November 5, 2024 • 44 mins
Omnigone is a Northern California (East Bay) based SKA PUNK band founded by two former members of LINK 80.
Adam D. and I got to chat about the song "Grief" from their latest reocrd "Feral" that's out on Bad Time Records.
Performing at FEST22 a couple of weeks back, they made it back home and head down to Glass House in Pamona, CA for a show with Catbite, Against All Authority, and The Suicide Machines.
You can find the episode on all streaming platforms here:
B-Side Breakdown
https://linktr.ee/bsidebreakdown
Please follow Omnigoner on their socials, buy their records, and stream their music on any of the available platforms.
You can keep up with them at:
Omnigone:
https://www.instagram.com/0mnig0ne
https://omnigone.bandcamp.com/
...and their label:
Bad Time Records:
https://www.instagram.com/badtimerec/
https://www.badtimerecords.com/
Thank you for your continued support!
Brett Johnson
https://linktr.ee/brettjohnson
#Omnigone #AdamD #Grief #Feral #BadTimeRecords #brettjamesjohnson #threecrowsclub #musicpodcast #bsidebreakdown
Adam D. and I got to chat about the song "Grief" from their latest reocrd "Feral" that's out on Bad Time Records.
Performing at FEST22 a couple of weeks back, they made it back home and head down to Glass House in Pamona, CA for a show with Catbite, Against All Authority, and The Suicide Machines.
You can find the episode on all streaming platforms here:
B-Side Breakdown
https://linktr.ee/bsidebreakdown
Please follow Omnigoner on their socials, buy their records, and stream their music on any of the available platforms.
You can keep up with them at:
Omnigone:
https://www.instagram.com/0mnig0ne
https://omnigone.bandcamp.com/
...and their label:
Bad Time Records:
https://www.instagram.com/badtimerec/
https://www.badtimerecords.com/
Thank you for your continued support!
Brett Johnson
https://linktr.ee/brettjohnson
#Omnigone #AdamD #Grief #Feral #BadTimeRecords #brettjamesjohnson #threecrowsclub #musicpodcast #bsidebreakdown
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Petros Big Side Breakdown. Hey everyone, welcome to the B
Side Breakdown. My name is Brett Johnson and I'm your host.
This is episode twenty six of a podcast where I
talk with other artists, musicians and songwriters about a song
they've written that's meaningful to them and they can give
me permission to play it in its entirety on this episode,
(00:22):
so you get to hear it, and then we get
to have a conversation and try to get deep into
the why behind it. Today, I'm gonna be talking with
Adam D from the band Omnigon about their song Grief,
So let's get into it. Here is Grief by Omnigon.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
No.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Go a RS.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
I thought to play when I live that.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm thinking, by the great men.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
If I had my waist, I'll be taking it up
to day.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
What that n not that.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
I blad.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Ll me on that.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Play, I would think it that what Now.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Love hit in my way?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I forgot everything.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
About that.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
All right? And that was Grief by Omnigon.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
We're gonna take a quick break and come back and
talk with Adam D about the song, so please stay
with us, all right, and we're back. Let's bring in
Adam d to talk about the song Grief by Omnigon. Hey, Adam,
thank you so much for taking some time today to
talk with me about the song.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, yeah, thanks, thanks for having me on Brett.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
I really appreciate it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You know, it's fun learning about your band and learning
more about it as I've kind of dug into it
and dug into your record. I've just been and the
band played on is just I've just been singing that
hook all day long, you know, for the past few days.
I'm from the song and and I'm just super interested
in one. Thank you for giving me the option of
(03:39):
choosing the song that we talk about and more or
less kind of putting.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
That out there. But also I'd love to hear why
that song kind of as important to you? What's I mean?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
There's there's a grief component I'm hearing obviously in the vocal,
and and it's it's palpable to me, and I feel it,
and I'm I really really connect with the song. But
I'd love to hear from you, like, why is that
song kind of special meaningful to you?
Speaker 3 (04:07):
In et cetera.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So the band I used to be in was called
Link eighty. The original singer for link Ady. Nick Traina
overdosed in nineteen ninety seven at the age of nineteen,
and so this song has kind of been a song
I've always been a little too self conscious or felt
like I wasn't my place to write, like like it
(04:31):
was something something that had been on my mind for
you know, since since then. I wanted to write a
song about that feeling of losing someone and you know,
it doesn't ever really go away, if anything, you know,
you carry these people with you. And I kind of
(04:52):
noticed since we started on The Gone. We've been doing
the band about five years now, when you know, as
as we're moving through this new band, one of the
things that keeps hitting me every time, every time something
really good happens, every time we get to play a
really fun show or travel somewhere special, I just keep
(05:16):
thinking about that that Nick's gone, and that you know,
he he was only in Lin Katy for three years,
and I've gotten to have all this time since then
of you know, traveling and playing music and meeting people,
and that's what really that's the hardest part about losing
(05:38):
somebody like that is knowing that they they were cut short.
They don't get to you know, see see all these
great things that have happened.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Totally get that, and thank you for sharing that. I
certainly didn't know that just from listening to it. But yeah,
that's it's. It's powerful and it's moving and it's really great.
I'm just saying as a as a fan of it,
that you put it into that song and put it
on this record, because I mean, I think again, like
(06:09):
I was saying earlier, like I really I really feel
the intensity of it when I hear it, and and
it connects with me in a lot of ways because sure, man,
I mean over the years, just friends, family, as you know,
fellow musicians that I've toured with, and whatnot. Right they
people they are they go away for whatever reason, and
(06:32):
and right processing that kind of ongoing reminder of right,
it's it's it is for me, it creates this sadness
that they didn't get to see, or they didn't get
to experience, or they didn't get to do, you know,
some of these really beautiful, wonderful things that I've I've
feel just really grateful for that I've been able to.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Do, and and I'm and I miss them that much more.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
But there's also this deep feeling of gratitude that I
have for the connection that I had with them, and
that I get to carry their memory with me as well.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
So I mean it's it's like this weird.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
For me.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Over time it becomes like this bittersweet grief, Like it's
like I get to remember and refeel all the wonderful
feelings I had for my friend, and at the same time,
you know, right, there's the sadness of in the longing
of wanting to you know, see him again or be.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Around him again.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
But then at the same time, I get to feel
like I'm being kind of almost i don't know, supported
by them in a way to continue on if that
makes sense. I don't know if that resonates with you
at all, but I have that experience with some of
my friends that I've lost.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Yeah, I think I think the hardest thing with Nick,
and I think a lot of a lot of the
other you know, I've definitely talked to Matt Betton Nelly,
the original guitarist, about this, because we think about this
a lot. And as you know, as well as anybody
knew Nick, he only was in the band for three years.
(08:03):
Like there's we we only got such a brief amount
of time with this person and and then they you know,
they never got to they never even got to live
into their twenties. Like your twenties are such a formative time,
and so much happens at that point that you know,
(08:25):
more than anything, you know, I've lost I've lost other people,
and I lost my mother in law who I was
very close with. But you know, she you know, lived
into her sixties, sure, so that she had like a
long life, and you know, while while I do miss
her and I wish that she could still see her
grandchildren like she did get to meet them. Whereas you know, Nick,
(08:51):
you know, was gone before, right, you know, before I
went on my.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
First tour, he would talk to me a bit about
then how omnigone came together? Sure, it kind of sounds
like there's a long time lapse between link Eady and
omigone coming together. And then how did you know sort
of how many records have you guys done, and where
did this song? Has this song been around for twenty
years and now it's just sort of made it onto
(09:16):
this record or was this something that just.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
The concept has been around. The funny thing is that
we did have we do have songs that there's a
song on the record Against the Rest, a song called
one More Minute, and it's a song that we wrote
in Link eighty. It's a song where the band was
starting to kind of stray away from from playing more
skopunk type stuff. And Barry, who's the bassist in Omnigon,
(09:41):
he had just joined link Kady, and he was a
little bit bummed that we were kind of moving away
from that sound, and so he came to practice with
this song and was like, hey, you know, I've got
some ideas, And so we wrote this song one More Minute,
and we were playing it live like we were going
out ontour and playing it, but we never got around
(10:01):
to recording it, and so the only recordings we have
are like from a YouTube videos of us playing live
sure or the audio is all blown out, and so
there's a few of these songs. We had about enough
music for a new link Ady record, and then we
just never got around to it. So then Smash Cut
to the Future, we did our first record, No Faith,
(10:26):
and then when it came time to start putting together
the stuff for Against the Rest, the initial two days
of tracking, I think our day of tracking was with
Joey Bustos who was the original drummer for link Kady,
and so the initial idea was to record the whole
record with him, and so Barry kind of jokingly demoed
(10:50):
one More Minute again but without the vocal, and just
sent it to me and was like, I don't know,
we could play this one, and I was like, damn,
that's actually a great idea. So Joey played drums on
that one, and then when it was time to add horns,
our old sax player Steve Borth who joined our expandits
he now lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. We tapped him to
(11:14):
do the horns. So it's as close to a Link
eighty song as you're gonna get, sure, but in the future.
