August 15, 2023 • 53 mins
Prepare to embark on an enthralling expedition as we delve into the depths of Pierce the Veil's 2010 album, 'Selfless Machines.' This journey explores not just the captivating tunes and themes surrounding love, longing, and desperation; it travels deeper to the very heart of the band and the people behind the scenes that brought this album to life. From Fuentes' musical roots to the valuable contributions of behind-the-scenes engineers, the artistry behind the album is a story of its own.
Unravel the tale behind the album's intriguing title, as Vic shares his perspective on the concept of being selfish with someone's love. The journey doesn't end there; we delve into the album's recording process, share the critical reception the album received at its release and the remix production in 2013. Plus, we'll reveal how a sociology class inspired the band's unique name.
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Sources:
https://genius.com/albums/Pierce-the-veil/Selfish-machines
https://pierce-the-veil.fandom.com/wiki/Selfish_Machines
https://ptv-knowledge.tumblr.com/selfishmachinessongmeanings
https://www.reddit.com/r/piercetheveil/comments/qwai60/selfish_machines_album_cover_art/
https://v13.net/2010/08/interview-with-pierce-the-veil-lead-singer-and-guitarist-vic-fuentes/
http://theveilpierced.weebly.com/ptv-featuring.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Afw9k2zgps
https://www.equalvision.com/news/pierce-the-veil-selfish-machines-debuts-at-1/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lani (00:19):
Welcome to Postmosh Clarity, a podcast where we take
a deep dive and provide youwith the insights on your
favorite albums that will makeyou appreciate the music even
more.
We're your host, Lonnie.
Josh (00:31):
And I'm Josh.
Whether you're a die-hard fanor a casual listener, we
guarantee you'll learn somethingnew and gain a different
perspective on the albums thatinfluence your music taste.
We hope you enjoy listening andfollow us along on this journey
.
Lani (00:45):
Have you ever been in a relationship, or can you
remember a time when you reallyliked someone and you're perhaps
beginning to fall in love?
During this stage of therelationship, it could be scary
to take that huge step to saythe word love or allow yourself
to be that vulnerable, withsomeone being jealous of anyone
that has their intention.
The natural thoughts andfeelings that you want and that
(01:09):
you take, the desire to be inlove and the desperation for
someone else to love you.
Well, that's the theme oftoday's album we will be
discussing, which is SelflessMachines.
If this is an album youresonate with, we hope you keep
listening and discover thededication it took to make this
album become a reality.
(01:30):
Ladies and gentlemen, Iintroduce the Selfless Machine.
So Pierce the Ville is the bandalbum Selfless Machines
released June 22nd in 2010.
Josh (01:44):
Oh boy.
Lani (01:47):
Where were you in 2010?
Josh (01:51):
I don't really remember.
I think I was about to graduateand, yeah, I was not hanging
out with the best crowd.
Lani (02:01):
Oh, okay, well, I was uh.
Josh (02:05):
Definitely.
Oh okay, I wasn't listening tothis album, I will admit.
Lani (02:09):
Well, that's fine, it was not on my radar.
Well, I don't blame you.
It's kind of a depressing album, but I mean it's still like,
really one of my favorites.
Josh (02:25):
I just honestly don't care for Vicks vocals.
That's my opinion.
Yikes, you know I'm not a girl,a teenage girl back then.
Lani (02:37):
Oh, you weren't.
Josh (02:39):
No, I couldn't do it.
Lani (02:40):
Oh, okay, okay, Well, anyways, in 2010, I was also
graduating from eighth grade, Iwas turning into a freshman, and
that's about the time thisalbum came out, which was really
awesome because it was a hit.
Josh (02:57):
What a banger for you to graduate too.
Lani (02:59):
Woohoo.
So the band members at the time.
We have two brothers, vic andMike Fuentes.
Vic on vocals and Rhythm Guitar.
Josh (03:09):
Fuentes, I like that.
Lani (03:11):
And Mike does the drums.
We have Tony Perry on the leadguitar and Jaime on the bass.
Josh (03:17):
Jaime.
Lani (03:20):
Additional musicians that are featured on this album would
include Jeremy McKinnon, whichyou know who that's from.
Josh (03:27):
Oh, good for them.
Lani (03:28):
Vanessa Harris, mike Green Fun fact, he's also a producer
for this album.
John Mayer, I'm sorry, johnnyMeyer.
Josh (03:38):
Johnny Meyer.
Yeah, that's a littledifference there.
Lani (03:44):
Dave Yaden.
And yeah, okay.
Josh (03:55):
They.
I didn't know they werebrothers.
Lani (03:58):
You didn't know they were brothers.
Josh (03:59):
Well, like I said, this was not on my radar.
Lani (04:01):
Yeah, I guess if you weren't on the radar you
wouldn't know.
Josh (04:04):
No, I never looked up anything about them.
They annoyed me, to be frank.
Lani (04:11):
All right Well.
Josh (04:13):
And the females that liked them.
Lani (04:14):
I hope I can change your perspective.
Josh (04:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I mean I've changed quitea bit.
I like the next album more thanthis one, but yeah, I plan to
do that.
Lani (04:24):
I collided with this guy, that was.
That was a fun album.
Josh (04:26):
That's cool.
That's a fun album.
Lani (04:27):
That was a really good, really good one, yeah, but I
thought I'd start with thisbecause it's really awesome to
see the progression.
So Vic7it interview withAbsolute Punk in early 2009 that
this album was completelyinspired by their fans and
wasn't sure at the time when itwould be released, and that it
(04:49):
would be published with therecord label equal vision.
Josh (04:52):
What album number is this for them?
Lani (04:56):
This was album number two.
Josh (04:58):
Okay, cool.
Lani (05:00):
Yeah, and actually the following album.
And this album was writteninside of a cabin owned by
fearless records president BobBecker in San Diego, after the
end of their Taste of Chaos tourin 2009.
Josh (05:16):
So they recorded a cabin.
Lani (05:19):
They wrote oh, Some I think they did some recording,
but not all.
Josh (05:26):
That's a little spooky, but also cool.
Lani (05:30):
It definitely matches the tone of this album.
I'll say that.
Josh (05:35):
Okay.
Lani (05:37):
It was revealed that Mike Fentz had recorded the drums in
one day at Ocean Studios inHollywood.
Josh (05:45):
What a guy.
Lani (05:46):
What a guy, pretty impressive.
Josh (05:49):
It is pretty impressive.
Lani (05:52):
So by January of 2010,.
So six months before the albumwas released.
Six months before the album wasreleased, the vocals and
keyboard tracks had yet to berecorded.
Josh (06:05):
Oh, cutting the clues.
Lani (06:07):
And then an update was posted on February 17th
mentioning that Fentaz was stillworking on the album, and a
couple of days later he saidthere would be about eight days
left of recording vocals, andVic eventually mentioned that he
didn't want to record an LAanymore due to too many
distractions that weren't needed.
Josh (06:30):
That's a little type A, but okay.
Lani (06:32):
So Vic Bowen says, did a lot of interviews about this
album, and one with Bruce Samourwith the 13 media out of
Chicago in August of 2010.
So a month after the release ofthis album, he was asked what
the significance to the title ofthe disc was Selfish Machines
and Vic refers to SelfishMachines as the voice inside our
(06:53):
heads that make us want to takethings and keep them for
ourselves.
He says he doesn't see anythingwrong with telling someone that
you are selfish with their loveand that you can't stand
sharing them with anyone else.
Josh (07:06):
Hmm, it's pretty deep.
Lani (07:08):
Yeah, definitely.
Josh (07:11):
I thought it was something to do with people and wanting
to keep each other, but I guessfeelings is a way to put it.
You want to store up the andkeep people's love.
I guess Cool.
Lani (07:26):
This album has pretty noteworthy people behind the
scenes working on production.
First we have Mike Green.
He's a producer, engineer andmixing Recorded during December
2009 and January 2010.
Mike stumbled across the bandon a documentary he found on
(07:47):
YouTube and he really wanted togo with them because throughout
the documentary, they proved toshow they had a lot of ambition
and knew that they had anopportunity to do something
cutting edge and different andtaking the technical elements to
another level.
They wanted to do somethingthat sounds real and different,
(08:11):
to stand out from the rest ofthe crowd or genre that they
have fallen into.
Josh (08:16):
Hmm, I mean, I was lost on me, unfortunately.
Lani (08:21):
Vic decided to work with Mike because he was familiar
with his work, his previous work, and thought of Mike as a down
to earth person and verypassionate.
He says working with Mike wasgreat because he's everything
that Vic is not.
He reads music, he knows theoryand can tell you almost
(08:42):
anything you want to know aboutwriting a song where he feels
he's much more freestyle andplays things by ear.
So they feel as though theybalance each other out very well
in the studio.
Josh (08:55):
I think it's really interesting when, like a
vocalist or something, doesn'tknow how to read the theory or
isn't as advanced.
Just a cool little insight youdon't have to know everything
about music to make great music.
Lani (09:10):
Right, especially with like the resources out there
today.
Josh (09:14):
Sure, sure, and then just having that talent and that
ambition and then just strivingfor it can take you so far in
this industry, some, I feel.
Lani (09:23):
Yeah, it's pretty awesome.
Josh (09:25):
Some people just get a lot luckier than others, but credit
is given where credit's due.
Lani (09:30):
Absolutely Hard work definitely pays off.
Josh (09:34):
Always.
Lani (09:36):
And Vic Fuente is speaking of him.
He's actually a co-producer forthis album and it seems that
Vic actually got his start inmusic through composing small
tracks, like a feature on BestCovers Ever, covering the song
Somebody that I Used to Knowwith Made A Parade, and there
are other songs he featured inas well, producing the Punk Goes
(09:57):
Classic Rock album.
Josh (10:01):
So he was already into the game.
That's kind of cool.
Lani (10:03):
Yeah, and then you can find aside from the EP and a
couple songs here and there.
Selfish Machines seems to bethe first album he produced or
was part of production with.
Josh (10:16):
I mean, if you're going to go in on anything, you might as
well go in on yourself.
Lani (10:21):
Exactly Another a data-remembered crew.
Tom Denney was a co-writer withFuentes for the majority of the
song and so he was the OGguitar artist for the band a
data-remember but left the bandto focus on settling down and
getting married and starting afamily and turned his focus and
(10:43):
dedication on his recordingstudio.
Denney at one point mentionedhe no longer had the desire to
continue the tour life.
One would say he didn't want tofeel homesick anymore.
Now Tom Denney owns both RedVulture Production Company in
Hollywood and Dirty CriminalProductions out of Orlando.
Josh (11:07):
Nice.
Do you know how long he waswith ATTR?
Lani (11:14):
Not very long, their first since second album.
He left after Homestick.
Josh (11:21):
Oh, after Homestick Okay.
Lani (11:23):
Yeah, okay.
A team of assistant engineersworked together on this album,
starting with Kyle Black.
He owned his own productioncompany and also produces for
other artists such as All TimeLow, paramore, taking Back
(11:44):
Sunday.
