Psychedelic Currents, Modern Fires

The storm outside was real, but the conversation turned into shelter. We sat down with John Treanor of Tombstones in Their Eyes to trace the long arc from childhood piano lessons and punk’s fearless ethic to the fully realized pulse of Asylum Harbor. What emerged is a candid look at how modern psychedelic rock, shoegaze, and dream pop can still feel dangerous, beautiful, and cohesive—an album you play all the way through, not a playlist fragment.

John walks us through the band’s origin story, from Dropbox demos with James Cooper to the steady climb through EPs and albums that shaped their sound. We unpack the contrast between Sea of Sorrow’s heaviness and Asylum Harbor’s unified mood, why he writes fast instead of chasing perfection, and how that urgency translated into organic college radio momentum well beyond the typical promo cycle. Along the way, we swap scene notes on Spacemen 3, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols, The Black Angels, and other psych staples, plus overlooked gems like Guitaro and Jesus On Heroin that deserve fresh ears.

Visual identity matters here too: the recurring ship‑in‑a‑storm artwork, a metaphor for getting through life, created by different artists each release, with Asylum Harbor’s striking cover from South Africa’s One Horse Town. We also talk discovery in 2020s rock—how Europe, Australia, and New Zealand are feeding a healthy underground—and why album flow, deep harmonies, and longer tracks still build a deeper bond than instant singles ever could. John closes with news of a bigger live lineup featuring dual female vocalists, a focus on becoming a powerful stage act, and smart, targeted touring on the West Coast with an eye toward the East.

If you care about psychedelic rock, shoegaze, and the art of making records that hold together like a film, this one’s for you. Hit play, share it with a friend who lives for deep cuts, and if it moved you, subscribe and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Track Teaser
• 4:47 Los Angeles Wildfires Impact
• 10:37 Shifting To Music And Genre Love
• 17:32 John’s Musical Origins And First Scenes
• 21:06 Managing Bands And SST Era Stories
• 26:18 Europe’s Role And Psych Touchstones
• 35:04 Cannabis, Emotion, And Music As Mood
• 38:20 Spacemen 3, BJM, And Songwriting Goals
• 45:28 How Tombstones In Their Eyes Formed
• 52:29 Album By Album Evolution
• 1:02:55 Asylum Harbor’s Cohesion And Radio Rise
• 1:08:15 Playing Tracks In-Show And Promotion
• 1:11:40 Underground vs Mainstream Then And Now
• 1:22:30 Global Scenes And New Bands To Watch
• 1:29:50 Cover Art, Visual Themes, And Ships
• 1:35:40 Favorite Bands And Deep Cuts

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Attention all you fishes in the sea, welcome to the Fish Bowl, hosted by me, Sam Fish. Today's guest is John Trenner from the band Tombstones in Their Eyes. I'll be talking with John about his latest album, Asylum Harbor, available on all music platforms. Check it out and enjoy. Here is Tombstones in Their Eyes fourth track off of Asylum Harbor. I like to feel good. Hope you enjoy.

SPEAKER_06: 4:33

In Ireland they probably pronounce it very differently.

SPEAKER_00: 4:44

John Trainer on the fishbowl. Welcome.

SPEAKER_06: 4:48

Thank you very much, Sam, for having me.

SPEAKER_00: 4:51

Absolutely. Thank you for taking the time to swim in the bowl with me.

SPEAKER_06: 4:58

We're swimming a lot.

SPEAKER_00: 5:00

Right. I hope the temperature is just right. It is. It's very good. Awesome. Well, first off, I I know you're in la we just spoke and I know that you're you're in Los Angeles, so I just want to first, you know, wish you, I hope everything is safe with the fires and all that going on. I hope it hasn't affected any stuff in your area or music stuff. So I don't want to really get too much into that because I try to stay uh neutral as far as politics go, even though I have my own opinions. But it's just a real uh tragedy, really fucked up situation. And I I wish you and everyone in that's in the Los Angeles area and people who have you know lost homes and uh those who are fortunate that still have them. Just you know, safe safety and well-being, and my condolences for anyone you may know. I know a lot of people I interview like celebrities and stuff like that, and you know, a lot of it's out of the LA area. So I just want to, you know, stay safe. And my condolences and best wishes to everyone in California right now dealing with that mess.

SPEAKER_03: 6:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 6:36

Yeah. I'll just you know, tell you a quick thing or two, but uh yeah, I you know, for me looking at it and barring politics as well, it's kind of a one-in-a- once-in-a-lifetime kind of firestorm, you know, like it's bigger than anything in a hundred years at least, and and you know, driven by a couple seasons of a lot of rain, creating a lot of dry underbrush, and then hundred mile an hour winds, and you put the fire and that together, and you know, it's just insane, insane how fast it went.

SPEAKER_00: 7:12

I mean, no one prepared for that, right? And and I mean, I I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard possible arsonists involved.

SPEAKER_03: 7:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 7:23

I mean, I I I don't I don't want to like say that, you know, because I don't know how true and not true it is, but I've heard I've seen stuff on the news about possible arsonists involved. And you know, I I do dwell in, delve into uh conspiracy theory stuff, especially when it comes to aliens and Bigfoot and all that stuff. So I definitely have my uh conspiracy theories when it comes to stuff like this, which I won't uh really go into too much because it's it's on the political realm, but I just I I think you know it it's it almost makes you I mean it everyone's been talking about it on other podcasts and and just in the news in general, and it's like it may it makes you think, you know, was it intentional? And if it wasn't intentional and there weren't any arsonists, you know, it's like it just seems like you know, pretty like qu coincidental circumstances for for it to get as bad as it as it got. And I'm just gonna leave it at at at that. But it's just it's unfortunate is is what it is.

SPEAKER_06: 8:47

Yeah, it's a disaster, and you know, just so I'll go into how personally it affected me. But didn't you know personally, like our house didn't burn down, we weren't evacuated, but I I know I live in a place called Glassell Park, which is fairly close to Pasadena where I work a lot. And if you if you work in you know, or know a lot of people in Pasadena in work situations, they almost all live in Altadina, right? You know, so I know a lot of people whose houses were spared. But even spared it it's like one house on a block without any utilities, right? And they have to do all kinds of stuff to sanitize it. So it's all you know, whatever. You still have your stuff, but it's a long way to go. And you know, yeah, so yeah, it's just whatever. I I won't dwell on it either, but it was actually my birthday that Wednesday, January 8th, and that's the day like the city was burning down, right? So that was not an enjoyable night. Right. So uh anyways, that's the deal. So uh yeah, thanks for your uh you know, wishes, best wishes.

SPEAKER_00: 9:59

Absolutely. I'm I'm glad, you know, thank God you know you're you're alright, and uh, you know, we may still have functioning everything from what it looks like, and I hope you know it doesn't spread to your area and just best best wishes again and condolences for everyone who's in in the Los Angeles area and has you know either suffered or is dealing with ramifications of the aftermath. Absolutely. I don't want to dwell on too depressing stuff.

SPEAKER_06: 10:38

Yeah, let's go into music.