So yeah, we have had songs that have been kicking
around that long, but with this one in particular, with grief,
just it's just the concept. I'd always wanted to kind
of eulogize Nick in a song, and other people had
(11:35):
done it. I think most famously there's an All Bets
Off song. His best friend Sammy had a band called
All Bets Off and he wrote a song for Nick,
and I always thought that was a great idea, and
I'd always wanted there to be some sort of nod
to him, like in our music somehow, but you know,
(11:57):
we just never never got around to it. So now
I'm finally getting around to it.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Got it, got it, And so then this is the
third Omnigone record farrel. Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, so in twenty nineteen we put on a record
called No Faith. It was just kind of I had
kind of written on a piece of paper to write
a skot punky pe or stop thinking about it. Because
in twenty sixteen, link Ady did a reunion show and
while I had a blast and I really it really
resonated with me and I realized I missed playing scott punk.
(12:31):
Sure I knew that nobody else in the band wanted to,
or at least most of the band didn't want to.
So I was like, well, you know, so it took
me about three years to kind of come to terms
with damn, am I really going to start a new
scot punk band in my forties? And so I did it,
and I definitely don't regret it. I you know, if anything,
(12:52):
I wish I'd started it sooner. But you know, the
last five years have been really really great.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
In twenty nineteen we did that record, then the Pandemic hit.
Then in twenty twenty twenty three we did Against the Rest.
There's a couple seven inches in there that we did,
and then we twenty four the new one.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Farrell got It, Got It No.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
And I'm laughing because I totally resemble that comment you
had earlier. I either just need to write this EPU
or just you know, stop thinking about It's like, oh yeah, yeah,
you totally get that. It's like I either like, get
it down, get it out, or stop doing it, you know,
or stop thinking about it and move on.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
But no, that's that's awesome, man. I'm glad that you
did it.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
So with the band, is is the whole band? Do
you all live in the Bay Area or is? I mean,
I've just been in bands now, especially post COVID. I
mean I realized that you started before COVID, but particularly
post COVID in just the nature of modern technology and
being able to be nimble and move around and stuff
like I've I've been in so many bands wherever. But
(14:00):
he's in different states, you know, So I'm just curious,
like these is everybody in the band?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Are you all old friends? Are you all from the
same area or kind of. What's the story with that.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I mean, the band is really the core of the
band is me and Barry, and Barry lives out in Rippon, California.
Central Valley is just a cheap place to live. Barry's
lived out there his whole life and he's always been
used to commuting to the Bay for practice. Sure, he's
done it for years. So he's out there. I'm here.
And then we fill out the band kind of with
(14:33):
just the friends we've made over all these years. So
depending on who can make it. We've got a couple
different people who played drums on this On this record,
it was a Brent Friedman, who was previously in a
band called We're the Union. My friend Ike who has
a project called Aikler's I've known him since. I've literally
known Ike half his life. I met him when he
(14:54):
was fifteen and he's thirty two now, so over half
his life. And then and uh Nick Tournier, who was
the drummer in a really cool skot punk band from
Socaw called Noise Complaint. He's our guitar, he's our other
guitar player, rhythm guitar. And that's that's kind of been
(15:15):
the lineup currently, but you know the way, like you said,
with COVID and pandemic and you know this, you know,
interconnected world. We keep it kind of loose. So like
when we go play Fest our friend Eric is filling
in for us on guitar. Eric plays bass in a
(15:36):
band called Half Past two, and on shows where Brent
can't make it, our friend Justin Ammons who was in
Kitty Cat Fan Club. Uh and I can't pronounce the
other name, but one another one of Mike Park's bands.
He he usually drums for us whenever Brent can't got it?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Got it? So are you?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
So?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Then with this gig, well, right, so is the drummer?
I'm sorry? Who's playing drums at the Fest show?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Were Brent?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Okay? And oh he is?
Speaker 2 (16:11):
So is he is?
Speaker 3 (16:13):
How is he? Does he live down here? Or is
he flying his drums? Or is it backlined? Or how
are you guys doing that at Fest? I've just kind
of been curious.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
So there's a back line. So you really only got
to bring breakables, guitars, drum, you know, guitars, snare, drum, pedal, okay, bass, Yeah,
I think that there was an issue with for some
reason the space that we're playing in because the club
we played at the last two years, the High Dive I,
got closed down this year and they turned it into condos.
(16:40):
So we're playing in a much smaller place, the Civic
Media Center, which I think maybe holds one hundred hundred
and fifty people if we're lucky. So it's going to
be crammed because the other spot held I don't know,
five hundred and it was chanked last year, so I
don't know what this year is going to look like.
But we're the only playing that has two guitars, so
(17:02):
we had to source a another amplifier. But luckily our
homies and it's still alive or bringing bringing some aps.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Oh that's good, awesome, No, that's that's fun to hear
how that kind of came together because I yeah, I
was wondering, like, how how do they do that with
that many bands and just the logistics of the gear
and where it's going to go and all of that
as well.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
But yeah, you know what's funny to me is I
feel like this is something everybody should have been doing
a lot a long time ago. I mean, how many
times you you've played music and how many times do
you show up to a show and everybody backlines their
apps and you're setting up, you're setting up, you know,
for identical.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
Back line of each other. Yeah, for eight ten cabs
right back to back. And this is like, why are
we why are we not just switching out the heads?
Why are we all breaking our backs? You know, even
even just saving on the wear and tear of vehicles,
like haul all this crap around. Like if we just
haul around one back line and everybody uses it.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
You know, there you go absolutely no, I hear you,
I hear you, and sharing it really is, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I mean we've I've been in some bands from the
late nineties originated in Minneapolis, and we've done some reunion
shows over the past couple of years, and right, that's
exactly how we've been how we've been doing it because
we have people from different bands flying in from like
twelve different states, and it's like, okay, so who's got
(18:30):
a base rig that we can just all use, you know?
Or is there if the worst case, can I go
rent the cabinet and everybody brings your own head or something?
But right, it just it just makes so much more
sense if you can do it that way, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Right on. So on the path to fest is there more?
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Is this one off and then you're turned around flying
home or I mean it kind of sounded like that,
but it wasn't clear if like you were doing other
regional shows while you're here or anything else.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, this time, it's just it's just the one and done. Okay,
I'm flying in with Barry and and Nick on Friday,
get in super late, get a rental car, drive from
Orlando to Gainesville, sleep, wake up, do the whole show,
hang out with the friends, see as many bands as
(19:20):
we can, go back to sleep, and then get up,
have some breakfast, have some coffee, and then head back
to the airport. Got it?
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Got it?