That was pretty cool to learn.
Vanessa Harris she was anassistant engineer, but she's
also a guest singer on thisalbum.
Will McCoy he also worked withbands like State Champs and Neck
Teep, Kind of bringing that poppunk-y to the album.
(12:05):
Alan Duchess is the masteringfor this album.
Honestly, I was very impressedwith the list of projects that
this man has worked on.
I mean some dating back from1954, from what I can find.
Some artists that really stoodout to me were a couple of the
(12:26):
Misfits albums Fleetwood Mac,the band Brand New, fallout Boy,
the Acacia Strain, and that'sjust steaming a handful.
The list goes on.
It's pretty noteworthy.
Josh (12:40):
I think I've heard that name before for sure.
Mastering is very interesting.
You just kind of look over aproduct and you're like tweaking
it here and there.
It's pretty cool.
Lani (12:50):
It is really cool.
Josh (12:51):
I mean, that just goes to show you he really has a ear for
it.
Lani (12:54):
Absolutely Followed by production.
We have two fellows that helpedout with the art and direction
of the photography of this album, and the one responsible for
the photography and the artdirection is Phil Manula, and
he's done art for other albumsby artists such as a Skylet
Drive, bring Me the HorizonAsking Alexandria and A Day to
(13:18):
Remember.
Josh (13:20):
This man only works with the best Thanks.
Lani (13:25):
This album, selfish Machines, was debuted on
Billboard's Heatseekers chart atnumber one, beating their first
album, which landed at number61, which indicated a sales of
over 400% increase, and it wasthe first time being number one
on the charts.
Josh (13:46):
Good for it.
Lani (13:47):
Yeah, and the album originally was met with a
variety of critical reception,with reviewers criticizing the
use of autotune with the tracks.
Josh (14:00):
Okay, I mean it was a fun thing to do back then.
Lani (14:03):
Definitely.
This album was eventuallyreissued with a remix production
on September 24th of 2013.
And something I thought wasinteresting was that Vic says
that he got the name of the bandfrom a sociology class after
(14:25):
hearing Pierce the Vale.
The professor mentionedpiercing the Vale meaning to go
directly to the root of aproblem and removing it at the
source, which he implied toRealLife saying if there is
something going wrong in life,cut it out completely from the
core.
As I said in the beginning oftoday's episode, the theme of
(14:49):
the album has to do with thenatural thoughts and feelings
that you want and take andhaving that desire to be in love
and the desperation for someoneelse to love you.
So with that, I also shouldinclude a trigger warning,
because this lyrics talkseventually in depth about taking
(15:10):
your own life and just darktimes and depression.
Josh (15:16):
So you're sensitive to that.
Take care of yourself, people.
Lani (15:23):
So number one on the track we have Basitos, which means
tiny or little kisses in Spanish.
When I saw Pierce the Vale forthe first time, it was in San
Francisco and this was the firstsong that they opened with, and
I remember it being super crazybecause I've never been in like
(15:47):
a mosh pit general admissionarea where you're standing with
the rest of the crowd and oncethe music started, everyone just
pushes forward and it's like awave and I'm like what the heck
is going on.
Josh (15:58):
You don't expect it sometimes.
Lani (15:59):
My friend looked at me and she can see my face.
I was terrified.
She's like put up your elbowsand just relax and go with the
flow.
So I was like okay, and finally, after doing that, I was like,
oh, this is actually kind of fun.
I feel like.
Josh (16:13):
Yeah, that's good.
Lani (16:14):
I mean we're waves in the ocean.
Josh (16:17):
Yeah, you got a good coach .
Wish I had had a coach backthen.
Lani (16:21):
I appreciate it.
Shout out to Cheyenne, allright, so yeah, number one,
bistito.
The music showcases the band'sLatin influence and is a story
written from the point of viewof Vicks, the leapfinger X-Lar
Vic takes advantage of heremotionally to the point of
(16:44):
getting her fed up and seekingrevenge.
Josh (16:49):
Not not a healthy, it's an interesting one to open with.
Lani (16:55):
The lyrics also describe um one says so Vicks
relationship with a girl fromher part of you who he couldn't
stop hurting over and over again.
Josh (17:05):
Just rat it on himself.
Lani (17:09):
Vic says in an interview with Alt Press that, um, he
always tries to incorporate atleast a hint of Latin influence
in every song, but with thissong they just full sent it and
lyrically it's about mydysfunctional relationship with
the girl.
I couldn't stop hurting overand over again.
It's meant to be her speakingto me, asking me why I'm not
(17:33):
satisfied with what we had.
I wanted to write it from herperspective to try and
understand what she was goingthrough at the time.
It ends with her wanting tokill me for all the stuff I've
put her through, which Iappreciate.
He was willing to take a lookfrom her perspective because it
sounded very toxic.
(17:53):
Yeah, that's not normally thecase where you can look in.
Josh (17:59):
It's a cool thing for him to look back on and do in the
moment Like that's.
It's really hard to evenreflect personally and then to
write a whole song about it.
Lani (18:10):
Yeah.
Josh (18:11):
I mean, I hope, I hope it was a healing process and, like
you know, he learned from it.
Lani (18:16):
Yeah, that's all you can really do from doing that and if
you're doing it correctly andtaking it the right way.
Josh (18:23):
Yeah.
Lani (18:25):
Number two we have Southern Constellations and this
song is about Vicks fascinationwith Southern girls.
Buentes called this guitar toneas one of his favorite tones
from the album, which was madeusing a Stratocaster through a
custom made amplifier, makingthe glassy and unique sound they
(18:46):
were looking for.
Digging a little bit into thelyrics of the song please keep
chasing me, I think is relatedto not wanting his partner to
let go, and the feeling ismutual.
The lyrics your SouthernConstellations got me so dizzy
(19:07):
relates to the mixed signals andSouthern Constellation.
It's a fascination withSouthern girls.
It's cold, but you pretend thatyou were warm with me.
Before I get you home.
You're nearly frozen is anotherlyric.
And that actually leads intothe next song, the Boy who Could
Fly, as it starts detailing aboy's thoughts walking his date
(19:30):
home through the cold.
Additionally is speculated orspeculated to be a reference to
the couple's dying relationship.
The two never clicked, as thegirl was only pretending to
match the same level of loveshown from the boy.
The romance eventually turnedcold.
Josh (19:53):
Could it be a prequel to that song?
Lani (19:56):
Yeah, like rolls in to number three being the Boy who
Could Fly.
That's cool.
Yeah, I thought so.
So, yeah, this song, the Boywho Could Fly, was originally
six minutes but the intro wassplit off into a separate track
which is listed as number twoSouthern Constellations because
of the length of the song at thetime.
(20:17):
So Southern Constellations, forreference, is a minute and five
seconds and the Boy who CouldFly is four minutes and 18
seconds.
Josh (20:31):
I didn't know that the first one was so short yeah.
Lani (20:35):
The guitar in this song was inspired by what they
remembered to love playing askids.
Lyrics are about a relationshipreliant on the other person,
with obsession and desperationand just stupid things you do
when you're in love.
Josh (20:50):
So they really like to change up the sound of the songs
as they go.
Yeah, they like to play themusic and learn Latin.
Twist on it, yeah.
Lani (21:01):
Um Vic had said that this was the craziest and most
intense song that he had written.
Josh (21:09):
Crazy Fuentes Look at him go.
Lani (21:13):
Lyrically one being.
I hope you like the stars thatI stole for you.
Relation to Southernconstellations.
Josh (21:20):
He's just these callbacks, man.
Lani (21:24):
The boy on the blue moon dreams of sun, wanting something
you can't have.
So a blue moon is used todescribe something as impossible
or very unlikely.
Josh (21:34):
You know what's going to be a blue moon this month, no
joke.
Lani (21:39):
Really.
Josh (21:39):
Yeah, at the end of this month there's going to be a
super blue moon and it's kind oflike rare every five years.
Yeah, I don't know if you cansee it on our side of the planet
though.
Lani (21:50):
Dang, we'll have to look that up.
Yeah, yeah, Anyways.
So a blue like I said, bluemoon is used to describe
something impossible orextremely unlikely.
Josh (21:58):
Because it doesn't happen often.
Lani (21:59):
Yes, Once in a blue moon.
A sorrowful aspect of this lineis the fact that the boy will
never see his sun, because themoon and the sun are constantly
apart.
He can only bask in the raysthat reflect off the moon from a
distance, in the same way thatVic is being distanced from his
(22:23):
love.
Josh (22:25):
That's deep.
Lani (22:26):
That was beautiful.
Josh (22:29):
I can feel it.
Lani (22:33):
All right, number four.
We got probably the number onehit on the song heria funilia.
Josh (22:41):
Nice, you got through that smoothly Did.
Lani (22:44):
I.
Josh (22:45):
Oh, I mean looking at it, I don't think I would have said
that word, what you said.
Lani (22:50):
Well, let's just say I've listened to this song plenty of
times.
Josh (22:52):
You've heard it a couple of times.
Lani (22:53):
Just a bit.
I mean, there's just certainsomebody in it that I can't see.
So, speaking of that certainperson would be Jeremy McKinnon,
who also helped produce thiswhole album.
So he's definitely involved andit turned out to be a really
fabulous song.
So originally so, the song isbased off his ex-girlfriend
(23:18):
Fuentes ex-girlfriend who lefther possessions at his house,
which made Fuentes thinkingabout her when he saw them.
Before adding the title, Vicsent the lyric to his
ex-girlfriend, who was actuallyvery flattered by the whole
thing, he says.
As soon as he started writingthe music for the chorus, Vic
(23:39):
knew he wanted Jeremy McKinnonto appear on the song, and so
McKinnon appears as he screamsthroughout the chorus, in the
bridge section, which is whichmade the collaboration very
special to Vic.
Josh (23:54):
Good for them.
It's always great when peoplecollab.
Early collabs were kind ofhidden.
Sometimes you didn't evenrealize that it was someone else
.
I didn't at least.
Maybe I'm dumb.
Lani (24:04):
With a couple songs.
Yeah, Like for those thatdidn't write it or you didn't
really look into the song.
Josh (24:12):
It was fun to try and guess who the guest vocal was.
Lani (24:16):
Yeah, I agree.
Josh (24:17):
And sometimes we would have You're like I know that
voice yeah, we'd have littlearguments about.
Back in my band days we wouldhave arguments about who was the
guest vocal.
Lani (24:27):
That's awesome.
My parents would do that whilewe make dinner.
They would blast music like theclassic rock radio channel and
would just like this and we'reeating dinner.
Josh (24:39):
They're drilling you and trying to make you learn the
music.
Lani (24:42):
Well, they would just do quiz.
They would just keep quizzingeach other about, like, who was
on the radio.
So I learned a lot from that,actually.
Okay.
So, anyways, back toCaravanelia Lyric.
I brought a gun and I was thepreacher trying to stop me.
In this line, vic describedthis scene in which he brings
(25:04):
the gun into a church to attemptunaliving himself in front of
God, which explains the preachertrying to stop him.
