just saying, like, I didn't know.

I just didn't know I was being received that way.

Now that I know I can do something about it and move on, or, you know what, I was being selfish and just acknowledge, you know, the.

The mistake that you made in the.

Moment, I think that's huge for me, like, you know, in the now, in being even in a leadership position.

I give so much to others.

Yeah.

In space for others, But I don't necessarily see that in myself.

Yes.

And sometimes I give a little bit too much and even don't give that back to the fan, my family.

Oh, me too.

Me too.

You know, so.

And, you know, my wife and I, like, had this conversation this week, and it was like, you know, I do give so much to my team, and then at home, sometimes I'm on edge and it sucks.

That's Me too.

That is me too.

At home.

And it's.

And it's hard because the person you want to be the best for are your kids.

Yeah.

You know, you don't want to give them the short end of the stick ever.

But just the sheer amount of time you spend with your family, it's going to happen, you know, because you're a human, too.

And I like that you mentioned, you know, being in a leadership role at work when I started, and this was 13 years for me as a library director.

And sometimes it feels like it's only been four or five, and other times it feels like it's been 30.

But for me, you know, when I started, I thought people want a boss who doesn't make them, doesn't make mistakes.

They're on top of their.

They know what to do.

They got a solution for every problem.

And I tried that, and maybe sometimes I succeeded, but I probably wasn't as successful as I'd like to think I was.

And now I'm of the perspective, people don't want a perfect boss.

They want a boss.

They want a supervisor that acknowledges their mistakes and changes based on that acknowledgement.

And so sometimes I get self conscious.

Like, I will acknowledge, like, I made a mistake or I was on I judged you unfairly or I had a bad attitude about this thing you were proposing.

But when I thought about it, you know, I saw it from a different perspective.

And now I think I see the value, and I think it's something we should pursue.

I think people want that more than they want someone who's just perfect straight out of the box, because I don't think that actually exists.

No, I 100% agree.

100% agree.

Yeah.

But I was.

I was just having a conversation today.

This is, like, a day off for me.

So I was, like, had a therapy appointment, but I was talking about how, like, a lot of work I've done in therapy has been around shame.

Yeah.

Like, feeling like I'm not good enough, feeling like I did something wrong or made a mistake or didn't do something I should have done, and then beating myself up over it and, you know, kind of withdrawing.

Like, that's been a huge problem for me in my life.

So my goal now is to be more patient.

And what you said about, you know, you give it all at work, and then you come home and you're on edge or you're burnt out because you had to, like, wear the mask of, you know, like, you're gonna come to me with problems all day or.

And I've got to just receive them without, like, revealing to you.

It's funny you say that.

My wife.

For the new year, it was the first year that the kids made it to midnight okay, which was pretty neat.

Yeah.

And so.

But we all toasted.

We did, like, a.

Like, it was a sparkling cider toast.

Yeah.

Kids hated it, which is hilarious.

But they wanted to try, you know, something.

Yeah.

And my wife's was fun, which is, like, hilarious, which is great.

Yeah.

And, you know, mine was just, like, kindness and health, and it seems, like, simple and all these things, but it's like you just said, it's, like, so hard sometimes to be kind to yourself and your family when you're receiving a lot of other things from other people and you're trying to, like, work through that.

And then you.

The people closest to you.

It's almost like your young kids, they act big and have big feelings because they know that you're.

They're comforted and cared for, safe person.

You kind of do that, too.

You don't necessarily realize it all the time.

Yeah.

It's a good perspective because, you know, I need a safe space, too, where I can have my big emotions or I can be sloppy in figuring out how it is that I actually feel about something.

Yeah.

So, I mean, I think that's the kindness that I'm trying to lean into for myself.

You know, it's like, it's okay to have those emotions, but also you have to come back to that and give yourself some kindness and your family some kindness to grow with that, too.

Yeah.

I've never been, like, a super, like, driven New Year.

These are my goals kind of person, but I do like to have goals, you know, to, like, achieve and at least try to, like, have for myself to move myself forward in some capacity.

My perpetual goal is always, like, find the healthy routine and then sustain that routine.

Even when I'm bored, even when I feel like I don't need this anymore.

My routine is always thrown off by everything else.

I fantasize about one of those jobs where you're, like, working from home, just dumping numbers into an Excel spreadsheet all day, and then doing whatever you do, not having to interact with all other people.

But I think I would get so bored.

I think I would get lonely.

I would be so bored.

I am not.

I could not be an office person.

Like, I can't.

Like, I. I thrive on the connection of others.

I've noticed that about myself and realize that about myself.

It's like, I need that to continue that.

