Figure Eights (A Music Podcast) - Episode 63 w/Mike Hjelden & Elliot Hilton (Dakota Shakedown / Standard Thompson / Mr Whirly)

Join me as I chat with Dakota Shakedown about their history as well as their brand new album "We All Spin Together". We talk about run ins with Keanu Reeves, getting played during the Super Bowl and the night that Night Ranger sent them down a dark path.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You are listening to the Figure Eights podcast. I'm your
host Nick Leet from the band High on Stress out
of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and on our latest episode, we've got
Dakota Shakedown. The Coda Shakedown consists of Mike Sheldon and
Elliott Hilton, who are the two guests on today, as
well as Shadowheeling and Eric Haagan. And I've known Mike
Shelden for most of my life, played in cool bands

(00:32):
within in fact, I've known each others your kids and
Elliott Hilton who have played bands with Enny's collaborated and
appeared on some High on Stress records. I'm Piano Van
Josh assorted Shenan against. But anyway, Dakota Shakedown has a
brand new record out and I insist.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
You go check it out on bandcath and.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Pick up a copy of the great record. And this
was an in person podcast, so it's a little bit
of a fly on the listen to book. Let's catch
up and tell stories and hope you enjoy it. I
certainly did so. Without further ado, I bring you Dakota Shakedown.

(01:15):
So Dakota shakedowns here Studio twenty four. Yeah, there's a
happened to be here some wine flowing. Yeah, I have
to go to shakedowns here, I have to go to
shakedown Chad apparently wasn't invited.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
No, we didn't invite Chad. He doesn't like this sort
of thing.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
And Eric, Eric not invited. He just told Eric he
couldn't come.

Speaker 4 (01:35):
You know, Eric, he's got a busy schedule and he
also probably doesn't like this sort of thing.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
Okay, maybe you shouldn't assume that.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Okay, Hi, Eric, Sorry, Sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
That Eric was You don't know what a podcast?

Speaker 5 (01:49):
So is Eric?

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Really? He doesn't really like the interwebs.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, he's the smartest one of all of us.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
That's probably true, but it's also pretty rare. And I've
seen on the text messages that he makes comments about. Yeah,
the internets, he teases himself now, which is good. We
call him you and bomber. Why does he because he
used to have that stuff.

Speaker 4 (02:12):
He doesn't bank online, he doesn't pay bills on line, No,
I don't think besides his band before, I don't think
he's ever had a personal MySpace. Maybe space he's but
you know what the scary thing is, he knows a
lot about the Internet, and.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
I that's probably why he's not on the.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Internet, and he says, I know too much.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
That was better.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Okay, So all your listeners out there are going to
not want to listen to this and never be on
the internet. What I'm understanding. So Elliott here, we've known
each other for god, it's got to be twenty years.

Speaker 6 (02:42):
It is almost exactly, I think exactly twenty years. Yeah, yeah,
I think that's about right. Yeah, and Mike, I don't
even know. I think we're on thirty seven.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, it's about right. It's about accurate.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
You were, you know.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, I tell my children about you eating napkins at
the cafeteria.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
It was good money.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
It was good money.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
Sometimes it was just I got Derek Kleins Caprice box
or high Sea Box.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
Well, I'll take you for eating a napkin.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
Okay. So Mike Surrey, North Dakota, tell us, tell us
about Surrey, North Dakota and growing up in the in
the Dakota.

Speaker 4 (03:24):
Well, the nice thing about growing up there is, frankly
wasn't a lot to do.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
So you had time to strom your guitar and work.

Speaker 4 (03:32):
On songs, and I don't know, there just wasn't a
lot of distractions. Especially we lived there pre internet, really,
I mean, the Internet was just kind of coming along
as we were graduating high school. Were yeah, so we know,
I mean we had a lot of time to do,
just stuff that wasn't staring at screen.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
I mean, I like that part of it. And then
uh I moved here in ninety nine with you.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
That's true, But no, it was good.

Speaker 4 (03:59):
We played a lot of music there, had fun there,
and there wasn't really a lot of shows going on,
and we had to kind of hold them ourselves and
people would show.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Up well to back up even further. You were the
first person that I knew that owned a guitar, at
least other than the you know, broken as acoustic in
someone's basement uncle bot and shove in.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
The corner of the room exactly.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
So I would go over to your house after school
to watch you and Pete play play drums.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Pet and I were like the local h of you know,
we were just a keep the really shitty version.

Speaker 4 (04:33):
Of local h nice, but neither of us knew how
to play.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Version nice nice.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
But yeah, I know we tried to bash out in
Nirvana songs and stuff like that. No, we were called hush,
that's right. I knew there was a band name and
then events, then maybe Super Ego.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
After that it ended Super I don't maybe No, PD
wasn't Super Ego for a little while there, Yeah he was, Yeah,
but there was. Then you joined Wade as a drummer.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
And that's why I'm really busy.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
We started to go to shows that we found out.
How did you find out there were shows? Was it
one of your Was it Shannon classmates?

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (05:07):
Tell me about it was Shannon a classman who told
me about it. I can't remember how else.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
I would have would have known about shows.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
Oh, it was Corey Pro.

Speaker 4 (05:16):
Corey Pro, who was dating Shannon, came out too a
high school I was playing drums high school pet band, yes,
when I was maybe fifteen sometime fifteen or sixteen probably,
and Corey heard me play drums at that and kind
of recruited me from there.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
Remember that.

Speaker 4 (05:32):
He's like, you should come down to the minor Cleftic
Cultural Center and listen to these bands, and that's kind
of where it started.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah, we went to Sweethearts. I'll never forget.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Sweethearts was yeah, yep.

Speaker 5 (05:42):
We got invited down there and saw Mercy.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
C another one.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
There was some real deal punk rock going on back
then in mine in North Dakota. People people hardly believe it,
but there's it's well document. There was a great scene
in the nineties.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Serial Killers and punk.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
The but also we had like Twin Cities bands or
like you know, Voodoo Lovement and lick Ernie came. Voodoo
Lovemnentt were like gods when they would come, were so
inspiring and energetic and fun to watch. Those were my
favorite nights when we played the food for sure.

Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah, that was that was a lot of fun and
it made me just see kind of the quality back
then of what bands in the Twin Cities where it
felt like a different level. I watched them play and go, God,
we got work to do, you know, like we're gonna
go play that scene. We got to get better, you
know that. Bands like that made me realize. And Liquid Ernie.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
They were so amazing Ya Sam Queen.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
Sam Keane sounds like John Lennon.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
And there was Yeah, they were really good.

Speaker 4 (06:47):
They were just they were intimidating, both of them for
me because it was higher shelf.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
Well I remember, so I'll never forget because we are
basically sitting here now because of you. If we're gonna
be realistic about it because we had booked a show.
I think Lauren did our bass player. Hey, Lauren uh
got us his show opening for Keanu Reeves's band dog Star,
which was Insane Motormania motor Mania. Yeah, he had the

(07:16):
shaved head and shaved eyebrows because he had just flown
in from doing the Matrix, which was.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
He was filming the scene where he had come out
of some murky water and it was part of a
transition and because we asked him, you know, and he said,
you know, I'm filming a sci fi movie.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
It might be kind of a big deal. It's a
bad can.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
That is pretty good, Kunter Actually, so I went to
a cucumber.

Speaker 4 (07:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
The Seattle Pop Museum has like a music section with Nirvana,
Steffen Hendrix, and then they have like a movie horror
movie thing and they actually have Keanu Reeves's bald head
from the movie like a prop that was in there.
And he shaved like that, so like really like that.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
We knew his head is there, so you know what
was funny. And we walked and this is maybe not
how that is how I remember. We walked on stage
and it was a big arena show for SoundJack. Yeah,
and we were I mean, this is the biggest show
we'd played it by a mile for sure, So we
were like, you know, we go on pianos there, but
we don't even recognize him because he's like ridiculously skinny.