This is a reference to Romeoand Juliet.
The next lyric what if I can'tforget you?
I'll bring your name into mythroat.
I'll be the fire that'll catchyou.
He's playing with the conceptof an imagery, of Imagery.
(25:27):
Oh, my goodness.
Josh (25:29):
Imagery.
Lani (25:30):
Imagery of fire which burns things.
The thought of not being withher doesn't leave his mind.
She's forever in his head.
Josh (25:39):
Good.
Lani (25:40):
I'll say her name 24-7, until it's branded like a burn
mark on his throat.
Catch fire as a phrase, as manydefinitions, one being the
seizing of an individual after achase or a grasping, either
physically or mentally.
In terms of imagery, he justwants to cover her with his love
(26:02):
, envelop her with his fire.
Josh (26:07):
Wow, I mean he's very emotional and intense, extremely
.
Yeah, very deep, Very deep.
Lani (26:18):
That's why I gave a trigger warning.
The next lyric don't mind me,I'm just reaching for your
necklace, talking to my momabout this little girl from
Texas.
Vic wrote this song with thebox full of his ex-lover's
belongings in it.
It's likely he's clutching hismemorabilia while talking to his
(26:42):
mother about the one who brokehis heart.
The location of Texas is notrandom, as Vic has expressed an
infinity for girls from the deepsouth.
Josh (26:53):
Good for him.
Lani (26:57):
Number five, fast Times at Claremont High.
It's a very selfish song, hesays, dealing with human nature
and our selfish tendencies, andincluded musical inspirations
and influences of MichaelJackson.
The title is a reference to AmyHickerling's 1982 film Fast
(27:19):
Times at Ridgemont High, whichinvolves a cast of characters
over a year at high school.
The name of Vic and MikeWintes' school at Claremont High
is substituted in the titleinstead of the name of the film
itself.
That's pretty cool, huh.
Josh (27:39):
Yeah, I mean, it's a way to get kind of a good reference.
Lani (27:43):
Yeah, the lyrics, the celebration, so many faces.
I say the words as the moonpainted us blue.
They are dancing under themoonlight, which gives them the
perfect setting to tell her howhe feels.
Now hold on, this is innocentblood.
All the Beach Boys look likeshark.
He doesn't want his girl tofall for the popular kids
(28:04):
because he thinks they will donothing but hurt her, thus
comparing them to sharks.
Josh (28:10):
Accurate yeah ㅋㅋ.
Lani (28:15):
Number six, the new national anthem.
The intro is a faster versionof the song Europa.
Josh (28:24):
Europa.
Lani (28:26):
Europa by Santana.
One can even argue that it'sSam.
I used to drive six hours justto see this girl that I liked.
She was beautiful but didn'tknow it because she was from a
small town.
I went to her place once and itwas completely empty because
she was in the process of movinginto another apartment.
I remember making out with herin the dark in the middle of her
(28:49):
empty carpeted floor.
A lot of the lyrics of thissong were about that night.
I recorded the intro to thissong in our apartment in LA.
We used a lot of the originalsounds from my ghetto little
recording on the album.
That's Vic about this song.
Josh (29:06):
Wow, you did a lot of this is like all from the different
interviews.
Lani (29:12):
Yeah, I mean this was released back in 2010, so just
interviews that have beencollected over the years.
Josh (29:22):
A lot of coverage, yeah.
Lani (29:27):
Number seven bulletproof love.
This is based on Vic's interestwith happy songs that have
morbid lyrics, calling it one ofthe darkest he's written, and
that's very true.
This is a super duper triggerwarning of self harm.
Josh (29:44):
There's a lot of places you can go and people that can
help.
You have any problems orthoughts?
Please reach out.
Lani (29:53):
Yeah, I can include some resources in the show notes as
well.
Josh (29:58):
You are loved, the bulletproof love.
Lani (30:08):
So written in the style of suicide note that would be
found by a loved one.
The lyrics are about beingpassionate with someone to the
point that you're willing tohurt yourself.
Oh no no, no, all right.
Digging into the lyrics, sayI'm wrong.
In the sunset, turning redbehind the smoke, it could be
(30:29):
representing his happinessdisappearing and all that's left
is his memories.
The lyric and you've gone andsewn me to this bed is related
to depression and alluded to inthe next track, stay away from
my friends, the lyric being asyou tie me to the bed for good,
(30:49):
I say that I want you in themost unromantic ways.
Nature, the blinding rain isalso a lyric in the song.
Blinding rain meaning a verythick rainfall making it hard to
see.
And when the vultures singtonight, I'm going to join right
in.
Vultures are said to benature's cleaning crews.
(31:12):
They basically come togetherwhen a carcass is found and help
get rid of it, which eliminatesthe spread of diseases,
parasites and bacteria.
I found that vultures soarsimilar to eagles and can span
up to six foot wings.
Josh (31:30):
They're pretty crazy, they're gross.
Lani (31:33):
That's like something out of like repotter.
Josh (31:34):
They're pretty creepy man Hypograph, hypograph.
Hypographs.
Lani (31:39):
Yeah, Vic is using this as a metaphor to describe his
death over the end of hisrelationship and would be
willing to give up.
Give up to the vultures sowilling to be eaten alive,
basically.
Josh (31:53):
Pretty much.
Lani (31:55):
My love for you is bulletproof, but you're the one
who shot me is another metaphorto explain his heart, or a
bulletproof vest to protecttheir love.
But what if you're protectingbetrays you and shoots you in
the back?
Over I can barely say your name, so I'll try to write it and
fill the pen with blood from asink.
(32:15):
Well describing the attempt tocover up the emotional pain with
physical.
Josh (32:22):
Good.
Lani (32:24):
But don't just say it.
You should sing my name.
Pretend that it's a song, asforever it's yours and we can
sing this on the way home,followed by I'll sing along
because I don't know any othersong.
In the previous lines, hewanted her to make up a song
about him and sing it, and hewould sing along because he
doesn't know anything other thanhis love for her.
(32:44):
There's nothing to do butscream at the drunken moon Moon
being out, drunken moon, so moonbeing is just nighttime Could
symbolize the ending of therelationship.
Vic feels helpless and feelsthere's nothing to do but scream
and cry at the world out ofsadness and or desperation.
(33:05):
And to conclude this track on alighter note, vic says it's
comforting to say out loud thethings you're thinking, and I
totally agree to that.
Name it to tame it.
Josh (33:22):
A little bit of hope at the end of the tunnel, huh.
Lani (33:25):
Always.
Honestly, this is probably oneof my favorite songs on the
album.
Well, I just really like it.
I don't know, I always have,since I first heard it.
Josh (33:41):
Yeah, I never really got into them, so I'm a little lost
for words.
I mean, I don't it's deep.
It's a deep stuff and youreally went in and you really
took a dive.
It's good stuff.
Lani (33:56):
You know me, but I understand it's pretty heavy.
So I'm moving on to numbereight.
Stay away from my friends.
It's about an ex-girlfriend, ofcourse, who was trying to be
friends with his friends afterthey had broken up.
Josh (34:15):
That's always weird.
Lani (34:17):
Yeah, it's a bit.
Vic also says that he wrote thepiano parts at his home in San
Diego and the piano featured onthe song was played by his
friend, dave Gaten, who alsoplayed keys.
On 2007, a Flare for theDramatic, which is their
previous album, which Vic saystook everything to the next
(34:38):
level.
Josh (34:42):
The piano.
Lani (34:43):
The piano like adding yeah , adding the piano.
Josh (34:45):
Nice yeah.
Lani (34:49):
And then about.
This is also just about theband wanting to come out
different from the rest and fromthe previous material that they
had for the album, and theyplaced this in the middle of the
album to provide some sort ofbreath of fresh air per se.
Josh (35:13):
This is only the halfway through, huh yeah.
Lani (35:21):
Well, we're almost there.
Josh (35:23):
Almost there.
Lani (35:24):
Almost there, Okay, lyrics Waking up your neighbors.
It's a metaphor for crying andunpredictable behavior.
I've been inside your bedroom athousand years and timing to
the bed suggests that depressionhe has is preventing him from
having the motivation for dailylife.
(35:44):
I want you in the mostunromantic ways.
Being unromantic can vary fromperson to person.
Some examples would be notputting in the effort to keep
the relationship alive, notshowing affection, being
unfaithful overall, justnegative.
Its context of the song isabout how Vick's illness is
(36:07):
developing as a mental andphysical disorder.
Louisiana, you're torturing mewith a beautiful face.
Can you guess what?
This is another indicator ofSouthern girls.
Correct and Louisiana could be apseudonym name for his
ex-girlfriend.
A penny in the couch and adiamond ring.
(36:32):
It really just puts meaning tothe worthlessness of the
relationship that had turnedinto and a penny just being as
worthless as a diamond ring.
Stay away from my friendsbecause I need them to carry me
when it's over.
I mean just how it is.
He'll need his friends to bethere for him once the
(36:52):
relationship ends.
I'll count back from ten and youcan listen to Glassheart
shattering.
Vick symbolizes this as hisjourney, or it could be
symbolizing his journey along tohis brokenness.
Once he counts back from ten,there would be too much damage
(37:13):
to his heart to the point offeeling numb Glassheart's
meaning very fragile andcompares his heart as Glass.
Once broken, it would be verydifficult to put back the pieces
.
First two is alluding to whenthey kiss.
It absolutely infatuates himand he cannot believe that they
now only talk on specialoccasions like main holidays or
(37:33):
birthdays, wrapping up with himcomparing himself to her beauty,
how she can be out of hisleague and can't believe he
ended up with a woman so much.
Chorus two I'll count back fromten is now followed with the
lines and you can listen tosomething that you've never
heard before and then trails offinto a melody.
(37:55):
But when looking back at theprevious chorus could be
alluding to the Glassheartshattering assuming she's never
broken someone's heart thisterribly and the outro of the
song again just alluding to hisattraction to self harm to numb
the emotional pain he feels.
Josh (38:15):
Poor guy just always striking out, but these women,
they sure are pretty.
Lani (38:24):
They sure are pretty.
Josh (38:26):
I mean chill out bro.
Why going in so hard?
Lani (38:32):
Yeah, it's that he's going through it.
Josh (38:35):
Everybody.
Everybody cares in differentways.
Lani (38:37):
You know when you're young .
Josh (38:40):
Yeah, you always make mistakes.
Lani (38:42):
And the emotions are wow.
Josh (38:45):
It's tough out there.
Tough out there for everybody.
You never know what someoneelse is going through.
Lani (38:50):
So Right, absolutely.
Josh (38:52):
Be kind.
Lani (38:55):
Be the reason someone smiles today.
Josh (38:58):
Someone smiling because you're there.
Lani (39:02):
Alright.
Well, back to the darkness.
Number nine I don't care ifyou're contagious.
This song is inspired by afemale fan telling Fuentes that
her boyfriend was involved in afatal car crash.
This one's also very deep, ofcourse.