SPEAKER_00: 10:40

Yeah, let's let's get into music. First off, what a phenomenal group you have, tombstones in their eyes. I am really, really big on psychedelic rock and uh you know contrast kind of like Sabbathian, old school Sabbathian heavy metal. And when I say psychedelic rock, I like all different like subgenres of psychedelic rock. So there's like you know, shoe gaze, there's dream pop, there's space rock, there's buzz rock, there's stoner rock, there's stoner metal, you know, and the list is the list can literally you know go on and on, but you know, the the reason I think I like psychedelic rock the best is because uh, you know, whether you're you know you're smoking some herb or whatever, it it really just resonates with me. And you know, I I just think that there's certain you know genres of music and albums and stuff where I mean as much as I'm a Led Zeppelin fan, you know, they clearly have some filler music. And as much as I'm like a Rolling Stones fan, they clearly have some filler music in between, you know, the songs on their albums. And I've found that pretty much with like specifically psychedelic rock and even more specifically, like the shoe gaze, Dream Pop, like all that that those like subgenres, uh it's like you can listen to the entire album and not have to like switch a song, it all kind of flows, you know, together, you know, equally. And uh, you know, some parts are you know a little higher and a little lower than others, but it all it's like dark side of the moon, you know, like like talk about one of the founders of you know what that genre became was Pink Floyd. But if you listen to like Pink Floyd, you know, there I would say more the Gilmore and Roger Waters versus like the Sid Barrett and post uh Roger Waters stuff at Gilmore on, but like everything from like Wish You Were Here, Dark Side, Metal, Animals, Out of Mother Heart, you know, it's you can listen to like the whole thing. And and I even just read like an article how you know Dark Side of the Moon is like one of the albums that came out like you know, like it's pretty much like what like 50 years ago now, and and it still sounds like it's it it could have like come out today, you know, and and you wouldn't no one would be the wiser. And with Tombstones in their eyes and a lot of other bands, but your band in particular, everything since the debut album up till the most current album, Asylum Harbor. I'll plug it for you right there. Uh it is it is like just not it doesn't just like you know flow together really well. I'm talking about like it's especially Asylum Harbor is like a phenomenal, phenomenal psychedelic rock album as a whole. And I also really like that, you know, I I mean for me to like invest time in a band, one, I look for, you know, longer tracks, and two, I look for, you know, the album has to basically you know be, you know, like you know basically 38 minutes or longer for me to like really you know invest time in in researching the band and getting to know if they have any prior stuff or even considering like listening to them further. And I know some of your albums are shorter than others, but they're all really, really good. But you also have like three albums that are like almost like an hour long, which is like what what I really you know when I see a band that you know like the album is like 50 minutes or longer, you know, that's gonna like the these are like real musicians, these are like guys who know about music and you know know how to really play the music and you know make some great tracks and also the fact that you know some of your albums are 15 minutes or longer to have the whole album just like you know be uh one sequential you know piece with you know multiple tracks and the whole thing be like as good as it is is really you know hard to do. And I have my top three favorite albums of yours here. Okay Asylum Harbor is one of them, Sea of Sorrow, and Maybe Someday top top three favorites, and then I'll also plug the rest just so it's it's plugged. Looking for a light collection and sleep forever, your debut album. Thank you. Uh all all phenomenal music. Those three albums, I know they're also the longer ones, which is part of why uh, you know, I they're a little more partial to me. But you know, every time there's certain bands I look forward to, you know, seeing when they have a new album come out, and Tombstones in their eyes is is one of them. And you know, it's it's also like hard for a band to kind of like you know keep a track record and have like each album be like, you know, as good if not better than the one prior. And you somehow as a group have have been able to produce like continuously really, really good psychedelic rock albums.

SPEAKER_06: 17:17

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 17:18

You know, so I just I just want to say that first off as a fan, and that leads me to uh my first official question, which is what got you interested in music?

SPEAKER_06: 17:32

Oh wow. That goes way back. Well when I was a kid first thing I remember about music is my parents making me take piano lessons, right? So I took them for from like four to about fifteen where I could finally tell my parents I didn't want to do it. So you know, because piano wasn't the instrument I wanted to play really. I wanted to play guitar, you know, and uh so yeah, but so that's as far as the playing side goes. But then uh you know what got me into music is my dad was a big music fan. He um so he he's from Los Angeles and and when he was growing up in college he would go to the uh the jazz and blues club in South Central LA, which were pretty well known. You know, a lot of great people came came through there or came out of there, whatever, and uh you know, he'd be like, you know, one of the only white kids in there and and you know, it's that kind of scene. But yeah, so he was really into that style of music. Sort of mostly the blues and then sort of piano boogie stuff like Fats Domino and but he also took me to my first concert at age ten, which was the Rolling Stones. Uh I'm gonna age myself right here, but it was 1975. And that was a good you know, I mean I wish it was seventy-two, 'cause that was you know, sort of my tour, but seventy-five was pretty awesome too. You know. So but then around the house, you know, I mean I started getting into like Elton John, the Beach Boys, the Stones, you know, then it went into like Kiss and Aerosmith and stuff like that, and then uh and then Punk Rocket, and that's shit changed everything. You know, I got into like germs and Debo and the cramps and from there it just you know a lot of punks, you know, like those you know, aren't your traditional like hardcore punk bands, which that wasn't what it was back then, right? It was like it was like gun club, you know, all these different kinds of bands, and then then it became codified, and then it became in like a uniform, and that's when I was already uh off into different kinds of other kinds of music, like the post punk stuff or buttole surfers or the pussy galore, you know, there was all kinds of stuff still happening. It was a very fertile time these days, you know, and so yeah, so I mean that's kind of my path right there, you know. So as far as playing after that. So I after I put down piano, I s I started to play a little guitar with a friend of mine, this guy James Cooper, and and uh we kind of wrote a couple songs, we did write a couple songs, and then I just kind of drifted off into something else, you know, punk rock and doing drugs and all that kind of stuff, and uh he kept going with that and they had a little band, you know, and so I you know, I really didn't come back to playing until like I was twenty-seven. But in the meantime I did do some tours with my friend's band. I was their manager in the late eighties, and uh we went to re-Europe and all that stuff, which is an awesome time because they loved American bands in 1988 and that was pretty nirvana and right, right. But yeah, that is uh I hope that answers your question without going too far.

SPEAKER_00: 20:58

Yeah, yeah. What was the band that that you managed? Because I know you were we were starting to talk about that uh before we we hit record.

SPEAKER_06: 21:06

They were called the leaving trains, they were Los Angeles kind of I don't know, I alternative sort of a little bit of psychedelia, a little bit of you know rock and roll, you know, what i I don't know, somewhere in the area of like a little replacements maybe, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02: 21:26

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 21:27

Yeah, so you know, early solo side and that you know, whatever. And uh so yeah, but they were on SST Records, which is at the time was a pretty happening label, you know, with the Me Puppets and Husker Doo and Flag and you know I mean so So I you know we do these US we did a couple US tours, all right. I did one with them actually, and you know, it was fun twenty-two years old, right? Then we went over to Europe, you know what I mean? And it was great. So yeah, so that was that was a good experience.

SPEAKER_00: 22:07

Awesome, awesome. I mean, I know that Europe in general, pretty much since like the British invasion, has kind of been ahead of the game. Yes, it's based off of American influences, but like especially in in the the the psychedelic rock genre, I mean like two two major American bands that can to this day get get more airpl, you know, airplay and fan base in Europe is is one of the fundamentals uh that I consider of like the two biggies of kind of what shoe gays of like today is, which is the dandy warholes and the Brian Jonestown massacre.

SPEAKER_06: 22:53

Oh yeah, two linchpins for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 22:57

I mean they they I mean I I watched I have the documentary uh dig on on the two of them. I I've watched that numerous times. I had the pleasure of having Peter G. Homstrom on my show a couple weeks ago or month ago, actually guitarist for the Dandy Warhols. Um and that was like a whole trip interview because you know, but my first time seeing them was literally on my 28th birthday. And they came to a venue here in Pittsburgh called Mr. Small's Theater during their uh the Stortland tour. And I I got VIP tickets, I got to meet them, and you know, they uh performed, and then I dreamt of yes for my birthday, specifically for my birthday. And I I said this to Peter in the interview when we first started talking, but it was one of those like magical, you know, instances, rare opportunities where it's like, you know, it's like a scene out of a movie, you know, where like a band's a big band is playing and they do like one song that like the the crowd just like becomes silent, you know, dead silent, you know, and as soon as they finish, it's like the biggest eruption, you know, of like, you know, we never thought we'd hear that song live, you know. And he even told me that it's hard on Courtney's lungs to do it live. So it was like a special, you know, experience that you know I was like only I and my friend, you know, who are in like the VIP balcony area knew that that song was for me, and they wouldn't have played it unless it was because I recorded the request. It's called And Then I Dreamt of Yes.

