Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:30):
Today we got Mark from Stave Saker. Super excited to
chat with you. Mark. It's been a few years now,
and uh, I know you're off off the Twitter at
this point, so I don't get to see you much more,
you know, much these days, and so uh yeah, I
kind of miss you, man, You're I love. I always
miss your snark. I miss how I miss how like
pissed off you get about the Raiders and just how
(00:51):
generally shitty they are. And yeah, yeah, I'm just I'm
missing you, dude.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Oh I'm still I'm still just as much. There's still
as just as much snark. And I like to tell
myself that I've cut back on the social media thing,
but you know, all honesty, I mostly just don't ever
want to post on Twitter or Facebook ever again. But
I'm still you know, I on Instagram. I want to
see pictures and videos and it's my only source of
(01:18):
news really, Instagram and YouTube. So I'm still on there,
still getting people are still getting mad at me.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Reddit, you know whatever, Are you mostly lurking with a
digital trench coat in the corner or what?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
No? I talk a lot of shit they have. I
just feel like it's important to not be silent right now.
You know, yeah, I'm very I'm nervous about things that
I'd never been nervous about before in my life. And
I think it's interesting, is actually going to be that
(01:57):
Actually it's actually somehow the Raiders are bright spot in
my life right now. He seems like a really nice dude.
I'm actually super into it. It's you know, it may
not be what some people were hoping for, but you know,
man might end up being the best thing, and I yeah, whatever,
(02:18):
I can handle.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
What What's what's the number one thing that got that
has Mark Solomon extra piste off? Right now?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I would say everything I've learned in my whole life,
how specific I mean, you know, I hate to I
hate to paint with too fine a brush. But really,
every single element of my faith that I was taught
about that resonated with me from the very moment that
(02:48):
was part of the love that set me free, every
single element of it right now is being thrown in
the dirt by people claiming to have the same faith
as me. And I'm supposed to just sit here and
take it. I don't. I just can't. I can't. It's
just not right, my jam. And you know, I I
(03:12):
do fear the way people react to things I've already had,
you know, some pretty strange comments made, some weird threats made.
This is going all the way back to Obama. But
even now, you know, now it's like we always knew it,
you know. And and I'm just I'm still the same dude,
(03:34):
like they all. I think I would say, what has
made got me so pissed off right now, so hurt
and sad and so that I'm full of rage is
the way the fundamental elements of my faith are disregarded
as a weakness. I just I can't abide by it, man,
(03:58):
and I can't sit quietly and just like, huh must
be rough for those young whipper snappers, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So what's caused the change?
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I mean? You know, I'm not a fan of the administration,
as as some people may know. I'm not really much
a fan of any of the administrations because none of them.
I just don't think either of them really serves the
people at all. And I understand that that one is
just overtly fascist pot you know, throwing the frog into
(04:35):
the boiling water, and then the other one is the
slow boil where the frog doesn't realize it. I get
all that stuff, man, and and you know, I understand
that one is worse than the other. But we've gone
over this. It's just wake me up when there's something
that I don't have to qualify, something that I don't
have to what about or whatever and not there. But
(05:02):
in my opinion, the the answer to that is that
the actual church should step away from this process entirely.
And you know, if you want to claim a faith
and people are going to to take our faith and
turn it into some sort of you know, prison yard shank, I,
(05:23):
I say take it away from them entirely, you know.
And the best way to do that, in my opinion,
is as not being done, which is ask these people
who claim to be such devout Christians what it was
like when they were on their face in misery, praying
for forgiveness for being such a wretch. What was that
I liked? I'd be curious to hear the reactions. Would
(05:45):
they even know what I was talking about? Because I
bet you guys do.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I bet they don't have every silly song with Larry memorized.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Hey man, I mean that's a part of my childhood,
dude's And honestly, like Larry Norman played on the White
House steps too. For Jimmy Carter. He was a political motherfucker.
And you know what, man, people listened to him and
respected him as a human being. You know, nobody comes
back now and is like, I can't believe he got
(06:16):
you know, stay out of politics and stay in your lane.
No one had ever said that about Larry Mark. What
a ridiculous idea. And yet that's how they want. You know,
people like to rewrite history and turn everybody into this
you know, weird vanilla dipped MLK thing. I just don't
get it.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
It's like, I mean, they're gonna try to do that
with Rich Mullens too.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
They don't even acknowledge his existence. So polished. I was
thinking the other day like, listen, I don't mean to
jump right into this, but you all ask man, and
I'm right here.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
I the other day I heard something said by somebody
who claims to be of the same faith as me,
and all I could all I could picture in my
head was when I was a teenage at twelve maybe
thirteen years old, we all went into downtown Fresno to
(07:14):
see this artist that my parents had been listening to
He was given a free concert at this at the
Celend Arena, which in Fresno at the time was the
big show, you know, eight thousand people. And we went
there and Keith Green played right, and I mean it
was the child, you know, yes, impression impressionistic in all
(07:39):
those things. Whatever. My faith is still my faith now,
so it's still the same. But as a child, I
was blown away by the conviction that that dude shared.
And honestly, Dude, some of it I still to this
day don't agree with. But I think it's kind of bonkers.