(08:17):
He's wearing like gym shorts and a T shirt and
he's got a shirt, all of his hair shaved, eyebrows, head,
and he's wearing a little homeless man stocking forgot about
the hat, and.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
We were like, is that him?

Speaker 4 (08:28):
He's playing bass, Maybe somebody's just like tuning his base
for him.

Speaker 5 (08:32):
I was pretty sure that's him.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Why is he have all his hair shaved?

Speaker 5 (08:35):
Off?

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Man? And the road manager told us to move all
of our equipment on the stage while they were sound checked,
So I'm.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
Like, this is what felt so weird about it.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
And they got done and he'd be wined it over
to talk to us, which was really kind of crazy.

Speaker 4 (08:50):
He was soon I mean, everything you hear about him,
and then this was back in ninety ninety eight, Yep,
he is the nicest fucking guy.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
Yeah, every story I hear, I'm like, yep, that sounds
about right.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:03):
I was having some you know, some relationship problems that night.
I mean probably right.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
I remember talking decade he seems like the nineties, yea.

Speaker 4 (09:12):
And in my hand, I'm going, I'm talking to Cannuves
about the struggle I'm having with my girlfriend, you know,
because he's going, no, just hang in there, man and
be patient.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
You know, I didn't know that that's Awfu Muler.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
Chatting with him, chatting him.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
I mean, well, you know it was funny too. I
don't know if you knew this or if you remember it.
But we got done playing and it went super well,
and I had my last Paul and I walked to
the back of the stage, into the back because it
was the small arena there. And as I was walking
backstage to our dressing room, someone came running down the
hall and crashed into me, put their arm on my

(09:48):
shoulder because they were in a full sprint to grasp
so they wouldn't fall over and knock me over, and
said sorry. And it was him and apparently he was
just getting ready, like psyching himself up for the show
to get energized. But yeah, the only thing that would
have been better is if you would have been like whoa.
But he said sorry, and that voice, and it just

(10:11):
still blows my mind that happened, because just like what
just happened, I just remember his I just got plowed by.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
His surreal like tour manager that we were chatting with him,
and suddenly this tour manager's.

Speaker 3 (10:24):
Like, come, we gotta go.

Speaker 7 (10:25):
Man.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
He was like the movies.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah, suddenly because they flew in for the show and
there was a airlines strike Jet or something, the airlines
strike Northwest I think was striking now Delta and he
had to fly on his own jet.

Speaker 4 (10:41):
Because yeah, yeah, you know, it's weird because you know,
he was definitely there to play music and he plays.
He plays bass, he doesn't sing, and he stands back
and plays his parts. There's people after the show they're
trying to get him to sign their copies of Speed
on vhs. You know, but dads, it's so bizarre. And
he's like, you know, he's there for music.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
I get it. Yeah. But the they're back together.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
They're touring Bill and Ted No.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
But I heard there's a third fourth movie coming out,
Dog Star's Bag, and that's awesome, selling out, selling out theaters.

Speaker 4 (11:15):
Chances are if they came to Minneapolis, there's no chance
to remember us.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
But i'd be so. I actually emailed the singer is
that Brett Brett. I emailed him on Facebook one time
and I introduced myself and said, you know, open for
you in mind North to go to and he remembered,
which I don't think he was bullshitting. It was a
weird show because it was a weird show. There was
the airline strike and how often did they play mine

(11:40):
not North to come as member? So I'm like, I
think I don't use bullshit. I think he truly remember
that show, because I don't know how you wouldn't. It
was si bizarre for them.

Speaker 4 (11:49):
It was, Yeah, it was weird, like they're not a
high energy man told the West Rocket is mid so
and they were. They were mine off Dakota, especially at
that time, even more so there wasn't a lot of
rock going on in the Redow country.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
It's like Speedwagon in Foreigner, that type of stuff. Who
was playing the night before that night Ranger, which I
was about to get to thank you, Yeah, thank god.
Well you called me the night before and I was
all pumped up. Well maybe it's two nights before we
got together, and we watched Bill and Ted because that's
what you do when you're about to open for cant.

Speaker 5 (12:24):
Reeves, and I just called constantly, just to be forever.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
And then you started introducing yourself on stages counts, which
I think I stole a few times.

Speaker 5 (12:32):
Sorry, Sorry, I got a little obsessed.

Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, which is funny because everybody knew that we opened
for him, so like we would play shows and even
introducing himself as Kills. But then the night before Night
Ranger was playing and we got comp tickets because we
were part of this thing. So I remember you and
I went to that and it was awful. It was
just terribly awful. It was terrible.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
I don't know why, but it was bad. It was
just they were all self important and it was yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, sister Christian, their time had come. And I remember
the way home you said to me, we need to
move to Minneapolis. Yeah, you remember this.

Speaker 4 (13:09):
Conversation I do when you know what, I didn't really
until you just bread it up.

Speaker 5 (13:14):
Yeah, And I said, well.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
When you're like, I don't know, next year And it
was almost a year to the date that we did.
That's why I say, like, we're here because that conversation.
It's all because of Night Ranger.

Speaker 5 (13:26):
I'll take credit and I'll take night Ranger, and I
will take.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
Credit because it's been obviously, what twenty six years later?

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Are we twenty five? Twenty five and a couple of
weeks I can say about ten twenty five days later?
It was twenty right, move absolutely, so thank you night Ranger.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
You might Yeah, I love put the drum fascinating to me.
I hope you guys just keep talking about that.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
Well, we're getting to you. We're way back. No, no,
you remember you weren't even more in the nineties.

Speaker 5 (13:58):
Lat No, I wasn't even being sarcastic.

Speaker 2 (14:01):
Ice you know, I love these like the history and
you're like, you're you're remembering together, which is pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
It is pretty cool. I remember just heckling.

Speaker 4 (14:09):
I thought you were going to talk about how I
lifted my shirt multiple times you lifted your shirt.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
Will ice Cream plays Sister Christian.

Speaker 4 (14:16):
After every song, we knew they were going to save
it for the you know, the last, because it's what
the one everybody knew.

Speaker 8 (14:21):
Yeah, but every bad song, Sister Christi Jacob, we were
flashing up.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
It was yeah, it was they were kind of dicks
in the back all.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
I hope they're not listening.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah, it wasn't great. We also yelled at Tony Bennett.
If you remember, we went to see Tony Bennett and
he winked and gave us the rock and he he yeah,
he waved us.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
We were the only one who yelled you rock.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
We were also the only one under the age of eighty.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
Yeah. He gave us was that nineteen ninety six sit
ninety six?

Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, my back and it was just a young man yellow. Yeah.
So so then we end up moving yes, a year later,
this literally a year later together together it was you
and I and Lauren based part Mike Mieler shout out, yeah,

(15:09):
I'm sure.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
Mike loves Mina. He loves it there. He's still there.
He has a great, beautiful family and life there.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
And he stuck around. So we got here around Standard
Thompson was the band and we went through Jess my time.
So I was with the band for about three and
a half years here, and we had three drummers in
that time.

Speaker 4 (15:36):
I don't want to make this about me, but I
haven't drummers. It had to have been partially my fault.
Oh man, I was hard on drummers.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
Yeah, well there was uh one.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
You find a good drummer.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
I'm not hard on chat.

Speaker 5 (15:47):
I love everything, seriously, chat everything with the good ones.

Speaker 3 (15:51):
Yeah you do. And and drummer is gonna be a
difficult well.

Speaker 1 (15:54):
First drummers. First drummer was Jesse, who played in a
cover band and was pretty good drummer. Nice guy could
never play because I was like in a cover bands.

Speaker 4 (16:07):
And I believe he lived in he was like two hours.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
Yeah, he was always away.