Yeah.

To drive myself well in a fair.

Amount of my job is.

Is office work and spreadsheets and tracking finances and statistics and stuff.

I'm sure it's probably similar somewhat for you with.

With Ugly Ducks, but the place where I really excel is building the connections between organizations in the community and the library.

My work life.

You know, that was a real high point for me.

Carl's involvement with the unraveling, having him, you know, at the library reading from the book.

You know, I could tell that the guys, the authors from the book, were really happy with how that event rolled out, and it showed me I can do.

We can do more stuff like that in the library realm, and that there.

There is potentially an audience for that.

And I'm so glad that coming down got to be a Part of that too, that like, it was awesome for a band to play in a hardcore band to play in a library.

That would be the first band I wanted, you know, kick the door in with.

But the vibe, the fact that that was a success showed me that that was viable.

And so in April at the library, we're having a fundraiser for the library.

And we're gonna have my brother and my sister in law who are in Milo set it up.

It's modeled after an event that they had at the Bug Jar with Flower Kitty and their band and some other bands and then vintage vendors, vendors who make, you know, customers custom arts and crafts.

So we're gonna have an event that's very similar to that.

I don't know if we're gonna market it as like emo night at the library, but we're gonna have Cut Me Up, Jenny, do some covers, Milo's gonna play.

We wanted to get Flower Kitty to play, but they weren't available.

But we're gonna probably get a couple other bands.

You know, we'll have like slices of pizza and drinks for sale and then low door price, pay what you can just to see if that works.

But I would love for, you know, us to occasionally be able to do something like that with, with local bands and then also in the process, maybe give a foot in the door to a younger band, a high school band or early, you know, college band.

Absolutely.

You know, because there's, there's, there needs to be there needs.

Like that is.

The library is like the ultimate accessible venue.

You know, we have some decent venues in Rochester.

I know in the past we had problems with not having, you know, great all ages venues, but it seems like we've got a bunch now.

But there needs to be a capacity too where, you know, speaking as parents, like feeling comfortable to like drop your kid off.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, like.

Oh, the library.

Yeah.

Like nothing's gonna go wrong at the library.

Yeah.

You know, but I mean like, like to take it back to the teen center at Fairport.

Oh, yeah.

You know, like it's, it's a safe place.

Yes.

There's like sanctions, chaos, and whatever happens will happen.

But you know, nothing, nothing too bad.

Yeah.

Is gonna happen.

And a library is like similar to that.

Absolutely.

And I, I think of the teen center from time to time.

You know, like if I could replicate that, like it doesn't seem like there's as many young people in high school doing bands right now.

I think they're like, they have other options.

They got streaming services, they Got video games where you can play with your friends all over the country in the world.

But I think about that from time to time where, if I could, like, if the environment was right, if the circumstances were right, I would love to turn that into, like an option, you know, for a venue for, like high school bands that want to book their own show.

And I was.

I was kind of almost disparaging my parents earlier for their lack of patience, but I definitely need to give them credit for driving me to St. Joe's which was not as nice.

Like, I'm looking back, I'm stunned.

I'm stunned.

My parents were like, fine with that.

It was never an issue.

It was never an issue.

So I can gripe that they, like, didn't let me wear certain clothes or watch certain movies, but they like where it counted most.

They delivered.

And that was.

That was dropping me off at St. Joe's at, you know, 8 o' clock on a dark December January night to see Stan Fest play.

It's so crazy.

I mean, it's.

And it's still there.

I know.

That's the thing.

Yeah, that's wild.

I think there's a beauty in those rooms that we were allowed to be in.

You know, the audacity that we just asked, hey, can we do this here?

And they allowed it to happen and figured it out in some capacity.

No rule book.

You know, I just.

Just pretty amazing.

I mean, I don't know, you know, bands like the Hope Conspiracy playing there.

I know, I know.

You know, majority rule and, you know.

I think the biggest band that played there was Against Me.

Did they play there?

Yeah, I think they played there.

I have an Against Me tape that I got there and I think I saw them.

I know they played.

They played in Josh's basement, but I don't know if they played St. Joe.

Maybe they're confusing it with another folk punk band.

Were.

Because at that point they were just like the acoustic guitar and.

And a drum.

Like not even a whole drum set or something.

Yeah, they could have.

I could be wrong.

It's.

I'm old and my memories are faded, which is actually kind of liberating, you know, like.

I don't know.

Peace with the past.

A lot easier if you don't remember it exactly how it happens.

I remember the Halloween shows were fun.

Yeah, that happened there.

There was.

I mean.

Yeah, that was like such a really special place I think for allowing us to have shows and also being connected to community.

