Lexi Reyngoudt from Spaced

Excited to welcome on Lexi Reyngoudt, the vocalist for Buffalo hardcore band Spaced! They are about to drop their new LP on Revelation Records later this month so hop on it and pre-save/pre-order now! We chop it up about life in Buffalo, her love for K-Pop fandom and teaching. It's a wide ranging chat from a band you will be hearing more about in the future! 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:19):
If you're listening to one hundred words or less with
Gray Harkins. Hello one, Hello, all, Welcome to another episode
of Just Absolute Nerd talk about punk, ardcore, metal, emo,
whatever it is you want to call it. I like
to call it d I y, you know, music played
in small, sweaty rooms or maybe even like slightly larger

(00:42):
sweaty rooms. Because I'll be honest, hardcore and punk is
like the most popular it ever has been in my lifetime.
And so you know there's that element of like, as
it grows, are we you know, still maintaining the same
sort of you know, ethics and values and all of
those things that we so dear. I think the resounding
answer that we, at least I feel currently is that, yes,

(01:07):
bands are being authentic to themselves. And hold on for
a moment. Let's talk about the guest this week, and
then I'll pontificate a little bit more. But the guest
this week, I am thrilled to have Lexi rain Gout,
who I am absolutely almost positive mispronouncing her last name,
but I did it in her interview and she confirmed it,

(01:28):
and then yeah, I just some dumb and that left
my brain. But regardless, Lexi is the vocalist for an
amazing Buffalo hardcore band called Spaced, and they're releasing a record,
their first or there I think they're wait no no, no,
no no, they have a full length prior to this.
Oh my gosh. Anyways, it's their debut for Revelation Records

(01:49):
called This Is All We Ever Get, comes out on
March twenty seconds. I've heard it. It is really, really,
really good, and so you can go to revhq dot
com pre ordered it. They got some sweet rev HQ
exclusive color vinyl for those of you that are vinyl heads.
I know I have mine on pre order, So there
we go. But Lexi was a great chat and Space

(02:11):
is a very interesting band because, you know, definitely a
punk and hardcore band. But Lexi, you know, her own
experience with punk and hardcore is like, you know, homegrown
in her backyard, getting exposed every time I die, and
like I want to say, she said, like twenty fifteen,
twenty sixteen. But yeah, it's really interesting to talk to
people who are obviously much younger than me and have

(02:32):
that experience of being like, oh yeah, I just like
randomly tripped across this because a friend took me to
his show or whatever, and you know, it's very similar
to many of our old head experiences as well, where
it's like you just randomly see a CD or a
record in a store and then all of a sudden,
Pandora's Box just opens up to you where you know,
I'll never forget. I mean after you know, definitely going

(02:53):
through my epifats, you know, punk and hardcore phase. Uh,
getting the first victory style compilation at I want to
say Top ten Records in Tustin, California, long sense out
of business, but I remember that comp being on their
front counter. I think it was five dollars. I definitely
had five dollars. Didn't have enough money to buy any

(03:14):
sort of full lengths or anything else, even though I
was totally eyeball on that, you know, no use for
a name legikon Karne full length, I was like, you
know what, I can afford this, I can't afford the
other things. And then from there game over, you know,
getting into dead Guy, snapcase, Earth crisis, guilt, just strife.
I mean, the list goes on. But anyways, let's talk

(03:36):
about how you can get in touch with the show.
You can email me at one hundred Words Podcast at
gmail dot com. I love to hear feedback, and you know,
been getting a lot of interesting submissions in regards to
you know, people being like, oh, here's a new record
and you know, check it out and that sort of stuff.
So always love to have that correspondence with you, the
human being who was on the other side of this speaker,

(03:57):
because you know, it's a weird relationship, like sometimes some
of you have hung out with me for hours and
hours and hours and you know we've never corresponded. So
you know, you can change that just by emailing the show.
And if you want to support the show for zero
dollars and we'll take you maybe thirty seconds at the most.
You can leave a rating and review on the Apple
podcast page, or you can leave a rating on the

(04:18):
Spotify page if you listen to podcasts that way. I
also publish all these episodes YouTube. I will put a
link in the show notes. That's the way you can
follow along and subscribe and you know, be updated with
everything that is happening with the show on that side
of things. If you only listen to podcasts via YouTube,
which some people do. So just want to make sure
that I'm delivering the content where it needs to be.

(04:40):
And yeah, so let me let me talk about the
popularity of punk and hardcore. I was having a discussion.
I went to go see Further Seams Forever in the
movie Life and Fairweather Chain Reaction recently amazing show. By
the way, I freaking love Further Seams Forever. I mean,
movie Life's great as well, and Fairther other was really good.
I actually forgot they had three guitarists, and then I

(05:01):
saw them. I was like, oh, yeah, that's right, because
I mean last time I saw them was like two
thousand and two, maybe I don't know, forever ago. But
I was having a discussion with a friend out in
the parking lots, and you know, we were talking about
how interesting it is to, you know, watch hardcore be
as popular as it is, you know, from Ceremony selling
out the Hollywood Palladium of you know, thirty seven hundred

(05:21):
people or something like that, which is crazy. And I
mean it's amazing because Ceremony is not only an incredible band,
but you know, they're celebrating their record Runner Park and yeah,
I mean just so so happy for them, and it's
just it's crazy because you watch this and then there
are clearly people who this may have been like the

(05:42):
first punk or hardcore show for them, which is amazing,
and it's just like getting to experience the large s
of punk and hardcore at that level is you know,
pretty special and incredible. But you definitely want to, you know,
retain as much of the small room energy as you
possibly can. That will get peeple who you know, want
to start a band, start a fancying, you know, take photos,

(06:05):
whatever it is that you want to to to participate
in this scene. You know, I think that's the only
way that this thing continues to grow, and you know,
hopefully that we just continue to you know, stay vigilant,
so to speak, and not let this thing be so
overly commoditized to where you know, the the pro core element,

(06:26):
which is a word that you know most people don't
use these days, but you know us old people use it.
It's like you really want to enjoy playing in a band.
And I think sometimes there is that element of just like, Okay,
this is like what I should do because this is
what either my friends are doing or this is what
you know is kind of expected of me. If I

(06:46):
do get into this stuff, and that's great, Like, you know,
if there is that element of pure pressure for you
to play in a band, Like that's awesome, but you know, ultimately,
just just really pay attention to the pure intentions of
why you're doing what you're doing. So anyways, this is
just old man on the porch talk here, so I
apologize for that. But anyways, let's talk to Lexi. Like

(07:08):
I said, Space has a new record that is coming
on March twenty second on Revelation Records. And she was
a great chat. Got to nerd out about Buffalo and
how weird of a town it is, but then also
how incredible it is and uh yeah, everything about her
and Spaced. So here we go. Actually, oh wait, wait,
oh my gosh, I was almost forgetting the weekly recommendations.
I apologize. Let's talk about this week's recommendation. I will

(07:32):
put a link in the show notes to all of
the records and EPs and things that I've mentioned in
previous episodes. I basically just wanted to kind of keep
the you know, new music flow and so to speak,
and make sure that you were abreast of anything that
I'm just randomly tripping across, because that is why we're
here to expose you to new bands and new music,
so randomly tripped across this s band called Gillian Carter.