But I also but not bonkers for the same reason
that I think these these maniacs are. You know, Bonder's
(08:01):
like everyone should be a missionary. I'm pretty sure that's
not true. I don't. I don't see that for everybody,
you know. But the conviction and the sincerity with which
he spoke about the humility before God as a human being,
as a sinner, you know. And I'm not talking about
some nebulous I was told that I used to be
(08:22):
a sinner, so I must I must feel bad. I'm
talking about I know exactly why I am a wretched
piece of shit. I know why, you know, just not,
and I'm sure there are. I am also very aware
that I don't know all the ways that I am one,
and I don't want to. I don't want to know.
What I do know sucks, you know the things that
(08:43):
I hate about my I was just talking I Tuck
to Joey's fencing yesterday for his show. You guys are
kind of weird, timeline. I don't how can I? I
was trying to put it best into words. I just
don't think this is anything like what I was based on. Man,
It's just it's there is no sincerity there. There is
(09:04):
no conviction, dude, Like when Keith Green was talking, when
Larry Norman was talking, when Rich Mullins was talking, when
so many other artists and and uh and and and
preachers and pastors like sincere people that I took to
leadership from in my life. Every time, the challenge was
(09:26):
against one's own self every time, you know, it was
always the challenge against your fleshly desires, your selfishness or whatever.
And now we're not the blame for anything. I wish
i'd have known this earlier. It's all somebody else from
another country. It's it's not me at all, dude, I'm good.
(09:48):
That's That's where I'm at right now. Seeing these people,
I just cannot accept that mentality. And if I wasn't
clear enough, what I mean is it's horseshit, dude. Everything
about this is a pos there is if you put
them on the spot, if one of these reporters who
are supposed to be on our side, if one of them,
just one of them, would ask them a question like that.
(10:11):
At some point, Hey, man, you wanted me to sign
off on these new bombs that you dropped. Will you
sign off on death to self? On selling all your
possessions and giving to the poor. You signing off on that?
What if you were asked to do that? Just as
a question, just as a question. I'm just asking questions here.
(10:31):
If God appeared to you tomorrow night and said, sell
everything you have and give it to the poor, could
you do it? Every person watching that thing would see
that person's reaction and they would know if it was real. Man.
I just I just I can't handle it. And I
jumped on this. My wife always says, really did really,
(10:52):
didn't you know? I did? I just had like a
really really gnarly scare, all right. I was in the hospital.
I had a pretty scary moment a couple months ago,
and it was right when all this thing started, and
I literally had to tell myself, dude, you got to
put the phone down. You cannot carry the weight of this.
But I'm not in the hospital anymore, and I'm I'm
(11:15):
super pissed.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yeah, you have you tried listening to newsboys recently? Instead?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Oh my god, I never really dug that stuff before, man,
So I don't think that's where I'm turning now. I
listened to that Keith Green song the other day, the
Sheep and the Goats. Man to that. Listen to that song.
(11:42):
I'm telling any person who hears this, listen to Keith
Green live talking about the Sheep and the Goats, and
tell me who that if that reminds you of our
administration in any way, shape or form, and if not,
maybe it's time to just not have anything to do
with this stuff.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Yeah. I'm glad you brought up Keith Green, because I mean,
talk about a guy with conviction. He he literally owned
a house in Beverly Hills that he just let anybody
stay at, Like if you were homeless, I didn't know
and you were in and you were in Beverly Hills.
He would let you stay at his house. And at
one point there was like thirty some people staying at
his house that he didn't know, and he would and
(12:20):
he would put on and he would put on little
shows for them every night.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And Michael did. But for different reasons.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Oh come on now, hey, no, God damn.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I always know when there's gonna be like somebody off
the top rope with an elbow poking out flower the frame.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Anyway, the people's elbow.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I appreciate. I appreciate what you're saying, though, Mark, because
I think for a lot of us, you know, I'm
sure I certainly know that this is the case for
Colin and I, but for a lot of us, like
I think the uote unquote deconstruction that many of us
go through is is largely catalyzed by the hypocrisy that
(13:07):
we see, like we can't like we we like eventually
see that the faith that we were taught about this
Jesus guy is so fundamentally antithetical to some of the
administrations that many of these people that taught us this
faith in Jesus are supporting, and we like we see
that eventually and then once you see that, you can't
(13:28):
unsee it, and you just realize, like, I got to
figure out a different way to either be a Christian
or I got to get out of this thing entirely.