SPEAKER_06: 24:59

Okay, okay, it's looked that one up.

SPEAKER_00: 25:03

I think it's off of Auditorium and Warlords of Mars.

SPEAKER_06: 25:08

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 25:09

I think it's off that one. Right. I might I might I might be wrong because I always get it confused for the album, but it's a it's a three-song lineup that literally when I asked, they were like, that's the smoking part of the album.

SPEAKER_03: 25:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 25:27

Yeah. But it's like three songs in a row, and and then I dreamt of yes, is like the middle song. And it's like a just an awesome three-track lineup that is like you know, uh awesome, just tripping out music.

SPEAKER_04: 25:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 25:44

But you know, it's it's part of like why I love listening to your stuff, you know, because it's like it's you know, I really believe this. There's been studies and everything too. How you know, if you listen if you smoke cannabis and whatever, and and like you listen to psychedelic rock and stuff like that, it you know opens like certain whatever neural pathways in the mind that you know leans more towards like creativity and you know motion, stuff like that. It allows like whatever endorphins or whatever you want to call it. I'm not sure the exact exact lingo there, but basically it's like Quado saying to Schwarzenegger and Toto Rico, open your mind, you know, and that's that's what it does, you know, especially with psychedelic rock and shoe gaze and all that, and music that really just when it comes down to it makes you you know feel emotion, you know, it moves you, you know. And I forget who said this. I mean it was in a recent interview with a musician. I forget who it was, but they were talking about how you know music, especially like you know, the old stuff, like you know, the the classic, classic rock era, like you when you grew up with with like the stones and the Beatles and you know Jimi Hendricks and just all the the plethora of music that came out then. It's like and even stuff in the 90s and 80s too, in the 70s throughout the 70s, really up until like the 2000s. I'm I want to say it became a lot harder to find like you know a song that you know you could literally you know listen to the song or or and it would strike a memory, you know, or it would make you feel like a certain emotion, you know. And you know, with your music it's in psychedelic rock, but not all psychedelic rock, like it has to be particular, you know, stuff, but I think especially with your music, it's like you can feel kind of like emotion, you know, with with listening to the album in its entirety, and it can you know open your mind to kind of feel like well you know I should maybe be thinking about this or that, you know, or it ends up making you think of this or that, you know. But I think it's it's you know really like hard to find bands today that you know have songs that make you feel just emotion, you know. And it's it's really cool to to hear you know your albums and especially Asylum Harbor. There's a lot on there that is very resonating to me, and I'm sure a lot of other people because I've been you know noticing all the the accomplishments the album has been doing and college charts and magazines and stuff. So I'm happy to to get a chance to talk to you and talk about the album and past albums and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_06: 29:12

Um I'm gonna give you my quick Brian Jones sound master story.

SPEAKER_02: 29:19

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 29:20

Just just how I got into them. Like it was kind of a odd just a chance thing because I I'm into a band called the Spaceman Three, you've heard of them, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 29:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 29:31

So on that leaving trains tour, we were lucky enough to play with them in in Germany, you know, which is cool because they never made it to the US. So that's just a side story. I I read an interview with uh Sonic Boom from that band, and he mentioned the Brian Jones after said something about them. And so I was up in San Francisco and I saw they were playing this place called the Bottom of the Hill, and I went over there uh with my friend and I've been hooked ever since, man. It was uh you know, I was I was like ninety five, six, something like that. And yeah, I mean, really for my songwriting, like one of my goals was to someday write a song as good as one of Anton's songs. You know?

SPEAKER_00: 30:15

Definitely I I I I think you've accomplished that.

SPEAKER_06: 30:18

Yeah. I feel like it. But yeah, that's it that's my quick little story about that.

SPEAKER_00: 30:24

Awesome. I mean I mean I I'm a big Spaceman 3 fan. I mean that that's that's like that's like the the the band I kind of was listening to before I even like heard of the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown massacre. And it was really my my uh I was listening to the Dandy Warhols because I'm a big like movie guy. And I went actually went to school for screenwriting and you know there's a few stuff published on Amazon but you know I was listen watching you know some movies and I heard like you know their music in it and I was like I gotta check this band out. This is this is like some real you know uh some real good shit. And then you know my my friend who was a little more into you know the the obscure stuff told me about if you like uh the dandy warholes you gotta check out like their like com comrade band the Brian Jones son massacre and that was also right around the time Boardwalk Empire like like premiered and I was like you know I was like my friend said you know the the the opening to the that show and I'm like yeah it's like that's that band and I'm like wait a minute that's that's the Brian Jonestown massacre you know so that it was straight up and down is the song oh yeah great song great great I forget what album it's off of but I know that that like there's the the regular version and then there's like the what do they call it like the reprise okay and the reprise is like I think it's like on the studio version like between I think it's around like 10 12 minutes long and the look that up yeah it's it's the the reason I want to say say especially the reprise version is like the just the I mean it goes to reiterate why they're called the Brian Jones yeah town massacre yeah uh because like like the there's a part there's like a chorus part in in the the the reprise version where it they're clearly like taking stuff from sympathy for the devil and and and some other stone stuff but it's it's with the whole like you know how you know in sympathy for the devil there's like whoo who oh yeah I've heard them do that yeah yeah yeah and I I I've seen the Danny Warhols the last I think it was clear my first time like three times they've two or three times they've been here and I've seen the massacre the last two times they've been here and Jesus what what a sh what a show I mean they I I don't know if it's if it's like this in in LA but they have this role this is this law it's not really a role it's a law here in Pennsylvania where you have to stop playing by 11 and it's like union rule stuff where you know if you if you play past 11 like you get a major fine and it's like something involved with breaking down all the equipment and when they have to you know be out of there and have everything packed up and all that but the first time the dandy warhauls came it was before that law was enforced and they played till like midnight and the when the massacre came they had already enforced that law so Anton started at like eight o'clock and then they they had a band that I actually had on the show that's from the California area the Stevenson Ranch Dividians.

SPEAKER_06: 34:27

Dividians yeah yeah they uh they they opened for uh the massacre the first time okay yeah they came and antard played from like eight to a like stopped at exactly you know eleven o'clock so at least he played for like three hours non wow that's a lot yeah yeah that's um but uh I mean th those guys are great too the Stevenson Rance uh Dividians yeah yeah I haven't I have never seen them but I see them playing around a lot and I actually thought about reaching out to them to play a show together. I'm just gonna make sure because there's like two bands with very similar names. Oh okay that's the one yeah okay I got it there's another one that's has a similar name I don't think it's that name but it reminds me whatever I get confused no worries yeah if please do reach out to them and if you do tell them Samfish the fishbull recommended okay so you you reach out to them and play play with them.

SPEAKER_00: 35:33

Sure we really I mean their their their stuff is awesome very like remnant of the massacre and uh and you know would be a great show for as as an opener for your band as well.

SPEAKER_06: 35:48

Well they've been playing around a lot more so we'd probably have to open for them this time.

SPEAKER_00: 35:52

Okay. Okay well still you know vice versa still yeah hello hello hello all my fishes in the sea thank you for taking the time to listen to my interview with John Trenner of the band Tombstones in their eyes here is the second to last track off their latest album Asylum Harbor called Set Me Free. Hope you enjoy and please subscribe I mean I I know we've been talking about some bands and stuff and some music but I I was wondering like who who were some of your like I mean I guess for it's obviously Spaceman three and tombstones in their eyes but like who would you say are you know some of your like musical influences if you had to like draw from specific specific bands?