(07:56):
I had seen their name out there, never really paid
too close attention to their music, and then their record
Salvation Through Misery came out in twenty twenty two. I
just I listened to it and just immediately became captivated
with it. It has all of the elements of you know,
really a majority rule scream oh like definitely that you know,

(08:16):
late nineties, early two thousand's definitely some Meal Perry involved
in there, but they had They have one song in
particular on the record. It's called Watching a Friend Die.
It is the last song on the record. I played
that one on repeat for I don't know thirty forty minutes.
It's only like a two and a half minute song.
So you can see where I'm going with this. But

(08:37):
I love this band, and so if you're a fan
of any of that sort of you know, loud melodic,
screamo ish stuff, you need to listen to Jillian Carter.
I love them so much. So anyways, check that out,
and like I said, I will link in the show
notes a running playlist of all the recommendations for the year.
So anyways, now let's talk to Lexi from Space our

(09:05):
mutual friend mister Nick Acosta from New Mortality New Morality zine.
I always say Mortality even though that's not the right
name of it. Sometimes, Yeah, just like it's just slipping
out of your mouth. Anyways, Nick, clude me into you guys,
like once you started to work with you and be like, hey,
you know, check out this band, see what you think.

(09:26):
And I was like, this is cool because and I
know that I'm not the first person to label you
as such, but I was like, oh, this is like
groovy hardcore, like exactly, yeah, Like I got it immediately,
where it's like, Okay, you're obviously not taking yourself very seriously,
but the approach is serious, and you know, you're kind
of putting all this fun slash serious stuff in a

(09:47):
blender and that's what comes out. I'm going to guess
that because of this style. Like yes, of course you're
a hardcore band, and that's very obvious from your sonics.
But then you know, you're never going to be the
heaviest ban the bill, You're never gonna be the most
poppuist band on the bill. You don't fit in anywhere.
I mean you do, but I'm being hyperbolic here, do you?

(10:08):
Uh you know? Is that a Is that a plus
or minus for you?

Speaker 2 (10:13):
I think it's a plus. I'm sure some people hate it,
but uh, personally, we all really like it because we
love mixed band bills, and like, I don't know, like
if you're only listening to hardcore, I like as a whole,
like that's the only music you listen to. I'm concerned
for you, Like I can't like if we like have

(10:36):
a hardcore Like if I go to a hardcore show
in Buffalo or like on tour, like nine times out
of ten we are not listening to hardcore in the
ban or I'm not listening to it on my way home,
like I need to listen to like pop or something.
So I enjoy playing with bands that are outside the
realm of hardcore. I love playing hardcore shows like that
is my favorite type of show to play. But there

(10:58):
are like pop punk bands and like any so we've
played with so many times and like it is awesome.
Like we've played with Arms Length, which is an Midwest
emo band. We played their record release show and it
was one of my favorite shows we've ever played because
their fans were so like into it, like they're like, oh,
we can stage hive for this, and they like just

(11:20):
kept going the entire set and it was the coolest
thing ever. So like, I'm pro playing non hardcore shows.
It's not something I hate, like in fact, I love it.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
Right right and I do. To your point, the positive
side is the fact that yes, you can play with
and I'm gonna be a nerd and correct you. I
think Arm's Length is from Toronto.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Please create a but like you yes, yes, yeah they
are from Toronto.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Okay, I just I thought I was going crazy for
a second. I was like, wait a minute, I thought there,
and of course, me being the nerd that I am,
where it's like a LEXI, I think the Toronto Sorry, no,
you're You're correct.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
But they got the twinkling guitars, you know, like.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
They sonically they would fit right at home in Chicago
and no one would blink an eye for sure.

Speaker 2 (12:12):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
But yeah, to your point, the idea of being able
to play with a wide variety of bands is obviously
a plus because you can be I mean, especially when
you're playing with you know, lighter bands, Like any element
of aggression, people are going to have a reaction to you,
they're either gonna love you or hate you and obviously
do that stage type stuff where it's like, oh wait,
I'm allowed to do this, Like this is cool.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, And like we've even had shows where it's like
heavier like bands, Like we've played with Gates to help
like multiple times, and we would always end up being
the like lightest band on the bill, and like, no
matter what, I'm always like, I hope these people like us,
because if they don't, like, I'm gonna have a horrible

(12:57):
fifteen to twenty minutes. But usually it's like a breath
of fresh air for these people because they're like, oh,
I've just been listening to like the heaviest guitar riffs
in the world, and now I'm like able to just
like jump around and dance, which is awesome to me
because I'm the same way, Like I love going to
like heavier shows, like more on the metal side, but
like if I can get like just a nice like

(13:18):
touch of like lighter hardcore in it, it's perfect.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
Right it is. And I know that people always wear
the rosy glasses and get nostalgic over the idea that
you know, it's like, yeah, hardcore bands and emo bands
always used to play together in the nineties and stuff
like that, like mix mix band bills still happen, but
it's just obviously more of a it's just easier for
bands that you know, are sounding alike to tour together

(13:46):
so that you know, your average fifteen or sixteen year
old that's like I only want to hear heavy stuff.
Like it's you know, just easier from a business side
of things.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Oh yeah, for sure. Like the Military Gun tour that
we have coming up, Like, in my opinion, I feel
like that is just like a perfect line up because
Military Gun likes to like sit on the fence between
hardcore and like indie pop, and then you have bands
like Pool Kids and like Spiritual Cramp, which like are
also in that vein where they could play with heavier

(14:16):
bands if they want to, or they could play with
lighter bands. So it's cool that like we get to
join in on that.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
Absolutely, it's it's a tweeter tour.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Mm hm, I guess, Oh my god, I love that.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, go ahead use it around. Yeah, uh the I know.
So just some biographical information. Were you actually born and
raised in Buffalo or did you grow up somewhere else?

Speaker 2 (14:38):
I grew up closer to Rochester. So I'm from a
very very small farm town called Holly, New York, and
it's like right next to Brockport, where like sunny Brockport
the college is so like a lot of the times
I tell people, Oh, I'm from Brockport or well, I'll
start with Rochester and they're like, oh, we're in Rochester
and like, oh, I'm from like close to Brockport, and
it's just like me getting to this like smaller circle.

(15:00):
And like sometimes people will be like, oh, yeah, I've
heard of that, or it's like what, I've never heard
of that place in my entire life. Like we have
one stop light in the entire town, right, Yeah, You're.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
Like there's no reason you would have heard of this
unless you accidentally drove through.

Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yes, Like there's definitely more cows than people in that town,
right or.