Speaker 4 (16:13):
He'd come in for practice, but any weather or anything
would come up and he'd be there.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
And then we tried to get Eric Hagan to play drums,
to play drums, and he was like in high school.
Oh my gosh, his parents wouldn't his parents wouldn't let
him because he was no way. He said, no way.

Speaker 3 (16:31):
And then I got him back by dating his sister.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
I'm keeping that.

Speaker 9 (16:37):
That's going over the air, but sorry.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
And that was really because I was pissed a big
al for.

Speaker 4 (16:50):
Not letting go.

Speaker 5 (16:52):
I wish it was on video, would be.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Kind of so so Eric was. We tried to get
Eric in the band, ironically since he is now a
guitar player of Dakota Shakedown these years later, and uh.

Speaker 5 (17:04):
He's really just chas.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
And then I won't say the guy's name, even though
he probably deserves to be called out here, But we
had another drummer that on Elliott. You'll not enjoy this story.
On September eleventh, two thousand and one, we had nothing
to like. We were all just as devastated as the
entire world was numb, and we decided the only thing

(17:26):
we could do is go play music. So sound Yeah
Glenwood and Gerard of Minneapolis, and we showed up and
our drummer walked in light on his feet and was
like what you guys all bummed out? And we said,
did you not see the news today?

Speaker 4 (17:41):
And he's like, you know those people don't know any
of those people that is like the thing his name
because because it's even though he.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
Probably deserves it, he doesn't.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
I'm not even gonna say his name. I just but yeah,
he was gone soon after. That's the point here is
we weren't put up with the day.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
So the day after nine to eleven, I sent I
hadn't talked to my to like my my former musician
friends in mister Worley for a little while, and I
sent them an email and I just said, you guys,
we should do a reunion show or something like like,

(18:19):
I can't think of anything better.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
This is Mark and Jim.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yeah yeah, and I said, let's let's do and we
booked something. So so no, I understand.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
That, Yeah, it was I was. We were shocked. Oh like,
who says that? Oh my god? Ye disgusting.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
The first thing I thought of was like, let's let's
I want to be around the people that I haven't
seen in a while, but I that I love, and
we let some sort of petty shit get in the
way part of my language, and then yeah, so where
are we going?

Speaker 1 (18:51):
Well, it's such a weird time too, because everybody thought
them all of America might be a target.

Speaker 5 (18:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, and we lived fairly close to the America.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
You guys were there. I was in the less that
you guys were, But I was twenty seven. I know,
I'm much a.

Speaker 5 (19:05):
Little we were.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
I was twenty two, so you were, what twenty three?

Speaker 4 (19:09):
Yeah, Well, to be clear, that drummer was a little bit.
We kind of knew already that he wasn't our cup
of tea. So that was just one of those things
that we were like, Wow, he's heartless, He's absolutely heartless,
And we can't work with a guy that's heartless.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
No, it's awful. And then he uh, soon after, he
called a band meeting to tell us all the things
that we needed to do differently. Oh that meaning was
hilarious and we all just said, well that's the case,
and we'd all quit. Yeah, and then he quit the
next day and we all laughed.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
He quit so officially too.

Speaker 1 (19:41):
You remember the Yeah, he sent you like a two
week notice.

Speaker 4 (19:43):
It was like, uh, I'm officially resigning my It was like,
where did like a business? And I'm like, oh, so
you quit, all right, go get your drums.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah. Well, then the funny thing is, so this this
is kind.

Speaker 10 (19:55):
Of we'll change the code and we'll hopefully never see
it sidewalk because yeah, well this is pretty timely too,
because then what happened after that, like at the same
exact time.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
This is bizarre. Is I think he worked in Mervin's
with Lauren. There was this kid, where was it Abercromie?

Speaker 3 (20:16):
Oh what's that?

Speaker 4 (20:18):
Well, Lauren? This kid no offense to Abercrombie. He seemed
a little ABERCROMI I could see that, but I may
have been I had a later standard Thompson guitar so
that was also Abercrommy. Yeah, that way he thought of.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
But Ambercrombie is obviously they worked at Abercrombie. No, no,
they're they're sponsoring this podcast, oh.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
For sure, which is why it's failing so badly. It's
like their business in twenty twenty four. But no, Lauren
met this kid. He was like eighteen, nineteen years old,
and he's like, hey, I want to try out for
your band. They were like all right, and how this
was drummer seven. I think this was the seventh drummer

(21:02):
in maybe nine years at this point something like that. Yeah,
it was crazy. So we were like, all right, well
try it out, let's see how this goes. And he
showed up and I think it was at night, and
he was one of the best drummers we've ever seen
in our lives.

Speaker 3 (21:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yes, his name was Eric Ballard, who sadly recently passed
away a couple of weeks ago. Lewis a church drum
unbelievable drummer. Like, so we were just like, you know,
you're expecting some nineteen year old to walk in there
and just played some shitty drums, and this guy was amazing.

Speaker 3 (21:38):
He was way too good.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
For us. And that same night, as he was doing
his thing and we were all just like laughing because
he was insane. The door opens and our drummer who
just quit walked in to get his gear's right, Oh
my god.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
Eric, Eric drum solo. Remember Cody's line something like I
guess he'll do yeah, y yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
It's definitely replaced him in twenty four hours with one
of the best drummers.

Speaker 4 (22:08):
I think he was in shock and then and there
it goes on to be you know, mentored by Michael
Bland and touring the war world as a drummer.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
I mean, yeah, it's great.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
It's hilarious. I'll never forget that moment, especially because we
were all so crusty towards him for you know, his
attitude and cold heartedness, and you know, it was just
the perfect karma right there.

Speaker 4 (22:28):
To clarify, the band meeting was not a meeting. It
was him chewing us all out for all the stupid
mistakes we were making and the fact that we weren't
making money and we should be playing covers by these
certain bands, and the bands weren't good bands.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
They were like the punk Newfound Glory.

Speaker 3 (22:45):
We should be doing Funk Glory and oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
God, I haven't even heard that thought of that band
in a long time. But right, so, no offense to
New Fund Glory, but so.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
Offense and New Found unless they want to my podcast.

Speaker 3 (22:59):
There's not a lot of bands that I adult, straight up
don't like.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
But when a drummer comes, when a drummer comes, when
a drummer comes in and kind of says, look, I
like has has sort of their their thing. It's it's
so cool to have because.

Speaker 5 (23:18):
I'm a drummer.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
You're a drummer.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
Yeah, everybody in our band.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
I've been around drums. I'm sure I've seen drums.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
I'm sure you could be a drummer.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
Shakedown members are drum Yeah.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
Now, when I was in so we.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
All know kind of that that role in bands and
and and when somebody comes in and says, hey, I'm
you know, like when when it works because it's really personality.
They're great drummers out there. Oh yeah, yeah, got to
find the right one. And honestly, like we have Chad
and Chad, I mean we let Chad. Chad kind of

(23:53):
runs the band in a lot of ways. He produces
and mixes records, and you know, we do everything at
a studio and his how so yeah, cha had a jewel. Yeah,
but just the drummer thing is always is so tricky.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
It's so funny how we couldn't find a drummer.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
Now you're in a band.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
With four drummers, right, Yeah, it's just you know, playing
your averages off and we're off like as.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
Ever, and then like if somebody's in the bathroom and
and like one of us just hit, I'll just jump
on the drums and started playing and we just start jamming, and.

Speaker 5 (24:26):
It's like we should do a thing where we switch bands.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, well the finding is I didn't even catch up
on that for a minute. Well we'll get to that too.
So I kind of segu well so so so Eric Ballard.
I think that was about a year and a half,
two years before I left the band. And then he
left the band because he got Jimmy Layton. And then

(24:51):
uh oh, and you ended up with you had Ameer's name. Oh,
Tim Tim is great drummer. Tim is a great and
then Ben Ben was the guitar Stephan Ben. Yeah, and
then you had Aaron who was also a really good
guitar player, and then uh what so you. Oh, you
played First Avenue. You had a song played First Avenue

(25:13):
twice and twice Super Bowl had a song played during
the Super Bowl.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
Super Bowl highlight was it?