So Vic says that she told methat he held her hand for the
(39:26):
first time at one of our shows,and it's speculated that that
could be related to the albumcover of the Boy and the Girl.
This was written as a gift tothe fan from the point of view
of the boyfriend speaking to herand telling her that he is
still watching over her and thathe will love her forever.
Josh (39:50):
Wow, that's so nice.
Lani (39:51):
It really is A lyric.
Bury me in the bedroom where Ican sing you to sleep all night,
aside from the perspective ofthe boyfriend, who'd pass and
just wants to comfort her whenhe's gone.
Josh (40:05):
That's a little creepy, though I'm sorry.
Only serial killers bury peoplein a bedroom.
Lani (40:11):
Yeah, that's true.
Josh (40:13):
I bet that'd be very stinky after a while, very
stinky and, at the minimum.
Lani (40:20):
The next lyric being I'd rather kill the one responsible
for falling stars at night,because they fall all around me,
and probably refers to thekilling whoever caused the
accident and causing hisgirlfriend to cry and the tears
of her happiness being thefalling stars.
Number 10, disasterology atypical guy's dream of girls
(40:46):
going out, drinking and livingthe life somebody wants.
The chorus was a veryphilosophical idea that I've
played around with for a longtime.
The creation of somethingbeautiful only to destroy is
epic, and that really leads intothe lyrics, one of them being
(41:07):
can we create somethingbeautiful and destroy it?
Nobody knows.
I dream about it.
This is my imagination.
He knows he can't have the girl, but nothing is going to hold
him back from being with her inhis own fantasy world.
When reality pushes him to thebreaking point, he's willing to
take a chance for it all to bedestroyed.
A lyric I have a milliondifferent girls that hide under
(41:32):
my bed and when I let them outthey treat me right.
Oh, what a waste of a perfectlygood, clean wreath.
Vic has opened up in the pastabout his own struggles with
self harm and would refer therazors as girls.
Josh (41:45):
I don't know, that was weird.
I was confused.
Lani (41:50):
Yeah, again hiding things under the bed.
Josh (41:54):
Yeah, lots of beds and getting tied to the bed.
He's very fond of the bedroom.
Lani (42:02):
But the bedroom is always like.
Josh (42:05):
It's weird, it's like dark , happiness, comfort.
Yeah, like it's a comfortingspace, but it's also like some
of the worst stuff can happenthere.
We are weird creatures.
Lani (42:18):
That's for sure.
There's a lot to handle in ourlives.
Okay, the next lyric you werescreaming until the police came.
But following his unrealisticfantasy, his mental problems had
been neglected and he wanted toinduce pain on himself as a
suicide attempt, because thisrelationship was only real in
(42:40):
his head.
When she found him, he was inneed for dire attention and
causing her to panic and callthe police.
And finally, if every livingthing dies alone, what am I
doing here?
And it fits with the heartbreaktheme.
However, a line from the movieDonnie Darko inspired this song,
when Grandma Death tells Donnieevery living creature on earth
(43:05):
dies alone.
Josh (43:07):
Great movie, really really good movie.
Lani (43:09):
Yeah, I like it.
I think you showed it to me forthe first time, actually.
Josh (43:14):
It's great, it's insane.
Lani (43:16):
Yeah, number 11, million Dollar House.
The Painter this is a gift tothe Fuente's parents.
Specifically.
His father worked as a paintingcontractor, barely earning
throughout his life enough moneyto keep the family going, and
being forced to sell his home.
And so Vic wrote this song,expressing the hatred for money
(43:44):
and the way it sometimes messesup people's lives and families.
Josh (43:49):
All too often.
Lani (43:52):
And then one lyric that just took out to me in this song
is sometimes the moon looksbrighter than the sun.
It's similar to the metaphorthe grass isn't always greener
on the other side but in thissong this is obviously relating
to money.
And two the last song of thealbum, number 12, the Sky Under
(44:17):
the Sea.
Josh (44:18):
Do that again.
Lani (44:20):
Number 12, the Sky Under the Sea.
I'm just going to jump rightinto lyrics on this one.
So, number one being I stillremember the night you tried to
kiss me through the window.
The opening lyrics, vic, is thelast thing on this girl's mind
as she gives a poor goodbye witha petty kiss through the very.
(44:41):
And someday I'll drive closeboth my eyes, referring to
driving off a bridge, somedayinto a body of water to have a
better life after death.
I don't think that's a way toget a better life, but to each
their own.
Josh (44:58):
It worked that way.
Lani (45:00):
You'll never be as beautiful without me.
She abuses him to feelbeautiful and the moment she
ends the abuse, she won't feelas powerful or confident.
Josh (45:10):
Terrible.
I'm going to treat people.
Lani (45:15):
Really, and I just want to fade away into the sky under
the sea, alluding to suicide bydrowning in the sea.
And lastly, ladies andgentlemen, I introduced the
selfish machine.
Some would guess the selfishmachine is describing a woman,
(45:36):
but it actually just means allhumans in general.
Vic says the sky under the seais about admitting I am the
selfish machine, about beingselfish with love and taking
what you want without regret.
It also alludes to the animalinside us all.
He says we are all humans andno one is perfect, despite how
(45:57):
good someone may think he or sheis.
My final thoughts about thisalbum I really like the
drummer's style and he reallygives the songs that groovy,
like you want to dance but youalso really want a head bang.
And specifically in care forNelia, the album is even more
(46:19):
amazing after learning that theycreated this album sort of on
the spot and how everyone'stalent really just came together
very well, and then finally, Imean the whole team that that
was put together for this albumto come to light.
I just think overall they did avery fantastic job with this
album.
Do you have any final thoughts?
(46:42):
What do you think?
I know it's pretty heavy.
Josh (46:45):
Oh yeah, I mean, it's yeah honestly.
Lani (46:55):
No words.
Josh (46:58):
You're speechless.
I haven't given it enoughlistens to really put a solid
thought together.
I mean I like a few songs,they're cool, but I never really
got into it as much.
I mean, it's the way.
Lani (47:15):
It gives the songs a different meaning when you dive
in and understand the storybehind it.
Josh (47:22):
Yeah, definitely.
You know, sometimes we justhear songs and we just enjoy
them.
You don't think about it asmuch.
I think that's pretty common.
So seeing it like in a deeperway, it really does change how
you could feel about it.
And yeah, I just, I neverthought about it.
I never thought about it thatway.
Lani (47:43):
Yeah, and I think all songs in general can be very
relatable.
You can apply it to whateveryou're going through at the time
, really.
So to conclude, an interviewwith Bruce Moore with B13 Media
out of Chicago.
In August of 2010,.
(48:06):
Bruce Moore interviewed VicFuentes and asked Now that your
brand new CD Selfish Machines iscomplete, how do you feel about
it?
Are you satisfied with theoutcome?
Vic says he's more satisfiednow than he ever was actually
leaving the studio because ofthe overwhelming positive
reaction from the fans.
He had heard the record amillion times when they were
(48:29):
making it in the studio andafter for a while and didn't
even know what to think about it.
Josh (48:36):
Yeah, I can totally agree with that.
You're just so immersed in yourown creativity and you don't
even know how people are goingto feel about it.
So that's got to feel great.
Lani (48:47):
Definitely Just watching your work, because you're really
vulnerable, I feel, as a writer, because you're You're taking a
chance.
Josh (48:55):
That's the whole point, I mean.
And then again, I just didn'tknow that sometimes you just
think people write to write.
You don't really know ifthey're actually experiencing
everything that they're talkingabout, right?
Lani (49:09):
Right.
Josh (49:12):
So just to hear that all of these are very personal to
him Really cool, really.
I'll definitely have tore-listen and think about it in
a different way.
Lani (49:24):
Yeah.
Josh (49:26):
All right, John.
Well, thanks for checking thisone out.
We got a little bonus, littleextra for you.
Of course, we got the top threecoming in.
We're going to do top threeartists from our Spotify wrapped
2020.
Lani (49:43):
2020.
Josh (49:44):
The year it all happened the year it was still happening
and we were possibly never goingto be free.
What were you listening to, oh?
Lani (49:56):
Anyways, yes, yes, what was I listening to?
Josh (49:59):
Number one of my list.
That's what we're here for,Right right, right, dance, give
and dance.
Oh dude, no way what it'salmost like it's mine Wow.
Lani (50:09):
Wow, it's like we listened to the same music, or something
.
Josh (50:12):
Dang.
I mean dance, give and dance.
They were really killing itthen.
It was a lot of hype then.
Lani (50:19):
So yeah, After Burner came out Right.
Josh (50:23):
Yeah, that was it.
Everybody was waiting for thatto drop Dropped hard.
Lani (50:29):
It really did.
What's your number one?
Josh (50:33):
Song.
Lani (50:34):
Artist.
Josh (50:35):
I dance, give and dance.
Lani (50:36):
You dance yeah.
Josh (50:38):
I was agreeing with you.
Lani (50:39):
Oh, so that's your number one too.
Josh (50:41):
Yeah, apparently.
Lani (50:42):
Apparently All right number.
Okay, what's your number two?
Josh (50:46):
Okay, my number two was a good tiger.
Lani (50:50):
That's my number three.
Josh (50:51):
Oh well, there you go.
Lani (50:54):
I remember we went to where did we go?
Half Moon Bay for your birthdayand it was so nice outside with
the weather and I just rememberthe doors like the windows
rolled down and jamming out togood tiger.
Josh (51:08):
Yeah good, tiger is awesome.
Lani (51:09):
Like beach yeah.
Josh (51:11):
They got great vibes, so that's your number three.
What's your number two?
Lani (51:17):
Vale of Maya Nice.
Josh (51:19):
Yeah, heck, yeah Well, do you know the song?
Lani (51:25):
I could look it up.
I didn't write the song down.
Josh (51:28):
Oh, no worries, All right well.
Lani (51:31):
Probably like Toll Spray or Mikasa.
Is it Mikasa, misaka?
I don't know.
Josh (51:38):
Mikasa yeah.
Lani (51:41):
Mikasa, yukasa, mikasa.
Anyways, it was Vale of Maya.
Josh (51:46):
Cool.
And then, yeah, I had, and mylast one was Hail the Sun.
Lani (51:49):
Oh, okay.
Josh (51:50):
Yeah, they were pretty cool.
I haven't been enjoying them asmuch lately, but they're
classics.
I'm just, I just the classics.
Lani (52:00):
Yeah, I agree, and just they're so fun live Like Donovan
really puts on a show.
Josh (52:05):
Yeah, he's a cool dude.
Lani (52:06):
I love when he gets on the drums Entertaining.
Josh (52:10):
Definitely, and yeah, that first album.
He played the drums a lot more.
That's why I like it so much.
He isn't dude enough anymore.
Play the drums, donovan.
Lani (52:19):
Sound like you're a drummer or something.
Josh (52:21):
I do, I bang.
Okay, alright, bang on the drum.
Lani (52:27):
Thank you so much for listening.
Josh (52:29):
Yeah, we did it again.
We're here again and we're gladyou're here.
We love you guys.
