Francesco Montesanto: Sainthood Reps

Cullen and Mason chat with Francesco Montesanto from Sainthood Reps. They chat about the band's history, their new album and much more. (We experienced quite a few audio difficulties when recording this episode so we apologize about that as you may notice some awkward edits.)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Today, We've got Francesco from Saintthood Reps super excited to
chat with you. This is a band that, honestly, even
though Colin and I grew up as tooth and nail kids,
you know, because I think that first album came out,
what twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, that was kind of in
that era where, like, you know, we were kind of
like going to college, We're starting to experiment more with
other music. We're kind of leaving that tooth and nail vein,

(00:52):
so we sort of I'll be honest, I sort of
missed you guys, but I'm like, I recognize the name,
like I remember y'all getting signed during that time. Anyway,
I guess all what I'm trying to say here is
Colin and I are huge tooth and Nail fans, but
and I feel like we know probably most tooth and
nail bands pretty like inside and out. But I'll be honest,
I think Sainthood Reps is one of those tooth and
nail bands. Are a band that was on tooth and

(01:12):
nail at some point that I don't actually know that
much about, so that this is it feels like an
honor that I get to like learn more about Tooth
and Nail history.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, that's awesome, and you're not alone. There's a lot
of people who missed out on Sandhood Reps. I can
tell you that firsthand. Over the last fifteen years or so,
we've always kind of gotten that moniker of like, you know,
the band that like your favorite band's favorite band kind
of thing.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, the band's band, Like, yeah, I've heard the Apple
Seed Cast being described that way before.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Oh they're up there, Color Revolts as another band that's
up there where it's oh, yeah, you know a lot
of these bands that like, you know, you trace their
lineage back to, you know, their influences, and it's like, oh, well,
you know this, this band is kind of doing all
of that. So we we definitely had that going for us.
But yeah, if you're by far not the only ones

(02:01):
who missed the Saint Hoood Rep's boat when we were
on Tooth and Nail.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah, well, I'm sure we'll dive more into that at
some point, but let's get into the history of Saintthood Rep.
I guess maybe before we really dive into like the
actual band history, I'd love to just hear like how
you got into music That's always interesting to me, is
you know, just how people get into music that eventually
become you know, professional musicians themselves, Like what's that origin story?

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah? So, I mean there there's not a time in
my life where I can remember not being completely infatuated
and in love with music. You know I am. I
don't mind dating myself. I'm thirty nine years old. I
grew up watching MTV. I grew up watching Beavis and
butt Heead, I grew up watching I was like a
total metal head. I remember watching Neil Young play with
Pearl jam On I think it was the video of

(02:48):
Music Awards, or it might have been the movie Awards,
I forget which one it was. And seeing Neil Young's
black Old Blackie I think he calls it his guitar,
his like signature black less Paul that he uses, and
just being I was always fascinating with instruments, like I
would look at, you know, the blind Melon video for
No Rain. Ever, even to this day, I still want
like a banana yellow strat that the guitarist was using

(03:09):
in that, or like looking at Lars Alrich's drum set
in the one video or something. So I always just
loved the idea of like getting behind an instrument and
playing it. And then one day, like you know, my
there was a family that was living in an apartment
in the same house as us, and they introduced me
to the Black Album from Metallica, and basically ever since then,

(03:29):
it was like it was over. It was just I'm
not going to do anything else besides music. I am
in love with music. I want to play drums. I've
joined like the school band when I was a little kid.
I you know, because it was the cheapest instrument. My
parents were like, now we're not paying We're not paying
three hundred dollars for a sax, like you want to

(03:50):
play violin, Like no, but a pair of drumsticks and
a little practice pad that was like fifteen dollars from
music Land in Lindenhurst, which is where linden Hurst Long Island,
which where I grew up. So that's it was a
very easy like conduit for me to get into music,
and since I'm just always in love with it, like
playing all different but you know, I eventually branched out

(04:12):
from Metallica. I deprogrammed the lars alric from myself and
you know, branch down into other influences as well, and
then from there, just in high school, you know, Long
Island was just such a like seismically active area for
just all of this music. Growing up. You know, the
bands just kind of like speak for themselves. You know,

(04:33):
where I grew up, we had just all these influential
hardcore bands like Silent Majority and Inside and Mind over
Matter and Trip Fase and and then you know, the
emo explosion happens when I'm like early in like early
in high school with you know, the brand News and
Taking Back Sundays and Glass Jaws and all that stuff.
So it was just like almost inescapable, you know, this
idea of playing music and then getting into a band

(04:55):
if you were from linden Hurst, even if you were
like a you know, a jock like football player, or
you're like an artsy kid or somewhere in between. Everybody
was kind of like going to shows and everybody was
just really into Like if you walk down the high
school lynn Hurst High School in the early two thousands
and just pulled any kid aside and said, like, what's
your favorite Saved the Day song? Everybody was listening to

(05:17):
Save the Day. Everyone was listening to Thursday and all
these like huge emo bands. So it was just natural,
like growing up playing you know, percussion in my school
band to playing in rock bands with my friends and
going to shows. They're just ingrained in the culture of
linden Hurst and that's kind of what led me, eventually
led me to Sainhood Reps, you know, playing with with Derek,

(05:39):
who's our you know, other guitarists and lead singer, well
other lead singer songwriter. He has a much more active
role in singing on this record. So that's kind of
how we became friends. And yeah, that's sort of the origins.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
I just can't imagine what that experience it would have
been like where everybody listens to the same music as you, Yeah,
because that was not the case for Colin and I
at all.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah, definitely not.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah. I always hear that from people, and it really
is a special like a special time and it's a
big reason why there are just so many Long Island
bands that came out around that time. And it's just
so synonymous with that early two thousands emo scenes because
it was so pervasive, I mean, everyone you know. And
that's not to say that there weren't like clicks in