SPEAKER_06: 40:08

Well as I told I sort of told you a little bit about about my musical journey right so what I think is just an amalgamation of everything every sort of stop on that journey right so you have you know I love some of the Elton John stuff that some of that's in there beach voice this new record in particular has a lot of pretty deep harmonies you know like them and you know Kiss is just for the rock and roll part of it and the punk rock is more the just do it like you know even if you're not a you know like fucking the best guitar player in the world just do it you know and and then you get into like you know the the dirtier stuff like if I mentioned Pussy Galore, you might want to check them out. They're pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00: 40:57

They're not really they're more like garage rock you know but they're they're I'm actually familiar with them. Oh yeah yeah yeah I love them back in the 80s and spaceman three fuzz tones you know what I mean like you know so it's a you know and even more than that probably but you know that's the general kind of it's more yeah there's definitely bands you know and I mentioned some of them but uh did I mention the butthole servers again because they were kind of important you know like also in terms of being sort of fucked up and psychedelic and right right yeah yeah so I I I'm uh I I I I actually wanted to I'm glad you brought them up again because I was I was in the top of my head when we were when I just asked the the last question I was like that's right I wanted to bring that band up again as well as the cramps and black flag but the butthole surfers in my opinion were the closest like reiteration of like Frank Zaba and the mothers I I think in terms of like just like the style and weirdness and and especially what you know I've never unfortunately I'm I never have seen that band live as much as much as the stories I have heard um especially from the 80s you know it's it's one of my dreams is like if I had doc brown's time machine you know I'd I one of the things I'd do is go back and see like you know the one of the earlier shows of of the butthole surfers.

SPEAKER_06: 42:37

Oh yeah I was lucky to see them a few times.

SPEAKER_00: 42:40

Awesome awesome you know they and just like uh the Chili Peppers who was also really you know an 80s band and in my opinion I I lean more towards the 80s chili pepper stuff than than than the 90s and kind of on I would say that it but it's like just like the Chili Peppers didn't really get like you know have their you know built billboard you know chart mate major hits until like I guess with like under the bridge and the album that it's on top of my head but has like give it away and all the all that on it. Is it Untrigar Sex yes that's it that's it that album basically like you know everybody knew who the Chili Peppers were a after that.

SPEAKER_06: 43:34

And that bridge is about a mile and a half from my house.

SPEAKER_00: 43:38

Oh wow awesome awesome yeah I I was just saying uh it's like uh the the butthole surfers didn't have like commercial success until what was the album with the song uh pepper yeah but for an independent band they were making a shit ton of money man because they sort of did everything themselves and they were in LA they were playing places like pretty big places after their first couple times here and uh you know they were making like ten thousand dollars a show or something which for a crazy independent band like them you know pretty good money right so yeah so yeah no as far as commercially to the rest of the country but in underground wise they were super well known right so yeah yeah and my my dad uh saw the chili peppers as a bar band in uh DC uh when he was in college which he was lucky enough i i I still haven't seen the chili peppers you know to this date I've seen most of the like the 90s alternative bands I've seen I've seen Jane's addiction quite a probably the most they they're they're they're like one of my all-time favorite uh favorite you know uh you can't even really say they're like grunge they're in that like in-between stage and uh I mean I'm a big porno propyros fan and just I mean I was lucky enough my favorite album from them is nothing shocking and I was there here in Pittsburgh at a venue called Stage AE to see them do the nothing whatever the anniversary of the nothing shocking album and I didn't know that was like what they were touring doing I I just like my James addiction's coming let's go you know and I started to hear like the order of of the songs on on the album and I was and then it wasn't until they did Ted just admit it that that I that I was like oh shit yeah doing the the whole album and I'm like you know I never thought I'd hear that song live so that that's that's like my my number one song that's like that's like the funky you know yeah yeah I used to listen to that on repeat like I remember in like 89 or you know whatever it was you know it's like great yeah that and the Pixies do a little I listen to it constantly yeah the Pixies are another great band I haven't seen them but they have come to Pittsburgh since since you know where I could have seen them I just found out about it after the fact I I've seen the Foo Fighters which is the closest I'm gonna get to Nirvana I've seen definitely not the original Alice and Chains but the the Reiteration which was still a great show and some of the other bands in from from that era as well but like I grew up in the 90s so you know like that's that was like I I remember but even growing up in the 90s it's like it wasn't until I was like in my college years that like you know I started like re-listening to every band that I could think of that I liked from that era you know I was like a little kid. I was born in 88 so you know it was literally like I was growing up you know it was all going on I mean I do remember you know hearing when Kirk O'Bain died you know what what happened because when I was little like Nirvana was like my uh my number one favorite right you know band from there and then as I got you know older and listened to other stuff I I I'd say like my probably my top two like you know if you want to say like grunge grudge bands it would be Soundgarden and Alice and Chains and then if you want to you know delve into like some of the subgenres Rage Against the Machine who I saw a couple summers ago when they were doing that that reunion tour before Zach uh injured himself and big Rage Against the Machine fan but I like I'm just like you know like the 90s and the 80s too were like a plethora of music just like the 60s and the 70s were you know with everything that was coming out and I also wanted to bring up the cramps and black black flag the cramps I only got into like in the last couple years and started like delving into like the the punk rock scene of the 80s because the only bands I really knew were like you know Iggy pop and blondie and the Sex Pistols you know like the the big names you know and my god the the cramps are were such a phenomenal band and I'm also like a really big horror fan and I did not realize you know how much of their music in the 80s was was played and like so many of so many you know cult classic and famous horror films. You know it's it's really like if you if you go back and watch there's a ton that they're that their music is played in. Oh wow one of them is the Texas Chains Fan Massacre part two there there's the big song do they play it it's I I think it's off their the album with fever oh that's uh Songs the Lord taught us yes yes okay one of the it's one of the s I I don't think it's garbage man I it's it's one of the other more like rockabilly more like straight like punk horror like like rockabilly songs.

SPEAKER_06: 50:13

I can't remember the exact name but was it ju juju no that's on their second record uh second record psychedelic jungle okay yes yeah it's it's I believe it's the the what is it the juju I can't remember the song name but if yeah I think something like that was on the second record.