But there's lots of ways people do that. But it's
it like still baffles my mind that there's so many
people who grew up in that world, the same world
that Colin and I and you grew up in, and
still like can't see that hypocrisy.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
They can't see us, yeah, or the polished herds of
the of the you know, megachurches and the comp stuffing
that you see all the time.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Now, I don't know, I know you guys are familiar
with stas or stuff. But Crucified had a song called
a Guy in a Suit in the Pope, right, and
I the entire point of the song was throughout Robert Tilton,
who's that you know, the put your hand on the
screen pastor and all that, And that's who I was
talking to that guy specifically, right, this TV preacher clearly
(14:20):
just clearly stealing money from people who want help, who
think they can pay for God's attention or whatever. Right,
and those same dudes we all killed that, like our
generation of music and people brought so much scrutiny onto
those turds that they all bounced and there was there was, dude,
(14:41):
there was a long time man when when he televangelist
was definitely a joke, Like that was a joke. Most
people wouldn't need to be told this is bogus. Right
now you got these same people rain over the over. God,
just dude, they're running the country. Now. How did it
(15:03):
go from from you are persona non grada, every every
denomination of christian like from from the farthest reaches of
deep Ohio to Maine, all the way down to southern
California on all the different kind of Christianities and non
denominational Christianities, all of us were pretty much in agreement
(15:26):
that the TV preachers gotta go. And now there's more
of them than ever and they don't even need a
TV show. They have like these gigantic facilities that.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
They're the White House.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Yeah, yeah, And.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
They're in the White House, dude, They're in They're in
all the positions of power. And then and yet somehow
none of the things that we were supposed to do
are getting addressed in any way, shape or form.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Yeah, to put it in perspective for you, there, Mark
my Sunday school teacher growing up. It wasn't Mason's Sunday
school teacher, but was my Sunday school teacher. She became
the governor of my state and then now is the
head of the the Apartment of Homeland Security Christy, and
(16:10):
she's the one that's trying to create a She's the
one trying to create a like reality TV show about.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
People like one hundred Games of Immigrants, but she also
wants like a theocracy.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
It's it's insane.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Well, you know, it's interesting, dude. As I was growing
up in then, you know, in the nineties and really
a couple of years before Stagic reformed, there was big
rift in a lot of the Newman House as a
general group of people. You know, when I live with
Kim and all those bands and all these people were
(16:47):
hanging out. There was a big rift in that group
of people that was went out some pretty hard lines
that I'm sure you know if you've ever been to
any kind of Bible college or a Christian university or whatever,
that once Calvinism comes into the conversation and there's you know,
people start separating into their own little groups. But right
(17:11):
about ninety four ninety five, a bunch of my buddies
got real hardcore into theoonomy and and I mean I
wouldn't say any names, and I'm sure they'd be able
to give me a long and wordy exeges Exitjesus of
their theology from scripture and all this crap. But I
(17:31):
don't care. I don't care. You don't show me the
person who who've saved me. You don't. That don't smell right,
And I don't care if you can put a PowerPoint
presentation together to defend your weird, kooky god by order thing.
(17:53):
That's just not a deal man, It's not. It's there's
nothing you can say that will ever convince me that
that's real. And I felt that way for thirty years.
You know, it's nothing new. I just back in the day,
we got kept at a church. I talked about someone
in the book, I'm sure, but we were kept at
(18:15):
a church by these biker Christian guys who were like nuts,
I mean straight up nuts. The absolutely the villains behind
all kinds of of like sexual misconduct and shepherding and
all that type of stuff. This was all really big deal.
Back in the eighties and the nineties, this church was
and but Crucify was playing a show for them because
(18:38):
the guy who booked us, he left the church before
we arrived for the show, but we had already been booked,
so we didn't really know what was going on. And
so we get there and the guy who books us
is gone and this is a godly man who I
loved still to this day. And then we were there
with these these crazy guys and they liked us and
locked the doors that nobody use the church until this
(19:01):
pastor's done preaching and all that kind of stuff, right,
And I'm like, what is this, dude, what even is this?
You know? And I knew at that time this is
definitely wrong. And I'm sure they could have defended everything.
They say, Oh this is bro. You got to understand. Bro. Bro,
just bro, Bro, just just you know, it just goes
(19:22):
on and on and it's the same thing now, dude,
it is the same thing. If it doesn't bear the
scent of heaven, we can tell. And the only way
you can't tell is if you don't want to. You know,
if you have ever tasted the sweetness of grace, you
can't not know what that's like. You can't just blow
(19:43):
it off like it doesn't matter. I can't, dude, I'm
a wretched piece of shit. I know that I was
saved by grace and brother, I can depend upon this.
This is the this is the straw, the last one
that I'm grasping on, and I'm not really even grabbing
onto it. It's wrapped around my risk, you know what
I'm saying, Like, I don't. It's not because I chose
(20:04):
to be godly that I am saved. I was bad
and made alive, you know, and I don't I see
no reflection of that in anything that's happening right now,
and it's just hurts my heart.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
M h m hmm.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
It's very eloquent. I don't know if it is for
how angry you are. It's pretty eloquent.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, oh man. Less eloquent on the socials, I believe.
Sometimes it's just so frustrated, like dude, shut up? Can
you please shut up? You know what I mean? Like
if you're talking to somebody and you both know this,
dude is full of it, you know what I mean? Like, yeah,
(20:45):
it's that level, but on a national on a national
broadcast whatever.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
It's tough, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
It's just, dude, I want to live sincerely, man, And
I hate to break it to anybody who's disappointed, but
it was always going this way. Yeah, I believe what
you said. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.
You know, when Stage Jacre wrote Speakeasy, we had seen
and we were leaving. The beginning of that was was
(21:15):
during the writing of Absolutes, and by the time Speakeasy
came out, it was decided we are done with this nonsense.