Speaker 1 (25:18):
It was the Prince one.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
It was the Prince halftime show one. Yeah, you know what,
it's crazy, you know the crazy. But I didn't know
what was going to happen.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
He doesn't talk about that much. I forgot about that.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
I'm not much of a bragger, but I'm a big deal.

Speaker 3 (25:33):
That's why.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
That's why I love you.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
No, here's the story. It was two thousand and seven.
Whatever the Prince, the Prince won. Everybody knows that the Prince.
The Bears were in it.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
And Bear cousin, Charlie is a Bears fan, and they
lived in an apartment and they rented out the ballroom
party thing for a big Super Bowl party to watch
the Bears. Uh, my wife now who Karen was my
fiancee at the time. We were there hanging out. Halftime
highlights come on, half paying attention. I hear the standards on.

(26:05):
Santa Thomas is on Baltimore cranking on because he had
a big screen rented in a sound system. And I
turned to Karen and said, holy ship. I think I
heard Baltimore in the Super Bowl, and you know, she
look at me, she's like, Okay, I honestly thought I
may have been hearing things, you know. So it was
it was super was very surreal. And then my phone
started blowing up with Matt crik Well, the guy that
recorded it and the guy that did from I t

(26:27):
G who published it with congratulations calls like hey, you
just landed a song, and I was.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
Like, were you in the band at that time?

Speaker 3 (26:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (26:38):
No, it was It was crazy and yeah, we've had
a lot of success with CBS college football and a
lot of whatever reason.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
Something on MTV too, right, like the shows, a.

Speaker 4 (26:47):
Lot of MTV shows, a lot of MTV shows, and
it's the OC.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Were you on the OC at some point one of those.

Speaker 5 (26:54):
Mom Team Mom?

Speaker 4 (26:55):
Man, I should have brought a list of some of
the random but the last, the last Frontier TLC Discovery
uses a lot of times you're watching TV and you
hear some kind of a rock intro or outro weirdly, you.

Speaker 5 (27:07):
Know, sometimes like that.

Speaker 4 (27:09):
That's sometimes right, I will randomly be watching TV and
hear stuff still to this day, Yeah, you know, I
get random Royalty checks for that stuff.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
It's crazy. Well, and then so I left the band
and started a new band, High on Stress.

Speaker 2 (27:24):
And so you left when that happened.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
High on Stress started in two thousand and three. Year three.
It was but I met Mark two months.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
After I left the band.

Speaker 5 (27:34):
Well that's a good story.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
The rest it was just sad, playing solitaires, McDonald's bags.

Speaker 5 (27:41):
Everywhere we got it.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
Was we got pizza and we've got but you. That
was when you like put your your my band wanted
sign your band won, which Mark says is he said,
the only reason he called me is because the sign
was so pathetic that it made him laugh.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
Yeah, because I said, these are the bands that are
the influences. I'm looking for a singer and guitar player,
bass player and drummer, keyboard player. And he's like, what
how is this guy? And he's like, he's like, well,
this guy's he goes, I got nothing to lose. This
guy's got nothing. And that's why he told me. And
then you heard your songs and he went, oh, no,
my song I only had one. It was no it

(28:20):
was my former life on the cutting room floor only.
So that was the only song potential I had one song,
and we went to Eric. Eric prat that point, yes,
and he and Ben, who came to see us play
in l A. Ben lives in l A, like down

(28:41):
the street from the venue we played at, showed up
at our show. Ben strange, right, yeah, you still know
he was in New York, Like yeah, literally he lived
down the block, walked to show.

Speaker 3 (28:52):
He was in Eric's he was in Eric and Corey's.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Band, and now he lives like down the street from
the cause so high country. So it was weird. So
Mark and I. Mark called me. We talked like an
hour and I'm like, oh, we just hit it off
doc for an hour on the phone with this stranger
and met it Eric's practice bass. This all ties together,

(29:16):
so weird. We played the one song. So I had
no band and I had one song, So this is
I was really coming yep. And I think Ben may
have been. I think Ben and Corey were there. Eric
wasn't that day, but they were all like, this is working.
So we started the band and then and uh, Mark
started to tell me about his old band, so I

(29:38):
played him Standard Thompson and he played me a band
called mister Whorley and Elliott, who was the singer, guitar
player of mister Whorley, so the bass player, piano player,
Mouth Oregon guitars, vocals, and Nicole Shakedown. Yes, oh this
is getting very incestuous.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
It is, and it's a good thing.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
So I remember, so Mark and I were writing songs.
John Tranberry started as our bass player who recorded all
the standard tops and stuff back then when as in
the band. He called me and was like our things,
like uh, and then he's like, well you start in
a band, like I started talking to a drummer and
he's like, oh, did you find a bass player? I'm
like no. He's like, could I offer up my services?

(30:24):
And I'm like John, really because for a long time
I was trying to convince him to play in bands
because he liked music so much. And he did and
he and he's like I'm in and then he knew bad.
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe you wanted to.
I couldn't crazy. I was like, wow, it's like, what
did you tell him? And then he knew Ben. So

(30:45):
then we that's how that all started. And then we
were recording their debut album and My Girls and Mark's like,
well a couple of things happened. He said, We've got
a mister Whorley reunion at the Five Corner Saloon. You
should come see it. And some of the stuff we
were running at that point was pretty twangy, and uh.
I went to see mister Worley play and they played

(31:07):
Cheap Trick Surrender and blew the roof off the place,
and I was like, Mark's gonna quit. He's not gonna
want to play this ship after I just saw what
he what he has been playing. There's no way he
doesn't quit tomorrow. And he didn't. But I was so
impressed with mister Worley. And how great have you seen
mister Whorley?

Speaker 4 (31:24):
No, holy yeah, I wanted to go to the reunion,
Elliot being very much. I don't make it out to anything,
but yeah, so I've just heard I've heard great things
because Elliott's well, but I really really stop.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
But I didn't know.

Speaker 5 (31:38):
I didn't I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
I remember that night, but I didn't know that you
had never.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
I'd never seen you live. I'd heard the CD.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
That that you that you were worried that Mark was.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
I was like, I'm screwed. Yeah, you guys are so good.

Speaker 2 (31:52):
And then.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
Soon we hadn't played a show yet. You guys were good,
but we hadn't played a show yet. And then you
next time, you played another reunion show at the Five
Corners and we played with you, and that was the
first time that you never played a show.

Speaker 5 (32:06):
Oh god, I got it.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
Were you there? I feel like you might have been
at that show, which also the Five Corners?

Speaker 3 (32:12):
Maybe, yeah, I think I was actually Derek.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
Derek our first show, I think you came to. It
was mister Whorley played that night.

Speaker 5 (32:20):
How about that?

Speaker 1 (32:22):
Yeah, it's kind of weird.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
Clearly, it's very memorable.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
I cannot remember much but meeting.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
These guys, meeting you, and and seeing that Mark, because
I didn't know what I was gonna do. I didn't
know if I was going to move back from Los
Angeles or not.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
Oh yeah, because you came up. You weren't even living here.

Speaker 2 (32:38):
I wasn't even and then but I was happy that
Mark had a bend and he was sending me demos
he said, my not he sent me, which.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
A lot of people were very confused about whatever he had,
especially uh uh oh accident clearinghouse. They said we needed
to drop that there was no melody. There isn't, but
some people I get.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
Yeah, I was just trying. I was just trying to
be spoon.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
And then and then, and then you came my lifelong
friend from childhood, Jim.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Jim from Mister Whorley played guitar on gold Star gold
Star and because he was originally going to be the
guitar player but he didn't have a lot.