(06:24):
high school that's not to say I wasn't made fun
of because I was in marching band, like, because that
definitely happened. But for the most part, it was a
lot more like you know, and even to this day,
like a lot of people who still hung around like
it's just it was just part of the culture over there.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
Yeah, that's such a that's such a cool thing. And
I feel like that time period was very accepting of
that kind of thing. Maybe not entirely obviously, but you know,
there was a moment in time where it was kind
of accepted that you listened to music that was considered
alternative by your parents and everything like that, but to
you and your buddies it was and even to kind

(07:05):
of like the zeitgeist of people your age, it was
commonly accepted, right.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
I think its just the overlap of because a lot
of those bands, you know, like the earlier hardcore bands
were very much singing about like their message was a
lot more like it was either you know, being part
of like a crew, or being anti crew, or being
like outcasts or being kind of left out, whereas like
then when you know, the late nineties and early two

(07:32):
thousands emo scene came on, it was it was sort
of about being outcast, but it was also about like,
you know, everyday suburbia. And I think that's why a
lot of kids latched onto it is because it's like
the average suburban kid can then identify with it. They're like, oh,
this isn't just about like getting beat up at a
show or not wanting to get beat up at a show,

(07:52):
or like, it's not about you know, these these hardcore principles.
It's about like, you know, just everyday things that happened.
It's about relateationships for better or for worse. Like there
was a lot of shittiness that happened with that too,
but it was much more relatable for like the average
kind of think that's why that's why it really blew up.
And you know, being from the Northeast like for that

(08:12):
was definitely one of the hotbeds for it. So I
think that's why it was a little bit more pervasive
than like other styles of music.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
Yeah, I've got like a little theory or maybe a
coin to term where I call it like a soft rebellion,
especially with that emo music, right that emo music of
the nineties and early two thousands is is very much
a soft rebellion. It wasn't something that was going to
completely like alienate you from your parents and from the
rest of society. But it was definitely something that was
speaking to you as an individual in a completely different

(08:42):
way than any of the other music that was out there.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
Of course, yeah, like in the midnight early mid nineties,
if you went to a show, like even emo bands,
like if you're going to like the Rites of Spring
Show or something like, there's still like slam dance, there's
still you know, kids going crazy, whereas like that that
was still the case, but then it's like kind of
what you're saying, calling like there's also dashboard confect. You

(09:05):
can go to a VFW and see dashboard. You can
see a guy with an acoustic guitar, and it's like, wow,
that's that's way different, and it's you know, it speaks
to like, you know, how much more diverse it was becoming.
But at the same time, once it became commoditized, where
it's like, you know, it is very much like emo suburbia,
like then it starts to be more exclusive where it's like,

(09:26):
you know, growing up before that, shows used to be
really diverse. You used to see SKA bands playing with
hardcore bands, playing with like, you know, everything in between
weird electronics stuff. There's a band called World Inferno Friendship
Society that I saw that they would light their symbols
on fire and like at like just a bar somewhere,
and yeah, like every nothing was out of place. But

(09:48):
then by that point it was just like you're in
an emo band, and if you're not an emo band,
like get the fuck out. Like kids didn't want to
hear it, so it did. Let it did lead to
like a sort of like elitism in the scene. Like
when anytime a scene is like like grows and blows
up that fast where it is more it becomes more accessible.
You know, you do have a lot of people who

(10:09):
are like, you know, you have the snobs. We also
have people that are like, you know, not as accepting
to alternative types of music. So that was like one
of the downsides of it, I think.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
Oh for sure, for sure. Well, coming back to you
and some of the influences that you listed there, there's
one that I think maybe I have a sneaking suspicion
might have been in there that you didn't list, and
I think it might be something like Jerry Cantrell, especially
in those that that those those early albums, Man, they

(10:39):
have a very Jerry Cantrell esque vibe at least to
my ears. Is that is that something you would say
as well?

Speaker 2 (10:47):
One n So it kind of ties into what I
was just like talking about in the origins of Sainthood. So,
like we all grew up in you know, the emo scene,
and we all wanted to like, at some point we
just wanted to do something different. We wanted to like
and by like the late two thousands, it you know,
there there's a lot of other things going on, but
like we really wanted to lean into like our nineties influence.

(11:09):
It's like I mentionedly, you know, I grew up on
Alison Chains too. I remember seeing the Men in the
Box video and how creepy it was and the nightmares
that it gave me as a kid with the eyes
so and shut. But it was still like the you know,
once we leaned into it, like with when we started,
you know, when Sane had formed, and with the first record,
we're like, this is exactly like we ripped off Alice
and Chane. So much like on the new record, there's

(11:31):
a song where I straight up just ripped off Alice
in Chains, Like I think I just kind of took
them bones and made it a little bit less them
Bones is in like seven, it's a.