You know. We didn't call it deconstruction. Nobody did, but
lots of lots of bands felt the same way.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Sure, sure, yeah, it was called backsliding. Back then.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
It was called he's not a Christian anymore? Oh no, no,
I forgot one. He's part of the emergent church.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Oh yes, I still.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Don't know what it means. Still don't care. The crazy part, dude,
And I mean, I don't want to keep going on
about this, but the crazy part is something that occurred
to me just the other day when I was talking
about this with a buddy of mine who is not
a Christian but who went to these schools and was
around all these people. It just occurred to me like, dude,
(22:04):
I don't care if you disagree with me and my doctrine,
if you have a way of of turning this into
something that I've done wrong. Here's the crazy part. It
totally doesn't matter. You have no power over me. I
have no power over you. This is all an illusion.
We're just supposed to be living and obeying and and
(22:27):
if you're not doing that, start there, talk to me later,
you know what I mean. And I'm not saying I'm perfect, man,
I'm just I'm saying I know you're not either, So
knock it off.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
It's the right way to put it. It's the right
way to put it.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Well, should we talk about for inst.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
DRMN is? I'm sure everybody's turned off already, So I.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Guarantee you they're not.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
They're just like they want they more, they want more.
Ranting from Mark Solomon, So Mark that, well, what was
the story around game involved in for an Asbestos Year?
So I know you guys played in twenty twenty one,
so a few years ago at this point, but yeah,
what was the story of how how this one's transpired?
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Well?
Speaker 2 (23:14):
The first the first one came about because of Ryan
and I believe Chad Johnson Ryan Luther, who's a guy
knew way back in the day. He got me my
first TV gig just working on the sidelines of a
local college football game. He's been a buddy for years,
you know. I'd never seen him anymore, of course, but
(23:34):
he started working with those guys, and then COVID hit
and it didn't happen, and we came and when they
finally did do it, we all went and it was
super fun and it was really the first festival of
any kind I or show I had gone to after
the inception of COVID on right, and it felt cool.
It felt awesome to be at a show with a
(23:55):
bunch of people. It was weird, you know, but it
was cool. And ever since then, that thing has exploded
and I don't know, I think they have got their
feet underneath them now and kind of feel comfortable circling
back and you know, doing other things. And they approached
us about playing Speakeasy front the back, which we would
(24:20):
have happily done, but the time slot is really firm
at a festival and there's just no time. So we're
playing at four twenty on Saturday, and we have a
thirty five minute set. So, but there's a bunch of
really good bands playing. Dude, one of my favorite weird
guilty pleasures is actually playing this festival, man, and I
cannot believe it.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Well, can we can we get a little pull back
on that curtain there?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
I mean, I don't know if you want to pease it,
but that's who I'll be talking about when you decide,
So we'll talk about playing at the festival. And I'm
telling you legit a.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Big gas truck.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
No, I don't know what that is.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
It's another band that's played. So we've been going to
Furnace Fest since twenty one and we have enjoyed it immensely.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
It's a great looking place, it.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Is it's it's such a unique experience in comparison to
any other festival I've ever been to. And it feels
so much more. I don't want to say family oriented,
but I would say, but it kind of is familial esque, right,
It feels it feels like a community, unlike most which
are I feel like a big money grab if you
(25:35):
know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Yeah, you know what. It kind of reminded me of.
And this is pretty high praise. Honestly, is Pumpfest. It's
got the same vibe as tom Fest used two back
in the day, where yeah, you know, somebody who knows
what they're doing is in charge. And uh, you know,
most festivals now, if they're successful, they know what they're doing,
(25:58):
right But everybody talking right now, and anybody listening to
this who knows any of the bands that we all
know together knows the other way to do it, which
is half assed nightmare with not enough bathrooms, nowhere to
sleep and et cetera. You know, But like tom Fest was,
(26:19):
the was one of the best experiences as a festival.
I put it right up there with the with the
Prime of Cornerstone because Mikey was such a great guy
and he looked out for people man, and he looked
out for the bands, and as a result, everybody was
super stoked to go play. You know, you didn't need
a gajillion dollars to play. You could just you knew
(26:41):
it'd be worth it and there would be a good,
good show and people would be stoked and you'd sell
a bunch of T shirts. So what's the big deal?
You know, Plus Mikey was one of us and is
one of us, so you know, there's a trust there
that is real, and Chad and Ryan as well, those guys.
I don't know anyone else involved with it, and I
only really know you know Chad and Ryan through sort
(27:03):
of our conversations over the years. But you know when
you're in good hands, man, and it's a good one.
By the way, I will say, I'm not going to
be able to do the pom Con. I don't know
if you guys have heard about that.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
We didn't hear about it that they were kind of
bringing it back.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Because I can only take one week off for work. Realistically,
I've got to do the days Acre show, so I
wouldn't be able to get away for that. But I'm
too prommed. So that is going to be happening for
anybody who's interested in that. It's going to be at
least in southern California.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
But yeah, yeah, yeah, it'll be cool.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
It'll be good.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Are you still working with NASCAR.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
I don't work with Nascar. I just I work in TV,
so I cover different sports. I do cover some NASCAR sport,
some NASCAR sport. I do cover some Nascar, I do
cover some golf. I do a bunch of random stuff.