Speaker 2 (33:16):
And I know that whole. I mean, I know, I
know his version, but I know you're but he sent me.
I just talked to him last night for like two
hours too, which is cool. We're so I'm so happy
that we're still friends. But we he sent me.

Speaker 5 (33:29):
He's like, I don't.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
Know what to do. Like Mark's got this new band
and I really like it, but I don't think I'm
the right person for this.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
Yeah, but I'm like, I was going to get together
once a week. I don't think and that was or
even more than that, I agree, But he sounded like
his guitar, Oh my god, it Chad, Chad he did.
Jim plays it now, but like, and it's funny because
Jim wanted to redo that guitar part even after he
was not officially going to be in the band anymore.
He still like kind of just come back and be
the guitar part where.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
Like it's purpose or not touching it.

Speaker 5 (33:58):
I'll never forget.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
I think he's still probably just gets driven crazy by
because he thinks he could have done better.

Speaker 2 (34:03):
I think he's accepted it now. But he sent he
sent it to me and he said, I, Ellie, you
know you know me. I mean, I mean I was
with him when we were learning how to play, and
he said, I said, Jim, this is fucking beautiful, like,
don't touch it. Don't touch it. Listen to everybody, this
is a beautiful part. It's it's so cool. Don't touch it.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
He put this cure guitar thing on a Woco type
song and I couldn't. I still remember sitting everything like
I would have never thought of this. It was crazy.
So yeah, So Jim was in Mister Worley played on
the Unmoonlight Girls. You played piano and Eyeliner Blues did
so you were on that record.

Speaker 5 (34:48):
I took a lot of photos.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
You took a lot of yes, some of them that
I had to delete from my hard drive. So then Mike,
you U when well, when did you move back.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Two thousand and I moved I fell in love with
a woman and I and I moved back in November
of two thousand.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
And three, two thousands. Oh, so you were back fairly
quickly after those shows, but then you moved back again
then and then you moved back again. You just liked it.
I like you has I liked a bounce bound Well
then so standard Thompson goes on for a while, and
then I think, strangely enough, we hadn't talked for like

(35:29):
nine years, and I talked, I might not had a
flood where we're from, and I asked you to play
the we had a flood relief benefit at the Turf Club.
What you played, and I think that was your last show,
which I don't think it was.

Speaker 4 (35:44):
Our last show was actually in uh in Albert Lee
at the Freeborn County Fair. Okay, so there was, but yeah,
that was probably second to last.

Speaker 5 (35:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
So Jordan moved to LA after that to hang out
with Ellie Weird.

Speaker 4 (35:59):
Yeah, I don't even think about that. So actually Jordan's
back now too, drummer Jordan and then moved out nice
pursue Jokay, I went out there to.

Speaker 5 (36:11):
I don't know why I moved out there.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
Other than I I it doesn't matter. But but I
came back for family and friends, and I'm glad I
came back because I never would have hung out with.

Speaker 5 (36:24):
You guys or met you guys.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
So it's cool.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
Well, we went out there to visit you too. We
played shows guys on my Yeah, and then Chad kept
asking to go to Hollywood when we were standing in
Hollywood Boulevard that's right.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
Right down the Virgin Megastar, and he's like, when.

Speaker 5 (36:44):
Are we going to go to Hollywood?

Speaker 1 (36:46):
Like you were in Hollywood yet, Jack White, I still
haven't seen that video.

Speaker 5 (36:52):
Oh, I have a copy of it, but I yeah, but.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
Dad was filming everything we did and mislabeling everything. There's
the Himalaya Mountains, Holly Hills, Yeah, yeah, in a blast.
But then so you then went back, Well you played
on You also played on Lady Minneapolis the final Yeah

(37:15):
at the time.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
That one.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
Yes, you did a wonderful job. Well, you guys, give
me true leaving Minneapolis, but in the Windy City, I
think you played on those three, yeah, if I remember.
And then we put two bands together. We tried we
tried a little bit of a social Experiment Pasadena sixty eight,
Nakota Shakedown, same same people, different bands. Well High and

(37:38):
Stress broke up, yeah, twenty fourteen. Yeah, so we put
that together. It was highly confusing.

Speaker 11 (37:45):
It was highly confusing, but also highly it was fun.
It was super confused, just to clarify what the two
band thing was. So, I mean, we were all so
like Dakota Shakedown is Elliott on bass, Chat on drums,
Me on guitar, Eric on guitarre at the time, I mean, no,
I'm sorry, Nick, and then yep, and then we'd shuffle around.

(38:06):
I'd play drums, you know, Elliott play bass, try to
play guitar. So anyway, the same guys, two bands, and
we'd play back to back without a break in between.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
We just switch it up and go on.

Speaker 5 (38:18):
So it was it was gimmicky and kind of cool,
but at the same time, it did confuse.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
And every time we'd ship to a venue, one band
name would be on the thing.

Speaker 4 (38:25):
I got all the promoters and people never knew what
to do with us.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
Now to not be able to keep that together, I
didn't think it was that. I mean, I don't mean
to be rude about it, but it's like, uh, yeah,
it's two bands that we switched into. I think that
people do that all.

Speaker 4 (38:43):
Right, Yeah, I think it's gonna be piece together on
top of it. Yeah, really got people confused because we
if we but then that would have been a higher cost,
and we really weren't. We were trying to keep things kind.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
Of on the low.

Speaker 2 (38:56):
It was fun, wrote a lot of good songs and
did and it was I thought it was cool that
we would expose people to two bands with one you know.

Speaker 4 (39:04):
It's kind of like back in the nineties the punk
bands would do the split seven inches and stuff, and yeah,
you were like exposed to two bands on one record
or on one cassette tape at that time, right, I
kind of liked that concept.

Speaker 5 (39:16):
But yeah, it had an expiration date, it did, and we.

Speaker 3 (39:18):
Had to do our own thing eventually.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
Yeah, and I ended back in high on stress. You
got Eric. We talked about ye randomly in and out
of it.

Speaker 5 (39:27):
Chad and I I grew up in North Dakota, were
full circle back with Yeah, I was going.

Speaker 2 (39:34):
To be the guitarist in the or and then it
and then it was like, oh no, we found this, uh.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
The best friend.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
Yeah, they hadn't talked to you for a while either
at that point, so that was kind of reunion for
the two of them.

Speaker 4 (39:46):
Well, we were playing the final passing the sixty eight
a shakedown show, right Minneapo Eagles. Eric shows up to
that show yep, which it don't really enjoys it, and
we thought, well, it's probably a good time to ask
Eric about this. But I remember outside it's like, how
did you feel about playing bass? And He's like, oh, no, no, no,
I don't play bass. No, no, no, yeah, this is

(40:07):
extremely opposed.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
Yeah, as you are, elliot, it's a fantastic bass player.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Well, I like being in a band where I can
play bass, where I also on the recordings can do
other things.

Speaker 1 (40:21):
Oh yeah yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
But also I know, I mean, I I've accepted the
best man role. I've played bass in so many bands
I really truly love because I don't know, I always
have this acceptance like I can kind of do whatever
I want on the bass, you know, and so.

Speaker 5 (40:45):
I've accepted that that's my role.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Well, I think one of the things that's was cool
about the passing a sixty to code to shakedown thing
and then tokod to shakedown I'm assuming now is probably
the same way is when we were in the studio,
it was just it would just be passing stuf up
around right, Like you got a guitar part, like hey,
you want to play piano on that or whatever. Like
it didn't there was no like I play this or

(41:07):
I play we.

Speaker 5 (41:08):
Still do it.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
You would sit down and hit some notes on the
anybody can do anything.

Speaker 4 (41:15):
Oh yeah, if you have a great idea and you
want to play guitar and you're the drummer on the track.
That's the cool thing about us all being drummers, all
being previous front men of bands. I mean we've kind
of been around.