Yeah.

And, and supporting food, not buying.

That was the first time I ever volunteered for anything that like helped someone who was truly in need where I like was actually face to face with them because, you know, I'd done like donation stuff right.

As a teenager, donation drives.

But you're not actually interacting with the person in need.

And it's a, it is a different experience.

Experience to show up and like feed breakfast to someone who isn't gonna eat otherwise that day.

Yeah.

And also like to, you know, remember that that second room as the shows were ending, we're getting filled up for people to stay overnight, you know, so like there was real interaction.

Yeah.

You know, with that, that aspect of like.

Yeah, like maybe some of these kids are from the suburbs, but at least they're having that real world experience of like these people are in need and there is a capacity.

Well, and you, and you know, like you actually see it.

It's not just something on tv.

It's not somebody tell telling you a story about it.

Because when you grow up in the suburbs you get like a story like don't up or you're going to be homeless.

Right.

And maybe you see him as you pass, you know, you know, the exit on the expressway or something.

But you know, there was a humanity to all of them, you know, and that was important to see.

And not everybody sees that.

You know, even as adults people have sheltered themselves and curated a life for themselves where they don't have to figure out how to have empathy for somebody who's in a, in a bad position, even if that person was somewhat culpable in getting themselves into that bad position.

Right.

Yeah.

Other show.

Another show too that really stood out that I, I was.

Well, actually before I jump into other shows, Punk Rock Book Club was taking what we did here on this and like bringing it into reality.

Like that was the zoom based interview.

Like a lot of ours are out of necessity, but then making it real.

And we might have an opportunity to bring Greg Bennett to town.

He's awesome, you know, doing speaking engagements around, but he's also in Syracuse from time to time doing, doing research on a book that he's writing.

So it may be possible to bring him to town, which I would be thrilled to do, you know, because another, another way.

Taking the, taking the podcast, Zoom Digital, you know, we were talking at the beginning.

Take it.

Taking the, you know, the, the value of the physical media, the value of the physical IRL experience Would love to do that.

And interviewing him was such a high point.

And.

And Carl and.

And other authors from the unraveling.

That was such a high point.

You know, if nothing else out of this podcast, we got to talk to, you know, a couple people who are super influential in my politics and my outlook and my worldview.

I think.

Like, that was, like, I always look forward to it.

The conversations are always super fun and to connect a lot of dots that kind of circle around us and to realize that, like, hardcore and punk is still that medium where we can reach out to people.

People are.

We can still connect to people, and we can still, like, you know, have conversations with people even if we don't know them.

You know, there's value in that.

Like, you know, I'm not gonna be able to reach out to certain people, you know, in the rock world or, like, other, like, music genre worlds and.

Or sports worlds and be able to connect with them.

This is something where, you know, we have a connection to.

And it's like, oh, I found them on Instagram.

Let me reach out to them.

Yeah, you're not dealing with an agent.

You're like, oh, cool.

Like, they're actually open to this.

This is awesome.

And I don't mean for this podcast.

It turned into, like, a podcast where we interview people who've written books, but there's a lot of people who've written books in hardcore, and it's super cool.

I'm really excited for that Fenway punk book to come out that's coming out February 10th.

I know that because it's another instance where hardcore is intersected with Library Life.

We already have that book on order at the irondequoit Library, so if you're eager to get that, you know, put it on hold.

But, yeah, I'm looking forward to some of the stuff.

I'm reluctant to speak it on an episode before we have it confirmed, because, you know, to say it.

To say it in advance would be to create some butterfly effect where it doesn't happen.

And, you know, we don't do this a lot, but for folks listening, if you do enjoy what we're doing, feel free to share it.

Yeah.

You know, however you do and reach out to us, it always brightens my.

Day when I see somebody share a link to the episode that we posted or maybe even older episode with like a little snippet about what they got out of it or how it connected with their life or it was similar to something they've been through.

It's.

It's always, it's always nice to see that kind of.

With that in mind, then I want to also wanted to mention the, the show that we played with Hard to Know World Purge and Hard to Know an Old Ghost.

Oh, that was awesome.

Lucky caller seven.

Yeah, because Derek, you know, another guy who shows up on some podcasts a few miles down Route 90 in Buffalo.

You know, definitely, definitely.

I think in a similar place in life.

His kids are a little older than us, but he's a similar place in life to us.

You know, middle aged dad doing hardcore raising kids, you know, working the grind to make it all, all possible.

And it really came together.

It was like well attended.

I was a little nervous it wasn't going to be well attended, but it was, it was a good show.

That was a great show.

That was a lot of fun.