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So oh, actually we're flying to Jacksonville. Jacksonville is a
little bit closer. We've done the Orlando one too, but
then you gotta dodge. Then you got to dodge all
the Disney families.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
That is for sure, That is for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, flying into Jacksonville's probably probably the better move. What So,
getting back to the song real quick, I wanted to
ask about the the instrumentation of it. So, I mean,
I know on the on the record album credits, your
vocals but I gather you play an instrument or two.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Did you write this as kind of the.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Starting idea or was it something that specifically Barry came
up with the start because that intro is really grabbed
me and it was just super like slamming and jarring
in the way that it is, and just with the
syncopation of it, I really loved it. And then just
how it flowed into the rest of it had this
traditional hardcore field to me. And then just the way
that chorus hit I thought was just super awesome. But
(20:25):
how did the songwriting part for the song come together?
Was there any Was it just kind of a natural
evolution or was it some existing parts that just worked
well or was there a process?
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah? So yeah, I am. You know, I've always been
a guitar player, and I played guitar on No Faith
and Against the Rest, but this was the first time
I did not play guitar on a record.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Oh okay that I'm on.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I just did vocals and we recorded at Art of
Excuse Me not Art of Ears shout Out Art of
Ears though in Hayward, California. It's no longer there, but
it's where if I used to record albums Kepi. I
think swinging udters. It's Whetlinkadi also recorded some records, but
we recorded Omnigon recorded at Atomic Garden with Jack Shirley,
(21:10):
best known for The Deaf Heaven Sun Bay the record.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Okay, So he has a really great spot in.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
East Oakland, all analog space, and we tracked everybody live
in one room except for me in a vocal booth
doing the vocals live, which I had never tried before.
And we didn't end up keeping all the takes, but
it definitely informed everybody's playing to be able to hear
(21:39):
a vocal while you're playing. I feel like it brought
more energy to the take than if everybody had just
been tracking everything individually. But so the song itself, all
the music on Farrell was written by Barry Barry. Barry
(22:01):
used to drink a lot. Barry got sober and I
think twenty eighteen and has kind of been on this
like creative kick ever since, like he almost has like
a new lease on life, and so he's just constantly
churning out new music, Like literally this week he sent
(22:24):
me four new demoso and we had this huge glut,
this backlog of somewhere around thirty five songs at this
point for a new record. Anyhow, with with Farrell, that
was how the music was presented to me. He would
send over, you know, a fully rendered demo.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Originally he was just sending over acoustic guitar demos with
him kind of singing over the top, and I was like,
these are cool, I can't really tell what's happening. Do
you think you could try, like, you know, treating your
computer like a four track and just make guitar, bass,
fake drums, vocal recordings of songs. And he kind of
(23:07):
got that dialed in and just started sending song after
song after song. But this was only one of the
ones that he sent me to haad no vocals on it.
Some of the other ones he already had like a
vocal idea. This one no vocal, so that that was
where I had to slot in and create something. But
the song as as a demo sounds literally identical to
(23:31):
this except for just you know, not as good of
a recording.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Sure, got it. Oh that's really cool. That's cool. Okay,
And normally he's adding vocals and and things to.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
The tracks of this one specifically not and just from
the inspiration of what you heard like that's where you
came up with what you came up with.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, like about half the songs he sent over for
Pharaoh already had a vocal and then alf of them didn't,
And so that I would I would slot something in
and the ok The funny is our voices sit in
very different spots, and so sometimes it works, and sometimes
it's pretty difficult because his voice is lower than mine,
(24:12):
and so I either have to try to like go up,
or sometimes it's just you know, it doesn't work and
we have to figure something out. But you know, like
a song like again and again that he when he
sent that over, that was a full song, like he
had the vocal for that everything. The only things we
changed were just some dynamic shifts when we went into
(24:35):
the studio to just start practicing the songs before we
hit the studio. That was the other thing too. Our
other two records, just because of circumstance, No Faith and
against the Rest, we didn't get to practice until we
were in the studio. We just had to go in
go like, okay, this so the song goes hit record
and then record the song. This was the first time
(24:56):
were like got to do pre production and We're like, sure,
all of us in a room working the songs out
before we hit the studio.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Got it? Got it? No, that's that's that's really cool.
And so this record then came out in July. Have
you guys, what have you what have you done? Have
you done a lot of touring and support of this?
Do you tour a bunch?
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Do you just do mostly West Coast sort of regional stuff?
Like what's kind of your your model as a band?
Speaker 3 (25:24):
What do you guys like to do?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
We've been kind of just picking up steam slowly but surely.
When this record came out, we were in the UK.
We did about a week long run out there with
a band that's on the same level as us called
Call Me Malcolm. So we got to actually play an
album release show in London on the day that the
record came out, which was really great, man, good for you,
(25:49):
really cool.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Yeah, it's exciting. That's awesome. Yeah wow.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
And so you were out you were in London for
a week on that tour. And then again, like you're saying,
you're just you're just kind of grabbing the shows as
they come up, or is there a formal like a
is you know, it's It's been so long for me
since I've entertained the idea of a, hey, let's do
a you know, a thirty show tour. I mean, I
(26:14):
haven't done anything that ambitious like that since the mid
two thousand, so I'm curious, like, is that something that
you guys have planned or is that Is it more
kind of weekend stuff or just sort of just depends
on whatever it is as it comes up.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yeah, it's more I mean kind of it seems like
the model for like the thirty five and Upset, which
I'm well above, but the bands that are that are
in that demographic who aren't just in their twenties anymore. Right,
It seems to be like about like a week two weeks,
is is it? And then you go home and you know,
(26:52):
rest up, or you know, just get ready and then
go back out. So, you know, my kids, when we started,
my kids were still real young, and since since then
now they're both in middle school and they don't need
me as much. I mean just since we've been since
we've been talking right now, they've both come in the
house and gone to do whatever they do when they
(27:15):
get home. They don't they don't need they don't need
me as much as they used to. So sure, little
by little, I'm getting more comfortable being out on the road.
You know, when I from when my kids were born,
I became a stay home parent, and so I started
staying home with them. But then, you know, the pandemic
shifted that all around. I was right around right about
(27:39):
to start rejoining the workforce. I literally got a new
job four weeks before everything shut down, and then I
got the call from my manager and they were just like, yeah,
you don't need to come to work ever again. And
I was like, oh great. But yeah, as as my
kids get older, they get I get more comfortable being
(28:01):
gone for longer. It's less of a stress on my wife. Sure,
so yeah, I mean we're definitely doing more, but I
you know, going back to the days of being on
the road eight months out of the year for two
months at a time and being brooke, that's that's just
not going to happen anymore. Yeah, but you know, we're
(28:23):
doing a run at the beginning of November with the
Suicide Machines Against All Authority and cap Bite. It's just
a little four show run, but you know that's kind
of the the stuff that we're excited about. You know,
one of the reasons I even wanted to start a
new band was you know the Siren six right yep
(28:44):
from Minneapolis.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, So they got back together and played some shows,
and so they played at Bottom of the Hill in
San Francisco, and I went to the show and I
was I was real excited. But the opening bands were
not We're not SKA bands. We're not we're not bands
that were like really connected to to to sir and
(29:07):
six okay, And I just remember thinking, like, damn, if
I had a band, we could have opened this show.
And so that was like a big motivator to like
start the band. Was like, you know, I still like
all these bands a ton, Like when Voodoo Glow Schools
comes through town. I want to be the opener, you know.
I want to be able to have a reason to
(29:27):
be there beyond just that I like these bands, like
I want to be able to go and go, Okay,
here's here's my thirty minutes, and now we'll go and
we'll we'll mosh to shoot the moon. You know. That's
that was a huge motivator for me because before, you know,
before I started this band, there was a long period
where I felt like my what what had been my
(29:49):
twenties been for? You know, I'd spent all this time
playing music, not going to college like everybody else did, right,
and come out the other side of it, and I'm like,
what do I have to show for this? And then
the more I thought about it, the more I was like, well,
if I have a new thing, then then all of
(30:09):
this was for something. Then it wasn't just time wasted,
it was time well spent. And that's that's more what
I'm finding more and more like as I'm reconnecting with
people or you know, strengthening these connections with friends that
I've made. You know, I'm never gonna be rich playing music,
but at least I'll at least have these great these
(30:31):
great relationships with people that you know mean a lot
to me.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
No, that makes that makes a ton of sense. That
makes a ton of sense. Yeah, right on, man, let's
do this.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Let's take a quick break and we'll come back and
find out what you're working on next and go for share.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Does that work sounds good?