If you listened all the waythrough, you're awesome.
Lani (52:37):
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Josh (52:39):
Yeah, I mean you could tell somebody if you feel like
it.
Lani (52:42):
But I get it.
Tell your mom, yeah, tell yourdad, your sister, your brother,
your aunt, your uncle.
Josh (52:48):
Check us out on the Instagram.
What's the Instagram again?
Lani (52:53):
Postmoshclaritypodcast.
Josh (52:56):
Baboom.
Lani (52:57):
In our Gmail.
Postmoshpod at gmailcom.
Josh (53:01):
Yeah, let us know what you want to hear, what we could do
to make your listeningexperience better, and until
next time, bye.
Lani (53:11):
Music playing.
Welcome to Postmosh Clarity, a podcast where we take
a deep dive and provide youwith the insights on your
favorite albums that will makeyou appreciate the music even
more.
We're your host, Lonnie.
Josh (00:31):
And I'm Josh.
Whether you're a die-hard fanor a casual listener, we
guarantee you'll learn somethingnew and gain a different
perspective on the albums thatinfluence your music taste.
We hope you enjoy listening andfollow us along on this journey
.
Lani (00:45):
Have you ever been in a relationship, or can you
remember a time when you reallyliked someone and you're perhaps
beginning to fall in love?
During this stage of therelationship, it could be scary
to take that huge step to saythe word love or allow yourself
to be that vulnerable, withsomeone being jealous of anyone
that has their intention.
The natural thoughts andfeelings that you want and that
(01:09):
you take, the desire to be inlove and the desperation for
someone else to love you.
Well, that's the theme oftoday's album we will be
discussing, which is SelflessMachines.
If this is an album youresonate with, we hope you keep
listening and discover thededication it took to make this
album become a reality.
(01:30):
Ladies and gentlemen, Iintroduce the Selfless Machine.
So Pierce the Ville is the bandalbum Selfless Machines
released June 22nd in 2010.
Josh (01:44):
Oh boy.
Lani (01:47):
Where were you in 2010?
Josh (01:51):
I don't really remember.
I think I was about to graduateand, yeah, I was not hanging
out with the best crowd.
Lani (02:01):
Oh, okay, well, I was uh.
Josh (02:05):
Definitely.
Oh okay, I wasn't listening tothis album, I will admit.
Lani (02:09):
Well, that's fine, it was not on my radar.
Well, I don't blame you.
It's kind of a depressing album, but I mean it's still like,
really one of my favorites.
Josh (02:25):
I just honestly don't care for Vicks vocals.
That's my opinion.
Yikes, you know I'm not a girl,a teenage girl back then.
Lani (02:37):
Oh, you weren't.
Josh (02:39):
No, I couldn't do it.
Lani (02:40):
Oh, okay, okay, Well, anyways, in 2010, I was also
graduating from eighth grade, Iwas turning into a freshman, and
that's about the time thisalbum came out, which was really
awesome because it was a hit.
Josh (02:57):
What a banger for you to graduate too.
Lani (02:59):
Woohoo.
So the band members at the time.
We have two brothers, vic andMike Fuentes.
Vic on vocals and Rhythm Guitar.
Josh (03:09):
Fuentes, I like that.
Lani (03:11):
And Mike does the drums.
We have Tony Perry on the leadguitar and Jaime on the bass.
Josh (03:17):
Jaime.
Lani (03:20):
Additional musicians that are featured on this album would
include Jeremy McKinnon, whichyou know who that's from.
Josh (03:27):
Oh, good for them.
Lani (03:28):
Vanessa Harris, mike Green Fun fact, he's also a producer
for this album.
John Mayer, I'm sorry, johnnyMeyer.
Josh (03:38):
Johnny Meyer.
Yeah, that's a littledifference there.
Lani (03:44):
Dave Yaden.
And yeah, okay.
Josh (03:55):
They.
I didn't know they werebrothers.
Lani (03:58):
You didn't know they were brothers.
Josh (03:59):
Well, like I said, this was not on my radar.
Lani (04:01):
Yeah, I guess if you weren't on the radar you
wouldn't know.
Josh (04:04):
No, I never looked up anything about them.
They annoyed me, to be frank.
Lani (04:11):
All right Well.
Josh (04:13):
And the females that liked them.
Lani (04:14):
I hope I can change your perspective.
Josh (04:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I mean I've changed quitea bit.
I like the next album more thanthis one, but yeah, I plan to
do that.
Lani (04:24):
I collided with this guy, that was.
That was a fun album.
Josh (04:26):
That's cool.
That's a fun album.
Lani (04:27):
That was a really good, really good one, yeah, but I
thought I'd start with thisbecause it's really awesome to
see the progression.
So Vic7it interview withAbsolute Punk in early 2009 that
this album was completelyinspired by their fans and
wasn't sure at the time when itwould be released, and that it
(04:49):
would be published with therecord label equal vision.
Josh (04:52):
What album number is this for them?
Lani (04:56):
This was album number two.
Josh (04:58):
Okay, cool.
Lani (05:00):
Yeah, and actually the following album.
And this album was writteninside of a cabin owned by
fearless records president BobBecker in San Diego, after the
end of their Taste of Chaos tourin 2009.
Josh (05:16):
So they recorded a cabin.
Lani (05:19):
They wrote oh, Some I think they did some recording,
but not all.
Josh (05:26):
That's a little spooky, but also cool.
Lani (05:30):
It definitely matches the tone of this album.
I'll say that.
Josh (05:35):
Okay.
Lani (05:37):
It was revealed that Mike Fentz had recorded the drums in
one day at Ocean Studios inHollywood.
Josh (05:45):
What a guy.
Lani (05:46):
What a guy, pretty impressive.
Josh (05:49):
It is pretty impressive.
Lani (05:52):
So by January of 2010,.
So six months before the albumwas released.
Six months before the album wasreleased, the vocals and
keyboard tracks had yet to berecorded.
Josh (06:05):
Oh, cutting the clues.
Lani (06:07):
And then an update was posted on February 17th
mentioning that Fentaz was stillworking on the album, and a
couple of days later he saidthere would be about eight days
left of recording vocals, andVic eventually mentioned that he
didn't want to record an LAanymore due to too many
distractions that weren't needed.
Josh (06:30):
That's a little type A, but okay.
Lani (06:32):
So Vic Bowen says, did a lot of interviews about this
album, and one with Bruce Samourwith the 13 media out of
Chicago in August of 2010.
So a month after the release ofthis album, he was asked what
the significance to the title ofthe disc was Selfish Machines
and Vic refers to SelfishMachines as the voice inside our
(06:53):
heads that make us want to takethings and keep them for
ourselves.
He says he doesn't see anythingwrong with telling someone that
you are selfish with their loveand that you can't stand
sharing them with anyone else.
Josh (07:06):
Hmm, it's pretty deep.
Lani (07:08):
Yeah, definitely.
Josh (07:11):
I thought it was something to do with people and wanting
to keep each other, but I guessfeelings is a way to put it.
You want to store up the andkeep people's love.
I guess Cool.
Lani (07:26):
This album has pretty noteworthy people behind the
scenes working on production.
First we have Mike Green.
He's a producer, engineer andmixing Recorded during December
2009 and January 2010.
Mike stumbled across the bandon a documentary he found on
(07:47):
YouTube and he really wanted togo with them because throughout
the documentary, they proved toshow they had a lot of ambition
and knew that they had anopportunity to do something
cutting edge and different andtaking the technical elements to
another level.
They wanted to do somethingthat sounds real and different,
(08:11):
to stand out from the rest ofthe crowd or genre that they
have fallen into.
Josh (08:16):
Hmm, I mean, I was lost on me, unfortunately.
Lani (08:21):
Vic decided to work with Mike because he was familiar
with his work, his previous work, and thought of Mike as a down
to earth person and verypassionate.
He says working with Mike wasgreat because he's everything
that Vic is not.
He reads music, he knows theoryand can tell you almost
(08:42):
anything you want to know aboutwriting a song where he feels
he's much more freestyle andplays things by ear.
So they feel as though theybalance each other out very well
in the studio.
Josh (08:55):
I think it's really interesting when, like a
vocalist or something, doesn'tknow how to read the theory or
isn't as advanced.
Just a cool little insight youdon't have to know everything
about music to make great music.
Lani (09:10):
Right, especially with like the resources out there
today.
Josh (09:14):
Sure, sure, and then just having that talent and that
ambition and then just strivingfor it can take you so far in
this industry, some, I feel.
Lani (09:23):
Yeah, it's pretty awesome.
Josh (09:25):
Some people just get a lot luckier than others, but credit
is given where credit's due.
Lani (09:30):
Absolutely Hard work definitely pays off.
Josh (09:34):
Always.
Lani (09:36):
And Vic Fuente is speaking of him.
He's actually a co-producer forthis album and it seems that
Vic actually got his start inmusic through composing small
tracks, like a feature on BestCovers Ever, covering the song
Somebody that I Used to Knowwith Made A Parade, and there
are other songs he featured inas well, producing the Punk Goes
(09:57):
Classic Rock album.
Josh (10:01):
So he was already into the game.
That's kind of cool.
Lani (10:03):
Yeah, and then you can find aside from the EP and a
couple songs here and there.
Selfish Machines seems to bethe first album he produced or
was part of production with.
Josh (10:16):
I mean, if you're going to go in on anything, you might as
well go in on yourself.
Lani (10:21):
Exactly Another a data-remembered crew.
Tom Denney was a co-writer withFuentes for the majority of the
song and so he was the OGguitar artist for the band a
data-remember but left the bandto focus on settling down and
getting married and starting afamily and turned his focus and
(10:43):
dedication on his recordingstudio.
Denney at one point mentionedhe no longer had the desire to
continue the tour life.
One would say he didn't want tofeel homesick anymore.
Now Tom Denney owns both RedVulture Production Company in
Hollywood and Dirty CriminalProductions out of Orlando.
Josh (11:07):
Nice.
Do you know how long he waswith ATTR?
Lani (11:14):
Not very long, their first since second album.
He left after Homestick.
Josh (11:21):
Oh, after Homestick Okay.
Lani (11:23):
Yeah, okay.
A team of assistant engineersworked together on this album,
starting with Kyle Black.
He owned his own productioncompany and also produces for
other artists such as All TimeLow, paramore, taking Back
(11:44):
Sunday.
That was pretty cool to learn.
Vanessa Harris she was anassistant engineer, but she's
also a guest singer on thisalbum.
Will McCoy he also worked withbands like State Champs and Neck
Teep, Kind of bringing that poppunk-y to the album.
(12:05):
Alan Duchess is the masteringfor this album.
Honestly, I was very impressedwith the list of projects that
this man has worked on.
I mean some dating back from1954, from what I can find.
Some artists that really stoodout to me were a couple of the
(12:26):
Misfits albums Fleetwood Mac,the band Brand New, fallout Boy,
the Acacia Strain, and that'sjust steaming a handful.
The list goes on.
It's pretty noteworthy.