Speaker 1 (15:20):
And like those other Like so many people, especially when
they haven't traveled very much, just have this conception of
New York as either being you know, like the city
or just you know completely like upstate mountains, and it's
like there's a lot in between there that is you know,
just really diverse.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, Like there's there's also a lot of farms, Like
there's plenty of farms, especially like Western New York, Like
there are dairy farms everywhere right right.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
And so you're, you know, growing up, what did your
family structure look like? You have brothers and sisters, like
mom and dad in the house, what does that shape
up to.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I have my mom and my dad, and I
just have an older sister. She's three and a half
years older than me, and like, I'm very close with
my family. They're awesome. They come to Space shows when
they can, Like they came to the Better Lovers Holiday
show because I was like, guys, I want you to
see me on this big stage because it's probably not

(16:18):
gonna happen again for a while. And they're like, okay,
I do that. They would have like a cozy spot,
like not near the pit, so I knew it would
be safe for them, and they loved it. They think
it's so cool. Like they're super supportive and super awesome
about Space and like me going on tour a lot,
that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
Well, I would imagine that would be difficult if they weren't,
because I mean, you would do it regardless. I'm guessing
because oh yeah, yeah, that's kind of how you know
us puck and hardcore kids are. It's like whatever, parents,
you're dumb, I'll do this what I want. But that's
cool that they even though they probably instinctually don't understand

(16:54):
the music, that they still were permissive enough for you
to explore this weird subculture.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah. They like I just graduated from getting my second
degree in may Well. Yeah congrass, Yeah, thank you. So
my mom was just like, as long as you finish school,
and like, because I went back for English education, She's like,
as long as you go back to you finish school
and you like go and get your master's and like
you try to do like subbing on the side, Like
I don't care what you do. And I was like,

(17:22):
say less, so I sub when I'm home and like
I travel when I'm on the road.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
That's really it's funny the long line of people that
have found careers or jobs that do give you that
mobility to you know, like substitute teaching, like I know
for the longest time, like Chris Scaraba dashboard confessional, like
that's what he did. And you know, there's like a
lot of people in punk and hardcore have gravitated towards that,

(17:49):
because it's either the idea that Okay, I can just
to or all summer, or I can just pop in
when you know, I'm home for whatever four months or
something like that.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, And like, honestly, it's so nice because like I
like being in the school, and like I like being
with those students I do like middle school and high school.
So it's like really cool to like see them. And
they're like some of them know about like space, so
they're like they're with it. But I said, I could

(18:18):
just be like, all right, I'm not gonna be here
for like two weeks, see you. And then they like
are like where'd you go? And I'm like, I was
on the road, right.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
You're like, don't worry, you're you know, your weirdo teacher
was on the road with their weirdo band. So hearing
out let's talk about English.

Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah. When I was student teaching, the kids were like,
are you in a tour bus? And I was like,
you don't understand. I'm about to spend a week in
a van with like four of my best friends and
it's probably gonna be smelly at some point. Like it's
not glamorous at all.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
Yeah, I'm mean a traveling fart box. I don't know
if you understand literally, and I do. There is something
that I've been always interested in with the connection of
you know, education and punk and hardcore. Uh there. I
know not everybody gravitates towards that, but there is such
an interesting link between the two because the idea of

(19:10):
getting up in front of a classroom of students is
you know, very similar to getting up in front of
a room of you know, strangers that you're playing a
show to have you like either observed that or made
any sort of connections on like oh yes, like my
job training makes it easier for me to play in
a band or vice versa.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Oh yeah, one hundred percent. For like my final project
before I graduated, I like we had to make like
a teaching portfolio so we could use it for interviews,
and my professors like, I want you to touch upon
like being in a band and like the hardcore scene
and like how it like ties into your teaching. And
one of the like huge things I talked about was

(19:47):
like crowd control and how like when you're on stage
and you're in front of a group of like a
room of strangers, like you need to make sure that
you can like control them into like enjoying your set.
And it's similar to like being in front of a
classroom of eighth graders who are not interested in learning
about the narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass and

(20:11):
you're like, all right, guys, I gotta make this interesting
for you. So I find that to be super similar.
And also just like how the hardcore community is like
so strong. We talk about unity and like brotherhood and
like being there for each other. It's the same as
like creating a classroom community and like making sure that
everybody in your classroom feels safe the same way that
you try to make sure everybody at a local show

(20:33):
feels safe.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Right, it is. It's like the idea of you know,
meeting people where they're at, Like you you have to
present this information, I mean not have to, but like
that is an important piece of you know, history, or
like you said, tying it back into what you're teaching.
But you have to know what is going to you know,
engage a majority of the classroom, which that's a skill

(20:57):
in it of itself, just as like you know, Amasha
is maybe a little bit easier to do because you know,
kids are maybe ready to mash, but still you're you
are controlling the room.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, And like I would argue, like being in front
of a classroom is much scarier than being in the
room of strangers, because like middle schoolers, they're ruthless in
a way that I love and I enjoy them. But
sometimes I'm like, oh my god, guys, like you're staring
at me, like you think I have ten heads right now?

Speaker 1 (21:27):
Right? Yeah, You're like I tried to make like two
or three jokes to light the room and all of
them landed flat, And what are we going to do here?

Speaker 2 (21:37):
Yeah? Like, even when I'm stubbing, I like try to
joke around with the kids and they just look at
me and they're like okay, and I'm like, ah, I'm sorry,
I'll stop talking now.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
Totally. It's like whatever, old woman, And You're like, I'm
not old, but.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
I know to you, yeah, they'll just be like I
remember when I was student teaching one of my students
at my high school placement. I did ninth grade there,
and I was talking about my age and he goes,
how old are you? And I was like, well, how
old do you think I am? He goes, I don't
know forty and I was like okay, and like my
mentor teacher was in the back of the classroom, just
like in tears, and he was like, I don't even

(22:12):
want to know how much, Like how old do you
think I am if you think that she's forty, right,
And I was like, dude, I'm twenty seven, which.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Is and arguably like that, I you know, the difference
between the ages of ninth grader and twenty seven, Like
that's you know a lot because you're sixteen and you're
watching and I'm sure you had the same feeling, like
when you were watching bands for the first time and
you feel like they're so much older than you, and
then you come to, you know whatever, play some shows

(22:41):
with them and you're like, dude, you're two years older
than me. I felt like you were like ten or Yeah,
you have no sense of how that calibrates in your brain.

Speaker 2 (22:50):
Even now, Like when we tour with some bands and
I find out that someone's younger than me, I'm like, oh,
I'm an old head.

Speaker 1 (22:59):
Yeah you're like I wasn't putting myself there, but thank
you for reminding me age number.

Speaker 2 (23:04):
Yeah, Like there's I booked a show last Friday in
Buffalo and this one local band they're called Monomaniac and like,
the singer is in college, but the rest of the
band are all in high school. And like, one, they
are awesome, like very talented group of kids. Two they
make me feel so old. I like will talk to

(23:25):
them and They'll just like do like high schooler things,
and I'm like, oh my god. And then I'm like
back in my day and I'm like talking about like
things like that to them, and I'm just like I'm
an old had.

Speaker 1 (23:37):
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(25:04):
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little bit of everything? What did you, you know, find
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Speaker 2 (25:24):
So if I did sports all throughout high school and
like all throughout my life until college basically, so like
in the summer, I would do travel soccer. But if
I had the opportunity to just like sit inside and
play my Nintendo DS or like my game Boy, I
would be doing that. Like my parents called me a zipperhead.
I don't know what that means, but they always meant

(25:45):
like I was just had my face and like whatever
gaming device I was playing, so like and they to
this day, my parents would be like, you look really pale.
Have you gone outside? And I'm like, yes, I have.
I just am pale. Like sorry, I'm like, are you
sure you haven't just like stayed in and like played
video games all day And I'm like, no, I bring
my switch outside.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, you Like I get my vitamin D. It's fine.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah, I'm like I'm old now, like I need the
vitamin D. But like I'm still gonna go outside and
play my switch, like get with it right.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
You're like, I am accomplishing both things at once and
leave me alone.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
Mm hmm exactly.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
And did you were you always attracted to the idea
of teaching? Like what was the you know, thing that
pulled you in that general direction.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
I feel like a lot of people like growing up,
so my mom was an elementary school art teacher, so
I was always round teachers, Like she would have her
teacher friends over, so I would see them a lot.
And like I remember, I want to say, like freshman
and sophomore years, like when you start to think about,
like what you want to do when you're in college.
And I was like I would always think about being