But I don't talk about it as much as because
no teatures. It's a very weird world.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
I can imagine, so I can imagine a little.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
More conservative than you might expect, you know.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
Oh, I expect it's quite conservative.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, yeah, it's not. It's just every everybody has their
own system of beliefs and I'm not really interested in
sorting them all out. Yeah, but I also know that
some people just don't possess the ability to understand nuance anyway.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Any Yes, yes, and I appreciate that as well.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Well, you mentioned you've got a guilty pleasure that you're
looking for. What other what like? Are you staying around
like most of the weekend to watch other shows.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
I'm gonna be there for the whole thing unless they
freak out a little bit and I have to go
back to work on Sunday. I don't know for one
of the job that I do during that time of
the year, but the plan is to be there for
the whole thing. We're going to go rehearse in Nashville
where Dirk lives. Dirk lifts now so Stave Thatch. We
rehearse that week, and then we'll all drive over just
(29:05):
like we did with the last one, but not from
Atlanta this time.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
So well, yeah, so you're so you're not doing all
the speak easy because of the time slot. But what
should what should listeners expect for?
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Then?
Speaker 3 (29:18):
Should we be kind of expecting a best of or
just like your guy's favorites or what.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
We definitely are trying to think of what was fun
to play live and what people seem to enjoy live.
But anybody's welcome to jump on staves Acre Instagram, send
a message, let your will be known. You know we can.
I'm down for it to be fun and to be
whatever people want to see. So oh yeah, I don't
really have two strict unfortunately, some of them more deep
(29:47):
dive type of jams. That's not really the setting for it.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
But I'm gonna go find. I'm gonna go find every
single song where you hit the absolute top of your register,
and I'm gonna force you to sing.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Everything that yeahs against the silence back to bat for Yes,
you want to see a guy die on stage, it'll happen.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
You'll be like, what like fifty five by that point,
so it could be.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
I'm already to be your last, Yeah, dude, I mean
the last, the first and not the first. The last
time I saw Larry Norman, I think he was my
age and uh, and he passed not long after that,
so IM and I was laughing then, I'm not laughing now.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
God, what what other bands are you looking forward to
seeing them on the weekend?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Well, obviously, I think we're playing same day as Living Sacrifice,
and Bruce and the boys will always be friends. I
don't know if Blindside is doing that, but if they were.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
There played last year, but they did just announce recently
that they're releasing a new album, so there's.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
I mean, that'd be cool. I I seriously, I don't.
I was just trying to think of, like who might
be doing that, because I know some of the other
bands kind of from our sort of time were there.
I one of my you had asked me earlier about
Guilty Pleasures, and so I feel like this is a
good time to discuss that.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
This is a good time. Let's let's roll onto it.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Okay. So you know how most like you're not allowed
to do too much. Okay, you can't be you really
can't be a singer like in a band and a
stand up comedian. That's not a thing anybody wants okay, nobody,
nobody wants that, all right, Uh, you can't.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
Be You never heard of Childish Gambino?
Speaker 2 (31:46):
You you have? And he just retired his stand up career.
That's true in all honestly, it's like think about it,
like would you. I guess he might be an exception,
but it's pretty freaking rare, dude. And if Bill Burr,
if Bill Burr suddenly started a hardware band of one
hundred percent, it would suck, okay, and you wouldn't like it,
(32:08):
saying you're really not supposed to be able to do
two things. And Steve Martin wrote a couple novels. Did
you know that Shop Girl was one of them. It's
pretty famous, but it is not really what people want
from Steve Martin. And yes, he's an amazing banjo player,
but they mostly want him to do the acting thing,
you know, maybe some comedy. So there's more depth to
(32:30):
that theory, but we could go into it at a
different times. The point is I do enjoy Instagram. I
do enjoy some social media, but mostly what I watch
is I'll do Instagram because I follow about five million
artists on there that I love, and then YouTube as
well because that's really the only news that I get.
(32:51):
I have to be careful about what I watch. I
don't echo chamber it up. But I came across the
sky during COVID. You guys might even be familiar with him,
who was like remixing Internet drama and turning into songs.
His name is Lubelin. He he did this song about
(33:11):
this argument that these two people had on Facebook about
somebody stealing their their broccoli capsicle recipe. Yes, yes, it's incredible,
it is. It's outstanding. And he's he did a bunch
of those songs. Well, turns out his solo stuff is
actually really really good. It's really really quality, you know.
(33:32):
It's it's artful and and and it makes sense and
it's beautiful. And I was thinking, like, that is weird.
You shouldn't be good at like Internet goofiness and then
also be a good musician. And so that's where it
opened a little door for me. And then one day
I realized a guy that I've been following for quite
a while is also a musician. His name is Pete.
(33:55):
Do you know who p d Usa is?
Speaker 3 (33:57):
He's so good. I don't know same guy.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
He's outstanding. It is the same guy, hed us Ad
from Instagram. Dude, I'm telling you that's the same guy.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Well you I thought you were saying, calling that lubulin
and pd.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Lublin is a different That was just my kind of
my gateway to the possibility that that somebody who does
skits on the internet on social media might actually be
a good artist. And dude, I freaking love that guy.