SPEAKER_00: 50:36

Yeah it's it's I want to say it's that song I can't remember the exact song but uh and and fever was played in Near Dark. Oh yeah Bill Paxton and Lance Henderson famous scene too it was like the the bar scene where they they kill everyone in the in the bar and it's like a it's a major sequence that song is played and then I've heard garbage man played in a few other stuff great song great song and then black flag and Henry Rollins in general one of my all-time favorite musicians and cult actors you know the one movie that if I if I get a chance to interview Henry Rollins the one movie I want to talk to him about is Johnny Mnemonic. Okay I don't know if I remember him in that or you know it's been a long time since I saw it probably but uh yeah yeah that's cool yeah they were intense I mean you know so I was able to catch them fairly early not totally early where I saw the other singers but still I mean when they were still like black flag hardcore fast you know I mean right right that was cool that was great yeah our producer our producer is a guy named Paul Rossler and his sister Kira Rossler played bass in Black Flag for many years actually oh wow that's awesome yeah yeah so anyways that's uh you know they've been around yeah yeah uh uh like I say uh I I love to interview Henry Rollins he he's he seems like I I mean I know I've watched interviews with him and he has his like radio show and yeah you know just like Iggy Pop has his radio show and you know you hear some great music and just great you know stories about the business and also how much has changed from you know the I mean not just the 80s but like going back to like you know like the Stones and Pink Floyd and all those bands and what you know music is today which you know in some cases it's very sad and in other cases it's like if you know what music to look for you know and you know like like you know even in the 80s like like we just talked about you know like the mainstream music was like hair metal you know but like there were all these other yeah the underground was super accurate yeah yeah yeah and it's the same thing today I think you know I it's it's I think that that's one thing that hasn't changed is is the the underground is there's always you know something you know going on yeah and you know like music genres that I see for all those people who say like rock is dead you know and all that I mean I see so many different like musical movements going on specifically with rock you know on the subject of grunge I mean there's this whole you know resurgence now of like a new genre called what was it uh like like neo grunge or something new new wave grunge new wave grunge and it's like you have these these kids that are like in their you know mid late 20s and and they've grown up you know post listening to everything that you know you live through i i grew up with as a kid you know and they've you know just like you know with music you know they they fuse everything together and you come with these like great bands you know that that are rising bands that you know may just you know if mainstream allows it you know to be like the next the resurgence of grunge you know right at the at the same time there's there's you know the shoe gaze movement there's you know that I think just as the years progress it just keeps getting better and better and then you also have I uh speaking of Europe you know I see a big like Prague rock and right that's like resurgence of like classic rock sounding you know bands I want to name these these two big ones blues pills who are from Berlin amazing amazing classic rock sounding it's a female vocalist backed by all dudes and it's like she dresses up in like those like 70s kind of sequence you know jumpsuits and very like bowie bowie esque and I think they they her and another female vocalist backed by all dudes in a band called uh spiders also from Berlin I think they're from Sweden yeah they're really good I saw them play actually at Mr Smalls they opened for uh Graveyard which was a great show yeah yeah and they I think uh her the singer from spiders and the singer from Blues Pills did a cover of uh Moonage Daydream which was really good and another one I want to two artists I want to throw out there Rosalie Cunningham and Bobby Dazzle I read about Bobby Dazzle haven't heard of Rosalie I would recommend listening to her debut album ASAP okay her and Rosalie Cunningham who's kind of like more of the I guess you want to say veteran at this point with like that type of prog rock Bobby Dazzle had a date her debut album come out la towards the end of last year and boy like the two of them sound like like they each sound uniquely different on their own but it's it's like it's it's also very similar in like the type of you know prog rock that it's very like you know like renaissancey you know okay like like like like how old school like like yes and King Crimson and stuff like that with sound with like flutes and organs and you know all these different instruments which is really like it's it's both albums and artists like their albums are very like it's like meticulously well like like it's it's how do I phrase it it's very like I guess mathematical if that makes sense like everything the the progressions and chords and different instruments and everything it's very like technical sounding so literally the phrase like blood sweat and tears that that go into making their albums are like really it's like I I can only imagine like the the amount of time and effort that goes into making that type of music. But those are those are some artists that re recent artists that I'm big fans of and also that are in Europe UK area worth listening to that sounds good. Definitely so here's a question how how did how did how did Spaceman three and how did tombstones in your and their eyes form Oh wait so how did Spaceman three form? Yeah first how did Spaceman three and then how did Tombstones in their eyes form?

SPEAKER_06: 58:54

Both separate you know entities but both how did how did like they they they come to be not me right so we're I mean we're good on you know because I don't know how they formed Okay okay. Right yeah I mean I know they they're from rugby England and you know two two guys but Simpsons formed so in my so in my little musical history I mentioned a guy named James Cooper who I was friends with at like fourteen years old and uh then like we kind of both went our separate ways. He went he was in some bands like sort of punk bands and then he was in sort of a not really a hair metal but you know one of those Hollywood bands in the Guns N'Roses kind of vein. And and then um I was doing my thing and eventually like I talked to his sister and she said hey you know he's cool he's into baseball and he's cleaned up his act and you know so I thought oh maybe I can talk to the guy and we ended up talking And became fast friends right away again. And yeah, we started doing music. He's in New York, I'm here, but we started uh in songs via Dropbox and using Garage Band to start these songs, and he was very encouraging of me of my songwriting. So that's kind of how the you know how it got started, and then you know, we would work on demos together, and finally we had enough good stuff that we decided to record it. I got a couple local guys, and that's where it sort of took off. But I will go into that because that first record what the hell is it called again?

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:41

Um uh sleep forever.

SPEAKER_06: 1:00:43

Yeah, sleep forever. Sorry. Uh you know, so that was uh we haven't really found our sound yet, but elements of it are there, right? There's a song called um Sleep Forever, and there's a song called Happy, and you know, there's another piano song I did with Paul that's pretty good. It's called It's Always Nothing. There's about five or six songs that are, like I said, heading in the direction we ended up going in. And we took a this band like took an opposite, I think an opposite path than a lot of young bands do, where their their first record or two is fantastic, then they kind of go downhill, right? We're going uphill, you know, and uh you know, so we sort of you know, then we did a an EP and that further came into our uh you know, we did an EP, a single, and another EP, and that's kind of where we started to hit our stride. Then we did Maybe Sunday, which you know have some great stuff, and uh and then what was next? Uh the collection was just a collection of all the some of the early record and uh all the EPs and singles, and then what was next?

SPEAKER_02: 1:01:53

Looking for a few looking for a light, and then yeah, that was cool.

SPEAKER_06: 1:01:57

I like that it's a pretty different um it's a little like I don't like the first song, Quarantine Blues, because I I knew that would be too topical and I just don't dig it, right? And that's one thing about me is I have tried not to be too precious about this stuff. I I I work fast, I want to get it out. I don't really care if like two years later I think that song sucks or whatever, you know what I mean? Like just I've seen people like not put records out for five years, like that's five years of like creativity loss, basically. You know what I mean? Like uh you know, who cares? You know, like life is short, you know, that's my attitude, you know. So so on all these records, there's you know, uh there's a song or two that I think, why the fuck did I put that on there or whatever? And uh you know, so what? But so yeah, looking for a lie, it was pretty different. It was more sparse than our other records. And we did an EP called A Higher Place, which is really pretty good, actually. Uh I think. And but then okay, so we'll get into the last two, and I'll uh I'll shut up. But Sea of Sorrow was a really kind of down record. I was going through some stuff, and you know, there's a pretty blatant like drug song on it, and you know, stuff like that, you know, but but I think like I mean that's got like some really of my favorite songs, like the song Numb, the song Heart, what else, uh No One to Blame. There's a bunch of good stuff on there. And yeah, but then we get to this record, and so you know, the deal is like I've had twenty-five to thirty almost, you know, pretty much finished songs over at the studio ready to go, but I keep writing new stuff, and so like the last record was eight new songs and wait, no, this record was eight new songs and two old ones, you know. So and I'm doing the same for the next record, but so we don't haven't delved into the archive too much. And the last year was one of the worst years of my life, right? So, you know, suicidal and all kinds of stuff going on, and and it it it it really doesn't sound like it in the record so much, you know what I mean? Because it's not as down as like the CFSR record was. And the thing I like about this record most is that like it's very cohesive. I don't so far I don't hear any songs that I think why the fuck did I put that on there? You know what I mean? They're all like uh you know, and I think that's why it's sort of doing better. Or plus I think people have just gotten to know our name a little bit, so they're willing to check it out. You know? And so that's why, you know, we're doing good on radio, college radio. So that that starts, and I'll just get into that for one sec. So you you know, you pay a guy to send out CDs to various college radio stations and plug you a little bit, you know, and that's something I've learned is a good good move, right? You know, right, right there, and uh and then the thing is, so then we would usually get on the chart for a minute, you know, and drop off you know fairly quickly. But this time we've been on the chart since like you know late November and we went down to like 182 and then we jumped up to 111, and now we jumped up to 74. So that's like the plugger is not involved anymore, right? He's right, right. So that's sort of organic growth, which is really cool. Yeah, so anyways, that's a quick rundown on some of the stuff that you didn't ask about.

SPEAKER_00: 1:05:40

Awesome, awesome. I'm glad you filled me in on that. You know, I know the questions have conversations been all over the place, which is part of part of uh my show.

SPEAKER_06: 1:05:51

Yeah, yeah, it's all good. I like talking music.

SPEAKER_00: 1:05:54

You know, just talking, you know, really relatable, you know. But yeah, it's it's awesome to hear. I actually did college radio when I was in college and would have been doing a lot of exactly what's been working for you with your latest album and just organic growth and everything. So I'm really happy to hear that. I also I I have the email from Shauna with with like the press kit and stuff, but I definitely wanted to see if I could use a couple, like one or two tracks to put like in between the interview.