Josh (12:40):
I think I've heard that name before for sure.
Mastering is very interesting.
You just kind of look over aproduct and you're like tweaking
it here and there.
It's pretty cool.
Lani (12:50):
It is really cool.
Josh (12:51):
I mean, that just goes to show you he really has a ear for
it.
Lani (12:54):
Absolutely Followed by production.
We have two fellows that helpedout with the art and direction
of the photography of this album, and the one responsible for
the photography and the artdirection is Phil Manula, and
he's done art for other albumsby artists such as a Skylet
Drive, bring Me the HorizonAsking Alexandria and A Day to
(13:18):
Remember.
Josh (13:20):
This man only works with the best Thanks.
Lani (13:25):
This album, selfish Machines, was debuted on
Billboard's Heatseekers chart atnumber one, beating their first
album, which landed at number61, which indicated a sales of
over 400% increase, and it wasthe first time being number one
on the charts.
Josh (13:46):
Good for it.
Lani (13:47):
Yeah, and the album originally was met with a
variety of critical reception,with reviewers criticizing the
use of autotune with the tracks.
Josh (14:00):
Okay, I mean it was a fun thing to do back then.
Lani (14:03):
Definitely.
This album was eventuallyreissued with a remix production
on September 24th of 2013.
And something I thought wasinteresting was that Vic says
that he got the name of the bandfrom a sociology class after
(14:25):
hearing Pierce the Vale.
The professor mentionedpiercing the Vale meaning to go
directly to the root of aproblem and removing it at the
source, which he implied toRealLife saying if there is
something going wrong in life,cut it out completely from the
core.
As I said in the beginning oftoday's episode, the theme of
(14:49):
the album has to do with thenatural thoughts and feelings
that you want and take andhaving that desire to be in love
and the desperation for someoneelse to love you.
So with that, I also shouldinclude a trigger warning,
because this lyrics talkseventually in depth about taking
(15:10):
your own life and just darktimes and depression.
Josh (15:16):
So you're sensitive to that.
Take care of yourself, people.
Lani (15:23):
So number one on the track we have Basitos, which means
tiny or little kisses in Spanish.
When I saw Pierce the Vale forthe first time, it was in San
Francisco and this was the firstsong that they opened with, and
I remember it being super crazybecause I've never been in like
(15:47):
a mosh pit general admissionarea where you're standing with
the rest of the crowd and oncethe music started, everyone just
pushes forward and it's like awave and I'm like what the heck
is going on.
Josh (15:58):
You don't expect it sometimes.
Lani (15:59):
My friend looked at me and she can see my face.
I was terrified.
She's like put up your elbowsand just relax and go with the
flow.
So I was like okay, and finally, after doing that, I was like,
oh, this is actually kind of fun.
I feel like.
Josh (16:13):
Yeah, that's good.
Lani (16:14):
I mean we're waves in the ocean.
Josh (16:17):
Yeah, you got a good coach .
Wish I had had a coach backthen.
Lani (16:21):
I appreciate it.
Shout out to Cheyenne, allright, so yeah, number one,
bistito.
The music showcases the band'sLatin influence and is a story
written from the point of viewof Vicks, the leapfinger X-Lar
Vic takes advantage of heremotionally to the point of
(16:44):
getting her fed up and seekingrevenge.
Josh (16:49):
Not not a healthy, it's an interesting one to open with.
Lani (16:55):
The lyrics also describe um one says so Vicks
relationship with a girl fromher part of you who he couldn't
stop hurting over and over again.
Josh (17:05):
Just rat it on himself.
Lani (17:09):
Vic says in an interview with Alt Press that, um, he
always tries to incorporate atleast a hint of Latin influence
in every song, but with thissong they just full sent it and
lyrically it's about mydysfunctional relationship with
the girl.
I couldn't stop hurting overand over again.
It's meant to be her speakingto me, asking me why I'm not
(17:33):
satisfied with what we had.
I wanted to write it from herperspective to try and
understand what she was goingthrough at the time.
It ends with her wanting tokill me for all the stuff I've
put her through, which Iappreciate.
He was willing to take a lookfrom her perspective because it
sounded very toxic.
(17:53):
Yeah, that's not normally thecase where you can look in.
Josh (17:59):
It's a cool thing for him to look back on and do in the
moment Like that's.
It's really hard to evenreflect personally and then to
write a whole song about it.
Lani (18:10):
Yeah.
Josh (18:11):
I mean, I hope, I hope it was a healing process and, like
you know, he learned from it.
Lani (18:16):
Yeah, that's all you can really do from doing that and if
you're doing it correctly andtaking it the right way.
Josh (18:23):
Yeah.
Lani (18:25):
Number two we have Southern Constellations and this
song is about Vicks fascinationwith Southern girls.
Buentes called this guitar toneas one of his favorite tones
from the album, which was madeusing a Stratocaster through a
custom made amplifier, makingthe glassy and unique sound they
(18:46):
were looking for.
Digging a little bit into thelyrics of the song please keep
chasing me, I think is relatedto not wanting his partner to
let go, and the feeling ismutual.
The lyrics your SouthernConstellations got me so dizzy
(19:07):
relates to the mixed signals andSouthern Constellation.
It's a fascination withSouthern girls.
It's cold, but you pretend thatyou were warm with me.
Before I get you home.
You're nearly frozen is anotherlyric.
And that actually leads intothe next song, the Boy who Could
Fly, as it starts detailing aboy's thoughts walking his date
(19:30):
home through the cold.
Additionally is speculated orspeculated to be a reference to
the couple's dying relationship.
The two never clicked, as thegirl was only pretending to
match the same level of loveshown from the boy.
The romance eventually turnedcold.
Josh (19:53):
Could it be a prequel to that song?
Lani (19:56):
Yeah, like rolls in to number three being the Boy who
Could Fly.
That's cool.
Yeah, I thought so.
So, yeah, this song, the Boywho Could Fly, was originally
six minutes but the intro wassplit off into a separate track
which is listed as number twoSouthern Constellations because
of the length of the song at thetime.
(20:17):
So Southern Constellations, forreference, is a minute and five
seconds and the Boy who CouldFly is four minutes and 18
seconds.
Josh (20:31):
I didn't know that the first one was so short yeah.
Lani (20:35):
The guitar in this song was inspired by what they
remembered to love playing askids.
Lyrics are about a relationshipreliant on the other person,
with obsession and desperationand just stupid things you do
when you're in love.
Josh (20:50):
So they really like to change up the sound of the songs
as they go.
Yeah, they like to play themusic and learn Latin.
Twist on it, yeah.
Lani (21:01):
Um Vic had said that this was the craziest and most
intense song that he had written.
Josh (21:09):
Crazy Fuentes Look at him go.
Lani (21:13):
Lyrically one being.
I hope you like the stars thatI stole for you.
Relation to Southernconstellations.
Josh (21:20):
He's just these callbacks, man.
Lani (21:24):
The boy on the blue moon dreams of sun, wanting something
you can't have.
So a blue moon is used todescribe something as impossible
or very unlikely.
Josh (21:34):
You know what's going to be a blue moon this month, no
joke.
Lani (21:39):
Really.
Josh (21:39):
Yeah, at the end of this month there's going to be a
super blue moon and it's kind oflike rare every five years.
Yeah, I don't know if you cansee it on our side of the planet
though.
Lani (21:50):
Dang, we'll have to look that up.
Yeah, yeah, Anyways.
So a blue like I said, bluemoon is used to describe
something impossible orextremely unlikely.
Josh (21:58):
Because it doesn't happen often.
Lani (21:59):
Yes, Once in a blue moon.
A sorrowful aspect of this lineis the fact that the boy will
never see his sun, because themoon and the sun are constantly
apart.
He can only bask in the raysthat reflect off the moon from a
distance, in the same way thatVic is being distanced from his
(22:23):
love.
Josh (22:25):
That's deep.
Lani (22:26):
That was beautiful.
Josh (22:29):
I can feel it.
Lani (22:33):
All right, number four.
We got probably the number onehit on the song heria funilia.
Josh (22:41):
Nice, you got through that smoothly Did.
Lani (22:44):
I.
Josh (22:45):
Oh, I mean looking at it, I don't think I would have said
that word, what you said.
Lani (22:50):
Well, let's just say I've listened to this song plenty of
times.
Josh (22:52):
You've heard it a couple of times.
Lani (22:53):
Just a bit.
I mean, there's just certainsomebody in it that I can't see.
So, speaking of that certainperson would be Jeremy McKinnon,
who also helped produce thiswhole album.
So he's definitely involved andit turned out to be a really
fabulous song.
So originally so, the song isbased off his ex-girlfriend
(23:18):
Fuentes ex-girlfriend who lefther possessions at his house,
which made Fuentes thinkingabout her when he saw them.
Before adding the title, Vicsent the lyric to his
ex-girlfriend, who was actuallyvery flattered by the whole
thing, he says.
As soon as he started writingthe music for the chorus, Vic
(23:39):
knew he wanted Jeremy McKinnonto appear on the song, and so
McKinnon appears as he screamsthroughout the chorus, in the
bridge section, which is whichmade the collaboration very
special to Vic.
Josh (23:54):
Good for them.
It's always great when peoplecollab.
Early collabs were kind ofhidden.
Sometimes you didn't evenrealize that it was someone else
.
I didn't at least.
Maybe I'm dumb.
Lani (24:04):
With a couple songs.
Yeah, Like for those thatdidn't write it or you didn't
really look into the song.
Josh (24:12):
It was fun to try and guess who the guest vocal was.
Lani (24:16):
Yeah, I agree.
Josh (24:17):
And sometimes we would have You're like I know that
voice yeah, we'd have littlearguments about.
Back in my band days we wouldhave arguments about who was the
guest vocal.
Lani (24:27):
That's awesome.
My parents would do that whilewe make dinner.
They would blast music like theclassic rock radio channel and
would just like this and we'reeating dinner.
Josh (24:39):
They're drilling you and trying to make you learn the
music.
Lani (24:42):
Well, they would just do quiz.
They would just keep quizzingeach other about, like, who was
on the radio.
So I learned a lot from that,actually.
Okay.
So, anyways, back toCaravanelia Lyric.
I brought a gun and I was thepreacher trying to stop me.
In this line, vic describedthis scene in which he brings
(25:04):
the gun into a church to attemptunaliving himself in front of
God, which explains the preachertrying to stop him.
This is a reference to Romeoand Juliet.
The next lyric what if I can'tforget you?
I'll bring your name into mythroat.
I'll be the fire that'll catchyou.
He's playing with the conceptof an imagery, of Imagery.
(25:27):
Oh, my goodness.
Josh (25:29):
Imagery.
Lani (25:30):
Imagery of fire which burns things.
The thought of not being withher doesn't leave his mind.
She's forever in his head.
Josh (25:39):
Good.
Lani (25:40):
I'll say her name 24-7, until it's branded like a burn
mark on his throat.
Catch fire as a phrase, as manydefinitions, one being the
seizing of an individual after achase or a grasping, either
physically or mentally.