His album Larger than Life, I'm gonna I'm getting the
name wrong, Lean in Life, Leaning to Life, Lean Into
(34:37):
Life is like there's like three songs on it that
I don't listen to the rest of it's it's incredible, outstanding.
Guy's got a completely original take on stuff. He doesn't
sound like a bunch of people. He definitely has his
own thing going on. And and then he still writes records.
But then his internet, his little videos. My my boys
(34:59):
and and I with at work have been sharing this
dude's videos with each other for years, like all the
characters that he made up, you know, Puff Sullivan, legend
of Sig Corner. It's just a guy like always sliding
a cigarette, always five cigarettes. He guys. You know, he's
got like sage advice or whatever. But Craig, the guy
who smiles weird. Yeah, guy, the way he smiles so weird. Like, dude,
(35:23):
We've been sending these videos back to each other for
years and then I hear this, hear the song of
him is like get out of here, and sure enough, man,
it's outstanding. And then I found out after we booked
for this fest that Petie is playing. Dude, He's playing
on the same day as us, so I am one
hundred percent going to be at that show.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
He does feel like he does feel like kind of
an odd man out in terms of the general scene
of bands that are playing, both like the EMAO alternative
bands and obviously the hardcore and metal core bands. He
does kind of feel like an odd man out of
like one of the people that just like what isn't
in the scene. But you are right. Music is incredible.
In fact, one of probably my most listened to songs
(36:03):
so far in twenty twenty five is Don't Tell the Boys.
That song incredible. That song gets me every time.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Like you said in that song, I have sent that
song consciously and intentionally two friends of mine going through
it like I don't that's a high. That's hot phrase.
As far as far as I'm concerned. And then one
of the guys that I've turned on to it, you know,
months and months later, is like you got to hear
the song. Man you heard that, don't know, Like, dude,
(36:32):
I'm the guy who freaking turned you onto that, and uh,
it's dude, that song is great Microwave Dinner. I mean, honestly,
that whole record has is so good. And then I've
heard some of the newer songs. I straight up love them.
I just I think the dude's got a lot of talent.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Mark. You know what you need to do is you
need to go backstage before he goes on, and you
need to be the cigarette guy with the with the
sage wisdom advice and everything.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Just the thought of how thinking those things are would
just bum me out so hard.
Speaker 3 (37:03):
Well, then just get get some candy cigarettes, so just
have fun.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
I think my wife and I she never knew I
smoked for years, dude, and I can't believe there's no
way I didn't stink like an ash tray. Sorry, go ahead, Well,
I was.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Just gonna say that. He he actually was in this
like really interesting indie rock band from Chicago for a
while called Young Jesus and I've never really listened to them,
but yeah, he was in that bin for a while,
soe he like. I mean, he has a music background
for like, especially Indye, so sure he has a whole
background for it.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Dude, As far as I'm concerned, that just makes him
even cooler. Like I literally had no idea that he
did any of that stuff and told me and my
buddy started watching these idiotic, absurdist videos that make absolutely
no sense. Hey man, do you have a water? Yeah,
here's this ladder. No, no water, And it's always him.
It's just dude. It's still good, but you know, between
(37:57):
him and I. Also, I listened to Stephen Wilson Jr.
Who's sort of a guilty pleasure because I think he
might be married to an old Christian rock artist, the
singer from Sixpence Don the Richer.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
Oh really, Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
I think they're married. I didn't know that connection was there,
but that dude's music just hits me deeply interesting. One
oh man, son of Dad is outstanding.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
I'm trying to what's her name again.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
I believe that that's.
Speaker 2 (38:29):
One of the other artists or one of the other
artists in the band Lee I think it's just Lee Lee. Yeah,
I guess they're married. I didn't know that. But man,
that record. Do not do not listen to that record
unless you have Do not listen to that record if
you are in an emotional place and you have had
(38:51):
issues with your family.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
Or too much to drink. Maybe.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
I mean, it's it's good stuff. Man.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
It looks like they got married in two thousand eleven,
so yeah, they've been married for a little while.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
I had, I did not know. It's a very weird thing.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
All right. Let's hear another guilty pleasure of yours there then.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
All right. I I play Call of Duty all the time,
love it all the time. I play with all my
buddies from work. I play it with my old David Cotton,
the old manager of Stage Acre, and a couple of
his friends. I play with my boy Troy and and
his lady, and we are on there all the time.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
Dude, all right, let's test you then. What's your what's
your go to load out?
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I mean, I just right now, I favor the lmgs,
but I I've been doing the late the Latra Letra
SMG because it's just like a driller just and I
always people. It's so funny, dude, I love it. We'll
be We'll be. You know, my wife goes to bed
fairly early because of her job, so i'm you know,
(40:00):
that's time for me to go turn it on and
shoot the bad guys.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
What's your I assume that you play online as well? Yeah,
what's your your trash talk game?
Speaker 2 (40:13):
Like I tend to anytime somebody talks trash or starts
being profane, like I might swear and have unsavory practices
in my personal life for something I don't know that
people would not approve of. But I'm not a troll.