SPEAKER_06: 1:06:36

Just go for it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:06:37

Awesome, awesome. That's like a new thing I want to start doing. Is I've interviewed you know a lot of bands at this point, you know. Now I want to try and like you know, insert you know, some of their tracks and into the interviews so you know people can not only listen to the interview, but you know, get a sample, you know, of essentially the the bands that I you know I love having on my show and talking about the types of music and music in general, whether it's you know, shoe gaze, dream pop, or you know, doom metal or you know, new wave grunge or you know what whatever.

SPEAKER_03: 1:07:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 1:07:16

You know, any way I can really you know help you and help those people, whether they're you know, musicians or indie filmmakers, you know, or even you know, established celebrities or whatever in whatever set, you know, if if I can help, you know, push a project or an album or a tour, you know, that's that's my ultimate goal and making uh great connections along the way. You know, so I was really happy to uh connect with Shauna. That was purely because of promotional thing I was doing with Peter G. Helmstrom. And oh yeah, I'm I'm I've been getting her emails on a weekly, sometimes uh daily basis. So I'm trying to really keep up. It's it's hard, you know. Of course. But trying to keep up with all the bands that she sends me, because some, you know, I haven't heard of for whatever reason, and that requires like time to to like listen to their their stuff with they have you know how many you know prior albums that's you know before uh whatever new single or album is being released. So, you know, it's a lot of hours you gotta put it to like listen listening to music. But I I am I am fully watching out for those emails. And one band that I want to give a shout out so Shauna can hear when this comes out, and hopefully by then I will have interviewed them, but that's the Yet. They have a new album. I think they're can't remember if it's their debut album or like a new album, but I listened to it through the press kit that Shauna sent me, and I if I'm you know the name of the album is escaping me right now, but it's a phenomenal album.

SPEAKER_06: 1:09:22

Check it out.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09:24

It comes out, I think, sometime this month, and really there's there's a lot of a lot of like not just like 90s alternative, but classic rock stuff. Like like one song I had to ask my mom what the name of the song was because she used to sing it to me when I was a little kid. Okay and and I had to like be like, what was that song you sing? Because I knew who one of the it was one of these artists, I didn't know which one, and it turns out it was the song was the circle game. That one of their songs on the album like immediately reminded me of. But there's a lot of lot of good tracks on there, it's a phenomenal album. So they're uh on the list. Shauna, uh I I will get to them, I promise.

SPEAKER_06: 1:10:19

Yeah, I love having the same publishers as Peter. Yeah, it's great, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:10:24

So yeah, yeah. I mean, she she is awesome. You know, the press kits that I've been getting with you know the albums available, you know, sometimes, you know, pre pre before they're released, and you know, tracks and samples. I'm like, this is this is like uh, you know, music podcasters and music aficionado and and lover in general's dream come true, you know, to basically get you know press releases to do stuff with you know big bands and smaller bands and stuff of like you know all different areas. But I'm like, you know, I really love talking to musicians and especially, you know, stuff on the underground because you know it's not always the case, but you know, a lot of the time it is where stuff on the underground is just like it's it's you know sometimes better than what's on the mainstream. And I kind of feel like if you listen to the underground, like like you're like like you said, like that's punk. You know that's that's like the last, like, you know, one of the last major you know remnants of punk, you know, is is like you know, not being part of uh, you know the mainstream. The mainstream, exactly, you know. Because you know, the the like the 90s the mainstream was good, you know, the sixties and seventies. I I watch it say mid-60s to mid-70s, right? What was really good. Late 70s, not so much.

SPEAKER_06: 1:12:06

No, and no, the 80s uh mainstream to me was horrible. I mean even uh some you know new wavy stuff got up there, like even Devo, but that wasn't like the Devo song I liked so much, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00: 1:12:20

Right, right.

SPEAKER_06: 1:12:21

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:12:23

You know, but like like I was just gonna say in this late 70s into the early you know mid-80s, you had the formation of the whole what became the the major punk rock movement of of the eighties, and then you had band the whole you know grunge movement, like you know, it that was underground and then became mainstream in the 90s. Right. So, you know, there there's that for the record, you know, grunge was the underground, and oh yeah, it just be it just by chance, you know, became the mainstream and along with just the plethora again, we'll use that word of music in the in the 90s and 80s too. But really like the 90s was when like I think when yeah, I would consider that like the last, you know, musical movement, you know, and I would also I would also relate it to very much like the 60s, 70s movement, because all the heroes died, you know, uh a lot of them from heroin, just just like you know, in the the the major hippie, you know, era people, you know, and then the people sold out or bands broke up, band members died, and you know, they just didn't want to move forward. You know, there's still some major artists from that era that have continued to make uh great music, like I want to definitely throw Jerry Kinterell and there, you know, because he he pretty much was the the real you know lyricist and you know second but main voice of Allison Chains. And you know, the Foo Fighters, you know, I could say they they've made some stuff has been better than others. Uh say that, but I could throw them in there and Primus, another phenomenal band. They they've been continually making some great music and you know a few other big ones.

SPEAKER_06: 1:14:40

One thing about Foo Fighters, you know, I don't listen really to their music. I you know appreciate what they've done. And the coolest thing about them is that they continue to employ Pat Smear, originally from the Germs.

SPEAKER_00: 1:14:57

Right, right.

SPEAKER_06: 1:14:58

Later from Nirvana. That's pretty cool. He's a cool guy.

SPEAKER_00: 1:15:02

Yeah, yeah. And I I just heard out in your area when speaking of the the fires again that there was the benefit benefits concert or whatever, and they they just all reunited to to perform to help raise money for you know what's been happening and continuing to go on. But um, you know, that was really cool to see. You know, the breeder is another great band spin-off from the Pixies.

SPEAKER_03: 1:15:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:15:32

You know, and there's just I mean, great music is out there, you know, but like like we just said, a lot all the really good stuff is on the underground. And you know, it's it's it's in it's I want to say like another another two uh areas that I see really good music coming out of besides like Europe and and the UK and Glasgow and all that is Australia and New Zealand. I've seen a lot of a lot of really good bands come out of there. Some are in like the shoe gays and some are like in the alternative rock scene. One band I want to throw again, uh throw their name out a lot recently because I'm trying honestly trying to get them on my show. They're they're blowing up huge. They're like one of the biggest new bands in uh Australia right now. They're called Full Flower Moon Band. Um yeah, they're really good. Iggy Pop played uh one of their songs on his radio show, and they're like real, they just put out their second album, I think last summer or towards the end of last year. Really good, really good. It's again, it's a female vocalist backed by all dudes, and uh they have a very uh funny uh social media presence. They like like I could just tell that like these are people if if like I lived in Australia or like near where this band, you know, would be living, I'd be like, I want to hang out with these these people because they seem they seem like they they like they're they're if they're they're laid back and they also have like a sense of humor, you know. So so it's like you know, they they have a good social media presence, like they know how to you know market themselves.

SPEAKER_03: 1:17:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:17:39

But you know, that that's that's another band uh worth checking out. Definitely worth checking out from Australia, New Zealand. There's a great band called uh the Holy Drug Couple.

SPEAKER_06: 1:17:52

Oh yeah, I've heard them.

SPEAKER_00: 1:17:54

Yeah, they're really good.

SPEAKER_06: 1:17:56

I have them in a couple playlists. Yeah. I keep a like a psych rock type playlist and yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that'd be pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00: 1:18:08

Awesome, awesome. Well, here's a question for you. Who does the cover art for your albums?