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Cool?
Speaker 1 (30:50):
All right, everybody will be right back with that, and
d stay with us, all right, and we're back with
Adam d from Omnigon talking about the song Grief off
the record. Feral Adam, thanks again for taking the time
to talk to me today. And you know, I was
wondering if you if there's anything else about the song
(31:12):
specifically wanted to talk about lyrically or musically or anything else.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, so only just break down the verses a little bit.
The first verse talks about you know, this, this whole
that's left behind by people. The thing. The thing that's
also kind of funny to me though, is like I'm
(31:39):
eulogizing somebody who's nineteen, and you know, we're all when
we were teenagers, we're all immature. That I always I've
always felt like I can hear Nick laughing in the
back of my head every time I say whole in
this song, like it's just like he said whole, right,
which is funny to me. There's a part in there
(32:04):
where I say something about one day we'll join you
until there's no one left, and that that right there
is like I still try to talk to the guys
in Link eighty pretty often, and a big part of
that is because I know I know how this all ends.
(32:26):
Like none of us are immortal. We're all gonna go eventually,
And I want to enjoy having those people in my
life as much as I can. Even though we're all
doing our own thing. Everybody has really interesting fun lives
going on. Still, I still like checking in with them
(32:47):
and and and I know that we're all it's all
going to end eventually. In the second verse, I started
with twice a year, reminded, reminded of this whole from
your absence. Every year Nick's birthday comes around, and Nicks
the day that Nick passed away comes around, and the
(33:09):
same thing with other people that I've lost, those those
days come around, and so it's not just the day
that they were born, but it's also the day that
they die that I remember them. And the funny thing also,
when we decided to make a video for this song,
it was my first time ever visiting Nick's grave. I
went to his funeral, I went to his viewing. Actually
(33:30):
also drove all the way up. I was living in
Gilroy at the time. Drove all the way up, made
it to the threshold of the door where his coffin was,
and I shouldn't make myself walk in there. I didn't
want to remember him as as a corpse. I just
turned around and went home all but yeah, so it
(33:54):
was my first time ever visiting Nick's grave, and it
turned out that we ended upt going you know, completely random.
We just were like, okay, this Thursday, we both have time,
me and the cameraman, let's go do this. And it
was it was Nick's birthday, which I found really really
odd that we wound up going on his birthday like that.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
So that was completely coincidental.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Completely coincidental. But it was also like, if there is
some you know they say, you know, energy can't ever
be destroyed. It just moves into other things, right, So
if there if there is some sort of you know,
great beyond, I have to believe that something was nudging
us towards being there that day, which I thought was
(34:41):
was really special. The other thing I always think about
is in the chorus, I say there's no new memories
the photograph the photographs are fading. I have a big
bin in the garage of just physical photos from the
time when you know, before I joined Link eighty, when
(35:03):
I was just seeing them through all my tours, and uh,
you know, it's this crazy repository of these memories. If
I if I lose any of those photos, they're you know,
they're the only that's the only version of that that
exists unless I like scan it and upload it to
the internet. Right. The funny thing is a lot of
(35:25):
the pictures of Nick that are on the internet are
pictures that I took, just as somebody who's going to shows.
So if you if you google Nick traina, like probably
the first five photos that pop up or photos that
I took, which I don't know is weird in a way,
like it's in this in this current era, like you know,
(35:49):
we have we have so many pictures on our phones,
but they just exist in like kind of the cloud.
But there's so many more of them, Like I can
I could link together like a slideshow of myself over
the last five years and like watch myself age. But
you know, maybe in a two month period of a tour,
(36:11):
you took you know, two roles of film, you know,
forty eight pictures right right, So uh, you know, I
I try to, you know, hang on to these these pictures,
but you know eventually they're all going to fade.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yep, no, I hear it. And so one thing I
wanted to ask you then.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
With that.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Is then I mean to me it seems self evident,
but I don't want to make an assumption, like, so
then what what are you saying about?
Speaker 3 (36:41):
And then the band played on, you know, and the
band played on, do you like?
Speaker 2 (36:48):
I felt really weird about having a chorus that was
just a single a single phrase, but but it just
feels like this montage part of all the things that
have happened since, Like whenever, whenever we hit that chorus,
like a montage plays in my mind of everything that's
happened in the last thirty years of just going, you know,
(37:11):
on tour all these times and you know, bands breaking up,
a new bands starting, and people getting married, and people
getting divorced, and all of us having kids and all
of us getting gray hair and all the all the
things that happened. So it's like the band, you know,
and the band did play on, like link A continued
(37:34):
after after Nick was gone, and and I've continued playing music,
you know, well past the part where it's socially acceptable
to be in a band, like hanging out with other
parents and you know, to a barbecue and they're like,
so what do you do, Like I play in a
band there and they'll be like, oh cool, yeah, Like
(37:56):
I used to do that. I'm like, yeah, I still
do it right, right, So it's just it's yeah, that's
that's kind of it. It's just this feeling of like
things just keep going. The band plays on, you just
keep keep persevering, you know, but you carry you carry
(38:19):
these these uh people with you.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
Yep. No, that's that's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
And that's that's I mean, just transparently, that's that's how
it felt for me, particularly with the gang vocal kind
of that feel to it, and it just right, it
just feels like it's just sailing over like this stretch
of time that just continues to move on, like you know,
things are as they are and things continue and so
here we continue, you know. And that that for me
(38:48):
was like this really frankly a beautiful and sort of
uplifting part of all of that.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
I mean, it was just it's that song is like
a cathartic experience.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
And I'm just again really appreciative of you guys putting
it together, man, because it's it was really great for
me to listen to many many times of the past
few days.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
So thank you for it.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Yeah, there's there's a little easter egg in there that
you might not have noticed. There's a part right before
the second verse starts where you hear a voice go,
let's go, that's that's Nick.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Oh really like we I have.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
The master tapes from from an old link Ady recording,
and I just lifted that out of there, and so
he gets to he gets to have a little, a
little moment in the song. And then at the very
very end of the song there's buried in kind of
the the fade out or not the fade out though
like wind down. Yep, there's there's a voice that's real
(39:42):
hard to hear, but if you if you listen, he's
going three and three quarter stars and that's Nick.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
The actual context of the sample is that he was
grading his own vocal performance for a take it. But
I liked putting it at the end of our song
where he's go like, yeah, I guess that's okay.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
No, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
And for everybody listening, go back and re listen to
the song and listen for those you know, little easter
eggs and here Nick, No, that's great, man. Thank you,
thank you for pointing that out, because no, I didn't.
I didn't hear either of those, and I would not
have put that together. Sure, that's awesome, man.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
So where is the best place for people to find you?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
Is it just generally Instagram, band camp, somewhere else to
kind of the standard socials, or is there somewhere else
that you would want people to go find you find
your music in the band.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
So everything's linked on omnigon dot Band. We're most active
on Instagram, but we do have a Twitter also, we
also have a Facebook, but both of those are man,
both those platforms just feel so broken at this point.
Instagram seems to be the one that's like the easiest
to still maneuver. And I run the Instagram so if
(40:58):
you message, if you message it, I respond and then yeah,
basically everything everything's linked to that website, omnigone dot Band.
You go on Bad Time Records find where our albums are,
and we usually try to keep our our tour dates
(41:20):
easy to find so that people can find us. And
we're you know I have plans to do the West
Coast and the East Coast in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Well awesome, We'll all sure keep a lookout and hopefully
be able to catch you guys, since I want to
see you a Saturday at fest but see you if
you hit the East coast again for sure. Yeah, Adam,
thank you so much for again for taking the time
today to talk about song in the band and kind
of everything else that's going along, and uh yeah, I'm
super grateful for it. And Save travels, have a great
time at Festus weekend, and I hope we catch up
(41:54):
again soon.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Thank you, Truth Big Side Breakdown.
