PipemanRadio Interviews Of Mice & Men at Aftershock 2025

PipemanRadio Interviews Of Mice & Men at Aftershock 2025

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Aftershock 2025 Draws Record-Breaking Crowd Of Over 164,000 Fans, The Largest In The Festival’s History  

The West Coast’s Ultimate Rock, Punk & Metal Destination 115+ Bands • 4 Unforgettable Days • Fans From Every Corner of the Globe

Danny Wimmer Presents’ record-breaking 2025 festival season concluded October 2–5 with the largest Aftershock in history — drawing over 164,000 fans from all 50 states and more than 30 countries to Sacramento’s Discovery Park, generating an estimated $35 million in local economic impact.  

The West Coast’s biggest rock, punk, and metal festival reached new heights in 2025.

Debuting in 2025, Aftershock introduced several new fan-favorite experiences that elevated the  festival weekend to new heights. The Capitol Club offered an all-inclusive oasis with premium amenities and elevated views of the main stage, while Tremors Dive Bar kept the energy high with a pop-up set by  DJ Rock Feed with surprise guests My Darkest Days, and a special Sunday takeover by Sacramento’s own The Jungle Bird. Fans also discovered spontaneous performances at Beatbox and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it speakeasy hidden beneath the underpass — each adding to the sense of discovery and excitement that defined this year’s festival.  

To celebrate DWP’s cultural and economic impact to the region, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, Senator Angelique Ashby, and Assemblymember Maggy Krell honored Danny Wimmer Presents with official recognitions from the City of Sacramento, the California State Senate, and the California State Assembly. The proclamation and resolutions celebrate Aftershock’s decade-long legacy, recognizing its profound cultural, economic, and charitable contributions to the Sacramento community and beyond, and highlighting how the festival has firmly established the city as a premier destination for live music in California.  

The 2026 dates for Aftershock will be announced in the coming months along with early bird tickets, allowing fans to lock-in lower level pricing and maximum payment plan options. Fans are encouraged to stay tuned to the festival’s official social media channels and AftershockFestival.com.

In addition to music performances, this year’s edition of Aftershock featured various partner onsite activations, award-winning beverages and delectable eats from partners including Animal Place, Astral Tequila, Beatbox Beverages, Black Shades, Blackcraft, Body Art Express, California Army National Guard, Coors Light, Don Julio, Eargasm, Freak On a Leash, Fxck Cancer, Golden State Cider, Hyatt Vacation Club, Jack Daniel's, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, Little Rocker Clothing, Mortus Viventi, Nowhere Fast, Parlor Root Beer, Red Bull, Sierra Nevada, Strüng, Take Me Home, The Pretty Cult, Tito's Handmade Vodka, To Write Love on Her Arms, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, and Waterloo Sparkling Water.  

Aftershock is proud to partner with Visit Sacramento and is produced by Los Angeles-based Danny Wimmer Presents, one of the largest independent producers of destination music festivals in America.  

For more information on Aftershock please visit:
Website: www.aftershockfestival.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aftershockfestival
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aftershockfestival
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi you Lune, Yes, that's true. Why for you you?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
This is Pipeman here on the Adventures pipe Man W
four c Y Radio, and I'm here.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
With Aaron and Valentino from Mice and Men Nice And
I gotta say it was raining before.

Speaker 4 (00:33):
This table was soaking wet.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
I had to hide my equipment and then another miracle happened.
And that's why we're talking Blue Skys I though, right,
it must be because you guys are here, okay, and
that new album is badass as fuck.

Speaker 5 (00:50):
Thank you, brother, thank you, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
So tell us where your creativity went to on that
album Compared to previous albums.

Speaker 6 (01:00):
We really wanted to dial up the energy and intensity
a little bit, I think from the previous two, and
then we also wanted to push the melodic side a
little bit further, I think. So it's just sort of,
I think, taking where we were at and just pushing
it all a little bit further.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah, And especially with it being our like ninth album
and everything, it's like super important to not only challenge
ourselves with like the songwriting and stuff, but to be
able to like write music that excites us. And that
was really what we set out to do, and so
far we've been releasing some music and the fans are
super excited about it.

Speaker 5 (01:32):
So there's just so much more awesome music to come.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
And it feels good that we're able to write and
release music that resonates with our fans still. And there's
so many new fans for the band too, especially at
these festivals, Like some of these festivals are some of
the some of people's first time seeing the band, right,
It's like it's really cool to have that moment and
share that moment with everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
And I think too, like after doing that many albums,
I don't know, I just think it's like harder and
harder to outdo your and keep your core right. See
that's the balancing trick. And so from what you're saying,
sounds to me that another miracle like hit that right
on the head.