SPEAKER_06: 1:18:18

For each record, I've been able to find a different artist. So this record was done by a company called One Horse Town. I can't remember the guy's name. I think it's Simon maybe, but he's uh over in uh South Africa, I believe. So I just saw him on Instagram doing uh cool posters, you know, for you know that caught my eye, and uh yeah, I just asked him and he did it. He was very professional, really good, and it's probably the best cover we've had so far. You know. Yeah, the last record, Sea of Sorrow. That was actually a friend of mine, old friend of mine, and she's an artist and she's been doing some wood cuts or lino cuts, and so I had her do one, and I think it's really cool as well. And that's the same thing with every every record except for uh sleep forever. I've you know found some artists out there who can do it. You know, and we've had this theme of putting ships at sea in a storm on all the covers. And I was thinking about dropping it, but people have convinced me to keep it up, so uh that'll keep going. So, you know, just uh you know, obvious metaphor for getting through life, right? You know what I mean? Like making it through. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:19:33

Right. Well, there like there's one thing that like a formula I want to get like patent patent or pet Yeah, I get it. Whatever that word is, I'm having trouble saying right now on a t-shirt because it's like a math equation that I think is the key to finding great music. And and that is awesome album cover, longer tracks equals great music. That's my equation.

SPEAKER_06: 1:20:15

Pretty good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:20:16

You know, uh hasn't failed me yet, and it's one of the key things that like if I'm doing music searching on like Spotify and seeing like I like this band what's related, you know, a lot of times it's like I see the album cover and I'm like, who is this? Yeah, you know, for sure. Um I think it's it's just as important as like a movie poster, you know, for for a film, you know, to like if you have if you can capture with like an image, you know, what encompasses the album and the music and the you know the band, you know, I think you have yourself a uh winning scenario to basically uh keep current listeners listening and attracting new listeners you know to get into into the music.

SPEAKER_06: 1:21:11

Agreed.

SPEAKER_00: 1:21:12

But yeah, that that's that's one thing I always find. I always like asking who does the album covers because I like to promote the their stuff as well, because I think it's just as important as you know the the musician and you know the music. So I like to plug that stuff and I have town. Right, right. Definitely. I have three closer questions for you.

SPEAKER_03: 1:21:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 1:21:39

Again, I know we've been talking about music a lot. So the first one is who are some of your favorite bands in general? This the second question is I know we've been talking about music and a little bit about mentioning film, but what are some of your favorite films? And then any uh upcoming projects and and or uh and tour dates.

SPEAKER_06: 1:22:08

Okay, let's start with the favorite bands. I mean, that's that's super hard, of course, but definitely Brian Jonathan Masker. I mean, I listen, I what I do is I put together playlists, and I'm a real song-oriented person, you know, so you know, I put my favorite songs on this list and listen to it and burn them out. But you know, obviously, you know, like I said, Brian Jonathan Masker, Danny Warholz. There's a band called Black Market Karma who are great.

SPEAKER_01: 1:22:36

I've I've interviewed them. Great bands.

SPEAKER_06: 1:22:38

Yeah, yeah. Cat Power, uh Black Angels.

SPEAKER_01: 1:22:42

Great, great band.

SPEAKER_06: 1:22:43

I'm just looking through my list here SC. Some real favorites, but uh hold on, let's see. Oh, one of the underappreciated bands of the 90s was Love Battery from Seattle. Yes, great band, great band. Uh Bauhaus. Uh you know, let's see. I'm just looking through this. Uh Spaceman 3, obviously. Elliot Smith, I really like a lot. Love. Um, you know, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

SPEAKER_00: 1:23:14

Great band. I saw them live. Great show.

SPEAKER_06: 1:23:17

Yeah, yeah. Sonic Jesus, they're a cool band from over in Europe, I think Italy. What else?

SPEAKER_00: 1:23:24

I'm familiar with them as well. Great band.

SPEAKER_06: 1:23:26

Uh, there's another one that many people haven't heard of. There's two actually they should check them out. Is uh Jesus on heroin with an E after the heroin, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 1:23:37

And I'm familiar with them. They're a great band.

SPEAKER_06: 1:23:39

One brilliant record, yeah. And then the other one is called Guitaro, G-U-I-T-A-R-O. They have like just two records from maybe 10 or 20 years ago that are just fantastic, you know. I don't know how they got overlooked, but but anyways, you know, and there's tons more, of course, but you get the idea. Oh, yeah. Well, I have to go back to like the Melbourne's, Pussy Glore, Butthole Surfers, Springs, you know, it all still in the mix, you know. So, yeah, so anyways, okay, we got it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:24:10

What's the next question I forgot? What are some of your favorite films?

SPEAKER_06: 1:24:16

Okay, my memory is poor, but I you know, the ones that really stick out in my life were like the Clockwork Orange, Apocalypse Now for sure.

SPEAKER_00: 1:24:28

I j I just met uh Martin Sheen.

SPEAKER_06: 1:24:31

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00: 1:24:32

That's uh uh December. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 1:24:35

Yeah. That one I I thought I would like the Redux version because hey, it's more stuff, but actually I didn't. You know what I mean? Like I like the original, you know, sort of cut. What else? Um god. Uh what's that one about bowling that's filthy?

SPEAKER_00: 1:24:53

Uh the big Lebowski?

SPEAKER_06: 1:24:55

No, no, it's by the Fairly Brothers.

SPEAKER_00: 1:24:58

Um, Kingpin.

SPEAKER_06: 1:24:59

Fucking great. You know what I mean? Underrated classic.

SPEAKER_00: 1:25:03

Yeah. And uh I would I would say that's their dirtiest uh yeah. The most underrated, dirtiest film.

SPEAKER_06: 1:25:11

Yeah, super funny too. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:25:15

That that movie's especially funny to me because it's it takes place. We're supposed to be in Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_06: 1:25:22

Um yeah, with the Amish and stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 1:25:24

With the Amish Country, which I've been to Amish Country before. So it's like that that movie always really was like, you know, I I you know Dumb and Dumber was pushing, you know, boundaries. But like I I think I think Kingpin definitely with the subject matter in the area they go to is a lot dirtier and rauncher than than any other stuff, then dumb and dumber than me, myself, and Irene, and everything they've done since.

SPEAKER_06: 1:25:58

Yeah, agreed. And yeah, I'm having trouble thinking. There's a ton, but uh a couple World War II movies I really like. Uh what was the uh Tom Hanks one?

SPEAKER_01: 1:26:11

I mean Saving Pride Orion.

SPEAKER_06: 1:26:13

Yeah, that was you know, just the sound of those tanks going through the town. Right, right. You know, I gotta move rooms real quick, but uh so uh yeah, I think I I have to leave it there for now because I can't think great.

SPEAKER_00: 1:26:30

No problem.

SPEAKER_06: 1:26:31

But yeah, I like a lot of spy stuff too.

SPEAKER_00: 1:26:34

Yeah, spy stuff's great. Yeah, big uh like the Jason Bourne movies.

SPEAKER_06: 1:26:39

Oh yeah, those first two were just fantastic, man.

SPEAKER_00: 1:26:42

Yeah, yeah. I mean the I think the Daniel Craig uh James Bond stuff was was I think that's the first Bond the first Bond like series that I can re-watch and kind of like well some stuff is definitely still dated, it's it's it feels like you can re-watch these versus like even the the Pierce Brosnan ones. Oh man, and everything before. It just is like there's like the original Bond formula that like they pretty much stuck with from like Connery up till Pierce Brosnan. And then Craig was like the new like the new era of of Bond.

SPEAKER_06: 1:27:31

Yeah, it was closer to realistic, you know, but not really fair, you know. But uh yeah, for sure. I mean I loved those as a kid. Right, you know, once I got into real spy stuff, I was like uh you know, okay, yeah, I I wanted realism. So yeah, I can tell you a couple here. Let me just take this uh no, no. Okay, never mind. So it's a you know, a site where you got a bunch of stuff. Okay, never mind. It's too far. Oh, Munich was great, yeah. You know, there's there's a lot of good ones. Spy Who Came In From the Cold is fantastic, that's an old one. But uh Oh yeah, and the one that uh yeah, that's also uh what's the guy uh who wrote Ticker Taylor Soldier Spy? But that's a fantastic movie.