(26:54):
a teacher, but I never knew like what subject I
would want to do. And when I graduated, I actually
went to school for audio radio production because I wanted
to like work in radio, which never ended up happening
because unfortunately it's a dying industry. And like I applied
to a radio station in Buffalo at least fifteen times
and never heard back, and I was like, you know what,

(27:14):
that's enough for me to try something else to get Yeah,
So I was like I just ended up working an
office job in Buffalo, which was fine for the time being,
but I knew I didn't want to be there, and
I was like contemplating on going back to like school
for my master's and trying to get something in that.
And then the pandemic happened, so I was just like

(27:35):
stuck at home, like doing my office job, just in
my bedroom, like never leaving my bedroom, and I was like,
this is super depressing. I need to figure something out.
And I remember I think I was with my sister
and my roommate because we did like a little staycation
somewhere like in Saratoga in New York. We just like
rented an airbnb with a pool and just like hung

(27:55):
out by a pool for a week. And I was
just like telling them about my existential crisis. I was like, guys,
I don't know what I want to do with my life.
And I was like saying, I was like I kind
of looked at teaching, but I don't know what I
want to do with that, and my students like, you
would be a good teacher, and I was like, do
you think so? And so heurt My sister and my
roommates started like hyping me up. And then I was like,

(28:17):
I don't know what subject I would do. I was like,
I kind of like English. I'd been reading a lot
of books lately. My Siter's like, yeah, you should do English,
and so I was like, all right, I'm going to
go back to school for English education. And then when
I got home from that, I like, I applied at
Buffalo State University and I emailed the head of the
English Education department and I was like, Hi, uh, can

(28:39):
I talk to you? I just want to make sure
that this is something I want to do, and she
was awesome. I loved it. I applied as soon as
I got off of the zoom with her, and then
I talked to a different professor there and got accepted,
and I was like, yep, this is exactly what I
want to do.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Right. Just fell in really quickly with that initial push.
I really I love that idea of just be like
putting it out there and not really understanding why you
get pulled in that direction, besides your friends obviously saying
that they could see that for you, and then you're
just like, oh, yeah, I guess I'll try this out,
like better than what I'm doing right now.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, And I like told myself if I didn't like it,
I would just switch my major and figure something else out.
But I knew as soon as I was done with
my first semester, I was like, I really like this
and I really enjoy this. And then when I was
like in a classroom for the first time, I was like, yep,
I want to do this.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
Right, this is a fit. Uh, talk to me more
about the radio attraction, because I mean, like you said,
it's a medium that is still you know, large, but
definitely dwindling. The idea that someone under the age of
you know, thirty five would be attracted to radio is
kind of a funny conceit just like so like, how

(29:52):
how did the you know, love for the audio medium
get pulled into you?

Speaker 2 (29:57):
This is going to show how spontaneous I really am,
so I like, originally I originally was going to go
to school for psychology. And then my high school chorus
director I was like talking to her about that and
she's like, do you really want to be psychologist? Like
that's pretty tough on like your mental health, and I
was like, I don't know, like maybe, and then she
was like, I think you have a really good like voice,

(30:20):
like talking voice, what if you like looked into radio
and she went to the school that I end up
going to after high school. She was like, I think
there's a program there for it, and I was like,
oh my god, I should do that, and so I
switched to a major before I even went to school there.
And wow, yeah impulsive?

Speaker 1 (30:40):
Okay was what was this? Uh? Impulsive nature? I guess
this has always been kind of you, Like, does this
apply to other aspects of your life besides like career trajectories?
Does it work?

Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yes, Like a lot of the time I am very impulsive,
but like now I've gotten better at like making the
decision that's right instead of just like saying yes to something.
Mostly my impulsive decisions are like I'm coming home from
work and I'm like I really need a sweet treat
and then I'll just like stop somewhere and get like
a cookie. Like that's my impulsive decision. Now now I
actually like think about like life changing decisions.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
But right, yeah, a little more measured now, Okay.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
Radio and I did the radio station at Fredonia where
I went to school, and I loved it, which is
really cool because I just finished reading American Hardcore Tribal
History by Steven Blush, and it talks like there's a
section about like college radio and how that was so
impactful for hardcore in the beginning, and I was like

(31:43):
thinking about I was like, you know what, that is
pretty true. Like I was just like playing with ever
music I wanted to hear, and I didn't care about
what anybody else wanted to listen to on my radio shows.
And like granted, maybe like one or two people were listening,
but like that's enough for me to like be like, hey,
I'm gonna punish you with my music taste now, right,

(32:03):
But it was super cool. Like I ended up getting
into the local music scene there because of it, and
like I had I did a radio show called the
Local Lowdown, where like we would have bands from Buffalo
come on for interviews and like sometimes they would play
acoustic sets too, and like it would coincide with shows
that were happening at this bar in downtown fre Donia

(32:25):
where they would do the radio show and then they
would go immediately there to load in for a show
that night.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
Amazing, that's cool, and it is you hit the nail
on the head in regards to the only way that
you could play music that was left of center at
any point was obviously via college radio. Like maybe it
would bubble up to a cool alternative you know, nationally
syndicated or broadcasted show, but it would be a like
midnight or something like that. And so yeah, there was

(32:55):
no you know, no rules besides you know what the
college mandated. But for the most part, I was like,
all right, you're gonna have the punk hour, You're gonna
have a grateful dead hour, like whatever it is, like,
just make it work.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
I was like, you are giving me an hour and
I could play every time I die and no one
can tell me not to.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Absolutely, yes, that sounds great. And so was the idea
that you wanted to work at you know, your local
whatever Higheart or Sinclair broadcast station as it were.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Yeah, I actually so I ended up doing like there
was like an e board which was the like president,
the like vice president, blah blah blah blah blah. But
I was the music director of the station. So for
a whole year, I would I was in charge of
the mail that was sent into the radio station, and
like I would have assistance that we would just listen
to like five CDs a week and say whether we

(33:52):
like them or not and then decide whether we should
put them on the radio or not. And I loved
that because I'd like, it was cool to see all
these different bands and like some of them I still
listen to today, and I was like, this is a really
cool job. This is something I would want to do.
So I wanted to be a music director at a
radio station. But that's a kind of hard job to

(34:13):
get too, because there's only one music director at one
radio station.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, no, it's very hard. And plus two, I mean
the shrinking autonomy of a music director at a radio station.
It's like, you know, I mean it's so difficult because
you know, eighty to ninety percent of what you're supposed
to play is dictated by you know, AI or obviously
like seven hundred other people.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yeah, and like now with TikTok, where like a song
will just go viral and it's like, all right, that's
good enough to put on the radio, which like is cool,
Like I think that that's very cool, and that's something
that like this generation is like like discovering music through that.
But that does kick out that job that I wanted
to do.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
So right right, Yeah, so now now you're having to
work it in the you know back or so to
speak by like, you know what, I'm gonna play in
a band and then We're gonna get played on college
radio and then that's what's gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
Yeah, I'm sure that there is one college student somewhere
playing Space, and you know what, I am thankful.