Speaker 4 (42:14):
I'm scared. Rescue dog in the corner, Who's I sell
the stories of where I have been? Sorry, I won't
let you pet me. I just need some time before
I let you in. There's no one telling you that
leaving is only a start up chipping away. I think
lace you're surrounding.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Your heart, all right. And that wraps up another episode
of the B Side Breakdown.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
I want to thank Adam d for coming on to
talk about the song Grief from the band Omnigon on
the record Faroh and the background you're hearing the song
Strays by Early Riser. If you like what you're hearing,
please go back and listen to the previous episode, because
that's what it's about. I want to thank Adam Coolong
and Carrie Bosel for helping me put together the jingle
you hear at the beginning and the end of this episode.
(42:56):
Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcast.
And up next, I got the song church Bells from
the band Night Windows. I'll give you a snippet of
that in just a second, but until then, be safe
and I will catch you in the next one.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (43:11):
Church bell swo up flooded with child rottway flow. Okay,
(43:40):
great church.
Petros Big Side Breakdown. Hey everyone, welcome to the B
Side Breakdown. My name is Brett Johnson and I'm your host.
This is episode twenty six of a podcast where I
talk with other artists, musicians and songwriters about a song
they've written that's meaningful to them and they can give
me permission to play it in its entirety on this episode,
(00:22):
so you get to hear it, and then we get
to have a conversation and try to get deep into
the why behind it. Today, I'm gonna be talking with
Adam D from the band Omnigon about their song Grief,
So let's get into it. Here is Grief by Omnigon.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
No.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Go a RS.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
I thought to play when I live that.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm thinking, by the great men.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
If I had my waist, I'll be taking it up
to day.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
What that n not that.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
I blad.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Ll me on that.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Play, I would think it that what Now.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Love hit in my way?
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I forgot everything.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
About that.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
All right? And that was Grief by Omnigon.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
We're gonna take a quick break and come back and
talk with Adam D about the song, so please stay
with us, all right, and we're back. Let's bring in
Adam d to talk about the song Grief by Omnigon. Hey, Adam,
thank you so much for taking some time today to
talk with me about the song.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, yeah, thanks, thanks for having me on Brett.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
I really appreciate it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You know, it's fun learning about your band and learning
more about it as I've kind of dug into it
and dug into your record. I've just been and the
band played on is just I've just been singing that
hook all day long, you know, for the past few days.
I'm from the song and and I'm just super interested
in one. Thank you for giving me the option of
(03:39):
choosing the song that we talk about and more or
less kind of putting.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
That out there. But also I'd love to hear why
that song kind of as important to you? What's I mean?
Speaker 1 (03:50):
There's there's a grief component I'm hearing obviously in the vocal,
and and it's it's palpable to me, and I feel it,
and I'm I really really connect with the song. But
I'd love to hear from you, like, why is that
song kind of special meaningful to you?
Speaker 3 (04:07):
In et cetera.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So the band I used to be in was called
Link eighty. The original singer for link Ady. Nick Traina
overdosed in nineteen ninety seven at the age of nineteen,
and so this song has kind of been a song
I've always been a little too self conscious or felt
like I wasn't my place to write, like like it
(04:31):
was something something that had been on my mind for
you know, since since then. I wanted to write a
song about that feeling of losing someone and you know,
it doesn't ever really go away, if anything, you know,
you carry these people with you. And I kind of
(04:52):
noticed since we started on The Gone. We've been doing
the band about five years now, when you know, as
as we're moving through this new band, one of the
things that keeps hitting me every time, every time something
really good happens, every time we get to play a
really fun show or travel somewhere special, I just keep
(05:16):
thinking about that that Nick's gone, and that you know,
he he was only in Lin Katy for three years,
and I've gotten to have all this time since then
of you know, traveling and playing music and meeting people,
and that's what really that's the hardest part about losing
(05:38):
somebody like that is knowing that they they were cut short.
They don't get to you know, see see all these
great things that have happened.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Totally get that, and thank you for sharing that. I
certainly didn't know that just from listening to it. But yeah,
that's it's. It's powerful and it's moving and it's really great.
I'm just saying as a as a fan of it,
that you put it into that song and put it
on this record, because I mean, I think again, like
(06:09):
I was saying earlier, like I really I really feel
the intensity of it when I hear it, and and
it connects with me in a lot of ways because sure, man,
I mean over the years, just friends, family, as you know,
fellow musicians that I've toured with, and whatnot. Right they
people they are they go away for whatever reason, and
(06:32):
and right processing that kind of ongoing reminder of right,
it's it's it is for me, it creates this sadness
that they didn't get to see, or they didn't get
to experience, or they didn't get to do, you know,
some of these really beautiful, wonderful things that I've I've
feel just really grateful for that I've been able to.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Do, and and I'm and I miss them that much more.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
But there's also this deep feeling of gratitude that I
have for the connection that I had with them, and
that I get to carry their memory with me as well.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
So I mean it's it's like this weird.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
For me.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Over time it becomes like this bittersweet grief, Like it's
like I get to remember and refeel all the wonderful
feelings I had for my friend, and at the same time,
you know, right, there's the sadness of in the longing
of wanting to you know, see him again or be.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Around him again.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
But then at the same time, I get to feel
like I'm being kind of almost i don't know, supported
by them in a way to continue on if that
makes sense. I don't know if that resonates with you
at all, but I have that experience with some of
my friends that I've lost.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Yeah, I think I think the hardest thing with Nick,
and I think a lot of a lot of the
other you know, I've definitely talked to Matt Betton Nelly,
the original guitarist, about this, because we think about this
a lot. And as you know, as well as anybody
knew Nick, he only was in the band for three years.
(08:03):
Like there's we we only got such a brief amount
of time with this person and and then they you know,
they never got to they never even got to live
into their twenties. Like your twenties are such a formative time,
and so much happens at that point that you know,
(08:25):
more than anything, you know, I've lost I've lost other people,
and I lost my mother in law who I was
very close with. But you know, she you know, lived
into her sixties, sure, so that she had like a
long life, and you know, while while I do miss
her and I wish that she could still see her
grandchildren like she did get to meet them. Whereas you know, Nick,
(08:51):
you know, was gone before, right, you know, before I
went on my.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
First tour, he would talk to me a bit about
then how omnigone came together? Sure, it kind of sounds
like there's a long time lapse between link Eady and
omigone coming together. And then how did you know sort
of how many records have you guys done, and where
did this song? Has this song been around for twenty
years and now it's just sort of made it onto
(09:16):
this record or was this something that just.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
The concept has been around. The funny thing is that
we did have we do have songs that there's a
song on the record Against the Rest, a song called
one More Minute, and it's a song that we wrote
in Link eighty. It's a song where the band was
starting to kind of stray away from from playing more
skopunk type stuff. And Barry, who's the bassist in Omnigon,
(09:41):
he had just joined link Kady, and he was a
little bit bummed that we were kind of moving away
from that sound, and so he came to practice with
this song and was like, hey, you know, I've got
some ideas, And so we wrote this song one More Minute,
and we were playing it live like we were going
out ontour and playing it, but we never got around
(10:01):
to recording it, and so the only recordings we have
are like from a YouTube videos of us playing live
sure or the audio is all blown out, and so
there's a few of these songs. We had about enough
music for a new link Ady record, and then we
just never got around to it. So then Smash Cut
to the Future, we did our first record, No Faith,
(10:26):
and then when it came time to start putting together
the stuff for Against the Rest, the initial two days
of tracking, I think our day of tracking was with
Joey Bustos who was the original drummer for link Kady,
and so the initial idea was to record the whole
record with him, and so Barry kind of jokingly demoed
(10:50):
one More Minute again but without the vocal, and just
sent it to me and was like, I don't know,
we could play this one, and I was like, damn,
that's actually a great idea. So Joey played drums on
that one, and then when it was time to add horns,
our old sax player Steve Borth who joined our expandits
he now lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. We tapped him to
(11:14):
do the horns. So it's as close to a Link
eighty song as you're gonna get, sure, but in the future.