Speaker 3 (11:45):
Weird time signature.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
I made it much more straightforward. It's not Alison, but
it's like the harmonies that are there, Like that's where
I really like, as I've grown up, I've always loved
Alice and Chains and the harmonies, but as I've gotten older,
just appreciating them so much more and just how much
like Lane Staley is the one that gets like all
the credit, but Jerry Cantrell is like the engine of

(12:09):
the band. But even like Mike Starr and the drummer
whose name I forget on my social media.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
It's just Sam Kin not Sam Kenny. Wait, is it no.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
Sean Kenney Sean Kenny, that's right, Yeah, the intro to
no excuses, like I just see all over social media
like drummers covering that and stuff. So the early nineties
grunge is such an obvious like influence for us, but
at that time it's just not a we were like
starting to put saning it together and start running monoculture

(12:41):
in like two thousand and eight nine, you know, it
really wasn't something that a lot of bands were doing.
They were still kind of in the emo phase and
there were still like you know whatever. We were like,
let's just really lean into it, but let's get even weirder.
Let's throw in Young Widows, Let's throw in Jesus Lizard,
Let's throw in like all the all those like you know,
like early in like Shellac or you know, just let's

(13:05):
throw those in. But also like if you want to
throw in a tom petty sounding song, like let's do it.
Just know we didn't want any restrictions. We kind of
just went with like we have all these different influences,
let's try to make it work. And and sometimes it
worked really well and sometimes it didn't. But that's kind
of where like Tooth and Nail really latched onto us.
Like they we played in twenty eleven. We played south

(13:28):
By Southwest Showcase with them, and there was a bunch
of bands. I think the almost played, I forget, I
don't remember all the all the bands that played, but
the owner of Tooth and Nail, Brandon Ebel, went up
to us and he's like, you guys sound exactly like
Bark Market and like that's I was like that's that's what. Yeah,
that's it from the from Tooth and Al. I'm like, wow,

(13:48):
that that really is like a poll. And that's something
that they loved about us is that it was kind
of a throwback to when tooth Andel first started. Like
you know there is like all those bands like me
without You as the obvious comparison, but like Starflyer fifty
nine or you know, bands like that where there was like, oh,
we want to kind of like bring a band on
that's going to call back to like the tooth and

(14:10):
Nail roots and stuff. So that's really like when you
mentioned Jerry Cantrell that's in like the Wheelhouse, but you
know all the sound Gardens and the Pearl Jams and
Nirvana's like that's you know, that was such a huge
influence for us. And it was again not saying that,
like listen, like we're really breaking ground here, guys, like
we're gonna we're talking this. There's this band called Nirvana.

(14:33):
I don't know if you've ever heard of them, but like,
you know, we're really influenced, but like not saying that,
but to incorporate that into the like the styles that
we did was you know, that was like the whole
point of the band.

Speaker 3 (14:46):
Yeah, well, I mean it was essentially like that's genre
of music, that grunge esque style of music was almost
completely dead at that point. And the fact that you
were able to meld some of those sounds and those harmonies,
especially into music that has post hardcore elements and punk elements,

(15:10):
and I mean it's literally a smattering of a little
bit of everything. Just like you said, it really is
something special. And Mason and I we haven't had a
chance to talk about this yet, but like we were
actually kicking ourselves a little bit about like how did
we kind of miss the boat on you guys?

Speaker 2 (15:31):
Well there, I think a lot of it was also
like because we were, you know, a little bit on
the eclectic side. I think, you know, it was really
tough to find like what our niche was. It's like
all right, well, you know at the time, like we're
not going to fit in with hardcore bands. You know,
we're a little bit too melodic or a little bit
too out there for those bands. We're not an emo band,

(15:54):
Like we're not definitely not you know, we're not too
heavy for indie, not heavy enough for hardcore, not heavy
enough for scream out where, so it was really tough
to find like that natural fit for us, and eventually
we started just sort of gravitating towards bands like Oh
Brother was a band that we were very close with
and Me Without You and a lot of view balancing
a poache. We kind of like once those bands started

(16:16):
to emerge where they were also kind of starting to
incorporate elements of grunge into what they were doing, it
sort of started to make a little bit more sense
about where we should fit in. But in those like
early years, it was and that was something that I
always loved about our band. But that's why, like I
kind of jokingly said, like a lot of people missed
the boats because we didn't really have a scene, and

(16:38):
the ones that we did belong to, we were kind
of outliers in that scene, which was always really cool.
I always appreciate bands that are sort of those outliers,
that are like, you know, bringing something a little bit
different to the table. But I think that's kind of
why we. Yeah, I guess we kind of like flew
under the radar for at least like in those early years.

(16:58):
And then you know, once we started touring more and
you know, started to work towards our second record, we
were more cognizant of, like, all right, let's maybe like
be a little bit more focused and like try to
be like a little bit more cohesive, maybe not be
as like esoteric with what we're trying to bring into
the fold when it comes to our styles and our
influences for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
And I also think there's like a piece of this
too where Tooth and Nail was entering into a new
part of its history where you know, for you know,
Tooth and Nail obviously started out very indie, and then
once obviously they got more popular, I think they got
bought out by EMI, and then if I remember right,
it's around the time that you guys get signed that

(17:40):
Tooth and Nail buys back their catalog and becomes independent again.
And I remember around that time you started to hear
the or the at least the bands that Tooth and
Nail was starting to sign again around that twenty thirteen,
in post twenty thirteen timeframe, are bands that definitely kind
of had this more indie sound that they would have
had at the beginning years, you know, because especially maybe

(18:04):
like mid two thousands to that early twenty tens, because
of the fact that they're owned by this big corporation.
They definitely were moving towards a very much more poppier sound,
and you see that with a lot of the bands
and artists that they were signing at that time. But yeah,
it was around the time that you guys get signed,
is around the time that Tooth and Nail becomes independent again.
And so just from like the history of the label itself,

(18:26):
it's probably this kind of time period where there's transition,
and whenever there's gonna be transitioned, they might not necessarily
have like the bandwidth or the know how of like
how do we market indie bands again, or bands that
would kind of be in the indie vane like your
Guys's band was.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yeah, I think there was a you know, with Tooth
and Nail, there was an element Listen, it's a business
at the end of the day. So I don't think
it was totally this, but I do think there was
an element of, like it's sort of a passion project
for them too. It was just like we were bringing
something that like really harkened back to, like you know,
the old days, Like well, we played like a lot
of and you know, thinking back to some of the contemporaries.