SPEAKER_02: 1:28:22

Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 1:28:23

Yeah, uh James Lacari, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:28:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, he's a good filmmaker.

SPEAKER_06: 1:28:30

Yeah, so that's kind of where I'm at right now. But I, you know, I like a lot of different stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 1:28:35

Awesome, awesome. I think the one of the biggest uh filmmakers he just passed away that music was a huge part of his movies was uh David Lynch. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 1:28:46

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00: 1:28:47

Yeah. Yeah, I mean I know that uh Trent Reznor worked with him on uh Wild at Heart. It's the one with Bill Palman and Patricia Arquette.

SPEAKER_06: 1:29:01

Yeah, I remember that one.

SPEAKER_00: 1:29:02

Uh the it didn't it didn't do well in theaters, but like it became like a cult, a cult classic like most of his other movies. Right. Um but I remember Trend Reznor was like big and on on doing the score to that. Another movie I have to say, big on music, the crow.

SPEAKER_06: 1:29:24

Okay, yeah, yeah. Tragic ending there, but uh yeah, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00: 1:29:31

Yeah, definitely, but definitely you you know I refuse to watch the the the blasphemy uh re remake or whatever it was.

SPEAKER_06: 1:29:42

But uh yeah, uh no, I agree, but I thought of one more that's huge. Spinal tap.

SPEAKER_00: 1:29:49

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_06: 1:29:51

One of the best movies ever made.

SPEAKER_00: 1:29:54

Exactly, exactly. What's his name? Uh Michael uh McKean. Um, he he is very underrated uh as as as a comedic actor and just actor in general. I I I I remember he he's in one of my one of me and my dad's favorite two-parter episode of uh or yeah storyline from uh the X-Miles.

SPEAKER_03: 1:30:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 1:30:26

He plays the character, I think his name is Morris, and like the the episode is like Motor and Scully go to like what is supposed to be like Area 51. Oh yeah, and like a experimental craft flies over, and Mulder and Michael McKean's character switch bodies. So Motor is in is in Michael McKean's body. And Michael McKean is in Motor's body, and like they look in the mirror, and it's like it's it's Michael McKean looking like he's Motor, and Motor is looking like Michael McKean, and it's it's a very like funny episode because Morris, Michael McKean's character, is like very like you know, a sexual fiend and kind of pervert, you know, is going cheating on his wife and you know, trying to hit on Scully, you know.

SPEAKER_06: 1:31:24

Right, that's great.

SPEAKER_00: 1:31:25

It's it's just very it's very uh it's classic.

SPEAKER_06: 1:31:28

No, I love him. He's very cool and sort of dry, you know, like right, right.

SPEAKER_00: 1:31:33

He was also really good in uh the first uh Brady Bunch movie. Um he was the the next the neighbor next to the the Brady's yeah uh and I I've recently watched watched you know both of those the uh you know the Brady Bunch movie and a very Brady sequel. You know, it's been on one of the movie channels or streaming services. Right. And uh, you know, I there's a lot of stuff I did not get as a kid when I saw those those movies, and it's all like you know, coming like I I understand all the the the stuff that's in that movie. And one of the things I think is hysterical is Michael McKean's w wife in in the movie, who's like you know, the neighbors to the Brady's is trying to like like classic, you know, porno scenario, like the the the the the neighbors, you know, wife wants to get with the young uh Brady man.

SPEAKER_06: 1:32:40

Right. That's funny.

SPEAKER_00: 1:32:42

You know, but yeah, classic stuff. But uh oh all more for next. Yep. Last question for ya I know you were starting to talk about a possible next album and any tour dates going on and any chance of you coming to Pittsburgh again as as tombstones in your in their eyes.

SPEAKER_06: 1:33:08

Yeah, okay, I can answer that. So we're probably about 60% done with uh the next record musically. We did a show a couple weeks, a few weeks ago. It's our first show in like uh over a year, and with the new lineup, we have now two singers with me, two girls that are you know, or women that you know are are have joined the band. You know, they'll probably play some instruments too, but right now we're just trying to get the singing worked out, you know. So it's you know it's gonna be seven people on stage. Um yeah, so yeah, the plan for me is like I I want to be a good live band, that's my thing this year, is just to make as a good live band as we are. And then go to like San Diego, go to San Francisco, go to Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. Because we all, you know, we're I can you know have responsibilities we're older, we're not I'm not twenty-two where I can couches anymore. But you know, but I one of my next plans after that would be to like apply to New York, you know, and do you know a few shows out there, you know, and obviously we could hit Pittsburgh while we're there, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:34:22

That would be awesome.

SPEAKER_06: 1:34:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:34:24

And any any venues you need a list of when that time comes, shoot me a message. I will give you full list rundown of all the best possible venues to play in Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_06: 1:34:41

Sure.

SPEAKER_00: 1:34:41

And any way I can help out in that area, and uh, you know, I'd l I'd love to meet you and the rest of the band in person. That'd be great. You know, that that ever happens. Come out of my way uh again, that'd be awesome.

SPEAKER_06: 1:34:55

That's a dream to get out there again, yeah. And do it in a different way, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 1:34:59

So Yeah. I'll uh I'll have to w when that time eventually comes, I'll have to get a a list of the the famous Pittsburgh food places to to give you the the one that I can think of that's a a Pittsburgh landmark is uh Minnios Pizza. Okay two locations, one right near where I live is the original location, and then walking distance is like people they apparently like ship like frozen versions of their pizza out for like Super Bowl and stuff like that. Like that's that's how people crave many of those pizza.

SPEAKER_06: 1:35:45

That's great.

SPEAKER_00: 1:35:46

But a lot of other stuff, but you know, whenever whenever that time comes, you know, I'd love to help out in any way I can and meet all you guys in person.

SPEAKER_06: 1:35:57

Yeah, I doubt that. And thank you, you know, again for talking to you today. It's uh Absolutely, you know. We got a lot in common as far as musical taste, I think, and uh good stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 1:36:11

Definitely, definitely. It's it's been uh it's been my pleasure having you on and getting to talk to you and you know, just make some great connections and uh you know Yeah, anytime you're out this way, you know, just check in and I'll show you something out here that we can, you know. Oh that that'll be awesome. I I yeah the la the last time I was out in LA was was twenty eighteen and that was for a film festival right next to the Hollywood area. I had I had a script it's it's based on a uh HP Lovecraft story, short story that made it as a uh a finalist in a uh film festival out there, a big one called uh Shriekfest.

SPEAKER_03: 1:37:00

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00: 1:37:01

Yeah. I was uh my first trip out there as an adult. I loved it. California is pretty pretty cool. Of course, that was all pre uh COVID and Right, of course. That kind of changed big amount, but I did I did like California a lot. And you know I would definitely love to take another trip out there. So uh whenever that happens, I'll definitely keep you posted. I have a lot of other you know celebrity friends I keep in touch with on Facebook that uh I've had on the show that you know live out there. I hope everything's you know again okay with them. And again, my best wishes, condolences, and concerns stay safe out there and everything with all that crazy shit going on. But yeah, I mean it's it was a pleasure talking with you. I uh I'll s l I'll shoot you a message, let you know which which attracts I used for uh the interview. And yeah, it's it's it's really been a pleasure and uh great great talking with you. All right. Thank you so much for taking the time to swim in the bowl with me.

SPEAKER_06: 1:38:20

Well, I'm gonna climb out of the bowl and get dried up, but thanks again, Sam.

SPEAKER_00: 1:38:25

Absolutely, absolutely. Uh have you on again anytime.

SPEAKER_06: 1:38:29

Cool. I'd love to do that.

SPEAKER_00: 1:38:31

Definitely.

SPEAKER_06: 1:38:32

Talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_00: 1:38:33

Talk to you soon. What's up, all my fishes in the sea? Thanks for listening to my interview with John Trenner of Tombstones in Their Eyes. Here is the fifth track off of Asylum Harbor. I'm not like that.