Speaker 1 (35:11):
For them exactly. I love it. And uh, I know
you've articulated in other places as far as your introduction
to punk and hardcore was you know or one of
your earlier show experiences was the you know Tid Tid
the Holidays. Uh yeah, still still happens obviously in a
different namesake now. But when you went to that show,

(35:34):
like you you were going to see like a local
band initially, but then obviously stay for the whole show,
and was kind of bowled over by the experience. What
uh what kind of grabbed you about? You know, seeing
either every time I died in particular or just that
whole show that kind of really captured you to dive
down the rabbit hole.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
So I, yeah, I wanted to go because this band
Buggler was playing. That is a local band that I
really like, and my boyfriend Dan, who's the drummer's face.
He had been going to like every time I died
Christmas shows for a few years at that point, so
he was like, Oh, you're gonna love it. It's really cool.
And he was like, you're gonna like walk out of

(36:13):
there and be like that was the craziest thing I've
ever experienced. And I remember they started. I don't even
know what song they started with. I think it was
right after Low Teens, so whatever, like the one the
first song is on that album. They played and it
was just like insane energy in the room, Like everybody

(36:34):
just went crazy and I was just like what is
this and why am I loving it? Like I just
stood in awe in the back, just like watching all
these people like Mash and just like stage dive and
like the It was the coolest experience. And like that
was before Kid. This season was moved to Riverworks, which
is like a five thousand cap venue. So this was

(36:57):
at this old venue called the Waiting Room, and it
was like a five hundred cat venue. So like, imagine
seeing every time I die in a five hundred cap
room crazy.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
Oh yeah, it's it's beautiful. It's beautiful. Yeah. I had
the the the luxury at one point in my life too. Uh,
I toured with Every Time I Die, like during the
Last Night in Town era and then we were just
playing you know whatever, one hundred and fifty THEFW halls
and stuff, because that was obviously very very early days.
But there's something about seeing a band in a space

(37:31):
that is obviously meant to house a band of that size,
but then you do feel like you're watching something you
know clearly secret and special, Like it's not you're like
not everybody sees this, Like I'm going to remember this
in some capacity.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yeah, because like then the prior year was when to
the Season started, because it used to be called Shit
Miss and then it turned it to the Season and
became like this huge thing, and like that was really
really cool too, because like it became this like minifest
of sorts, and then like the production was so awesome,
like they had like all this like cool stuff added
into their show. But just like seeing a band with

(38:10):
the energy that Every Time A Die had in a
small room is just like you can't get that anywhere
else from like any band.

Speaker 1 (38:18):
Honestly, Yeah, that's so so cool, and so I imagine that
you basically just started to try to consume as much
you know, whatever hardcore or slash more tour adjacent stuff
as possible. Once you really you know, were captured by
that energy.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
Absolutely, Like I think I went home and I just
like started looking at like the Spotify like listeners also
listen to this, and I would just like start listening
to it, and I don't think anything really clicked for me.
Or wait, no, Knocked Loose had already released laugh tracks
by the time I went to that, so I started

(38:54):
to listen and Knocked Loose more because I think Eatid
like started bringing them out on tour like immediately after that,
And because of like knock Loose, I started listening to
Jesus Peace, and then I started listening to Terror and
then like all these other bands, and it was just
like this like trickle down of like bands that I

(39:14):
really enjoyed, and it truly changed my life. And it's
just like so cool to like think about that, like
one show in a small room can do that.

Speaker 1 (39:28):
Yeah, absolutely, it really especially too because now you look
at the you know, history of punk and hardcore and
like now that it's had time to gestate and grow
over these past forty or fifty years now you're seeing
like the generational impact where it's like, you know, parents
are taking their kids to shows and then their kids

(39:49):
are It's just like wow, Like how much can spiral
out from like you said, just those small rooms.

Speaker 2 (39:56):
Yeah, and like it's really cool, Like how you mentioned
about like parents bringing their kids to shows. Like recently
in Buffalo, we've had this influx of like young kids
coming to shows because their parents are bringing them, And
I think that's the coolest thing. And like even like
at a Space show, like I'll have just like a
like a middle aged dude Companye. He'll be like, Yo,

(40:16):
my daughter loves you like she loves Space, And I'm like,
you know what, this is why I'm doing this for
the young girls who like are like I can do
this too, because that's like the coolest feeling ever. Like
I remember seeing like Paramore on MTV in the morning,
like music videos, and I was like, oh my god,
a girl like singing and like dancing like that. I

(40:39):
can do that. So it's like it's kind of cool
to just like be that inspiration for like young girls
like that.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
Absolutely, it's very Yeah. I mean not only is it empowering,
but it just gives you it starts to give you
that feeling like oh I can do other things that
aren't you know, typical, or there isn't just one path
for it's like, oh I can I can do this
other thing that maybe my friends want to understand, but
I'll there is a community that's out there.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
Yeah, exactly, And like it's just really cool because like
my dad, like the reason I started to like listen
to quote unquote heavier music was like a radio station
that my dad used to play in the in the
car when you would like take me to and from school.
And it's just cool to see like these parents show
their kids like hardcore because like, while my dad wasn't

(41:32):
able to do that, I wish that he could have
just because it was something so interesting. But now I'm
able to show him hardcore, which just kind of cool.
But yeah, it is like it's cool to see that
these parents are like passing down like records to their kids.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
If you like anything heavy, slash, artistic, slash just awesome,
you need to go to Evilgreed dot net and order
merch vinyl all of the things you could possibly want
from a wide variety of bands, but bands that have
a very specific point of view and record labels where
it's not just like the doors are cast wide open

(42:09):
and like every band that wants to have a you know,
web store and record label store, just here we go
Evil Greed. No, they have a very specific point of view.
Let me just list some of the bands that they
work with, whether it's One Step Closer or whether it's Magnitude,
quicksand Soft Kill fucked Up. Like, they just have so
much cool stuff, and they work with labels like you know,

(42:30):
Triple B, Sergeant House, and I just love what Evil
Greed does. It chips from Berlin, Germany. But let me
tell you that the shipping rates to us here in
the United States are very advantageous to us. So that
means if you order from them, not only will you
get it very fast, but it's not going to be
some absolutely astronomical price where it's like, oh my gosh,
like am I spending more on shipping than I am

(42:53):
in the order? The answer is no. They are such
a great company. They have I don't know, it's like
four forty fifty employees. They're just really booming over there
in Berlin, Germany. I've met them, hung out with them.
I can't endorse them more highly, Like I literally feel
like a extension of employee with them. But evilgreed dot

(43:14):
Net go shopping to your heart's content and you will
be able to find everything that you're looking for. I
preder stuff from them all the time, so you should
as well evilgreed dot net check out what they have
to offer. Again, you've spoken about this and other interviews
in regards to you know, you were a theater kid
doing high school musicals and stuff like that, and there's
one specific question about that, like what was your I

(43:37):
guess favorite thing to perform, whether it was like, oh man,
I love doing Oklahoma or you know, my Fair Lady
or whatever, like was there a you know, a performance
or two that you were like, you know what, that
was my most favorite moment on stage with the you know,
musical era of my life.

Speaker 2 (43:53):
My junior year, we did Tarzan and we were the
second high school in the entire country to do it
because it had like just I'm off of Broadway like
a year before, and like the production for it was
like insane, Like we literally built like a giant jungle
gym on stage to use and I was cast as Turk,
which for those who aren't familiar with Tarzan is the

(44:14):
gorilla that's like Tarzan's best friend. And it was so
much fun. I had the scat. It was so awesome.