(19:02):
You know, I remember when we were signed to Tooth
and Nail. We were just kind of like looking through
the internet and seeing like on this is like twenty eleven,
so various like message boards and through social media and stuff,
and I remember coming across and I don't remember the
name of the band, but it was maybe maybe laugh
really hard on like some discussion board somewhere. Someone from
some band was like, you know, I can't believe Standard

(19:24):
Rep sign with Tooth and Nail. They're the best band
on Tooth and Nail. And this I'm speaking as somebody
who is on Tooth and Nail right now, and it's
like people on the label. So we had that like cred.
But and we also like when we played live, like
you know, our contemporaries were very polished and we were
very not like that was kind of our thing, was
like we're gonna make a lot of noise, we're gonna

(19:47):
jump around, we're gonna like throw our guitars around, like yeah,
we're not gonna be like complete idiots on stage. But
at the same time, like you know, the performance aspect
of it is very much like angular and dissonant and
that's what was kind of the charm, but it was
just yeah, maybe not like the right exact right time
for that, but also yeah, there it was definitely at

(20:09):
a time where like, yes, like we do have some
you know, more polished songs, some more like you know,
indie sounding songs, but I think, yeah, just a case
of like, all right, is this band, like just are
they you know, a Shellac ripoff band? Are they like
and Alison chains rip off? Or the Young Widows rip off?
Are they you know, balancing and posure rip But like

(20:29):
what what are they? And the answer is kind of
like all all of it? I guess, you know, I
always think that you know, we kind of are where
our influences on our sleeve. But yeah, I think it
was at a time where it was definitely a transitional
period for Tooth and Nail, And you know, there's not
really like a ton of alignment of like all right
had the best you know, handle list, But you know
that's just kind of like how how it goes. It's

(20:50):
you know, especially around that time, music is a very
momentum driven business, and you know, if you're if you
don't have momentum on your side, it is really hard
to build that back up until there's you know, something
else to really kind of bring it back. So I
think that's kind of like what happened in the Tooth
and Nail days. But it was awesome. We had you know,

(21:11):
there's some of the most fun times of our band
that's during that during those days was great. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
So talk a little bit again more about this relationship
with Tooth and Nail where, you know, obviously you guys
have the first album with them, and then I think
the second album wasn't with them, correct, So yeah, what
what was the like, you know, it sounds like you
certainly were appreciative of your time with Tooth and Nail,
So like, what was sort of that that sort of
transition out of Tooth and Nail like into that second album.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, I think everyone was kind of, you know, very
much on the same page. We you know, given the
like we you know, we love the record, We loved
our time with them, but just where the band was
going didn't seem like the best fit for us. We
were starting to gain some momentum with like, you know,
bands like Balance and Composure, like Law Dispute, Tiger's Jaw,

(22:00):
like that scene. So we eventually signed with No Sleep Records.
No Sleep had always they've been fans of us, like,
you know, for a while at that point, and it
just seemed like a really great fit. You know, we
always wanted to record with will Yip, and Willyap had
a great relationship with No Sleep. He was doing a
lot of bands for them, but that's at the time,

(22:21):
so basically like how our band was was being driven
and the direction that we were taking with the second record,
we were just like, this is, you know, definitely the
direction that we want to go in. It's a better
fit in terms of like tours that we find ourselves
on the audience that's sort of gravitating towards us. So
when we went with No Sleep, it was very much

(22:42):
driven by you know, where the audience was going, where
our band seemed to be going at the time, like
really leaning into more of like the grungier emao aspects
of what we did and less into like the noisier
parts of what we did. And it was also driven
by you know, like we've just always dreamt of recording
with will Yip, but we also record with Mike's oppone,

(23:05):
So we decided to split the record where we do
the drums and bass with will Yip and then the
guitars and vocals with Mike's opponent, he would produce it.
So yeah, it just from you know, where we were
going at the time. It just really made the most
sense for us at that point. And yeah, like it's
just the natural way of how bands like kind of

(23:25):
work is like, all right, we see where things are going,
we see why it's not working with Tooth and Nail
or what we could do differently, and yeah we still
you know, still talk with Tooth Nail, still Love No Sleep,
still have all those It's just it really is such
a privilege to be able to have, like you know,
put out records on legendary labels like that, you know.

(23:47):
So that's another thing that we kind of always wanted
to do too, is like we didn't want to have
our toes in like one pool and that's it. We
wanted to really like we wanted to tour with a
lot of different bands and put out splits with bands
that you might not have associated with us, Like weather
Box is a good example, Like we put on a
split with them. It's like not two bands that you'd
necessarily like put together. So it just kind of fits

(24:10):
the trajector the band of always kind of wanting to
do something different and always kind of wanting to like
move forward in a way. Yeah, it's it.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
What what you're kind of describing and and you were
alluding to this is you sort of are like this
band where you're so versatile it almost becomes like a
detriment where there's just so many different great sounds that
are going on and like kind of different genres that
you're combining that it becomes this thing where it's like

(24:41):
where do exactly do we put you? Like it's like
where where do you belong exactly? But like like you
mentioned before too, like from your own reflection of your band,
like that's a part of the band that you actually
really like, even though if that's not from a maybe
like a marketing standpoint, it's a thing that like is
all that marketable. But I'll like speak for both. I'll