In terms of imagery, he justwants to cover her with his love
(26:02):
, envelop her with his fire.
Josh (26:07):
Wow, I mean he's very emotional and intense, extremely
.
Yeah, very deep, Very deep.
Lani (26:18):
That's why I gave a trigger warning.
The next lyric don't mind me,I'm just reaching for your
necklace, talking to my momabout this little girl from
Texas.
Vic wrote this song with thebox full of his ex-lover's
belongings in it.
It's likely he's clutching hismemorabilia while talking to his
(26:42):
mother about the one who brokehis heart.
The location of Texas is notrandom, as Vic has expressed an
infinity for girls from the deepsouth.
Josh (26:53):
Good for him.
Lani (26:57):
Number five, fast Times at Claremont High.
It's a very selfish song, hesays, dealing with human nature
and our selfish tendencies, andincluded musical inspirations
and influences of MichaelJackson.
The title is a reference to AmyHickerling's 1982 film Fast
(27:19):
Times at Ridgemont High, whichinvolves a cast of characters
over a year at high school.
The name of Vic and MikeWintes' school at Claremont High
is substituted in the titleinstead of the name of the film
itself.
That's pretty cool, huh.
Josh (27:39):
Yeah, I mean, it's a way to get kind of a good reference.
Lani (27:43):
Yeah, the lyrics, the celebration, so many faces.
I say the words as the moonpainted us blue.
They are dancing under themoonlight, which gives them the
perfect setting to tell her howhe feels.
Now hold on, this is innocentblood.
All the Beach Boys look likeshark.
He doesn't want his girl tofall for the popular kids
(28:04):
because he thinks they will donothing but hurt her, thus
comparing them to sharks.
Josh (28:10):
Accurate yeah ㅋㅋ.
Lani (28:15):
Number six, the new national anthem.
The intro is a faster versionof the song Europa.
Josh (28:24):
Europa.
Lani (28:26):
Europa by Santana.
One can even argue that it'sSam.
I used to drive six hours justto see this girl that I liked.
She was beautiful but didn'tknow it because she was from a
small town.
I went to her place once and itwas completely empty because
she was in the process of movinginto another apartment.
I remember making out with herin the dark in the middle of her
(28:49):
empty carpeted floor.
A lot of the lyrics of thissong were about that night.
I recorded the intro to thissong in our apartment in LA.
We used a lot of the originalsounds from my ghetto little
recording on the album.
That's Vic about this song.
Josh (29:06):
Wow, you did a lot of this is like all from the different
interviews.
Lani (29:12):
Yeah, I mean this was released back in 2010, so just
interviews that have beencollected over the years.
Josh (29:22):
A lot of coverage, yeah.
Lani (29:27):
Number seven bulletproof love.
This is based on Vic's interestwith happy songs that have
morbid lyrics, calling it one ofthe darkest he's written, and
that's very true.
This is a super duper triggerwarning of self harm.
Josh (29:44):
There's a lot of places you can go and people that can
help.
You have any problems orthoughts?
Please reach out.
Lani (29:53):
Yeah, I can include some resources in the show notes as
well.
Josh (29:58):
You are loved, the bulletproof love.
Lani (30:08):
So written in the style of suicide note that would be
found by a loved one.
The lyrics are about beingpassionate with someone to the
point that you're willing tohurt yourself.
Oh no no, no, all right.
Digging into the lyrics, sayI'm wrong.
In the sunset, turning redbehind the smoke, it could be
(30:29):
representing his happinessdisappearing and all that's left
is his memories.
The lyric and you've gone andsewn me to this bed is related
to depression and alluded to inthe next track, stay away from
my friends, the lyric being asyou tie me to the bed for good,
(30:49):
I say that I want you in themost unromantic ways.
Nature, the blinding rain isalso a lyric in the song.
Blinding rain meaning a verythick rainfall making it hard to
see.
And when the vultures singtonight, I'm going to join right
in.
Vultures are said to benature's cleaning crews.
(31:12):
They basically come togetherwhen a carcass is found and help
get rid of it, which eliminatesthe spread of diseases,
parasites and bacteria.
I found that vultures soarsimilar to eagles and can span
up to six foot wings.
Josh (31:30):
They're pretty crazy, they're gross.
Lani (31:33):
That's like something out of like repotter.
Josh (31:34):
They're pretty creepy man Hypograph, hypograph.
Hypographs.
Lani (31:39):
Yeah, Vic is using this as a metaphor to describe his
death over the end of hisrelationship and would be
willing to give up.
Give up to the vultures sowilling to be eaten alive,
basically.
Josh (31:53):
Pretty much.
Lani (31:55):
My love for you is bulletproof, but you're the one
who shot me is another metaphorto explain his heart, or a
bulletproof vest to protecttheir love.
But what if you're protectingbetrays you and shoots you in
the back?
Over I can barely say your name, so I'll try to write it and
fill the pen with blood from asink.
(32:15):
Well describing the attempt tocover up the emotional pain with
physical.
Josh (32:22):
Good.
Lani (32:24):
But don't just say it.
You should sing my name.
Pretend that it's a song, asforever it's yours and we can
sing this on the way home,followed by I'll sing along
because I don't know any othersong.
In the previous lines, hewanted her to make up a song
about him and sing it, and hewould sing along because he
doesn't know anything other thanhis love for her.
(32:44):
There's nothing to do butscream at the drunken moon Moon
being out, drunken moon, so moonbeing is just nighttime Could
symbolize the ending of therelationship.
Vic feels helpless and feelsthere's nothing to do but scream
and cry at the world out ofsadness and or desperation.
(33:05):
And to conclude this track on alighter note, vic says it's
comforting to say out loud thethings you're thinking, and I
totally agree to that.
Name it to tame it.
Josh (33:22):
A little bit of hope at the end of the tunnel, huh.
Lani (33:25):
Always.
Honestly, this is probably oneof my favorite songs on the
album.
Well, I just really like it.
I don't know, I always have,since I first heard it.
Josh (33:41):
Yeah, I never really got into them, so I'm a little lost
for words.
I mean, I don't it's deep.
It's a deep stuff and youreally went in and you really
took a dive.
It's good stuff.
Lani (33:56):
You know me, but I understand it's pretty heavy.
So I'm moving on to numbereight.
Stay away from my friends.
It's about an ex-girlfriend, ofcourse, who was trying to be
friends with his friends afterthey had broken up.
Josh (34:15):
That's always weird.
Lani (34:17):
Yeah, it's a bit.
Vic also says that he wrote thepiano parts at his home in San
Diego and the piano featured onthe song was played by his
friend, dave Gaten, who alsoplayed keys.
On 2007, a Flare for theDramatic, which is their
previous album, which Vic saystook everything to the next
(34:38):
level.
Josh (34:42):
The piano.
Lani (34:43):
The piano like adding yeah , adding the piano.
Josh (34:45):
Nice yeah.
Lani (34:49):
And then about.
This is also just about theband wanting to come out
different from the rest and fromthe previous material that they
had for the album, and theyplaced this in the middle of the
album to provide some sort ofbreath of fresh air per se.
Josh (35:13):
This is only the halfway through, huh yeah.
Lani (35:21):
Well, we're almost there.
Josh (35:23):
Almost there.
Lani (35:24):
Almost there, Okay, lyrics Waking up your neighbors.
It's a metaphor for crying andunpredictable behavior.
I've been inside your bedroom athousand years and timing to
the bed suggests that depressionhe has is preventing him from
having the motivation for dailylife.
(35:44):
I want you in the mostunromantic ways.
Being unromantic can vary fromperson to person.
Some examples would be notputting in the effort to keep
the relationship alive, notshowing affection, being
unfaithful overall, justnegative.
Its context of the song isabout how Vick's illness is
(36:07):
developing as a mental andphysical disorder.
Louisiana, you're torturing mewith a beautiful face.
Can you guess what?
This is another indicator ofSouthern girls.
Correct and Louisiana could be apseudonym name for his
ex-girlfriend.
A penny in the couch and adiamond ring.
(36:32):
It really just puts meaning tothe worthlessness of the
relationship that had turnedinto and a penny just being as
worthless as a diamond ring.
Stay away from my friendsbecause I need them to carry me
when it's over.
I mean just how it is.
He'll need his friends to bethere for him once the
(36:52):
relationship ends.
I'll count back from ten and youcan listen to Glassheart
shattering.
Vick symbolizes this as hisjourney, or it could be
symbolizing his journey along tohis brokenness.
Once he counts back from ten,there would be too much damage
(37:13):
to his heart to the point offeeling numb Glassheart's
meaning very fragile andcompares his heart as Glass.
Once broken, it would be verydifficult to put back the pieces
.
First two is alluding to whenthey kiss.
It absolutely infatuates himand he cannot believe that they
now only talk on specialoccasions like main holidays or
(37:33):
birthdays, wrapping up with himcomparing himself to her beauty,
how she can be out of hisleague and can't believe he
ended up with a woman so much.
Chorus two I'll count back fromten is now followed with the
lines and you can listen tosomething that you've never
heard before and then trails offinto a melody.
(37:55):
But when looking back at theprevious chorus could be
alluding to the Glassheartshattering assuming she's never
broken someone's heart thisterribly and the outro of the
song again just alluding to hisattraction to self harm to numb
the emotional pain he feels.
Josh (38:15):
Poor guy just always striking out, but these women,
they sure are pretty.
Lani (38:24):
They sure are pretty.
Josh (38:26):
I mean chill out bro.
Why going in so hard?
Lani (38:32):
Yeah, it's that he's going through it.
Josh (38:35):
Everybody.
Everybody cares in differentways.
Lani (38:37):
You know when you're young .
Josh (38:40):
Yeah, you always make mistakes.
Lani (38:42):
And the emotions are wow.
Josh (38:45):
It's tough out there.
Tough out there for everybody.
You never know what someoneelse is going through.
Lani (38:50):
So Right, absolutely.
Josh (38:52):
Be kind.
Lani (38:55):
Be the reason someone smiles today.
Josh (38:58):
Someone smiling because you're there.
Lani (39:02):
Alright.
Well, back to the darkness.
Number nine I don't care ifyou're contagious.
This song is inspired by afemale fan telling Fuentes that
her boyfriend was involved in afatal car crash.
This one's also very deep, ofcourse.
So Vic says that she told methat he held her hand for the
(39:26):
first time at one of our shows,and it's speculated that that
could be related to the albumcover of the Boy and the Girl.
This was written as a gift tothe fan from the point of view
of the boyfriend speaking to herand telling her that he is
still watching over her and thathe will love her forever.
Josh (39:50):
Wow, that's so nice.
Lani (39:51):
It really is A lyric.
Bury me in the bedroom where Ican sing you to sleep all night,
aside from the perspective ofthe boyfriend, who'd pass and
just wants to comfort her whenhe's gone.
Josh (40:05):
That's a little creepy, though I'm sorry.
Only serial killers bury peoplein a bedroom.
Lani (40:11):
Yeah, that's true.