Speaker 1 (44:25):
I love. That's so cool, especially that wrinkle of the
idea that not every school had done. It's like one
hundred and seventy five one hundred and seventy piss performance
of you know, the Wizard of Oz or whatever. It's like, dude,
this is this is a hot property off Broadway, Like
let's see what this looks like.

Speaker 2 (44:41):
Yeah, and like it was so much fun. Like in
the soundtrack for the musical, it is so awesome because
it's written by Phil Collins. Yeah, so like arguably Tarzan,
like the movie has some of the like is the
best Disney soundtrack. So just think that with like a
couple more songs in it that are written by PHILM. Colin.
It's a masterpiece.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
Yeah, it's I mean a lot of people don't reference it.
They obviously go to the you know classics, you're whatever,
Beauty and the Beasts and stuff like that, which still
are obviously very good. You know, Alan Mankin clearly knows
how to red tune. But when you come at it
from the you know, rock perspective, it's like, oh, this
is you know, this is.

Speaker 2 (45:20):
Slept On, Yes, and it's so catchy.

Speaker 1 (45:24):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I agree. The and so once you
i know, space obviously, from a you know, formation perspective,
all people is like a band that formed the Pandemic
and blah blah blah. That's fine, that's cool. I'm glad,
we glad we covered that. But the you know, the
idea that once you started to play shows and receive attention,

(45:45):
because there's definitely a different level of attention if you're
a singer for a band that you know other people
in the band don't get like, you know, I'm sure
your significant other is a drummer. It's like no one
ever pays it to the drummer, nor nor the bass player.
No shots against them, but you know that's just joking wise,
But how did you start to, I guess, kind of
receive that attention, even if it's on obviously a smaller scale.

(46:08):
I'm sure it was flattering, But then I'm sure there
were times you had to kind of navigate like, oh,
this person's kind of you know, a punisher, Like I
don't really want to be in this conversation anymore.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
Yeah, the attention is like always super cool, like especially
when we just released Landslide. Like I don't think I
saw any negative comments on anything for like a few
days because it was just so overwhelmingly positive until like
the like online trolls started to like come out of
their hole and like discover that someone not a man

(46:41):
is fronting a band. But that's besides the point. But yeah,
like I love talking to anybody who listens to Space
and like comes to our shows. And there are punishers,
but like at the end of the day, I'm like,
you know what, I can find something good that I

(47:01):
talked about in that situation, because it's usually like they're
just excited and like they're trying not to be weird.
So I'm like, Okay, it's not your fault, Like you're
just excited about something. So like, I think I can
only count on like one hand that I've had like

(47:21):
really awkward conversations, and it's usually just been like some
random person at a show being like, oh, are you
the merch girl, And I'm like, no, bitch, I'm about
to go perform on stage, like you're about to learn
in ten minutes that I'm not just the merch girl.
But a lot of the times it's just people being
like I love space and I'm like that's so sick.

Speaker 1 (47:44):
Thank you right, You're like that's great. I love to
see that.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
Yeah, although I will say when we're in Europe, like
when the language barrier comes up. When we played we
played a festival in the Czech Republic this year this
past summer with Bug and from the stage to like
the green room was maybe like one hundred yards and

(48:10):
from like the stage to the green room, I got
stopped by like thirty people for selfies, which is I
was like, okay, like that's cool, but like they weren't
speaking any English. They would just go selfie, selfie, and
I'm like okay, yes, And I was like at one point,
I was like I just want to go like lay down,
Like I just ran around on stage for twenty minutes.

(48:30):
Lease just go lay down right right.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
It's and especially it's like you could not communicate that.
It was just like yes, yes, yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:38):
I would just like put my little peace sign up
and smile and be like thank you bye, right.

Speaker 1 (48:45):
Or you can you know, I'm sure you'll experience this
at some point. The German compliment of.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
Oh I've gotten them already perfect.

Speaker 1 (48:53):
I love to hear that, Oh yes, uh Space you
were you were good? Would you put that do record out?
What happened to the or you were good when you
put the first record out? The new one not so good?

Speaker 2 (49:03):
I know. I'm like, I'm we inevitably go back to Europe.
I'm not saying that in a bad way. I love
going to Europe, but like when we do eventually go back,
I'm curious how people will react to the album over there.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
But I have gotten the you you scream so loud
for a girl, and I'm like, yes, I do, And
I'm like, I don't know what else to tell you.

Speaker 2 (49:29):
Yeah, But like a lot of the time, I love Germany,
Like honestly I love the Germans. I do, but I
have gotten a couple of German compliments.

Speaker 1 (49:39):
Yes, they definitely, you know, just got right to the
heart of the matter, and like that's that obviously is
what makes that country and the people that reside in
it special.

Speaker 2 (49:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
So as you know, as you started to you know,
gain some notoriety and obviously play outside of you know,
Buffalo and start to you know, wave that flag and
everything like that, you know, when you started to have
to make and I use this in air quotes, but
just like you know, business decisions where it's like, oh okay,
like you know, we got paid one hundred and fifty
dollars for this show or whatever, and you started to
interact with that side of the music industry as it were.

(50:13):
You know, are you the one kind of responsible in
the band for doing that? Like is it you know,
do you enjoy that aspect? What where's your head at?

Speaker 2 (50:21):
Thankfully, our one guitarist, Joe is extremely responsible. So like
he's the money man, and I like most of the
time at like the merch table, I'll have like my
Venmo cash EP or PayPal like QR code out so
it'll just like go to me. But he's always the
one that's like, all right, I'm booking the hotel tonight,
or like we have a UK tour coming up, and

(50:43):
he'll be like, okay, LEXI like can you pay this
person for the van rental? And like he's always like
in charge of the money and like making sure at
the end of the day, like he knows what the
total is in our band fund to like make sure
that we're staying afloat. And I appreciate him for that,
because I would really disintegrate in the thin air. That
is just too much responsibility for me.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
Right, Well, it's good. It's good that not only you
have that person in the band, but that it wasn't
you know, foisted upon you as being the vocalist where
it's just like, oh, by default, you know, Lexi's out
there and she's gonna settle the show or whatever, She's
gonna do this, and you're like, I am not equipped
to handle any of this.

Speaker 2 (51:21):
Yeah, I mean like there are days were like all
settle with someone, or like Joe will settle, or like
our bassis, John will settle. Like we're all comfortable with
like handling money and like talks like that. But if
it comes down to like the tax forms that you
have to fill out at like specific venues, I'm like, Joe,

(51:42):
get in get in there.

Speaker 1 (51:44):
You're like, listen, I don't. I can't sign a W nine.
I don't know what even know that means.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
Like literally, I'm like I got to handle the W
nine like on one of our last tours, and I
just like stared at it and I was like, where
do I sign?

Speaker 1 (51:58):
Right? Do I put my Social Security up, or like
who else is like what are we doing here? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (52:02):
Yeah, I'm like what is this?

Speaker 1 (52:05):
Right? Right when you actually started to, you know, go
on your first tours and everything like that, I presume
Space is your first time you've ever spent an extended
amount of time on the road.

Speaker 2 (52:15):
Right, Yeah, it's my first band.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
That's what I thought. And I don't mean that in
a bad way, Like that's what Yeah, So what was tour?
I guess what you expected? Was it drastically different than
what you expected? What was your your perception?