(25:02):
speak for both Colin and I like we both are
like that's the kind of band that we're into. Like,
you know, a lot of the bands that you have
been maybe associated with, or even a lot of the
bands that you all have been influenced by, are many
of our favorite bands as well, And so whenever we
see a band that like both is considered post hardcore
and post rock, like, sign me up, I'm all about
a band like that. And again I'll speak for Culin too,

(25:24):
like that's definitely a band that like he's immediately and
that's why, Like, especially the fact that you guys were
associated with Tooth and Nail and were described in that way,
it like throws me off, and I'm like, oh my god,
like those that's exactly the kind of band Clin and
I would have totally gravitated towards, especially the fact that you.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
All were on Tooth and Nail.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
So it's just it's like one of those things where
I just can't believe we missed you at the time,
especially when you all were on Tooth and Nail.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
I'm glad you brought up post rock because that's the
origins of like Saint Not does that. Me and Derek
loved Magua and Explosions in the Sky. Those are two
bands that were two of our favorite bands and two
bands that were really bond it over. And we initially
decide we're going to be a post rock band. We're
going to play instrumental, like we just want to do
that and that's why the first tour we ever did well,

(26:10):
sort of the first tour ever did we did five
days ish, so I forget. It was like a week
with a band called All the Day Holiday. And then
right after that we are basically like just gott in
the van and toured with Caspian and to this day
our bassist Yanni is playing bass in Caspian right now.
Brad Our drummer is their front of house and their

(26:32):
tour manager, you know. So they're a band that we've
had a very very close relationship with for wow, like
over fifteen years at this point. But those are kind
of the roots, Like I think that we always wanted
to kind of have this through line of post rock
and what we did as well, and a lot of
our early shows we had like a couple of songs
where it was just instrumental. We've always just really loved

(26:55):
that dynamic of building from something quiet to something really
loud and everything in between, and the root, the roots
and the influences of post rock, especially like some of
the more heavier post rock bands I think are really
apparent in the in the early days as well. But
we also realized like that's not really it's a very
hard like genre to kind of break into unless you're

(27:18):
there's no halfway post rock bands, like you're either a
post rock band or you're not. Like you know, Caspian
is a great example of this, and they've done a
great job of branching out and touring with other bands
like Apple Seed Cast you mentioned before, they toured with them.
But like, if you're a post rock band, you're getting
put on post rock shows. You're getting put on shows

(27:40):
where there's no vocalists. And that's kind of how like myopic,
these a lot of a lot of these scenes are
and it's not just on them. It's like, you know,
promoters think like, oh, fans of post rock only like
post rock, they only want to hear they want to
hear four of the same sounding bands. And that's kind
of where like, you know, we we always did well
to stand out and tours and stuff because we always

(28:02):
had a different sound. But again, like Mason what you said,
like I think it's just it's hard to like really
market it's hard to find that like niche of you know,
which is like also, I think a reason why we've
kind of stuck together for so long is because it's
always interesting and it's always fun. It's never just like
all right, let's go back and rewrite the same record

(28:24):
and hope this one lands. It's like no, like fuck it,
We're just gonna do what we feel like. And the
new record has so much of that too.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
So yeah, well, and I know we talked about this,
you know, sort of like being the band's band. And
I don't bring them up just because they were also
in Tooth and Nail, but I know you mentioned them
a little bit before. And I don't compare you guys
to Me Without You because I think you sound like
Me without You. In fact, I think you actually sound
quite different in a lot of ways from Me Without You.

(28:52):
But the reason why I bring them up, though, is
Me Without You feels like one of those bands, especially
a band that was associated with Tooth and Nail, that
could have been so much bigger given the influence that
they have in the music scene. Like they're one of
those things where, like you talk about you, you you
talk to lots of like super popular artists that were
really influenced by Me Without You, and you'd think they're

(29:12):
way bigger than they actually ever were. But they were
one of those bands that, like you couldn't really like
especially early on they were like pretty post hardcore punk,
even like pretty hardcore punk, and then they like go
into this like indie phase, and then they go into
this wulkie phase and then they kind of go back
in this indie like So there they were always a
band that's like how especially and again, like I think

(29:32):
from the tooth and nail standpoint, like where do we
market this band? Like how do we market And regardless
of the marketing ability of the band, like, at the
end of the day, they were a band that clearly
became very influential, especially to a lot of other bands
and artists.

Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, and I just think when you're an authentic band,
that's that's going to come across me without you as
such an authentic band, there is no pretense with them
at all. They're equal parts like intense and this, but
they're also like so whimsical, like there is no other
band like them. They are a one. They're a one
and only, and you know, I think they they also

(30:11):
like really grounded out for a long time too. I
think you know, they caught on pretty early, and I
think that helps to sustain a lot of bands when
they can capture some like really early success, but it
afforded them the ability to be more experimental kind of
going going forward, which is something that we always like
really admired with them, and you know, we like we

(30:32):
were fortunate enough to play you know, with them many
many times. But they're just, yeah, like they were in
so many ways, Like yeah, maybe not like a one
to one comparison of like sound. There was not a
lot of times where like, I know, me personally like
writing songs, I'm not really calling to like you know,
their style, but just more like their their approach to artistry.