I don't try to bump people out, So if somebody
(40:36):
does while we're playing, I usually overcorrect. Oh right, how
are you?
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (40:44):
What an insight? It just comes out of me. Dude.
I can't help it, man, I just start I start
talking like as quietly and sincerely as well. Tell me
about how does that make you feel? That? Are you okay?
Are you good?
Speaker 3 (40:59):
Somehow sounds more sinister than if you were being like
vocally video.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
It seems only some kid going it's stupid, you know,
it's always it's always some little shit, you know, And
it's like I know, for a fact. Dude, you look
over both your shoulders before you say half the stuff
you say while you're on her. Man, just just know we.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Both know he's got like a he's got like a
mirror coming off of his like TV. Just to make
sure that he's like always watching for parents.
Speaker 2 (41:35):
Yep, fifty five year old man. Love playing video games
with my buddies.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
That's fun. That's fun.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
You would have you would have really gotten along with
a bunch of my friends in twenty eleven in high school.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Probably I'm a child. We did never we did not
have children. So I live in a constant state of
suspended adulthood.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
I swear to God their whole life call of duty
for a while.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Yeah, I should be doing much more and doing more things.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
But I don't know if you're a Star Wars fan
or not. But have you played the battle Front the
Battlefront games?
Speaker 2 (42:18):
I haven't. I like I like dudes to blow up,
Oh sure, I like to see their arms. I love
the gory element of call of duty. Just I don't know.
I was a big g t A fan. I loved
all that stuff too. So you know, anything that involves
chasing your buddies around is fun. You know I want
(42:39):
to I want to see I like to see the
culture violence, which is probably something that will come up
in therapy at some point. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (42:51):
I can understand that. Any other guilty pleasures for you?
Speaker 2 (42:56):
Ah, man, I'm pretty easy to doing. Guy. Like, my
wife and I watch our shows and we just chill.
Speaker 3 (43:04):
You know, you're getting very very close to saying I
got to watch my programs. That's how you know you're
got to watch my stories.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
I mean, you know, I love I love my wife,
and I get real critical. We'll be watching stuff like
what do they think we are children? What is this writing?
You know, like, it's just we're very judgmental. Man. One
of my biggest pet peeves about my shows is when
(43:35):
I get into something and I'm like, dude, how are
they going to resolve this conflict? This is insane? Where
is this going? And then they don't and they fail,
and it's like, that's why you wrote such a complex story.
You had no plan to get out of it. This
is insulting to me. Don't waste my time.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Isn't that frustrating? More and more shows are doing that
now ever than before.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
I mean, dude, how many times are you going to
go back and watch Game of Thrones knowing it ended
so stupidly. I have no interest for me. I know
what's looming in the distance is the dumbest last five
episodes possible. Oh heah, wait till that comes, you know.
Speaker 1 (44:22):
I'm just realizing true right now that like when we're
sixty years old, So in what like thirty years, we're
gonna be like, hey, I want to watch my program
and we pull up YouTube to watch a vine compilation.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
A right, all right, probably vine compilations. Dude. Uh, you
know what I get. I keep up down this weird
rabbit hole of reaction videos, which is gotcha.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
I know you ever watch Doctor Mike?
Speaker 2 (44:53):
I know, I don't think I've watched Doctor Mike. I
usually like I like watching like, uh, who are listening
to a genre of music that they normally would and
then it's like blows their mind or whatever.
Speaker 3 (45:05):
You can just tell you that they're black. It's okay,
we get it.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
No.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
I love it when people have never like do you
know who? You know? Who? Hi? Lung is so like
just Nordic. Okay, I'm gonna give you guys some homework
for our show, all right, and all your little listeners
out there. I want you to go on YouTube and
I want you to look up high lung spelled h
(45:30):
E I l U n G okay, and look for
the song and nowana a n o and oh a
n o A n a oh.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
I feel like I'm familiar with this band.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
The live video now, don't watch it right now. This
is this is your homework. The three of us, we
were going to go to a show and we're gonna
meet there. You guys don't know who they are. They're
this band that I'm really into called Hilum. I got
his tickets. I'll leave them for you at the door.
Come on inside, you'll find me, okay. I want you
(46:11):
to imagine that you're in this room looking for me
or anyone for that matter, and then the band starts
and I that's the kind of reactions that I like.
So you get in on some of that stuff. Don't worry,
You'll be okay, You'll be okay.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
I love that kind of stuff, dude. Yeah, yeah. My
favorite is also like gen Z or Jen Alpha, listening
to like music that everyone should have already heard already
for the first time. So if you're like listening to
like Fleetwood Mac Rumors album or something like that, and
they're just like blowing away about how good it sounds.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
And so some and so reacts to Stairway to Heaven.
I've never heard the song. Are you you're stunt up?
You've heard it?
Speaker 3 (47:05):
It is refreshing to like see somebody like actually hear
something great for the first time, though, you know.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
Yeah, I like, you know, people who've never heard Rage
against the Machine had no idea that here. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
I love when conservatives find out that Rage against Machine
aren't Republicans like they find out that.
