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November 5, 2025 13 mins
Hitman talks to CORE who is opening for Stone Temple Pilots and The Toadies 11/08 at Concrete Street Amphitheater. CORE is a four time Billboard charting Austin-based rock band with roots in Las Vegas and McAllen Texas. The band is led by internationally renowned guitarist Chris Iorio, a founding member of Adelitas Way and superstar singer Mark Morales, known for his work with Sons Of Texas and Mark Morton. Bass player Jarrett Smith and drummer Brandon Lemond form the groups heart-pounding rhythm section. 
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what's going on? It is Hitman with you and
I've got in the studios right now some friends of mine.
You've might have heard of them before. They've recently played
at House of Rock a couple of months ago, and
now they're gonna be hitting the stage with the Toadies
and Stone Timple Pilots, ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Cool.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
How you guys doing today?

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Doing good? My brother?

Speaker 1 (00:23):
How about you see now? If you remember that voice,
that voice was from ten years ago.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Don't remind me. Man, I cannot believe it's been a decade.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Mark whata is? I remember him from another band, but
he was here, and uh yeah, I've known this guy
since he was fifteen years old, and boys, he grown.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Up a long time, a long time.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
And besides that, we've also got Chris Iorio Ioro I
almost got it wrong and used to be used to
be with Adeliite's wey yep co founder. And you're you're
literal like and I haven't been drinking yet. You've you've
gonna catch up. You're a guitar prodigy almost like yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
Yeah, sort of something like that.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yeah, I've been playing since I was eight years old,
and yeah, I was on a bunch of stuff growing up.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
We were talking before we started that. I found a
video of you when you were you said, thirteen or
fourteen thirteen. You could find it on YouTube of you
just jamming out on YouTube. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, I was doing like eruption and like van Halen
and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
You know, it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, yeah, I just grateful will still be rocking all
these years later.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
So tell us a little bit about Core.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
I remember, as some of you guys are from Vegas,
some of you guys are from Austin, and of course
Marks from the valley. But you know, it's tell us
how did this all happen? How did tell us the
evolution of Core?

Speaker 2 (01:53):
So me and Jarrett started this band like over ten
years ago. We were in a band before the it's
called Cosmic Wolf, okay, and we were dealing with a
really difficult front man, you know, and we essentially were
kind of like screw you. Eventually he was like screw
us too. So it all worked out and we started
a Core and you know, years later, you know, fortunately,

(02:18):
you know, we linked up with Mark, you know, after
our last lead singer left, and what a gift has been,
you know, working with this guy.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
By the way, just to give you a little description,
Jared's he's wearing this. Is that a mink coat? You
can call it that? Yeah, No, it's I think it
is fake.

Speaker 4 (02:36):
It is fake.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
I think they call it Wolverine. Wolverine. Yeah, okay, it's crazy. Now, Mark,
when you first you've now been with the band a
couple of years, right, approximately two years, A couple of years.
A couple of years before that, you were part of
another band, Sons of Texas, which him and I go
way back before that. In fact, the last time that

(03:00):
I saw him was on See One on One's fortieth anniversary,
So that was ten years ago. And so how's it
feel being now with Core? What what's been going on
with that?

Speaker 3 (03:13):
It's been great, It's been great. It's been an awesome opportunity, man.
I mean, it's you know, it's what I love to do, dude,
you know, I mean you've known me for this long, yeah,
I mean, hit Man's known me for twenty one years. Yeah,
like that, man. So I've I've been doing this ever since,
you know, I mean, and anytime I have an opportunity
to get out there and just to you know, just

(03:35):
to be able to write, you know, original material and
to get out there and do it. Man. And these
guys hit me up. These guys hit me up, and
then they were you know, they had their affiliations connections
with the Cherco name out there in Las Vegas.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Man.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
So I'm like, dude, you know, you know, if any
if no one really knows about the Churco name, you've
got to you know, you got to go look it up.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
Man.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
But it's pretty much you can. Yeah, I mean you're
about to learn right now. But no, I mean, anything
you've obviously, anything you've listened to on Octane is you know,
Kevin Kane Cherco, you know what I mean. And so
to get the opportunity to to work with them, it's
been great. It's been awesome to work with Core. It's
been awesome. Yeah, and you know, much love to all