So yeah, we have had songs that have been kicking
around that long, but with this one in particular, with grief,
just it's just the concept. I'd always wanted to kind
of eulogize Nick in a song, and other people had
(11:35):
done it. I think most famously there's an All Bets
Off song. His best friend Sammy had a band called
All Bets Off and he wrote a song for Nick,
and I always thought that was a great idea, and
I'd always wanted there to be some sort of nod
to him, like in our music somehow, but you know,
(11:57):
we just never never got around to it. So now
I'm finally getting around to it.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Got it, got it, And so then this is the
third Omnigone record farrel. Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, so in twenty nineteen we put on a record
called No Faith. It was just kind of I had
kind of written on a piece of paper to write
a skot punky pe or stop thinking about it. Because
in twenty sixteen, link Ady did a reunion show and
while I had a blast and I really it really
resonated with me and I realized I missed playing scott punk.
(12:31):
Sure I knew that nobody else in the band wanted to,
or at least most of the band didn't want to.
So I was like, well, you know, so it took
me about three years to kind of come to terms
with damn, am I really going to start a new
scot punk band in my forties? And so I did it,
and I definitely don't regret it. I you know, if anything,
(12:52):
I wish I'd started it sooner. But you know, the
last five years have been really really great.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
In twenty nineteen we did that record, then the Pandemic hit.
Then in twenty twenty twenty three we did Against the Rest.
There's a couple seven inches in there that we did,
and then we twenty four the new one.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Farrell got It, Got It No.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
And I'm laughing because I totally resemble that comment you
had earlier. I either just need to write this EPU
or just you know, stop thinking about It's like, oh yeah, yeah,
you totally get that. It's like I either like, get
it down, get it out, or stop doing it, you know,
or stop thinking about it and move on.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
But no, that's that's awesome, man. I'm glad that you
did it.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
So with the band, is is the whole band? Do
you all live in the Bay Area or is? I mean,
I've just been in bands now, especially post COVID. I
mean I realized that you started before COVID, but particularly
post COVID in just the nature of modern technology and
being able to be nimble and move around and stuff
like I've I've been in so many bands wherever. But
(14:00):
he's in different states, you know, So I'm just curious,
like these is everybody in the band?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Are you all old friends? Are you all from the
same area or kind of. What's the story with that.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I mean, the band is really the core of the
band is me and Barry, and Barry lives out in Rippon, California.
Central Valley is just a cheap place to live. Barry's
lived out there his whole life and he's always been
used to commuting to the Bay for practice. Sure, he's
done it for years. So he's out there. I'm here.
And then we fill out the band kind of with
(14:33):
just the friends we've made over all these years. So
depending on who can make it. We've got a couple
different people who played drums on this On this record,
it was a Brent Friedman, who was previously in a
band called We're the Union. My friend Ike who has
a project called Aikler's I've known him since. I've literally
known Ike half his life. I met him when he
(14:54):
was fifteen and he's thirty two now, so over half
his life. And then and uh Nick Tournier, who was
the drummer in a really cool skot punk band from
Socaw called Noise Complaint. He's our guitar, he's our other
guitar player, rhythm guitar. And that's that's kind of been
(15:15):
the lineup currently, but you know the way, like you said,
with COVID and pandemic and you know this, you know,
interconnected world. We keep it kind of loose. So like
when we go play Fest our friend Eric is filling
in for us on guitar. Eric plays bass in a
(15:36):
band called Half Past two, and on shows where Brent
can't make it, our friend Justin Ammons who was in
Kitty Cat Fan Club. Uh and I can't pronounce the
other name, but one another one of Mike Park's bands.
He he usually drums for us whenever Brent can't got it?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Got it? So are you?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
So?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Then with this gig, well, right, so is the drummer?
I'm sorry? Who's playing drums at the Fest show?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Were Brent?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Okay? And oh he is?
Speaker 2 (16:11):
So is he is?
Speaker 3 (16:13):
How is he? Does he live down here? Or is
he flying his drums? Or is it backlined? Or how
are you guys doing that at Fest? I've just kind
of been curious.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
So there's a back line. So you really only got
to bring breakables, guitars, drum, you know, guitars, snare, drum, pedal, okay, bass, Yeah,
I think that there was an issue with for some
reason the space that we're playing in because the club
we played at the last two years, the High Dive I,
got closed down this year and they turned it into condos.
(16:40):
So we're playing in a much smaller place, the Civic
Media Center, which I think maybe holds one hundred hundred
and fifty people if we're lucky. So it's going to
be crammed because the other spot held I don't know,
five hundred and it was chanked last year, so I
don't know what this year is going to look like.
But we're the only playing that has two guitars, so
(17:02):
we had to source a another amplifier. But luckily our
homies and it's still alive or bringing bringing some aps.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Oh that's good, awesome, No, that's that's fun to hear
how that kind of came together because I yeah, I
was wondering, like, how how do they do that with
that many bands and just the logistics of the gear
and where it's going to go and all of that
as well.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
But yeah, you know what's funny to me is I
feel like this is something everybody should have been doing
a lot a long time ago. I mean, how many
times you you've played music and how many times do
you show up to a show and everybody backlines their
apps and you're setting up, you're setting up, you know,
for identical.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
Back line of each other. Yeah, for eight ten cabs
right back to back. And this is like, why are
we why are we not just switching out the heads?
Why are we all breaking our backs? You know, even
even just saving on the wear and tear of vehicles,
like haul all this crap around. Like if we just
haul around one back line and everybody uses it.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
You know, there you go absolutely no, I hear you,
I hear you, and sharing it really is, you know.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
I mean we've I've been in some bands from the
late nineties originated in Minneapolis, and we've done some reunion
shows over the past couple of years, and right, that's
exactly how we've been how we've been doing it because
we have people from different bands flying in from like
twelve different states, and it's like, okay, so who's got
(18:30):
a base rig that we can just all use, you know?
Or is there if the worst case, can I go
rent the cabinet and everybody brings your own head or something?
But right, it just it just makes so much more
sense if you can do it that way, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Right on. So on the path to fest is there more?
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Is this one off and then you're turned around flying
home or I mean it kind of sounded like that,
but it wasn't clear if like you were doing other
regional shows while you're here or anything else.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, this time, it's just it's just the one and done. Okay,
I'm flying in with Barry and and Nick on Friday,
get in super late, get a rental car, drive from
Orlando to Gainesville, sleep, wake up, do the whole show,
hang out with the friends, see as many bands as
(19:20):
we can, go back to sleep, and then get up,
have some breakfast, have some coffee, and then head back
to the airport. Got it?
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Got it?
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So oh, actually we're flying to Jacksonville. Jacksonville is a
little bit closer. We've done the Orlando one too, but
then you gotta dodge. Then you got to dodge all
the Disney families.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
That is for sure, That is for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Yeah, flying into Jacksonville's probably probably the better move. What So,
getting back to the song real quick, I wanted to
ask about the the instrumentation of it. So, I mean,
I know on the on the record album credits, your
vocals but I gather you play an instrument or two.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Did you write this as kind of the.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Starting idea or was it something that specifically Barry came
up with the start because that intro is really grabbed
me and it was just super like slamming and jarring
in the way that it is, and just with the
syncopation of it, I really loved it. And then just
how it flowed into the rest of it had this
traditional hardcore field to me. And then just the way
that chorus hit I thought was just super awesome. But
(20:25):
how did the songwriting part for the song come together?
Was there any Was it just kind of a natural
evolution or was it some existing parts that just worked
well or was there a process?
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah? So yeah, I am. You know, I've always been
a guitar player, and I played guitar on No Faith
and Against the Rest, but this was the first time
I did not play guitar on a record.
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Oh okay that I'm on.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
I just did vocals and we recorded at Art of
Excuse Me not Art of Ears shout Out Art of
Ears though in Hayward, California. It's no longer there, but
it's where if I used to record albums Kepi. I
think swinging udters. It's Whetlinkadi also recorded some records, but
we recorded Omnigon recorded at Atomic Garden with Jack Shirley,
(21:10):
best known for The Deaf Heaven Sun Bay the record.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Okay, So he has a really great spot in.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
East Oakland, all analog space, and we tracked everybody live
in one room except for me in a vocal booth
doing the vocals live, which I had never tried before.