(30:55):
Like I'll give you a good example, like when they
were write out their set lists, they would do a
different set every night, and they're even their set lists
were art like they would drop pictures of each song
title and they would be like really colorful, and you
know they tore it out of a bus that ran
on vegetable oil. Right. They were just like the way
that they were always kind of like you know, putting

(31:16):
a different angle on everything and not fitting into one box.
That was always kind of what I took from it.
But yeah, they were just a real like one and
only band, and I think that's why a lot of
people really gravitated towards them because they did have Like
I said, I think they were like they had the
post hardcore early on. I think that was enough to
like get people to latch on, but also just incredibly

(31:40):
smart and there you know, Aaron's lyrics are just other worldly.
But yeah, like I think a lot of bands like
they're a band that are very difficult to try and replicate,
but also at the same time a band it's very
easy to be influenced by.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
Yeah, for sure. Well, and speaking of you, we have
some pretty interesting writing on the new album on Dull Bliss. Now,
I've only heard a couple of songs, but it sounds
like you have a little bit of a concept going
on with the new one, Dull Bliss. I love the title,
by the way, and I think that it's definitely leading

(32:18):
listeners into a certain state of mind. Would you would
you care to kind of explain where this new album
is going and what they should expect and why they
should listen.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
They should listen because it's fucking awesome.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
Yeah, brother.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
Kind of cut out at Colin.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
I was talking about Derek.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
We're talking about of Dull Bliss.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
Yeah, so yeah, so Dull Bliss is basically like all right,
so when Derek was writing his songs and I was
writing mine, we kind of realized, like derek songs are
more on the a lotic side, They're more you know,
like they're a little bit longer and more introspective, whereas
mine we're kind of like shorter and heavier. So it
really is this kind of like you know, juxtaposition of

(33:10):
two different styles. It's like our own shitty version of
like Love the Love Below and speaker Box right like,
but it's it's we got to work with someone that
we wanted to work with forever we want. We were
working with our good friend Brett Romnez who we call
him Rahtt and he he plays drums in on the
Avalanche and Crime in Stereo in the movie Light, but

(33:30):
he also produces tons and tons and tons of bands.
He recently produced and engineered for Anxious, he produced for
Hot Mulligan and engineers from them, and just whole whole
bunch of including all the bands that he plays in.
So just working with him like that was another reason,
like we we always like we look at that side too,
is like we want to work with engineers and producers,

(33:52):
Like yes, we want to write our own songs, but
we want to kind of like work with the people
behind the scenes as well. We love working with designers
and people you know, to create merch for us. It's
just the real collaborative spirit of that. So Dull Bliss
kind of came together as like, you know, I had
a song called Dull, and the rest of the band

(34:13):
was really adamant that I included It's an acoustic song,
and I was like really not sure if if I
wanted it on the record. I'm like, I don't know
if it really fits. It's really like Elliott Smith's sounding song,
like it's it's great, but I'm just not sure if
it's a sanehood song. But they were very adamant to
include it on the record. And then, you know, when
we're trying to come up with idea like names for

(34:33):
the record, were like, Dull is a great name for
the record. There's a lot like a lot of the
lyrics kind of revolve around that and this idea. I
had another song called Bliss that was like a you know,
a recurring theme we that we were kind of touring with.
So it's like all right, yeah, like Dull Bliss. That
makes total sense, because a lot of the lyrics just

(34:54):
kind of revolve around that idea of like either you know,
you're kind of just either trying to dull yourself to
get through the day or you're looking for bliss, or
just somewhere in between. And it could either be like
you know, one and the same, right like, it could
be if you know, for people who are into drugs,
like drugs are the definition of dull bliss, right like,

(35:14):
but it's also about you know, relationships and just how
relationships could fall apart or you know, the struggle to
keep relationships now that can turn into sort of like
a dull bliss. So it's this idea, like bliss doesn't
always have to be this concept of like you know,
you're just in complete elation and you're just floating about.
It could just be like you're kind of just going
about your day just or you know, in this sort

(35:36):
of like malaise, but you're also like just too afraid
to kind of go for it, I guess. But that's
kind of like where you know, they're just like the juxtaposition,
but we just the reason why I said before, why
it's like the culmination. It just kind of brought everything
together before where it was like on earlier releases it's like, oh,
this is the Jesus Lizard song or this is the
balancing a Proto song. Now it's kind of like all

(35:59):
of our songs are like, you know, definitively us I
guess in a way like where it doesn't really sound
like it just sounds like a band that has really
kind of found their own voice and like not really
focused so much on the influences but more just like
all right, this is like where we are, and this
is you know, the trajectory is like kind of the
same as just the path to get there may have

(36:21):
taken a little bit longer, but yeah, it's like, yeah,
really really excited about it's gonna be really really great.
I love that idea of like self actualization, right, Yeah,
you look at like some of like the greatest bands
from history, and you know which record is their self
actualized record every time. I mean, if you look at
the Beatles, right that you make a lot of like

(36:42):
not bubblegum pop, but like pop music that's definitely aimed
at like teenage girls first and foremost, right, and then
they come out with rubber Soul and it all of
a sudden, it's self actualized and its introspective.

Speaker 3 (36:56):
And it's more it's more their unique voice and out
of them trying to be something else or taking taking
bits and pieces from some from something else. The Pink
Floyd has the same trajectory. It doesn't matter what band
you're talking about. Under Oath has that trajectory almost to
a certain extent.

Speaker 2 (37:14):
Yeah, So I think.