(04:19):
the people that have supported me throughout the whole Suns
of Texas thing. They're now listening to this music, they're like, yeah,
it's it is different. You know, of course it's going
to be different, right, but it's like, you know, it's
within the same vein of you know, just hard on.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Well, and I did watch your guys concert on the
House of Rock on of course, Mark's infamous TikTok because
you know, he is mister TikTok. Now I see him
all the time. I try to be all the time.
I see him on TikTok Live.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Hey's on everything.

Speaker 5 (04:47):
Okay, It's like I am yeah, yeah, call it, dude.

Speaker 3 (04:54):
I don't know why, but they call it the Mark
Modelis Morning Show. I'm like, dude, it's just me going
live in the mornings with a couple of jokes.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
But I get a kick out of it because he's like,
thank you for the galaxies.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
You know.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
That's I just get a kick out of that. So
but and and so it's yeah, that was a great
show that you guys did at House of Rock. And
now you guys are going to be at Concrete Street
and uh, like I said this, this will be the
first Marks You'll be your first time at Concrete Street.
This is uh, this is what the second time you've
been there?

Speaker 2 (05:24):
Yeah? Yeah, pretty full circle for me. Back when I
was with that Eelite's Way, we opened for Shine Down
on the Sounds of Madness tour, you know, at Concrete Street.
So and it was one of my favorite venues to
ever play. So I'm so happy and fortunate.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
To be back, and so it'll be with you guys,
the Toadies and also Stone Table Pilots. Toady's huge following,
especially here in Corpus Christy. They literally have a huge
fan base edits here. Stone Table Pilots. I'm wondering if
this is the first time they've been here, well in
quite some time. Of course, we do, miss hats go
off to Scott Wiland, Scott Wild, Scott Wilands. So it's

(06:02):
gonna be very interesting. What can people expect at the show.

Speaker 3 (06:06):
Just a whole bunch of debauchery, mister.

Speaker 5 (06:08):
Hardcore rock and roll.

Speaker 3 (06:12):
Much of what Scott Walland would have you know, would
have given, would have graced you all with. No man,
just just a good time, dude, just a good time.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
You know.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
We're the opening act, uh, you know, it is our
job to set the tempo for the rest of the night,
you know. So we're going to get up there and
have a hell of a good time, dude, you know
what I mean.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
Now, tell us about the single Wasted Time. Tell me
a little bit about that single.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
It's just a it's just a rock and roller, you
know what I mean. Rock and Roller and a lot
of times, I guess when you know, talking about the
lyrics and whatnot, you know, I guess anybody can relate
to like, you know, the whole I guess the whole
concept of like, you know what am I doing with

(06:57):
my life? Right?

Speaker 5 (06:58):
You know?

Speaker 3 (06:59):
So that with that whole existential crisis that we all
go through, you know what I mean? So you know
wasted time? You know.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
That's that's the single that's out now. Y yeah, And
on your website, you've also got a couple of the
videos of save Me and Killing Me. Tell me a
little bit about those songs. Oh yeah, save Me and
Killing Me.

Speaker 5 (07:17):
That goes back to our record before we started working
with Mark and Yeah, but save Me was a great
song for us, but probably our biggest, biggest hit that
we had. Went really well on the charts and had
an opportunity to do a great video, went out to Vegas,
filmed on top of the Plaza Hotel out there, Chris
is hometown, so we got to kind of incorporate that
a little bit, and the Jose Cantinko graced us with

(07:41):
his presence in that video. So baseball fans, that was
a cool one right there. And it was fun to
work with. We had a great, great career around that,
a great song, great team that promoted it, great tour.
You know. We went on the road with Buck Sherry
for a while with that. So it was a good time.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
Was it in the in Killing Me Tom Sizemores in that?