And we didn't end up keeping all the takes, but
it definitely informed everybody's playing to be able to hear
(21:39):
a vocal while you're playing. I feel like it brought
more energy to the take than if everybody had just
been tracking everything individually. But so the song itself, all
the music on Farrell was written by Barry Barry. Barry
(22:01):
used to drink a lot. Barry got sober and I
think twenty eighteen and has kind of been on this
like creative kick ever since, like he almost has like
a new lease on life, and so he's just constantly
churning out new music, Like literally this week he sent
(22:24):
me four new demoso and we had this huge glut,
this backlog of somewhere around thirty five songs at this
point for a new record. Anyhow, with with Farrell, that
was how the music was presented to me. He would
send over, you know, a fully rendered demo.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Originally he was just sending over acoustic guitar demos with
him kind of singing over the top, and I was like,
these are cool, I can't really tell what's happening. Do
you think you could try, like, you know, treating your
computer like a four track and just make guitar, bass,
fake drums, vocal recordings of songs. And he kind of
(23:07):
got that dialed in and just started sending song after
song after song. But this was only one of the
ones that he sent me to haad no vocals on it.
Some of the other ones he already had like a
vocal idea. This one no vocal, so that that was
where I had to slot in and create something. But
the song as as a demo sounds literally identical to
(23:31):
this except for just you know, not as good of
a recording.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Sure, got it. Oh that's really cool. That's cool. Okay,
And normally he's adding vocals and and things to.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
The tracks of this one specifically not and just from
the inspiration of what you heard like that's where you
came up with what you came up with.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, like about half the songs he sent over for
Pharaoh already had a vocal and then alf of them didn't,
And so that I would I would slot something in
and the ok The funny is our voices sit in
very different spots, and so sometimes it works, and sometimes
it's pretty difficult because his voice is lower than mine,
(24:12):
and so I either have to try to like go up,
or sometimes it's just you know, it doesn't work and
we have to figure something out. But you know, like
a song like again and again that he when he
sent that over, that was a full song, like he
had the vocal for that everything. The only things we
changed were just some dynamic shifts when we went into
(24:35):
the studio to just start practicing the songs before we
hit the studio. That was the other thing too. Our
other two records, just because of circumstance, No Faith and
against the Rest, we didn't get to practice until we
were in the studio. We just had to go in
go like, okay, this so the song goes hit record
and then record the song. This was the first time
(24:56):
were like got to do pre production and We're like, sure,
all of us in a room working the songs out
before we hit the studio.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Got it? Got it? No, that's that's that's really cool.
And so this record then came out in July. Have
you guys, what have you what have you done? Have
you done a lot of touring and support of this?
Do you tour a bunch?
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Do you just do mostly West Coast sort of regional stuff?
Like what's kind of your your model as a band?
Speaker 3 (25:24):
What do you guys like to do?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
We've been kind of just picking up steam slowly but surely.
When this record came out, we were in the UK.
We did about a week long run out there with
a band that's on the same level as us called
Call Me Malcolm. So we got to actually play an
album release show in London on the day that the
record came out, which was really great, man, good for you,
(25:49):
really cool.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Yeah, it's exciting. That's awesome. Yeah wow.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
And so you were out you were in London for
a week on that tour. And then again, like you're saying,
you're just you're just kind of grabbing the shows as
they come up, or is there a formal like a
is you know, it's It's been so long for me
since I've entertained the idea of a, hey, let's do
a you know, a thirty show tour. I mean, I
(26:14):
haven't done anything that ambitious like that since the mid
two thousand, so I'm curious, like, is that something that
you guys have planned or is that Is it more
kind of weekend stuff or just sort of just depends
on whatever it is as it comes up.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yeah, it's more I mean kind of it seems like
the model for like the thirty five and Upset, which
I'm well above, but the bands that are that are
in that demographic who aren't just in their twenties anymore. Right,
It seems to be like about like a week two weeks,
is is it? And then you go home and you know,
(26:52):
rest up, or you know, just get ready and then
go back out. So, you know, my kids, when we started,
my kids were still real young, and since since then
now they're both in middle school and they don't need
me as much. I mean just since we've been since
we've been talking right now, they've both come in the
house and gone to do whatever they do when they
(27:15):
get home. They don't they don't need they don't need
me as much as they used to. So sure, little
by little, I'm getting more comfortable being out on the road.
You know, when I from when my kids were born,
I became a stay home parent, and so I started
staying home with them. But then, you know, the pandemic
shifted that all around. I was right around right about
(27:39):
to start rejoining the workforce. I literally got a new
job four weeks before everything shut down, and then I
got the call from my manager and they were just like, yeah,
you don't need to come to work ever again. And
I was like, oh great. But yeah, as as my
kids get older, they get I get more comfortable being
(28:01):
gone for longer. It's less of a stress on my wife. Sure,
so yeah, I mean we're definitely doing more, but I
you know, going back to the days of being on
the road eight months out of the year for two
months at a time and being brooke, that's that's just
not going to happen anymore. Yeah, but you know, we're
(28:23):
doing a run at the beginning of November with the
Suicide Machines Against All Authority and cap Bite. It's just
a little four show run, but you know that's kind
of the the stuff that we're excited about. You know,
one of the reasons I even wanted to start a
new band was you know the Siren six right yep
(28:44):
from Minneapolis.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, So they got back together and played some shows,
and so they played at Bottom of the Hill in
San Francisco, and I went to the show and I
was I was real excited. But the opening bands were
not We're not SKA bands. We're not we're not bands
that were like really connected to to to sir and
(29:07):
six okay, And I just remember thinking, like, damn, if
I had a band, we could have opened this show.
And so that was like a big motivator to like
start the band. Was like, you know, I still like
all these bands a ton, Like when Voodoo Glow Schools
comes through town. I want to be the opener, you know.
I want to be able to have a reason to
(29:27):
be there beyond just that I like these bands, like
I want to be able to go and go, Okay,
here's here's my thirty minutes, and now we'll go and
we'll we'll mosh to shoot the moon. You know. That's
that was a huge motivator for me because before, you know,
before I started this band, there was a long period
where I felt like my what what had been my
(29:49):
twenties been for? You know, I'd spent all this time
playing music, not going to college like everybody else did, right,
and come out the other side of it, and I'm like,
what do I have to show for this? And then
the more I thought about it, the more I was like, well,
if I have a new thing, then then all of
(30:09):
this was for something. Then it wasn't just time wasted,
it was time well spent. And that's that's more what
I'm finding more and more like as I'm reconnecting with
people or you know, strengthening these connections with friends that
I've made. You know, I'm never gonna be rich playing music,
but at least I'll at least have these great these
(30:31):
great relationships with people that you know mean a lot
to me.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
No, that makes that makes a ton of sense. That
makes a ton of sense. Yeah, right on, man, let's
do this.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Let's take a quick break and we'll come back and
find out what you're working on next and go for share.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Does that work sounds good?
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Cool?
Speaker 1 (30:50):
All right, everybody will be right back with that, and
d stay with us, all right, and we're back with
Adam d from Omnigon talking about the song Grief off
the record. Feral Adam, thanks again for taking the time
to talk to me today. And you know, I was
wondering if you if there's anything else about the song
(31:12):
specifically wanted to talk about lyrically or musically or anything else.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, so only just break down the verses a little bit.
The first verse talks about you know, this, this whole
that's left behind by people. The thing. The thing that's
also kind of funny to me though, is like I'm
(31:39):
eulogizing somebody who's nineteen, and you know, we're all when
we were teenagers, we're all immature. That I always I've
always felt like I can hear Nick laughing in the
back of my head every time I say whole in
this song, like it's just like he said whole, right,
which is funny to me. There's a part in there
(32:04):
where I say something about one day we'll join you
until there's no one left, and that that right there
is like I still try to talk to the guys
in Link eighty pretty often, and a big part of
that is because I know I know how this all ends.