Speaker 5 (02:10):
Yeah, we tried to.

Speaker 6 (02:11):
I mean, honestly, for us, it's sort of about managing
the energetic side of music that isn't necessarily what you're hearing,
but what you're feeling, and then also managing what you're
hearing and trying to push the envelope a little bit
with both, and then also sometimes just settling into what
we feel like we know our sound to be in

(02:32):
a way, which for us on our ninth record, I
don't think is a bad thing.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Well, the way I kind of look at it is
is it takes sometimes that long to really find your
sound because in the beginning, there's like one mindset, and
as you're perfecting and getting better and different things happen
in your life, I think you evolve into what truly
was gonna be your sound, but not in the beginning.

Speaker 6 (02:55):
Yeah, And it's also hard to say because I feel
like for a band like us, our sound probably chain
changes every record to some degree or another. And I
think for us, maintaining that energy means we don't need
to be so concerned with the sound changing as much.
As long as the energy is there, then it will
feel coherent and cohesive to the audience.

Speaker 4 (03:15):
No doubt.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
And we're fans of heavy music too, so like as
the genre evolves, we kind of evolve with it. We
like a lot of the bands that are popping off
right now, and all the bands, like the legacy bands
and legendary bands and everything, like we grew up listening
to this, so like to now be sixteen years deep
as a band and writing music. We're still writing from

(03:36):
stuff that inspires us, and a lot of what inspires
us is new music. A lot of it isn't even metal,
but like we do love metal music and we love
heavy music, and it's an integral part of our sound
that we're never going to abandon, you know what I mean.
And so from us, it's like, how do we inject
our like fan excitement into our own music to then
do something that like could resonate with our audience a

(03:58):
little bit more or something like that. So that's why
we're always kind of like developing and maybe changing a
little bit and trying some things that people might be like, well,
what's that And it's like, well, I don't know, man,
We're on a ninth album, Like what are you doing you?

Speaker 5 (04:10):
You know what I mean?

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Like, so we're just kind of having fun with it.
And first and foremost we're musicians, So like as musicians,
we always want to challenge ourselves and elevate our performances
and stuff like that, and you can't always do that,
like writing the same song over and over again, so
we kind of like write different stuff and have fun
with it and kind of take some risks and have
fun with it.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
I think a real musician experiments, and which is what
you're doing. It's like, yeah, you don't want to stick
like you said one, So why would you want to
perform the same song over and over again? Write the
same song over and over again? Then it's not exciting
for you as it's supposed to be exciting for us.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Well, who's the same person they were five years ago,
ten years ago? And these albums are chapters in our life.
Each one is a book with the chapters of the
songs and stuff like that, and mice of men like
we write about the human experience, the good and the bad,
and the hard and the easy and the just every
kind of side of this multifaceted crazy thing that is

(05:07):
being a human. And I think with all those different
kinds of feelings and experiences, we're just trying to share
our own with everyone else. And I think that really
will always connect with the person that needs to hear it.
That's the only person we care about, the person that
needs to hear that song that it clicks with.

Speaker 5 (05:23):
You know.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
There you go, And how does it feel to be
a Aftershock? Eight years later? It's about eight years since
he played after Shock.

Speaker 6 (05:30):
It's nice and the weather's really nice.

Speaker 5 (05:32):
Sent me a great day.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Well now that we had another miracle and the rain
went away thanks to you guys.

Speaker 5 (05:37):
Yeah, it's awesome, dude. These festivals are sick.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
Danny Wimmer brings together the best bands, really takes care
of the fans, and we've got a bunch of family
and friends here today. So today's a special day. Today's
an iconic aftershock.

Speaker 5 (05:49):
For sure.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
And not only that, but from what I hear of
at from every yard since Danny Wimmer really takes care
of the artists. Yeah, oh yeah, So tell us how
you love doing Danny Wimmer festivals as being treated as
an artist.

Speaker 6 (06:05):
I mean everything from the accommodations to logistics for our
crew and making sure that they're taken care of on
the technical side of things. It's just really well ran.