Speaker 5 (07:57):
Yes? Yeah, yeah yeah, another great other, great opportunity to
work with the legendary actor mess in peace. Yeah, rest
in peace, Tom Sizemore. He was a great guy, good
to work with.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
So I noticed that you have a guitar out, So
are you gonna play me a song today? Yeah? Yeah, Okay,
we just might. Okay, we just tell me what song
do you guys want to do?

Speaker 4 (08:18):
Read to do?

Speaker 2 (08:18):
A song called Ashes?

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Okay, here we go, Ladies and Gentlemen core with Ashes.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
Here in the Devil and Mondo Whispers of town feed my.

Speaker 6 (08:55):
I'm falling fun, I can't remember, I've lost the fire
as ships from handers. I'm slowly faded, so crawling and
shaded as far as I can see.

Speaker 4 (09:12):
And she's ran down on me. I can still walk,
going on.

Speaker 6 (09:35):
Seems not fair to be calm when they sit it's over.
I'm falling fall, I can't remember I lost the fire
as ship from handers. I'm slowly faded, so crawling and

(09:56):
shaded as far as I can, and see she's ringing
down on me.

Speaker 4 (10:13):
I'm like a foll Death and grey. We're not the same.
I'm like a fool of death and green. We're not
the same. I'm falling far a chair.

Speaker 6 (10:36):
Remember, I'm lost the fire as Sh'S round hambers.

Speaker 4 (10:42):
I'm slowly faid, so cold.

Speaker 6 (10:45):
And shade as far as sack Jim the sea.

Speaker 4 (10:50):
And she's ringing down on me.

Speaker 6 (10:55):
As she's raining down on me, I see it's been
down on me.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah, yeah, there you go. If you're wondering who this is,
this is Core. They're gonna be part of the big
show that's happening is tomorrow already Jesus crazy with Stone
Tiple pilots in the todies. Now it's gonna be starting
at about seven o'clock.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
Gates.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
I think you're gonna start open at seven yep, and
you guys are be going first on stage. Yeah, yeah,
seven thirty I think is the plan. Seven thirty is
gonna be the plan. So make sure you get there early,
make sure you get your tickets right now. At Concrete
street dot net. You can also find out more details.
If you go to the Coorearmy dot com you can
find out more details. And of course Waste the Time
is streaming everywhere all over and of course we're looking

(11:43):
forward to seeing you guys anything. Oh hears ago. I
asked this question every time I have a band come
into town, and I've already asked you this once before.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
Love.

Speaker 1 (11:51):
Of course, you know, Corpus Christy is a rocktown, a
big rocktown. You have a big rock audience that's here.

Speaker 3 (11:57):
Sure.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
My question to you is, peep people who were wanting
to get into this business now, let's say local rock bands. Now,
what advice can you give to them to take it
to the next step, the next level to get to
where you guys are at.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
Now.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Damn, that's a tough question, but I appreciate the question.

Speaker 5 (12:17):
I guess my ultimate piece of advice that I would
immediately go to is don't quit, don't stop no matter
what comes in your way. But to take that next
level commitment, you know, it really takes that full commitment.
Full you know, if this is what you want to do,
you got to accept nothing less than what you're worth,
and then you keep doing that and you don't quit,

(12:39):
people are gonna come and you're going to have a.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
Market and that goes with all walks of life.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
Yeah, that's anything, no matter what it.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Is, dude. Like, if it's what you feel like you
were born to do, you got to pursue it relentlessly.

Speaker 5 (12:50):
Man.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
Yeah for sure.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
Well, I'm looking forward to seeing you guys. Happening tomorrow
night Concrete Street Amphitheater. Find out more details Concrete Street
dot net. Again, thank you guys for coming today and
thank looking forward to seeing you guys tonight. Thank you,
thank you for having us man, thank you, God, bless you.

Speaker 5 (13:04):
Thank you
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