(32:26):
Like none of us are immortal. We're all gonna go eventually,
And I want to enjoy having those people in my
life as much as I can. Even though we're all
doing our own thing. Everybody has really interesting fun lives
going on. Still, I still like checking in with them
(32:47):
and and and I know that we're all it's all
going to end eventually. In the second verse, I started
with twice a year, reminded, reminded of this whole from
your absence. Every year Nick's birthday comes around, and Nicks
the day that Nick passed away comes around, and the
(33:09):
same thing with other people that I've lost, those those
days come around, and so it's not just the day
that they were born, but it's also the day that
they die that I remember them. And the funny thing also,
when we decided to make a video for this song,
it was my first time ever visiting Nick's grave. I
went to his funeral, I went to his viewing. Actually
(33:30):
also drove all the way up. I was living in
Gilroy at the time. Drove all the way up, made
it to the threshold of the door where his coffin was,
and I shouldn't make myself walk in there. I didn't
want to remember him as as a corpse. I just
turned around and went home all but yeah, so it
(33:54):
was my first time ever visiting Nick's grave, and it
turned out that we ended upt going you know, completely random.
We just were like, okay, this Thursday, we both have time,
me and the cameraman, let's go do this. And it
was it was Nick's birthday, which I found really really
odd that we wound up going on his birthday like that.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
So that was completely coincidental.
Speaker 2 (34:19):
Completely coincidental. But it was also like, if there is
some you know they say, you know, energy can't ever
be destroyed. It just moves into other things, right, So
if there if there is some sort of you know,
great beyond, I have to believe that something was nudging
us towards being there that day, which I thought was
(34:41):
was really special. The other thing I always think about
is in the chorus, I say there's no new memories
the photograph the photographs are fading. I have a big
bin in the garage of just physical photos from the
time when you know, before I joined Link eighty, when
(35:03):
I was just seeing them through all my tours, and uh,
you know, it's this crazy repository of these memories. If
I if I lose any of those photos, they're you know,
they're the only that's the only version of that that
exists unless I like scan it and upload it to
the internet. Right. The funny thing is a lot of
(35:25):
the pictures of Nick that are on the internet are
pictures that I took, just as somebody who's going to shows.
So if you if you google Nick traina, like probably
the first five photos that pop up or photos that
I took, which I don't know is weird in a way,
like it's in this in this current era, like you know,
(35:49):
we have we have so many pictures on our phones,
but they just exist in like kind of the cloud.
But there's so many more of them, Like I can
I could link together like a slideshow of myself over
the last five years and like watch myself age. But
you know, maybe in a two month period of a tour,
(36:11):
you took you know, two roles of film, you know,
forty eight pictures right right, So uh, you know, I
I try to, you know, hang on to these these pictures,
but you know eventually they're all going to fade.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yep, no, I hear it. And so one thing I
wanted to ask you then.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
With that.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Is then I mean to me it seems self evident,
but I don't want to make an assumption, like, so
then what what are you saying about?
Speaker 3 (36:41):
And then the band played on, you know, and the
band played on, do you like?
Speaker 2 (36:48):
I felt really weird about having a chorus that was
just a single a single phrase, but but it just
feels like this montage part of all the things that
have happened since, Like whenever, whenever we hit that chorus,
like a montage plays in my mind of everything that's
happened in the last thirty years of just going, you know,
(37:11):
on tour all these times and you know, bands breaking up,
a new bands starting, and people getting married, and people
getting divorced, and all of us having kids and all
of us getting gray hair and all the all the
things that happened. So it's like the band, you know,
and the band did play on, like link A continued
(37:34):
after after Nick was gone, and and I've continued playing music,
you know, well past the part where it's socially acceptable
to be in a band, like hanging out with other
parents and you know, to a barbecue and they're like,
so what do you do, Like I play in a
band there and they'll be like, oh cool, yeah, Like
(37:56):
I used to do that. I'm like, yeah, I still
do it right, right, So it's just it's yeah, that's
that's kind of it. It's just this feeling of like
things just keep going. The band plays on, you just
keep keep persevering, you know, but you carry you carry
(38:19):
these these uh people with you.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
Yep. No, that's that's awesome, man.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
And that's that's I mean, just transparently, that's that's how
it felt for me, particularly with the gang vocal kind
of that feel to it, and it just right, it
just feels like it's just sailing over like this stretch
of time that just continues to move on, like you know,
things are as they are and things continue and so
here we continue, you know. And that that for me
(38:48):
was like this really frankly a beautiful and sort of
uplifting part of all of that.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
I mean, it was just it's that song is like
a cathartic experience.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
And I'm just again really appreciative of you guys putting
it together, man, because it's it was really great for
me to listen to many many times of the past
few days.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
So thank you for it.
Speaker 2 (39:06):
Yeah, there's there's a little easter egg in there that
you might not have noticed. There's a part right before
the second verse starts where you hear a voice go,
let's go, that's that's Nick.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Oh really like we I have.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
The master tapes from from an old link Ady recording,
and I just lifted that out of there, and so
he gets to he gets to have a little, a
little moment in the song. And then at the very
very end of the song there's buried in kind of
the the fade out or not the fade out though
like wind down. Yep, there's there's a voice that's real
(39:42):
hard to hear, but if you if you listen, he's
going three and three quarter stars and that's Nick.
Speaker 4 (39:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
The actual context of the sample is that he was
grading his own vocal performance for a take it. But
I liked putting it at the end of our song
where he's go like, yeah, I guess that's okay.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
No, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
And for everybody listening, go back and re listen to
the song and listen for those you know, little easter
eggs and here Nick, No, that's great, man. Thank you,
thank you for pointing that out, because no, I didn't.
I didn't hear either of those, and I would not
have put that together. Sure, that's awesome, man.
Speaker 3 (40:21):
So where is the best place for people to find you?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
Is it just generally Instagram, band camp, somewhere else to
kind of the standard socials, or is there somewhere else
that you would want people to go find you find
your music in the band.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
So everything's linked on omnigon dot Band. We're most active
on Instagram, but we do have a Twitter also, we
also have a Facebook, but both of those are man,
both those platforms just feel so broken at this point.
Instagram seems to be the one that's like the easiest
to still maneuver. And I run the Instagram so if
(40:58):
you message, if you message it, I respond and then yeah,
basically everything everything's linked to that website, omnigone dot Band.
You go on Bad Time Records find where our albums are,
and we usually try to keep our our tour dates
(41:20):
easy to find so that people can find us. And
we're you know I have plans to do the West
Coast and the East Coast in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Well awesome, We'll all sure keep a lookout and hopefully
be able to catch you guys, since I want to
see you a Saturday at fest but see you if
you hit the East coast again for sure. Yeah, Adam,
thank you so much for again for taking the time
today to talk about song in the band and kind
of everything else that's going along, and uh yeah, I'm
super grateful for it. And Save travels, have a great
time at Festus weekend, and I hope we catch up
(41:54):
again soon.
Speaker 3 (41:55):
Thank you, Truth Big Side Breakdown.
Speaker 4 (42:14):
I'm scared. Rescue dog in the corner, Who's I sell
the stories of where I have been? Sorry, I won't
let you pet me. I just need some time before
I let you in. There's no one telling you that
leaving is only a start up chipping away. I think
lace you're surrounding.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
Your heart, all right. And that wraps up another episode
of the B Side Breakdown.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
I want to thank Adam d for coming on to
talk about the song Grief from the band Omnigon on
the record Faroh and the background you're hearing the song
Strays by Early Riser. If you like what you're hearing,
please go back and listen to the previous episode, because
that's what it's about. I want to thank Adam Coolong
and Carrie Bosel for helping me put together the jingle
you hear at the beginning and the end of this episode.
(42:56):
Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcast.
And up next, I got the song church Bells from
the band Night Windows. I'll give you a snippet of
that in just a second, but until then, be safe
and I will catch you in the next one.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
Thanks.
Speaker 4 (43:11):
Church bell swo up flooded with child rottway flow. Okay,
(43:40):
great church.
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