Speaker 1 (41:25):
Yeah, it's kind of weird, like everybody has been a
front man and and you have been drummers, which is
kind of odd.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
It's a little different.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
It's pretty great to have to, you know, collect get
if we're getting to the Dakota Shaketown record. I mean,
like we we all accept each other's you know, we
know each other's talents and limitations and it's pretty absolutely
but and we also really love like Mike brings us
songs and then we and he just lets us kind

(41:59):
of all go into it and tinker and tinker. Yeah,
take it it's so cool. Yeah, and I just think
that that's to me. I don't care if it never
came out. I'm so glad it is, But if it
never came out, I'd be like, well, at least I
because I don't really I record, don't release anything, but
I but I love being with people that actually release things,

(42:22):
and and we all have so much fun doing it.
And you know, we've all played together. So yeah, I
mean I'm based with High End Stress.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Oh yeah, you filled in twice, at least twice once
once when John quit the band on short notice.

Speaker 2 (42:40):
John, Yeah, remember uh?

Speaker 1 (42:43):
And then the answer when we played with the Flip guys,
the odd Fathers like they're off shoot. Yeah, that was
a fun show. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
So so it's all about just sort of being with
your your people. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
And Dakodo Shakedown is ten years old?

Speaker 3 (43:00):
Wow? How about that? Is that true?

Speaker 1 (43:02):
That is true? Twenty fourteen?

Speaker 7 (43:04):
Wow?

Speaker 5 (43:06):
I was old then and I'm old now.

Speaker 1 (43:08):
You're a lot younger than that now. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:11):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (43:11):
So it's crazy. So there's the first well, the first
split EP with Passing sixty eight. The second split with
Passing A sixty eight called good Night Air. First was
self titled with the two band names not to confuse
everyone further. And then you've been you've been working hard
on the new record. You want to talk about that
a little bit.

Speaker 5 (43:31):
Yeah, Elliott does Elliot? Well go ahead, Well, no, we
COVID kind of, we had all kinds.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
So the new record.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
Part of the reason it's called We All Spend Together
is because, over the course, thank you, over the course
of a few years, I mean, in a four person band, right,
two people lost their moms. I lost my brother to
cancer within eight months of diagnosis.

Speaker 3 (43:57):
That was crazy.

Speaker 4 (43:58):
We had we had divorced, we had people having kids,
we had I mean, COVID. All this stuff happened, you know,
but we always had that that once a week getting
together to look forward to making music, hanging out with
your friends. Like no matter of whatever crazy ship was
going on, you know, we could all get together, spin
together and hang out together.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
And uh, it's been, you know, a lifesaver.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
Honestly, it's also just kind of a reminder of the
divided world.

Speaker 3 (44:26):
Hey, we're all kind of absolutely the other meaning of it.
It's like, yeah, let's remember we're all here together.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
Yeah yeah, when you and I know, but when you
when you said I have an idea and you send us.
We all spin together and you had that, you had
your your graphic, your art thing, and and we were like,
I was just like, oh my god.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
It's so pretty much. Everybody said, yeah, that's the title
that done, which is hard.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
It's hard to get a call on covering for everybody.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
It is hard to get Yeah, but he.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
Because you're stuck forever.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
Bike's really good at that.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
I Almos said that at the same time.

Speaker 4 (45:13):
But we struggled for a long time trying to name
the album we did. We got hung up on that
for a long time.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
I knew you'd come I knew you'd.

Speaker 5 (45:20):
Come up with something.

Speaker 3 (45:21):
Well, thank you. That's nice because I was confident.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
We were all we were laboring, Mike, Michael find something,
and then you did.

Speaker 5 (45:27):
And then we're like, oh, oh that's it.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
It just took you know, and it's okay. I didn't
care if it took another ten years, it'd be fine.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
First, the first track we did was what four years ago?

Speaker 4 (45:43):
That was the deal, right, the deal we worked on
at least probably we recorded Haunted after that, but yeah.

Speaker 8 (45:52):
We do.

Speaker 4 (45:52):
We did videos for those, right, Yeah, there's videos for well,
for and for summers.

Speaker 1 (45:57):
Right, So what are some of the influences. And that's
something that I think is really cool about us and
this remike you and I. Actually I think all three
of us are pretty similar.

Speaker 2 (46:07):
But yeah, and you.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
Know everybody really, but Elliott, you have some different influences
who are kind of your main bands that influence you
in your songwriting because you also write and record songs
as well.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
I'll start with bass because for me, it's like Simon
Gallup from The Cure, and Andy Rourke from the Smiths,
and and and Tommy Stinson of course you know when
I was a kid, but it's like I like aggressive,
not not not that I always played that way. But
for for bass, it's I I listen to, I listen

(46:46):
those are the my But Andy Rourke, I would say,
Andy Rourke rest in peace. Andy Rourke, he just passed
like last year. But not everybody like those guys don't
get credit. Tommy gets credit, but but like the other
guys don't really get credit. But I Peter Hook from
New Order and you know, so on the bass, I'm

(47:09):
but I play like those are all guitarists, So I
play sort of guitarists. Ask on on that stuff and melodic.
But what I do is I listen. I think my
my main contribution, if I may say, is I'm a
good listener. I was trained well as a kid. I

(47:32):
was classically trained on the piano blah blah blah, So
I listen. I was taught to listen to what the
other or what the rest of the orchestra is doing,
and that it will.

Speaker 5 (47:43):
That is I mean, prince, My god.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
I was gonna say, my sources tell me.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
Your prince, but I saw your dirty mind poster and
I went.

Speaker 5 (47:55):
Oh, oh, of course, of course yes.

Speaker 1 (47:58):
And you pull ever damn instruments so well.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
He he inspired me to think that I could do that.
I was lucky that I had access to some instruments,
broken ones like I would.

Speaker 3 (48:14):
Have to fire.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
You had the broken acoustic in the corner of the room.

Speaker 2 (48:18):
I had like the broken ukulele. And I didn't.

Speaker 5 (48:22):
I mean, my grandpa had.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
He was a drummer. My grandpa, Frank had had drums,
and so he said he actually gave them. My brother
wanted to be a drummer, which is hilarious. My brother,
I don't think he ever even touched them. My grandpa
gave me this and I still have it. It's this
nineteen fifty five blood wig like Ringo kit.

Speaker 5 (48:45):
I still have it in storage.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
And my grandpa I have his drummer bag full of
his sticks and Wrigley's gum. He's like drummers to gum.

Speaker 5 (48:59):
No, I don't even know that's the.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Thing, but but I chew gum when I played drums man, so.

Speaker 5 (49:05):
I had.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
Yeah, he cheers everywhere, but yeah, so so I was
lucky to have some access.

Speaker 5 (49:13):
But I had to.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
I taught myself how to play this ship. I mean,
I'm not saying.

Speaker 1 (49:20):
When he met you, you were a teenager who were
doing full demos of everything, and god, yeah you Mark
he was.

Speaker 5 (49:29):
He was somebody that.

Speaker 2 (49:33):
I mean, it was easy for you know, girls that
I wanted to like hang out. Yeah, they're like you
are so talented, but but Mark, but I'm like, well,
I you know, and I didn't. But Mark came in
because he was older than us, and he came in
and goes, uh, I can't even play your drum parts.

(49:54):
To this day, he just said us at Palmer's recently, Mark,
but he he was like, I still don't even know
how you played some some of those drum parts. And
also you're the one. He's like, I played with a
lot of songwriters, You're like one of my favorites.

Speaker 5 (50:12):
That was nice for me to hear. I think we're
all sensitive musicians not at all.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
So it's I need I need that, but I'll never
ask for it.

Speaker 7 (50:23):
It's like, oh, man, if only my dad was here
to listen to this, If only if only my dad
listened to like, like, Mark, your son is WORTHWHILEI.