Speaker 3 (37:15):
That there's there is a lot of wonderful maturity that
comes with that that is very easily expressed and understood
in the music by the listener. And I think this
is going to be one of those records that is
going to absolutely nail that to the to the floor.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
I think this is a record that anybody who was
into us like, It's like anybody who's into the first
two records are gonna love, and people who may not
have caught onto the first I think it's a great
introduction into in a lot of ways, like the first
two records are I don't want to say more complex,
because this is very complex, but it is more of

(37:57):
a more of a ride, I would say, like the
first records is, this one is much more like focused
and there's a very natural progression and kind of like
home what you're saying about, like you know, to use
like to use the Beatles as example, Like, yeah, like
Rubber Soul comes out, but there's little nuggets that happen
on help and before that where you can see like
the seed kind of growing into something. And I think

(38:19):
when people hear Dull Bliss and if they're familiar with
Monoculture and like the you know and Headswell and you know,
the music that we put out in the interim, I
think you'll hear kind of like the inklings of where
this was going. And this is kind of like the
amalgamation of all that and so like something that's fully realized.
So it's you know, I can tell you right now

(38:40):
definitely like the best that we've ever felt about a record,
you know, being put out. It's just it's also just
really reflective of where we are in our personal lives
and as musicians and kind of incorporating everything that we've
learned as people. Just it's so it's just really exciting
to put this out. You know. We it was never

(39:01):
really a question of whether we're going to put out
another record after Headswell, was just a matter of when.

Speaker 3 (39:08):
So yeah, well why why so long.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
Sure. Yeah, So after Headswell, we kind of decided like,
all right, you know, let's take a break from this
for a little bit. Things weren't really going as we
had hope that they were going. You know, it's just
the you know, trials and tribulations of being in a band.
It's hard, like you know, being away from family, being
away from loved ones and you know, all less. Like

(39:36):
even for bands that are crushing it, it's really hard.
So under the best of circumstances, it's tough. So if
you're a band that's not really kind of kicking on
like we were, like we were, you know, we had
we had some good things going for us, but we
all kind of agreed as we were getting older, like yeah,
you know, it's not really going where we wanted to.
So you know, we took a step back from it

(39:57):
for a couple of years. You know, like I I
decided like, yeah, I'm going to go to school, whereas
the other Brad and Yanni decided that they're going to like,
you know, pursue other projects. Derek has you know, pursued
other projects as well, you know, running a business. So
we just decided to like really take a step back
and let life kind of you know, dictate where we
want to go. And after like a year or two years,

(40:19):
like people were asking us to do shows with them,
asking us to do tours still, and like we kind
of realized, like, there's still a lot of interest in
this band, and we all still like each other, so
why not let's just keep playing and then let's just
see how we could fit it into our lives. And
then you know, twenty and seventeen eighteen, we decided to
just like, let's put out a couple of songs, right,

(40:40):
just see what happens. And then that happens, and then
you know, we decided to stay active and start thinking
about like, all right, maybe we can like start writing
a record. But you know, so COVID happens, so that
like shifts everything around. But we always just kind of decided, like,
all right, we understand that, you know, we're not not

(41:00):
actively touring right now, so that's going to delay the
amount of time, but it also gave us a lot
of time to really kind of hone in on what
we want to do and you know, how we want
to present ourselves as a band. I think if we
had put out a record like you know, five years
ago or so, it would be a very different record
than what we have right now. So yeah, obviously, like

(41:24):
a lot of the delays, there's like logistics delays and
all that stuff. But essentially, you know why we decided
to give it some time to breathe is just to
pursue other things, and I think it really was the
best thing for us. It allowed us to really kind
of like not worry about like, all right, what scene
does this belong in, or like what label or what like.

(41:45):
We just went in with, all right, we have good songs.
I like this song, let's record it. I don't like
that song, fuck it, I don't. Let's not use that way.
It was just very very laid back, and it just
made it so much more enjoyable to be in a
band with with the with these guys again, you know.
And I think the time apart and to do other

(42:07):
things really help us shape the records where it is.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
Did even like some of the other projects that like
the other guys are working on, or even maybe like
your own kind of exploration with music, were there new
sounds or even like new bands that you had encountered
where you're like, oh, I kind of want to like
see what that would be like for Saint Hood Ress.
Like what was there?

Speaker 2 (42:30):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Was there some sort of kind of new influence just
from like a sound standpoint that you're like, oh that
like that adds like that that could add or like
that could that could like get us to that point
of like whatever we think that the Saintthood Reps sound is,
like that gets us there? Like were there new bands
or new things that you're listening to that like helps
bring that along because it sounds like with this new album,

(42:52):
you guys feel like, oh that this is this is
Saintthood Refs, Like this is what the Saint Hood Reps
sound is.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
Yeah. So obviously, like you know, we played in another
bands Derek, Like Derek started to do his solo project
called Gristmill that was very much electronic focused. It was
very electronic forward think if you know, I think like
Alex g or you know, Dejeon or McGhee or some
like like artists like that. So we really kind of

(43:18):
branched out into more like indie aspects of it. But
also what happened, like two things happened. One was like
all right, we realized in this era of social media
that engagement. It used to be like the way you
stayed engaged with your audience was mainly through touring and
mainly through putting out records, And that's not the case anymore.
You can stay top of mind and engage with your

(43:39):
audience through social media, through creating content. I know it
sounds like buzzword galore right now, but it really is
kind of how it is. So it's like wow, like
there are ways to stay in touch with your audience
and really hone in on with hone in you know,
with your audience in ways that are that don't require
you to be out on the road for two hundred
days of two hundred days of a year. But also

(44:01):
we started to notice, like you know, we were a
little bit ahead of the game when it comes to
like grunge and like incorporating that into emo. And as
we kind of like noticed over the last few years,
a lot of the bands that I started to really like,
and the rest of the band too. But like you know,
Super Heaven became a massive band, and they were a

(44:21):
band that we played with all all the time. They
were like contemporaries of ours, right, and now all of
a sudden, their TikTok trend, and we see like a
whole bunch of bands start to crop up right like
it's a band called you know, Glare Nothing, just this
whole like grunge gaze genre, and We're like, holy shit,
like all.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
These bunch right now.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
Amazing amazing stuff. And I'm like, I wish these bands
were around when like these are the bands that I
wish we could have toured with. These are the bands
that have all the same influences they grew up on
at like or not grew up because they're young on us.
But they love Alison Chains and they love of the
early grunge, but they're incorporating that into emo in a