Yeah.

Duke Crime is awesome.

Yeah.

You know, and Derek is just, I saw him at the Mirrorless show at the Bug Jar.

He came out and he's just always great to connect with and chat with.

He's a real affable dude.

Yeah, it's awesome.

Always got, I mean, and he reaches out and is like this, this is awesome.

You get random text messages from and tell him like, hey, good job.

I'm like, oh, thank you, man, I need this.

And people, stuff like that though.

It makes me realize, like, I got to be that person more.

I'm going to be patient, but I'm also going to just pop in randomly to people, tell them they're doing a good job.

Love that.

People love it.

People love it.

I do also want to give a little shout out to Deep Disdain.

Yeah, that was another.

There's the last show I had written down.

It was a Deep Disdain show in June.

That's awesome.

I had.

Because I'm old now, you know, but it had an end of the school year vibe to it and I was like, oh, yeah, I forgot what this feels like in June.

You know, I think we're graduating.

You know, transition point in life.

Definitely had that end of school year vibe.

At that show, which I appreciated.

That's awesome.

I. I mean, I love the fact that they're getting out on the road.

They're, like doing some weekends or doing some small tours.

They're being active and they're out there now too.

Right now they're on tour with crosswords and Pen.

Yeah.

And playing with them tomorrow, which I'm really excited about.

I'm hoping to make it so at the Psychic Garden, which, you know, like, I just appreciate it so much that they're.

They're not connected to like, they're like the newest generation.

Yeah.

You know, so it's like really neat to see them just like, we're going out, we're doing it, we're taking our own initiative and going for it.

And.

And I love that.

I'm so excited for them to continue pushing forward.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kudos to.

Kudos to deep disdain.

Definitely the biggest draw in Rochester and deservedly so.

They're.

They're.

They're where it's at.

Yeah.

I don't.

Another thought, but I'll let it pass.

I'll let it pass.

I don't know.

I don't know.

What do we got?

What do you.

Do you have anything?

Band wi so hard to know is finishing up a record.

We need to do record bass and vocals and then we'll have full length recorded.

Yeah.

Wow.

Which is crazy.

So hopefully we'll get that buttoned up.

Coming Down's writing new songs, playing shows.

The 16th.

I think this will be out before the 16th, so people should go to that.

So we're playing at the Bug jar on the 16th.

Friday night.

Be five bucks with Jordan Moss and the band the Rogues.

Yeah, we.

I mean, we haven't really gotten asked to play much, so when we do get asked, we'll say yes, most likely.

But our friend Joe is, you know, joined us on bass now that Phil kind of moved away.

But if Phil ever comes back, we'll figure it out and we'll have three guitar players maybe.

Who knows?

I think coming down would sound pretty cool with three guitars.

I do too.

I do too.

And, you know, it's.

We just.

We wrote some cool songs and we just are excited to play.

So I'm excited to play that show on Friday and then hopefully play more shows throughout the year.

Achilles is a great group chat.

You know, we've talked about playing this year, so we'll see what happens.

I Don't know.

But hopefully finish that full length is, like, a big thing.

I know.

Coming down.

Guys have talked about wanting to record some of the new songs that we've been writing to get them out sooner than later or at least just get started on something.

But that's pretty much it for that stuff.

Other things in life are just like, figure out kids and make their life as fun as possible and, you know, sprinkle in all the other stuff.

I don't know.

Like you said, like, things are, like, super fast and then, like, super slow.

Sometimes the perception of time is.

The only.

The only supernatural experience I've ever had is to behold the passage of time.

Yeah.

It's like.

I don't know if you guys are doing this now, but, like, we're already.

It's January and we're already thinking about summer.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Like, us too.

How are we organizing that?

How are we.

You know, as soon as I'm done.

Saving for Christmas, I gotta start saving for, like, a summer vacation or something.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Or like, summer camps.

Like, what are we doing?

Like, those are so.

You forget about those.

Those are so expensive.

Yeah.

And then it's like, hey, drop your kid off at 9.

Well, I gotta be at work at 9.

Oh, you can pick them up at 2:15.

I'm like, how's this helping?

And then it's like, oh, you have to pay extra for, like, early or after.

And it's just like, okay.

Like, so.

Yeah.

Just trying to figure out where all that fit in, fits in and, you know, like, manage the.

All the other aspects of all the stuff.

But it's.

In the grand scheme of life.

These are good problems to have.

Yeah.

That's what I tell myself.

And, you know, it goes.

It's going by quickly.

Like, this year, Freddy, he'll be nine.

It's like, where did those nine years go?

Yeah.

And nine more years be 18.