Speaker 5 (06:16):
So we're very appreciative.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah, Now to mention the attention he gives to the
fans out there, the fact that he's able to put
together festivals that bring hundreds of thousands of people together,
that's seriously like what even goes into that, And the
fact that all these people can come and be a
community and be safe and have fun and enjoy the music.
Is that's what this is all about, really, And so
to have a champion of alternative music like him, bringing

(06:42):
all these bands together, bringing the fans together, is truly
something special. And the fact that of Meisa Men gets
to be a part of it is seriously something we
are so grateful for and it's such a privilege and
we don't take it for granted. You know, we're gonna,
we're gonna we're gonna break it down on stage. We're
gonna kill it. We gotta do it, and it's gonna
be so fun, man.

Speaker 5 (07:01):
We can't wait.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
That's keyword fun. Yeah, Like if you're not having fun,
we're not having fun. And we can tell when we
look up there and I watch you guys, it's like, fuck,
they're just having the time in their life man, which
means I'm gonna go out there and have the time
on my list.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
Today Aaron's first time dad here, Oh okay, brought his
daughter to her first show today, that first concert.

Speaker 4 (07:22):
I love it.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Congrats, thank you, Conic Aftershock moments nice.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
That's a beautiful thing about these festivals too. I find
it's like you do have grandfathers, fathers mothers, grandmothers, kids likes.

Speaker 5 (07:39):
It's rational, dude.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
It's wild, right, it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Like I've brought my kids and my grandkids and tamash
pits at Danny Wimmer Festival.

Speaker 5 (07:47):
That's so amazing, dude.

Speaker 4 (07:48):
It's the way it should be, right, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
Man, it's just beautiful. Man. We're so privileged and it's
so awesome to be a part of this.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
What's your favorite Danny Wimmer Festival? If you have one,
I can't pick one.

Speaker 3 (08:01):
I mean, we're at after Shock today, so it's after Shock.

Speaker 4 (08:04):
Maybe the right answer?

Speaker 5 (08:05):
One of them, every one of them.

Speaker 4 (08:06):
It's a bait answer, yeah, course, and you took the
bait for sure.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Of course, dude. We're here at Aftershock, man. Sacramento loves
to rock. That's something I've learned.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
Oh, they do totally.

Speaker 5 (08:16):
And it's badass man. Like, we love that energy.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
So we can't wait to give that energy back to
the audience and have it just we're gonna we're gonna
play volleyball for forty five minutes today.

Speaker 4 (08:25):
That's hope already.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
And that's why you guys are always on Wimmer festivals
because you bring it every time.

Speaker 5 (08:31):
Thank you so much. We love it man, is.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
There anything else going on that you want to tell
the listeners about that we haven't covered yet.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Another miracle drops November fourteenth, Pick it up. That's on
Century Media. We got tour dates right now. We're doing
Warp Tour in November. We've got a European UK tour
November December, and we're locking in stuff for next year,
so keep it locked on our social media at of
mice and men. Check our website of micee tickets dot

(08:59):
com for up to tickets. And we just dropped a
sick fan community called mice Space. I wasn talk, So
it's kind of like a fan club, but it's more
of like a I don't know, it's more just like
a community online like message board, chat room. We're uploading
old demos, we're uploading a studio documentary, we upload like
backstage footage of us. It's just kind of it's for

(09:21):
the fans that like that stuff, because we're fans that
like that stuff. So we wish all of our favorite
bands did that so we could kind of see behind
the veil a little bit. So we really wanted to
do something special like that for our fans.

Speaker 5 (09:33):
So check it out. It's mice space, I know.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yeah, And when I was looking at the description in
the way, I thought it as it's your way of
giving back to the fans.

Speaker 5 (09:43):
Yeah, of course.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
I mean, dude, we've been a band for sixteen years,
so the treasure trove is full of vintage gems and
all kinds of stuff. We've been all over the world
a million times, We've written a million songs. We got
tons of demos that have never been released that we're
putting up there, tons of video content, tons of photos.
Like it's just something that if you like that kind
of stuff, sign up. If not, it's all good. You

(10:05):
don't have to like. It's just something fun for us,
and hopefully it's fun for the fans too if that's
something you're into.

Speaker 5 (10:12):
So check it out.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Well, I definitely think everybody should check it out. Get
the new album because it's your best one yet.

Speaker 5 (10:19):
Thank you so much, and.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
I'm looking forward to some fun here at Aftershock with
of myice and men.

Speaker 5 (10:25):
Yeah, excellent.

Speaker 4 (10:26):
Thanks for being on the adventures, Thank you for having us.

Speaker 5 (10:28):
And thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Patemn on
w for CUI Radio.