Josh (40:13):
I bet that'd be very stinky after a while, very
stinky and, at the minimum.
Lani (40:20):
The next lyric being I'd rather kill the one responsible
for falling stars at night,because they fall all around me,
and probably refers to thekilling whoever caused the
accident and causing hisgirlfriend to cry and the tears
of her happiness being thefalling stars.
Number 10, disasterology atypical guy's dream of girls
(40:46):
going out, drinking and livingthe life somebody wants.
The chorus was a veryphilosophical idea that I've
played around with for a longtime.
The creation of somethingbeautiful only to destroy is
epic, and that really leads intothe lyrics, one of them being
(41:07):
can we create somethingbeautiful and destroy it?
Nobody knows.
I dream about it.
This is my imagination.
He knows he can't have the girl, but nothing is going to hold
him back from being with her inhis own fantasy world.
When reality pushes him to thebreaking point, he's willing to
take a chance for it all to bedestroyed.
A lyric I have a milliondifferent girls that hide under
(41:32):
my bed and when I let them outthey treat me right.
Oh, what a waste of a perfectlygood, clean wreath.
Vic has opened up in the pastabout his own struggles with
self harm and would refer therazors as girls.
Josh (41:45):
I don't know, that was weird.
I was confused.
Lani (41:50):
Yeah, again hiding things under the bed.
Josh (41:54):
Yeah, lots of beds and getting tied to the bed.
He's very fond of the bedroom.
Lani (42:02):
But the bedroom is always like.
Josh (42:05):
It's weird, it's like dark , happiness, comfort.
Yeah, like it's a comfortingspace, but it's also like some
of the worst stuff can happenthere.
We are weird creatures.
Lani (42:18):
That's for sure.
There's a lot to handle in ourlives.
Okay, the next lyric you werescreaming until the police came.
But following his unrealisticfantasy, his mental problems had
been neglected and he wanted toinduce pain on himself as a
suicide attempt, because thisrelationship was only real in
(42:40):
his head.
When she found him, he was inneed for dire attention and
causing her to panic and callthe police.
And finally, if every livingthing dies alone, what am I
doing here?
And it fits with the heartbreaktheme.
However, a line from the movieDonnie Darko inspired this song,
when Grandma Death tells Donnieevery living creature on earth
(43:05):
dies alone.
Josh (43:07):
Great movie, really really good movie.
Lani (43:09):
Yeah, I like it.
I think you showed it to me forthe first time, actually.
Josh (43:14):
It's great, it's insane.
Lani (43:16):
Yeah, number 11, million Dollar House.
The Painter this is a gift tothe Fuente's parents.
Specifically.
His father worked as a paintingcontractor, barely earning
throughout his life enough moneyto keep the family going, and
being forced to sell his home.
And so Vic wrote this song,expressing the hatred for money
(43:44):
and the way it sometimes messesup people's lives and families.
Josh (43:49):
All too often.
Lani (43:52):
And then one lyric that just took out to me in this song
is sometimes the moon looksbrighter than the sun.
It's similar to the metaphorthe grass isn't always greener
on the other side but in thissong this is obviously relating
to money.
And two the last song of thealbum, number 12, the Sky Under
(44:17):
the Sea.
Josh (44:18):
Do that again.
Lani (44:20):
Number 12, the Sky Under the Sea.
I'm just going to jump rightinto lyrics on this one.
So, number one being I stillremember the night you tried to
kiss me through the window.
The opening lyrics, vic, is thelast thing on this girl's mind
as she gives a poor goodbye witha petty kiss through the very.
(44:41):
And someday I'll drive closeboth my eyes, referring to
driving off a bridge, somedayinto a body of water to have a
better life after death.
I don't think that's a way toget a better life, but to each
their own.
Josh (44:58):
It worked that way.
Lani (45:00):
You'll never be as beautiful without me.
She abuses him to feelbeautiful and the moment she
ends the abuse, she won't feelas powerful or confident.
Josh (45:10):
Terrible.
I'm going to treat people.
Lani (45:15):
Really, and I just want to fade away into the sky under
the sea, alluding to suicide bydrowning in the sea.
And lastly, ladies andgentlemen, I introduced the
selfish machine.
Some would guess the selfishmachine is describing a woman,
(45:36):
but it actually just means allhumans in general.
Vic says the sky under the seais about admitting I am the
selfish machine, about beingselfish with love and taking
what you want without regret.
It also alludes to the animalinside us all.
He says we are all humans andno one is perfect, despite how
(45:57):
good someone may think he or sheis.
My final thoughts about thisalbum I really like the
drummer's style and he reallygives the songs that groovy,
like you want to dance but youalso really want a head bang.
And specifically in care forNelia, the album is even more
(46:19):
amazing after learning that theycreated this album sort of on
the spot and how everyone'stalent really just came together
very well, and then finally, Imean the whole team that that
was put together for this albumto come to light.
I just think overall they did avery fantastic job with this
album.
Do you have any final thoughts?
(46:42):
What do you think?
I know it's pretty heavy.
Josh (46:45):
Oh yeah, I mean, it's yeah honestly.
Lani (46:55):
No words.
Josh (46:58):
You're speechless.
I haven't given it enoughlistens to really put a solid
thought together.
I mean I like a few songs,they're cool, but I never really
got into it as much.
I mean, it's the way.
Lani (47:15):
It gives the songs a different meaning when you dive
in and understand the storybehind it.
Josh (47:22):
Yeah, definitely.
You know, sometimes we justhear songs and we just enjoy
them.
You don't think about it asmuch.
I think that's pretty common.
So seeing it like in a deeperway, it really does change how
you could feel about it.
And yeah, I just, I neverthought about it.
I never thought about it thatway.
Lani (47:43):
Yeah, and I think all songs in general can be very
relatable.
You can apply it to whateveryou're going through at the time
, really.
So to conclude, an interviewwith Bruce Moore with B13 Media
out of Chicago.
In August of 2010,.
(48:06):
Bruce Moore interviewed VicFuentes and asked Now that your
brand new CD Selfish Machines iscomplete, how do you feel about
it?
Are you satisfied with theoutcome?
Vic says he's more satisfiednow than he ever was actually
leaving the studio because ofthe overwhelming positive
reaction from the fans.
He had heard the record amillion times when they were
(48:29):
making it in the studio andafter for a while and didn't
even know what to think about it.
Josh (48:36):
Yeah, I can totally agree with that.
You're just so immersed in yourown creativity and you don't
even know how people are goingto feel about it.
So that's got to feel great.
Lani (48:47):
Definitely Just watching your work, because you're really
vulnerable, I feel, as a writer, because you're You're taking a
chance.
Josh (48:55):
That's the whole point, I mean.
And then again, I just didn'tknow that sometimes you just
think people write to write.
You don't really know ifthey're actually experiencing
everything that they're talkingabout, right?
Lani (49:09):
Right.
Josh (49:12):
So just to hear that all of these are very personal to
him Really cool, really.
I'll definitely have tore-listen and think about it in
a different way.
Lani (49:24):
Yeah.
Josh (49:26):
All right, John.
Well, thanks for checking thisone out.
We got a little bonus, littleextra for you.
Of course, we got the top threecoming in.
We're going to do top threeartists from our Spotify wrapped
2020.
Lani (49:43):
2020.
Josh (49:44):
The year it all happened the year it was still happening
and we were possibly never goingto be free.
What were you listening to, oh?
Lani (49:56):
Anyways, yes, yes, what was I listening to?
Josh (49:59):
Number one of my list.
That's what we're here for,Right right, right, dance, give
and dance.
Oh dude, no way what it'salmost like it's mine Wow.
Lani (50:09):
Wow, it's like we listened to the same music, or something
.
Josh (50:12):
Dang.
I mean dance, give and dance.
They were really killing itthen.
It was a lot of hype then.
Lani (50:19):
So yeah, After Burner came out Right.
Josh (50:23):
Yeah, that was it.
Everybody was waiting for thatto drop Dropped hard.
Lani (50:29):
It really did.
What's your number one?
Josh (50:33):
Song.
Lani (50:34):
Artist.
Josh (50:35):
I dance, give and dance.
Lani (50:36):
You dance yeah.
Josh (50:38):
I was agreeing with you.
Lani (50:39):
Oh, so that's your number one too.
Josh (50:41):
Yeah, apparently.
Lani (50:42):
Apparently All right number.
Okay, what's your number two?
Josh (50:46):
Okay, my number two was a good tiger.
Lani (50:50):
That's my number three.
Josh (50:51):
Oh well, there you go.
Lani (50:54):
I remember we went to where did we go?
Half Moon Bay for your birthdayand it was so nice outside with
the weather and I just rememberthe doors like the windows
rolled down and jamming out togood tiger.
Josh (51:08):
Yeah good, tiger is awesome.
Lani (51:09):
Like beach yeah.
Josh (51:11):
They got great vibes, so that's your number three.
What's your number two?
Lani (51:17):
Vale of Maya Nice.
Josh (51:19):
Yeah, heck, yeah Well, do you know the song?
Lani (51:25):
I could look it up.
I didn't write the song down.
Josh (51:28):
Oh, no worries, All right well.
Lani (51:31):
Probably like Toll Spray or Mikasa.
Is it Mikasa, misaka?
I don't know.
Josh (51:38):
Mikasa yeah.
Lani (51:41):
Mikasa, yukasa, mikasa.
Anyways, it was Vale of Maya.
Josh (51:46):
Cool.
And then, yeah, I had, and mylast one was Hail the Sun.
Lani (51:49):
Oh, okay.
Josh (51:50):
Yeah, they were pretty cool.
I haven't been enjoying them asmuch lately, but they're
classics.
I'm just, I just the classics.
Lani (52:00):
Yeah, I agree, and just they're so fun live Like Donovan
really puts on a show.
Josh (52:05):
Yeah, he's a cool dude.
Lani (52:06):
I love when he gets on the drums Entertaining.
Josh (52:10):
Definitely, and yeah, that first album.
He played the drums a lot more.
That's why I like it so much.
He isn't dude enough anymore.
Play the drums, donovan.
Lani (52:19):
Sound like you're a drummer or something.
Josh (52:21):
I do, I bang.
Okay, alright, bang on the drum.
Lani (52:27):
Thank you so much for listening.
Josh (52:29):
Yeah, we did it again.
We're here again and we're gladyou're here.
We love you guys.
If you listened all the waythrough, you're awesome.
Lani (52:37):
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Josh (52:39):
Yeah, I mean you could tell somebody if you feel like
it.
Lani (52:42):
But I get it.
Tell your mom, yeah, tell yourdad, your sister, your brother,
your aunt, your uncle.
Josh (52:48):
Check us out on the Instagram.
What's the Instagram again?
Lani (52:53):
Postmoshclaritypodcast.
Josh (52:56):
Baboom.
Lani (52:57):
In our Gmail.
Postmoshpod at gmailcom.
Josh (53:01):
Yeah, let us know what you want to hear, what we could do
to make your listeningexperience better, and until
next time, bye.
Lani (53:11):
Music playing.
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