(45:03):
way that bands just weren't doing before. And they're also
adding like elements of like new metal, and they're adding
like shoegaze and stuff. And I'm like, these are like,
damn man, we were like ten years off with this.
Like if we were just starting out now, we would
be like killing it. So like in a way that
was inspiring to us. We were like, we're seeing a
lot of bands and now before you know it, like

(45:25):
there's like a band called Split Chain that we just
played with that are just like they're on epitaph and
they're blowing up and they're like all these bands that
are just really like you know, you know, like the
bands that are all wearing like Jenko's now or they're
wearing like airwalks again, like they're really bringing back the
Y two K aesthetic. And I'm like, damn like this.
So it's hearing like how much that's kind of blown

(45:46):
up kind of really made us like, yeah, this is
like a really great time to be back in back
in the scene, you know, making music. And the other
part is that, you know, we're all from Long Island
and I mentioned before like growing up what the scene
was like the last few years the scene, and we're
all still much I know, I like we all live

(46:06):
you know, adjacent's Long Island. This has been like the
best time for Long Island. Like this, the Long Island
scene right now is stronger than it's ever been. I
think we all kind of saw them and we're like
just there was just so much inspiration happening around us.
We're like, yeah, like let's we want to let's make
more music, Like I want to make music. I want

(46:27):
to play with you know, stand Still or Paint of Truth,
like I want to play like you know, our our
buddies and like Inner Love, like Movie Life is still
doing it, like Bayside still doing it. So it's like,
let's just yeah, like it's just so much inspiration going
around and just taking what they're doing and incorporating that
into what we're doing. It's just super exciting right now.

Speaker 3 (46:47):
It's it's crazy to hear that, Mason, I don't I'm
failing to remember what group did we just talk to
from Long Island? That's yeah, Johnny said the exact same
thing as you. He's like the culture here right now
is just insane and there's so much support behind it,

(47:08):
so I believe you one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
Yeah, it's it's it's a wave, right like and you
have to kind of ride that wave like because it
doesn't happen very often. There's a lull for like over
ten years where yeah, there's always bands, there's always stuff
going on, but like the two biggest bands from Long
Island we're in Sendiuri and Backtrack and or at least
like in hardcore, and now it's like all right, there's

(47:33):
like huge hardcore bands from from Long Island, but now
there's Johnny Booth is another example. Like, you know, there's
also Iron Chic is still doing it. There's you know,
Inner Love that's like really like in the indie side
of things too. So there's just and now they're all
playing together too. So it really is hearkening back to
like what the nineties were like on Long islandhere, just

(47:54):
all these different bands are Like Koyo is another example
of a band that's like, you know, kind of shrivling
between hardcore but elements of pop punk. And you know,
so there's just everyone's just kind of doing so many
different things. That's just such an exciting time to be
a part of it. And you know that's why we're like, yeah,
you know we we got to be a part of this, man.

Speaker 3 (48:15):
Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
All right, well, are you ready for your top five
most influential records?

Speaker 2 (48:22):
I am let's do it. So all right, this is
not in any order, but I am going to put
number one is I'm going to put pet Sounds from
Boys and honor of Brian Wilson. That yeah, number two,
and I'll do a quick number two. Number two is
Smile from the Beach Boys, the unreleased record that never

(48:43):
came out. No. Nothing changed my life more than hearing Smile.
I used to work at a record store, and then
the record store closed down. They let us take home
all these different records, like just take whatever you want.
So I brought home a Beach Boys box set and
I'm like, cool, I listened to all the this is
like two thousand and five whatever, listen to all these songs,
and I leave. I was on a CD. I leave

(49:05):
the CD running and I walk away and come back
and I just hear what sounds like like a freak
show carnival, and I'm like, what is this And it's
They're like demos and stuff that were from the Smile sessions,
like this is insane. I feel like I'm on an
acid trip like this. And I started digging deep into
the history of the Beach Boys, and I just became
fell so in love with Brian Wilson that you know,

(49:27):
I decided, I'm like, I'm buying a piano, I'm getting
into harmonies. I'm just being intricate with music as much
as possible. The way he commanded a studio, I'm like,
this is, you know, just completely reshaped how I thought
about music. So that's one and two. Number three I'm
gonna say Loveless from from my bloody Valentine. I was.
I was a I loved three eleven as as a kid,

(49:50):
like in high school. Three eleven was my favorite band,
and I was stay positive and love your life. I
was just a total I was down, I was all
mixed up. I was all the Free leven stuff, right.
They were my favorite band. And then I put on
Loveless and everything changed. I was like, wait, you can
make the first chord of only Shallow. I'm like, I

(50:13):
want to make my guitar sound like this. I'm not
a great guitarist. I'm never gonna be a great guitarist.
I'm never gonna be Randy Rhodes. I'm never gonna be
Eddie Van Allen. But I can make my guitar sound
like that. And little did I know that he you know,
Kevin Shields is a genius and it's not as simple
as doing that. But I was like, all right, that

(50:34):
changes everything.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
Well, Francesco, thank you so much for Chatty Moore about Saintthood.
Rep sound just really super stoked about the new album.
I know it's been quite a few years. It's been
over a decade since the last album so we're just
really really stoked that there's new music in the Saint
the Saint Hood reps world, and so we're just really excited.
Very well could end up being like an Album of
the Year contender in our End of the yearless so

(50:57):
we're just really stoked.

Speaker 2 (51:00):
I FOD like go the