Speaker 1 (50:44):
And Mike, how about you influences well, you know, well
this microphone. That's the good part. This actually feels like
we're I.

Speaker 4 (50:56):
Meant, kind of a weird mix. I love rock and roll.
Butch Walker Marvelous.

Speaker 1 (51:02):
Three, you're an M three hat right now?

Speaker 3 (51:05):
You get that got show in Chicago one.

Speaker 4 (51:08):
Yeah, and I'm going back in November and you are going, yeah, yeah,
going back. Speaking of Marvelous three. Butch Walker, my Butch
Walker is my hero. He's you know, great musician, producer,
Spoon love Spoon.

Speaker 3 (51:22):
I love Prince like you guys.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
Mike, You and I were the only two people in
the entire city in North Dakota that were Prince fans.

Speaker 4 (51:28):
Kind of how we started bonding over music in the
first place. It's like, this is the only other kid
in town that appreciates Prince and.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
Prince and Nirvana Prince and yeah, there's like there's like
two of us, maybe three that the the other one
was like in the closet about it, right, the first always,
first time I saw Mike. Yeah, and that was fun. Yeah,
the only time you ever played North Dakota.

Speaker 3 (51:50):
Wow, is that true?

Speaker 1 (51:51):
You didn't even sell it out?

Speaker 3 (51:53):
That's so sad. Yeah, it was. Oh, it's amazing.

Speaker 5 (51:59):
Can I ask how did you what? What gravitated you
toward drums? Like how did you start?

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Mike was the drummer goat.

Speaker 4 (52:08):
I know drums, but I don't know his origins. Yeah, no,
I just from the time I can remember, I was
obsessed with drums. How did you think when I was
a little kid?

Speaker 2 (52:18):
Do you have a kid?

Speaker 4 (52:20):
I didn't I had, did I My first kid was
a Mister T drum kid, which I wish I still had,
And I just beat the ship out of it.

Speaker 5 (52:28):
You know, if you're mister T T his right game.

Speaker 4 (52:32):
Where Bob Barker would tell you to punch the thing
and pull out a card, you know, that's what all
my mister T drum has looked like they just had
like I punched Roum after about a week. Yeah, so
I just bashed the hell of it. And then I
moved down to another drum set. So No, I just
always had drums, and you had access to drums. Yeah,
And I would see people playing drums and you know,

(52:53):
see a band, and I just wanted to stare at
the drummer and figure out what he was doing.

Speaker 1 (52:57):
There was during basketball games they would have pep and
the mezzanine and typical high school band. Everybody's gonna play
in their own I was that rhythm everything else was.
Then Mike was up there and everybody would walk up
the stairs to watch and play drums.

Speaker 3 (53:12):
Oh well that's nice.

Speaker 5 (53:13):
There you go.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Detail that.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
I think that's how Corey Crow discovered you because he
saw you playing wipe Out.

Speaker 9 (53:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (53:20):
I was probably playing Wipeout and there was breaking hard
or something.

Speaker 3 (53:28):
Of course.

Speaker 4 (53:28):
You know that's the kind of stuff she gets you recruited. Yes, listen, kids, No,
I remember when I was really little. You remember Lynn
Vangley at the former of course, and her son Mitch
was a drummer and he had this big cock rock
drum set with like two bass drums and Tom's all

(53:49):
the way across and like the big upside down thing
and the splash symbol, just tons of unnecessary things. I
would peek into their windows like a creeper walk over
and just to stare at the drum set.

Speaker 3 (54:01):
I did it a couple of times.

Speaker 1 (54:02):
Were you wearing pants? I was, there's a little liar,
it's even a little bit more illegal.

Speaker 5 (54:08):
This was before my walking cute sisters.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
No, no, but I was probably like a four to
fifth grade. But then she caught me.

Speaker 4 (54:18):
But instead of calling the cops, she invited me even
to play the drums and check out the kids.

Speaker 5 (54:23):
She was so nice, a friend of my mind.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
And then I got in the van.

Speaker 5 (54:28):
Window just to say it.

Speaker 4 (54:30):
By obsession with drums on Mike Peters got weird at times.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
Yeah, Mike Peterson. I was obsessed with him. He was
our high school drummer.

Speaker 4 (54:38):
Metallica one and the band playing Metallica one, and he
was playing in the band room and I was just
staring awe because it was it was sick, ridiculous rest
in peace.

Speaker 5 (54:47):
Also, could he do it with one one kit?

Speaker 3 (54:50):
He did do it with one kid exact one kick though.

Speaker 2 (54:57):
That's that song scared the hell.

Speaker 4 (54:59):
Yeah, I got on the other stories of the band
room in high school, but again probably a different podcast.

Speaker 1 (55:07):
Oh I've got my band Yeah no, probably.

Speaker 8 (55:10):
No slandering anybody else. Also drumming, just like drumming, and
then answered it, Yeah, we'll.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
Go on to the next so drunks, Yeah, Marblo's three Spoon.

Speaker 3 (55:28):
And then I'm also still I like hip hop and
independent hip hop, and.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
Well you discovered fish, I guess to the podcast. In fact,
many there's been quite a few uh guests of the
podcast that came from your discoveries in the nineties about
that kind of bizarre.

Speaker 3 (55:46):
I was just obsessed with music. I do anything I
could to hear different stuff.

Speaker 4 (55:50):
And yeah, and we came across Fidish back then and
a bunch of other great bands.

Speaker 1 (55:57):
Fantastic stuff. So all right, so you've got a release
show this week Saturday and Saturday night, right, And where
is that taking place? Excelsior Brewing and beautiful Excelsior in Minnesota,
the shores of Lake Minnetaka. It is beautiful. If you
haven't been there, it's.

Speaker 2 (56:14):
Going to play a solo set we've played therein Yeah,
they're they're great, great place to play, take good care
of a nice audience.

Speaker 3 (56:24):
They do nice job and sound and all that. It's
a beautiful place. And Edith head you go ahead songs
I love So.

Speaker 2 (56:35):
Edith had is a relatively new local indie band. Drummer
Kim Mancini and I we played for a while together.
She was actually kind of learning how to play drums,
and so we mad through a front a mutual and

(57:00):
then she so we would go to her place and
then Paul Paul has been late, he was in Chuglin
and so now they're they're like, they've got this cool
three piece, like the rock band. I played with them
last December at what was that Woody is Northeast Woodies.

(57:23):
What is that place called?

Speaker 3 (57:24):
Anyway?

Speaker 2 (57:25):
I was there Dusty Dusties, Thank you Woodies. I played
at a place called Woodies. So no, it was Dusties
and we so anyway, but we've been friends for a
long time. So yeah, they're gonna play. I'm gonna do
assault just myself and just play and then they're super awesome.
And then and I've got a bunch of new songs

(57:46):
I'll be playing, mixed.

Speaker 3 (57:47):
Him with whatever.

Speaker 2 (57:49):
So show time seven o'clock seven o'clock.

Speaker 1 (57:53):
Yes, yeah, yeah, that's cool.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
Ages, but come for Edith had comfort for the lease.

Speaker 3 (58:00):
Get there at seven o'clas. It's gonna be a full night.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
Awesome.

Speaker 5 (58:02):
This can be so great.

Speaker 3 (58:03):
It's going to go till ten thirty.

Speaker 2 (58:05):
You we played there as a band, obviously, you know.
The sound is so good.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
And I saw a lady. I was playing acoustic there
one time and a lady fell straight on her face
on that concrete. And then I ended the show. I
sure wasn't. After the ambulance came out. You can keep
going if you want. And I'm like, you know, I
think I'm done.

Speaker 9 (58:24):
And then she.

Speaker 1 (58:26):
Yeah, right by the door, she's walking and she just
right in front of the stage by the door. Oh no,
like she's passed out, based down on the concrete. And
then the ambulance came and she waved them off. But
I was there like keep going, and I'm like, no,
I don't think I want to play anymore.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
I'm a follower. I'm a graceful fall.