Speaker 2 (52:32):
I actually I was thinking about this earlier, Like I
don't think I ever really felt like shell shocked by
like the touring lifestyle. And I don't know if that's
just because I knew so many people who did tour
before and like had heard stories about what it's like,
or if I just like, for some reason, I'm comfortable
immediately with that type of situation. But like when we

(52:54):
did our first like out of town run, I was
like completely prepared to be sleeping on random people's floors.
I wasn't like scared about that. Like I remember when
we did our first like weekend run, my mom was like,
I'm going to bring you to Walmart. I'm going to
get you a nice sleeping bag and like like a
mattress pad type of thing to bring with you. She's like,

(53:14):
I want you to sleep comfortably on tours. So like
I had like a very cozy sleeping bag situation ready
for me, and like it just was never really weird
for me. I mean we've had our fair shares of
sleeping in like very random and like maybe not the
most pleasant places, but most of the time we just

(53:36):
like stay at friends' houses and it's like very comfortable
and like I don't feel awkward, like getting up in
the middle of the night to use the bathroom there.

Speaker 1 (53:45):
Right. Yeah, You're like we're at a spot that you
know is either comfortable, we know the person it isn't
you know, being brought to you know, the third story
of an abandoned bullying or whatever. It's like, oh, no,
you can stay here, it's fine. It's like, no, this
doesn't feel safe.

Speaker 2 (54:01):
Yeah, Like when we were in Europe this past summer,
we played in Switzerland and the venue was in an
old like jail and we were sleeping there that night,
and like the idea of sleeping in an old jail
didn't freak me out. But I did go to open
the windows at one point and just saw like the

(54:23):
largest spiders I had ever seen in my entire life,
just like in the window and like had access to
come inside. So I immediately shut it, and I was like,
oh my god, And like it took me like two
hours of fall asleep because all I could think about
was like, what if there's just a spider crawling on me?
So like those situations not great, but that's like one

(54:44):
out of like however many times we've like slept somewhere
of course.

Speaker 1 (54:48):
Well, and there's obviously some ridiculous statistic of you know,
human swallow like fourteen spiders in their lifetime or something.
So it can happen at it can happen at home,
it can happen in jail in Switzerland.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
You never know, yep, exactly. And I was not trying
to test it out that night.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
Yeah, You're like, you know what this is? This is
in my brain. I can't I can't unsee this. So
this is what we have to do. Yeah, And speaking
of the touring internationally, that's also you know, a very
different experience than touring the States. Comparing and contrasting the two.
What what was the most different thing that you experienced

(55:23):
with those two?

Speaker 2 (55:27):
Accommodation is like a normal thing in Europe and the UK.
Like that is something our agent, Matthew shout out to him.
He's the best. Like make sure that we get most
of the time. And they'll like make you dinner when
you get to the venue and like feed you and

(55:48):
like want to make sure that you feel comfortable and
safe the entire time, which is great. I love it,
and like I love the US. Don't get me wrong.
I love all my friends here in like the hardcore scene.
But it we don't get that here, Like we'll just
get like a case of waters, which is fine. I
love a case of water. But it is cool to

(56:09):
like go over there and someone's making you goulash.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
Yeah, here's here's your here's your vegan stew.

Speaker 2 (56:15):
Yes, oh my god, I like I love the vegan
stew over there. It does get tiring after like the
tenth time in a row, but like of course, right,
it's still like it fills me up. It's vegan. It's great.
I'm here for it.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
Yeah. They got it down to a science. They know
that it's like all right, this is going to fill
five bellies and this will last for three weeks, so
we're good.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
It's probably so cheap to make too. I don't blame them.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
Yeah, absolutely absolutely. Now now that you're at this, you know,
interesting juncture of the band where you know, obviously you've
sided Revelation Records and like you guys are you know,
doing even more stuff than you previously have, and now
you have to start, you know, thinking about like, oh my,
this is my life is going to look like six
to eight months out, whereas like prior to that you

(57:04):
didn't really have to do that. Is it you know?
Is it exciting, daunting, scary? The combination of all of them.

Speaker 2 (57:11):
It's definitely a combination, because like I am very excited
like for the album to come out, but it's also
like is it like there is just like I have
a very good feeling it's going to do well because
the single had a really good reaction, and like I
just I'm very confident in that, but there's also just
this like voice in the back of my head that's

(57:31):
like no one's gonna like it. Like, so I am
nervous but very excited, and like I think that a
lot of really cool things are going to come from it.
But there's also like this voice in the back of
my head that's like, or nothing's gonna happen and you're
just gonna have to like deal with it, right, But

(57:54):
for right now, it's looking very good.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
Right right. And plus like the idea of you know whatever,
the hardcore scene and I'll use that in air quotes
like broadly accepting or you know, denying Space's latest offering.
It's like you're gonna, you know, you're gonna do what
you're gonna do, and like maybe you know, the largest
opportunities aren't gonna come to you, but it's like, who
knows what that's gonna look like in you know, two

(58:19):
years with other music, because people you know are either
slow to the uptake and they're like, you know, in
ten years they'll be like that's the you know that
second Space don't be on rev like everybody loves it
and you're like, no, they didn't, like, no one cared
about us at the time or whatever.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
I know, you never like I hear about like twitching
tongues and how they were treated like back when they
first started, and now all of a sudden they're having
this huge am renaissance where everybody loves them and like
I've always liked twitching tongues. I just want to put
that out there. So like that is a bit scary
to think about, but also kind of cool because like

(58:56):
if it does flop and then in like two years
someone's like, I love Space and we have this random
resurgence and we can do like a reunion, awesome. But
I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. I hope that
it's just like we're doing well up until then.

Speaker 1 (59:09):
Right, right, Yeah, you don't have to be clear, you
don't have to break up. I mean, obviously there's a
joke in there where it's like, oh, you gotta break
up before anyone cares about you, but you know that
you don't need to do that. It's okay, just continue
to put up.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
Music, Yes, for sure. I mean, if anything, if this
one doesn't do well, it's just gonna like light a
flame under us and make us want to do even better.

Speaker 1 (59:28):
Sure, absolutely the last thing, but questionably the most important
thing is I mean, obviously you're a huge fan of
you know, K pop and anime, and like there'd be
no interview that should ever not bring that up, because
I think that's in your written contract. Yeah, but the
you know, so you're we'll focus on the anime first

(59:48):
and then obviously you can espouse your love for K
pop second. I know they kind of both go hand
in hand. But your your favorite anime from a film perspective,
and there's only two right answers, and that's a Ninja
Scroll and Mermaid's Car. But you can talk about others.
That's fine.

Speaker 2 (01:00:05):
I've actually never heard of those, so I will put
that down on those are.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Those are to be clear, that's like you know old Head,
like you know, Ghost in the Shell like that era. Yeah,
so this is like this is some stuff that came
out in the past five years. But anyways, yes, but
tell me about your U. I mean, how did you
get involved in anime in general in the first place.