Speaker 3 (47:29):
No, but they had Donald Trump in one of their
music videos.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Dude, if you can direct me to that channel, I'll
watch this shit all night, just rage baiting them alright
in a in a cover band with with some guys
and one of the dudes wanted to cover uh, killing
in the Name of and sure, you know, dude, it'll
(47:53):
be so fun. Like we're not doing that song. Yeah,
it's just it's just a cuss word. It's just a song.
But it's not it's not the language that I'm having a
problem with. I'm not doing that song with you. You
you don't know what that song is about. And that
is insulting to the song.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
You were in Afghanistan?
Speaker 2 (48:18):
Yeah, dish anyway.
Speaker 3 (48:21):
Yeah, well all right, what did you like to plug? Sorry,
what would you like to plug? Man?
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Come see the show. Everybody, come see the show. It'll
be fun. We will play our old hearts out. I
believe we're October fifth. It's fourth, fifth and sixth or something.
We're the Saturday. We're the Saturday of that show. But
come to the show. It'll be great.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
Hell yeah, and I did notice. You can also still
get the vinyl that you guys re released Repressed, I
should say repressed for the first time. Is it a
real Yeah?
Speaker 2 (48:55):
Yeah, so un Original Vinyl has done a few pressings
for us, and I'm sure we'll be talking to them
about doing some because you know, pressing three hundred units
or something like that, those things go pretty quick. So yeah,
you know, there's at least three hundred people who still
give a rats, so as long as there are, we'll
make sure that we get on some records and stuff.
Speaker 3 (49:17):
Oh yeah, good, anything else?
Speaker 2 (49:21):
Come come come visit us on the Instagram page if
you want stage stickers in there, or say hello to me.
We can talk politics.
Speaker 1 (49:30):
Good good, good, Mark anything else, you'd like to plug.
Speaker 2 (49:34):
No, man, I mean one of my I don't know
what I'm plugging otherwise other than this show.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Fair enough, you have you have anything about like the Raiders,
no new news moving to Oakland or anything.
Speaker 2 (49:53):
No, I don't have anything about them moving Doukland. They're
fine where they are.
Speaker 3 (49:57):
Insider knowledge as all.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
The side of information that I have for you is
that my team might actually be watchable this year.
Speaker 3 (50:04):
So Mike being the keyword there. As long as as
long as Pete Carroll has got all the gum in
Henderson County, you'll be all.
Speaker 2 (50:13):
Right here our quarterback routine, they looked like he just
found out that morning that he was playing. So as
long as we're better than that, and I'm good.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
It reminds me, did you see that picture of the guy?
I think he's like the like CIA guy that Trump
like put in a charge of the CIA. Yeah, like
his like his his like federal photo that they like
post on the internet. I remember like when they initially
posted that, you know, when like Trump was like doing
his like head of cabinet or whatever people. But the
(50:44):
photo that they posted him, it's just it's like so
startling looking the way he looks and somebody like quote
tweeted and said, it looks like he just found out
that he like has this job.
Speaker 2 (50:58):
It's too I do the kid that he hired for
the two year old or intelligence. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1 (51:07):
That's the oldest looking twenty two year old I'd ever seen.
Speaker 3 (51:10):
Didn't They say, like his only prior experience is like
a bus boy or some shit.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
He was a gardener and a waiter, which I don't.
I'm not disparaging that. I just know for sure that
you would put the counter intelligence in the hands of
a kid who literally has been driving for for for
four years, just got legal to drink booze. Really, man,
who knows.
Speaker 3 (51:34):
Maybe he's like, maybe he's some like a whiz kids savant.
Speaker 1 (51:38):
What they're doing, probably watches you play called duty.
Speaker 3 (51:41):
He probably doesn't.
Speaker 2 (51:43):
I mean, dude, they're watching everything they're doing, so it
doesn't really matter. He's a disappointment. Yeah yeah, Yeah, yet
another NPC that I get to deal with.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
You gotta at least make sure that if they're going
to listen to you, make make sure it's entertaining for them.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
Right, well, I'll do my best.
Speaker 1 (52:03):
They make them regret listening to.
Speaker 2 (52:06):
You A malicious compliance related reactions.
Speaker 3 (52:15):
And we veiled threats the entire time, threats on the
President's life in particular.
Speaker 1 (52:20):
You are not allowed to say I want to kill
the president of the United States. It's highly only illegal,
highly illegal. You cannot say that.
Speaker 2 (52:31):
I don't want to do that at all. I do
want justice for the American people, man, I want justice
for the people of this country and for the people
of all the countries.
Speaker 3 (52:41):
Are yes, especially Candyland.
Speaker 2 (52:47):
Yeah that's me, Yeah, Cooky theology.
Speaker 3 (52:53):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (52:54):
Well, Mark, thanks for hanging out. It's always it's always
a pleasure to hang out. We will see you in October.
We'll give you a big hug. We'll give you a
big bear hug. And we can't wait to see the
Stafe Sacred Set. It's gonna be fun. We'll be jamming out.
So thanks so much for hanging out. We'll see you soon.
Speaker 2 (53:09):
Come to Furnace Fest and hang out with me, all right, Ma,