Speaker 1 (58:44):
Yeah, but I know, yeah, it was pretty it's pretty weird.

Speaker 5 (58:48):
It's a little distracted.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
Show over, like, keep going, you're like face planted on concrete.

Speaker 5 (58:57):
Yeah, I'm ready worried about that person.

Speaker 1 (59:00):
Oh so seven o'clock Saturday night, Excels, you're brewing CODA
shakedown release show. The record is now available for download
right on band camp. So the CODA is shakedown on
band Camp. Check it out, pick up a copy.

Speaker 5 (59:16):
Probably do vinyl, etcetera.

Speaker 4 (59:18):
So, yeah, that's the goal. We got to come up
with a way to fund it. Everybody knows it was
in a bands. It's pretty expensive.

Speaker 5 (59:24):
It's gone international.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
It has gone international. Yes, So and you've got some
radio play station in Wisconsin the other day and.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
Clear, Yeah, what was the other one?

Speaker 1 (59:38):
There are two stations that picked it up already, one Ohio, Ohio,
Ohio and Wisconsin. So Minnesota always is uh one night.

Speaker 3 (59:48):
Yeah, the current at least spind it on the local
show or something.

Speaker 1 (59:53):
But we're sending that out to the universe here.

Speaker 5 (59:55):
It's going to be a great show. Come on out
if you can.

Speaker 4 (59:58):
We're yeah, we haven't played much. I mean really we're
pretty reclusive. We don't get out of Chad's basement a ton.
We record a lot and rehearse a lot, but really
going to be fun to get.

Speaker 5 (01:00:11):
And Eric, the guy we were talking about earlier, will
he'll be there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:15):
You'll never hear this because he doesn't have the Internet.
But and Chad will be there as well. Chad, so
he's not here, but he, as you mentioned, record the albums,
plays drums. He plays guitar and high on stress as well.
And Mike and I met him when he was yeah,

(01:00:38):
and uh, Mike and I met him when he was
in junior high school.

Speaker 3 (01:00:43):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (01:00:44):
He was just like young Chap playing our bass players.
Music teacher said, you got to come see these kids play.
They come into the music room after school after Junior
high school, Juior hghchool. Got to see these guys play.
We went there and these little must have been thirteen
or fourteen year olds from tearing up like Nirvana covers.

Speaker 2 (01:01:05):
Yeah, and it was Chad and Eric yeah, and.

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
A bass player and a base play named Ryan.

Speaker 4 (01:01:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
Sometimes we show up and Eric will get there early
and you know, and they like, they'll be down there gym.

Speaker 1 (01:01:21):
It's amazing. The chill bond over it.

Speaker 2 (01:01:23):
Man, negative nothing that I have like ten cvs I give,
I give them out.

Speaker 5 (01:01:29):
They're good.

Speaker 3 (01:01:30):
So we show up at the junior high school not
knowing what to expect. Yeah, and these kids just rock
our sock. I mean we were like, what the hell?

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
They were better than good most of the band in
the town, and they were little kids.

Speaker 3 (01:01:41):
There were little kids.

Speaker 5 (01:01:43):
Songs were awesome. There are songs that were working on
were pretty awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:01:46):
They were like, oh the hell.

Speaker 5 (01:01:48):
So then they ended up kind of going out with
an opening for us at a bunch of different.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
Because you were like, I want to be there Diana
Ross to their Jackson five.

Speaker 4 (01:01:57):
I remember that I wanted to show all those motherfuckers
off because I was so I wanted to Pinocchio with
them out to the world.

Speaker 6 (01:02:07):
You will never.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
Forget that quote. I want to be the Diana Ross
to their Jackson five.

Speaker 5 (01:02:12):
That's a good that's a great reference.

Speaker 1 (01:02:16):
And all these years later, here's Chad playing in both
of our bands.

Speaker 4 (01:02:19):
Yeah, here we are together still and there it too. Yeah,
they still believe I'm going to do something for him
at some points.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
So the records out, the records is catchy as hell.
Congrats on it, it's awesome.

Speaker 5 (01:02:30):
Thanks you everywhere.

Speaker 3 (01:02:32):
Friday Friday the twenty third stream, gotcha.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
But buy it on band can buy.

Speaker 4 (01:02:38):
It on bandkank before you get it for free on Man.
It's yeah, taking the music for free, trying to keep
the homeless.

Speaker 1 (01:02:45):
Stop bobbing, downloading down with Napster, what's his free ship?
We've been working hard for ten years and you're gonna
just turn on the spot.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
I'm not part of the marketing plan, no, but you right,
It's taken us a long time.

Speaker 5 (01:03:02):
So I'm very proud that we finally have it out.

Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
I'm very proud of what we've done on this and
love it and think very thankful and for just being
part of it.

Speaker 3 (01:03:14):
Oh yeah, if I can speak to it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:16):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:03:16):
Part of the reason it took a while to get
out is because it was like a child to us,
like a baby. We were being precious about it and
we were having a tough time. We did not want
to put on an album that was just gonna go
thud and that we weren't going to able to promote
or you know, and we were having with all the
personal things going on in the different hurdles. It really
was getting any momentum. And as you know, everybody knows

(01:03:39):
it's played a bands and whatever. You need to have
some momentum to put out a record. You got to
be doing something so people know you're doing it, you know,
and I love this record. I love the songs, and
I love what we did. And I did not want
it to just thud. I want people to hear it.

Speaker 5 (01:03:53):
And if they don't hear it, I'm proud of us.
And yes, if it thugs whatever, that's okay too. I
it brought us all closer together.

Speaker 3 (01:04:02):
Absolutely, it's been. I mean, yeah, it wouldn't change the thing, including.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
With like with all of us, like you know, it's
like it's having a community of musicians here in this
city is a good thing for sure. So yeah, we'll
see what happens. I just I'm just happy to have
good friends to play music with.

Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
Good evening, Minneapolis. Well how about that Dakota shakedown. It
is good to catch up with those fellows and talk
about well, I can't say there's many conversations many people
like and discuss Keanu Reeves, Night Ranger a new fund

(01:04:44):
at the same time, but there you go. So great
to catch up with them. Their release show is this
Saturday at Excelsere Brewing right off the purifying waters of
like Minnetonka. Definitely go up there check that out seven o'clock.
Great music, and I'll have some more podcasts coming up
here and there. Once again, we're not on a weekly

(01:05:05):
schedule anymore. It's gonna be whenever the Spirit news. But
there will be a couple of episodes coming up here
in relatively short order, so stay tuned. Thank you for
listening all these years and hanging with me as schedules
changed and all of that. This is definitely a fun
thing talking to grave musicians, having a good time, having
some laughs. So thank you for listening and see you

(01:05:27):
next time. From Studio twenty four, The Figure Its Podcast.

Speaker 4 (01:05:37):
Thanks screw.

Speaker 2 (01:05:50):
Last to know your last.

Speaker 1 (01:05:57):
Great Please, that's free Hearts.

Speaker 5 (01:06:04):
I let it loves all the time, and.

Speaker 2 (01:06:08):
The tides, the star.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
Truppy shops and feet of tars.

Speaker 4 (01:06:55):
We need thats to the.

Speaker 1 (01:06:57):
Sweethearts of the cheetage stars.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
No one rides, let us say any more.

Speaker 1 (01:07:06):
Fish is made away, leave this pace behind. Screw the
teen tails A feeling sorry you call yourself the champion?
You last tono, you know the last and last day's.

Speaker 4 (01:07:22):
Help rading up this play.

Speaker 5 (01:07:28):
The ashtray marks.

Speaker 6 (01:07:33):
My way.

Speaker 5 (01:07:33):
It was allside and.

Speaker 1 (01:07:37):
The tides none

Speaker 5 (01:08:21):
Fucking sha