Speaker 2 (01:00:24):
I mean, like when I grew up, like I was
just watching Toonami on like Cartoon Network and like Pokemon.
I would I loved Pokemon. I still do, but like, yeah,
I it's so funny because when like the original Pokemon
like first series, like season came out on Netflix, I
was like, oh, I'm gonna like watch this start to
finish just in case I missed anything. And I was like,

(01:00:45):
I've seen every episode of this and I did not
realize it even as like a child, I somehow was
like able to keep up with every episode. So like
I loved Pokemon when I was younger yu Yo Digimon,
and like I have LIKEVID memories of like waking up
and my mom putting like my TV on in my
room to like help me get up in the morning,

(01:01:06):
and like Naruto or One Piece would be playing, but
I never like watched them. I would just be like, Oh,
there's that show again. And so I didn't really care
about anime that much after like getting into high school
and then my freshman year when I first went to college,
my sweet mate her and like a couple other my

(01:01:29):
sweet mates were talking about like this anime series called
Attack on Titan and they were like, LEXI, you need
to watch it. And I was like do I, Like,
I don't know, like I've never really watched anime outside
of like when I was a kid, and they're like, no,
you gotta watch it and tell us your reaction to
every episode. And so I watched the first season and
I literally I remember when I finished it, I like

(01:01:50):
just slammed my door shut and like walked out into
the hallway and I was like, guys, we need to talk.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
I love that. I love that, especially the assignment from
your friends of saying after every episode. I wanted to
like not like let's do the first season, let's talk
about it all.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
Because like not spoil it. But there is one moment
in like the first season of Attack on Titan where
you just like assume the main character dies, which is
like insane. So they really wanted my reaction to that.
So I Attack on tight End but then didn't watch

(01:02:35):
any other anime until I graduated from college at Fredonia,
and I remember I went home and I'm like, I'm
living in my parents' house. I had just come back
from like four years of college and like living on
my own. So I was like in this weird like
state of mind where I was like, I don't know
what to do with my life. I have so much
time on my hands. And I was like, you know,

(01:02:55):
maybe I should get back into Attack on Titand because
at that point, like I think two and three had
come out, so I watched those, but like for some reason,
it didn't like stick in my brain that well. And
then I was like I think I'm gonna start watching
more anime. And then I watched Naruto and I finished
it in two months, which like if anybody's listening, who

(01:03:16):
doesn't know, like how long Naruto is. It's like seven
hundred episodes, and I don't watched the filler. I watched
all the filler episodes.

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
Like I got the full assignment. I'm watching top to bottom.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
Yeah, I loved it, and it's it's so funny because like,
I have so many critiques of the series and like everything,
but it is still to this day my favorite anime.
And like I eventually went back and rewatched Attack on
tight End and like that's mine also like tied for
number one, but like those are like my two favorites.
I also love CHAINSAWMN got it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
Yes, Yes, that's awesome. That's awesome, and uh yes. Then
the K pop standum, I know, came around the pandemic,
and obviously the the connective tissue that happens between anime
and K pop is you know, it's there and it's real,
But do you feel like your love for anime made
it easier for you to, you know, kind of jump
into the K pop fandom head first or two set things.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
I definitely think so, because like a lot of K
pop artists will do like the opening songs for animes,
and that kind.

Speaker 1 (01:04:22):
Of why I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (01:04:23):
I did not know that, Okay, Yeah, so like I
think this one K pop group called tomorrow X together,
I think they did the opening for high Q, which
is like a very popular like volleyball anime. And there's
definitely more that I can't think of right now, but
that was how I discovered K pop, And like I

(01:04:44):
started listening to bts a bit, and then like I
started to fall more in love with like other groups,
and it just became this thing where I was like
I'm trying not to get into K pop, like I'm
trying to be casual about it. Then next thing, you know,
I was like going to Target every week, buying a
new album and like putting the photo cars that come
in the albums in my phone case, and like all

(01:05:07):
I could think about was kpop, and like I would
go home and watch K pop music videos and I
was like, oh, I'm not casual about it anymore, Like
this is my life.

Speaker 1 (01:05:16):
Right, yeah, You're like, you know what, I really don't
care about it that much, except I spend like ten
hours a day like thinking about it and or doing
research about it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:24):
Hmm. Absolutely, and like K pop concerts are so fun,
Like there's nothing like it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:33):
It seems very I mean, for I am not immersed
in the culture, but it seems like a very not
only inclusive, but just like it just expressing fandom in
the most like truest of senses.

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
Yes, I went my first K pop concert I went to.
I went and saw this group seventeen and they played
in Toronto, and I went by myself because I had
no one else to go with, and I was like,
you know what, I'm only going because I really want
to see this group. And I end up making like
friends with the girl who was sitting next to me,
so like I had a blasphe Me and her were
like hanging out the whole time. And I remember, like

(01:06:10):
I never get like quote unquote post concert depression. The
only time I ever really got it was when I
was seeing when I saw One Direction in high school
and like I was just in my peak One Direction phase.
And when I got home from that concert, I was
genuinely so sad. I was like, oh my god, when
am I going to see them again? When am I

(01:06:31):
going to experience fun again.

Speaker 1 (01:06:35):
I love. I love that articulation of just like when
is this gonna? Like how come this can't happen right now?
Because I'm feeling a lack of joy.

Speaker 2 (01:06:44):
Yeah, I was like do I need to like find
where they're going next and like drop everything. I didn't,
But it is such a fun experience and like my
best the best thing I can compare it to is
like Taylor Swift in like the eras were and like
how everybody like made it this huge thing to like
dress up as like a specific era, and like she

(01:07:06):
has like these light up bracelets that like go off
with the beat of the song, and like that comes
from K pop because there's like these things called light
sticks that like different groups have and they light up
with the songs that they're playing, and like fans will
choose like a specific like era quote unquote or like

(01:07:27):
a music video and like a member that they like
and dress up like them. So like a lot of
what Taylor Swift is doing is actually started from K pop.
I love ital but like.

Speaker 1 (01:07:37):
Yeah, right there, we're all standing on the shoulders of giants.
You just need to be able to trace back to
where these things actually originated. From exactly, Well, Lexi, thank
you for hanging out for me or hanging out with me,
not for me, but yeah, yeah, yeah, just hanging out
for me. But I appreciate you coming on here. This

(01:07:58):
was enjoyable.

Speaker 2 (01:07:59):
Yeah, thank you. You asked some fun questions that I
don't really get to talk about on You Think.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
I guess that was a lot of fun. Lexi was
a great hang and just you know, I love it
when people show up on time. The internet doesn't bother us.
You know, there's no weird latency or anything like. We
just have a nice, tried and true conversation. And honestly,
for the most part, that happens very frequently on the show.
But yeah, Lexi's convo was exactly that. So thank you

(01:08:29):
very much to Alexi. And shout out to Alexa, the
publicist of the Hardcore Stars. I am just calling her
that right now, but yeah, she always brings me great
ideas and I was like, yes, I would love to
talk to Lexi for the podcast. So way to go.
People doing their jobs and being in good bands. Love
to see it. Next week is another person in another
good band that I am not only friends with but

(01:08:50):
just worship at the altar that is known as Code seven,
and I had Jeff Jenkins, the vocalist of the band
on I've known him forever to word, played shows together.
Every time Code seven releases new music, I am first
in line to listen to it and then just absolutely
rinse that record, whatever it is that they're putting out.

(01:09:12):
I've loved every iteration of them, from their early metalcore
days to the unbelievably hooky and catchy sort of space
rock stuff that they're doing now. I just love the
band so much. So anyways, Jeff was kind enough to
come on the show and we had a great, great conversation.
So that's what we got next week. Until then, please
be safe, everybody,